USA > Rhode Island > Pictures of Rhode Island in the past, 1642-1833 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
I 780. Marquis de Chastellux.
François Jean, Marquis de Chastellux (1734-1788), was a French soldier and author who served in Amer- ica under Rochambeau. He wrote several works rela- ting to America. His Voyage en l' Amérique Septentrio- nale dans les Années 1780-'2 (Paris, 1786 ; English translation by George Grieve, London, 1787), includes his journal written when traveling from Newport to Philadelphia and Virginia.
Chastellux was a member of the order of the Cincin- nati. The extract given is taken from his Voyage en l' Amérique, p. 6 et seq. [November, 1780.]
The 12th I set out at half-past eight for Provi- dence [from Warren], where I arrived at noon. I alighted at the College, that is to say, at our Hospital, which I examined, and dined with Mr. Blanchard, Commissary of war. At half past four I went to Col-
88
PICTURES OF RHODE ISLAND.
onel Bowen's, where I had lodged in my first journey ; I drank tea there with several ladies, one of whom, rather handsome, was called Miss Angel. I was then * conducted to Mrs. Varnum's, where I again found company, and from thence to Governor Bowen's, who gave me a bed.
The 13th I breakfasted with Colonel Peck ; He is an amiable and polite young man, who passed the last summer with General Heath at Newport. He received me in a charming small house, where he lived with his wife, who is young also, and has a pleasing counte- nance, but without anything striking. This little estab- lishment, where comfort and simplicity reign, gave an idea of that sweet and serene state of happiness, which appears to have taken refuge in the New World, after compounding it with pleasure, to which it has left the Old.
The town of Providence is built on the bank of a river only six miles long, and which disembogues itself in the Gulph wherein are Rhode Island, Connecticut, Providence, &c. It has only one street, which is very long ; the suburb, which is considerable, is on the other side of the river. This town is handsome, the houses are not spacious, but well-built, and properly arranged within. It is pent in between two chains of moun- tains, one to the north, and the other to the southwest, which causes an insupportable heat in summer ; but it is exposed to the north-west wind, which rakes it from one end to the other, and renders it extremely cold in winter. Its situation is very advantageous for com- merce ; which accordingly is very considerable in times of peace. Merchant ships may load and unload their cargoes in the town itself, and ships of war cannot approach the harbour. Their commerce is the same with that of Rhode Island and Boston ; they export slaves, and salt provisions, and bring back salt, and a
89
REV. DR. SAMUEL HOPKINS.
great quantity of melasses, sugar, and other articles from the West Indies ; they fit out vessels also for the cod and whale fishery. The latter is carried on suc- cessfully between Cape Cod and Long Island ; but they go often as far as Baffin's Streights, and Falk- land's Island. The inhabitants of Providence, like those of Newport, also carry on the Guinea trade ; they buy slaves there and carry them to the West- Indies, where they take bills of exchange on Old Eng- land, for which they receive woollens, stuffs, and other merchandize .*
I 780. Re muel Hopkins.
Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803), the eminent theolo- gian, was at two separate times pastor of one of the Newport churches. He was much interested in the emancipation of negro slaves. He freed his own, and originated the idea of sending the liberated slaves to Africa. He was an exceedingly modest and devout man, and the founder of a school of modified Calvinism known as Hopkinsianism. He is said to have been the original of one of the principal characters in Mrs. Stowe's " Minister's Wooing." This quotation is taken from Sketches of the Life of the late Rev. Samuel Hop- kins, D.D., written by himself, Hartford, 1805, pp. 78, 81.
* Here are several places of public worship, an university, and other public buildings ; and a very brisk trade was carried on even at the worst period of the war for American commerce, viz. in 1782. Mr. Welcome Arnold, a great plumber, and Delegate to Congress from this state, has changed his name by act of Assembly, since the detection of Benedict Arnold. (TRANSLATOR. )
90
PICTURES OF RHODE ISLAND.
