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AngularJS
Maintaining Web Applications
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Meet Your Course Guide
Hello and welcome to this AngularJS – Maintaining Web Applications course. You now
have a clear pathway from learning AngularJS core features right through to coding
full-stack AngularJS web applications!
I've developed and created this course for you and you'll
be seeing me through the whole journey, offering you
my thoughts and ideas behind what you're going to learn
next and why I recommend each step. I'll provide tests
and quizzes to help you reflect on your learning, and code
challenges that will be pitched just right for you through the course.
If you have any questions along the way, you can reach out to me over email or
telephone and I'll make sure you get everything from the course that we've planned –
for you to become a working AngularJS developer and able to work in the full-stack.
Details of how to contact me are included on the first page of this course.
Course Structure
I've created an AngularJS learning path for you that has four connected modules.
Each of these modules are a mini-course in their own right, and as you complete each
one, you'll have gained key skills and be ready for the material in the next module!
So let's now look at the pathway these modules create and how they will take
you from AngularJS essentials right through to coding and maintaining your
own full-stack AngularJS apps…
Course Structure
This course begins with the AngularJS Core Learning module, to help you get up to
speed with AngularJS – the first concepts you need to get ready with AngularJS. You'll
learn how to install the AngularJS framework in your development environment,
understand the core AngularJS architecture, and then make friends with some of the
core concepts including Angular components, scope, directives and how to create your
own first AngularJS modules:
I've prepared the second Core Coding module so that we can roll up our coding
sleeves and create a serious AngularJS application by example – a rich featured
workout app. We'll take the coding a step at a time at first, then once you're coding a
full app in this module, a lot of AngularJS will fall right into place for you:
The third Technique Library module is designed to then broaden your AngularJS
coding skills: a rich library of AngularJS coding solutions that you can use straight
away in your own code projects. I'll even challenge you to improve and maintain the
workout app we built in the earlier in the course, using the Technique Library!
You'll then be ready to move to the next level: the Full-Stack AngularJS Graduation
module concludes your course journey by taking your AngularJS skills into a
full-stack environment. This is also your graduation to full-stack web development,
which can open many new coding and career opportunities for you!
Course Module 1: Core Learning – AngularJS Essentials
[i]
Table of Contents
[ ii ]
Table of Contents
[ iii ]
Table of Contents
[v]
Table of Contents
[ vi ]
Table of Contents
[ vii ]
Module 1 Lesson 1
Lesson 1
Getting Started with
AngularJS
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) was created in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee—a
famous physics and computer scientist—while he was working at CERN, the
European Organization for Nuclear Research. He was motivated about discovering
a better solution to share information among the researchers of the institution. To
support that, he also created the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and its first
server, giving rise to the World Wide Web (WWW).
In the beginning, HTML was used just to create static documents with hyperlinks,
allowing the navigation between them. However, in 1993, with the creation of
Common Gateway Interface (CGI), it became possible to exhibit dynamic content
generated by server-side applications. One of the first languages used for this
purpose was Perl, followed by other languages such as Java, PHP, Ruby, and Python.
Because of that, interacting with any complex application through the browser
wasn't an enjoyable task and it was hard to experience the same level of interaction
provided by desktop applications. However, the technology kept moving forward,
at first with technologies such as Flash and Silverlight, which provided an amazing
user experience through the usage of plugins.
At the same time, the new versions of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS had been growing
in popularity really fast, transforming the future of the Web by achieving a high level
of user experience without using any proprietary plugin.
AngularJS is a part of this new generation of libraries and frameworks that came to
support the development of more productive, flexible, maintainable, and testable
web applications.
[1]
Getting Started with AngularJS
This Lesson will introduce you to the most important concepts of AngularJS.
The topics that we'll be covering in this Lesson are:
• Introduction to AngularJS
• Understanding the architectural concepts
• Setting up the framework
• Organizing the code
Introduction to AngularJS
Created by Miško Hevery and Adam Abrons in 2009, AngularJS is an open source,
client-side JavaScript framework that promotes a high-productivity
web development experience.
It was built on the belief that declarative programming is the best choice to construct
the user interface, while imperative programming is much better and preferred to
implement an application's business logic.
In 2010, Miško Hevery was working at Google on a project called Feedback. Based
on Google Web Toolkit (GWT), the Feedback project was reaching more than 17.000
lines of code and the team was not satisfied with their productivity. Because of that,
Miško made a bet with his manager that he could rewrite the project in 2 weeks
using his framework.
After 3 weeks and only 1.500 lines of code, he delivered the project! Nowadays, the
framework is used by more than 100 projects just at Google, and it is maintained by
its own internal team, in which Miško takes part.
The name of the framework was given by Adam Abrons, and it was inspired by the
angle brackets of the HTML elements.
[2]
Module 1 Lesson 1
Architectural concepts
It's been a long time since the famous Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern
started to gain popularity in the software development industry and became one of
the legends of the enterprise architecture design.
Basically, the model represents the knowledge that the view is responsible for
presenting, while the controller mediates the relationship between model and view.
However, these concepts are a little bit abstract, and this pattern may have different
implementations depending on the language, platform, and purpose of the application.
After a lot of discussions about which architectural pattern the framework follows,
its authors declared that from now on, AngularJS would adopt Model-View-
Whatever (MVW). Regardless of the name, the most important benefit is that the
framework provides a clear separation of the concerns between the application
layers, providing modularity, flexibility, and testability.
The view, also called template, is entirely written in HTML, which provides a great
opportunity to see web designers and JavaScript developers working side by side. It
also takes advantage of the directives mechanism, which is a type of extension of the
HTML vocabulary that brings the ability to perform programming language tasks
such as iterating over an array or even evaluating an expression conditionally.
Behind the view, there is the controller. At first, the controller contains all the
business logic implementation used by the view. However, as the application grows,
it becomes really important to perform some refactoring activities, such as moving
the code from the controller to other components (for example, services) in order to
keep the cohesion high.
The connection between the view and the controller is done by a shared object
called scope. It is located between them and is used to exchange information
related to the model.
[3]
Getting Started with AngularJS
With the module already created, we just need to place the ng-app attribute with
the module's name inside the html element or any other element that surrounds the
application. This attribute is important because it supports the initialization process
of the framework that we will study in the later Lessons.
[4]
Module 1 Lesson 1
<!doctype html>
<!-- Declaring the ng-app -->
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>Parking</title>
<!-- Importing the angular.js script -->
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script>
// Creating the module called parking
var parking = angular.module("parking", []);
// Registering the parkingCtrl to the parking module
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
// Binding the car's array to the scope
$scope.cars = [
{plate: '6MBV006'},
{plate: '5BBM299'},
{plate: '5AOJ230'}
];
// Binding the park function to the scope
$scope.park = function (car) {
$scope.cars.push(angular.copy(car));
delete $scope.car;
};
});
</script>
</head>
<!-- Attaching the view to the parkingCtrl -->
<body ng-controller="parkingCtrl">
<h3>[Packt] Parking</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Plate</th>
</tr>
[5]
Getting Started with AngularJS
</thead>
<tbody>
<!-- Iterating over the cars -->
<tr ng-repeat="car in cars">
<!-- Showing the car's plate -->
<td>{{car.plate}}</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<!-- Binding the car object, with plate, to the scope -->
<input type="text" ng-model="car.plate"/>
<!-- Binding the park function to the click event -->
<button ng-click="park(car)">Park</button>
</body>
</html>
Apart from learning how to set up the framework in this section, we also introduced
some directives that we are going to study in the Lesson 2, Creating Reusable
Components with Directives.
The ngController directive is used to bind the parkingCtrl controller to the view,
whereas the ngRepeat directive iterates over the car's array. Also, we employed
expressions such as {{car.plate}} to display the plate of the car. Finally, to add
new cars, we applied the ngModel directive, which creates a new object called car
with the plate property, passing it as a parameter of the park function, called
through the ngClick directive.
To improve the loading page's performance, you are recommended to use the
minified and obfuscated version of the script that can be identified by angular.min.
js. Both minified and regular distributions of the framework can be found on the
official site of AngularJS (http://www.angularjs.org) or in the Google Content
Delivery Network (CDN).
Most software developers struggle to decide on a lot of factors. This includes figuring
out which is the best approach to follow (not only regarding the directory layout, but
also about the file in which each script should be placed), whether it is a good idea to
break up the application into separated modules, and so on.
[6]
Module 1 Lesson 1
This is a tough decision and there are many different ways to decide on these
factors, but in most cases, it will depend simply on the purpose and the size of
the application. For the time being, our challenge is to define an initial strategy
that allows the team to evolve and enhance the architecture alongside application
development. The answers related to deciding on the factors will certainly keep
coming up as time goes on, but we should be able to perform some refactoring
activities to keep the architecture healthy and up to date.
Throughout the book, we will apply each of the following styles to our project
as far as it evolves.
If the application is accepted, based on the prototype evaluation, and becomes a new
project, it is highly recommended that you create a whole structure from scratch
based on one of the following styles.
[7]
Getting Started with AngularJS
With the application growing, the team may choose to break up some files by
shifting to the specific style step by step.
[8]
Module 1 Lesson 1
[9]
Getting Started with AngularJS
[ 10 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
Lesson 2
Creating Reusable
Components with Directives
The Document Object Model (DOM) is a convention created by W3C in 1998
for documents written in HTML, XHTML, and XML in an object tree, which is
used by the browsers throughout the rendering process. By means of the DOM
API, it is possible to traverse the hierarchical structure of the tree to access and
manipulate information.
Every time we access a web page, the browser sends a request to the server and
then waits for the response. Once the content of the HTML document is received,
the browser starts the analysis and the parse process in order to build the DOM tree.
When the tree building is done, the AngularJS compiler comes in and starts to go
through it, looking into the elements for special kinds of attributes known
as directives.
