•
T R A
I N
V E
NORTH-AMERI
in the years I780, I781, and 1782,
MARQUIS DE CHASTELLUX,
one of the forty members of the french academy, and major general in the french army, serving under the count de rochambeau.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN,
who resided in america at that period.
with   notes  by the translator.
Hohhuv S'avlponuv Ihv asTta km voov eyvo. Odyffey. B. I* Multorumquc hominum vidit urbes, & mores cognovit.
by the
VOLUME II.
LONDON:
printed   for   q. g. j.  and j. robinson, pater-noster row. m dcc lxxxvu.
CONTENTS
TO THE
SECOND VOLUME.
Page
THE Author leaves Williamfburgh - 2 He panes by the place where the rear of Lord Cornwallis's army was attacked, with fuccefs, the preceding year, by the Marauis de la Fayette's van - 7 Before he leaves Newkent-Court-houfe, he finds and obferves for a long time the mocking bird - 9
Hanover Court-houfe ■ - - 11
How its tavern is difpofed to receive the
inhabitants of the country, who come
to attend the feflions - -        13 &
The Author arrives at Offly, the dwelling
of General Nelfon        - - 17
Particulars of the General and his family 18 He finds, at Offly, Secretary Nelfon, uncle
to the General     - - 20
The eulogium of this old gentleman 24 He relates how he was befieged by his
own fons, and his fine houfe at York
deftroyed during the fiege - %S
Departure from Offly - - 28
The Author Hops at Willis's tavern ibid. He finds a number of people affembled
together to fee a cock-fight - 29 fte affifts at it - - ibid,
a 2
iv CONTENTS.
Stupid enfhufiafm of the Virginians for
this diverfion        - - - 32
He flops a moment at Louifa Court-houfe, to fee the landlord, who is as extraordinary for his extreme bulk, as for the lingular life he leads - 33
Bofwcll's tavern - - " 3+
The h'oft has had fourteen children by the fame woman, not one of which lived to be two years old - - 35
The Author meets with an Irifhrnan      - 36 An inhabitant of Carolina,  whofe re-fidence was at the fources of Cata-baw river - -38
Particulars of that country - 39
Arrival at Morireccllo - - 40
Defcription of the houfe - 41
Portrait of Mr. Jefferfon - 426V feq.
The Author dines at Charlotte-ville with the Marquis de la Rouerie, Colonel of an American legion - - 47
A tame wolf -        - - ibid.
Obfervations on that animal - 48
Obfervation on a kindof flag which Mr.
Jefferfon feeds in his park      -      - 49 Obfervations communicated to the Author by Mr." Jefferfon on the winds which prevail in Virginia - 5i&feq,
Departure from Montecello - 55
Macdonald's Tavern - - : 5°
Reflexions on the acceptation which mould be given to the word people in America - 57
He meets with a rifle-man, or chaffcur 58 The Author queftions him about the battle
of Cjowpens, irr which he was engaged 60 An intereding account of that battle 62&feq. The pa-ffage of the Gap, or Neck of Rock-
Fifh        - - - 69
The Author kills a bird there, which m Virginia they call a phcafant-, but which lie believes to be a real wood hen 72
Defgriptiorj
CONTENT  S. v
Page
Defcription of the bird - 73
The manner made ufe of by the inhabitants of the country to kill them - ibid. Mrs. Teafe's Tavern 76 The Author flops at a miller's, who had received many wounds at the battle of Guilford, and who ihewed him a piece of his Ikull - 78 & feq.
His arrival at Praxton's Tavern       - 81 In what manner he paffed one of the
branches of the Fluvanna - 820: feq.
The Author fets out for the Natural
Bridge - - - 87
Meets with Mr. Grifby an inn-keeper 88 The adroit manner in which he condufts him on the bridge without his perceiving it - - - 90 Defcription of the bridge            - 91 & feq. The Author fleeps at Mr. Grifby's     -• 93 The generous conduct of that American ibid. Relation of a young man and his wife going to fettle in the province of Ken-tucket, whom he met with at this inn -   965c feq. Departure from Grifby's Tavern     - 106 The Author, on his arrival at Greenly ferry, kills an   extraordinary animal which he difcovers to be the monax, or mountain rat of America         - ic8 Defcription of it           -         - 109 He palfcs the Gap         -           - HO His dogs fpring live wild turkies       -       l r 1 He flops for an hour at the houfe of Mr.
Lambert, a planter -       - 112
He goes to lodge at Captain Midler's        113 Where he meets with an old man who had
been half devoured by a bitch       -       114 He travels the next day with another Captain, who keeps a tavern at New-London        - - - 115 He flops in that town to breakfaft with
him - "7. .
Pefcnpticn
/
vi CONTENTS.
Defcription of New London        - 2 j g
He fleeps at a Mr. Hunter's, who fome-times lodges travellers without however keeping a tavern - - ibid.
The advantage of this cuftcra in a country where the roads are little frequented ibid.
Hodnett's Tavern        - - 120
The landlord is a Scotch emigrant, he fhews the Author a parchment on which his family arms are reprefented      - 121
The Author,flops at Cumberland Court-houfe, where an affembly was then holding - - - 122
The manner in which affairs arc conducted at thefe meetings -      - 123
He flops again at the houfe of a black-fmith, where he finds feveral young ladies, very handfome and very well dreffed - - - 124
Reflections on the beauty of different nations, and at different ages - 125 & feq.
He arrives at Peterfburg - 129
The tavern is kept by Mrs. Spencer and her daughter, iVJifs Saunders, both by their figure and behaviour intitled to refpecl: - - 130
Mifs Saunders plays on the harpfichord and the g;uittar        - - ibid.
Public florehoufcs for tobacco        - 131
The police of the country relative to thefe fforehoufes - - 132
Receipts given there,   are circulated as
money - - - 133 & feq.
Vifit to'Mrs. Bowling - - 135
Her daughter-in-law is a defcendant from
the Indian Princefs Pocahunta      - ibid.
Digreffion on Pocahunta - 136 6c feq.
The Author goes to fee the fine country-houfe of Mr. Bannifler - 144
Meets Mr. Bull there, General of the Carolina militia - r 146
The
CONTENTS. vii.
Page
The hiftory of that General         - H7
Departure from Peterfburg      -       - 15°
Obfervations on the commerce of the town ibid.
The Author arrives at Richmond 151
Defcription of the town             - 152 Dearnefs of provifions, and particularly
of the taverns         -            - l53 Converfation with Governor Harrifon 155 An interesting anecdote on the commencement of the revolution            - 157 &feq. The Author arrives at Weffover 162 A handfome country-houfe belonging to
Mrs. Bird            -            - 163 Some particulars of Mrs. Bird and her family         -            -           - 164 He dines with Mr. Mead           - 166 Character and Philofophy of that American               -               - 167 Sturgeon fifhery            -           - 169 Obfervations on the humming-bird 172 Returns to Williamfburgh         - 174 Great breadth of Cbickahoming creek ibid. General obfervations on Virginia, and the character of the firft planters in North America            -           - i75&feq« On ilavc'ry            ~                     - 190 & feq. Journey to New Hampfhire and the
Upper Penfylvania       -          - 211 The Author leaves Hartford         - 213 Principal places through which he panes 214 Kendall's, Chandler's, and Baron's Taverns         -                      - 215 Elegance of the furniture in the latter 217 Fine meadows which he fees on the road 218 Value of lands and provifions         - ibid. The Author arrives at Concord        - 219 Defcription of the country            - ibid. Anecdotes relative to the battles of Concord and Lexington            - 220&feo^ Road from Concord to Haverhill 223 Commerce of Haverhill           - 225
Road
viii       C  O  N  TENT S.
Road from Haverhill to Portfmouth     - 225
The Author flops at Exetef          - 226 Beauty of the country betwixt thefe two
towns         - ibid.
Arrival at Portfmouth         -       - 227
Goes into a church during fermon 22S Remarkable conrparifon made   by the
preacher            -               - ibid. The Author defcends the river to go on
board the fhip of"war the Augujle 229 Dcfcripti6n of the harbour and the fortifications which defend it           - 230 Accident caufed by thunder on board the
Augttjie         -                     - 231 Vifits to different people, amongft others
to Colonel Langdon          -        - 232
Generous action of the Colonel      - ibid.
Senfible anfwer of his negroe to him 233
Departure from Portfmouth         - 235 Obfervations on this town, and on New
Hampfhire in general           - 236
ExcenTve price of certain articles       - 239
The Author'arriv'es at Newbury port 240 Mr. Tracy invites him to fupper at his
country-houfe         -             - 244
Defcription of the houfe             - 245 Extraordinary viciffitudes in the fortune
of liir. Tracy           -           - 246
His patriotifm            -           - 247
Conftraint which he experiences in trade 248
Departure from Newbury          - 249 The Author flops at Ipfwich ; afloniflied
at the population of the place      - ibid.
Caufes of this population          - 251
He arrives at Salem               - 253
Defcription of the town and its harbour 255
Road from Salem to Boilon          - 256
Winifimmct Ferry          -         - ID1d.
Arrival at Bodon        - 257 Subfcription ball, like that of Philadelphia, 2580; feq.
The
CONTENTS. ix
_, . Page
The Author dines on board the Souverain 262 He finds a young man there, whom the commander de Glandeves had taken on board to put him in the way of learning French - - - 263
Reflexions on the advantage of fpeaking the language of the country, which is the feat of war -        - 264
Idea the Americans had of changing their
language - - 265
The Author, in his way to Cambridge, traverfes the field of battle at Bunker's Hill, and croffes the old intrenched camp at Cambridge -       - - 267
Defcription of this camp and of the field
of battle - - 268 & feq.
Digreffion on the able manoeuvre of General Wafhington when he feifed the heights of Dorchefter -      - 275
Some particulars on the Univerfity of
Cambridge - -        - 278
Eulogium of Doctor Cooper - 281
Club, where the Author paffed the evening - 284 Laws of the club - - 285 The Author fups at Mr. Bawdbin's, 286 He is obliged to play at whiff. - 287 But they do not play for money - 288 This rule having been made by general
confent at the beginning of the war    - ibid. Eulogium of the Marquis de Vaudreuil; and of the good difcipline obferved in his fquadron during the whole time they remained in the harbour of Bofton 289 Obfervations on that town - 292
The enormous tax which the neceffities
of the war impofed upon its commerce 293 Departure from Bofton - 294
The Author rejoins the troops at Providence - * - - ibid. Road from Providence to Newborough 295 Vol, II.                 b lm«
CONTENTS.
Pa"C o
Improvements which he finds every where on the road he travelled but two years before, and particularly at Wafhington 297
Unhappy adventure of two women, whom he meets with at Moorhoufe's Tavern 299
Arrival at Newborough - 301
He takes leave of General Wafhington 302
Defcription of the barracks in which the
American army paifed the winter 303
He lodges at Mr. Smith's, with whom he had lodged two years before, when he lived at Ckeat - - 304
The price Mr. Smith gives for the leafe
of his houfe - - '        - 305
Mr. Beard's tavern - - ibid.
Motives which induced him to form this
new fettlement - * ibid.
The Author arrives at Suffex, and fortunate rencounter of Mr. Poops 3C6
Place of the Moravian brethren, known
by the name of Moravian Mill 307
Defcription o! the law-mill - 310
Defcription of the Mot avian church 312
A pleafant anecdote of the minifter, related by the Author - - 3H
The Author goes to lodge with Mr. Poops 315
Defcription of the country - ibid.
The remarkable gap or palTage in the mountains - - 3*7
Tavern of another Mr. Smith, who is alfo a lawyer - - 3*9
He has had, in penfion, a young Englishman born at Dominica as a boarder with him, and who came to the continent to iludy the law - 320
Arrives at Bethlehem      - - 321
Defcription of a kind of heath cock, which
the Americans call Groivfe 323
The Author vifits the Moravian cftablifh-
ments - - 324
Houfe for (ingle women - 326
Houfc
CONTENTS. 4
Pas;e
Houfe for Jingle men - 32**
Police eftablilhed in thefe houfes       - 329 The arrival of the Author at Philadelphia - 334 Letter of the Marquis dc Chaftcllux to Mr. Maddlfon, profelTor of philoibphy in the Univeffity of Williamfburgh. Object of this letter, the remit of their converfation with each other     - 337 Before he examines into the progrefs the arts and fciences ought to make in America, and the influence this progrefs muft produce on cuftoms and opinions, the Author makes fome reflexions on the political conftitution of the different flate?, which form the affociation, and on the genius and nature of their government - - 338 He obferves, that the moft brilliant epocha of the fine arts, are thofe in which fortunes have been more unequally divided ; but as the prefent queftion is, neither to create them nor to reftore them, but only to preferve and make them flourifh, no bad confequence for America can be drawn from this obfervation 351 The advantage of great cities for the fine arts;  inconvenience of them for the fupport of the conftitution :  how to conciliate thefe two objects - 352 In what light the Author confiders luxury with the danger of foreign cuftoms, and how to remedy this evil         - 356 What are the belt means of encouraging the fine arts in America, and how they may be made to confpire in maintaining public fpirit         -           - 363 Of the fciences, and which thofe arc,
America ought particularly to cultivate 365
Advantages and inconveniences of academies,
xii       CONTENT S.
demies, the latter ought to be compen-fated by the prizes which they propofe 378 Morality ought to flow from legislation 381 On religion, the Author abftains from Speaking of dogmas, but he obferves that the feverity with which Sunday is ob-ferved impofes  too great privations, as by forbidding innocent plcafures, the people may be driven to feek others 382 Defcription of the Natural Bridge      - 388 Defcription of the Martin of America 419 Interesting account of the Sarigue, or OpoSfum        - 424
TRAVELS
i n
NORTH-AMERICA.
yournal of a journey in Upper-Virginia, in the Apalachian Mountains, and to the Natural Bridge.
T^ROIVI the moment the French troops were eftablifhed in the quarters they occupied in Virginia, I formed the project of travelling into the upper parts of that province, where I was allured that I fhould find objects worthy of exciting the curiofity of a ftranger; and faithful to the principles, which from my youth I had lain down, never to neglect feeing every country in my Vol. II. B power,
power, I burned with impatience to let out. The feafon however was unfavourable, and rendered travelling difficult and laborious; befides, Experience taught me that travelling in winter never offered the greatefl: fatisfaction we can enjoy that of feeing Nature, fuch as fhe ought to be, and of forming a juft idea of the general face of a country; for it is eafier for the imagination to deprive a landfcape of the charms offpring, than to cloath with them, the hideous ike-leton of winter; as it is eafier to imagine what a beauty at eighteen may be at eighty, than  to   conceive   what   eighty was at eighteen.—Monfieur de Rochambleau being -abfent likewife daring the month of February, and Monfieur le Chevalier de la Luzerne having chofen the month of March to pay us a vifit, politenefs and my duty obliged me to wait till April, before I could begin my travels.—On the 8th of that month I fet out with Mr. Lynch, then my Aide de Camp and Adjutant, now General; Mr. Frank Dillon, my fecond Aide de Camp* and
Mr.
* Monfieur le Baron de Montefquieu went ro Europe after the fiege of York, and did not letum until the month of September following.
Mr. le Chevalier d'Oyre of the engineers: fix fervants and a led horfe compofed our train ; fo that our little carravan confifted of four matters, fix fervants, and eleven horfes.   I regulated my journey by the fpring, and gave it time fufficient to precede us.   For though in the 37th degree of latitude, one might expect to find it in the month of April, I faw no trace of it in the wood through which we paffed; the verdure being hardly difcoverable on the thorns, the fun notwithftanding was very ardent, and I regretted to find fummer in the heavens, whilft the earth afforded not the fmalleft appearance of the fpring. The eighteen miles through which we pafTed, before we baited our horfes at Bird's tavern, were fufficiently known to me, for it was the fame road I travelled lafl: fummer in coming from Williamfburgh.    The remaining fixteen, which compleated our days work and brought us to New-Kent-Court*-Honfe, offered nothing curious;, all I learnt by a converfation with Mr. Bird was, that he had been pillaged by the Englifli when they palled his houfe in their march to Wejlover,  in  purfuit of Monfieur de la B 2 Fayette,
Fayette, and in returning to Williamiburgh, after endeavouring in vain to come up with him. It was comparatively nothing to fee their fruits, fowls and cattle carried away by the light troops which formed the vanguard, * the army collected what the vanguard
* It is with great reluctance that truth compels trie to confirm the horrid depredations committed by the Englifh army in their progrefs through many parts of America.   Much has been faid on this fub-ject, both in and out of parliament, but I am forry to fay, that future hiflorians of this unhappy war, will find the fact too well eltablifhed jo refufe a deci-live verdict.   Happy if the refult may tend henceforth to alleviate the miferies of mankind, and mitigate the horrors of a civil conteft.   The wife of an Englishman, one of the principal merchants of Philadelphia, having retired with her family to the neighbourhood of Mountholfy in the Jerfeys, affur-ed me, that She found the country in general well affected to the Englifh, until the arrival of their army, whofe indifcriminate and wanton enormities foort alienated their moft zealous friends, for even the officers were contaminated with the infatiable fpiritof revenge and plunder.   Amongft various anecdotes, Hie related to me the circumftance of the cruel treatment of a lady of her acquaintance, who was devoted to the Britifh intereft, and gave up her houfc with exultation to fome officers of Clinton V army in
had left, even the officers feized the rum, and all kinds of provifions, without paying a farthing for them; this hurricane which deftroyed every thing in its paflage, was followed by a fcourge yet more terrible, a numerous rabble, under the title of Re-Jugees and Loyalijls. followed the army, not to affifl in the field, but to partake of the B 3 plunder,
their retreat from Philadelphia.   But not only was her zeal repaid with infult and her own houfe plundered ;   fhe had the mortification to fee it made the receptacle of the pillage of her poorer neighbours,  Obferving fome of the officers make frequent excurfions, and return, followed by foldiers, laden with various articles, fhe had at length the curiotity to pafs into the garden, and looking through the window, faw four of them, and the Chaplain, empty* ing a fack containing ftockings, fhirts, fhifts, counterpanes, lheets, fpoons, and women's trinkets. The booty was regularly fhared, and the difAiibution of thefe unhallowed fpoils, to her utter aftonimment and horror, was no other than the mjnifter of virtue and religion.   The detail of this war is a hiftory ©f fuch iniquity ; was it poflible therefore to expect a more favourable termination of it, either on the principle of a Divine Providence,   or of human conduct? Translator.
plunder *• The furniture" and cloaths of the inhabitants were in general the fole
booty
* The Loyalifts no doubt, no more merit indiscriminate cenfure than any other body of men ; the Translator, who thinks he understands the true principles of liberty, for which1 he has ever been a zealous and unShaken advofcate, admits however, and admires the virtue, honour, and SleadfaSl attachment of many illuSlrious individuals to a caufe, dire£lly destructive of his own wishes; but with every fair allowance for the violence infeparable from civil contests, he cannot help bearing his testimony to the wanton outrages committed by an unprincipled banditti who attached themfelves to the royal caufe, and branded it with ruin and difgrace.   The root of this evil originated in the Board of Loyalijis eStabhShed by Lord George Germain at the instigation of Skulking Refugees, who flying themfelves,  from th6 fcene of danger, took up their refidence in London, and were in the inceftant purfuit of perfonal and interested vengeance.   He does not aSIert that their councils loft America, but it is now paSt doubt, that they formed a Strong Secondary caufe of precipitating that event, and of embittering the feparation. General Clinton, the whole army at New-York, can wit-nefs the infolence and indirect manaces of this incorporated  rabble  of marauders,  in the affair of  Captain Huddy,   and  the fubfequent claim of the Congrefs.-   Had the war continued, this ith-perium in imperio mult have been attended with the moft fatal confequences ; this illiberal narrow mind-
booty left to fatisfy their avidity; after they had emptied the houfes, they ftript the proprietors   and Mr. Bird, repeated with indignation, that they had taken from him by force, the very boots from off his legs; In my way hither I had the fatisfaction however of recalling to mind the firft pu-nifhment inflicted on thefe robbers. Six miles from Williamfburgh I palled near a place where two crofs roads interfering each  other,   leave an open fpace one leading to Williamiburgh, the other to James-town.   On the 2-sth of June, Monfieur' de la Fayette here ordered the vanguard to attack that of Lord Cornwallis ; Szncoe, who commanded it, was left behind to collect: the cattle, whilft Lord Cornwallis was encamping at Williamfburgh, where he arrived the preceding evening. Monfieur de la Fayette's cavalry with fome infantry mounted behind them, arrived loon
enough
cd fet of men, became the fpies and cenfors of Bri-tifh policy, and Britilh conduct, and the commander in Chief himfelf, was ftruck with horror at their unenlightened, blocd-thirity tribunal.
4 Translator,
enough to force Sincoe to an engagement, and was foon after joined by the reft of the American light infantry.    Sincoe fought with difadvantage, till Lord Cornwallis marching to his ailiftance, the Americans retired, after having killed or wounded near 150 men, with the lofs only of feven or eight.   Colonel Butler, an American officer, who commanded a battalion of light in? fantry, and Colonel Gahan * a French officer, who commanded another, diftinguiih-ed themfelves very much on this occafion. The recollection of this eyent, the prefage of that fuccefs which crowned our campaign, employed my thoughts fo much the more agreeably the whole evening, as we had taken up our lodgings in a good inn, where we were ferved with an excellent fup-per, compofed ch.tfly of fturgeon, and I had two kinds of fiih, at leaft as good in Virginia as in gurope* but which make their appearance only in the fpring.
The next morning I had an enjoyment of another kind.   I rofe with the fun, and
whilft
* The fame who afterwards ihot himfelf at Philadelphia.   See notes to ift vol.^ Translator*
whilft breakfaft was preparing, took a walk round the houfe ; the birds were heard on every fide, but my attention was chiefly attracted by a very agreeable fong, which appeared to proceed from a neighbouring-tree. I approached foftly, and perceived it to be a mocking bird, faluting the riling fun. At firfl: 1 was afraid of frightening it, but my prefence on the contrary gave it pleafure, for apparently delighted at having an auditor, it fung better than before, and its emulation fcemed to increafe, when it perceived a couple of dogs, which followed me, draw near to the tree on which it was perched.   It kept hopping inceflantly from branch to branch, flill continuing its fong, for this extraordinary bird is not lei's remarkable for its agility, than its charming notesit keeps. perpetually  riling and finking,  fo as to appear not lefs the favourite of Terpfichore, than Polihymnia, This bird cannot certainly be reproached with fatiguing its auditors, for nothing can be more varied than its fong, of which it js impoflible to giye an imitation, or even
to furnilh any adequate idea*   As it had
every
every reafon to be contented with my attention, it concealed from me no one of its talents; and one would have thought, that after having delighted me with a concert, it was defirous of entertaining me with a comedy.   It began to counterfeit different birds; thofe which it imitated the moft naturally, at leaft to a ftranger, were the jay, the raven, the cardinal, and the lapwing. It appeared defirous of retaining me near it, for after having lifrened, for a quarter of an hour, on my return to the houfe, it followed me, flying from tree to tree, always finging, fometimes its natural  fong, at others, thofe which it had learned in Virginia, and in its travels   for this bird is one of thofe which change climate, altho' it fometimes appears here during the winter.   As the next day's journey was to be longer than that of the preceding one, we left New-Kent-Court-Houfe before eight o'clock
and
* Or rather the painted plover, which is the lapwing of America. It differs from ours, by its plumage, mixt with grey, white and yellow gilt; it differs alfo a little in its fong, but it has the fhape and manners, and is abfolutely the fame fpecies.
and rode twenty miles to Newca/ile, where I refolved to give our horfes two hours re-pofe ; the road was not fo level as that we had travelled the day before, and was rendered more agreeable by being diversified with fome little hillocks.   From the top of therri you had a view to the diftance of fome miles, and at times one might preceive Pamunkey River,  which runs at the bottom of a deep valley, covered with wood.   As you approach Newcaftle, the country becomes more gay.   This little capital of a fmall difhricTt,  contains   twenty five or thirty houfes, fome of which are pretty enough. When our horfes were repofed, and the heat already troublefome in the middle of the day, was a little abated, we continued our journey, that we might arrive, before dark, at Hanover-Court-Houje, from which we were yet fixteen miles.   The country through which we palled is one of the fineft of lower Virginia.   There are many well cultivated eftates, and handfome houfes, amongft others, one belonging to Mr. Jones, fituated near the road, two miles from Newcaftle, of a very elegant appearance, which, we were informed, was furniihed with infinite
finite tafte, and what is frill more uncommon in America, that it was embellished with a garden, laid out in the English flyle *. It is even pretended, that this kind of park, through which the river flows, yields not in beauty to thofe, the model of which the French have received from England, and are now imitating with fuch fuc-cefs +•
The
* The Author has Since Seen this garden, which anfwers the defcription given, and is really very elegant.
t The gardens I have hitherto feen in France pro-fefledly laid out on the Englifh model, are with great deference to the Author, but very unfuccefsful imitations of the Englifh Style; thofe of the Comte de Artois at Bagatelle, and of the Duke of Orleans at MauJJeaux near Paris, are indeed no imperfect imitations of Mr. Sterlings in the comedy of the Clandestine Marriage, of the Spaniard's at HampSlead, of JBagnigge-wells, or a Common Council-man's retreat upon the Wandfworth road. They prefent a fantaStic, and crouded groupe of Chinefe pagodas, gothic ruins, immoveable windmills, molehill-mounts, thirty grafs patches, dry bridges, pigmy fer-pentines, cocklefhell cafcades, and Stagnant duck-pools.  The gardens of the Thuilleries and Marly,
Three miles from Hanover,. there are two roads, that which we were to follow winds a little towards the north, and approaches the Pamunkey.   We arrived before funfet and alighted at a tolerable hand* fome inn ; a very large faloon and a covered portico, are deftined to receive the company who afTemble every three months at the Court-hoiijCy either on private or public affairs.   This afylum is the more ne-ceflfary, as there are no other houfes in the neighbourhood.   Travellers make ufe of thefe eftablimments, which areindifpenfable in a country fo thinly inhabited, that the houfes areottenatthe diftance of twoor three miles from each other.   Care is generally taken to place the Court-houfe in the center of the county.   As there are a great many counties in Virginia, they are feldom more than fix or feven leagues diameter; thus every man can return home after he has finifhed his affairs.