My church and congregation were greatly dimin- ished. Some had died, while the British were here, and many had removed into the country, who had not yet returned, and numbers were so settled in the coun- try, that they were not likely to return soon, if ever. And those who remained in town were so reduced in their worldly circumstances, and dejection of their minds, by living so long under the tyrarny of the Brit- ish, that, excepting a very few, they had not courage enough to think or do much to preserve the congrega- tion from coming to nothing, by supporting the preach- ing of the gospel. And it was a particular discour- agement that the meeting house was so damaged, by being made a barrack for soldiers, that we could not meet in it. The bell was taken away by the British, when they left the town ; and the pulpit and most of the inside work was demolished or taken away. And the few who were here had not courage or ability to re- pair it. I continued more than a year among them, while in this situation, having no support, but what was given by a few generous friends ; the congregation doing nothing, as a congregation, not having courage to attempt to have so much as a public contribution for a considerable time.
A better, though precarious, settlement was soon made.
The church and congregation have been enabled, by divine providence, in some good measure to repair the meeting house ; and do yet subsist. But they are so diminished by deaths and removals ; that the appear- ance now is, that when death shall remove me from them, which may be expected to be soon, they will be dissolved as a church and congregation, unless there should be an unexpected revolution in their disposi- tions and circumstances. But this I would leave with him, who knows what to do with me, with them, and with all things else.
91
BARON CROMOT DUBOURG.
1781. Rev. Dr. Samuel Hopkins.
See above, p. 89. The letter is quoted from Dr. Stiles's Diary (upon which see p. 72), in Dr. Edwards A. Parks's Memoir of Hopkins, Boston, 1854, p. 107.
" New Haven, 1781. Received a letter from Rev. Mr. Hopkins, dated Newport, January 26 ; wherein he says, speaking of the state of religion there, 'Every thing is dark and discouraging here, with respect to the all-important interest. The people in general are going from bad to worse, and I now see no way for my contin- uing here longer than till spring. Neither your people nor mine are disposed to attend public worship con- stantly, except a few individuals. There is but little encouragement to preach, where there is so little atten- tion, and so very little concern about any thing in- visible.' "
1781. Baron Cromot Dubourg.
Cromot Dubourg (1756-1836), entered the French army when twelve, and upon Rochambeau's departure for America was permitted to join the expedition as aid-de-camp. He won some distinction before York- town, but upon his return to France devoted his for- tunes to those of Royalty, and joined the ranks of the emigrés. He was so fortunate as to be remembered by the restored Bourbons, and was made honorary maréchal de camp. Balch says, in his " French in
92
PICTURES OF RHODE ISLAND.
America " (1895), II. 91, that Dubourg left an un- published diary of his first campaign in America, in 1781, of which the original has been lost or mislaid. This extract is taken from a text in the Magazine of American History, IV. 209, entitled " Diary of a French Officer, 1781 (presumed to be that of Baron Cromot du Bourg, Aid to Rochambeau), from an un- published Manuscript in the possession of C. Fiske Harris, of Providence, R. I."
May 9, In the morning I left my resting place for Newport at a very early hour. The country seemed to me less wooded but as little improved as the town; as a whole it is not inhabited. The villages are immense. They are some four or five miles in extent and even more and the houses scattered. I passed through Bristol which was formerly quite a commercial town ; that was before the war, for it has felt this scourge severely. When the English withdrew they burned more than three-fourths of the houses and they have not yet been rebuilt. I at last crossed Bristol Ferry which separates Rhode Island from the Continent. The arm of the sea is about a mile wide. I am now arrived at Newport and propose to examine the coun- try with a little more care.
(Side Note). Some of the villages appear to me to be from 15 to 20 miles long.
I arrived at Newport the 9th May, 1781, as I have just said, and my first care, after having performed the duties which my service required, was to study the country in which I found myself.
Rhode Island is in its extreme length at most fifteen miles, and the widest part of the Island five.
It must have been one of the most pleasing spots in
93
BARON CROMOT DUBOURG.
the world before the war, since notwithstanding the disasters it has suffered, some of its houses destroyed, and all its woods cut down, the Island is still a charm- ing residence.
The Island is very much cut up, that is all the land belonging to the different proprietors is enclosed by walls of stone piled one upon another or by wooden fences. There are some farms in which barley and other grains grow admirably. Great quantities of Tur- key grain, otherwise called maize, are grown here. There are, as in Normandy, extensive orchards and the country bears about the same fruits as those of France. If it were cultivated as our provinces are the produc- tions would be much greater, the soil being very good and the grass superb. It is cut by numerous small streams. The inhabitants are inactive and consequently not laborious.