[ 11 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
The following diagram describes the bootstrapping process of the framework that is
performed during the compilation process:
HTML
Browser AngularJS
DOM
Static Content ng-app="module"
DOM Loaded
Event
$injector
$compile $rootScope
Dynamic $compile
DOM (dom)
(view) ($rootScope)
This Lesson will present everything about directives, which is one of the most
important features of AngularJS. Also, we will create our own directives step
by step. The following are the topics that we'll be covering in this Lesson:
• What is a directive?
• Using built-in directives of AngularJS
• Refactoring application organization
• Creating our own directives
• Animation
What is a directive?
A directive is an extension of the HTML vocabulary that allows us to create
new behaviors. This technology lets the developers create reusable components
that can be used within the whole application and even provide their own
custom components.
[ 12 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
The directive can be applied as an attribute, element, class, and even as a comment,
using the camelCase syntax. However, because HTML is case insensitive, we can use
a lowercase form.
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app>
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
However, it is recommended that you provide a module name, defining the entry
point of the application in which other components such as controllers, services,
filters, and directives can be bound, as shown in the following code:
index.html
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
[ 13 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
<script>
var parking = angular.module("parking", []);
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
There can be only one ngApp directive in the same HTML document that will be
loaded and bootstrapped by the framework automatically. However, it's
possible to have others as long as you manually bootstrap them.
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script>
var parking = angular.module("parking", []);
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
});
</script>
</head>
<body ng-controller="parkingCtrl">
</body>
</html>
[ 14 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
Nested controllers
Sometimes, our controller can become too complex, and it might be interesting to
split the behavior into separated controllers. This can be achieved by creating nested
controllers, which means registering controllers that will work only inside a specific
element of the view, as shown in the following code:
<body ng-controller="parkingCtrl">
<div ng-controller="parkingNestedCtrl">
</div>
</body>
The scope of the nested controllers will inherit all the properties of the outside scope,
overriding it in case of equality.
Why would anyone like to use this directive when a less verbose alternative is
available? This is because when the page is being compiled, there is a moment
when the raw state of the expressions is shown. Since the directive is defined by the
attribute of the element, it is invisible to the user. We will learn these expressions in
Lesson 3, Data Handling. The following is an example of the ngBind directive usage:
index.html
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script>
var parking = angular.module("parking", []);
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.appTitle = "[Packt] Parking";
});
</script>
</head>
<body ng-controller="parkingCtrl">
<h3 ng-bind="appTitle"></h3>
</body>
</html>
[ 15 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script src="angular-sanitize.js"></script>
<script>
var parking = angular.module("parking", ['ngSanitize']);
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.appTitle = "<b>[Packt] Parking</b>";
});
</script>
</head>
<body ng-controller="parkingCtrl">
<h3 ng-bind-html="appTitle"></h3>
</body>
</html>
We must provide a special repeat expression that describes the array to iterate over
the variable that will hold each item in the iteration. The most basic expression
format allows us to iterate over an array, attributing each element to a variable:
variable in array
[ 16 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
In the following code, we will iterate over the cars array and assign each element to
the car variable:
index.html
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script>
var parking = angular.module("parking", []);
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.appTitle = "[Packt] Parking";
$scope.cars = [];
});
</script>
</head>
<body ng-controller="parkingCtrl">
<h3 ng-bind="appTitle"></h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Plate</th>
<th>Entrance</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr ng-repeat="car in cars">
<td><span ng-bind="car.plate"></span></td>
<td><span ng-bind="car.entrance"></span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Also, it's possible to use a slightly different expression to iterate over objects:
(key, value) in object
[ 17 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
Beyond iterating, we might need to identify which is the first or the last element,
what is its index number, and many other things. This can be achieved by using the
following properties:
There is an important piece of advice regarding the use of this directive. We must
pay attention to the purpose of the field that is using the ngModel directive. Every
time the field is a part of the construction of an object, we must declare the object
in which the property should be attached. In this case, the object that is being
constructed is a car; so, we will use car.plate inside the directive expression.
However, sometimes it may so happen that there is an input field that is just used to
change a flag, allowing the control of the state of a dialog or another UI component.
In this case, we can use the ngModel directive without any object as long as it will not
be used together with other properties or even persisted.
In Lesson 5, Scope, we will go through the two-way data binding concept. It is very
important to understand how the ngModel directive works behind the scenes.
[ 18 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script>
var parking = angular.module("parking", []);
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.appTitle = "[Packt] Parking";
$scope.cars = [];
[ 19 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
</table>
<input
type="text"
ng-model="car.plate"
placeholder="What's the plate?"
/>
<button ng-click="park(car)">Park</button>
</body>
</html>
In the preceding code, there is another pitfall. Inside the ngClick directive, we will
call the park function, passing car as a parameter. As long as we have access to
the scope through the controller, it would not be easy if we just accessed it directly,
without passing any parameter at all.
Keep in mind that we must take care of the coupling level between the view and the
controller. One way to keep it low is to avoid reading the scope object directly from
the controller and replacing this intention by passing everything it needs with the
parameter from the view. This will increase controller testability and also make the
things more clear and explicit.
Other directives that have the same behavior but are triggered by other events are
ngBlur, ngChange, ngCopy, ngCut, ngDblClick, ngFocus, ngKeyPress, ngKeyDown,
ngKeyUp, ngMousedown, ngMouseenter, ngMouseleave, ngMousemove, ngMouseover,
ngMouseup, and ngPaste.
In Lesson 3, Data Handling, we will learn how to combine this directive with
validation techniques.
[ 20 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script>
var parking = angular.module("parking", []);
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.appTitle = "[Packt] Parking";
$scope.cars = [];
[ 21 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
<tr
ng-class="{selected: car.selected}"
ng-repeat="car in cars"
>
<td><input type="checkbox" ng-
model="car.selected"/></td>
<td><span ng-bind="car.plate"></span></td>
<td><span ng-bind="car.entrance"></span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<input
type="text"
ng-model="car.plate"
placeholder="What's the plate?"
/>
<button
ng-click="park(car)"
ng-disabled="!car.plate"
>
Park
</button>
</body>
</html>
Through an expression, we need to indicate the property of the scope from which the
directive will iterate, the name of the temporary variable that will hold the content of
each loop's iteration, and the property of the variable that should be displayed.
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
[ 22 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
<script>
var parking = angular.module("parking", []);
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.appTitle = "[Packt] Parking";
$scope.cars = [];
[ 23 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
<td><span ng-bind="car.entrance"></span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<input
type="text"
ng-model="car.plate"
placeholder="What's the plate?"
/>
<select
ng-model="car.color"
ng-options="color for color in colors"
>
Pick a color
</select>
<button
ng-click="park(car)"
ng-disabled="!car.plate || !car.color"
>
Park
</button>
</body>
</html>
[ 24 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
<thead>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th>Plate</th>
<th>Color</th>
<th>Entrance</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr
ng-class="{selected: car.selected}"
ng-repeat="car in cars"
>
<td><input type="checkbox" ng-
model="car.selected"/></td>
<td><span ng-bind="car.plate"></span></td>
<td><span ng-bind="car.color"></span></td>
<td><span ng-bind="car.entrance"></span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div ng-hide="cars.length > 0">
The parking lot is empty
</div>
The following is an example code for the usage of the ngInclude directive:
<div ng-include="'menu.html'"></div>
[ 25 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="parking">
<head>
<title>[Packt] Parking</title>
<script src="js/lib/angular.js"></script>
<script src="js/app.js"></script>
<script src="js/controllers.js"></script>
<script src="js/directives.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/app.css">
</head>
<body ng-controller="parkingCtrl">
<h3 ng-bind="appTitle"></h3>
<div ng-show="cars.length > 0">
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th>Plate</th>
<th>Color</th>
<th>Entrance</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr
ng-class="{selected: car.selected}"
ng-repeat="car in cars"
>
<td>
<input
type="checkbox"
ng-model="car.selected"
/>
</td>
<td><span ng-bind="car.plate"></span></td>
[ 26 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
<td><span ng-bind="car.color"></span></td>
<td><span ng-bind="car.entrance"></span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div ng-hide="cars.length > 0">
The parking lot is empty
</div>
<input
type="text"
ng-model="car.plate"
placeholder="What's the plate?"
/>
<select
ng-model="car.color"
ng-options="color for color in colors"
>
Pick a color
</select>
<button
ng-click="park(car)"
ng-disabled="!car.plate || !car.color"
>
Park
</button>
</body>
</html>
app.js
controllers.js
$scope.cars = [];
[ 27 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
Basically, it's the same process that we use for the controller; however, the directives
require the creation of something called Directive Definition Object that will be
used to configure the directive's behavior:
parking.directive("directiveName", function () {
return {
};
});
Our first challenge involves the creation of an alert component. Following this, there
is an image of the component that we are going to create together step by step:
The original code consists of a group of elements associated with some styles.
Our mission is to transform this code into a reusable directive using the following
directive configuration properties: template, templateUrl, replace, restrict,
scope, and transclude:
<div class="alert">
<span class="alert-topic">
Something went wrong!
</span>
<span class="alert-description">
You must inform the plate and the color of the car!
</span>
</div>
[ 28 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
template
Imagine the number of times you have had the same snippet of the HTML code
repeated over your application code. In the following code snippet, we are going to
create a new directive with the code to reuse this:
index.html
<div alert></div>
directives.js
parking.directive("alert", function () {
return {
template: "<div class='alert'>" +
"<span class='alert-topic'>" +
"Something went wrong!" +
"</span>" +
"<span class='alert-description'>" +
"You must inform the plate and the color of the car!" +
"</span>" +
"</div>"
};
});
The output, after AngularJS has compiled the directive, is the following:
<div alert="">
<div class="alert">
<span class="alert-topic">
Something went wrong!
</span>
<span class="alert-description">
You must inform the plate and the color of the car!
</span>
</div>
</div>
[ 29 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
templateUrl
There is another way to achieve the same goal with more quality. We just need
to move the HTML snippet to an isolated file and bind it using the templateUrl
property, as shown in the following code snippet:
index.html
<div alert></div>
directives.js
parking.directive("alert", function () {
return {
templateUrl: "alert.html"
});
alert.html
<div class="alert">
<span class="alert-topic">
Something went wrong!