The
with all their undifguifed, artificial labours, are at leafl noble, magnificent, and ufeful; their terraces are grand, and their lofty Berccaus beautiful, and well adapted to the climate.
Translator.
The county of Hanover, as well as that of N ew-Kent, had frill reafon to remember the paMage of the Englifh.   Mr. Ttlghmany our landlord, though he lamented his misfortune in having lodged and boarded Lord Cornwallis and his retinue, without his Lordfhip's having made him the leaft re-compenfe, could not yet help laughing at the fright which the unexpected arrival of Tarleton  fpread  amongft a considerable number of gentlemen, who had come to hear the news, and were affembled in the Court-houfe.   A negro on horfeback came full gallop, to let them know that Tarleton was not above three miles off.    The resolution of retreating was foon taken, but the alarm was fo fudden, and the confufion fo great, that every one mounted the firft horfe he could find, fo that few of thofe curious gentlemen returned upon their own horfes. The Englifh, who came fromWeftover, had paffed the Chilkahominy at Button s-bridgey and directed their march towards the South Anna^ which Mr. de la Fayette had put between them and himfelf.
Mr.
Mr. Tilghman having had time to renew his provifions fince the retreat of Lord Cornwallis, we fupped very well, and had the company of Mr. Lee, brother to Colonel Henry Lee *; who long commanded a legion, and often diftinguifhed himfelf, particularly in Carolina -}-. We
fet
* Colonel Harry Lee is a fmart, active young man, ■firft coufin to Mr. Arthur Lee, and Mr. William Lee, late Alderman of London. He rendered very effential fervices to his country, particularly in the fouthern war. His corps was mounted on remarkably fine, high-priced horfes, moStly half blood Englifh Stallions, and officered principally by his own family and relations. Had the war continued, there is every reafon to believe that the American cavalry would have taken fome confiflencc, and have become very formidable in the field ; Mr. Tarleton received many fevcre checks in his exploits from the corps under Colonel Wafhington, and that of Colonel Harry Lee. Towards the clofe of the war, he had to encounter an enemy very different from flying militia, and fcattercd bodies of broken, half disciplined infantry, of whom Slaughter may be fervice, but conqueft no honour. Translator.
f Lord Cornwallis was unquestionably the English General whofe courage, talents and activity, occasioned the greatelt lofs to the Americans; it is not aftoniShing therefore he Should not have infpir-ed them with fentiments fimilar to thofe of his own
fet orit at nine the next morning, after having breakfaftedmuch better than our horfes^ which had nothing but oats, the country being fo deftitute of forage, that it was not pollible to find a trufs of hay, or a few leaves of Indian corn, though we had fought for it for two miles round. Three miles and a half from Hanover we eroded the South Anna on a wooden bridge. I
obferved
troops, whofe attachment, and admiration of his character, were unbounded. Yet they never accuf-ed him of rapine, nor even of interested views, and the complaints of Mr. Tiighman only prove the fad confequences of a war, in the courfe of which the Englifh fuffered more from want, in the midft of their fuccefs, than in their difaflers ; the former carrying them far from the fleet, and the latter obliging them to approach it. But the moft painful of thefe confequences was the necefhty which compelled a man of my Lord Cornwallis', birth and character, to conduct, rather than command, a numerous band of traitors and robbers, which Englifh policy decorated with the name of Loyalifis. This rabble preceded the troops in plunder, taking fpecial care never to follow them in danger. The progrefs was marked by fire, devaftation, and outrages of every kind ; they ravaged fome part of America >tis true, but ruined England, by infpiring her enemies with an irreconciieable hatred.
bbferved that the river was deeply embanked, and from the nature of the foil concluded it was the fame during a great part of its courfe: it appears to me therefore that would have been a good defence, if Mon-lieur de la Fayette, who palfed it higher up, had arrived in time to deftroy the bridge. On the left fide of the river the ground rifes, and you mount a pretty high hill, the country is barren, and we travelled almolr. always in the woods, till one o'clock, when we arrived at Offly, and alighted at General Nelfon §, formerly Governor, of Virginia.   I had got acquainted with him during the expedition to York, at which critical moment he was Governor, and conducted himfelf with the courage of a brave foldier, and the zeal of a good citizen. At the time when the Englifn armies were carrying defolation into the heart of his country, and our troops arrived unexpectedly to fuccour and revenge it, he was compelled to exert every means, and to call forth every poffible refource, to aflift Monfieur de la Fayette to make fome reiiftance ; and fur-niih General Wafhington with horfes, car-Vol. II. C riages,
riages, and provifions; but I am forry* to add, what will do but little honour to Virginia, that the only recompenfe of his labours was the hatred of a great part of his fellow citizens.   At the hrfr. aflembly of the province, held after the campaign, he experienced from them neither the fatisfac-tion he had a right to expect, at being freed from fervitude, nor that emulation which is the general confequence of fuccefs   but in-ftead of thefe fentiments, fo natural in fuch circumilances, a general difcontent, arifing from the neceility under which he had often laboured, of prefling their horfes, carriages and forage. Thofe laws and cufloms which would have ceafed to exiir by the conqueft of the province, were put in force againit its defender, and General Nelfon, worn out at length by the fatigues of the campaign, but itill more by the ingratitude of his fellow citizens, refigned the place of Governor,  which he had   held for fix months, but not without enjoying the fa-tisfacrion of juftifying his conduct, and of feeing his countrymen pardon the momentary injftries he had done their laws, by endeavouring
deavouring to fave the ltate.   If to the character I have juft given of General Nelfon, I mould add, that he is a good and gallant man, in every poffible fituation of life, and has ever behaved with the utrnolt politenefs to the French, you will be furprized that I mould go to vint him in his abfence, like Matbwin in the comedy of Rofe and Colas, for though I knew he was not at home, as I had met him near Williamfburgh, where he was detained by public bulinefs, the vifit 1 intended to pay him formed a part of my journey I undertook—beiides that I was defirous of feeing his family, particularly his younger brother, Mr. William Nelfon, with whom I was intimately connected at Williamfburgh, where he palled the greateft part of the winter.   Ojfly is far from cor-refponding with the riches of General Nelfon, or with his high confideration in Virginia;  it is but a moderate plantation, where he has contented himfelf with erecting fuch buildings as are necelTary for the improvement of his lands, and for the habitation of his overfeers; his general refi-dence is at Tork, but that he was obliged to C 2 abandon :
•   abandon : and Offly being beyond the South Anna, and fituated far back in the country, he thought that this lonely houfe would be at leaft a fafe retreat for his family; it was not fecure however from the vifks of Lord Cornwallis, who, in his peregrinations thro* Virginia,  advanced even fo far, though without doing much mifchief.   In the absence of the General, his mother and wife received us with all the politenefs, eafe, and   cordiality  natural   to   his family. But as in America the ladles are never thought fufficient to do the honors of the houfe, five or fix Nelfons were affembled to receive us; amongft others, the Secretary Nelfon, uncle to the General,  with his two fons, and two of the General's brothers.   Thefe young men were all married, and feveral of them were accompanied by their wives and children, all called Nelfon, and diftinguifhed only by their chriftian names *, fo that during the two days which I paffed in this truly patriarchal houfe, it
was
* The French in general affume the fumame, by which they chufe to be diftinguifhed in the world, fo that the name which, with us, is a real bond
Was impoflible for me to find out their degrees of relationship.   When I fay that we panned two days in this houfe, it may be underftood in the moft literal fenfe, for the weather was fo bad, there was no pof-fibility of ftirring out.   The houfe being neither convenient nor fpacious, company affembled either in the parlour or faloon, efpecially the men, from the hour of break-faft, to that of bed-time, but the conver-fation was always agreeable and well fup-ported.   If you were defirous of diversifying the fcene, there were fome good French and Englifh authors at hand.   An excellent breakfaft at nine in the morning, a fumptuous dinner at two o'clock, tea and punch in the afternoon, and an elegant little fupper, divided the day moft happily, for thofe whofe ftomachs were never unprepared.   It is worth obferving, that on this occafion, where fifteen or twenty people, (four of whom were ftrangers to the family C 3 or
of affection, is foon loft with them. I was long acquainted with four brothers in France, without knowing they were related to each other.
Translator.
or country) were affembled together, and by bad weather forced to flay within doors, not a fyllable was mentioned about play. How many parties of triclrac, whijl, and lotto would with us have been the confe-* quence of fuch obffinate bad weather ? Perhaps too, fome more rational amufements might have varied the fcene agreeably; but in America, mufick, drawing, public reading, and the work of the ladies, are re-fources as yet unknown, though it is to be hoped they will not long neglect, to cultivate them; for nothing but fludy was wanting to a young Mifs Tolliver who fung fome airs, the words of which were Englifh, and the mufic Italian. Her charming voice, and the artlefs fimplicity of her tinging, were a fub-ititute for tafte, if not tafte itfelf; that natural tafte, always fure, when confined within juft limits, and when timid in its weaknefs, it has not been altered, or fpoil-ed byfalfe precepts and bad examples.
Mifs Tolliver has attended her filler, Mrs. William Nelfon, to Offly, who had jufl: mifcarried, and kept her bed. She was brought up in the middle of the woods by
her father, a great fox hunter, confequent-ly could have learned to fing from the birds only, in the neighbourhood,   when the howling of the dogs permitted her to hear them.   She is an agreeable figure, as well as Mrs. Nelfon her filler, tho' lefs pretty than a third daughter, who remained with her father.   Thefe young ladies came often to Williamfburgh to attend the balls, where they appeared as well drcffed as the ladies of the town, and always remarkable for their decency of behaviour.   The young military gentlemen, on the other hand, had conceived a great affection for Mr. Tolliver their father, and took the trouble fometimes to ride over to breakfaft and talk with him of the chace.   The young ladies, who appeared from time to time, never interrupted the converfation.   Thefe pretty nymphs more timid and wild than thofe of Dianna, though they did not conduct the chace, in-fpired the talte for it into the youth : they knew however how to defend themfelves from fox-hunters, without deftroying, by their arrows, thofe who had the preemption to look at them.
After
After this little digreflion, which requires feme indulgence, I fhould be at a lofs for a tranfition to an old magistrate, whofe white Jocks, noble figure, and ftature, which was above the common fize, commanded refpect and veneration.   Secretary Nelfon, to whom this character belongs, owes this title to the place he occupied under the Englifh Government.   In Virginia the Secretary, whofe office it was to preferve the regiiters of all public ads, was, by his place, a member of the council, of which the Governor was the chief.   Mr. Nelfon, who held this office for thirty years, faw the morning of that bright day which began to fhine upon his country ; he faw too the ftorms arife which threatened its destruction, though he neither endeavoured to collect, or to foment them.
Too far advanced in age to defire a revolution, too prudent to check this great event, if necelTary, and too faithful to his countrymen to feparate his interests from theirs, he chofe the crisis of this alteration, to retire from public affairs. Thus did he opportunely quit the theatre, when new
pieces
pieces demanded frelh actors, and took his feat among the fpectators, content to offer up his wifhes for the fuccefs of the Drama, and to applaud thofe who acted well their part.   But in the laft campaign, chance produced him on the fcene, and made him unfortunately famous.    He lived at Torky where he had built a very handfome houfe, from which neither European tafte nor luxury was excluded; a chimney-piece and fome bafs reliefs of very fine marble, exquisitely fculptured, were particularly admired, when fate conducted Lord Cornwallis to this town to be difarmed, as well as his till then victorious troops. Secret tary Nelfon did not think it necellary to fly from the Englifh, to whom his conduct could not have made him difagreeable, nor have furnifhed anyjuft motive of fufpicion. He was well received by the General, who eltablifhed his head-quarters in his houfe, which was built on an eminence, aear the moft important fortifications, and in the molt agreeable Situation of the town. It was the firft object which ftruck the fight as you approached the  town,  but in-
ftead
flead of travellers, it foon drew the attention of our bombardiers and cannoniers, and was almoft entirely dellroyed. Mr. Nelfon lived in it at the time our batteries tried their firft fhot and killed one of his negroes at a little diilance from him ; fo that Lord Cornwallis was foon obliged to feek another afylum. But what afylum could be found for an old man, deprived of the ufe of his legs by the gout ? But, above all, what afylum could defend him againfl the cruel anguifh a father mull: feel at being befieged by his own children ; for he had two in the American army. So that every (hot, whether fired from the town, or from the trenches, might prove equally fatal to him -y I was witnefs to the cruel anxiety of one of thefe young men, when after the flag was fent to demand his father, he kept his eyes fixed upon the gate of the town, by which it was to come out, and fecmed to expect his own fentence in the anfwer. Lord Cornwallis had too much humanity to refufe a requefl fo jufl, nor can I recolr led, without emotion, the moment in which
I faw
I faw this old gentleman alight at General Wafhington s. He was feated, the fit of the gout not having yet left him ; and whilft we flood around him, he related to us, with a ferene countenance, what had been the effect of our batteries, and how much his houfe had fuffered from the firft fhot.
The tranquillity which has fucceeded thefe unhappy times, by giving him leifure to reflect upon his loffes, has not embittered the recollection; he lives happily in one of his plantations, where, in lefs than fix hours, he can affemble thirty of his children, grand children, nephews, nieces, &c. a-mounting in all to feventy, the whole inhabiting Virginia.   The rapid increafe of his own family juitifies what he told me of the population in general, of which, from the offices he has held all his life, he mutt have it in his power to form a very accurate judgment.   In 1742 the people Jubjetl to pay taxes in the State of Virginia, that is to fay, the white males above sixteen, and the male and female blacks of the fame age, amounted only to the number of 63,000 ;
by
by his account they now exceed 160,000 *.
After palling two days very agreeably with this interefling family, we left them the 12th at ten in the morning, accompanied by the Secretary, and five or fix o-ther Nelfons, who conducted us to Z//-tie River Bridge, a fmall creek on the road about five   miles  from Offly. There we feparated,   and having rode about eleven miles further through woods, and over a barren country, we arrived at one o'clock at Willis $ inn or ordinary; for the inns which in the other provinces of America are known by the name of taverns, or public-houfes, are in Virginia called ordinaries.   This confilled of a little houfe placed in a folitary fituation in the middle of the woods, notwithllanding which we there found a great deal of company. As foon as I alighted, I enquired what might  be the  reafon of   this numerous alTembly, and was informed it was a cock-match.    This diveriion is much in
fafhion
* This calculation is much below that given by other writers, and I have reafon to believe that it is .confiderably below the mark. Translator. 4
fafhion in Virginia, where the Englifh cuf-toms are more prevalent than in the reft of America.   When the principal promoters of this diverlion, propofe to watch their champions, they take great care to announce it to the public, and although there are neither pofts, nor regular conveyances, this important news fpreads with fuch facility that the planters for thirty or forty miles round, attend, fome with cocks, but all with money for betting, which is fometimes very considerable.   They are obliged to bring their own provifions, as fo many people with good appetites could not pof-fibly be fupplied with them at the inn. As for lodgings, one large room for the whole company, with a blanket for each individual,  is fufficient for fuch hearty countrymen, who are not more delicate about the conveniencies of life, than the choice of their amufements.
Whilft our horfes were feeding, we had an opportunity of feeing a battle. The preparation took up a great deal of time; they arm their cocks with long fteel fpurs, very fharp, and cut off a part of their feathers,
thers, as if they meant to deprive them of their armour. The ftakes were very con-fiderable ; the money of the parties was deposited in the hands of one of the principal perfons, and I felt a fecret pleafure in ob-ferving that it was chiefly French *. I
know
* The prodigious quantity of French money brought into America by their fleets and armies, and the loans made to Congrefs, together with the van: return of dollars from the Havannah, and the Spa-nifh, Portugueze and Englifh gold which found its way into the country from the Britifh lines, rendered fpecie very plentiful towards the conclufion of the war; and the arrival of the army of the Comte de Rochambeau was particularly opportune, as it happened at the very diftreffing crifis of the death of the paper currency. The French money alone in circulation in the United States, in the year 1782 was eftimated after very accurate calculations, at thirty-five millions of livres, or near a million and a half flerling. Although it is impoffible to afcer-tain with any degree of precifion the quantity of Brtifh money circulating in the revolted part of the continent, under the forms of Spanifh, Portugal, and Englifh coin, yet fome general idea may be entertained that the quantity was very considerable, from the following extract from the feventh report of the commijfioncrs of public accounts, " We obtained by re-" quifition from the office of the Paymaster General ** of the forces, an account of the money iffued to
know not which is the moft aftonifhing, the.infipidity of fuch diverfion, or the ftu-
pid
" MefTrs. Hartley and Drummond, purfuant to bis " Majefty's warrants, for the extraordinary Services V of his Majefty's forces ferving in North America " from the ift of January 1776, to the ^\Ji of De-** cember 1781.   This fum amounts to 10,083,8631. " 2S. 6d."—There are two ways by which this " money goes from thefe remitters into the hands ** of their agents : the one is by bills drawn by them " on the remitters, which bills they receive the va-" lue for in America, and the remitters difcharge " when prefented to them in London} the other is " by fending out aclual caj)), whenever it becomes *' neceffary to fupport the exchange, by increaling *.' the quantity of current cafh in the hands of the " agents."—Now the votes of Parliament will fhew the reader, the vaft fums annually granted to Meffrs. Hartley and Drummond, for the fpecific purpofe of purchafing Spanifh and Portugal gold alone, to fup-ply 4' this quantity of current cafh."   Befides the vaft exportation of Englifh guineas ; nor is it to be doubted that a great proportion of this fupply found its way into the heart of the United States, in return for provifions, in payment of their captive armies, &c. &c.   The Britifh navy too is not included in this eftimate.   Great fums 'tis true returned to Britain directly or indirectly for goods, eVc. but much fpecie remained inconteftably in the country. With refpe£t to the Spanifh dollars from the Ha-vanah and the Weft indies, no juft calculation can
32        travels in
pid intereff. with which it animates the parties. This pafiion appears almoil innate amongft the Englifh, for the Virginians are yet Englifh in many reipects. Whilst the interested parties animated the cocks to battle, a child of fifteen, who was near me, kept leaping for joy, and crying, Oh ! it is a charming d'tverfion.
We had yet feven or eight and twenty miles to ride, to the only inn where it was jfoflible to ftop, before we reached Mr. Jef-ferfon's ; for Mr. de Rochambeau, who had travelled the fame road but two months before, cautioned me againlt fleeping at Louifa Court-houfe, as the word: lodging he had found in all America. This public-houfe is fixteen miles from Willis's ordinary. As he had given me a very forcible defcription not only of the houfe, but
of
be formed, but the amount muft have been very considerable, as they appeared to me to circulate in the proportion of at leaft three or four to one of all the other coined fpecie. —When the Tranflator added this note, he had not feen Lord Sheffield's obfervations on the Subject. In thefe however, he thinks his lordfhip difcovers deep prejudices, mixed with much excellent reafoning and a great deal of truth. Translator.
of the landlord, I had a curiolity to judge of it by my own experience.   Under the pretence of enquiring for the road, therefore, I went in, and obferved, that there was no other lodging for travellers than, the apartment of the landlord.   This man, called John/on, is become fo monftrouily fat, that he cannot move out of his armchair.   IJe is a good humoured fellow, whofe manners are not very rigid, yrho loves good cheer, and all forts of pleafure, infomuch that at the age of fifty he has fo augmented his bulk, and diminished his fortune, that by two oppofite principles he is near feeing the termination of both; but all this does not in the lead: affect his gaiety.    I found him contented  in his arm-chair, which ferves him for a bed 5 for it would be difficult for him to lie down,   and impolTible to rife.    A itool fupported his enormous legs, in which were large filTures on each fide, a prelude to what muft foon happen to his belly.   A large ham and a bowl of grog ferved him for company, like a man refolved to die fur-rounded by his friends.   He called to my Vol. II. D mind,
mind, in (hort, the country fpoken of by Rabelais, where the men order their bellies to be hooped to prolong their lives, and efpecially the Abbe, who having exhausted every pofiible refource, relolved to rinifhr his days by a great feafr, and invited all the neighbourhood to his burjling.
The night was already clofed in, when we arrived at the houfe of Colonel Bofwell? a tall, itout Scotfman, about fixty years of age, and who had been about forty years fettled in America, where, under the Englifh government, he was a Colonel of mi* litia.   Although he kept a kind of tavernr he appeared but little prepared to receive flrangers.   It was already late indeed, be-fides that this road, which leads only to the mountains, is little frequented. He was quietly feated near the fire, by the fide of his wife, as old, and almolr. as tall as-himfelf, whom he diftinguifhed by the epithet of, " honey," which in French cor-refponds with mon petit carnr.   Thefe ho-neif. people received us cheerfully, and foon called up their fervants, who were already gone to bed.   Whilft they were preparing
fupper,
flipper, we often heard them call Rofe, Rofe, which at length brought to view the moft hideous negrefs I ever beheld.   Our fup-per was rather fcanty, but our breakfaft the next morning better; we-had ham, butter, frelh eggs, and coffee by way of drink : for the whilkey or corn-fpirits we had in the evening, mixt with water, was very bad; befides that we were perfectly reconciled to the American cuftom of drinking coffee with meat, vegetables or other food.
We fet out the next morning at eight o'clock, having learned nothing in this houfe worthy of remark, except that notwithstanding the hale and robuft appearance of Mr. and Mrs Bofwell, not one of fourteen of their children had attained the age of ten years.   We were now approaching a chain of mountains of considerable height, called the South-wefl mountains, becaufe they are the firft you meet in travelling weft ward, before you arrive at the chain known in France by the name of the Apalachians, and in Virginia by that of the Blue Ridge, North Ridge, and Allegany mountains.   As the country was much covered with woods, we D 2 had
had a view of them but very feldom ; and travelled a long time without feeing any habitation, at times greatly perplexed to choofe among the different roads, which crolTed each other *. At laft we overtook a traveller who preceded us, and ferved not only as a guide, but by his company helped to abridge our journey. He was an Irifhman, -J- who though but lately arrived
* The difficulty of finding the road in many parts of America is not to be conceived except by thofe ftrangers who have travelled in that country. The roads, which are not through the woods, net being kept in repair, as foon as one is in bad order, another is made in the fame manner, that is, merely by felling the trees, and the whole interior parts are fo covered, that without a compafs it is impoffiblc to have the Ieaft idea of the courfe you arc fleering. The diflances too are fo uncertain, as in every country where they arc not mcafured, that no two accounts rciemble each other. In the back parts of Pen -fylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, I have frequently travelled thirty miles for ten, though frequently fet right by paffengers and negroes : but the great communications between the large towns, through all the well inhabited parts of the continent, are as practicable and eafy as in Europe. Translator.
f An Irifhman, the inflant he fets- foot on Ame« rican ground becomes, ipfofaclo, an American ; this,
N o R t H - A M E R I C A. 37
ed in America, had made feveral campaigns, and received a confideiabJe wound
D 3 in
was uniformly the cafe during the whole of the late war.   Whi 1ft Englifhmen and Scotfmen were regarded with jealoufy and diftruft, even with the beft recommendation, of zeal and attachment to their caufe, a native of Ireland flood in need of no other certificate than his dialect; his fincerity was never called in quefticn, he was fuppofed to have a fym-pathy of fuffering, and every voice decided as it were intuitively, in his favour.   Indeed their conduct in the late revolution amply juflified this favourable opinion ; for whilft the Irifh emigrant was fighting the battles of America by fea and land, the Iriih. merchants, particularly at Charles-Town, Baltimore and Philadelphia, laboured with indefatigable zeal, and at ail hazards, to promote the fpirit of enter-prize, to increafe. the wealth, and maintain the credit of the country ; their purfes were always open, and their perfons devoted to the common caufe. On more than one imminent occafion, Congrefs owed their exiftence, and America poflibly her preferva-tion to the fidelity and firmnefs of the Irifh. i had the honour of dining with the Irifh Society, compofed of the f\eadieit whigs upon the continent, at the city tavern in Philadelphia, on St. Patrick's day; the members wear a medallion fufpended by a riband, with a very figniheant device, which has f fcaped my memory, but was fo applicable, to the American, revolution, that until I was aifured that it
in his thigh by a mufquet ball; which, though it could never be extracted, had not in the leait affected either his health or gaiety.   He related his military exploits, and we enquired immediately about the country which he then inhabited.   He acquainted us that he was fettled in North Carolina, upwards of eighty miles from Catawbaw, and were then 300 from the fea.   Thefe new eitablifhments are fo much the more interelting, as by their diftance from all commerce, agriculture is their fole refource; I mean that patriarchal agriculture which confifts in producing only what is fufficient for their own confump-tion, without the hope of either fale or barter.   Thefe Colonies therefore mult ne-
ceffarily
fubfiiled prior to that event, and had a reference only to the oppreffion of Ireland by her powerful filter, I concluded it to be a temporary illufion, General Wafhington, Mr. Dickinfon and other leading characters are adopted members of this Society, having been initiated by the ceremony of an exterior application of a whole bottle of claret poured upon the head, and a generous libation to liberty and good living, of as many as the votary could carry off, Translator.
ceflfarily be rendered equal to all their wants. It is eafy to conceive that there is foon no deficiency of food, but it is alfo neceiTary that their flocks and their fields fhould fur-nifh them with cloathing, they muff manufacture their own wool, and flax, into clothes and linen, they muft prepare the hides to make fhoes of them, &c. &c. * as to drink, they are obliged to content themfelves with milk and water, until their apple-trees are large enough to bear fruit, or until they have been able to procure themfelves frills, to diftil their grain.—In thefe troublefome times we fhould fcarcely imagine in Europe, that nails are the articles the moft wanted in thefe new colonies : for the axe and the faw can fupply every other want.   They contrive however to erect huts, and conftruct roofs without nails, but the work is by this means rendered much more tedious, and in fuch circum-
ffances
* It is a natural fuppolition that workmen of all forts (at leaft the moft neceffary) mould form a part of every new colony, and follow their particular trade as the moft beneficial employment.
