19. Dickens took a side trip to British Canada from Niagara
As have been most visitors to the falls at Niagara, Dickens was suitably impressed, and said so. He then traveled through Canada, visiting Toronto, Kingston, Montreal, and Quebec, among other stops. From Montreal, by steamboat and stage, he traveled to Albany, and from there to New York, visiting the Shaker Village at Lebanon on the way. His thoughts about the Shakers were obvious from his words on his departure, “Leaving the Shaker village with a hearty dislike of the old Shakers, and a hearty pity for the young ones”, and he returned to New York City, where he was again feted.
He took another side trip to West Point, where he inspected the United States Military Academy. The school was at the time controversial in the United State. Congressional appointments were often suspected of being sold to wealthy families, or awarded to political supporters. Several proposals were made in Congress to eliminate the Academy, which had been created forty years earlier during the Presidential administration of Thomas Jefferson. Dickens confined his remarks to the site’s historical significance and its great natural beauty.