As The Town Afforded Few Attractions, The Only Place Of Amusement Being A Temporary Theatrical Exhibition, I Was Not A

Little rejoiced when the vessel again started down the lake, which she did with every advantage of favourable weather. In

Due course we reached Cleveland, and, as I was anxious to proceed onwards, I took but a cursory view of the place, which is, like Detroit, situated on a somewhat rising ground. It appeared a thriving town, and the hotels were in general superbly fitted up.

As I was strolling towards the canal to take my passage to the Ohio river, a little incident occurred, which, as it illustrates a very old adage, I will not omit. Passing some low-built houses near the canal, my attention was arrested by the screams of a female, who uttered loud cries for assistance.

Hastening to the door of the house from which the alarm proceeded, I lifted the latch in great trepidation, when I saw a man just about to strike a woman (who proved to be his wife) with an uplifted chair. The fellow was vociferating loudly, and appeared in a towering passion. My first impulse was to cry out "Drop it!" when, lo! as if I had, like Katerfelto, the by-gone professor of legerdemain, cried "Presto," the scene changed, and both man and woman, who were Americans of the lower class, commenced bullying me in right earnest. I made my retreat with some difficulty, as they seemed, both of them, inclined to serve me roughly for my well-intentioned, though, perhaps, mistimed interference. As I made my escape, however, I intimated, pretty loudly, that I should at once apply to a magistrate on the subject, a threat, by-the-bye, that was little regarded, and only increased the showers of abuse levelled at me. As my appealing to a magistrate would be of little avail in the case of a family jar, and would certainly have entailed inconvenience and delay, I did not carry my threat into execution, wondering, at the same time, at my temerity in interfering in a quarrel between man and wife, which I now practically learnt, for the first time in my life, was to incur the unmitigated anger of both, and to learn how true it is that

"Those who in quarrels interpose, Must oft expect a bloody nose."

I visited the portion of the town appropriated by the Mormons as a residence. Here, in the midst of their dwellings, they had erected a temple for worship, which, on their emigrating west, their arch-leader, Smith, prophesied would, by the interposition of heaven, be destroyed by fire. The prophecy was verified as to the fact, but heaven had, it appeared, little to do with it; for it was ascertained to be the work of an incendiary of their sect, who was detected and brought to condign punishment.

I was afterwards informed by an American gentleman, to whom I had a letter of introduction, and who had been a great sufferer by these impostors, that some time before the great body of Mormons migrated to the interior, they started a bank. Having managed to put a vast number of their notes in circulation, for which they received produce, they closed the doors, and left the public to be losers by their nefarious schemes. I had the misfortune myself, in my ignorance, to take from a dishonest store-keeper a ten-dollar bill of this spurious currency, and did not detect the imposture until I offered it to the captain of the boat I had engaged a passage in to _La Belle Riviere_, as the Ohio is called. I must mention, however, that I took it previously to the interview with the gentleman I have adverted to, and actually, without knowing it, had the note in my pocket-book when he mentioned the default of these pseudo bankers. I paid ten dollars for a useful lesson.

The passengers from Cleveland formed a motley group; for, irrespective of French, Dutch, Americans, and Canadians, we had on board eight or ten families of the Mormon sect, following in the wake of their leaders, Smith and Rigdon, to their new settlement in the far west. These people were very reserved, and seemed inclined to keep aloof from their fellow-passengers. This, however, may be accounted for by the prejudice so justly existing at the time against them, as a body, from the causes I have already mentioned; in fact, the indignation of the people could hardly be kept in check by the authorities, and lynching was resorted to on more than one occasion. The men were clothed in drab broad-cloth, and wore large white hats; their garb altogether resembling that of the more respectable Society of Friends, in America. The resemblance, however, ceases with the dress, for, if reports speak true, and they are many-tongued, they are very exceptionable in their morality and general principles, amongst other peculiarities, polygamy being allowed, for the avowed purpose of extending and perpetuating the sect.

Our progress was pretty rapid, though it lay through an uninteresting country, in many parts uncultivated and barren-looking. Massillon is a very flourishing town, with some good stores and two or three hotels. As the captain was obliged to make a short stay here, I went into the town and, stepping into an hotel to procure a cigar, I found a company engaged in earnest conversation, interrupted at intervals by loud laughter. On inquiry, I was told that the landlord had that morning been played a Yankee trick by a travelling pedlar, who had stopped the previous night at his house. It appeared that the same man had some months before practised on the landlord; but, either supposing the matter blown over and forgotten, or, what is more likely, with a view to put another of his arts into exercise, he again put up at the same house. The proprietor, however, at once recognized the pedlar, and after taxing him with the cheat he had practised on the former occasion, wound up his lecture by stating, in true American style, that if he again succeeded in cheating him he would forego the amount of his tavern expenses.

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