Translator.
fiances every body knows the value of time and labour.   It was a natural queftion to afk fuch a cultivator what could bring him four hundred miles from home, and we learned from him that he carried on the trade of horfe felling, the only commerce of which his country was fufceptible, jf-and by which people in the moll: eafy cir-cumftances endeavoured to augment their fortunes.    In fact: thefe animals multiply very fail: in a country where there is abundant pafture ; and as they are conducted without any expence, by grazing on the road, they become the moft commodious article of exportation, for a country fo far from any road or commerce.   The conver-fation continued and brought us infeniibly to the foot of the mountains. On the fum-mit of one of them we difcovered the houfe of Mr. Jefferfon, which ftands pre-eminent
in
f Confiderable quantities of peltry are likewife brought from the back parts of North Carolina; and I have met with firings of horfes laden with that article palling through Virginia to Philadelphia from the diflance of fix hundred miles.
Translator*
in thefe retirements ; it was himfelf who built it and preferred this Situation ; for although he poffelTed confiderable property in the neighbourhood, there was nothing to prevent him from fixing his refidence where-ever he thought proper. But it was a debt Nature owed to a philofopher and a man of tafte, that in his own poffeflions he fhould find a fpot, where he might beft Study and enjoy her. He calls his houfe Mofiticello, (in Italian, Little Mountain) a very modeft title, for it is fituated upon a very lofty one, but which announces the owner's attachment to the language of Italy; and above all to the fine arts, of which that country was the cradle, and is ftill the afylum. As T had no further occafion for a guide, I feparated from the Irifhman ; and after afcending by a tolerably commodious road, for more than half an hour, we arrived at Monticello. This houfe, of which Mr. Jefferfon was the architect:, and often one of the workmen, is rather elegant, and in the Italian tafte, though not without fault; it confifts of one large fquare pavilion, the entrance of which is by two porticoes
ticoes ornamented with pillars. The ground floor confifts chiefly of a very large lofty feloon, which is to be decorated entirely in the antique ftyle : above it is a library of the fame form, two fmall wings, with only e ground floor, and attic ftory, are joined to this pavilion, and communicate with the kitchen, offices, &c, which will form a kind of bafement flory over which runs a terrace.   My object: in this fhort defcription is only to fhew the difference between this, and the other houfes of the country ; for we may fafely aver, that Mr. Jefferfon is the firfl American who has confulted the fn'ie arts to know how he fhould fhel-ter himfelf from the weather.   But it is on himfelf alone I ought to beflow my time.   Let me defcribe to you a man, not yet forty, tall, and with a mild and plea-ling countenance, but whofe mind and understanding are ample fubftitutes for. every exterior grace.   An American, who without ever having quitted his own country, is at once a mufician, fkilled in drawing; a geometrician, an aflronomer, a natural phi-Jofopher, legiflator, and flatefman.   A fena-
tor
jtor of America, who fat for two years in that famous Congrefs which brought about the revolution ; and which is never mentioned without refpect, though unhappily not without regret: a governor of Virginia, who filled this difficult ftation during the invafions of Arnold, of Phillips, andofCw-«-wallU; a philofopher, in voluntary retirement, from the world, and public bufinefs, becaufe he loves the world, inafmuch only as he can flatter himfelf with being ufefui to mankind ; and the minds of his countrymen are not yet in a condition either to bear the light, or to fuffer contradiction. A mild and amiable wife, charming children, of whofe education he himfelf takes charge, a houfe to embellilh, great provi-iions to improve, and the arts and fciences to cultivate ; thefe are what remain to Mr. Jefferfon, after having played a principal character on the theatre of the new world, and which he preferred to the honourable commiffion of Miniiter Plenipotentiary in. Europe, **   The vifit which 1 made him.
was
* Mr. Jefferfon having fince had the misfortune tp lofe his wife, has at laft yielded to the intreaties of
was not unexpected, for he had long fince invited me to come and pafs a few days with him, in the center of the mountains; notwithftanding which I found his firif appearance ferious, nay even cold; but before I had been two hours with him we were as intimate as if we had palled our whole lives together; walking, books, but above all, a converfation always varied and interesting, always fupported by that fweet fatisfaction experienced by two perfons, who in communicating their fentiments and opinions, are invariably in unifon, and who understand each other at the firft hint, made four days pafs away like fo many minutes.
This
his country, and accepted the place of Minifler Plenipotentiary at the court of France, and is now at Paris. It is necelfary to obferve that Mr. Jefferfon, who juftly Hands in the higheft fituation in America, was one of the five Minifters Plenipotentiary for concluding a peace in Europe, named by Congrefs full two years before it took place; Meffrs. Franklin, Adams, Laurens, and Jay were the other four.
Translator.
This conformity of fentiments and opinions on which I infill, becaufe it constitutes my own eulogium, (and felf-love mult fomewhere (hew itfelf) this conformity, I fay, was fo perfect, that not only our talte was Similar,   but our predilections alfo, thofe partialities which cold methodical minds ridicule as enthufialtic, whilst fen-fible and animated ones cherifh and adopt the glorious appellation.   I recollect with pleafure that as we were converting one evening over a bowl of punch, after Mrs. Jefferfon had   retired,  our converfation turned on the poems of OJJian.   It was a fpark of electricity which palled rapidly from one to the other ; we recollected the paffages in thofe fublime poems, which particularly Struck us, and entertained my fellow travellers, who fortunately knew Englifh well, and were qualified to judge of their merit, though they had never read the poems. In our enthufiafm the book was fent for, and placed near the bowl, where, by their mutual aid, the night far advanced
imperceptibly
46       Travels in
imperceptibly upon us. Sometimes natural philofophy, at others politicks or the arts were the topicks of our converfation, for* no object had efcaped Mr. Jefferfon ; and it feemed as if from his youth he had placed his mind, as he has done his houfe, on art elevated fituation, from which he might contemplate the univerfe.
The only ltranger who vifited us during our flay at Monticello, was Colonel Armand whom I have mentioned in my firit Journal; he had been in France the preceding year with Colonel 'Laurens, but returned foon enough to be prefent at the fiege of York* where he marched as a volunteer at the attack of the redoubts. His object in going to France, was to purchafe cloathing and accoutrements compleat for a regiment, he had already commanded, but which had been fo roughly handled in the campaigns to the fouthward, that it was neceffary to form it anew: he made the advance of the neceffaries to Congrefs, who engaged to provide men and horfes. CharlotSeville a rifing little town fituated in a valley two leagues from Monticello, being the quarter
afligned
aligned for affembling this legion, Colo-nel Armand invited me to dine with him the next day, where Mr. Jefferfon and I went, and found the legion under arms. It is to be compofed of 200 horfe and 150 foot.   The horfe was almoft compleat and very well mounted; the infantry was ftill feeble, but the whole were well clothed, well armed, and made a very good appearance.   We dined with Colonel Armand, all the officers of his regiment, and a wolf he amufes himfelf in bringing up, which is now ten months old, and is as familiar, mild, and gay as a young dog; he never quits his mafter, and has conftantly the privilege of fhaving his bed.   It is to be wifhed that he may always anfwerfogood an education, and not refume his natural character as he advances to maturity.   He is not quite of the fame kind with ours, his fkin is almoft black, and very gloffy;  he has nothing fierce about the head, fo that were it not for his upright ears, and pendent tail, one might readily take him for a dog. Perhaps he owes the fingular advantage of not exhaling a bad fmell, to the care which is 4 taken
43        Travels in
taken of his toilet; for I remarked that the dogs were not in the leaft afraid of him, and that when they crofTed his trace, they paid no attention to it.   But it appears improbable, that all the neatnefs in the world can deceive the inftincT: of thofe animals, which have fuch a dread of wolves, that they have been obferved, in the King's garden at Paris, to raife their coats and howl at the fmell only of two mongrels, engendered by a dog and a flie-wolf.   I am incline therefore to believe, that this peculiarity belongs to the fpecies of black wolf, for they have our fpecies alfo in America ; and in Europe we may pofiibly have the black kind, for fo it may be conjectured at leafl from the old proverb: " He is as much afraid of me as of a grey wolf," which implies that there are alfo black ones.
Since I am on the fubjecl: of animals, I fhall mention here fome obfervations which Mr. Jefferfon enabled me to make upon the wild beafls which are common in this country. I have been a long time in doubt whether to call them roebucks, flags, or deer, for in Canada they are known by
the
the firft name, in the eaftern provinces by the fecond, and in the fouthern by the third. Befides, in America,  their nomenclatures are fo inaccurate,  and their obfervations fo flight, that no information can be acquired by examining the people of the country.    Mr. Jefferfon amufed himfelf by raif-ing a fcore of thefe animals in his  park ; they are become very familiar, which happens to all the animals of America ; for they are in general much eafier to tame than thofe of Europe.   He amufes himfelf by feeding them with Indian corn, of which they are very fond, and which they eat out of his hand.   I followed him one evening into a deep valley, where they are accuf-tomed to affemble towards the clofe of the day, and faw them walk, run, and bound : but the more 1 examined their paces, the lefs I was inclined to annex them to any particular fpecies in Europe; they are ab-folutely of the fame colour as the roebuck, and never change even when they are tamed, > which often happens to deer. Their horns, which are never more than a foot and a half long, and have more than four Vol. II. E branches
branches on each fide, are more open and broader than thofe of the roebuck, they take an oblique direction in front; their tails are from eight to ten inches long, and when they leap they carry them almofr. vertical like the deer; refembling thofe animals not only in their proportions, but in the form of their heads, which are longer and lefs frizzled than thofe of the roebuck. They differ alfo from that fpecies, as they are never found in pairs. From my own obfervations, in fhort, and from all I have been able to collect: on the fubject, I am convinced that this kind is peculiar to America, and that it may be confidered: fome-thing betwixt the deer and roebuck. * Mr. Jefferfon being no fportfman, and not having croffed the feas, could have no-decided opinion on this part of natural hirtory ; but he has not neglected the other branches. I faw with pleafure that he had applied himfelf particularly to meteorological ob-
fervation,
* I have been lately allured that when thefe animals grow old, their horns are as large as thofe of the flag, but their nelli has certainly the fame tafte with that of the deer in England,
fervation, which, in fact, of all the branches of philofophy, is the moft proper for the Americans to cultivate, from the extent of their country, and the variety of their fitu* ations, which give them iri this point a great advantage over us, who in other re-fpedrs have fo many over them.   Mr. Jefferfon has made, with Mr, Maddifon, a well informed profeffor of mathamatics, fome correfpondent obfervations on the reigning winds at William/burgh, and Monticello and although thefe two places are at the diftance only of fifty leagues, and not fepa-rated by any chain of mountains, the difference of their refults. was, that for 127 obfervations on the N.E wind at Williamf-burgh, there were only 32 at Monticello, where the N. W. wind in general fupplies the place of the N. E.   This latter appears to be a fea-wind, eafily counteracted by the ftighteft obftacle,  infomuch that twenty years fince it was fcarcely ever felt beyond Weft-point; that is to fay beyond the conflux of the Pawmunkey and the Matapony, which unite and form York river, near E 2 thirty-
thirty-five miles from its mouth. * Since the progrefs of population and agriculture has confiderably cleared the woods, it penetrates fo far as Richmond, which is thirty miles further. It may hence be obferv-ed, firil, that the winds vary infinitely in their obliquity, and in the height of their
region.
* The rapid changes of the temperature of the air in America, and particularly to the fouthward, are apt to deftroy the heft European conltitutions. In the middle of the hotted: day in July and Auguft, when the heat was fo intolerable as almoft to prevent refpiration, I have frequently known the wind fhift fuddenly round to the N. W. attended with a blafl, fo cold arrd humid as to make it immediately nc-ceflary to mut all the doors and windows, and light large fires.   It is impofhble to conceive any thing more trying for the human body, relaxed and open at every pore, from a continuance of burniug heat, than this raw, piercing wind which blows over fuch jmmenfe boundlefs tracts of lakes and forefts ; but the melioration of the climate, even from the partial, and comparatively inconfiderable deflruclion of the woods in many parts of the continent, is fo rapid as to be ftrikingly perceptible even in the courfe of a very few years j and its falubrity in pro-, portion to the progrefs of thefe improvements, will probably approach much nearer to thofe of Europe under the fame latitudes, '.Translator.
region.   Secondly, that nothing is more effential than the manner in which we proceed in the clearing of a country, for the falubrity of the air, nay even the order of the feafons,  may depend on   the accefs which we allow the winds, and the direction we may give them.   It is a generally received opinion at Rome, that the air is lefs healthy (ince the felling of a large fo-reSt fituated between that city and Oftia, which defended it from the winds known in Italy by the names of the Scirocco and the Lrbico.   It is believed in Spain alfo, that the exceffive droughts, of which the Caffi-lians complain more and more, are occasioned by the cutting down of the woods, which ufed to attract and break the clouds in their paffage.   There is yet a very important consideration upon which I thought it my duty to fix the attention of the learned in this country, whatever diffidence I may have of my own knowledge in philo-fophy, as well as on every other Subject:. The greateft part of Virginia is very low and flat, and fo divided by creeks and great rivers, that it appears abfolutely redeemed E 3 f>w
54 TRAVEL SIN
from the fea, and an entire new creation j it is confequently very fwampy, and can be dried only by the cutting down a great quantity of wood; but as on the other hand it can never be fo drained as not flill to abound with mephitical exhalations; and o,f whatever nature thefe exhalations may be, whether partaking of fixed or inflammable air, it is certain that vegetation abforbs them equally, and that trees are the molt proper to accomplifh this object. *   It appears equally dangerous   either to cut down or to preferve a great quantity of wood ; fo that the befl: manner of proceeding to clear the country, would be to dif-perSe the fettlements as much as poflible, and to leave fome groves of trees Standing between themr   In this manner the ground inhabited would be always healthy; and as there yet remain considerable marfhes which they cannot drain, there is no rifk of admitting the winds too eafily, as they would ferye to carry off the exhalations.
But
. * This difcovery the world owes to Do&qr Franklin.
*  But I perceive my Journal is Something like the converfation I had with Mr. Jefferfon ; I pafs from one object to another, and forget myfelf as I write, as it happened not unfrequently in his fociety. I mult now quit the Friend of Nature, but not Nature herfelf,  who expects me in all her fplendour at the end of my journey ; I mean the famous Bridge of Rocks, which unites two mountains, the moft curious object I ever yet beheld, as its construction is the moft difficult of folution.   Mr. Jefferfon would moft willingly have conducted me' thither, although this wonder is upwards of eighty miles from him, and he had often feen it; but his wife being expected every moment to lie in, and himfelf as good a hufband, as he is an excellent philofopher and a virtuous citizen, he only acted as my guide for about Sixteen miles, to the pai-fage of the little river Mcchum, where we parted, and I prefume, to flatter myfelf, with mutual regret.
We walked our horfes feventeen miles further in the defiles of the weftern mountains, before we could find a place to bait
them;
them ; at laft we flopped at a little lonely houfe, a Mr. Mac DonneW, an Irifhman, where we found eggs, bacon, chickens, and whifkey, on which we made an excellent repair..   He was an honeft, obliging man ; and his wife, who had a very agreeable and mild countenance, had nothing ruitic either in her converfation or her manner. For in the center of the woods, and wholly occupied in ruftic bufinefs, a Virginian never refemblcs an European peafant: he is always a freeman, participates in the government, and has the command of a few negroes.   So that uniting in himfelf the two cliffindt qualities of citizen and mafter, he perfectly refembles the bulk of individuals who formed what were called the people in the ancient republics j a people very different from that of our days, though they are very improperly confounded, in the frivolous declamations of our half philofophers, who, in comparing ancient with modern times, have invariably mifhken the word people, for mankind in genera]; and believing themfelves its defenders, have beftowed their praifes on the oppreffors of humanity.
Hovy
How many ideas h?,ve we Hill to rectify ? How many words, the fenfe of which is yet vague and indeterminate ? The dignity of man has been urged a hundred times, and the expreftion is univerfally adopted. Yet after all, the dignity of man is relative; if taken in an individual fenfe, it is in proportion to the inferior claifes ; the plebeian, constitutes the dignity of the noble, the ilave that of the plebeian, and the negro that of his white mafter.   If taken in a general acceptation, it may infpire man with fentiments of tyranny and cruelty, in his relative fituation with refpect to other animals;  deftroying thus the general beneficence, by counteracting the orders and the views of Nature.   What then is the principle on which Reafon, efcaped from fophifts and rhetoricians, may at laft rely ? The equality of rights ; the general intereft which actuates all; private intereft, connect* ed with the general good; the order of focie* ty; as neceffary as the fymmetry of a beehive; &c. if all this does notfurnifh matter for eloquence, we muft confole ourfelves, and prefer genuine morality to that which is
fallacious. *
fallacious. * We had reafon to be contented with that of Mr. Mac Donell; he pre-fented us with the beft he had, did not make us pay too dear, and gave us every inftruction neceffary to continue our journey; but not being able to fet out: until half paft four o'clock, and having twelve miles to go before we pafTed the Blue Bridges, we were happy in meeting on the road with an honeff. traveller, who ferved us for a guide, and with whom we entered into converfation. He was an inhabitant of the county of Augujla, who had ferved in Carolina
* The Marquis de Chajiellux has diftinguifhed himfelf very honourably in the literary world by feveral productions, but particularly by his treatife Dc la Fclicitc Publique, wherein he breathes the generous, enlightened language of philanthropy and freedom. He" was chofen a member of the French academy at a very early age, by dint of his own merit, and not by a court mandate, or intrigue, and was, if I mijiake not, when very young, in correfpohdence with, and a favourite of, the illuftrious Pope-G««-1 ganelli. He has lately tranflated into French, Colonel Humphreys's poem, The Campaign, mentioned in the notes to the firft volume of this work.
Translator.
N O RT H- ATvjERIC A. 59 Una as a common rifleman-\-, notwitliftand-ing which, he was well mounted, and appeared much at his* eafe.' In America the militia is compofed of all the "inhabitants without diftinc~Uon, and the officers are
elected
■f The riflemen are a Virginian militia, compofed of the inhabitants of the mountains,' who are all expert hunters, and make ufe of rifle' guns. Tp-wards the end of the war little ufe was made of them, as it was found that the difficulty of loading their pieces more than equalled the advantages derived from their exa£tnefs.   The Americans had great numbers of riflemen in fmall detachments on the flanks of Ge* neral .Burgoyne's army, many of whom took poft on high trees in the rear of their own line, and there was feldom a minute's interval of fmoke without officers being taken off by Angle fhot.   Captain Green of thp 31 flrcgiment, Aide de Camp to General Philips, was fhot through the arm by'one of thofe markfmen as he was delivering a menage to General Burgoyne. After the convention, the commanding officer of the riflemen informed General Burgoyne that the fhot was meant for him; and as Captain Green was feen to fall from his horfe, it was for fome hours believed in the American army that General Burgoyne was killed.   His efcape was owing to the Captain's having laced furniture to his faddle, which made him to be miftakenfor the General.   General Burgoyne fays, in his "Narrative, that not an Indian could be brought within the found of a rifle fhot.(
,   .   . Translator.
elected by them without refpecl: either to fervice or experience. Our fellow-traveller had been at the battle of Cow fens, where General Morgan, with 800 militia, entirely defeated the famous Tarleton, at the head of his legion, a regiment of regular troops, and of different pickets drawn from the army, forming near 1200 men, of whom upwards of 800 were killed or made prisoners *. This event, the moft extraordinary
* Lord Cornwallis, in his anfwer to Sir Henry Clinton's Narrative, published in 1783, gives the following ftate of his army before the defeat of Tarleton, and fubfequent to that event, from which wc may authenticate the lofs of men, and deduce the importance of Morgan's viftory to America ;
January 15th, 1781, the rank and file of his Lord-fhip's army was,
Guards, -	690
7th regiment,	167
16th, three companies,	41
23d regiment, •	286
23d regiment,	328
71ft, 1 ft battalion,	249
71ft, 2d battalion,       - *	237
71ft light company,     j -	69
German regiment of Bofe,	* 347
Yagers, -	103
Carried over 2517
nary of the whole war, had always excited my curiofity.   The modeily and fiixiplicity
witk
Brought over 2517 ' Tarleton's legion,      -     -      - 451 Carolina volunteers, - 256
Total before the battle,      - - 3224
February ift, 1781, after the defeat of Tarleton,
Guards,      -       -         - . 690
7 th regiment      - - ■ %
' 16th,         - —
23d,         - - 279
33d>        "        " -   •> 334
71ft, 1 ft battalion, » ■ ■  ■ ■
71ft 2d ditto,           -. - 234
71ft light company, - — ... ■■
German regiment of Bofe, - 345
Yagers         - 97
Tarleton's legion         - - 174
N. Carolina volunteers, • 287
Total after the defeat of Tarleton, 2440
Total lofs with the detachment of artillery 800 out of 1050 men, the real number of Tarleton's force.
The names of the regiments that have no numbers annexed to them in the laft column are thofe which were totally deftroyed, that is, killed, wounded, or taken, in the battle of Cowpens, on the 17th of January, between Morgan and Tarleton. Lord Cornwallis 4
with which General Morgan gave the account of it, have been generally admired. But one circumftance in this relation had always aftonimed me. Morgan drew up his troops in ordr of battle,, in an open wood, and divided his riflemen upon the two wings, fo as to form, with the line, a kind of tenaifle, wKich collected the whole fire, both directly and obliquely, on the center of the Englifh. Bat after the firfl difcharge, he made fo dangerous a movement, that had he commanded the belt disciplined troops in the world, I fhould be
at
in his Gazette account, Immediately after the affair, Hated the lofs only at 400, but the truth at length appears, when the purpofes of mifreptefentation are at an end, and the detail becomes neceffary to the General's own honour.
Lord Cornwallis in his account of Tarleton's defeat, mentions a very honourable circumftance for the corps of. artillery, but which was by no means ■unexamined by this brave body of men, in feveral actions in America: he fays, "In juftice to the detachment of royal artillery, I muft here obferve that no terrors could induce them to abandon their guns, and they were all either killed or wounded in defence of them." Translator.
at a lofs to account for it.   He ordered the whole -line to wheel to the right, and after retreating thirty or forty paces, made them halt; face about, and recommence the fire.. I begged this witnefs,  whofe depofition could not be fufpected, to relate what he had feen, and I found his account perfectly conformable to Morgan's own relation. But as he could affign no reafon for this retrograde motion, I enquired if the ground behind the firit pofition was not more elevated and advantageous, but 'he allured me it was abfolutely the fame ; fo that if it was this action which tempted the' Englifh (whofe attack is not hot, but confifts in general of a brifk fire, rather than in clof-ing with the enemy) to break theii* line, and advance inconfiderately into a kind of focus of fhot poured from the center and the wings, it depended on General Morgan
alone to have claimed the merit, and to
• -
have boafted of one of the boldeft ftrata-'. gems ever employed in the art of war. This is a merit however he never claimed, and the relation of this rifleman leaves no doubt with me, that the General, dreading
the
the fuperiority of the Englifh, had at firft defigned to give up gradually the field of battle, and retreat to covered4 ground* more advantageous for inferior forces   but finding himfelf clofely preffed, he had no otheti refource but to rifk every thing and give battle on the fpot.   Whatever was the motive of this lingular manoeuvre, the refult of it was the defeat of Tarleton, whofe troops gave way on all fides, without a pofiibility of rallying them.   Fatigued bf a very long march, they were foon overtaken by the American militia, who, affifted by fixty horfe under Colonel Wafhington* made upwards of 500 prifoners, and took two pair  of colours and two pieces of cannon.
It is natural to enquire how Tarleton's cavalry were employed during the engagement, and after the defeat; whilfl the infantry were engaged, they endeavoured to turn the flanks of General Morgan's army* but were kept in awe by fome riflemen* and by the American horfe detached by Colonel Washington, ♦) fupport them, in two-little fquadrons.    After the battle, they.
fled
fled full gallop, without ever thinking of the infantry, or taking the lead precaution to cover their retreat.   As to the Englifh General, God knows what became of him.   And this is that Tarleton who with Cornwallis was to finifh the conqueft of America; who with Cornwallis had received the thanks of the Houfe of Commons, and whom all  England admired as the hero of the army and the honour of the nation
In reflecting on the fate of war, let us recollect, that two months after this victory
* Colonel Tarleton has given fo many proofs not only of courage but of great bravery and firmnefs, that every foldier ought to approve the eulogiums hfftowed upon his valour.   It were to be wifhed that he had always made good ufe of thofe qualities, and that he had Ihewn himfelf as humane and fenfible, as brave and determined. The defign of thefe reflections is to fhew, how much the Englifh, in this war, have been obliged to fwell their fucceffes, and diminifil their defeats.   The more rare they became, the more they were difpofed to folemnize the former. Howe and Burgoyne were difgraq^l for not conquering America,  whilft others have obtained promotion for gaining fome trifling advantages.
