Met

November 22. Passed White river in the morning, where we remained three hours. Took in a considerable number of Bears' and Deers' skins, killed in the neighboring forests, which abound with these animals. one of the Choctaw Indians who could speak English. His nation which are numerous possess large tracts of land in the northern part of Tennessee. They are more civilized than the northern savages and have something like a form of government. Passed the junction of the river Arkansas which flows thro' the whole extent of that vast country, the greater part of which is unknown. The settlements through the whole of the western countries are as yet confined entirely to the Banks of the large rivers. Passed to-day many of the white sandbanks which extend for miles.

For the last week we have lived almost entirely on the wild Turkeys which are excessively cheap in this country. I am quite decided that they are the finest flavored Birds I ever tasted.

Although the weather is still cold I perceive we are fast approaching a southern climate from the appearance of the forests, which are still clothed in all the luxuriance of their foliage, or rather in all the beauty of their autumnal tints, which are so strikingly beautiful in this country.

November 23. Steamed all night, and this morning we were blessed with one of the finest days I ever saw, though still frosty. The forests improve in appearance every day, fringing the Banks of the river and glowing with every tint and shade. While we were taking in wood Eden and myself made an excursion into the forest where were some of the largest cotton and sugar trees I have ever seen the largest trees I ever beheld in England were nothing to them. There was also an abundance of the Holly Green oak, and other Evergreens whose names I did not know. The larger trees were covered with a creeping vine: the stem of one I measured was as large as my body. I have seen them hang perpendicularly from a branch 60 or 70 feet high, giving a light and graceful appearance to the tree.

November 24. Steamed all the night, and this morning I felt most sensibly the sudden change in the atmosphere. The forests the whole of this day's journey were most beautiful, covered with all their summer foliage. At 6 this evening observed the lighthouse above Natchez, and at 7 landed in that town. The evening was excessively hot and sultry. Eden and myself walked through the principal street. Natchez is

a place of some trade, with a population of 5,000-all the steamboats touch here on their way to New Orleans.

November 25. Continued our journey this morning at 10 o'clock. The forests are now everywhere covered with the Spanish moss, which

VOL. XIX.-No. 5.-29

attaches itself to the trees, but particularly to the Cypress (a deciduous tree and quite unlike those I have ever seen) which grow here to an enormous size. This singular creeper, with its light and delicate fibers, is a sure indication of swamp, and consequently of ague and fever. In the melancholly cypress swamps which extend for miles, you see it hanging from all parts of the trees in dark and sombre festoons, adding a funereal aspect to the dark and dreary view: quite in character however with the deadly malignity of the climate. In the summer no living creature approaches them, save the crocodile : and no sound is heard in these extensive plains but the incessant buzz of musquitoes. The heat yesterday and to day has been quite oppressive; in 24 hours we experienced a change of 40 degrees by my thermometer. I feel quite unwell in consequence. We had a battle royal this morning between 2 ladies of our party. They proceeded from words to abuse, and then to downright fighting. The gentlemen interfered, though the contest was carried on by words for some time after. Reached the town of Baton Rouge at 1 o'clock, 150 miles from New Orleans; at this place the sugar plantations commence, and also the levée or raised bank to check the inundations of the river.

Visited one sugar plantation which seemed to be well conducted, and with much fewer negroes than we require in the West Indies. The sugar cane of this year's growth was smaller, and I should think not so rich and succulent as the cane in our colonies. The occasional frost here must of course check and injure the growth of the Plant. The houses and buildings are in excellent condition all along the river, a sure sign of the wealth and industry of the Proprietors.

November 27. Steamed all night and at 7 o'clock this morning reached New Orleans. It was raining hard and the appearance of the town, almost buried in mud, and the squallid, unhealthy look of the people was by no means cheering. In coming down the river we heard several unfavorable reports of the climate. We positively ascertained this morning that the yellow fever had been raging, and that the town was still unhealthy. This was by no means agreeable news, particularly as I felt very unwell from long confinement on board the Packet. We tried unsuccessfully at the Inns, where we were unable to procure any rooms, unless we consented to sleep in the same apartment with some dirty Americans. We fortunately heard of a boarding house in Canal street where we procured 2 very comfortable rooms. Walked through part of the town in the evening, which appears to be built on a flat, below the level of the banks of the river. Swamps surround you on all sides, indeed the town itself must originally have been a marsh. The water is everywhere stagnant even in the streets;

the wooden pipes intended to carry it off not having elevation sufficient to allow it to run into the main. I heard bull frogs croaking on

all sides, harbored I suppose in the said wooden pipes.