(Side Note). The measure is here as well as on the Continent by miles as in England-three miles make a league.
There is very little game on the Island, some par- tridge rather larger than our own, some sea fowl and birds of passage, but there are neither hare nor rabbits nor wild beasts. The birds differ a little from our own -part of the wings of the black bird is red. There is a kind of heron the plumage of which is tinged with various blue-a bird which is called the Widow, the body of which as well as the breast is black, but the head of a very handsome yellow and a part of the wings of the same color. There are Cardinal birds of the same size as the black bird but almost entirely red. The crows are of a smaller kind than ours.
There are cows, pigs aud sheep precisely as in France. There are also numbers of geese and turkeys of the same kind as our own ; the horses are generally quite good although in less variety than I had sup-
94
PICTURES OF RHODE ISLAND.
posed, the English having introduced their breed here as well as on the main land. They are extremely dear, a horse which would be worth 20 lois in France, will here bring 40 or 50 at least. Their great merit is in being excellent leapers, being early trained. They have all the gait which we term the amble, of which it is extremely difficult to break them.
The coast of the Island abounds in fish. The cod is very abundant, some sturgeon, great quantities of mack- erel, shad, black fish and many varieties of shell fish.
I found the army in the best possible condition, very few sick and the troops in splendid order.
The Island seemed to me to be so fortified that a landing was no way to be feared, at least if one should be made no ill result need be feared from it.
Newport is the only town on the Island, there being besides but a few scattered buildings to which the name of farm houses is given. Three-fourths of these houses are small farms.
There are but two streets of any consequence in the town. It is well built and quite pretty ; it must be quite commercial and therefore much more prosperous before the war.
The Fort is to the south west of the town and of con- siderable size. The troops encamped last year in front of the town to the south west ; the camp extends from the south east of the Town almost to the north of it. In front of the port to the south west of the town, a half a mile distant, is Goat Island, upon which there is a battery of eight pieces of twenty-four, which defend the entrance to the Harbor ; to the south west of Goat Island the Brenton battery of twelve pieces of twenty- four and four twelve inch mortars, the fire of which crosses that of the vessels in the harbor. The Brenton battery is a half mile from Goat Island.
About three quarters of a mile to the north west of
.
95
ABBÉ CLAUDE C. ROBIN.
Goat Island is the Battery of Rose Island of twenty pieces of thirty-six and four mortars of twelve inches upon which the right of the vessels rests ; it defends not only the entrance of the Harbor but reaches every- thing that might pass it.
The battery of Brenton's Point, of which I have just spoken, is about one and a quarter miles by sea to the south west of the town ; all along the coast to the south west of Brenton's point there are several guard posts and some redoubts which also defend the entrance to the Harbor. To the north west of the town is Coasters Island where there is a battery of three pieces of can- non. It is about three quarters of a mile from the town and a quarter from the coast. This battery commands that part of the entrenched camp which lies to the north of its position.
There are several Guard posts scattered along the coasts with Redoubts at the places where it would be possible for an enemy to land, so that should a descent be effected the smallness of the Island would allow of the troops being moved in a very short time to its cen- tre, there to defend themselves, and they would there have the advantage of the entrenched camp, from which it would be, by reason of its situation, extremely difficult to dislodge them.
As for the Harbor, it seemed to me from the posi- tion of the batteries and the range of fire of our Ves- sels that if they were attacked it would be absolutely impossible for the enemy to force an entrance.
1781. Abbé Claude C. Robin.
The Abbé Robin was a chaplain in Rochambeau's army. He was among the most entertaining of the
96
PICTURES OF RHODE ISLAND.
French commentators who were " amang us, takin' notes " at that time. His Nouveau Voyage dans l' Amérique Septentrionale en l' Année 1781, consists of thirteen letters, first published in Paris in 1782. An English edition appeared at Philadelphia in 1783, en- titled New Travels through North America. The quo- tation given is taken from this book, p. 22, et seq.
Cump at Philipsburg, July 30, 1781.