Vol. II.
F
gained by the militia * over i2co veteran troops, General Greene, after having af* fembled near 5000 men, half militia, half continentals, made choice of an excellent polition, and employed all the refources of military art, was beaten by 1800 men, abandoned by his militia f, and forced to
limit
* Earl Corriwallis in his letter in the London Gazette of March 31ft, 1781, fays that Morgan had with him, '* By the bell accounts he could get, about 500 men, Continental and Virginia ftate troops, 103 cavalry under Colonel Wafhington, and 6 or 700 mi^tia; but that body is fo fluctuating, that it is ' impoifible to afcertain its number within fome hun~ dredsy for three days following." This account feems to have been intended to qualify the defeat of Tarleton, who was a great favourite; but the fa£l is nearly as the Marquis de Chaftellux ftates it, for Morgan had very few continentals with him, and his whole body did not exceed 800 men.
f The returns of Lord Cornwall's army taken a fortnight before the battle were,
The returns feventeen days after it,      - ^23 His lofs confequently may be ftatcd at about ? the difference, - - J 49
Several attempts have been likewife made to prove that General Greene had with him at Guildford an army of 9 or 10,000 men, but Lord Cornwallis himfelf, in his letter to Lord Rawdon, dated Camp at
limit all his glory to the making the En-gliQi pay dear for the field of battle, which F 2 the
Guildford, March 17, 1781, and published in the London Gazette of May 10, 1781,   exprefsly fays, ** General Greene having been very conjiderably rein-" forced from Virginia by eight months men and mi~ ** litia, and having collected all the militia of this *' province, advanced with an army of about 5, or M 6000 men, and 4 fix-pounders, to this place." From this unexpected account we may collect pretty clearly  the   indifferent  compo'fition   of General Greene's force, and muft render juftice to the fair-nefs of the French General's detail which calls them 5000 men, half militia., half continentals ; and ftates the conquering army only at 1800 men.   The Tranf-lator hopes the reader will not find thefe compa-rifons fuperfluous, as fuch fcrutinies tend to elucidate the interefting events of an ever memorable revolution, and to enlighten hiftory.   General Gates fhewed me, at his houfe in Virginia, a letter from General Greene, wherein he took occafion in the moft liberal manner to reconcile him to the unfortunate affair of Camden, by a detail of the bad conduct of the fame militia, at the battle of Guildford, the Eutaws, &c.   He touched upon the matter with a delicacy and candour which did equal honour to his fenfibility and judgment. Such a tribute of juf-tice from the officer who had fupcrfeded him in his command could not but be highly grateful to General Gates, poffelfing, as he does, in the moft emi-
the reft of his troops defended foot by fool, and yielded with reluctance *.   Our con-
verfation
nent degree, the warlike virtues, a pure difinterefted attachment to the caufe of freedom, and all the generous fufceptibility of an amiable private gentleman. Whilft under a cloud himfelf, I heard him with admiration uniformly expatiate with all the diftrelfed warmth of public virtue on the fucceffes of ether Generals, and inflead of jealous repining and difgufl, pay his tribute of applaufe to the merits even of thofe he could not love, and prognosticate, with confidence, the final fuccefs of America. It was with real joy therefore, that I faw his honour vindicated by the deliberate voice of Congrefs, himfelf reilored to his former rank, and that harmony which never fhould have been difturbed, renewed between this true patriot and General Wafhington, under whom I left: him fecond in command at the camp at Verplanks on the North River in October, 1782. Translator.
* Since the Journal was written, the author has had an opportunity of feeing General Morgan ; he is a man about fifty, tall, and of a very martial appearance. The fcrvices he rendered the ftate during the war, were very numerous, and his promotion rapid. It is pretended th.2t he was formerly a carter* and from the fame unacquaintance with the cuftoms and language of the country. Another General is faid to have been a farmer, becaufe he employed himfelf in cultivation, and a -third to have been q
vcrfation on war and battles brought us.to the foot of the gap, or, as it is called, the F 3 neck
iutcber, becaufe he dealt in cattle. General Morgan was formerly engaged in waggons, undertook the tranfport of goods lent by land, and often put himfelf at the head of thefe little convoys. The lylarquis dc Chr——-, the firft time he had an opportunity of feeing him, commanded the French troops in the abfence of the Comte de Rochambeau at Philadelphia, during the march from Williamfburgh to
Baltimore.   The Marquis de Ch.-■.— was then at
Colchefler, with the firft divifion of the troops, after palling in. boats the river which runs near the town.   The carriages and artillery had taken another road, to gain an indifferent ford. General Morgan met them when they were engaged in a very yarrow paffage, and finding the carters did not un-derfland their buiinefs, he flopped, and fhewed them how they ought to drive.     Having put every thing in order., he alighted at the Marquis's, and 4ined with him.   The nmpiicity of his deportment, and the noblenefs of his behaviour, recalled to mind the ancient Gallic and German chiefs, who, when in peace with the Romans, came to vifit and offer them afnflance.   He expreiTed a great attachment to the French nation, admired our troops, and never ceafed looking at them ; often repeating, that the greateft pleaiure of his life would be, to ferve in ♦numerous and brilliant armies. ' It will eafily be conjectured that his hoil afked him many queftions,
neck of Rcck-Ft/h, which, in an extent1 of more than fifty miles is the only paf-
fage
particularly reflecting the affair of Cowpens. His anfwer confirmed what the rifleman had faid; he Owned alfo very candidly that the retrograde movement he had made,' was not premeditated. His troops were intimidated, when the Englifh, with more confidence than order, advanced to the at*, tack: obferving them keep their ranks, he fuffer-ed them to retreat a hundred paces, and then commanded them to halt and face the enemy, as if the retrograde movement had been really preconcerted *'.   Though this account, which is more recent and furer than in the text, might render thofe reflections "ufelefs, it was thought proper to preferve them, becaufe on one hand they are not uninterefl-ing to the foldier, and on the other, they may teach philofophers and critics to fufpedt thofe who have . written hiflory, above all, thofe who, like Titus Li-vius, Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus, and all the copious and elegant hiftorians, delight in multiplying and varying the defcriptions of battles; or, what is yet more reprehenfible, who like Frontin, Pollien, and
other
«r-       v' : : ■»/.-."•« e '• ' * ~if   '•    •" " T*1S Vt
. * General Morgan by thus dcxteroufly availing himfelf of the £ircumitenccs of his very critical pofition, has perhaps more- real merit, than if he had really preconceived the manoeuvre which lias given him fo much fame; a manoeuvre, from which, unlefi Justified by a neceflity fuch as his, he had no right to expect fuc-$efs,.in the face. of. a jkilftd enemybut Tarletqn neyer.was. a
fage to crofs the Blue Ridges, at leaft in a carriage. We afcended very commodioufly, for about two miles, and on arriving at the top of the mountain, were furprifed to find a little cottage lately built and inhabited by white people. I enquired of my fellow-traveller what could engage them to fettle in fo barren and defert a place, he told me they were poor people who expec~U £d to get fome afliftance from pafTengers.
I expected this anfwer, and was forry to find in a new country, where the earth wants inhabitants, and agriculture, hands, white people under the neceiTity of begging. I flopped a moment to view the wild but uninterefting profpect of the wef-tern mountains, from the fummit of the Blue Ridges. But as the fun was near fet-ting, I haftened to reach the only inn where
lodgings
other compilers, borrow from hiftorians the events and ftrafagems of war, which they endeavour to collect.
General Morgan has not ferved fince the affair of Cowpens ; he lives in the county of Fairfax and on the eflate which he had either purchafed or increaf-ed, waiting till opportunity fliall prefent him with Come command.
lodgings could be had, .on the other fide of the mountains. Notwithflanding which, I flopped once more, nor had I any reafon to regret it.   My fervant always followed me with a /owling-piece, and as it frequently happened that I was obliged to alight to fire at a partridge, or fome other game, our converfation did not prevent me from being always upon the watch.   I perceived a large bird which croffed the road, and by the inftincl of a fportfman, I concluded it to be what the inhabitants of the mountains call zpheafant, but which refembles much more a woodhen.   To alight, call my dog, and take my gun, -was the work of a moment; as I was preparing to follow the wood&en among the bufhes, one of my fervants pointed out to me two others, perched upon a tree behind him, and which looked at me with great tranquillity. I fired at the one nearefr. to me, nor did it require much addrefs to kill it. • Except that it was perhaps a little bigger, it re-fembled the one I had feen at Newport, where the Americans carry them fometimes %q market, in winter, when they defcend
from
from the mountains, and are more eafily killed.   This one, before it was plucked, was of the* fize of a capon ; its plumage on the back and wings refembled that of a hen pheafant, and, on the belly and thighs, the large winter thrufh.   It was booted like the rough footed pigeon, to its feet, and the plumage of its head- formed a kind of aigrette: take it altogether, it is a beautiful bird, and good eating ; but when flript of its feathers, it was not larger than the redfooted partridge, or bartavelle. After ordering the woodhen I had killed, for fup-per, I tried to find the firft I had feen run into the underwood.   I raifed it once, and although I ran immediately, and Iiad an excellent dog, it was impoffible to find it; thefe birds running very fift, like the pheafant and the rayl.   The mode which the inhabitants of the mountains make ufe of to kill them, is to walk in the woods at fun-rifing and fun-fetting, to attend to the noife they make in beating their fides with their wings., which may be heard above 3 mile ; they tUen approach foftly, and ufual* ly find them fitting upon the trunk of fome
old
old tree. It was perhaps lucky that my mooting did not continue with more fuc-cefs; for it was almoll: night when we arrived at the ford of South River, and the waters, ccnfiderably augmented by the late rains, were very high. I was proud of fording the famous Potowmack, which had taken me an hour in a boat, at the ferry of Alexandria *•
South
* In travelling from Frederick-Town to Leef-burgh, in a fingle-horfe chaife for one perfon, called in America a fully, the fhafts of my carriage broke about a mile from the Potowmack, on the Maryland fide, and I was reduced to the neceflity, having no fervant, of leaving it with all my papers, money, fire-arms, &c. and of mounting my horfe in fearch of afftflance. Night was coming on in a moft difficult country, to which I was an utter granger, and not even a negro-hut was to be met with. In thefe circumflances I approached the Potowmack, on the other fide of which I difcover-ed a fmoke in the woods, which gave me hopes of its proceeding from a houfe, but the river was near a mile broad, and my horfe barely fourteen hand? high. Whilfl I was thus {landing in fufpence, two travellers arrive on horfeback and pufh into the river, a little higher up. I flew to follow them, but fcarcely had they advanced one hundred yards before they returned, declaring it not fordable, and,
South river in fad is only a branch of the Potowmack, the fource of which is in
the
to add to my diftrefs, they affured me that I was at a great diftance from awy houfe on that fide, but, on the other, I fhould find an ordinary kept by a. Scotfman.    They excufed* themfelves from aflift* ing me on the plea of urgent bufinefs, and left me with the confoling affurance that the river might poffibly be fordable, though they who were inhabitants of the country, did not chufe to ventttre it. Perceiving the bottom of a good gravel, and free from rocks, I attempted the paffage as foon as they left me, and in about twenty dangerous and irkfome minutes reached the other fide, where I obtained the /cheerful aid of two natiye negroes at the Scotfman's hut, for it was no better, and recroffing the river, went in fearch of my broken carriage, which we found in fecurity. It was ten o'clock before I paffed .the river a third time, always up to my waift, and reached my quarters for the night, where at ieafl I met with as hofpitable a reception as the houfe af-'forded; but the confequence of this adventure, wherein I was fucceffiveJy wet and dry three times, in the hot month of July, was a fever and ague which tormented me for five months.   At Alexandria, about fifty miles lower down, the Potowmack rolls its majeflic ftream with fublimity and grandeur, fixty gun fhips may lie before the town, which flands wpon its lofty banks, commanding, to a great extent,
the mountains, and like all other rivers is humble in its rife; but it may be looked upon as the proudeff, of its branches, as at the diftance of thirty leagues, it is above a mile broad, and refembles more an arm of the fea, than a river.   Two hundred paces from the ford, but more than forty miles from the place from which I fet out, I found the inn which Mr. Jefferfon had de-fcribed to me ; it was one of the worft in all America.   Mrs. Teaze, the miftrefs of the houfe, was fome time fince left a widowj •fhe appears alfo to be in fact the widow of her furniture, for furely never was houfe ib badly furnifhed.   A folitary tin veffel was the only bowl for the family, the fervants and ourfelves ; I dare not fay for what other ufe it was propofed to us on our going to bed *.   As we were four matters,
without
the natter fhore of Maryland. This town, which ftands above 200 miles from the £ea3 is rapidly on the increafe, and from the lavifh prodigality of Nature, cannot fail of becoming one of the firft cities of the new world. Translator.
* The Marquis's diftrefs on this occafion, reminds me naturally of a fimilar, but ftill worfe fituation in
without reckoning the rifleman, who had followed us, and whom I had engaged to fupper, the hoflefs and the family were obliged to refign to us their beds. But at the moment we were inclined to make ufe of them, a tall young man entering the chamber, where we were avTembled, opened a clofet, and took out of it a little bottle. I enquired what it was ; it is, faid he, fome-thing which the Doctor in the neighbourhood has ordered me to take every day. And for what complaint, faid I ? Oh ! not much, he replied, only a little itch,   I own
his
which i found myfelf on my return from America towards the end of the war, with four officers of the army of the Comte de Rochambeau. Our captain being obliged fuddenly to take advantage of one of thofe violent north weilers which blow in December, to get clear of the coaft, befet with New-York Privateers, forgot all his crockery ware, fo that in default of plates, mugs, &c. we were obliged, during a winter's voyage of feven weeks, to apply two tin jugs we had purchafed to drink our cyder, to every ufe ; and, in fpite of my reprcfenta-tions, even to fome purpofes I am unwilling to repeat ; for in bad weather, thefe excellent land-offers could hot-^e prevailed upon to look on deck.
Translator.
his confeffion was ingenuous, but I was by no means lorry that I had fheetsin my portmanteau.   It may eafily be imagined we were not tempted to breakfafl in this houfe. We fet out therefore very early on the 18th, in hopes (as we had been told) that we fhould find a better inn, at the diflance of ten miles, but thofe hopes were vain. Mr. Smith, a poor planter, to whom we were recommended, had neither forage for our horfes, nor any thing for ourfelves. He only allured us, that eight miles further we mould find a mill, the proprietor of which kept a public-houfe, and we found accordingly the mill and the miller. He was a young man, twenty-two years of age, whofe charming face, fine teeth, red lips, and rofy cheeks, recalled to mind the pleaf-ing portrait which Marmontel gives of Lu-bin.   His walk and carriage did not however correfpond with the frefhnefs of his looks, for he appeared fluggifh and inactive. I enquired the reafon, and he told me he had been in a languishing flate ever fince the battle of Guildford, in which he had received fifteen or fixteen wounds with a< hanger.
He
He had not, like the Romans, a crown to at-teft his valour; nor, like the French, either penfion or certificate of honour ; inftead of them, he had apiece of his fkull, which his wife brought to fhew me.   I certainly little thought of finding, amidft the folitudes of America, fuch lamentable traces of European fteel; but I was the moft touched to learn, that it was after he had received his firft wound, and was made prifoner, that he had been thus cruelly treated. This unhappy young man acquainted me, that overcome with wounds, and wallowing in his blood, he yet retained his prefence of mind, and imagining his cruel enemies would not leave exifting a (ingle witnefs or victim of their barbarity, there remained no other way of faving his life, than by appearing as if he had loft it.
The all-feeing eye of Divine Juftice alone can difcover and make known the authors of fuch a crimej but, if difcovered—Oh! for the voice of a Stentor and the trumpet of Fame, to devote the vile perpetrators to pre-fent and future horror ! And to announce to all fovereigns, generals and chiefs, that the
-enormities
enormities which they tolerate, or leave unpunished, will accumulate upon their heads, •and, at fome future time, render them the execration of a pofterity frill more fenfible, and more enlightened than we yet are I
Even if Mr. Steel, our landlord, had been more active, and liis wife, who was young and handfome, more induftrious, they could not have fupplied the total want in which they then were, of bread, and of every thing to drink ; the bread was jufl kneaded, but not yet put into the oven; and as for liquors, the houfe made ufe of none; the fame ftream which turned the mill, was the only cellar of the young couple, fo that we might apply to Mrs. Steel thofe verfes of Cuarmi,
Quel fonte on (Telia beve *
Quel fob aneo la bagna, e la configlia.
But thefe paftoral manners are but ill fuited to travellers. A few cakes, however, haked upon the cinders, excellent butter, good milk, and above all, the intereft with which Mr. Steel infpired us, made us pafs .agreeably the time which was neceflary to put our hprfes in a condition to perform a 4 l°ng
long and difficult day's journey. About five o'clock in the evening, after we had travelled thirty-eight miles, we found fome houfes, where we learned that we were yet fix miles from Praxtoris Tavern, where we intended to fleep ; that we had two fords to pafs, the laft of which was impracticable on account of the late rains $ but that we mould not be flopped, as we fhould find a canoe to take us acrofs, and our horfes would fwim behind.    The night, and a black florin which was brewing, made us haflen our fleps.   Notwithftanding which, we were obliged to mount and defcend a very high mountain ; fcarcely was there remaining the leafl twilight when we arrived at the fecond river, which is as large as James's, but near its fource, and at a place where it defcends from the mountains under the name of the Fluvanna.   The difficulty was to pafs ten men and as many horfes with the help of a fingle canoe, fuch as is made ufe of by the favages, which at mod could contain only four or five perfons and a fingle negroe, armed with a paddle inflead of an oar.   We put into the canoe Vol. II, G out
our faddies and baggage, and made feveral trips, at each of which two horfes were fwam acrofs, held by the bridle. It was night, and very dark before this bufinefs was finiihed. But after we had, not without great trouble, refaddled and reloaded our horfes, the difficulty was to reach the inn, which was half a mile from the place where we landed; for the river flows between two precipices, and as the canoe could not land us at the ford, nor cpnfe-quently at the road, we were obliged to climb up the mountain, by a path but little ufed, and very difficult even by daylight ; nor fhould we ever have found our way had I not engaged the waterman to conduct us. We clambered up as well as we could, every one leading his horfe through the trees and branches, which we could not perceive, from the obfcurity o^ the night, until they ftruck us on the face. At lail we arrived at Praxton's tavern ; but it was ten o'clock, and the houfe already fruit up, or more properly the houfes, for there are two. I approached the firft that offered, and knocked at the door, which they
opened,
opened, and we faw five or fix little negroes lying upon a mat before a large fire. We then went to the other, and there found five or fix white children lying in the fame manner ; two or three grown up negroes prefid-ed over each of thefe little troops *. They told us that Mr. Praxton, his wife, and all his family, were invited to a wedding, but not far off, and that they would go and fetch them.   As for us, we were invited to fupper by a very voracious appetite, after a long journey and a great deal of fatigue, and were very differently fituated from the new married couple and their G 2 company,
* It was a lingular fight for an European to behold the fituation of the negroes in the fouthern provinces during the war, when cloathing was extremely fcarce.   I have frequently feen in Virginia, on vifits to gentlemen's houfes, young negroes and ne-groeffes running about or balking in the court-yard naked as they came into the world, with well characterized marks of perfect puberty ; and young negroes from (ixtecn to twenty years old, with not an article of cloathing, but a looie fliirt, defcending half way down their thighs, waiting at table where were ladies, without any apparent erabarraffment on one fide, or the ilighteft attempt at concealment on the other. Translator.
company, and had no fmall apprehenfions of feeing our holt and hoftefs return cora-pleatly drunk. But in this we were deceived -3 they arrived perfectly fober, were polite and deiirous to pleafe, and a little after midnight we had an excellent fupper. Though the apartments and beds were not exactly what we wifhed, they were better than at Mrs. Teazes, and we had no right to complain. Beiides, we enjoyed the fa-tisfadtion of having accomplished the object of our journey for the Natural Bridge was not above eight miles off, and we had obtained every information neceffary to find the road. The next morning our breakfalt was ready betimes, and ferved by the daughters of Captain Praxton j they had not appeared to advantage the preceding evening, notwithstanding which, fo far as the obfeurity of the room we fupped in, our appetites, and the immenfe caps in which they were muffled up for the marriage, had permitted us to judge of them, we thought them tolerably handfome ; but when we faw them by day-light, with* their hair only turned up, without any
other
other head-drefs, the repofe of the night their fole ornament, and for every grace, their natural limplicity, we were confirmed in the opinion we had already formed, that the people of the mountains are, in general, handfomer and healthier than thofe on the fea coafl *.   There was in the houfe a young man alfo, tolerably well drefTed, and of an agreeable countenance, whom I concluded to be an intended match for one of our young hoftelTes.   But I foon discovered that he was come for matches of another kind.   In fact, one of my fellow-travellers inviting me to go and fee a very fine horfe, which flood alone in a little (table, I was informed it was   a (lallion,  which this young man had brought upwards of eighty miles, to difpofe of his favours to the mares G 3 of
* The South Carolina gentlemen with whom I was acquainted, allured mc, that the inhabitants of the back parts of that State, which is one of the moft unhealthy 011 the continent, are a vigorous and beautiful race of people, and poflefs all that hale ruddinefs which characterizes the natives of nor-tliem clirnates. Translator,
of the country *; His price was twenty millings Virginia currency-f*, or eighteen livres of our money, (about fifteen millings flerling) for each viiit, or the double if the connection was of longer duration : which is much lefs than is paid in the other parts of Virginia.   Thefe details, which
may
f Great attention is paid to the breed of blood horfes to the fouthvvard, and particularly in Virginia, and many fecond rate race horfes are annually fent from England to ferve as ftallions. There were two or three in the {tables of one Bates near Philadelphia, which I had feen win plates in England. This Bates is a native of Morpeth in Northumberland, and went to America before the war to difplay feats of horfemanfhip, but he had the good fortune to marry a widow poffeifed of five hundred pounds a year, and is now mafter. of a moft beautiful villa on the banks of the Delaware, four or five miles from Philadelphia, flill following however the occupation of breeding and felling horfes, and keeping ftallions, for there are no refources for idlenefs in that country. Translator.
«f The difference of currency is one of the moft puzzling and difagreeable circumflances for a flran-ger in America, the value of the pound varying in every State ; an inconvenience which exifled under the Britifh government, and I am afraid, is flill likely to fubfift. Translator.
may appear trifling, will however ferve to make the reader acquainted with a country* the inhabitants of which, difperfed in the woods, are feparated only for the purpofes of domeftic comfort, which renders them independent of each other, but who readily communicate for the general intereft, or their mutual wants.   But I am too near the Natural Bridge to flop at other objects. We fet out at nine o'clock in the morning, and to fay the truth, rather heedlefsly; for in thefe mountains, where there are either too many or too few roads, people always think they have given fufficient directions to travellers, who feldom fail to go affray. This is the common fault of thofe who in-flrudt others in what they themfelves are well acquainted with, nor are the roads to fcience exempt from this inconvenience. After riding about two miles however, we luckily met a man who had juft got his horfe fhod, at a neighbouring forge, and was returning home followed by two or three couple of hounds *,   We foon entered into
* Stopping one day at a fmith's fhop near IVincbeJler, in the interior of Virginia, I found one of the work-
to converfation with him, and what feldom happens in America, he was curious to know who I was, and whither I was going *.   My quality of a General Officer in
the
men to be a Scotch Highlander in his Galic drefs, and foon faw feveral more returning from harveft, thefe men had beenfoldiers, and were then prifeners, but they were all peaceable, induftrious labourers, and I could not find that any of them thought of returning to the barren hills of Caledonia. General Gates had feveral of them in his employ, and they were difperfed over the whole country, where they appeared compleatly naturalized and happy. I afterwards faw many of them working at mills, and as quarry-men on the picturefque banks of that fublime river the Sufquehannah, a circumflance which transported my imagination to the well known borders of the Tay, and of Loch Lomond. Translator.
* I am apt to think that the experience of every perfon who has vilited North America, as well as my own country, will rife in judgment againfl this ob-fervation of the Author ; for my part, were I fearch-ing for a general chara&eriftic of that part of the Continent, I mould not fcruple to diftinguilh it, xar tZoxyh by tne name of the country of the curious. Wherever you bend your courfe, to whom-foever you addrefs yourfelf, you are indifpenfibly fubject to a good humoured, inoffenfive, but mighty troublefome inquifition. Do you enquire your road ? you are anfwered by a queftion, " I fuppofe you
the French fervice, land the deiire I expref-fed of feeing the wonders of his country,
infpiring
come from the Eaftward, don't you?" Opprefled with fatigue, hunger, and thirft, and drenched perhaps with rain, you anfwer fhortly in the affirmative, and repeat your enquiry—**. Methinks you are in a mighty hafte— What news is there to the EafU ward ?"   The only fatisfa&ion you can obtain till you have opened your real, or pretended budget of news, and gratified the demandeds curiofity.   At an inn, the fcrunny is more minute; your name, quality, the place of your departure, and obje£t of your journey, mult all be declared to the good family in fome way or other, (for their credulity is equal to their curiofity) before you can lit down in comfort to the neceffary refrefhment.   This curious fpirit is intolerable in the Eaftern States, and I have heard Dr. Franklin, who is himfelf a Boftonian, frequently relate with great pieafantry, that in travelling when he was young, the firft ftep he took for his tranquillity, and to obtain immediate attention at the inns, was to anticipate enquiry, by faying, ** My name is "Benjamin Franklin, I was born at Bofton, am a u printer by profcflion, am travelling to Philadel-<< pliia, fhall return at fuch a time, and have no ♦ * news—Now what can you give me for dinner?" The only caufe which can be afligned for the Author's error in this refpect is the ftate in which he travelled, his being a foreigner, and the facility of obtaining information from the perfons of his re-finue. Translator.