</span>
<span class="alert-description">
You must inform the plate and the color of the car!
</span>
</div>
replace
Sometimes it might be interesting to discard the original element, where the directive
was attached, replacing it by the directive's template. This can be done by enabling
the replace property:
directives.js
parking.directive("alert", function () {
return {
templateUrl: "alert.html",
replace: true
};
});
[ 30 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
The following code is the compiled directive without the original element:
<div class="alert" alert="">
<span class="alert-topic">
Something went wrong!
</span>
<span class="alert-description">
You must inform the plate and the color of the car!
</span>
</div>
restrict
We attached our first directive by defining it as an attribute of the element. However,
when we create a new directive as a reusable component, it doesn't make much
sense. In this case, a better approach can restrict the directive to be an element.
Now, we just need to include this property in our directive, as shown in the
following snippet:
index.html
<alert></alert>
directives.js
parking.directive("alert", function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
templateUrl: "alert.html",
replace: true
};
});
[ 31 ]
Creating Reusable Components with Directives
Also, it is possible to combine more than one restriction at the same time by just
using a subset combination of EACM. If the directive is applied without the restrictions
configuration, it will be ignored by the framework.
scope
Our alert component is almost ready but it has a problem! The topic and the
description are hardcoded inside the component.
The best thing to do is to pass the data that needs to be rendered as a parameter.
In order to achieve this, we need to create a new property inside our directive
configuration object called scope.
Prefix Details
@ This prefix passes the data as a string.
= This prefix creates a bidirectional relationship between a controller's scope
property and a local scope directive property.
& This prefix binds the parameter with an expression in the context of
the parent scope. It is useful if you would like to provide some outside
functions to the directive.
In the following code snippet, we will configure some parameters inside the
alert directive:
index.html
<alert
topic="Something went wrong!"
description="You must inform the plate and the color of the
car!"
>
</alert>
directives.js
parking.directive("alert", function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
topic: '@topic',
description: '@description'
[ 32 ]
Module 1 Lesson 2
},
templateUrl: "alert.html",
replace: true
};
});
alert.html
<div class="alert">
<span class="alert-topic">
<span ng-bind="topic"></span>
</span>
<span class="alert-description">
<span ng-bind="description"></span>
</span>
</div>
The left-hand side contains the name of the parameter available inside the directive's
scope to be used in the template. The right-hand side contains the name of the
attribute declared in the element, whose value will contain the expression to link to
the property on the directive's template. By prefixing it with @, the literal value will
be used as a parameter.
Following this, we are using the = prefix in order to create a bidirectional relationship
between the controller and the directive. It means that every time anything changes
inside the controller, the directive will reflect these changes:
index.html
<alert
topic="alertTopic"
description="descriptionTopic"
>
</alert>
controllers.js
parking.controller("parkingCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.appTitle = "[Packt] Parking";
$scope.alertTopic = "Something went wrong!";
$scope.alertMessage = "You must inform the plate and the color
of the car!";
});
directives.js
[ 33 ]
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
“Thus ends the story of ‘floating down the Mississippi River on the
two logs of wood,’ which the War-chief alluded to in the question
he put to me this evening. On a subsequent occasion, some two or
three years afterwards, while sitting in the office of Governor Clark,
the superintendent of Indian affairs in St. Louis, where he was
holding ‘a talk’ with a party of Indians, a fine-looking fellow, of six
feet or more in stature, fixed his eyes intently upon me, and after
scanning me closely for a few moments, advanced, and seating
himself on the floor by the side of me, pronounced the word
‘Bobasheela,’ and asked me if ever I had received an arrow from
the quiver of an Indian warrior. The mutual recognition took place
by my acknowledging the fact, and a shake of the hand, and an
amusing conversation about the circumstances, and still the facts
and the amusement all kept to ourselves. This step led to the
future familiarities of our lives in the various places where the
nature of my business led me into his society, and gained for me
the regular adoption as Bobasheela (or Brother) and the badge
(the she-she-quoin, or Mystery Rattle) alluded to in the previous
remarks, and which, it has been already stated, was lost by the
sinking of one of my boats on the Cumberland River.”
There was a burst of laughter and mirth amongst the squaws and
others of us who had listened to this curious tale, and, as the reader
will easily decide, a great deal of pleasure produced by its relation.
The supper-table by this time was ready, and Bobasheela took a seat
by the side of his old friend. The author was also in the humour, and
joined them at their beef-steak and chickabobboo, and so did Mr.
Melody and Daniel, and all who had joined in the merriment of the
occasion of Bobasheela’s relation of the story of his going to the
wedding astride of the two logs of wood. After the supper was over,
and while the pipe was passing around, a number of other recitals of
adventures in the “Far-West” continued the amusements of the
evening to a late hour, when the author retired and left them to their
own jokes and their night’s rest.
The next morning after this was an exciting and bustling one, as all
were preparing, at an early hour, to visit the great brewery on that
day, as had been promised; and on their way back to see the Thames
Tunnel, and the treasures of the Tower of London. One will easily see
that here was a gigantic day’s work struck out, and that material
enough was at hand for my note-book. Bobasheela must be of this
party, and therefore was not left behind: with all in (except the two
bucks, who habitually went outside), the Indian bus, with four
horses, was a travelling music box as it passed rapidly through the
streets; and the clouds of smoke issuing from it at times often spread
the alarm that “she was all on fire within” as she went by. At the
brewery, where they had been invited by the proprietors, servants in
abundance were in readiness to turn upon their giant hinges the
great gates, and pass the carriage into the court; and at the entrance
to the grand fountain of chickabobboo there were servants to receive
them and announce their arrival, when they were met, and with the
greatest politeness and kindness led by one of the proprietors, and
an escort of ladies, through the vast labyrinths and mazes, through
the immense halls and courts, and under and over the dry-land
bridges and arches of this smoking, steeping, and steaming wonder
of the world, as they were sure to call it when they got home. The
vastness and completeness of this huge manufactory, or, in fact,
village of manufactures, illustrated and explained in all its parts and
all its mysterious modes of operation, formed a subject of
amazement in our own as well as the Indians’ minds—difficult to be
described, and never to be forgotten.
When the poor untutored Indians, from the soft and simple prairies
of the Missouri, seated themselves upon a beam, and were looking
into and contemplating the immensity of a smoking steeping-vat,
containing more than 3000 barrels, and were told that there were
130 others of various dimensions in the establishment—that the
whole edifice covered twelve acres of ground, and that there were
necessarily constantly on hand in their cellars 232,000 barrels of ale,
and also that this was only one of a great number of breweries in
London, and that similar manufactories were in every town in the
kingdom, though on a less scale, they began, almost for the first time
since their arrival, to evince profound astonishment; and the
fermentation in their minds, as to the consistency of white man’s
teachings of temperance and manufacturing and selling ale, seemed
not less than that which was going on in the vast abyss below them.
The pipe was lit and passed around while they were in this
contemplative mood, and as their ears were open, they got, in the
meantime, further information of the wonderful modes and
operations of this vast machine; and also, in round numbers, read
from a report by one of the proprietors, the quantity of ale consumed
in the kingdom annually. Upon hearing this, which seemed to cap the
climax of all their astonishment, they threw down the pipe, and
leaping into an empty vat, suddenly dissipated the pain of their
mental calculations by joining in the Medicine (or Mystery) Dance.
Their yells and screaming echoing through the vast and vapouring
halls, soon brought some hundreds of maltsmen, grinders, firers,
mashers, ostlers, painters, coopers, &c., peeping through and
amongst the blackened timbers and casks, and curling and hissing
fumes, completing the scene as the richest model for the infernal
regions.
Every reader will paint (and must paint) this picture for himself,
imagining the steeping vapour everywhere rising in curling clouds of
white towards the blackened walls, and timbers, and wheels, and
stairways, and arches, and bridges, and casks, and from amongst
and between all of these, the blackened faces and glaring eyeballs
piercing through the steam, upon the unusual, and to them as yet
unaccountable, fermentation going on (to the admiration and
amusement of those who were in the secret) in the empty vat! At the
end of their dance, a foaming mug of the delicious was passed
around, enabling them more easily and lightly to comprehend the
wonders of this mighty scene; and after they had finished their
round, and seen its varied mysteries, a huge and delicious beefsteak,
and foaming mugs of the cream of chickabobboo, prepared for them
by the kind lady of one of the proprietors of the establishment, soon
smoothed off all the edges of their astonishment; and after the war-
dance and the war-whoop, given to please the ladies, they again
passed under the huge arches and gateways, and took their omnibus
for a visit to the Tower.
The mood in which these good-natured fellows had left the brewery
was a very merry one; they had got just ale enough for the present
emergency, and seen an abundant and infallible source at the great
fountain of chickabobboo to ensure them a constant supply, and
seemed, as they passed along the streets, to be pleased with
everything they saw. They met the man again with the “big nose,”
and succeeded in stopping the bus to take a good look at his
wonderful proboscis. As the bus stopped, he, like many others, came
up to catch a glimpse of the red skins, and they all declared, on close
examination, that his nose at least must have been begot by a
potato; for, as the women had before said, they could distinctly see
the sprouts, and Jim and the Doctor both insisted, that “if it were
planted it would sprout and grow.”
They stopped the bus again to speak with some poor Lascars
sweeping the streets; it was difficult to get any interpretation from
them, though the Indians tried their own language on both sides, but
in vain; they gave them fifteen shillings, and passed on.