SIR,
I found the army at Providence, encamped on a rising ground [Rochambeau Avenue]. This is a con- siderable town, and pretty well peopled ; some of the houses are built of brick and others of wood; it is situated at the mouth of the river Patuxit, at the bottom of a bay betwixt the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode-Island : This situation affords it a gainful commerce in corn, maize, lumber, and salt provisions for the islands ; there are also many vessels built here.
When, at length, arrived at the place destined for our encampment, we have still to wait during the hot- test part of the day for the baggage waggons, before we can take any repose. . .. Our young Generals, who have been bred in ease and delicacy, bear up under these fatigues with a degree of resolution that makes me blush for my weakness. . .. they encourage the soldiery under the severity of duty. by marching before them on foot .*
* The difficulty of providing sufficiency of carriages, and finding provision to support the horses or oxen, obliged Count Rochambeau to order, that no officer should carry with him more than one hun- dred and fifty pounds weight, including tents, beds, &c and thus it happened in our long march, in a country where there are so few resources, that almost all of us were in want of some one necessary or another.
97
ABBÉ CLAUDE C. ROBIN.
The Americans, whom curiosity brings by thousands to our camp, are constantly received with good humour and festivity : and our military music, of which they are extravagantly fond, is then played for their diver- sion. At such times officers, soldiers, Americans, of both sexes, all intermingle and dance together ;- it is the feast of equality ; and these are the first fruits of the alliance which is, we hope, to subsist perpetually be- tween the two nations. . . . The familiar appellation of brother, given some of them by the Marquis,* ex- cited their curiosity and respect to a great degree ; and the young American Ladies have always considered it as one of their greatest honours, to have danced with that nobleman. .
Before I arrived here, I had no expectations of discovering the traces of the French modes and fash- ions, in the midst of the wilds and forests of Amer- ica. The head dresses of all the women, except Quakers, are high, spreading and decked profusely with our gauzes : and here I cannot but reflect on the oddness of their taste, when I find, through the whole state of Connecticut [?], so prevailing an inclination for dress, (I may say to a degree of extravagance) with manners at the same time so simple and so pure, as to resemble those of the ancient patriarchal age. Pulse, Indian corn, and milk are their most common kinds of food ; they also use much tea, and this sober infusion constitutes the chief pleasure of their lives ; there is not a single person to be found, who does not drink it out of china cups and saucers, and, upon your entering a house, the greatest mark of civility and welcome they can show you, is to invite you to drink it with them. In countries where the inhabitants live upon foods and
* M. le Marquis de la Fayette is universally known to the Amer- icans, by his title of Marquis.
98
PICTURES OF RHODE ISLAND.
drinks of the most substantial kind, it may be useful to the health, but I believe it is prejudicial in those where they subsist mostly on vegetables and milk, especially when the soil, yet too much shaded by the woods, makes them the less nourishing ; and perhaps this may be one of the causes, that with a robust and healthy constitution, their lives here are much shorter than those of the inhabitants of other countries. The loss of their teeth is also attributed to the too frequent use of tea ; the women, who are commonly very handsome, are often, at eighteen or twenty years of age, entirely deprived of this most precious ornament ; though, I am of opinion, this premature decay may be rather the effect of warm bread : for the English, the Flemish, and the Dutch, who are great tea drinkers, preserve their teeth sound a long time.
Scattered about among the forests, the inhabitants have little intercourse with each other, except when they go to church. Their dwelling-houses are spacious, proper, airy, and built of wood, and are at least one story in height, and herein they keep all their furniture and substance. In all of them that I have seen, I never failed to discover traces of their active and in- ventive genius. They all know how to read, and the greatest part of them take the Gazette, printed in their village, which they often dignify with the name of town or city. I do not remember ever to have entered a single house, without seeing a huge family bible, out of which they read on evenings and Sundays to their household. They are of a cold, slow and indolent dis- position, and averse to labour ; the soil, with a mode- rate tillage, supplying them with considerably more than they can consume : they go and return from their fields on horseback, and in all this country you will scarcely see a traveller on foot : the mildness of their
99
ABBÉ CLAUDE C. ROBIN.
character is as much owing to climate as to their cus- toms and manners, for you find the same softness of disposition even in the animals of the country. The horses are of excellent breed, and it is common for them to go long journeys at the rate of fifty or sixty miles a-day : they are very teachable, and it is a rare thing to find any of them stubborn or skittish ; the dog is here of a fawning, timid nature, and the strangest figure of a man need not fear any violence from him. I have observed, too, by the way, that his voice is rather broken and hoarse, as well as that of the cock.