X
T
infpiring him with a kind of affection for me, he offered to be our conductor, leading us fometimes through little paths, at others through woods, but continually climbing or defcending mountains, fo that without a guide, nothing fhort of witchcraft could have enabled us to find the road. Having thus travelled for two hours, we atlaft defcended a fteep declivity, and then mounted another j during which time he endeavoured to render the converfation more interefting. At lait, pufhing his horfe on briikly, and flopping fuddenly, he faid to me, U You defire to fee the Natura I Bridge, don't you Sir ? You are now upon it, alight and go twenty fteps either to the right or left, and you will fee this prodigy." I had perceived that there was on each fide a confiderable deep hollow, but the trees had prevented me from forming any judgment, or paying much attention to it.—. Approaching the precipice, I faw at firft two great maffes or chains of rocks, which formed the bottom of a ravin, or rather of an immenfe abyfs but placing myfelf, not without precaution, upon the brink of the
precipice,
precipice, I faw that thefe two buttreffes were joined under my feet, forming a vault, of which I could yet form no idea, but of its height.    After enjoying this magnificent   but   tremendous fpe&acle, which many perfons could not bear to look at, I went to the weftern fide, the afpect of which was not lefs impofing, but more picturefque.   This Thebats, thefe ancient pines, thefe enormous maffes of rocks, fo much the more aftonilhing as they appear to poflefs a wild fymmetry, and rudely to concur, as it were, in forming a certain defign ; all this apparatus of rude and ihape-lefs Nature, which Art attempts in vain, attacks at once the fenfes and the thoughts; and excites a gloomy and melancholy admiration.   But it is at the foot of thefe rocks, on the edge of a little flream which flows under this immenfe arch, that we muff, judge of its aftonifhing (truclure j there we difcover its immenfe fpurs, its back-bendings, and thofe profiles which architecture might have given it.   The arch is not compleat, the eaftern part of it not being fo large as the weftern, becaufe the
mountain
mountain is more elevated on this than on the oppofite fide. It is very extraordinary that at the bottom of the ftream there appear no confiderable ruins, no trace of any violent laceration, which could have deftroyed the kernel of the rock, and have left the upper part alone fubfiftingj for that is the only hypothecs that can account for fuch a prodigy. We can have no poflible re-courfe either to a volcano or a deluge, no trace of a fudden conflagration, or of a flow and tedious undermining by the water.
The rock is of the calcareous kind, and its different flrata are horizontal; a circumftance which excludes even the idea of an earthquake, or fubterraneous cavern. It is not, in fhort, for a fmall number of travellers to give a decided opinion for the public on this phcenomenon of Nature. It belongs to the learned of both worlds to judge of it, and they will now be enabled to attempt the difcuflion. The neceffary fleps are taken to render it 3s public as its iingularity deferves j an officer of the engineers, the Baron de Turpin, an excellent mathematician and an accurate draughtf-
man, is gone to take the principal afpects and dimensions.   His labours will fupply the deficiency of my defcription*. Though unacquainted with the powers of Nature, we may at leaft have fome idea of our own. I mail therefore leave to more able hands the care of finifhing this picture, of which I have given only an imperfect Iketch, and continue the relation of our journey, which, though the principal object be already ac-complifhed, is not near being terminated, for the Natural Bridge is more than 250 miles from Williamlburgh.
Whilft I was examining on all fides, and endeavouring to take fome drawings, my fellow-travellers had learned from our conductor that he kept  a public-houfe, about feven or eight miles from the place where we were, and not more than two from the road which muff, be taken next day to leave the mountains.   Mr. Grijby, (the name of our guide) had exprefild his withes to receive us, afTuring us we fhould be as well as at the tavern recommended by
Mr.
* Sec at the end of this Journal the defcription and the plans,
Mr. Praxton ; but had this been otherwife, we had too many obligations to Mr. Grifby -not to give him the preference. We renewed our journey therefore, under his guidance, through the woods, which were very lofty; ifrong robuft oaks, and immenfe pines fufricient for all the fleets of Europe, here grow old, and perifh on their native foil; from which they have never yet been drawn even by the hand of induftry *. One is furprized to find every where in thefe immenfe forefts, the traces of conflagrations. Thefe accidents are fometimes occasioned by the imprudence of travellers, who light a fire when they go to fleep and
neglect
* The quality of the American oak is found by repeated experience to be by no means equal to, or fo durable as that of Britain. A general furvey of the American woods was taken by order of the government of England, previous to the war, and the different qualities afcertained by the furveyors, who, on their general report, gave the preference to the fouthern oak on the Apalachians, and in the interior of Georgia and Florida; but in the Englifh yards, even the Dantzick plank, which grows in Si-lefia, and that of Stettin is ft ill preferred to the American. Translator.
t
neglect afterwards to extinguish it. Little attention is paid them when the woods alone are the victims, but as there are always fome cultivated parts, the fire often reaches the fences, by which the fields are furrounded, and fometimes the houfes themfelves, which is inevitable ruin to the cultivators.
I recollect that during my flay at Monticello, from which one may difcover an extent of thirty or forty leagues of wood, I faw feveral conflagrations three or four leagues difiant from each other, which continued burning until a heavy rain fell luckily and extinguifihed them -j-.   We arrived
at
f Conflagrations which take their rife in this manner, fometimes fpread to a prodigious extent in America, in the moraffes, as well as in the woods ; in travelling from Eafton on the Delaware over the Mufconetgung mountains in the Upper Jerfey, in 1782, I faw immenfe trails of country lying in alhes from one of thefe accidental fires ; and, during the fame fummer, Philadelphia was fometimes covered with fmoke, from a vaft morafs which had taken fire in the Jerfeys, and kept burning to a great depth from the furface, and for an extent of many miles around, for feveral months j the progrefs of which
at Mr. Grifby's a little before five o'clock, having met with nothing on the road but a wild turkey, which rofe fo far off, that it was impoflible to find it again. The houfe was not large, but neat and commodious ; we found it already taken up by other travellers, to whom we alTuredly owed every token of refpecT:, if pre-eminence betwixt travellers were to be meafured by the length of their refpective journies.
The other guefts were a healthy good humoured young man of eight and twenty, who fet out from Philadelphia with a pretty wife of twenty, and a little child in her arms, to fettle 500 miles beyond the mountains, in a country lately inhabited, bordering on the Ohio, called the country of Kentucket, His whole retinue was a horfe, which carried his wife and child. We were aftonifhed at the eafy manner with which he proceeded on his expedition, and took the liberty of mentioning our furprize to him.   He told
us
could not be flopped by the large trenches dug by the labour of the whole country, nor until it was extinguished by the autumnal rains.
Translator.
lis that the purchafe of good land in Pen-fylvania was very extravagant, that provifions were too dear, and the inhabitants too numerous, in confequence of which he thought it more beneficial to purchafe for about fifty guineas the grant of a thoufand acres of land xwKentucket. This territory had been formerly given to a Colonel of militia^ until the King of England thought proper to order the diftribution of thofe immenfe countries; part of which was fold, and the other referved to recompence the American troops who had ferved in Canada *;
* The Author means the foldlers who ferved in Canada againft the French in the war before the laft. Kentuchct is at prefent peopled by above fifty thoufand fettlers, and is on the point of being admitted into the union, as an independent {late. Kentucket is a fettlement on the creek, or rather river of that name, Which falls into the Ohio, and is 627I miles diltant from Fort Pitt; but is extending in every direction over a tract of the fined and moft fertile country in the world ; and as it is from the interior fettlements of this vaft country, that America will derive her future greatnefs, and tilablifh new empires to rival, ail J perhaps out' •Jo the antient world, 1 hope I fhall be pardoned lor
Vol. It. H But,
But, faid I, where are the cattle ? The implements of hufbandry with which you
muff
tranfcribing the following fhort but interesting account of the banks of the Ohio from Captain Hut-chins's Topographical Defcription of that country, accompanying his Maps—" The lands upon the Ohio, " and its branches, are differently timbered accord-•* ing to their quality and fituation. The high and " dry lands are covered with red, white, and black " gak, hickcty, walnut, red and white mulberry, and " ajh trees, grape vines, &c. The low and mca-" dow lands are filled with fycamore, poplar, red and " white mulberry, cherry, beech, elm, afpen, maple, or fl fugar trees, grape vines, 8cc. And below, or fouth-*' wardly of the Rapids, are feveral large cedar and *' cyprefs fwamps, where the cedar and cyprefs-trees " grow to a remarkable fize, and where alfo is great " abundance of canes, fuch asgrow irt South Carolina. " There is a great variety of game, viz. buffaloes, bear, «' deer, Sec. as well as ducks, geefe, fwans, turkies, phea-u fan's, partridges, Sec. which abound in every part of " this country. The Ohio, and the rivers emptying "into it, afford green, and other turtle, and fifh of •« various forts ; particularly carp, fzurgcon, perch «< and catfifh \ the two latter of an uncommon fize ; " viz. perch from eight to twelve pounds weight, and «* catffh from fifty to one hundred pounds weight. " The country on both fides of the Ohio, extending " fouth-eaflerly and fouth-weflcrly from Fort Pitt " to the Miffifpph a»d watered by the Ohio river «' and its branches, contains at lead a million of
muft begin to clear the land you have pur-chafed ?—In the country itfelf, replied he.
H 2 1 carry
" squas.e miles, and it may with truth be affirm-" ed, that no part of the globe is bleffed with a *' more healthful air or climate j watered with more " navigable rivers, and branches communicating " with the Atlantic ocean, by the rivers Potowmack, " James, Rapahannock, MiJJiJippi, and St. Lawrence ; " or capable of producing, with lefs labour and ex-'.* pence, wheal, Indian com, buck wheat, rye, oats; ii barley, Jlax, hemp, tobacco, rice, filk, pot-aJJ}, &cc. il than the country under consideration ; and it " may be added, that no foil can yield larger " crops of red and white clover,  and other ufeful
" grafs, than this does."-Colonel Gordon, in
his Journal, gives the following defcription of this foil and climate : " The country on the Ohio, &c. " is everywhere pleafant, with large level fpots of " rich land, remarkably healthy.   One general re-mark of this nature may ferve for the whole " tract comprehended between the weflern fkirts " of the Allcgheney mountains, beginning at Fort " Ligonicr,   thence bearing fouth-weftcrly to the diflance of 500 miles oppofite to the Ohio falls, " then crofling them northerly to the heads of the «« rivers that empty themfelves   into   the   Ohio ; " thence eaft along the ridge that feparates the lakes " and Ohio's ftreams to French Creek, which is op<* pofite to the abovementioned Fort Ligonier nor-" therly.   This country may, from a proper know-
I carry nothing with me, but I have money in my pocket, and (hall want for nothing.
I began
*' ledge, be affirmed to be the mofl healthy, the " moft pleafant, the moft commodious, arid mofl " fertile fpot of earth known to European people." To which may be added the following extract of a letter addrclfed to the Earl of Hillfborough, in the year 1772, then Secretary of State for the North American department.
" No part of North America will require lefs en-" couvagement for the production of navalJlores, ** and razv materials for manufactures in Europe, *' and for fupplying the Weft India iflands with " lumber,provifions; &c. than the country of the Ohio, " and for the following reafons: Firft, the lands " are excellent, the climate temperate, the native " grapes, /ilk-wormsand mulberry-trees abound every «' where; hemp, hops, and rye grow fpontaneoufly in *' the vallies and low-lands; had and iron ore,
coal alio, are plenty in the hills ; fait and frefh *' fprings are innumerable; and no foil is bet-«• ter adapted to the culture of tobacco, flax and *< cotton than that of the Ohio. Secondly, the *' country is well watered by feveral navigable rivers «' communicating with each other; by which, and ** a fhort land carriage, the produce of the lands of •* the Ohio-can even now (in the year 1772) be lent *« cheaper to the feaport town of Alexandria, on '« the Potowmack in Virginia, than any kind of mer-" chandize is fent from Northampton to London..-
NORTH- AM ERIC A. 101
I began toreJifh the refolution of this young man, who was active, vigorous, and free H 3   ' from
Thirdly, the Ohio is, at all fcafons of the year, na-** vigable with  large boats like  the ivcft-country *( barges, rowed only by four or five men ; and 4i from the month of February to April, large fhips " maybe built on the Ohio, and fent to fea laden ** with hemp, iron, flax, filk, rice, tabacco, cotton, " pot-alhes, Sec.   Fourthly, Corn, beef, fhip-plank, ** and other ufeful articles can be fent down the " Jlrcam of Ohio to Weft Florida, and from thence u to the Weft-Indies, much cheaper, and in better " order   than   from  New-York or Philadelphia. *' Fifthly, hemp, tobacco, iron, and fuch bulky ar-** tides may alfo be fent down the Ohio to the fea, " at Icaft 50 per cent, cheaper than thefe articles " were ever carried by a land carriage of only fixty li miles in Penfylvania, where waggonage is cheaper *' than in any other part of North America. Sixthly, " the expence of transporting European manufac-** tares from the fea to the Ohio, will not be fo much " as is now paid, and muft ever be paid, to a " great part of the counties of Penfyh-ania, Virgi-" ui a, and Maryland, as there is fcarce a place be* «' tween Fort Pitt and the Rapids, a di(lance of 705 «' computed miles, where good roads may not be *< made, on the banks, which are not liable to crumble *' away, and horlcs employed in drawing up large ** barges, as is done on the margin of the Thames ** in England, and the Seine in Ft ancs, again ft a
from care; but the pretty woman, twenty years of age only, I doubted not but fhe was
in
" ltream remarkably gentle, except in high fireflies. h Whenever the farmers or merchants of Ohio f*. fhall properly understand the bufinefs of tranfpor-«' tation, they will build fchooners, iloops, &c. on " the Ohio, fuitable for the Wefl-India or European " markets ; or by having black walnut, cherry-tree, " oak, &c. properly fawed for foreign markets, and *' formed into rafts, as is now praclifed by the fct-** tiers near the upper parts of the Delaware river, " and thereon flow their hemp, tobacco, &c. and f* proceed with them to New Orleans. It may not «' be amifs perhaps, to obferve, that large quanti-
V ties of flour arc made in the diflant (weflern) " counties of Pcnfylvania, and fent by an expen-f five land carriage to the city of Philadelphia, and *' from thence fnipped to South Carolina, and to f* Eafl and Weft Florida, there being little or no *' wheat raifed in thefe provinces. The river Ohio *i feems kindly designed by Nature as the channel " through which the two Floridas may be supplied «' with Sour, not only for their own confump-
V tion, but for the carrying on an extenfive com-*' rflerce with Jamaica, (the Floridas were then in f! the poifefTion of England) and the Spanifh fet-*' tlements in the Bay of Mexico. Milljlones in " abundance are to be obtained in the hills near the *4 Ohio, and the country is every where well watt tcrcd w ith   large, and conilant  fprings, and
in defpair at the facrifice (he had made; and I endeavoured to difcover,in her features and
looks,
" dreams for grift and other mills.   The paflage *' from Philadelphia to Penfacola, is fcldom made " in lefs than a month,  and fixty lhillings derling *« per ton freight (confiding of fixteen barrels) is " ufually paid for dour, cVc. thither.   Boats car-" rying from 800 to icoo barrels of flour may go *' in about the fame time from the Ohio (even ** from Pittfburgh) as from Philadelphia to Penfa-*[ cola, and for half the above freight; the Ohio mer-" chants would be able to deliver flour, &c. there " in much better order than from Philadelphia, and " without incurring the damage and delay of the ^ fea, the charges of infurance, and riik in time ** of war, 6cc. or from thence to Penfacola. This " is not mere fpeculation ; for it is a fact, that " about the year 1746, there was a great fcarcity tl of provifions  at Nfju Orleans; and the French " fcttlcments at the Illinois, fmall as they then were, *i fent thither, in one winter, upwards of eight " hundred thoufand weight of flour.''   Mr. Lewis Euans, in the Analyfis to his Map of the Middle Colonies of North America, in the year 1755, fays, that *« Veffcls from 100 to ->oo tons burthen, by " taking advantage of the fpring floods, may go " from Pittjhurgh to the fea with fafety, as then the " falls, rifts, and fhoals are covered to an equality *t with the red of the river."   To which Captain IJuichins, the prefent Geographer General to the United Stat.es, adds, " And though the didance is upwards
looks the fecret fentiments of her foul. Though (he had retired into a little chamber, to make room for us, fhe frequently came into that where we were ; and I faw, not without aftonimment, that her natural charms were even embellifhed by the fere-nity of her mind. She often careffed her hufband and her child, and appeared to me admirably difpofed to fulfil the firif objecl of every infant colony—V to increafe and multiply.'-' Whilft fupper was preparing, and we were talking of travels, and examining on the map the road our emigrants were to follow, I recollected that we had as yet an hour's day light, and that it was juftthc time I had feen the woodhens, of which, they allured me, there was plenty in the neighbourhood, and that there is a critical
moment
\* of two thoufand miles from Fort Pitt to the fea,
V yet as there are no obfruflions to prevent veflels
V from proceeding both day and night, I am per-*' fuaded that this extraordinary inland voyage <c may be performed, during the feafon of the floods,
" by rowing, in fx teen or/event een days."-
Here furely is a rational and ample field for the well regulated imagination of the philofopher and politician ! I i Translator*
moment in hunting as well as love.   I took my fowling-piece, therefore, and proceeded to the woods ; but inftead of wood-hens, I found only a rabbit, which I wounded, but it rolled down into a bottom, where I loll fight of it, till it was difcovered by Mr-Grifby's dogs, which, accustomed to the report of a gun, found it in a hollow tree, to the top of which it would have fcramb-led had its leg not been broken. The rabbits of America differ from thofe of Europe ; they do not burrow, but take refuge in hollow trees, which they climb like cats, and often to a very confiderable height. Content with my victory, I returned to the houfe, but flopped fome time to hear,at fun-fet, two thrulhes, which feemed to challenge each other to the fong, like the fhep-herds of Theocritus.   This bird ought, in my opinion, to be confidered as the nightingale of America; it refembles thofe of Europe in its form, colour, and habits; but is twice as large.   Its fong is iimilar to that of our thrufh, but fo varied and fo much more perfect, that, if we except the uniform plaintive notes of the European
night?
nightingale, they might be taken for each other. It is a bird of paflage, like the mocking-bird, and like it, alfo, fometimes remains through the winter.
At my return to the houfe, fupper was the fole object; about which Mr. and Mrs. Griiby took great pains, whilif their daughters, about fixteen or feventeen, who were perfect beauties, were laying the cloth. I afked Mr. Griibby to fup with us, but he exeufed himfelf, by alluring us that he was yet employed in our fervice; nor was his attention ufelefs, for we had an excellent fupper; and though whifky was our only drink, we contrived to convert it into tolerable toddy. Breakfaft was ready betimes the next morning, and correfponded with our fupper. Mr. Griiby, who had nothing to do, fat down to table with us. He had a horfe faddled, that he might accompany us as a guide as far as Greenly Ferry, where we were to repafs the Fluvanna; but I was informed that one of the fei vant's horfes Was fo much wounded in the withers, that it was impoflible to mount him. This accident was the more inconvenient, as I had
already
NORTH- AM ERIC A. 107
already been obliged to leave one at Mr. Jefferfon's, fo that I had no frefh horfe to fubftitute. On applying to Mr. Griiby, he told me that the only horfe he had which could anfwer my purpofe, was the one he generally rode, and which he was going to make ufe of to conduct us, but that he would willingly oblige me with it, and take mine in its place. On my alfuring him that I would give him any thing he thought proper in return, he went to look at my horfe, and when he came back told me, that when cured, he thought he might be worth his own, and that he left the difference entirely to myfelf. As each of them might be Worth ten or twelve guineas, I gave him two in exchange, and he was perfectly contented. I had juft before afked for the bill, and when he declined letting me have it, I gave him four guineas. He received them with fat is faction, alluring me it was double the fum he could have charged. At laft we were obliged to take our leave of this good houfe, but not of Mr. Griiby, who had taken another horfe to accompany us. On the road he (hewed us two plantations
which
which he had occupied fucceiTively, before he fettled on the one he at prefent cultivates. He had left them in good condition, and fold them at the rate of twelve or thirteen millings, Virginia currency, an acre, about ten livres of our money (8s. ^. Englifh.) We faw feveral other fettlements in the woods, all of which were lituated on the banks of fome ft ream, whofe fource was not far diftant. The peach-trees, which they take care to plant, and the Judas-tree (or fUlquajlrum, but different from that which produces the bairn of Mecca) which grows naturally at the water's edge, were both in flower, and made a charming contrail: to the immenfe firs and oaks, in the centre of which were lituated thefe new plantations.
It was near ten o'clock when we arrived at the ferry, and as we approached, flill following the courfc of the river, I faw an animal, to which I was a ftranger, returning from the fide of the river, and endeavouring to reach the wood. I pufhed my horfe towards it, hoping to frighten and make it climb a tree, for I took it for a racoon ; in fact it mounted the neareft tree, but very
Howly and aukwardly.   I had no great difficulty in killing it, for it did not even endeavour to hide itfelf, like the fquirrel, behind the large branches.    When I had taken it from the dogs, among which it ftruggled hard, and had bitten them pretty Iharply ; on examining it with attention, I difcovered it to be the monax, or the mar-mofet of America.   In its form, fur, and colour it refembled very much the mufk rat ; but it is larger and differs efTentially in the tail, which is fhort and rough. Like the mufk rat, however, its ribs are fo fhort and flexible, that they might be miflaken for grilles, fo that though it is much bulkier than a hare, it can pafs through a hole of not above two inches in diameter.
Greenly Ferry derives its name from the proprietor, and is fituated between two fteep banks. • We paffed it in three trips, and parting with Mr. Grifby, depended entirely on our own induftry to find the road to a very deep, but little frequented gap, the only paflage by which we could get out of the mountains. They told us, at the ferry, that we fhould find but one houfe,
three
three miles from thence, and at the foot of" the very mountain we were to climb, A little path conducted  us to this houfe: after afking new instructions, we followed another path, and began to afcend, not without difficulty, for in general the acclivity was fo rapid, that we were obliged to flop our horfes to give them breath.   This afcent, which formed the road, is at leaft three miles long, by which you may judge of the height of thefe mountains; for in the (pace of an hundred miles, this is the leaft fteep of any which compofe what are called the Blue Ridges.   Arrived at the fummit, we enjoyed the reward generally beftowed on fuch labours.   A magnificent, but favage profpect, prefented itfelf to our eyes i we faw the mountains which form the North Ridge, and thofe which, crofting from one chain to the other, fometimes unite the Blue Ridges.   In one of thefe traverfes of mountains, the Natural Bridge is placed.   It is to be obferved, that I fpeak here only of the view to the north, for we had not the advantage of enjoying the double profpect; fome neighbouring fumraits, and the height
of
N O R TH - AM ERICA. in
of trees, prevented us from extending our view to the fouthward.   The defcent was not lefs rapid than the afcent ; its length was alfo three miles.   We judged it necef-fary, for the relief of our horfes and our own fafety, to alight and walk ; though the floncs, which rolled under our feet, rendered it very incommodious.   The dogs, which were not fo fatigued by this inconvenience as  ourfelves, beat the woods, while we walked flowly on, and two hundred paces from us they fprang five wild turkeys ; but as thefe birds directed their flight towards a fteep hill behind us, we did not think proper to follow them. We were almoil at the bottom of the mountain when we began to perceive the horizon; but this horizon discovered nothing but woods and mountains, far lefs elevated than thofe we were leaving, if we except threefummits known by the name of the Peaks of Otter, which are very lofty, and advance from the Blue Ridges as a kind of counter-guard.   In general, all the country from the Blue Ridges to the fources of the Jlpamatocky may be confidered as a glacis compofed of little mountains, beginning
at
at the foot of the Blue Ridges, and continually diminishing. Of this the befl charts of Virginia give not the leafr. indication, fo that it is impoilible, by the inflection of them, to form a juft idea of the nature of this country.