The Tower, from its outward appearance, did not seem to excite in
them any extravagant expectation of what they were to see within its
gloomy walls. They remarked, when going in, that “they were going
to prison;” and they were of opinion, no doubt, that it consisted of
little else, as they had as yet heard no other description of it than
that it was the “Tower of London” and they were going to see it. Poor
fellows! they guessed right; they knew not of the illustrious prisoners
who had pined within its gloomy walls, nor of the blood that had
been shed within and around it. They went to see, and had enough
to engage all their thoughts and attention without referring to the
events of history. We were kindly conducted through the different
rooms, and most of its curiosities explained to us. The “small-arms
room,” containing 200,000 muskets, had been burned. The “horse
armoury” seemed to afford them much delight; the thousands of
various spears and lances, they thought, presented some beautiful
models for Indian warfare, and hunting the buffaloes. The beheading
block, on which Lords Balmerino, Kilmarnock, and Lovat were
beheaded in the Tower in 1746, attracted their attention, and the axe
that severed the head of Anne Boleyn.
In the Regalia Room, the crown of her Majesty and four other
crowns, the sceptres and staffs, and orbs, swords of justice, swords
of mercy, royal spurs, salts, baptismal fonts, &c., in massive gold and
brilliant stones, seemed rather to disappoint than to astonish them;
and to us, who knew better than they did the meaning and value of
these magnificent treasures, there seemed a striking incongruity in
the public exhibition of them in so confined and humble an
apartment.
The Thames Tunnel was our next object, and a drive of a quarter of
an hour brought us to the dismal neighbourhood of its entrance.
Paying our fees, and descending some hundred or more steps by a
spiral staircase, we were ready to enter the tunnel. Walking through
its gloomy halls, and spending a few shillings for toys protruded
under our faces at every rod we advanced, by young women sitting
at their little stalls under each of its arches, we at length ascended an
equal number of steps, and came to the light of day on the opposite
side of the Thames; and in the midst of one of the most
unintelligible, forlorn, and forsaken districts of London or the world,
we waited half an hour or more for our omnibus to make its circuit
across the bridge and take us up. We sauntered and loitered our way
through, and as long as we were passing this monster speculation of
the world, we met, to the best of our recollection, but four or five
persons passing through, who had paid their penny a-head for the
privilege.
While waiting for the bus, some “on-the-spot” remarks were made by
the Indians, which I thought had some sound sense in them. They
thought it must have cost a great deal of money, and believed it was
too far out of London ever to pay; and they did not see that it was
any curiosity for them, as they had passed through several on the
railway ten times as long. They did not think, however, that it need
be time and money thrown away, as “they thought it might make a
first-rate place to twist ropes.” These and other remarks they were
making about the great tunnel as we were jogging along towards
home, and evidently somewhat surprised that we should have excited
their curiosity so high about it.
On our return, after this fatiguing day’s work was finished, their
dinner was ready; and after that their pipe was smoked, a nap taken,
and then their accustomed amusements in the Egyptian Hall. Their
supper was the next thing, and with it their mug of chickabobboo,
then their pipe, passing around as they all reclined on their buffalo
robes on the floor, and then began the gossip about the sights they
had seen and incidents they had witnessed during the day.
This extraordinary day’s rambling had taken them across more
bridges and through a greater number of crooked and narrow streets
than they had passed on any former occasion, which brought the
Doctor to one of the first and shrewdest remarks of the evening. He
said “he thought from all that he had seen, sitting on top of the bus
all day, that the English people had the best way in the world for
crossing rivers, but he thought their paths were many of them too
narrow and much too crooked.”
“The poor people, and those who seemed to be drunk, were much
more numerous than they had seen them in any other of their
drives;” and they were counting the money left in their pouches to
see how much they had thrown out to the poor. They soon agreed
that “they had given away something more than thirty shillings,
which they thought would do a great deal of good, and the Great
Spirit would reward them for it.”
The Doctor and Jim, the everlasting cronies, on the outside, were
comparing their estimates of the numbers they had counted of the
“Kon-to-too-ags (fighters with one horn)[26] that they had seen over
the doors and shops as they had passed along, which they had been
looking at every day since they came to London, but had never yet
been able quite to learn the meaning of,” and also “the totems (arms,
as they supposed) of great chiefs, so beautifully painted and put out
between their chamber windows.”
The Doctor said “he believed the white people had got this custom
from the Indians, as it was the habit of the great chiefs and warriors
to put their ‘totems’ over their wig-wam doors, but when they did so,
they always put out scalps on certain days, to show what they had
done. He had watched these totems in London as he had been riding,
in all sorts of weather, and as he had seen no scalps or anything
hung out by the side of them, he couldn’t exactly see how all these
people were entitled to them; still, it might all be right.” Daniel put
the Doctor’s inquiries all at rest on the subject of totems and the
“one-horn fighters,” by telling him that if he would wait a little until
Mr. Catlin and Mr. Melody had gone, he would give him the whole
history of white men’s totems, how they got them and the use they
made of them; and he would also tell him all about the “Lion and the
Unicorn fighting for the Crown,” &c.
The Doctor here made some comments on the great white war-chief
(the Duke of Wellington) who had been pointed out to them on
horseback as they passed him in the street, and his wig-wam was
also shown to them (i.e. to the Doctor and Jim as they sat outside
with the driver). He was disposed to learn something more of him,
and Daniel silenced him by saying, “Let that alone too for awhile, and
I will tell you all about him.”
Daniel and Jim I found at this time very busily engaged in a corner of
the room, with a candle on the floor; whilst Daniel was entering in a
little book the astonishing estimates given us at the brewery, of the
quantity of ale on hand, the size and number of the vats, and the
almost incredible quantity consumed in the kingdom each year. Jim,
as I have before said, was the only one of the party who seemed
ambitious to civilize; and as he was daily labouring to learn
something of the English language, he had this day conceived the
importance of instituting a little book of entries in which he could
carry home, to enlighten his people, something like a brief statistical
account of the marvellous things he was seeing, and was to see,
amongst the white people.
Daniel had at this moment finished entering into it the estimates of
the brewery and chickabobboo, which had opened their eyes wider,
perhaps, than anything else they had seen; and he had very wisely
left a few blank pages in the beginning of the book for other
retrospective notes and estimates of things they had already seen
since the day they left home. Jim’s Journal was thus established, and
he was, with Daniel’s aid, to become a sort of historian to the party;
and as the sequel will show, he became stimulated thereby to greater
exertions to see and to understand what was curious and interesting,
and to get estimates of the beauties and blessings of civilization to
carry home. He laboured from that moment indefatigably, not to
write or to read, but to speak; and made rapid progress, as will be
seen hereafter, having known, as he said, but two English sentences
when he came to England, which were, “How do do?” and “God
dam.”
CHAPTER XXII.
The Ioways in Vauxhall Gardens—Surrey Theatre—Carter in the lions’ cage—
Astonishment of the Indians—Indians in the Diving Bell, at the Polytechnic
Institution—Indians riding—Shooting at target on horseback—Ball-play
—“Jolly fat dame”—Ladies converse with the Doctor—His reasons for not
marrying—Curious questions—Plurality of wives—Amusing scene—The
Author in Indian costume—A cruel experiment—Ioways arrive in Birmingham
—The Author’s arrival there—Society of Friends—Indians all breakfast with
Mr. Joseph Sturge—Kind treatment—Conversation after breakfast about
religion and education—Reply of the War-chief—The button-factory of Turner
and Sons—Generous presents to the Indians—Bobasheela arrives—Indians
dividing their buttons—Doctor found on top of the Shakespeare Buildings—
Indians’ kindness to a beggar-woman—Poor-houses—Many Friends visit the
Indians—Indians’ visit to Miss Catherine Hutton—Her great age—Her
kindness—Dinner—Her presents to them in money—Parting scene—The War-
chief’s speech to her—Her letters to the Author—Indians present to the two
hospitals 370 dollars—Address read by the Presidents to the Indians—
Doctor’s reply—Indians start for York—A fox-hunt—Curious notions of
Indians about it—Visit to York Minster—Ascend the grand tower—Visit to the
castle and prison—Museum of the instruments of murder—Alarm of the
Doctor—Kindness of the governor of the castle and his lady—Indians’ ideas
of imprisonment for debt, and punishment for murder.
The scene of the Indians’ amusements was now changed from the
Egyptian Hall to the open air in Vauxhall Gardens, and their dances
and other exercises were given in the afternoon. Their lodgings were
also changed at the same time to the buildings within the enclosure
of the gardens. This arrangement was one of very great pleasure to
the Indians, as it allowed a free space to exercise in during their
leisure hours, amongst trees and shrubbery, affording them almost a
complete resumption of Indian life in the wilderness, as they had the
uninterrupted range of the gardens during the hours that the public
were not there to witness their amusements. This arrangement was
pleasing to them in another respect, and to us also, as there were
many things they were yet anxious to see in London, and which, as
they could only be seen at night, our former arrangements had
entirely precluded them from seeing. Under these new arrangements
they still had their omnibus drives, and at night attended the parties
of numerous friends who had been desirous to show them some
attentions, and also were taken to several instructive exhibitions, and
to two or three of the principal theatres.
We were then in the vicinity of the Surrey Theatre, where Mr. Carter,
“the lion-tamer,” invited them several times to witness his wonderful
feat of going into the lion’s cage. This scene was one of the most
impressive and exciting nature to them, and will probably be as long
recollected by them as the wonders opened to their minds at the
fountain of chickabobboo.
The Polytechnic Institution was one I took great pleasure in
accompanying them to; and a scene of much amusement for a
numerous audience as well as amusing and astonishing to
themselves, was that of their descending in the diving-bell. They
were at first afraid of it, but after the Doctor had made a descent
with me, and come out unhurt and unwet, several others went down
with Mr. Melody, others with Jeffrey—the old War-chief with his old
friend Bobasheela, and so on, until every one of the party, men,
women, and children, went down and experienced the curious
sensation of that (to them) greatest of medicine affairs.
In Vauxhall Gardens the Indians erected their four wig-wams of
buffalo hides, and in darting into and about them during their various
games and amusements, whilst the blue smoke was curling out of
their tops, presented one of the most complete and perfect
illustrations of an Indian encampment that could possibly have been
designed. It was the thing itself, and the very men, women, and
children living and acting on a similar green turf, as they do on the
prairies of the Missouri.