The Americans of these parts are very hospitable ; . There is such a confidence in the public virtue that, from Boston to Providence, I have often met young women travelling alone on horseback ; or in small riding chairs, through the woods, even when the day was far upon the decline.
These American husbandmen, more simple in their manners than our peasants, have also less of their rough- ness, and rusticity ; more enlightened, they have neither their low cunning nor dissimulation ; farther removed from luxurious arts, and less laborious, they are not so much attached to ancient usages, but are far more dex- terous in inventing and perfecting whatever tends to the conveniency and comfort of life.
The whole country, from Boston to Providence, is level ; and I have in this extent met with brooks, which we would call rivers ; their beds, in those places where I passed, looked as if they had been hollowed out of a soil of soft and spungy stone, of a grey and red complexion.
100
PICTURES OF RHODE ISLAND.
I772. Prince de Broglie.
Claude Victor Marie, Prince de Broglie (1757- 1794), a French soldier and volunteer in the War for American Independence, came to this country in 1782, in the frigate which brought two million five hundred thousand livres for Congress. After his return he joined the French Revolutionary army, and lost his life, finally, during the Reign of Terror.
The following extract is taken from the " Narrative of the Prince de Broglie," translated by E. W. Balch, from an unpublished MS., and published in the Maga- .zine of American History, I. 375.
The day's journey from New London to Newport is heavy work. It is about fifty-five miles of bad road, besides which there are two ferries to pass. The first is of no consequence.
The second, called Conanicut Ferry, separates the mainland from the island of Newport. It is a good league wide and not always safe. We arrived there at night. The business of embarking the horses, and the anxiety of fear of some of the passengers as the bark rolled to and fro, was not at all amusing, especially at at night. We passed about an hour in this critical fashion, and at last the "pilot " finished by striking a sand bank about two hundred steps from the place where we should have landed. All the passengers, masters and servants were compelled to work so as to disen- gage us. We jumped into the water where it was about two feet deep, and thus it was that we made our entrance into Newport ; that charming place, regret-
101
PRINCE DE BROGLIE.
ted by the whole army, for that is the way in which everybody speaks of it.
As my companions and myself entered this town with all these agreeable impressions, we immediately set ourselves to work to make acquaintance with its society.
That same evening M. Vauban introduced us at the house of Mr. Champlain, well enough known to us for his wealth, but much more known in the army for the lovely face of his daughter. She was not in the draw- ing-room at the moment of our arrival, but she ap- peared an instant after. It is useless to say that we examined her with attention, which was to treat her handsomely, for the result of our observation was to find that she had beautiful eyes and an agreeable mouth, a lovely face, a fine figure, a pretty foot, and the gen- eral effect altogether attractive. She added to all these advantages that of being dressed and coiffée with taste, that is to say in the french fashion, besides which she spoke and understood our language.
We rendered to her charms the tribute of admiration and polite civility due to them, and then we hastened off for the purpose of saying just about the same thing concerning the Misses Hunter, who were her rivals in beauty and in reputation.
The elder, without being regularly handsome, had what one might call a noble appearance and an air of aristocratic birth. Her physiognomy is intellectual and refined. There was grace in all her movements. Her toilette was quite as finished as that of Mademoiselle Champlain, but she is not altogether as fresh, in spite of what Fersen said.
The younger sister, Nancy Hunter, is not quite so stylish looking, but she is a perfect rosebud. Her character is gay, a smile always upon her countenance, with lovely teeth, a thing seldom met with in America.
Enchanted with these first specimens of Newport, we
102
PICTURES OF RHODE ISLAND.
returned home at an early hour. Vauban promised us something even better for the next day, and he kept his word. Without saying where he was conducting us, he took us to a house where an old gentleman, very serious, very silent, received us without taking off his hat, bade us sit down without compliments, and only answered in monosyllables to the observations which we addressed to him.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.