It was half pair, one o'clock, and we had rode Sixteen miles in very bad roads, when we arrived at the firfl houfe at the foot of the gap ; but as it was an indifferent hut* We were obliged to proceed two miles further, to a planter's of the name of Lambert, who received us with every mark of polite-nefs. He gave us cakes and milk, for he had neither bread nor bifcuit; and, whilst our horfes were feeding, he entertained us with gay, joyous converfation. Mr. Lambert is a kind of phenomenon in America, where longevity is very rare ; he is eighty-three years of age, and fcarcely appears to be fifty-five ; he is well known in the country, for there is hardly a trade he has not followed, nor a part of it he has not lived in. He is now a huSbandman, and refides at a very fine plantation, which he has cleared, at the foot of the mountains.   His wife, who is
only
ttOkTH-AMEkiCA, 113
only fixty-five, looks much older than he does j his fons are yet young; one is a Captain in the Virginia Legion, and formed his company himfelf in the beginning of the War.   It was then compofed of iixty-three men, all enlifted in the neighbourhood ; and at the end of fix campaigns all the fixty-three are living* fome few of them only having been wounded.   At five we mounted again to proceed ten miles further, to the houfe of a Captain Muller, who, like Mr. Lambert, does not keep a public houfe, but willingly receives the few travellers who pafs by this.unfrequented road.   Although they affured us we could not poffibly mifs the road, they would more properly have faid it was impoflible to find itfor we deemed it very fortunate to lofe ourfelves but twice, and at length, after dark, we arrived at Mr. Mul-ler's. He is a man about iixty, fix feet high, and bulky in proportion, very loquacious, but a good kind of man, attached to his country, and a great newfmonger. He told us he would do his beft to give us fome-thing for fupper, but that he could offer us no other lodging than the room in which Vol. II. I he
u4 TRAVEL SIN
he received us, where he would order them, to place our beds. The room was fpacious and clean, but already occupied by a lick perfon, whom he could not difturb, and whom he begged us to leave in the little corner he poffeffed. This was an unfortunate old man of eighty, who, two days before, travelling in the neighbourhood,had been half devoured by a great bitch, whofe whelps he had imprudently approached ; ihe had lacerated one of his arms and thighs. Mr. Muller bellowed on him every poflible care, and Mrs. Muller herfelf dreffed his wounds. This poor man flept all the evening, but in the night he complained much, and fometimes awakened us. On my alk-afking him, the next morning, how he found himfelf, he anfwered, mighty weak*. Before we went away I defired to have the bill, but Mr. Muller not chuling to prefent any, I begged him to accept of a couple of guineas, deliring, at the fame time, to know if it was enough. •* Too much, replied he, you come from France to my country to fupport and defend it; I
ought
-* Mighty little, mighty few, mighty weak, &c. arc favourite expreffions in America. Translator.
ought to receive you better and take nothing, but I am only a poor countryman, and not in a condition to demonstrate my gratitude. If I were not ill, (and indeed he was aflhmatic) I would mount my horfe and attend you to the field of battle."
The little refource we had found in this houfe, and the necefTity of dividing the long journey we had to make, determined us to fet out very early, and breakfaft at New London, a little town, two miles from hence.   The difficulty of finding the road flill remaining, I luckily met a man in the court-yard, jufl ready to mount, who relieved us from this anxiety.   He was an old captain of the Virginia Legion, whom I had feen arrive in the evening in company with two tall young ladies, in huge gauze bonnets, covered with ribbands, and dref-fed in fuch a manner as formed a perfect contrail to the fimplicity of the houfe in which they were       Thefe, 1 underftood, I 2 were
* The rage for drefs amongft the women in Ame-' rica, in the very height of the mifciies of war, was . beyond all bounds ; nor was it confined to the great towns, it prevailed equally on the fea-coafts, and
were Mr. Muller's daughters, returned from fupping in the neighbourhood; but I was careful not to fpeak to them, as I doubted not but we had taken poffefTion of the beds deftined for thefe fines ladies and their company, and was in great terror leaft
French
in the woods and folitudes of the vaft extent of country, from Florida to New Hampfhire. In travelling into the interior parts of Virginia I fpent a delicious day at an inn, at the ferry of Shenandoah, or the Cataclon Mountains, with the moft enchanting, accomplished, and voluptuous girls, the daughters of the landlord, a native of Bofton, tranf-planted thither; who, with all the gifts of Nature, polfened the art of drefs not unworthy of Parifian milliners, and went regularly thiee times a week to the diftance of feven miles, to attend the Ieflbns of one de Grace, a French dancing-mafter, who was making a fortune in the country. In one of my journies, too, I met with a young Frenchman, who was travelling on the bufinefs of the celebrated M. de Bcaumarchais, and was uncommonly fuccefsful in his amours, of which I fpeak from perfonal knowledge. On my enquiring the fecxet of his fuccefs,. he afTured me, and put it beyond a doubt,, that his pa]fe-par-tout, or mafter-key, confided in a fafhionable affortmentof ribbands, and other fmall articles contained in a little box, from which, in difficult cafes, he opened an irreftible and never-failing battery Translator..
French gallantry fhould compel us to re-fign them. I know not how they managed, but they appeared again in the morning and were far from handfome.
The Captain had been to deep a mile from hence, at a fitter's of Mr. Muller, and was mounting his horfe to return to New London, whither he offered to conduct us, and to provide our breakfaft as he kept a tavern.   I accepted both his propofals, and we travelled the diftance of ten miles very agreeably;  the country,  like that through which we paffed the preceding evening, being diversified with very pretty plantations.   New London, where we arrived at ten in the morning, is an infant town, but already pretty confiderable, for there are at leaft feventy or eighty houfes. There is likevvife a military magazine ef-tablifhed here, and feveral workfhops for repairing arms.   Its fituation, in the middle of the woods, far diftant from the feat of war, as well as commerce, does not require it fhould be fortified, but Nature has prepared every thing to make it a ftrong place.   Situated upon a little platform, fur-
I 3 rounded
rounded by a glacis, the declivity of which is exaclly what could be wifhed, this little town might be fortified at a imall expence, and defended by. a .trifling garrifon; we left it about twelve o'clock, and had twenty-four miles to go to the only houfe where we could find a good lodging. It was not a tavern, but the proprietor, Mr. Hunter, received ftrangers with pleafure. The difference between a real tavern, and a hofpi-table houfe of reception, is greatly to the advantage of the traveller; for in America, as in England, publicans pay heavy taxes, and indemnify themfelves by their exorbitant charges. Mr. Hunter received us well, and in a very clean houfe. We fet out early the next morning, and after riding eight miles,, always in dry, arid woods, .we flopped to • breakfaft at Mr. Pattiforis. Pie is a fat man, about forty-five, difabled in his legs fince he was two years old, and fo heiplejs that he cannot tranfport himfelf from one place to another, but by pufh-ing his chair. One would hardly think that a man afRicled with fuch an infirmity fpould chople ;o live in the mjdft of woods,
where
where he has no company but one white man fervant, and negroes of each fex. I believe him impotent in more than one re-fpccl;, for he has lived in a conftant Irate of celibacy, and his oftenfible imbecility would have been no obftacle in a country where every body marries.
After we had proceeded twenty miles farther, we flopped, at four o'clock, at a Scotfman's of the name of Jobtifon, who is the moft ridiculous perfonage imaginable. He pronounces Englifh in fo unintelligible a manner, that Mr. Dillon afked him, very ingenuoufly, what language he was fpeak-ing.   As Mr. Johnfon was an ill*tempered fellow, and a little drunk, I forefaw that this queflion could not fucceed, and would turn out to our difadvantage, on quitting this fort of tavern.   It happened as I imagined j for after a flay of only three quarters of an hour, he was not afhamed to aik /even dollars for about twenty pounds weight of the leaves of Indian corn for our horfes, and two bowls of toddy for the fervants. I confoled myfelf, like Monfieur de Pour* ceaugnac in Moliere, with the fatisfaction
only,
only, on paying him, of telling him my fentiments  of his behaviour, and went twelve miles further to feek hofpitalily at another Scotfman's,  where we arrived at the clofe of day.   But this was a very different character from the other.   He was an old man of feyenty-two, called Hodnettt who has been eftablilhed in America above forty years,  though but lately fixed in the plantation where he now lives. He was eager to pleafe, polite, and even inclined to compliment, proud of being born in Europe, and having paft fome time at Cork, where he miifed, he told me, a fine opportunity of learning French ; for he had lived with feyeral Frepch merchants, whofe names he yet remembered, although it was upwards of fifty years ago.   He enquired at leaft twenty times of me if I knew them, and brought me an old book,  the only one he had in the houfe, which was a bad treatife of geography.   It was doubled in, at the article of Cork, and one might fee that he often read this chapter, as the paper was. more thumbed there than elfe-where.   Whiifi he preknted me with this
book,
book, he obferved, with an air of importance, that in his opinion it was the beft geographical work exifting, nor was it difficult to perceive that it was the only one he ever heard of.   I amufed myfelf however with affuring him that he poflefTed a real treafure, and that he ought carefully to preferve it.   He went immediately to lock it up, and returned with a fcrap of illuminated paper, which reprefented the arms and mottoes of the family of the Hodnetts,   I made him happy by declaring they were known all over Europe, and furely it was not paying too dear for a good fupper and good beds; for the next morning he would not give us any bill.   1 thought proper, however, to pay him handfomely; hoping, at the fame time, that the family of the Hodnetts would know nothing of it, nor think themfelves under the neceffity of adding the fign of an. ale-houfe to their armorial bearings.
It was on the 23d, but the heat was already very troublefome, when we arrived to breakfaft at nine o'clock at Cumberland Court-houfe, This is the chief manor-houfe
of
i22 XR AVE LIS - IN
of a very confiderable country ;;it is fituat-ed in a plain of about a mile diameter, iixteen miles from Hodnett's. Befides;the court-houfe1, and a large tavern, its necef-fary appendage, there are feven or eight houfes inhabited by gentlemen of fortune. I found the tavern full of people, andlun-derflood that the judges were affenibled to hold a court of claims, that is to fay,' to hear and regifter the claims of fundry per.-, fons, who had furni(hed provifions for the army.   We know that in general,. but particularly in unexpected invafions, the American troops had no eflablilhed magazines, and as it was neceffary to have fubfiftencc for them, provifions and forage were indif-criminately laid hold of,  on giving the owners a receipt, which they called a certificate.   During the campaign, whilfl the enemy was at hand, little attention was given to this fort of loans, which accumulated inceffantly, without the fum total being known, or any means taken to afcertain the proofs.   Virginia being at length loaded with thefe certificates, it became neceffary, fooner or later, to liquidate thefe accounts.
NORTHS ME R I C A. 223
counts.   The laft affembly of the State of Virginia, had accordingly thought proper to pafs a bill, authorizing the Juftices of each county to take cognizance of thefe .certificates, to authenticate their validity, and to regifter them, fpecifying the value of the provifions in money, according to the eftablifhed tariff.   I had the curiofity to go to the court-houfe, to fee how this affair was tranfa&ed, and faw it was performed with great order, and fimplicity. The Judges wore their common cloaths, but were feated on an elevated tribunal, as at London in the Court of King's Bench or Common Pleas. One of them feeing me ftanding at the door of the hall, defcended from the bench, and invited me to go and take fome refreih-ment at his houfe, where the family would entertain me till the feflions were finifhed. 1 told him 1 was obliged to proceed on my journey, and really we had no time to lofe, for there yet remained twenty-eight miles to travel,   and on a road fo unprovided with every neceffary for travellers, that though we intended giving our horfes another bait, we could not find forage nearer
than
than at a fmith's (hop, at twenty miles dif% tance. As I intended therefore flaying only half an hour at mofl, I feated myfelf under fome trees ; but Monfieur D'Oyre having gone into the houfe, returned and told me there was a company of four or five young girls, all pretty and very well dref-fed. Curiofity inducing me to fee them, my attention was foon fixed upon a young woman of eighteen, who was fuckling her child. Her features were fo regular, and there was fuch decency and modefly in her behaviour, that fhe recalled to my mind thofe beautiful virgins of Raphael, the model, or example of the beau ideal. As I no longer permit myfelf to confider beauty but with a philofophic eye *,    I fhall here
make
* The reader will here, doubtlpfs, be apt to picture ?o himfelf the Author as a grey-headed worn out veteran, or an unimpaflioned, ftoical member of the French academy, barely remembering " the days when he was youngbut it is my duty to undeceive him ; the Marquis de Chajlellux is a well made, handfome man, of about four and forty, with eyes full of intelligence and fire, the carriage and jaepon-ment of a man of rank, and with a difpohtion extraimelt remote from an indifference to beauty.
Translator.
make an obfervation which has occurred to me in foreign countries, particularly in England and America; it is, that the beauty of forms and of features, the beauty inde-pendant of grace, motion, and expreffion, is oftener found amongft the people of the North, or amongft their defcendants, than in France, or towards the South. If I were to affign the caufe of this difference, I fhould fay, that from fome unaccountable reafon, unconnected, doubtlefs, with the temperature of the climate, the youth of both fexes. are more more forward, and more ripe, amongft them than with us, from which it refults, that young people, particularly young girls of twelve, or thirteen, unite that roundnefs of form, freftinefs of complexion, and regularity of features, before they are modified by paffions and habits.
In France it is quite different; children are there very pretty to the age of feven or eight years ; but it is feldom that girls pre-ferve their beauty to the age of puberty* This is the epoch, however, when we muft form our opinion of what they may be • but even thefe prognofticks are often deceitful.
ful.   This period is a kind of chryfalis, a itate of probation, in which the handfome-become ugly, and the ugly handfome. It is from the age of twenty to twenty-five that the features develop and declare themfelves, and that Nature compleats her work, if not diverted from her courfe by ficknefs, but eipecially by the moral and natural confequences of marriage. On the other hand, our women, this danger once over, retain their beauty longer than in any other country.   It appears as if their very fouls were identified in their features, and watched over their prefervation ; not a movement without a grace, no grace without expreffion; the defire of pleaiing improves and perpetuates the means; and Nature, rather aided than counteracted by Art, is never abfolutely abandoned to a domeftic life, nor lavifhed by an unlimited fecundity*. Thus ufeful trees
may
* It is certain that population is not the main ob-}et\ of marriage in France amongft the higher claf-les. Amongft the nobility, in particular, the parties are generally contra&ed, when very young, by their refpedfive parents, who bring them together to .make an heir, or two, for the family ; which objedf,
NORTH-A ME RICA. 127'
may ferve to decorate our gardens, if the too great quantity of fruit does not prevent the reproduction of their blolfoms.   Thefe reflections prove, that the French women have no reafon to envy ftrangers; that their beauty, in fact, though longer in coming to maturity, and lefs perfect, is more bewitching and more durable ; that if others furnifh better models for the painter, they will (land the teft of a longer examination, and that, in fhort, if they are not always thofe we moil admire, they are certainly thofe we muft love the mofl  and the longeft.
But let me return from this dangerous excurfion, and refume my journey. We
had
once compleated, they part with as little affection as when they met, but with lefs paflion, and pafs the remainder of their lives in perfect freedom. Whilft family duty is performing for family purpofes, their conduct is dictated, in general, by the niceft honour, and their noble blood is tranfmitted tolerably pure and free from contamination; but " unlimited fecun* dity," as it is checked by fome on principles of ceco> nomy and prudence, is deemed vulgar and barbarous by'all, except the lower chfTes, who are ftrangers to this fyftem of refinement. Translator.
128 TRAVELS 1
*
had rode forty-four miles, and night was clofing faft upon us, when we arrived at Powhatan Court-houfe; this is a more recent, and more ruftic fettlement than that of Cumberland. It confifts only of two mean huts, one for the purpofe of holding the feflions, the other by way of publick houfej but which hitherto is fcarcely fit for the reception of travellers. It is kept by a young man who has jufl fettled here; his wife is a tall, handfome woman, his fifter-in-law not quite fo pretty. We had a good fupper and good beds, but our horfes were obliged to do without forage. The county of Powhatan takes its name from a King of the Savages, famous in the hiflory of Virginia, who reigned at the commencement of the laft century ; when the colony formed its firft eftablifhment at J antes Town, it was often necelfary to treat, and fometimes to wage war with him. He is reprefented as a profound, but perfidious, politician. He had conquered all the country betwixt the Apamatock and Bay of Chefapeak, and was dreaded by the neighbouring nations.
We,
We left Powhatan the 24th, early in the morning, and, after having Hopped twice, the firft time to breakfaft in a poor little houfe, eight miles from Powhatan, and the laft, twenty-four miles further, at a place called Chefterfield Court-houfe, where we faw the ruins of the barracks formerly occupied by Baron Stuben, fince burnt by the Englifh, arrived in good time at Peter/burg^ This day's journey was alfo forty-four miles. The town of Peterlburg is fituated on the right bank of the Apamatock; there are fome houfes on the oppofite (bore, but this kind of fuburb is a diftrid: independent of Peterlburg,   and  called Pocahunta. We paffed the river in a ferry-boat, and were conducted to a little'public houfe about thirty fteps from thence, which had an indifferent appearance*; but, on entering, we found an apartment very neatly furniihed ; a tall woman, handfomely dreifed, and of a genteel figure, who gave the neceffary orders for our reception, and a young lady, equally tall, and very elegant, at work.   I enquired their names, which I found were not lefs entitled to refpect than their appearance. Vol. II. K The
The miftrefs of the houfe, already twice: a widow, was called Spencer, and her daughter, by her firft hufband, Mifs Saunders. I was fhewn my bedchamber; and the firft thing which ftruck me was a large magnificent harpficord, on which lay alfo a guitar*. Thefe mufical instruments belonged to Mifs. Saunders, who knew very well how to ufe them ; but as we ftood more in need of a good fupper, than a concert, I was appre-henfive at firft of finding our landladies too good company, and that we fhould have fewer orders to- give than compliments to make. Mrs. Spencer, however, happened to be the beft woman in the world ; a gay^ chearful creature, no common difpofition in America; and her daughter, amidft the elegance of her appearance, was mild, polite, and eafy in converfation. But to hungry travellers all this could, at the beft, be confidered but as a good omen for the fupper, for which we had not long to wait for fcarcely had we time to admire the neatnefs and beauty of the table-cloth, before it was covered with plenty of good diihes, particularly fome very large and excellent
tellent fifh.   We were very good friends with our charming landladies before we went to bed, and breakfafted with them the next morning.   We were jufl: going out to take a walk, when we received a vifit from Mr. Vifior, whom I had feen at Williamfburgh ; he is aPruffian, who had formerly been in the army, and, after having travelled a great deal in Europe, came and fettled in this country, where, by his talents, he firft made his fortune;  and,   like every body elfe, finifhed by turning planter.   He is an excellent mufician, and plays every kind of instrument, which makes his company in great requeft by the whole neighbourhood. He told us he was come to pafs a few days with Mrs. Bowling, one of the greateft landholders in Virginia, and proprietor of half the town of Petersburg. He added, that fhe had heard of our arrival, and hoped we would come and dine with her, which invitation we accepted, and put ourfelves under the guidance of Mr. Victor, who firft took us to the warehoufes or magazines of tobacco.    Thefe warehoufes, of which there are numbers in Virginia, though, K 2 unfortu-
unfortunately, great part of them has been burned by the Engliih, are under the direction of public authority.   There are in-fpectors nominated to prove the quality of the tobacco brought by the planters, and if found good, they give a receipt for the quantity.   The tobacco may then be considered as fold, thefe authentic receipts circulating as ready money in the country. For example : fuppofe I have depchted twenty hogfheads of tobacco at Peterfburg, I may go fifty leagues thence to Alexandria or Frederickfburg, and buy horfes, cloths, or any other article, with thefe receipts, which circulate through a number of hands before they reach the merchant who pur-chafes the tobacco for exportation. This is an excellent institution, for by this means tobacco becomes not only a fort of bank-Stock, but current coin.   You often hear the inhabitants fay, " This watch coSl me ten hogSheads of tobacco ; this horfe fifteen hogfheads   or, I have been offered twenty, &c."   It is true that the price of this article, which feldom varies in peace, is fub-jeci to fluctuations in time of war; but
then*
then, he who receives it in payment, makes a free bargain, calculates the rilks and expectations, and runs the hazard; in fhort^ wre may look on this as a very ufeful efta-•blilhrnent; it gives to commodities value and circulation, as foon as they are manufactured, and, in fome meafure, renders the planter independent of the merchant.
The warehoufes at Petersburg belong to Mrs. Bowling.   They were fpared by the £ngli(h, either becaufe the Generals Phillips and Arnold, who lodged with her, had fome refpect for her property, or becaufe they wifhed to preferve the tobacco contained in them in expectation of felling it for their profit.    Phillips died in Mrs. Bowling's houfe, by which event the fu-preme command devolved upon Arnold ; and 1 heard it faid, that Lord Cornwallis, on his arrival, found him at great variance with the navy, who pretended that the booty belonged to them.   Lord Cornwallis terminated the difpute, by burning the tobacco ; but not before Mrs. Bowling, by her intereft, had time fufficient to get it removed from her warehoufes. She was lucky K 3 enough,
enough, alfo, to fave her valuable property in the fame town, confirming of a mill, which turns fuch a number of mill-Stones, bolting machines, cribbles, &c. and, in fo Simple and eafy a manner, that it produces above £>8oo a year Sterling.   I paffed upwards of an hour in examining its various parts, and admiring the carpenter's work, and the construction.   It is turned by the waters of the Apamatock, which are conveyed to it by a canal excavated in the rock.   Having continued our walk in the town, where we faw a number of Shops, many of which were well Slocked, we thought it time to pay our refpects to Mrs, Bowling, and begged Mr. Victor to conduct us to her.    Her houfe, or rather houfes, for She has two on the fame line refembling each other, which She propoies to join together, are fituated on the fummit of a con-Siderable Slope, which rifes from the level of the town of Petersburg, and correfponds fo exactly with the courfe of the river, that there is no doubt of its having formerly formed one of its banks.   This Slope, and the yalt platform on which the houfe is
Ms.
N O R T H - A M E R I C.A. 135
huiit, are covered with grafs, which afford excellent pafturage, and are alfo her property.   It was formerly fur-rounded with rails, and the raifed a number of fine horfes there j but the Englifh burned the fences, and carried away a great number of the •horfes.   On our arrival we were faluted by Mifs Bowling, a young lady of fifteen, pofTefiing all the frefhnefs of her age ; fhe was followed by her mother, brother, and fifler-in-law.   The mother, a lady of fifty, has but little refemblance to her countrywomen j fhe is lively, active, and intelligent ; knows perfectly well how to manage her immenfe fortune, and what is yet more rare, knows how to make good ufe of it. Her fon and daughter-in-law I had already feen at Williamfburgh. The young gentleman appears mild and polite, but his wife, of only feventeen years of age, is a moft in-terefting acquaintance, not only from her face and form, which are exquifitely delicate, and quite European, but from her being alfo defcended from the Indian Prin-cefs, Pocahunta, daughter of King Powhatan, of whom I have already fpoken. We
may
may prefume that it is rather the difpofition of that amiable American woman, than her exterior beauty, which Mrs. Bowling inherits
Perhaps they who are not particularly acquainted with the hiftory of Virginia, may be ignorant, that Pocahunta was the protecfrefs of the Englifh, and often fcrecn-cd them from the cruelty of her father. She was but twelve years old when Captain Smith, the bravcft, the mofl intelligent, and the mofl humane of the firft colonifts, fell into the hands of the favages; he already underftood their language, had traded with them feveral times, and often appeafed the quarrels between the Europeans and them y often had he been obliged alfo to fight them, and to punifh their perfidy. At length, however, under the pretext of commerce, he was drawn into an ambufh, and the only two companions who accompanied him, fell before his eyes; but, though alone, by his dexterity he extricated himfelf from the troop which furrounded him, until, unfortunately, imagining he could fave himfelf by crofting a morafs, he ftuck faft, fo that
the
the favages. againft whom he had no means of defending himfelf, at laft took and bound 1 him, and conducted him to Powhatan. The King was fo proud of having Captain Smith in his power, that he fent him in triumph to all the tributary Princes, and ordered that he fhould be fplendidly treated, till he returned to fuffer that death which was prepared for him*.
The
* Dr. Robert/on, Mr. Adair, and a number of writers have given an account of the cruel mode by which the Indians torture their prifoners of war, before they put them to death. During my refidence near Alexandria, in Virginia, in 1782, I had the following relation of their barbarous treatment, from a gentleman who had jufl efcaped out of the hands of thefe infernal furies.   Colonel Crawford, and his fon, two great land furveyors, and mofl refpedtablc planters in Virginia, in heading a party againft the Indians and Tories, aided by fome light horfe from the Britilh frontiers, who had fpread horror and de-variation through the infant back fettlements of the United States, were defeated and made prifoners. The gentleman, from whom I had this account, was furgeon to the party, and was conducted, with Mr. Crawford and his fon, to be facrificed in his turn, at one of the Indian villages, to the manes of their people llain in battle. The bloody bufinefs commenced with Mr. Crawford, the father, who was deli-
*tf TRAVELS Itt
The fatal moment at laft arrived, Captain Smith was laid upon the hearth of the
* favage
vered over to the women, and being fattened to a flake, in the centre of a circle formed by the favages and their alius, the female furies, after the preamble of a war fong, began by tearing out the nails of his toes and fingers, then proceeded, at confiderable intervals,, to cut off his nofe and ears; after which they fluck. his lacerated body full of pitch pines, large pieces of ■which they infertcd, horrid to relate ! into his private parts; to all of which they fet fire, and which continued burning, amidft the inconceivable tortures of the unhappy man, for a confiderable time. After thwtglutting their revenge, by arts of barbarity, the fuccefs cf which was repeatedly applauded by the furrounding demons, they cut off his genitals, and rulhingin upon him, finiihed his mifery with their tomohawks, and hacked his body limb from limb. This dreadful fcene paffed in the prefence of the fon of the unhappy fufferer, and the furgcon, who were to be conveyed to different villages to undergo the fame fate.   The nextday, accordingly, young Crawford was facrificed with the fame circumftances of honror; after which, the furgeon, being entrufted to the care of four of the favages, who fortunately got drunk with fome rum, given them as a re-compencc by their European friends, efcaped from them in the woods, and, bound as he was, wandered for four or five and twenty days, fubfifting on leaves and berries, before he reached the neighbourhood of Wincheflcr, whence he got down to
lavage King, and his head placed upon a large ftone to receive the ftroke of death, when Pocahunta, the youngeft and darling daughter of Pouchatan, threw herfelf upon his body, clafped him in her arms, and declared, that if the cruel fentence were executed, the firft blow fhould fall on her. All favages, (abfolute Jbvereigns and tyrant $
not
Alexandria. Amongft thefe wretches was one Simon Girty, a native of Virginia, who was formerly well acquainted with Colonel Crawford, and had been employed by the alfembly of Virginia to conciliate the favages, and obtain their neutrality ; but who having been detected by the Governor in fome mal-verfations of the public money cntrufted to him, and his duplicity difcovered, went over to the Britiih, and became more mercilefs than the worft of thefe infernal hell-hounds. Mr. Crawford, in the midft of his tremendous fufferings, feeing Girty ftanding in the circle, with a gun, called to him by his name, and implored him as an old friend, a chriftian, and a countryman, to fhoot him, and by that act of mercy relieve him from his mifery, but the inhuman monfter tauntingly replied, " No, Crawford, 1 have got no powder, your alfembly did not chufe to truft me, and you muft now pay for it," and continued to feaft his eyes with the bloody facrifice.