In the amusements as there given, there was an addition to those
which had been made in Lord’s Cricket-ground some weeks before,
having in Vauxhall brought horses in to add, with equestrian
exercises, to the completion of all the modes practised by this tribe.
The Ioways, like most of the Indians of the prairies of America,
subsist upon the food of the buffalo, and kill them from their horses’
backs, with their bows and arrows, while running at full speed. In the
same manner they meet their enemies in battle, in which they carry
their shield and lance. Thus fully equipped, with their own native
shields and lances, and bows, and even the saddles and trappings for
their horses, they all mounted upon their backs, in the midst of their
amusements, and dashing off at full speed, illustrated their modes of
drawing the bow as they drove their arrows into the target, or made
their warlike feints at it with their long lances as they passed.
This formed the most attractive part of their exhibition, and
thousands flocked there to witness their powers of horsemanship and
skill in prairie warfare. This exciting exhibition which pleased the
visitors, I could have wished might have been less fatiguing, and
even dangerous, to the limbs of the Indians than it actually was from
the awkwardness and perverseness and fright of the horses, not
trained to Indian modes. With all these difficulties to contend with,
however, they played their parts cheerfully and well, and the
spectators seemed highly pleased. Amidst the throngs who visited
them here, we could discover most of their old standard friends and
admirers, who came to see them on horseback, and in the beautiful
game of ball, in the open grounds of Vauxhall, where they could
more easily approach and converse with them; and amongst such,
the “jolly fat dame” was present, and more pleased than ever, when
she could catch the Doctor’s smile as he passed by her at full speed,
and raising his shield of buffalo’s hide upon his arm, he darted his
long lance in feints at her breast, and sounded the piercing war-cry.
The vanity of the Doctor was so well suited in this mode of the
exhibition, where he could dash by ranks and files, and even
phalanxes of ladies, with the endless flourishes of his shield and
lance, that he soon began to exhibit convincing evidences that his
ambition and his vanity were too much for his bodily resources, which
it became necessary to replenish occasionally by refusing him his
horse, on which occasions he made good use of his time, by placing
himself, wrapped in his robe, with his fan in his hand, by the side of
the ladies, with whom he could exchange by this time a few words,
and many significant looks and gestures, which never failed to
amuse, and seldom failed to operate upon their generous feelings,
which were constantly adding to the contents of his tobacco pouch,
which was now known to be a reservoir for money and trinkets of
various kinds, instead of tobacco.
I happened to be by the side of the Doctor on one of these
occasions, when I became so much amused with the questions and
answers, that I immediately after retired and committed them to my
note book. A number of jolly fat dames, of middle and knowing age,
had drawn themselves around the Doctor, and looking over their
shoulders and under their arms, a number of delicate and coy little
girls. And having called Jeffrey to translate, they were enabled to get
the gist of all he said, without loss from modesty or evasion, which
seemed to be exactly what they most desired. His friend Jim having
seen him thus enveloped, turned his horse loose and came to his aid
(or countenance), and as the old man hesitated, Jim gave him the
nod and the wink to be plain in his replies. They had first asked him if
he was married? to which he replied “No.” They then asked him why
he did not get him a wife? he said “He had always been very
particular about giving offence to the women, and he had feared that
if he selected one in preference to the others, that the others would
all be offended.” This queer reply raised a great laugh amongst the
crowd, and encouraged the Doctor to go on. Some one of the ladies
then told him she feared he did not admire the ladies enough? he
said, “he had always believed that the reason he did not get married
was, that he admired them too much; he saw so many that he
wanted, that he had never decided which to take, and so had taken
none.” Melody came up at this time, and seemed a little vexed, and
said, “Catlin, you had better call that old fool away, those people will
spoil him, he is quite vain enough now.” “Oh, no,” said I, “let him
alone, he is gratifying the ladies, and we shall see, in a few moments,
which is the fool, he or the ladies who are questioning him.” Melody
smiled, and looked on.
“I have been told,” said one of the ladies, “that some of the Indians
have a number of wives: is that so?”
“Yes,” the Doctor replied in English, “sometimes have a heap.” (The
ladies all laughed.) Two or three inquired what a “heap” was? Jeffrey
said, “Why, ma'am, it is what in our country means a ‘lot:’ you know
what they call a ‘lot’ here?” “Oh, yes! it means a great many.” “Yes, a
number.” “Well, tell the Doctor I want to know what they do with so
many?”
Here the poor Doctor was quite at a loss to know what to say; one
thing he was sure to do—he smiled—and it seemed as if he wished
that to go for an answer: and it might have done so with most of her
sex, but in this instance it was not quite satisfactory, and the
question was again put: to which the big-mouthed Jim, who I said
had come to the relief of his friend, and who had a wife of his own,
put in an instant reply, which relieved the Doctor, and seemed very
much to embarrass the lady, for she instantly added, (as all were
bursting with laughter,) “That isn’t what I mean: I want to know how
a chief can get along with so many, how he can manage them all,
and keep them in good humour and satisfied; for,” said she, “in this
country, one is quite as much as a man can manage.”
This seemed to afford the Doctor a little relief, and he was evidently
able to go on again, as he smilingly said, “It was quite easy, as Indian
women were much more peaceable and quiet than white women, it
was much more easy he thought to manage them; they drank no
chickabobboo, and therefore did not require so much watching as
white women.”
The lady seemed quite balked in the debate she was about entering
on with the Doctor, from her ignorance of the meaning of
chickabobboo, and asked for an explanation of it, as if for all the
company about; to which Jim put in (again in plain English), “Gin!”
“Oh! Doctor,” said she, “I hope you don’t accuse the ladies of London
of drinking gin?” The Doctor replied, that “he had not seen them do
it, but that he had been told that they did, and that it was the reason
why the ladies here grew so large and so fat.” He said, “that they
could always look out of the windows, where he lived, and just before
going to bed they could see any night a hundred women going home
with pitchers full of it, to drink after they got into bed, so as to sleep
sound: and that one night, coming home in their carriage at a late
hour, from a distance, where they had been to see a show, he and
Jim had counted more than three hundred women running along in
the street, with pitchers filled with it in their hands, to drink as they
were going to bed.”
The lady’s explanation of this, that “It was only harmless ale that
these women were carrying in for their masters and mistresses,”
excited the Doctor’s smiles, but no reply.
She seemed not satisfied yet about the first subject that she had
started, and reverting to it again, said, “Well, Doctor, I can’t excuse
the Indians for having so many wives. I like the Indians very much,
but I don’t like that custom they have; I think it is very cruel and very
wicked. Don’t you think it is wrong?”
The Doctor studied a moment, and replied, “that it might be wrong,
but if it was, he didn’t see that it was any worse than for white
women to have a number of husbands.” “But what, Doctor, what do
you mean? I hope you have not so bad an opinion of white women
as that?” To this he very coolly replied, “that when they drank a great
deal of gin, he believed, from what he had seen in his practice, that a
woman would require more than one husband; and that since he had
been in London he had seen many walking in the streets, and some
riding in fine carriages, whom he thought, from their looks, must
have more than one husband: and from what he had been told, he
believed that many women in London had a heap!” “That’s a lot!”
(cried out a very pretty little girl, who had been listening, and,
frightened at her own unintentional interpretation, started to run.)
“Come, come, Catlin,” said Melody, “pull the old fellow out, and take
him away;” and so the debate ended, amidst a roar of laughter from
all sides.
One more of the hundred little reminiscences of Vauxhall, and we will
leave it. I have already said, that in the spacious apartments of
Vauxhall, unoccupied, the Indians were quartered, and took their
meals; and during the forepart of the day, between their breakfast
and the hour of their afternoon exhibitions, their time was mostly
spent in strolling around the grounds, or at their varied amusements.
Many of my personal friends finding this a pleasing opportunity to see
them, were in the habit of coming in, and amusing themselves with
them. I had accidentally heard of a party of ladies preparing to come
on a certain morning, some of them my esteemed friends, and others
strangers to me: and from a wish to get relieved from a fatiguing
conversation, as well as from a still stronger desire for amusement, I
selected from my wardrobe a very splendid dress, head-gear and all
complete, and fully arranged myself in Indian costume, “cap-à-pied,”
with face fully painted, and weapons in hand; and at the hour of their
arrival in the house, took care to be strolling about in the grounds
with Wash-ka-mon-ya (Jim). Whilst the ladies were amused with the
party in the house, where there were constant inquiries for me, two
of them observing us two beaus sauntering about in the garden,
came out to keep us company, and to talk to us, and with
themselves, in the English language, which of course we Indians
knew nothing of: when we shook our heads to their inquiries, “Do
you speak English, good Indians?” I saw they did not recognize me,
yet I trembled for fear, for they were lovely women, and every
sentence almost which they uttered would have made the discovery
more cruel: we held ourselves dignified and dumb; whilst they, poor
things, were so much regretting that we could not understand what
they said. They finished their visit to us and their remarks, and
returned, leaving me to regret my folly upon which I had
thoughtlessly entered.
Several weeks were spent in their daily exhibitions in Vauxhall, and,
as one can easily imagine, much to the satisfaction of the Indians,
and, I believe, much to the amusement of the visitors who came to
see them. Within the last week of their exhibition I admitted from
charity schools 32,000 children, with their teachers, free of charge; to
all of whom I gave instructive lectures on the position of the tribe,
their condition, their customs and character: and explained also the
modes, which were acted out by 14 living Indians before their eyes;
and but one of these schools ever communicated with me after, to
thank me for the amusement or instruction; which might not have
been a curious omission, but I thought it was, at the time.
