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August 1848-February 1849 considering myself a tolerably well dressed fellow I have subsided into something seedy; Provisions are cheap but as the custom is all but universal of living in Boarding houses I do not think that the public derive much benefit from it, lodging is dear, room being valuable in the city & it is most dreadfully economized; in short I do not think that young men can live cheaper here than in Birm- or London it certainly costs me more than I had anticipated not- withstanding my economical arrangement; Clean Board cannot be had under $4 pr week & from this to $7, then there are expences which increase this washing is dear although not what we antici- pated. I should have seen but very little of American Society had it not been for Robbins. The letters of introduction have not yielded any Fruit & my experience tends to shake my confidence in these missives Mr Tappan has been useful to me & has promised to in- troduce me to his Family; but do not imagine that I regret the fact or that it has occasioned me any annoyance when I tell you that I have had but one meal, tea, that has not been paid for by myself; that one being taken with a relative of Mr Robbins. I took an ex- cursion to West point 50 miles up the Hudson on Saturday & was delighted with the sceneryZO The fare by one of their gigantic steamers is but 50 cts or 2 sh[shillings] I must close in haste With Kind love I remain Your Very Affectionate Son John Hudson I? S. I am quite well in health, owing to temperance & exercise JH 2o In this instance, Hudson may again have been influenced by Charles Dickens who had visited West Point during his American tour. This "Military School of America" had opened on July 4, 1802, with 10 cadets and in 1848 had 230 on the rolls. A staff of 46, including 36 army officers, supervised instruction in nine branches of learning, and violations of the strict military rules, which encompassed a rule against the use of ardent spirits and tobacco, could be punished by sentences ranging from "privation of recreation" to "dismission. " Dickens noted that the "well-devised and manly" four-year course of study had a serious imperfection, "whether it be from the rigid nature of the discipline, or the national impotence of restraint, or both causes combined, not more than half the number who begin their studies here, ever remain to finish them." Dickens agreed with Hudson's perception of the delightful scenery, calling the site of West Point, "the fairest among the fair and lovely Highlands of the North River." Workers of the Writers' Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of New York, camps., New York: A Guide to the Empire State (New York: Oxford University Press, 1940), p. 363; Dickens, American Notes, vol. 1, pp. 221-23. 15 |