Translator.
not excepted,) are invanably more affected by the tears of infancy, than the voice of humanity.   Powhatan could not refill the tears and prayers of his daughter; Captain Smith obtained his life, on condition of paying for his ranfom a certain quantity of mufkets, powder and iron utenfils ; but how were they to be obtained ? They would neither permit him to return to James-Town, nor let the Englifh know where he was, left they fhould demand him fword in hand.   Captain Smith, who was as fen-fible as courageous, faid, that if Powhatan would permit one of his fubjects to carry to James-Town a little board which he would give him, he fhould find under a tree, at the day arid hour appointed, all the articles demanded for his ranfom. Powhatan confented, but without having much faith in his promifes, believing it to be only an artifice of the Captain's to prolong his life.   But he had written on the board a few lines fufficient to give an account of his fituation.    The meffenger returned. The King fent to the place fixed upon, and
was
was greatly aftonifhed to rind every thing which had been demanded. Powhatan could not conceive this mode of tranfmit-ting thoughts, and Captain Smith was henceforth looked upon as a great magician, to whom they could not (hew too much reflect. He left the favages in this opinion, and haftened to return home. Two or three years after, fome frefh differences arifing amidfr, them and the Englifh, Powhatan, who no longer thought them for-cerers, but flill feared their power, laid a horrid plan to get rid of them altogether. His project was to attack them in profound peace, and cut the throats of the whole colony. The night of this intended con-fpiracy, Pocahunta took advantage of the obfcurity, and in a terrible florm which kept the favages in their tents, efcaped from her father's houfe, advifed the Englifh to be upon their guard, but conjured them to fpare her family, to appear ignorant of the intelligence fhe had given, and terminate all their differences by a new treaty. It would be tedious to relate all the fervices which
this
this angel of peace rendered to both na-* tions. I fhall only add, that the Englifh, I know not from what motives, but certainly againft all faith and equity, thought proper to carry her off. Long and bitterly did fhe deplore her fate, and the only con-» folation fhe had was Captain Smith, in whom fhe found a fecond father. She was treated with great refpect, and married to a planter of the name of Rolle, who foon after took her to England. This was in the reign of James the Firji ; and, it is faid, that this monarch, pedantic and ridiculous in every point, was fb infatuated with the prerogatives of royalty, that he exprefied his difpleafure, that one of his fubjecls fhould dare to marry the daughter even of a favage King. It will not perhaps be difficult to decide on this occafion, whether it was the favage King who derived honour from finding himfelf placed upon a level with the European prince, or the Englifh monarch, who by his pride and prejudices reduced himfelf to a level with the chief of die favages.   Be that as it will, Captain
Smith,
Smith, vvho had returned to London before the arrival of Pocahunta, was extremely happy to fee her again, but dared not ta treat her with the fame familiarity as at James-Town.   As foon as me faw himy the threw herfelf into hisarms, calling him, her father 3 but finding that he neither returned her careffes with equal warmth, nor the endearing title of daughter, fhe turned afide her head and wept bitterly, and it was a long time before they could obtain a fingle word from her. Captain Smith enquired feveral times what could be the caufe of her affliction.--" What!" faid fhe, " did I " notfavethy life in America ? When I was u torn from the arms of my father, and M conduced amongft thy friends, didft ** thou not promife to be a father to me ? w Didft thou not affure me, that if I went " into thy country thou wouldft be my fa-** ther, and that I fhould be thy daughter r* 4t Thou haft deceived me, and behold me, ** now here, a ftranger and an orphan.'* It was not difficult for the Captain to make his peace with this charming creature, whom he tenderly loved.   He prefented
her
her to feveral people of the firft quality, but never dared take her to court, from which however fhe received feveral favours. After a refidence of feveral years in England, an example of virtue and piety, and attachment to her hufband, fhe died, as fhe was on the point of embarking on her return to America. She left an only fon, who was married, and left only daughters; thefe daughters, others; and thus, with the female line, the blood of the amiable Pocahunta now flows in the veins of the young and charming Mrs. Bowling.
I*hope I fhall be pardoned this long di-grefiion, which may be pleating to fome readers. My vifit to Mrs. Bowling and her family, having convinced me, that I fhould pafs part of the day with them agreeably, I continued my walk, with a pro-mife of returning at two o'clock. Mr. Victor conducted me to the camp formerly occupied by the enemy, and teftified his regret that I could not take a nearer view of Mr. Bannifters handfome country-houfe, which was in fight; there being no other obftacle however than the diftance, about
a mile
a mile and a half, and the noonday heat* we determined that this mould not flop us; and, walking flowly, we reached, without fatigue, this houfe, which is really worth feeing. It is decorated rather in the Italian, than the Englifh or American flyle, having three porticoes at the three principal entries, each of them fupported by four columns **   It was then occupied by an in-
* The Italian architecture, that of porticoes in particular, is admirably adapted to all hot climates^ and of courfe to the Southern States of America. The fame motives therefore, which induced tha^invention of this mode of building in antient Greece and Rome, and in general throughout the Eafcern world, would naturally give rife to the fame inventions of convenience in limilar climates ; and, In fact, though the richer and more polifhed defendants of Britain, in the New World, may be fuppofed to adopt thefe porticoes from Italy, as the cultivated mind of the Author imagines ; the very pooreft fet-tler, nay even the native Indian, invariably attempts fome kind of fubflitute for this neccnary protection from the fun and weather.   Every tavern or inn is provided with a covered portico for the convenience of its guefts, and this evidently from the necefBty of the cafe.   We have only to examine the rcfources of the favage iflandcr in the Pacific Ocean, and recur
Vol. II. L
habitant
habitant of Carolina, called Nelfon, who had been driven from his country by the war, which followed him to Peterfburg. He invited me to walk in, and whilft he made me, according to cuffom, drink a glafs of wine, another Carolinian, of the name of Bull, arrived to dine with him. The latter was a militia General, and came from General Greene's army, where his time of fervice was expired The hiftory of Mr. Bull, which is not long, will give a general idea of the ftate of the Southern Provinces. Poffeffed of a great number of negroes, large perfonal property, particularly in plate, previous to, and during the war, he did not think proper, after the capture of Charles-Town, to expofe his wealth to the rapacity of the Englifh. He fet off therefore with two hundred negroes, followed by a great number of waggons laden with his effects, and provifions, for his
little
to the origin of all architecture, from the fluted Corinthian in the hall of empire, to the ruflic prop of the thatched roof, to difcover the natural progrefs of the human mind, and the fimilarity of human genius. Translator.
little army, and travelled, in this manner, thro' South and North Carolina, and part of Virginia, pitching his camp every evening in the moft commodious fituations. At length he arrived at Tukakoe, on James's River, the feat of his old friend Mr. Randolph, a rich planter of Virginia, who gave him a fpot of ground near his houfe, on which his negroes built one for himfelf.   Here he lived in tranquillity, furrounded by his Haves and his flocks, until Arnold and Phillips invaded Virginia, and approached his new afylum. Mr. Bull once more departed with his wealth, his flocks, and negroes, to retire into the upper country near Frederickf-burg.   On my afking him what he would have done, had we not opportunely arrived, to expel the Englifh, who intended to com-pleat the conqueft of Virginia, " I mould have retired to Maryland," he replied,— and if they had gone thither ?—" I fhould have proceeded to Penfylvania, and fo on, even to New England."   Does not this recall to mind the ancient patriarchs emigrating with their family and flocks, with a . certainty of finding every where a country
L 2 to
to receive and nourifh them ? * General Bull was preparing to return to Carolina in
hopes,
* 1 have already faid, that I had the happinefs of a particular acquaintance with many of the principal gentlemen of South Carolina. The reflexion on the pleating hours I palled with them in their exiled fltuation at Philadelphia, and the warm friendfhip with which they honoured me, whilft it reconciles me .to the world, and foothes the memory of paft fufferings, touches the tendered affections of a fen-fible and grateful heart. My bofom beat high with genuine ardour in the caufe for which they facrificed every perfonal confideration, but I had, frequently, the opportunity of appreciating that facrifice. Seeing what I faw, I want no inflances of Greek or Roman virtue to flimulate my feelings, or excite my emulation ; and it will ever be matter of congratulation with me, to have witneffed, in the principal inhabitants of Carolina, all the blandifhments of civilized fociety, the love of life and all its bleflings, a humanity void of reproach, an hofpitality not exceeded in the patriarchal ages, contrary to the paradoxes of fyftema-tic writers, blended with the inflexible virtue which diftinguifhed the beft and pureft ages of the world. From the number, I (hall only felecf. the brilliant examples of Major Pierce Butler, and A4r. Arthur Middleton. Wealth, honour, intereft, domef-tic happinefs, their children, were nothing in the eyes of fuch men, though calculated to enjoy, and to communicate happinefs in every fphere,
hopes, henceforth, of parting happier days. After putting many queftions to him reflecting affairs to the Southward, which he anfwered with great franknefs and good fenfe, I returned to Mrs. Bowling's, wrhere I was not difappointed in finding a good dinner, the honours of which fhe did with much cordiality, without reflraint, or ceremony.   After dinner, Mifs Bowling played on the harpfichord, and fung like an adept in muiic, although her voice wras not agreeable; whilfl the defcendant of Pocahunta touched a guittar, and fung like a perfon unlkilled in munc, but with a charming voice.   On my return home, I had another concert; Mifs Saunders finging fome airs, which fhe accompanied fometimes with the harpfichord, and fometimes with the guittar.
L 3 Next
when put in competition with the great objects o'f univcrfal public happinefs, and facred Freedom's holy caufe. How painful is it to be compelled to add, that fuch was the cold, felfifh fpirit of too many of the inhabitants of Philadelphia towards their Caroiina brethren, who had every claim upon their fympathy, and good offices, as to merit the indignation of every feeling mind, and to fix an indelible flain upon their character as men and citizens-. Translator.
Next day we were obliged to quit this good houfe and agreeable company ; but before I left Peterlburg, I obferved that it was already a flourifhing town, and mud become more fo, every day, from its favour^ able lituation with refpect  to commerce. Firft,  becaufe it is placed immediately below the Falls, or Rapids of the Apamatock, and the river can here float veflels of fifty or fixty tons burthen.   Secondly, becaufe the productions of the Southern part of Virginia have no other outlet, and thofe even of North Carolina are gradually taking this way, the navigation of the Roanoke and Albemarle found being by no means fo commodious as that of the Apomatcck and James's River.   But thefe advantages are unfortunately balanced by the infalu-brity of the climate; for I have been af-furtd, that of all the inhabitants of the three little burghs of Pocahunta, of Bland-ford and Peteifnurg, which may be considered as forming one town, not two per-fons are to be found who are natives of the country.   Commerce and navigation, not-withflanding, produce a concourfe of ftrangers.   The fituation, bcfi4es, is agreeable,
and
and the climate may probably be rendered more falubrious by draining fome morafles in the neighbourhood
Five miles from Peterfbu rg, we palled the fmall river of Randolph, over a ftone bridge ; and travelling, through a rich and well peopled country, arrived at' a fork of roads, where we were unlucky enough pre-cifely to make choice of that which did not lead to Richmond, the place of our def-tination.   But we had no reafon to regret our error, as it was only two miles about; and we fkirted James river to a charming place called Warwick, where a groupe of handfome houfes form  a fort of village, and there are feveral fuperb ones in the neighbourhood; amongft others, that of Colonel Carey*, on the right bank of the river, and M. Randolph's on the oppoiite more.   One muft be fatigued with hearing the name of Randolph mentioned in travelling in Virginia (for it is one of the moft ancient families in the country) a Randolph being amongft the firft fettlers, and is like-wife one of the mofl numerous and rich.
* This is the gentleman whofe fine mills were burnt by Arnold, as mentioned in the London Gazette. Translator.
It is divided into ieven or eight branches, and I am not afraid of exaggerating, when I fay, that they polTefs an income of upwards of a million of livres. It is only twenty-five milesfrom Peterfburgh to Richmond, but as we had loft our way, and travelled but flowly, it was near three o'clock when we reached Manchefler, a fort of fu-burb to Richmond, on the right bank of the river, where you pa*fs# the ferry, The pafiage was fhort, there being two boats for the accommodation of travellers. Though Richmond be already an old town, and well fituated for trade, being built on the fpot where James river begins to be navigable, that is, juft below the Rapids, it was, before the war, one of the leaft confiderable in Virginia, where they are all, in general, very fniall ; but the feat of government having been removed from Williamfburgh, it is become a real capital, and is augmenting every day. It was neceflary, doubtlefs, to place the legiflative body at a diftance from the fea-coaft, where., it was expofed to the rapid and unexpected inroads of the Englifh, but Williamfburgh had the flill farther inconvenience
convenience of being fituated at the extremity of the frate, which obliged a great part of the Delegates to make a long journey to the Alfembly ; befides, that from its pofition between James and York rivers, it has no port nor communication with them but by fmall creeks very difficult for navigation, whilft veflels of 200  tons come up to Richmond.   This new capital is divided into three parts, one of which is on the edge of the river, and may be confidered as the port; the two others are built on two eminences, which are feparated by a little valley.   I was conducted to that on the weft, where I found a good inn, and my lodgings and dinner ordered by a fervant whom I had fent on two days before, with a lame horfe.  We were ferved, therefore, immediately, but with fuch magnificence and profufion, that there would have been too much for twenty perfons.   Every plate that was brought us produced a burft of laughter, but not without confiderable alarm for the bill of the next day j for I had been apprized that the inns at Richmond were uncommonly
extravagant.
extravagant. I efcaped, however, for feven or eight Louis d'or, which was not enormous, confidering our expenditure.   A fhort time before, Mr. de Rochambeau had paid five and twenty Louis, at another inn, for fome horfes which remained there for four or five days, although he neither ate nor flept in it himfelf.   Mr. Formicalo, my landlord, was more honed:; his only error was the exalted idea he had formed of the manner in which French General Officers muff be treated.   He is a Neapolitan, who came to Virginia with Lord Dunmore, as his Maiire d'Hotel, but he had gone rather round about, having been before in Rufiia.   At prefent he has a good houfe, furniture, and flaves, and will foon become a man of confequence in his new country.  He flill, however, re-collecls his native land with pleafure, and I have no doubt that my attention in addref-fing him only in Italian, faved me a few Louis.
After dinner I went to pay a vifit to Mr. Harrtfoti, then Governor of the State. I found him in a homely, but fpacious enough houfe, which was fitted up for him. As the Alfembly was not then fitting, there
was
was nothing to diftinguifh him from other citizens.   One of his brothers, who is a Colonel of Artillery, and one of his fans, who acts as his Secretary, were with him. The converfation was free and agreeable, which he was even defirous of prolonging; for on my riling in half an hour, left I might interrupt him, he aflured me that the bufi-nefs of the day was at an end, and defired me to refume my feat.   We talked much of the firft Congrefs in America, in which he fat for two years, and which, as I have already laid, was compofed of every perfon diftinguifhed for virtue and capacity on the continent.    This fubjecl: led us naturally to that which is the moft favourite topic amongft the Americans, the origin and commencement of the prefent revolution.   It is a cireumftance peculiar to Virginia, that the inhabitants of that country were certainly in the beft fituation of all the eolonifls under the Englifh government.   The Virginians were planters,  rather than merchants, and the objects of their culture were rather valuable than the refult of induftry.
They poffelTed, almoft exclufively, the privileged
vileged article of tobacco, which the Eng-glifh came in quell of into the very heart of the country, bringing in exchange every article of utility, and even of luxury. They had a particular regard and predilection for Virginia, and favoured accordingly the peculiar difpofition of that country, where cupidity and indolence go hand-in-hand, and ferve only as boundaries to each other. It was undoubtedly no eafy matter therefore, to perfuade this people to take up arms, becaufe the town of Bofton did not chufe to pay a duty upon tea, and was in open rupture with England. To produce this effect, it was neceffary to fubfti-tute activity for indolence, and forefight for indifference. That idea was to be awakened at which every man, educated in the principles of the Englifh conftitution, fhudders, the idea of a fervile fubmiffion to a tax to which he has not himfelf con-fented. The precife cafe however relative to them, had not yet occurred, though every enlightened mind forefaw that fuch was the object, and would be the inevitable conference of the early meafures of the go-4 vernment:
NORTH-AMERICA. 157
vernment: but how were the people to be convinced of this ?   By what other motive could they be brought to adopt decilive meafures,  if not by the confidence they repofed in their leaders ?   Mr. Harrifon informed me, that when he was on the point of fetting out with Mr. Jefferfon and Mr. Lee to attend the firft Congrefs at Philadelphia, a number of refpecbable, but uninformed inhabitants, waited upon, and ad-dreffed them as follows : " You affert that " there is a fixed intention to invade our lc rights and privileges; we own that we " do not fee this clearly, but fince you " affure us that it is fo, we believe the fact. " We are about to take a very dangerous " ftep, but we confide in you, and are ready f* to fupport you in every meafureyou fhall " think proper to adopt."   Mr. Harrifon added, that he found himfelf greatly relieved by a fpeech made by Lord North foon after, in which he could not refrain from avowing, in the cleareft manner, the plan of the Britifh Government *.   This fpeech
wra9
* I cannot here refill transcribing a paiTage from Mr. Payne's celebrated Letter to the Abbe Raynaly
was printed in the public papers, and all America rang with its contents. Return-
which merits prefervation, and may ferve to illustrate the ideas of America refpecling the general views of Britain, in hopes that every reflecting Engliih-man is at length difpalTionate enough to bear the obfervation. 11 I mail now take my leave of this *l paiTage of the Abbe, with an obfervation, which «* until fomething unfolds itfelf to convince me of " the contrary, I cannot avoid believing to be true;
which is, that it was the fixed determination of *' the Britifh cabinet to quarrel with America at all
events.   They (the members who compofe the f* cabinet) had no doubt of fuccefs, if they could *' once bring it to the iffue of a battle ; and they *' expefted from a conqueit, what they could nei-" ther propofe with decency, nor hope for by nego-" tiation.   The charters and conffitutions of the ' colonies were become to them matters of offence, ' and their rapid progiefs in property and popula-' tion were beheld with difguft, as the growing and ' natural means of independence.   They faw no « way to retain them long, but by reducing them 1 in time.   A conqueft would at once have made ' them lords and landlords; and put them in pof-' feilion both of the revenue and the rental. The ' whole trouble of government would have ceafed ' in a victory, and a final end been put to remon-' ftrance and debate.   The experience of the flamp-« a£t had taught them how to quarrel, with the ad-
NORTH-AMERICA. 159
ing afterwards to Virginia, he faw the fame perfons who had thus addreffed him on his departure, who now confeffed that he had not deceived them, and that henceforward they were refolutely determined upon war.
Thefe
" vantages of cover and convenience, and they had *< nothing to do but to renew the fcene, and put ** contention into motion.   They hoped for a re_ ** bellion, and they made one.   They expefted a V declaration of independence, and they were not " difappointcd.   But after this,   they looked for " victory, and they obtained a defeat.   If this be " taken as the generating caufe of the conteft, then " is every part of the condu-? of the Britifh mini-" ftry confident, from ;hc commencement of the " difpute, until the figuring the treaty of Paris, (the *' American and French alliance) after which, con-'* quell becoming doubtful, they had recourfetonego-" tiation, and were again defeated.   If we take a re-" view of what part Britain has acted, we fhall " find every thing which ought to make a nation " blufh.   The moft vulgar ah ufe, accompanied by " that fpecies of haughtin Is which diftinguifh.es " the hero of a mob from the character of a gentle-" man; it was as much from her manners, as from «« her injuftice, that fhe loft the colonies.   By the " latter fhe provoked their principles, by the for-*' mer fhe exhaufted their patience.   And it ought " to be held out to the world, to fliew, how neccf-** fary it is to conduct the buimefs of government " with civility." Translator.
Thefe particular details cannot but be ufeful to fuch Europeans as are defirous of forming a jufl idea of thofe great events, in which they took fo deep an intereft:; for they would be much deceived in imagining that all the Thirteen States of America were invariably animated by the fame fpirit, and affected by the fame fentiments. But they would commit a ftill greater error, did they imagine, that thefe people re-femble each other in their forms of government, their manners and opinions. One muft be in the country itfelf; one muff, be acquainted with the language, and take a pleafure in converfing, and in liftening, to be qualified to form, and that flowly, a proper opinion and a decifive judgment *a
After
* The fame ingenious author of Common Senfe makes another obfervation, in his anfwer to the very ignorant, or very prejudiced work of the Abbe Ray. nal on the revolution of America, to which, however it may militate againft the utility of the prefent publication, or the notes of the Tranflator, he cannot avoid perfectly fubfcribing : viz. " I never yet " faw an European defcription of America that was . *' true, neither can any perfon gain a juft idea of it, *« but by coming to it." Translator.
After this reflection, the reader will not be furprized at the pleafure I took in converging with Mr. Harrifon. Befides that I was particularly happy to form an acquaintance with a man of fo eftimable a character in every refpect, and whofe beft eulogium it is to fay, that he is the intimate friend of Dr. Franklin      He prefled me to dine
* The illuftrious and amiable chara&er of Dr. Franklin is far beyond my praife.   To have known him ; to have been a frequent witncfs to the diftinguifhed acts of his great mind ; to have been in a fituation to learn, and to admire his comprehenfivc views, and benevolent motives; to have heard the profound maxims of wife philofophy and found politics, drop from his lips with all the unaffected ftm-plicity of the moft indifferent converfaticn ; to have heard him deviate from the depths of reafon, and adopt his inftrudtive difcourfe to the capacity and temper of the young and gay ; to have enjoyed in fhort, the varied luxuries of his delightful fociety, is a fubject of triumph and confolation, of which nothing can deprive me.   He too as well as the envious and interelted enemies of his tranfeendent merit, muffc drop from off the fcene, but his name, cere pcren-nius, is inferibed in indelible characters on the immortal roll of philofophy and freedom, for the*r-dcntia verba of the moft honeft advocate of freedom,
Vol. II. M with
with him next day, and to pafs another day at Richmond ; but as there was nothing to excite curiofity in that town, and I was defirous of flopping at Weftover before I returned to Williamfburgh, where I wss anxious to arrive, we fet out the 27th at eight in the morning, under the efcort of Colonel Harrifon, who accompanied us to a road from which it was impoffible to go affray. We travelled fix and twenty miles without halting, in very hot weather, but by a very agreeable road, with magnificent houfes in view at every inffant; for the banks of James-River form the garden of Virginia. That of Mrs. Bird, to which I was going, furpafles them all in the magnificence of the buildings, the beauty of
its
of the prefent age the late Serjeant Glynn, on a great occafion ; the action againft Lord Halifax for the falfe imprif nment of Mr. Wilkes, may with peculiar juftice be applied to this great man. " Few men u in whole revolving ages can he found, who dare op-41 pofe themfelves to theforce of tyranny, and whofe ffo' " glc breafls contain the fpirit of nations."
Translator;
its fituation, and the pleafures of fociety % Mrs. Bird is the widow of a Colonel who ferved in the war of 1756, and was afterwards one of the council under the Britifh Government. His talents, his perfonal qualities, and his riches, for he poffelfed an immenfe territory, rendered him one of the principal perfonages of the country; but being a fpendthrift and a gambler, he left his affairs, at his death, in very great diforder. He had four children by his firft wife, who were already fettled in the world, and has left eight by his fecond, of whom,
M 2 the
* The moft perfect eafe and comfort characterize the mode of receiving ftrangers in Virginia, but no where are thefe circumftances more confpicuous than at the houfe of General Wafhington. Your apartments are your home, the fervants of the houfe are yours, and whilft every inducement is held out to bring you into the general fociety in the drawing room, or at the table, it refts with yourfelf to be ferved or not with every thing in your own chamber. In fhort, nothing can more refemblc the eafy reception of guefts at the country refidence of the late Sir Charles Turner in Yorklhirc, where hofpi-tality perhaps was drained farther than confuted with, a proper affortmcnt of company, or even with fafety.