With the amusements at Vauxhall ended my career in London; and
contemplating a tour to several of the provincial towns, in company
with the Indians, I took my little family to Brighton, and having left
them comfortably situated and provided for, I joined the party in
Birmingham, where they had arrived and taken lodgings. The idea of
moving about pleased the Indians very much, and I found them all in
high spirits when I arrived, delighted to have found that the
chickabobboo was the same there as in London, and was likely to
continue much the same in all parts of the kingdom to which they
should go. There was an unfortunate offset to this pleasing
intelligence, however, which seemed to annoy them very much, and
of which they were making bitter complaint. On leaving London for
the country, they had spent some days, and exercised all their
ingenuity, in endeavouring to clean their beautiful skin dresses, which
the soot of London had sadly metamorphosed; and on arriving in
Birmingham they had the extreme mortification to anticipate, from
appearances, an equal destruction of that soft and white surface
which they give to their skin dresses, and which (though it had been
entirely lost sight of during the latter part of their stay in London)
had, with great pains, been partially restored for a more pleasing
appearance in the country.
Though I had several times passed through Birmingham, and on one
occasion stopped there a day or two, I entered this time a total
stranger, and in rather a strange and amusing manner. On my
journey there by the railway, I had fallen in company and
conversation with a very amusing man, who told me he was a
commercial traveller, and we had had so much amusing chat
together, that when we arrived, at a late hour at night, I was quite
happy to follow his advice as to the quarters we were to take up in
the town, at least for the night. He said it was so late that the hotels
would be closed, and that the commercial inn, where he was going,
was the only place open, and I should find there everything to make
me comfortable, and a very nice sort of people. We took an omnibus
for town, and as there was only room for one inside, he got upon the
top, and so we went off; and getting, as I supposed, into or near the
middle of the town, the bus stopped at a “commercial inn,” which
was open, and lighted up in front, and a number of passengers
getting out, and others down from the top, I was seeing to get my
luggage in safe, and the omnibus drove off with my jolly companion
still on the top; or this I presumed, as he was not left behind. My
only alternative now was, to make the best of it, and be as
comfortable as I could; so I got into the “commercial room,” and
having been told that I should have a bed, I felt quite easy, and told
the plump, tidy little landlady, who was waiting upon me herself, that
I would have a mug of ale and a biscuit, and then be ready to go to
bed. As she turned round to execute my command, she met a party
consisting of three young women, and a man leading one of them on
his arm, and in his hands carrying three or four carpet-bags and
band-boxes, just got down from the same bus, and entering the inn
on the same errand that I was on. “ Madam,” said he, “what have
you?”—“Hevery-think, sir, that you can wish.” “Well, one thing we
must have, that is, two beds.”—“They are ready, sir.” “Well, ladies,”
said he, “suppose we take a drop of wet.” This agreed to, the “wet”
was brought in in a moment, and also my mug of ale.
A very genteel-looking little man whom I had seen in the same
carriage with me, and now sitting in the room before me, with his
carpet-bag by the side of him, and his umbrella in his hand,
addressed me, “Stranger, you’ll allow me.”—“Certainly, sir.” “I think I
heard you tell a gentleman in the carriage that you were from New
York.”—“Yes, I did so.” “I’m from there. I left there four months ago,
and I’ve gone ahead, or I’ll be shot. How long have you bin from
there, sir?”—“About five years.” “Hell! there’s been great fixins there
in that time; you’d scarcely know New York now; look here, isn’t this
the darndest strange country you ever saw in your life? rot ’em, I
can’t get ’em to do anything as I want it done; they are the greatest
set of numskulls I ever saw; now see, that little snub of a petticoat
that’s just gone out there, I suppose she is cock of the walk here too;
she’s been all civility to you, but I’ve had a hell of a blow up with her;
I was in here not five minutes before you by the watch, and I spoke
for a bed and a mug of ale; she brought me the ale, and I told her to
bring me a tumbler and a cracker, and she turned upon me in a hell
of a flare-up. She said she was very much obliged to me for my
himpudence, she didn’t allow crackers in her house, and as for
’tumblers,' they were characters she never had anything to do with,
thank God; they were a low set of creatures, and they never got any
favour about her house. She wanted to know what quarter I came
from. I told her I wasn’t from any quarter, I was from half—half the
globe, by God, and the better half too—wasn’t I right, stranger? She
said her house was a hinn, to be sure, but she didn’t hentertain
blackguards, so there was my hale, and I might drink it hup and be
hoff, and be anged, and then she cut her string quicker than
lightning; now isn’t she a hard un? I don’t suppose there is another
house open in this darned outlandish place at this time of the night;
what the devil shall I do? you are fixed snug enough.” “Oh, well,
never mind,” said I, “be quite easy, it is settled in a moment,”—as I
rung the bell. The tidy little landlady came in again, and I said, “This
gentleman will have a glass if you please, and a biscuit.”—“Hif he was
a gentleman, Sir,” said she, “but I assure you, Sir, is beaviour as'nt
been much like it.” “Well, well,” said I, “never mind it now, you will be
good friends after a little better understanding—he comes from a
country where a glass is a tumbler and a biscuit is a cracker: now, if
you had known this, there would have been no difficulty between
you.” “Ho, that I hadmit, but it’s very hodd.” “Never mind that, you
will find him a good fellow, and give him his bed.” “Is bed, Sir?—hit’s
too late; it’s been hoccupied hever since you entered the ouse—the
only chance his for you and im to turn hin.” “Well,” said I, “never
mind, he and I will manage that; it is after midnight, and I suppose
the other houses are all shut?” “I’ll hanswer for that: hif you are
ready, gentlemen, I’ll show you hup.” My friend kept by my side, but
knowing the gloomy fate that awaited him if he got into the street
again, he kept entirely quiet until the little landlady was down stairs.
“There,” said he, “isn’t she a roarer? I could have settled the hash
with her myself in a twinkling, if she had only let me have said five
words, but her tongue run so slick that I couldn’t get the half of a
word in edgewise.”
My new acquaintance and I talked a little more before we “turned in,”
but much more after we had got into bed. He could command words
and ideas fast enough when he was on his feet; but I found in him
something of Jim’s peculiarity, that he thought much faster and
stronger when on his back; and for half an hour or so I reaped the
benefit of the improvement. How long I heard him, and how much he
actually said, I never could tell exactly; but what he said before I
went to sleep I always distinctly recollected, and a mere sentence or
two of it was as follows:—“Well, stranger, here we are: this is droll,
ain’t it? ‘hodd,’ as the landlady would call it. I’d a been in the streets
to-night as sure as catgut if it hadn’t been for you. God knows I am
obliged to you. Youv'e got a sort o’ way o’ gettin' along ur' these ere
darned, ignorant, stupid sort o’ beings. I can’t do it: dod rot 'em! they
put me out at every step; they are so eternally ignorant; did you ever
see the like? I suppose you are going to stop awhile in Birmingham?”
“A few days.” “I shall be here a week, and be bright and early enough
to get into a decenter house than this is, and be glad to join you. I
was told in London that the Ioway Indians went on here yesterday.
I’m damned anxious to meet them: you’ve seen them, I suppose?”
“Yes, I saw them in London.” “Well, I did not; I was just too late; but
I must go and look 'em up to-morrow: they know me.” “Then you
have seen them'?” “Oh, dam 'em, yes: I’ve known 'em for several
years: they’ll be at home with me at once. I’ve run buffaloes with
White-Cloud, the chief, many and many a time. He and I have
camped out more than once. They are a fine set of fellows. I’m going
to spend some time with them in Birmingham. I know 'em like a
book. Oh yes, they’ll know me quick enough. I was all through their
country. I went clean up Lake Superior, nearly to Hudson’s Bay. I saw
all the Chippeways, and the Black-feet, and the Crows, Catlin’s old
friends. By the way, Catlin, I’m told, is with these Indians, or was,
when they were in London—he’s all sorts of a man.” “Have you seen
him?” “Seen him? why, dam it, I raised him, as the saying is: I have
known him all my life. I met him a number of times in the Prairie
country; he’s a roarer.” This was about the last that I distinctly
recollected before going to sleep; and the next morning my vigilant
and wide-awake little bedfellow, being about the room a little before
me, where my name was conspicuous on my carpet bag and writing-
desk, &c., had from some cause or other thought it would be less
trouble and bother to wend his way amongst these “stupid and
ignorant beings” alone, than to encounter the Indians and Mr. Catlin,
and endeavour to obliterate the hasty professions he had made; and
therefore, when I came down and called for breakfast for two, the
landlady informed me that my companion had paid his bill and left at
an early hour. I was rather sorry for this, for he was quite an amusing
little man, and I have never heard of him since.
I found the dumpy little landlady kindly disposed, and she gave me a
very good breakfast, amusing me a great deal with anecdotes of the
party who called for “a little bit of wet;” she informed me they were a
wedding-party, and the man who had the lady on his arm was the
bride-groom. While waiting for my breakfast I was much amused with
some fun going on in the street before the window. It seems that the
house directly opposite had been taken by a couple of tidy-looking
young women who were sisters, and that, having established a
millinery business on the lower floor, they had several apartments
which they were anxious to underlet in order to assist them in paying
their heavy rent. Young gentlemen are everywhere in this country
considered the most desirable lodgers, as they give less trouble than
any others, are less of the time at home, and generally pay best.
These young adventurers had been therefore anxious to get such a
class of lodgers in their house, and had, the day before, employed a
sign-painter to paint a conspicuous board, in bright and glaring
letters, which was put up on a post erected in the little garden in
front of their house, near the gate. The announcement ran, when the
young ladies retired to bed, “Lodgings for single gentlemen”—a
customary and very innocent way of offering apartments; but owing
to the cruelty of some wag during the night it was found in the
morning, to the great amusement of the collected crowd, to read,
“Longings for single gentlemen.” How long this continued to amuse
the passers-by, or how it might have affected the future prospects of
the poor girls, I cannot of course tell, as I forthwith proceeded to a
more pleasant part of the town. Birmingham I found on further
acquaintance to be one of the pleasantest towns I visited in the
kingdom, and its hotels and streets generally very different from
those into which my commercial travelling acquaintance had that
night led me.
Mr. Melody had all things prepared for our exhibition when I arrived,
having taken the large hall in the Shakspeare Buildings, and also
procured rooms for the Indians to sleep in in the same establishment.