November 28. We were fortunate in having fine weather today, which enabled us to reconoitre the whole city. I still feel very unwell and desponding at the idea of being obliged to remain here some days for a vessel to Vera Cruz, between which place and New Orleans there is little communication. It is built (New Orleans) very like an old French provincial town: the same narrow streets, old fashioned houses, and lamps suspended by a chain across the road. Many of the houses are however picturesque, with their large projecting roofs and painted sides and windows, quite a contrast to the brick and mortar towns we have lately seen. The Americans are however introducing their taste very fast; many of the best stores and buildings have been constructed by the American merchants. The population including blacks is upward of 40,000, the greater part of which are still French, or speak only that language. The whole place has quite the air of a French town. I cannot conceive a more unhealthy, deadly situation than New Orleans during the last of summer. Bogs, swamps, morasses, in every direction, which they do not attempt to drain. Musquitoes are of course abundant, even now they swarm in mirriads as bad as in the worst places in the West Indies. The export trade here consists principally of cotton, the sugar being entirely for home consumption. Passed by this morning the hospital for the poor, which is quite open to the street on the ground floor. I saw the unhappy wretches lying in great numbers in one large room, most of them sick with the fever.

November 30. Went to the cathedral this morning: an old building of the mixed French and Spanish style of architecture. The inside was less ornamental than most Catholic churches. I observed one Madonna dressed in silk according to the latest Parisian fashion. There are 2 Catholic churches and one small Presbyterian church for the whole population: which I suppose, as Sterne says of the people of Calais, is enough to hold them all, or they would build another. I should suppose that New Orleans, like the small town of Natchez (I mentioned in my travels) is not famous for its morality or religious feeling. Those who come here on account of trade, think only of making money as fast as they can, and trouble themselves very little about other matters. The Baron de Manginy, to whom we brought a letter from General Bertrand [formerly aid-de-camp of Napoleon] called upon us today. He is the principal person in the place, though certainly not very distinguished in manner or appearance. We dined with him at a

very good house near the town, where I met a large party of French gentlemen. Not a word of English was spoken during the evening, which I did not regret, as I have no difficulty in conversing now in the French language. One of his daughters was a pretty girl: but looking sickly and unwell. This is the general appearance of all the women throughout the United States: I have seldom seen one with the healthy look of an English girl. To use the words of Tom Moore, they are old in their youth and withered in their prime, which is certainly true. I have seen however some very beautiful women, and they are uniformly superior to the men in manners and appearance.

December 1, 1828. A delightful morning with a cool refreshing breeze. Took my first lesson in Spanish of an old officer who served with the royalist army in Mexico. I can make myself understood at present but hope to speak the language fluently before I return to England. Walked to the farthest end of the town along the banks of the river. We saw some beautiful little villas, secluded in gardens, where many of the tropical plants were growing, the banana, orange trees, lime, etc., and the roses, jessamine, and other flowers were in full bloom. I observed this evening many well dressed women sitting on the steps in front of their houses. In most countries this would be considered an equivocal intimation of their character, but here it is dene without impropriety by the most respectable.

December 2. The weather to-day has been excessively hot and sultry. Still quite out of sorts. Walked to the canal at the back of the town which connects this place with Lake Ponchartrain. . We walked down to the scene of one unfortunate engagement with the Americans in the last expedition to this country. It is 5 miles below the town near the bank of the river. You can see as little as in most battle-grounds, where I never discovered anything from the scene. Eden fancied he could make out General Jackson's lines of intrenchment, and where our troops were stationed. He had a doubly painful interest however in viewing the place, having lost a brother in the engagement.

carriers.

December 3. I observe all the ships here engaged in the cotton trade to Liverpool are American; not more than 2 or 3 English vessels in the Port. I am afraid the Americans are superseding us fast as ship owners: although we have been told that England can compete with all nations as In traveling through this country I observed that the whole commerce with England, which must be enormous, is carried by their own shipping alone. So much for the visionary idea, that English capital and industry would enable her to stand a contest with this country as a carrying nation.

Article XIV. of the Constitution of the United States, has been part of the fundamental law of this country since July 28, 1868. And its definition of citizenship is so clear and comprehensive that it seems quite impossible to misunderstand it. It declares that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the state wherein they reside."

No construction, it seems to me, is necessary to understand the meaning of such language as this. It destroys completely, as it was designed to destroy, the old "state Rights" theory and order of allegiance. A person may now be a citizen of the United States without being a citizen of any one particular state; but he cannot be a citizen of any one particular state without being a citizen of the United States. To be a citizen of the United States, it is only necessary to be born or naturalized somewhere within our national territory and jurisdiction; whereas, to be a citizen of a state, another important element is necessary, namely, he must "reside" therein. Hence we are no longer a nation without citizens or subjects, as was virtually held, first by Mr. Jefferson, and subsequently by Mr. Calhoun; but a nation in fact as well as in name, rightfully demanding the ultimate allegiance, not of "states," but of living men and women. Nevertheless, it is asserted by a writer in this Magazine (xix., 317, 318,) that "A citizen of the United States must be a citizen of some state." And again, in a foot-note, that "A man may be a citizen of a state and not of the United States."

Such propositions as these may have been tenable at almost any time during the first eighty years of our national history; because, during that whole period, a clear and authentic definition of the phrase "citizen of the United States," could be found neither in our legislative annals, nor in our judicial decisions, nor in the consentaneous action of any two departments of our government. But, made now, they logically involve the repudiation of a fundamental law, the validity of which has had the concurrent sanction of every department of our government for nearly a quarter of a century.

William L. Scruggs.

ATLANTA, GA.