They Requested Me To Join Them There, And
Hoped I Should Find No Difficulty On The Journey!
It was the time of the State fair, and every room in the inn was occupied;
but Mr. Benjamin,
The very popular host of the National, on hearing my
circumstances, would on no account suffer me to seek another abode, and
requested a gentleman to give up his room to me, which with true American
politeness he instantly did. I cannot speak too highly of the National
Hotel, or of its deservedly popular landlord. I found that I could not
leave Detroit before the next night, and at most hotels a lady alone would
have been very uncomfortably placed. Breakfast was over, but, as soon as I
retired to my room, the waiter appeared with an abundant repast, for which
no additional charge was made. I sat in my room the whole day, and Mr.
Benjamin came twice to my door to know if I wanted anything. He introduced
me to a widow lady, whose room I afterwards shared; and when I went down
at night to the steamer, he sent one of his clerks with me, to save me any
trouble about my luggage. He also gave me a note to an hotel-keeper at
Buffalo, requesting him to pay me every attention, in case I should be
detained for a night on the road. The hotel was a perfect pattern of
cleanliness, elegance, and comfort; and the waiters, about fifty of whom
were Dutch, attended scrupulously to every wish, actual or supposed, of
the guests. If these pages should ever meet Mr. Benjamin's eye, it may be
a slight gratification to him to know that his kindness to a stranger has
been both remembered and appreciated.
I had some letters of introduction to residents at Detroit, and here, as
in all other places which I visited, I had but to sow them to reap a rich
harvest of kindness and hospitality. I spent two days most agreeably at
Detroit, in a very refined and intellectual circle, perfectly free from
those mannerisms which I had expected to find in a place so distant from
the coast. The concurrent testimony of many impartial persons goes to
prove that in every American town highly polished and intellectual society
is to be met with.
My bed-room window at the National Hotel looked into one of the widest and
most bustling streets of Detroit. It was the day of the State fair,
consequently I saw the town under a very favourable aspect. The contents
of several special trains, and hundreds of waggons, crowded the streets,
the "waggons" frequently drawn by very handsome horses. The private
carriages were of a superior class to any I had previously seen in the
States; the harness was handsome and richly plated, and elegantly dressed
ladies filled the interiors. But in amusing contrast, the coachmen all
looked like wild Irishmen enlisted for the occasion, and drove in a
standing posture.
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