The Indians and myself were kindly received in Birmingham, for
which, no doubt, they, like myself, will long feel grateful. The work
which I had published had been extensively read there, and was an
introduction of the most pleasing kind to me, and the novelty and
wildness of the manners of the Indians enough to ensure them much
attention.
In their exhibition room, which was nightly well attended, we
observed many of the Society of Friends, whom we could always
easily distinguish by their dress, and also more easily by the kind
interest they expressed and exhibited, whenever opportunity
occurred, for the welfare of those poor people. The Indians, with
their native shrewdness and sagacity, at once discovered from their
appearance and manner that they were a different class of people
from any they had seen, and were full of inquiries about them. I told
them that these were of the same society as their kind friend Dr.
Hodgkin, whom they so often saw in London, who is at the head of
the Aborigines Protection Society, who was the first person in
England to invite them to his table, and whom the reader will
recollect they called Ichon-na Wap-pa(the straight coat); that they
were the followers of the great William Penn, whom I believed they
had heard something about. They instantly pronounced the name of
“Penn, Penn,” around the room, convincing me, as nearly every tribe
I ever visited in the remotest wildernesses in America had done, that
they had heard, and attached the greatest reverence to, the name of
Penn.
These inquiries commenced in their private room one evening after
the exhibition had closed, and they had had an interview in the
exhibition room with several ladies and gentlemen of that society,
and had received from them some very valuable presents. They all
agreed that there was something in their manners and in their mode
of shaking hands with them that was more kind and friendly than
anything they had met amongst other people; and this I could see
had made a sensible impression upon them.
I took this occasion to give them, in a brief way, an account of the
life of the immortal William Penn; of his good faith and kindness in all
his transactions with the Indians, and the brotherly love he had for
them until his death. I also gave them some general ideas of the
Society of Friends in this country, from whom the great William Penn
came;—that they were the friends of all the human race; that they
never went to war with any people; that they therefore had no
enemies; they drink no spirituous liquors; that in America and this
country they were unanimously the friends of the Indians; and I was
glad to find that in Birmingham we were in the midst of a great many
of them, with whom they would no doubt become acquainted. There
were here some inquiries about the religion of the Friends, which I
told them was the Christian religion, which had been explained to
them; that they were all religious and charitable, and, whatever
religion the Indians might prefer to follow, these good people would
be equally sure to be their friends. They seemed, after this, to feel an
evident pleasure whenever they saw parties of Friends entering the
room: they at once recognised them whenever they came in, and, on
retiring to their own room, counted up the numbers that had
appeared, and made their remarks upon them. In one of these
conversations I pleased them very much by reading to them a note
which I had just received from Mr. Joseph Sturge, with whom I had
been acquainted in London, and who was now residing in
Birmingham, inviting me to bring the whole party of Indians to his
house to breakfast the next morning. I told them that Mr. Sturge was
a very distinguished man, and one of the leading men of the Society
of Friends. This pleased them all exceedingly, and at the hour
appointed this kind gentleman’s carriages were at the door to convey
the party to his house. Mr. Melody and Jeffrey accompanied us, and
there were consequently seventeen guests to be seated at this
gentleman’s hospitable board, besides a number of his personal
friends who were invited to meet the Indians. After receiving all in
the most cordial manner, he read a chapter in his Bible, and then we
were invited to the table. This interview elicited much interesting
conversation, and gained for the Indians and Mr. Melody many warm
and useful friends.
Before taking leave, the War-chief arose, and, offering his hand to Mr.
Sturge, made the following remarks:—
“My Friend,—The Great Spirit, who does everything that is good,
has inclined your heart to be kind to us; and, first of all, we thank
Him for it.
“The Chief, White Cloud, who sits by me, directs me to say that
we are also thankful to you for this notice you have taken of us,
poor and ignorant people, and we shall recollect and not forget it.
“We hope the Great Spirit will be kind to you all. I have no more
to say.”
The simplicity of this natural appeal to the Great Spirit, and its close
(in which they were commended by the poor and unenlightened
Indian of the wilderness to the care and kindness of their God),
seemed to create surprise in the minds of the audience, and to
excite in the Indians’ behalf a deep and lively interest.
After the breakfast and conversation were over, the whole party was
kindly sent back by the same carriages, and the Indians returned in
a state of perfect delight with the treatment they had met with, and
the presents they had received.
Poor Jim (the student and recorder) was anxious that I should write
down the name of William Penn in his book, and also that of the
gentleman who had just entertained us, that he might be able to
repeat them correctly when he got back to the wilderness again, and
have something to say about them.
We found on our return that the hour of another engagement was at
hand, and carriages were soon prepared to take us to the button-
factory of Messrs. Turner and Son, to which we had been kindly
invited; and on our arrival we found ourselves most cordially
received and entertained. The proprietor led the party through every
room in his extensive establishment, and showed them the whole
process of striking the buttons and medals from various dies, which
pleased them very much, and, after showing and explaining to them
all the different processes through which they passed in their
manufacture, led them into his ware-room or magazine, where his
stock on hand was exhibited, and package after package, and gross
upon gross, of the most splendid and costly buttons were taken
down, and by his own generous hand presented to them. These
were such brilliant evidences of kindness, and would be so
ornamental to the splendid dresses which they and their wives were
to have when they got home, that they looked upon them as more
valuable than gold or silver. These were presented to them in the
aggregate, and all carried in a heavy parcel by the interpreter; and
when they had thanked the gentleman for his munificent liberality
and got back to their rooms, a scene of great brilliancy and much
interest and amusement was presented for an hour or two, while
they had their treasures spread out, covering half of the floor on
which they lodged, and making a per capita division of them.
In the midst of this exhilarating and dazzling scene, their old friend
Bobasheela made his appearance, having just arrived from London
on his way to Cornwall. He could not, he said, pass within a hundred
miles of them without stopping to see them a few days, and smoke
a pipe or two with them again. Bobasheela was stopped at the door,
notwithstanding their love for him; he could not step in without
doing sacrilege with his muddy boots to the glittering carpet of
buttons which they had formed on the floor, and upon which his
eyes were staring, as he thought at the first glance they could have
committed no less a trespass than to have plundered a jeweller’s
shop. A way was soon opened for his feet to pass, and, having taken
a hearty shake of the hand with all, he was offered a seat on the
floor, and in a few moments found that an equal parcel was
accumulating between his knees as in front of each, and that,
instead of fourteen, they were now dividing them into fifteen
parcels. This he objected to, and with much trouble got them to
undo what they had done, and go back to the first regulation of
dividing them equally amongst fourteen.
The Shakspeare Buildings afforded the Indians a fine promenade in
its large portico overlooking the street, where all Birmingham passed
before their eyes, giving them one of the most gratifying privileges
they had had, and promising them a rich and boundless means of
amusement; but their enjoyment of it was short, for the crowds that
assembled in the streets became a hinderance to business, and they
were denied the further privilege of their delightful look-out. They
were therefore called in, and stayed in, and yet the crowd remained,
and could not be dispersed, while their attention seemed fixed upon
some object higher up than the portico, which led us at once to
surmise its cause, and, searching for the old Doctor, he was not to
be found: he was, of course, upon the pinnacle of the house,
wrapped in his robe, smiling upon the crowd beneath him, and
taking a contemplative gaze over the city and country that lay under
his view. I could only get to him by following the intricate mazes
through which the old lady (curatress) conducted me, and through
which the Doctor said he had required several days of investigation
to find his way, and which he had never succeeded in until just at
that moment.
Under this rather painful embargo there was no satisfactory way of
peeping into the amusements of the streets but by going down the
stairs, which Jim and his ever-curious friend the Doctor used daily
and almost hourly to do, and, standing in the hall, see all they could
that was amusing, until the crowd became such that it was
necessary to recall them to their room. On one of these occasions
they had espied a miserably poor old woman, with her little child,
both in rags, and begging for the means of existence. The pity of the
kind old Doctor was touched, and he beckoned her to come to him,
and held out some money; but fear was superior to want with her,
and she refused to take the prize. The Doctor went for Daniel, who,
at his request, prevailed upon the poor woman to come up to their
room, by assuring her that they would not hurt her, and would give
her much more than white people would. She came up with Daniel,
and the Indians, all seated on the floor, lit a pipe as if going into the
most profound council; and so they were, for with hearts
sympathizing for the misery and poverty of this pitiable-looking
object, a white woman and child starving to death amidst the
thousands of white people all around her in their fine houses and
with all their wealth, they were anxious to talk with her, and find out
how it was that she should not be better taken care of. Jeffrey was
called to interpret, and Melody, Bobasheela, Daniel, and myself, with
two or three friends who happened to be with us at the time, were
spectators of the scene that ensued. The War-chief told her not to
be frightened nor to let her little child be so, for they were her
friends; and the Doctor walked up to her, took his hand out from
under his robe, put five shillings into hers, and stepped back. The
poor woman curtsied several times, and, crossing her hands upon
her breast, as she retreated to the wall, thanked “his Honour” for his
kindness. “The Lard be with your Honours for your loving kindness,
and may the Lard of Haven bless you to al etarnity, for ee niver e
thaught af sich threatment fram sich fraightful-lukin gantlemin as ee
was a thakin you to ba.”
The War-chief then said to her, “There, you see, by the money we
have been all of us giving out of our purses, that we wish to make
you happy with your little child, that you may have something for it
to eat; you see now that we don’t wish to hurt you, and we shall
not; but we want to talk with you a little, and before we talk we
always make our presents, if we have anything to give. We are here
poor, and a great way from home, where we also have our little
children to feed; but the Great Spirit has been kind to us, and we
have enough to eat.” To this the Indians, who were passing the pipe
around, all responded “How! how! how!”
