CHAPTER II

TRAVELS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1798-1800

On the seventh of January, 1798, Davis sailed from Bristol on board the two-hundred ton brig Two Brothers, bound for New York. He came, as he writes, definitely "with the view of traveling through North America and publishing on my return the result of my observation." He carried with him three hundred volumes from the family library, and these doubtless served to lighten the tedium of the weeks spent at sea. The Two Brothers was an old, poorly equipped vessel, and strong adverse winds. made the voyage a slow one. Most of the passengers suffered hardships, but Davis, whose many years at sea stood him in good stead, had a not uncomfortable trip.

On March 18, approximately nine weeks after leaving Bristol, the Two Brothers came to anchor at Sandy Hook, where, in company with the captain, Davis went ashore. That night, with the aid of a favorable wind, the vessel was brought into New York harbor.

Davis landed at New York, literally a stranger in a strange land. He knew no one in America, and all his hopes were fastened on the letter from Wansey. But alas for Davis! He was to receive no encouragement from this source. His disappointment is expressed in the following extract:

I cannot say that I was received with the urbanity I had anticipated. Neither my friend's letter, nor his book, could soften the features of the stern American...... The letter had failed me that was to decide my fortune at one blow, and I found myself solitary and sad among the crowds of a gay city.'

The "gay city" of New York in 1798, although the second city in the United States, had a population of only about 55,000. It was, however, growing very rapidly, owing to the opening up

1Letter to Joseph Dennie, July 20, 1799.

'Travels in the U. S. A., page 17 (Morrison edition). Unless otherwise accredited, all the details recorded in this and the following chapter are based upon this edition of the Travels.

of the Genesee region and the increasing influx of immigration. The population was cosmopolitan and the city was already the center of much wealth and trade.

At this crisis Davis's ability as a linguist came to his aid. By chance he made the acquaintance of Henri Caritat, a French bookseller in New York. When Caritat discovered Davis's acquaintance with the French language, he proposed that the young Englishman translate for publication Buonaparte's Campaign in Italy. In the Travels Davis says he was to receive two hundred dollars for this work, but in the letter mentioned above, he names thirty dollars for the reward for the labor of translating an octavo volume of four hundred pages. Whatever the sum received, the reputation he gained as translator of this work aided him considerably in obtaining subsequent positions as a tutor. Moreover, it brought him to the attention of Aaron Burr, who did the young author the honor of calling upon him and inviting him to his home.

At first, while engaged in translation, Davis occupied lodgings on Ferry Street with a young physician, William de Bow. Some time in June, the young men, who found their companionship very agreeable, moved to the house of a Major Howe, on Cherry Street.

In July, 1798, Davis, encouraged by Caritat, brought forth a small volume entitled The Original Letters of Ferdinand and Elizabeth, the true story of an unhappy love affair between Ferdinand Lowenstoff and Elizabeth Falkenham, both residents of New York. Ferdinand, a man of forty, had fallen violently in love with Elizabeth, who was only sixteen. She had promised to marry him, but the ceremony was delayed until the return from Germany of her brother-in-law, whose child Elizabeth was caring for. When the brother-in-law returned, he refused to allow the marriage and confined Elizabeth to her chamber. Ferdinand, in despair, married a beautiful French woman in the endeavor to forget Elizabeth, but all in vain. She was never absent from his thoughts, and Ferdinand soon lapsed into a state of melancholy. After a few months had passed, he received a letter from Elizabeth informing him that she was with child and had resolved to commit suicide. After an exchange of letters, the pair formed a suicide pact. Ferdinand met Elizabeth at a house in the Bow

ery, and after shooting her, killed himself. Letters which they left beside them explained the reasons for the deed.

As the townspeople were keenly interested in this unhappy affair, Davis conceived the idea of publishing the letters. He says "I dilated [them] into a volume, which Caritat published to the emolument of us both." Added to the letters was an elegy, "To the Memory of the Unfortunate Lovers," written by Davis.3 The Original Letters is chiefly interesting as Davis's contribution to the American series of sentimental novels of seduction of which Mrs. Rowson's Charlotte Temple and Mrs. Foster's The Coquette are the most notable examples.

Probably about this same time, Davis published a verse "Tribute to the United States," written in the heroic couplet, a form which was a favorite with him. It opens with the following lines:

Long have I sought, beset with grievous toil,
To gain America's applauded soil.

To fly a land oppress'd with bleeding woes,
That savage war and tumult only knows.

Next come laudatory verses to Franklin and Washington, followed by a passage describing America as a land once rough and wild but now the home of Peace, Independence, and Freedom. Turning from this picture of peace, Davis speaks of the capture of Quebec and the death of Montgomery," with an extended description of the Muses lamenting the hero. Next he praises the city of Philadelphia, and deplores the havoc caused there by the plague.