The old chief then proceeded to ask the poor woman how she
became so poor, and why the white people did not take care of her
and her child. She replied that she had been in the workhouse, and
her husband was there still; she described also the manner in which
she had left it, and how she became a beggar in the streets. She
said that when she and her husband were taken into the poorhouse
they were not allowed to live together, and that she would rather die
than live in that way any longer, or rather beg for something to eat
in the streets as she was now doing; and as the cold weather was
coming in, she expected her child and herself would be soon starved
to death.
The poor Indians, women and all, looked upon this miserable
shivering object of pity, in the midst of the wealth and luxuries of
civilization, as a mystery they could not expound, and, giving way to
impulses that they could feel and appreciate, the women opened
their trunks to search for presents for the little child, and by White
Cloud’s order filled her lap with cold meat and bread sufficient to last
them for a day or two. The good old Doctor’s politeness and
sympathy led him to the bottom of the stairs with her, where he
made her understand by signs that every morning, when the sun
was up to a place that he pointed to with his hand, if she would
come, she would get food enough for herself and her little child as
long as they stayed in Birmingham; and he recollected his promise,
and made it his especial duty every morning to attend to his
pensioners at the hour appointed.[27]
The moral to be drawn from all this was one of curious interest and
results in the minds of the Indians, and a long conversation ensued
amongst them, in which Daniel and their friend Bobasheela (who
were familiar with the sufferings and modes of treatment of the
poor) took part, and which, as Melody and I had withdrawn,
afterwards gave us some cause to regret that such a pitiable object
of charity had been brought into their presence for the temporary
relief they could give her, and which resulted in so glaring an
account of the sum total of misery and poverty that was constantly
about them, of the extent of which we both began to think it would
have been better to have kept them ignorant. Daniel and Bobasheela
had opened their eyes to the system of poorhouses and other public
establishments for the employment and protection of the poor; and
until this account, which was already entered in Jim’s book, had
been given them by these two knowing politicians, they had but little
idea of this enormous item that was to go into the scales in weighing
the blessings of civilization.
Almost daily visits were now being made to their private rooms by
parties of ladies and gentlemen of the Society of Friends, with whom
they were rapidly advancing into the most interesting acquaintance,
and which I observed it was affording Mr. Melody almost
unspeakable satisfaction to behold. They were kindly invited to
several houses, and treated at their tables with the greatest
friendship. Of these, there was one visit that it would be wrong for
me to overlook and to neglect to give here the notes that I made of
it at the time.
A note was written to me in a bold and legible hand by Miss
Catherine Hutton, desiring to know “at what hour it would be
suitable for her to come from her house, a few miles out of town, to
see the Indians (for whom she had always had a great love), so as
not to meet a crowd, for her health was not very good, being in the
ninety-first year of her age.” This venerable and most excellent lady I
held in the highest respect, from a correspondence I had held with
her on the subject of the Indians ever since I had been in England,
though I never had seen her. Her letters had always teemed with
love and kindness for these benighted people, and also with thanks
to me for having done so much as I had for their character and
history. I therefore deemed it proper to respond to her kindness by
proposing to take the whole party to her house and pay her the visit.
Her note was answered with that proposition, which gave her great
pleasure, and we took a carriage and went to her delightful
residence.
We were received with unbounded kindness by this most excellent
and remarkable lady, and spent a couple of hours under her
hospitable roof with great satisfaction to ourselves, and with much
pleasure to her, as her letter to me on the following day fully
evinced.[28] After a personal introduction to each one in turn, as she
desired, and half an hour’s conversation, they were invited into an
adjoining room to a breakfast-table loaded with the luxuries she had
thought most grateful to their tastes. This finished, another half-hour
or more was passed in the most interesting conversation, containing
her questions and their answers, and her Christian advice to prepare
their minds for the world to which, said she, “we must all go soon,
and, for myself, I am just going, and am ready.” When we were
about to take our leave of her, she called each one up in succession,
and, having a quantity of money in silver half-crowns placed on the
sofa by her side, she dealt it out to them as they came up, shaking
hands at the same time and bidding each one a lasting farewell,
embracing each of the women and children in her arms and kissing
them as she took leave. This kindness melted their hearts to tears,
and brought old Neu-mon-ya (the War-chief) up before her at full
length, to make the following remarks:—
“My Friend,—The Great Spirit has opened your heart to feel a
friendship for the red people, and we are thankful to Him for it.
We have been happy to see your face to-day, and our hearts will
never forget your kindness. You have put a great deal of money
into our hands, which will help to feed our little children, and the
Great Spirit will not forget this when you go before him.
“My kind Mother,—You are very old. Your life has been good; and
the Great Spirit has allowed you to live to see us; and He will soon
call you to Him. We live a great way from here, and we shall not
look upon your face again in this world; though we all believe
that, if we behave well enough, we shall see your face in the
world to come.”
The chief here stopped, and, shaking her hand again, withdrew. The
excellent lady was overwhelmed in tears, and called to her maid,
“Betty, bring all the silver that I left in the drawer there; bring the
whole of it and divide it among them; my eyes are so weak that I
cannot see it—give it to them, dear creatures! May God bless their
dear souls!” Such had been the meeting, and such were her parting
words as we came away.
The Indians continued to speak in terms of the greatest admiration
of this kind old lady, and the certainty that they should never see her
face again made them for some days contemplative and sad. They
had many civilities extended to them in town, however, which were
calculated to dissipate melancholy and contemplation. Their
repeated visits to the house and the table of Doctor Percy were
exceedingly pleasing to them, where they were amused with
experiments in electricity and galvanism, and other chemical results,
to them new, and far beyond the reach of their comprehensions.
Their days and nights were now passing away very pleasantly,
visited by and visiting so many kind friends, doing all they could to
make them happy—giving their nightly amusements at the
Shakspearian Rooms, and enjoying the society and western jokes of
their old friend Bobasheela, and, after their dinners and suppers,
their other old friend, chickabobboo.
About this time some very kindly-disposed friends proposed that a
couple of nights of their exhibitions should be given in the immense
room of the Town-hall, and one half of the receipts be presented to
the two hospitals, representing that upon such conditions they
thought the use of the hall would be granted free of expense, and
believing that the results would be beneficial to both parties. Mr.
Melody and I at once consented, and, the entertainments on those
two nights being for a charitable purpose, the crowds that came in
were very great, and the receipts beyond what we expected, the
profits being 145l. 12s., the half of which, 72l. 16s., the Ioways
presented to the two hospitals, and on the following day were
invited to attend at the Town-hall at eleven o’clock in the morning,
to receive an acknowledgment of it from the venerable Presidents of
the two institutions, and to hear an address which was prepared to
be read and given to them. The Indians met the two kind and
excellent gentlemen (both of whom were Friends), and many others,
both ladies and gentlemen, of their society; and seeing the results of
this meeting likely to be of a very interesting nature, I took pains to
make notes of all that was said on the occasion. The venerable Mr.
R. T. Cadbury, from the General Hospital, in a very impressive
manner, and suited to their understandings, explained to the
Indians, through their interpreter, the purpose for which the hospital
was built and carried on, after which he read the following
resolution, which had been passed at the weekly meeting of the
Board of Governors on the preceding day:—
“Resolved,—That the Chairman be requested to present the
thanks of this Board to Mr. Catlin, Mr. Melody, and the Ioway
Indians, for the donation of 36l. 8s., being a moiety of the net
proceeds of two exhibitions made for the benefit of the two
hospitals at the Town-hall; and to assure them their generous gift
shall be faithfully applied to the relief of the sick and maimed, for
whose benefit the said hospital was instituted, and for sixty-five
years has been supported by voluntary donations and
subscriptions.”
After reading this, Mr. Cadbury presented to each of them a copy of
the annual report and rules of the institution, and expressed a hope
that all of them would reach their distant homes in safety, and that
their visit to this country would be beneficial to them.
The chief, White Cloud, shook hands with Mr. Cadbury, and replied
as follows:—
“My Friend,—I have very few remarks to make to you. We are all
very thankful to you for the speech you have made to us, and for
the prayer you have made that we may all reach home safe.
Those words pleased all my people here very much, and we thank
you for them.
“My Friend,—We have now been some time in England, and,
amongst all the words of friendship we have heard, nothing has
been more pleasing to us than the words we have heard from
your lips. We have seen some of the greatest men in this country,
and none have delighted us so much as you have by the way in
which you have spoken; and we believe that the service we have
rendered to the hospital will be looked on with mutual satisfaction.
“My Friend,—The Americans have been long trying to civilize us,
and we now begin to see the advantages of it, and hope the
Government of the United States will do us some good. I hope
some of the people of my nation will place their children with
white people, that they may see how the white children live.
“My Friend,—I have nothing more to say, but to thank you.”
After the speech of White Cloud, Mr. J. Cadbury, at the head of a
deputation from the “Temperance Society” (to which the Indians had
sent also the sum of 36l. 8s.), presented himself, and read an
address from that association, thanking them for the amount
received, and advising the Indians to abstain from the use of “fire-
water” and to practise charity, which was one of the greatest of
virtues.
Mr. Cadbury then addressed the Indians, in all the fervency and
earnestness of prayer, on the all-important subject of temperance.
His words and sentences, selected for their simple understandings,
were in the simplicity, and consequently the eloquence of nature,
and seemed to win their highest admiration and attention. He
painted to them in vivid colours the horrors and vice of
intemperance, and its consequences; and also the beauty and
loveliness of sobriety, and truth, and charity, which he hoped and
should pray that they might practise in the wilderness, with constant
prayers to the Great Spirit in the heavens, when they returned to
their own country.
When this venerable gentleman’s remarks were finished, the old
Doctor (or Medicine-man) arose from his seat upon the floor, with
his pipe in his lips, and, advancing, shook hands with the two
Messrs. Cadbury, and, handing his pipe to the chief, spoke as
follows:—
“My Friends,—I rise to thank you for the words you have spoken
to us: they have been kind, and we are thankful for them.
“My Friends,—When I am at home in the wilderness, as well as
when I am amongst you, I always pray to the Great Spirit; and I
believe the chiefs and the warriors of my tribe, and even the
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