Then follow descriptions of spring and summer in America, and sketches of the beauties of Chesapeake Bay and of the Potomac, Schuylkill, and Susquehanna rivers. After a long passage devoted to praise of the commonwealth, which is contrasted with a tyrannic form of government, the poem closes with a second panegyric to Washington, whom Davis declares to be greater than Caesar or Cincinnatus.

"This poem is also included in the Travels.

'Published in pamphlet form by Robert M. Hurtin, at the Literary Printing Office, No. 29 Gold Street (undated).

"Major-General Richard Montgomery (1736-1775), killed while commanding American forces at the siege of Quebec, December 31, 1775.

As to the genuineness of the descriptive passages in the poem, it seems certain that Davis had never seen most of the places he describes. He did not leave New York for the South, according to his own account, before July, 1798, and he did not return until 1800. Moreover, a careful perusal of the poem reveals no more intimate acquaintance with the scenes mentioned than could have been obtained from reading or from conversation with persons who had visited them. Davis appears to have sent the "Tribute" to the European Magazine for republication, but it was not reprinted."

Davis's connection with Caritat, the publicity derived from his literary endeavors, and his friendship with Burr, all combined to make his life in New York enjoyable. Burr, indeed, seems to have been much attracted by the young Englishman, for Davis says that he had "unrestrained access to his house and library." Davis further relates that Burr urged him to study law with him, but he declined, and thus "neglected to take that flood in the tide of my affairs” which might have led immediately to fortune.

Although his sojourn at New York was not unprofitable, Davis felt that his original intention of seeing the country was being neglected. He was loath to leave his newly formed friends, especially de Bow, with whom he had now become very intimate. When Davis expressed his intention of leaving New York, however, de Bow declared his readiness to accompany him. They decided to send their effects by coach, and to walk to Philadelphia. Having very quickly made their preparations, the two young men crossed the Hudson and passed by easy stages through Newark, Elizabeth-town, Princeton, and Trenton. At the last-named village, de Bow was compelled to give up the journey on account of sore eyes, and Davis proceeded on the last few miles of the trip alone. He was enabled to arrive in Philadelphia in state in the stage coach, having been invited to ride by a friendly driver.

'A letter in the European, January, 1799, accompanying a "Tribute to Montgomery," based upon a passage from the "Tribute to the United States," clearly refers to the earlier poem:

In a former poetical communication, which I sent you from New York, I represented the muses as weeping over the dead body of Montgomery. I now acknowledge my error, and have endeavored to obviate it.

Davis immediately took up his residence at the French Hotel, kept by Monsieur Pecquet. His surroundings were very pleasant, and once more his ability to speak French fluently enabled him to enjoy the company of the other guests, all of whom were French.

Philadelphia was then the national capital and with 70,000 population, the largest city in the United States. It was also for a time enjoying the honor of being the foremost literary, artistic, and intellectual center in the country. The presence of the Federal Bank and the "Republican Court" gave it financial and social prestige, and the names of Brown, Dennie, and a host of minor writers were to attract Davis's interest thither for some years to

come.

At this particular time, however, he found Philadelphia anything but lively and agreeable. The entire city was in the grip of the yellow fever. All the inhabitants who were able to do so had fled, and those who remained were either caring for the sick or stricken with the disease themselves. Davis's description of the fever-haunted city in the Travels is strongly reminiscent of Defoe's Plague year in London. He also wrote a poem, “The Plague at Philadelphia," which appeared in several publications."

At the close of a week Davis was delighted at being rejoined by de Bow, who had entirely recovered from his illness. As there was nothing in Philadelphia at this time to warrant settling there, the two companions resolved to quit the city immediately. Fortunately, a vessel was about to sail for Charleston, South Carolina, and obtaining passage on board her, Davis and de Bow left Philadelphia, September 22, 1798. After a voyage of five days the vessel came to anchor off Charleston. The port physician ordered the passengers to remain on board in quarantine for two weeks. De Bow was overjoyed at the prospect, for the cuisine on the vessel was excellent and, as Davis says, "he [De Bow] had not yet eaten half of what he wished to eat on board."

Charleston, a city of 18,000 population, was the New York of the South, but the very climatic conditions which were responsible for its being the leading city, produced a manner and mode of living entirely different from that of bustling, lively New York. Charleston, in the early days, before the invention of the

'For a vivid contemporary picture of the pestilence of 1798 at Philadelphia, see Charles Brockden Brown's Arthur Mervyn.