Translator*
tie widow takes care.   She has pre ferved his beautiful houfe, lituated on James-River, a large perfonal property, a confiderable number of Haves, and fome plantations which /lie has rendered valuable.   She is about two-and-forty,   with an agreeable countenance, and great fenfe.   Four of her eight children are daughters, two of whom are near twenty* and they are all amiable and well educated.   Her care and activity have in fome meafure repaired the effects of her hufband's diflipation, and her houfe is ftill the moil celebrated, and the moft agreeable of the neighbourhood.   She has experienced however  frefh   misfortunes; three times have the Englifh landed at Weftover, under Arnold and Cornwallis; and though thefe vifits coft her dear, her hufband's former attachment to England, where his eldeft fon is now ferving in the army, her relationfhip with Arnold, whofe coufin german fhe is, and perhaps too, the jealoufy of her neighbours, have given birth to fufpicions, that war alone was not the object which induced the Englifh always to make their defcents at her habitation. She
has
has been accufed even of connivance with them, and the government have once put their feal upon her papers ; but fhe has braved the tempeft, and defended herfelf with firmnefs; and though her affair be not yet terminated, it does not appear as if fhe was likely to fuffer any other inconvenience than that of being difturbed and fuf-pe&ed. Her two eldeft daughters pahed the laft winter at Williamfburgh, where they were greatly complimented by M. de Rochambeau and the whole army *v I had M 3 alfo
* The prudent conduct of the French officers, and the ffricTt difcipline of their troops in a country with different manners, language, and religion, full of inveterate prejudices, and wherein they had very lately been regarded as natural enemies, muft ever be confidered as an epocha and a phenomenon, in the hiftory of policy and fubordination. Whilft all ranks of officers were making it their ftudy fuccefs-fully to conciliate the good opinion of the higher claffes, nothing could exceed the probity, and urbanity of the common foldiers ; not only did they live with the American troops in a harmony, hithereto unknown to allied armies, even of kindred language, intereft, and religion, but their conduct was irreproachable, and even delicate to the inhabitants of the country.   They who predicted discord on the
alfo received them in the beft manner I could, and received the thanks of Mrs. Bird, with a prefting invitation to come and fee her; I found myfelf in confequence, quite at home. I found here alfo my acquaintance, the young Mrs. Bowling, who was on a vint to Mr. Mead, a friend and neighbour of Mrs. Bird's, who had invited him and his company to dinner. I palled this day therefore very agreeably, and Mr. and Mrs. Mead, whom I had alfo known at Williamfburgh, engaged the company to dine with them the next day. The river alone feparates the two houfes, which are notwithftanding, upwards of a mile dif-tant from each other; but as there is very little current, the breadth of the water between them does not prevent it from being foon palfed.   Mr. Mead's houfe is by no
means
introduction of a French army, had reafon and experience on their fide, but the fpirit of policy and wifdom which preiided in the French councils had gone forth, and diffufing itfelf through every fubor-dinate clafs of men, perfuaded even the meaneft actors in the war, and baffled forefight. Nor was this one of the leaft extraordinary circumftances of this wonderful revolution. Translator.
NORTH- A ME R ICA. 167
means fo handfome as that of Weftover, 'hut it is extremely well fitted up within, and ftands on a charming fituation; for it is directly oppofite to Mrs. Bird's, which, with its furrounding appendages, has the appearance of a fmall town, and forms a molt delightful profpect.   Mr. Mead's garden, like that of Weftover, is in the nature of a terrace on the bank of the river, and is capable of being made ftill more beautiful, if Mr. Mead preferves his houfe, and gives fome attention to it; for he is a philofopher of a very amiable but fingular turn of mind, and fuch as is particularly uncommon in Virginia, fince he rarely attends to affairs of intereft, and cannot prevail upon himfelf to make his negroes work •}%   He is even fo difgufted with a
culture
f Whilfl the Tranflatorwas employed in this paf-fage, he read in the public prints, the exultation of a friend to his fellow-creatures, that a Mr. Pleafants, a quaker on James-River in Virginia, had liberated his Haves, and made a facriike of 3000I. fterling to this noble ac"t of humanity. The Tranflator knows the country too well not to feel the force of the Author's fubfequent reafoning on the difficulty and danger of a general emancipation of the negroes,
/
culture wherein it is neceffary to make ufe of Haves, that he is tempted to fell his pof-feiiions in Virginia, and remove to New England.   Mrs. Bird, who has a numerous family to provide for, cannot carry her philofophy fo far; but the takes great care of her negroes, makes them as happy as their lituation will admit, and ferves them herfelf as a doctor in time of iicknefs. She has even made fome interefting difcoveries on the diforders incident to them, and difcovered a very falutary method of treating a fort of putrid fever which carries them off commonly in a few days, and againft which the phyficians of the country have exerted themfelves without fuccefs.
"The 29th, the whole of which day I fpent at Weftover, furnifhes nothing inte-refting in this journal, except fome information I had the opportunity of acquiring refpecting two forts of animals, of very different
nor after mature reflection now, and on the fpot, is he able to overcome his objections. But God, in his Divine Providence, forbid that fo fplendid an example of active virtue, fhould clafh with the unavoidable policy, or the necelfary welfare of fociety I
Translator,
ferent fpecies, the flurgeon and the hummingbird.   As I was walking by the river-fide, I faw two negroes carrying an immenfe burgeon, and on my afking them how they had taken it, they told me that at this fea-fon, they were fo common :.s to be taken, eafily in a fean (a fort of fifhing-net), and that fifteen or twenty were found fometimes in the net; but that there was a much more fimple method of taking them, which they had juft been ufing.   This fpecies of monflers, which are fo active in the evening as to be pepetually leaping to a great height above the furface of the water, ufually  ileep profoundly at mid-day -f-
Two
f From General Wafhington's houfe, which flands on the lofty banks of the Potowmack, in a fituation more magnificent than I can paint to an European imagination, I have feen for feveral hours together in a furnmer's evening, hundreds, perhaps I might fay thoufands of flurgeon, at a great height from the water at the fame inflant, fo that the quantity in the river mult have been inconceivably great; but notwithflanding the rivers in Virginia abound with fifh, they are by no means plentiful at table, fuch is the indolence of the inhabitants !
Mr.
ijo TRAVELS in
Two of three negroes then proceed in a little boat, furnifhed with a long cord, at
the
Mr. LundJVaJJnngton, a relation of the General's, and who managed all his affairs during his nine years abfence with the army, informed me that an Englifh frigate having come up the Potowmac, a party was landed who fet fire to and deftroyed fome gentlemen's houfes on the Maryland fide in fight of Mount Vernon the General's houfe, after which the Captain, (I think Captain Graves of the Aclceon) fent a boat on fhore to the General's, demanding 3 large fupply of provifions, &c. with a menace of burning it likewife in cafe of a refufal. To this meffage Mr. Lund Wafhington replied, "that when the General engaged in the contefl he had put all to flake, and was well aware of the expofed fituation of his houfe and property, in confequence of which he had given him orders by no means to comply with any fuch demands, for that he would make no unworthy compromife with the enemy, and was ready to meet the fate of his neighbours." The Captain was highly incenfed on receiving this anfwer, and removed his frigate to the Virginia fhore ; but before he commenced his operations, he fent another meffage to the fame purport, offering like-wife a paffport to Mr. Wafhington to come on board: he returned accordingly in the boat, carrying with him a fmall prefent of poultry, of which he begged the Captain's acceptance. His prefence produced the befl effect, he was hofpitably received notwith-
NORTH.AMERICA. 171
the end of which is a (harp iron crook, which they hold fufpended like a log line. As foon as they find this line iiopped by fome obftacle, they draw it forcibly towards them, fo as to (Irike the hook into the flurgeon, which they either drag out of the water, or which, after fome ftrug-
gling,
Handing he repeated the fame fentiments with the fame firmnefs.   The Captain expreffed his perfonal refpeft for the charadler of the General, commending the conduct of Mr. Lund Wafhington, and af-fured him nothing but his having mifconceived the terms of the firft anfwer could have induced him for a moment to entertain the idea of taking the fmallefl meafurc offcnfive to fo illuftrious a character as the General, explaining at the fame time the real or fuppofed provocations which had compelled his feverity on the other fide of the river. Mr. Wafhington, after fpending fome time in perfect harmony on board, returned, and inftantly difpatched lheep, hogs, and an abundant fupply of other articles as a prefent to the Englifh frigate. The Tranflator hopes that in the prefent Jlate of men and meafures in England, Mr. Graves, or whoever the Captain of that frigate was, will neither be offended at this anecdote, nor be afraid to own himfelf the actor in this generous transaction.   Henry 1 Vth fup-plied Paris with provifions whilft he was blockading it! Translator.
i72        travels in
gling, and lofing all its blood, floats at' length upon the furface, and is eafily taken.
As for the humming-birds, I faw them for the firft time, and was never tired of beholding them.   The walls of the garden and the houfe were covered with honey-fuckles, which afforded an ample harveft for thefe charming little animals.   I faw them perpetually flying over the flowers, on which they feed without ever alighting, for it is by fupporting themfelves on their wings that they infinuate their beaks into the calix of the flowers. Sometimes they perch, but it is only for a moment; it is then only one has an op* portunity of admiring the beauty of their plumage, efpecially when oppofite to the fun, and when in removing their heads, they dif-play the brilliant enamel of their red necks, which almoft rival the fplendor of the ruby or the diamond.   It is not true that they are naturally paffionate, and that they tear to pieces the flowers in which they find no honey.   I have never obferved any fuch cir-cumftance myfelf, either at Weftover or Williamfburgh; and the inhabitants of the country affured me, that they had never made any fuch obfervation.   Thefe birds
appear
appear only with the flowers, with which likewife they difappear, and no perfon can tell what becomes of them. Some are of opinion that they hide themfelves, and remain torpid the remainder of the year. In fact, it is difficult to conceive how their wings, which are fo flight and {lender as to be imperceptible if not in motion, could pof-fibly refill: the winds, and tranfport them to diftant climates. They are not intractable, for I have feen one of them, which was taken a few days before, in no wife frightened at the perfons who looked at it, but flew about the room, as in a garden, and fucked the flowers which they prefented to it; but it did not live above a week. Thefe birds are fo fond of motion, that it is im-poflible for them to live without the enjoyment of the mofl unreftrained liberty. It is difficult even to catch them, unlefs they happen, as was the cafe with that I am fpeaking of, to fly into the chamber, or be driven there by the wind. An inhabitant of the country, who amufed himfelf in pre-ferving them for his cabinet, has difcover-ed a very ingenious method of killing* without disfiguring them.   This is a very
difficult
difficult undertaking; for a fingle grain of* fmall fhot is a cannon bullet for fo fmall a creature. This method is to load his gun with a bladder filled with water. The ex-plofion of this water is fufficient to knock down the humming-bird, and deprive it of motion.
The reader will certainly not accufe me of playing the orator, and referving objects of the greatefr. magnitude for the end of my difcourfe; for I fhall here conclude my journal. It is unneceffary to fpeak of my return to Williamfburgh, unlefs it be worthy of remark, that the Chickahoming, which is only a fecondary river, fince it falls into that of James, is yet fo wide, fix miles from its conflux, that I was three quarters of an hour in paffing it. But if he will flill favour me with his attention, I fhall terminate this long narrative of a fhort journey, by fome obfervations on a country I have travelled through, and inhabited long' enough to know it thoroughly.
The Virginians differ effentially from the inhabitants to the north and eaftward of the Bay, (of Chefapeak) not only in the nature of their climate, that of their foil,
and
and the objects of cultivation peculiar to it, but in that indelible character which is imprinted on every nation at the moment of its origin, and which by perpetuating itfelf from generation to generation, justifies the following great principles, that every thing which is, partakes of that which has been. The difcovery of Virginia dates from the end of the sixteenth century, and the fettle-ment of the colony took place at the commencement of the feventeenth. Thefe events paffed in the reigns of Elizabeth and James the firft.   The republican and democratical fpirit was not then common in England ; that of commerce and navigation was fcarce-ly in its infancy ; and the long wars with France and Spain had perpetuated, under another form, the fame military caft given to the nation by William the Conqueror, Richard, Coeur de Lion, Edward the third, and the Black Prince.    There were no longer any Knights Errant, as in the time of theCroifades, but in their place arofe a number of adventurers who ferved indifferently their own country, and foreign powers, and gentlemen, who difdaining agriculture and commerce, had no other profeftion but that
Qf
i76 TRAVELS   I "
of4 arms;   for at that period the military fpirit maintained the prejudices favourable to that nobility, from which it was long infeparable ; befides that the dignity of the peerage, from being lefs common in England, gave more eclat and more confidence to thofe who pofTefTed it by hereditary right.   The firft colonifts of Virginia were compofed, in great meafure, of fuch foldiers, and fuch gentlemen, fome of whom went in fearch of fortune, and others, of adventures.   And in fact, if the eftablifhment of a colony requires all the induftry of the merchant and the cultivator, the difcovery, and conqueft of unknown countries feems more peculiarly adapted to the ideas of the warlike and romantic.    Accordingly the firft company which obtained the exclufive property of Virginia, was principally compofed of men the moft diftinguifhed by their rank or birth ; and though all thefe illuftrious proprietors did not actually become colonifts, feveral of them were not afraid to pafs the feas j and a Lord Delaware was amongft the firft Governors of Virginia. It was natural therefore for thefe new colonifts, who were filled with military principles,
ciples, and the prejudices of nobility, to carry them into the midst even of the favages whofe lands they were ufurping; and of all our European ideas, thefe were what the unpoliihed tribes mofl readily conceived.   I know that there now remains but an inconiiderable number of thefe ancient families, but they have retained a great estimation, and the firft impulfe once given, it is not in the power of any legiflator, nor even of time itfelf, wholly to destroy its effect.   The government may become democratic, as it is at the prefent moment; but the national character, the fpirit of the government itfelf, will be always aristocratic.   Nor can this be doubted, when we take into confideration another caufe, cooperating with the former;   I mean to fpeak of (lavery ; not that it is any mark of distinction, or peculiar privilege to pof-fefs negroes, but becaufe the empire men cxercife over them cherifhes vanity and floth, two vices which accord wonderfully with the already eftablifhed prejudices. It will, doubtlefs, beafked, how thefe prejudi-Vol.II. N ces
ces have been brought to coincide with a revolution founded on fuch different principles. I fhall anfwer that they have evert perhaps contributed to produce it. That whilst the revolt of New England was the refult of reafcn and calculation, pride pof-fibly had no inconsiderable fhare in dictating the meafures of Virginia. I fhall add, what I have above hinted, that in the beginning, even the indolence of this peor pie may have been ufeful to them, as it obliged them to rely upon a fmall number of virtuous and enlightened citizens, who led them farther than they would have pro> ceeded, without a guide, had they confulr> ed only their own difpofitions. For it muir be allowed, that Virginia ftepped forth with a good grace, at the very commencement of the troubles ; that fhe was the firft to offer fuccours to the Boftonians, and the firft alfo to fet on foot a confiderable body of troops. But it may likewife be obferved, that as foon as the new legiftature was efta-blifhed,and when, instead of leaders, fhe had -a government, the mafs of citizens was
taking
taking part in that government, the national character prevailed, and every thing went worfe and worfe.   Thus, ftates, like individuals, are born with a particular complexion, the bad effects of which may be corrected by regimen and habits, but can never be entirely changed.   Thus, legifla-tors, like phyficians, ought never to flatter themfelves that they can beftow, at pleafure, a particular temperament on bodies politic, butftrive to difcovcr what they already have, and thence ftudy to remedy the inconve-niencies, and multiply the advantages re-fulting from it.   A general glance at the different States of America will ferve to juftify this opinion.   The people of New England had no other motive for fettling in the New World, than to efcape from the arbitrary power of their monarchs, who, at once, fovereigns of the flate, and heads of the church, exercifcd at that period the double tyranny of defpotifm and intolerance.   They were not adventurers, they were men who wifhed to live in peace, and who laboured for their fubfiftence. TlK*r N 2 principles
principles taught them equality, and dif-pofed them to industrious pursuits. The foil, naturally barren, affording them but fcanty   refources,   they  attached themfelves to fifhing and navigation; and at this hour, they are Itill friends to equality and industry ; they are fifhermen and navigators.   The states of New-York, and the Jerfeys, were peopled by rteceflitous Dutchmen who wanted land in their own country, and occupied themfelves more about domef-tic ccconomy than the public government. Thefe people have preferved the fame character ; their interefts, their efforts, fo to fpeak, are perfonal ; their views are concentered in their families, and it is only from neceflity that thefe families are formed into a State.   Accordingly, when General Burgoyne was on his march to Albany, the New Englandmen chiefly contributed to impede his progrefs; and, if the inhabitants of the State of New-York and of the Jerfeys have often taken arms, and difplay-ed courage, it is becaufe the former were animated by an inveterate hatred against the
favages,
favages, which generally preceded the Englifh armies *, and the latter were excited
N 3 to
* The employing the Indians, independent of the meafure, it is now pretty generally admitted, produced confequences directly oppofite to the intereft of Great Britain; uniting the inhabitants of all the countries liable to their incurfions as one man againft them and their allies, and producing fuch bloody fcenes of inveterate animoiity and vengeance as make human nature fhudder.   The following narrative will prove how far men of all carts, colours, and religions, refemble each other in fimilar fitua-tions, and to what lengdis even the chriftians of an enlightened age can go, when compelled to aft under the guidance of the worft paflions.   The inhabitants of the back frontiers of Penfylvania, goaded to fury by the ravages committed on them by the Indians, and by the murder of their families and kindred, collected the militia in the beginning of 1782, and took the field againft t,heir favage intruders.   In one of their excurlions they fell in with a fmall tribe of chriftian Indians, called the Mujkin-$umsy who being fufpefted of attachment to the Americans, had been for fome time confined at Detroit, and were releafed only on condition of obfer-ving a ftrict neutrality, fince they could not be per-fuaded to take arms.   Thefe unhappy wretches, to the number of about two hundred, returning to their habitations, were employed in putting their-feed-corn into the ground, when they were furprif-cd by the American militia,  In Yain did they ur£<a
to take perfonal vengeance for the exceflea committed by the troops of the enemy,
when
their fituation, and their fufferings from the Britifh; they were Indians, and their captors, men who had lofl fons, brothers, fathers, wives or children in this horrid war ; no other plea was necefTary to palliate their meditated vengeance. The Indians were fhut up in a barn, and ordered to prepare for death, but with this barbarous confolation, that, as they were converted christians, they fhould be allowed a re-fpite till the next morning. The innocent victims fpent the night in ringing Moravian hymns, and in other acts of chriftian devotion ; and in the morning were led, men, women, and children, to the ilaughter, and butchered by their fellow worlhippers of the meek Jefus ! The Moravians at Bethlehem and Nazareth, whofe miflionaries had converted them, made flrong reprefentations to Congrefs on the fubject. I was at Philadelphia when the news arrived ; and it is but juftice to fay, that horror was painted on every countenance, and every mind was at work to devife expedients for avenging this atro.r cious murder; but after various efforts, both Congrefs and the AfTembly of the State were found unequal to the punifhment of thefe aflafhns, who were armed, diftant from the feat. of government, the pnjy fafeguard and protection of the frontiers, and from their own favage nature alone fit to cope with the dreadful enemy brought into action by the B^i* 3 ....... /       . -
vvhen they over-ran the country *•   If you go further to the fouth, and pafs the Dela-. ware, you will find that the government of Penfylvania, in its origin, was founded on two very oppofite principles 5 it was a government of property, a government in itfelf feodal, or, if you will, patriarchal, but the fpirit of which was the greatest toleration, and the moft compleat liberty. Penris family at firft formed the vain project of eftablifhing a fort of Utopia, or perfect government, and afterwards of deriving the greateft pofTible advantage from their immenfe property,  by attracting foreigners from all parts.   Here it arifes that the people of Penfylvania have no characteristic aftimilation, that they are intermingled and confounded, and more actuated to individual, than to public liberty, more inclined to anarchy
* The murder committed on Mrs. Maxwell, the wife of a refpcctable and popular clergyman in the Jerfeys, and afterwards on himfelf, with fimilar acts of cruelty perpetrated by a licentious foldicry, and unprincipled refugees, inflamed the minds of a great boply of the inhabitants, particularly of the Dutch
chy than to democracy*. Maryland, fubjec1> cd in the firft inftance to a proprietary government,
and their defcendants, who, as the Marquis ob-ferves, were certainly difpofed at leaft to a neutrality.
Translator. * The Irifh and the Germans form the moll numerous part of the inhabitants of Penfylvania. The latter, if I am not miftaken, conftitutes a. £fth, if not a fourth, of the whole number, and are a moft ufeful, incruftrious body of men, well verfed in the mechanic arts and agriculture. I have travelled feveral days in the interior parts of that Hate, and heard fcarccly any other language than German, the a£s of Congrefs, and the State are promulgated in that language, German Ga-2ettes are published at Philadelphia, and in general they proved themfelves true friends to the revolution. Congrefs availing themfelves of this circumftance, very politically encamped the Brunf-wick, and other German troops taken with Burgoyne, near the town of Reading, where I faw them. The neighbourhood abounding with their countrymen, the men had permiflion to work at harveft, and other trades, and foon formed connexions with the females of the country. Calculating their market price, and the obligation they lay under to reftoro them, or their prime coft, they took every meafure to prevent them from remaining in the country ; for which purpofe, they tranfmitted but fmall fums at a time by their commilfaries from New-York, taking care to keep large arrears in their hands, as a
vernment, and confidered only as a private domain, remained long in a state of the moft: abfolute dependence.   This is the firft time ihe merits to be regarded as a ftate j but this ftate feems to be forming under good aufpi-ces   fhe may become of great weight after the prefent revolution, becaufe fhe was formerly of no significance. The two Carolinas and Georgia are next to be confidered ; but I am not furficiently acquainted with thefe three flates to hazard on them any obfervations, which may not be fo jufl in fact as they appear to mej but which are at leaft of a delicate nature, and require more than a fuper-ficial examination. I only know, that North Carolina, peopled by Scotfmen, brought thither by poverty, rather than by industry, is a prey to acts of pillage, and to internal
diffen-
temptation for their return. But all thefe precautions were, as may naturally be imagined, but of a partial effect, with men habituated to a country .of freedom, wherein they felt themfelves reflored to their natural rights, and animated by the example of their countrymen, enjoying the full comforts of their honeft industry ; contracted too with the degract d itate of a wretched mercenary, held up to fale by his arbitrary mafter* Translator
difTentions* : that South Carolina, poflef* £ng a commerce, wholly of exportation*
owes
* It is true that a great number of Scotfmen are <ettled in North Carolina, but that they were not even the majority of the inhabitants, is very apparent from the events of the late revolution ; for the Scots, though loyalifls nearly to a man, were repeatedly defeated, and finally crulhed by the militia of the country.   Notwithflanding her efforts appeared lefs concentered, and more vaguely directed, owing to the local circuraftances of the province, and the difperfed ftate of the inhabitants, rather than disinclination to the caufe, North Carolina rendered mofl effential fervices, by her exertions in die field, and the Delegates fhe fent to Congrefs. Her conftitution of government, contracted as it is, is not perhaps inferior to many in the confederacy, and befpeaks the wifdom of " the enlightened few," to which the Marquis' attributes the wife councils of Virginia.   It was the North Carolina militia which save the firft turn to the ruined affairs of America to the fouthward, by their fpirited attack and defeat «f Colonel Ferguffon at King's Mountain. The Tranflator, who was then in England, received, by a private channel, the firft intelligence of that ini, portant event, which he communicated to the public ; but the circumftances of the furprife of a large body of Britifh troops, flufhed with the capture of Charleftown, and the victory at Camden, by a boq'y
owes its existence to its fea-ports, efpecially to that of Charleftown, which has rapidly increased,
of 1600 horfemcn, from the back country of North Carolina, appeared fo extraordinary, that he could not obtain credit for the fact, either with the friends to America, or the ministerial party in that country.   The Ministers had no intelligence of the matter, and the eafterly winds then happening to prevail for a period of fix weeks, it was treated as a fiction, both in and out of Parliament, and the Translator as an enthufiaft or a fabricator of falfe news. Time, however, verified the fact, which he knew to be authentic, to its full extent, viz. that Colonel FergufTon, with eight hundred Britifli troops, had been furprized ; himfelf flain, and his whole force defeated by fixteen hundred Carolina militia, mounted on horfeback, haftily collected, and commanded by a few militia Colonels ! This fpirited and fuccefs-ful enterprize, with its confequences, merits certainly a confpicuous place in thehiflory of this great revolution ; for, like the furprize at Trenton, it changed the whole face of affairs, and reftored energy to the friends of America in that important feat of war.
North Carolina is a very fine country, beautifully diverfified with pleafant hills, large vallics, and noble rivers, though none of them is navigable for vef* fels above 80 tons, except the rivers Fear and Clarendon ; yet as they interfect the country in every direction, they are admirably calculated for inland navigation.   There are, for this reafon, no Iaige towns^
creafed, and is become a commercial town, in which ftrangers abound, as at Marfeilles and Amfterdam* : that the manners there are confequently polifhed and eafy : that the inhabitants love pleafure, the arts, and fociety ; and that this country is more European in its manners than any in America.
Now, if there be any accuracy in this fketch, let me defire the reader to compare the fpirit of the American States with their prefent government.   I defire him to
form
but from the various produce of this flare, and the rapid increafe of population, the white inhabitants, now amounting to near two hundred thoufand ; there is every reafon to believe that it will become not one of the leaft confiderable on the continent, nor will the philofopher view the circumftances which forbid the formation of large towns, as an evil, either in this country or in Virginia. Translator.
* The author here refers to the former fituation of the province ; but, as I have already mentioned, the interior of this extenfive ftate is daily peopling with a race of healthy, induftrious planters, and is highly fufceptible of every fpecies of improvement. As for fea-ports, there are none worth mentioning but Charleftown; and as for Georgia, its pofition is m every refpeft ftmilar to that of South Carolina. •
Translator,
form the comparifon at the prefent moment, in twenty, or in fifty years hence, and I am perfuaded, that fince all thefe governments referable each other, as they are all democra-tical, he will ftill difcover the traces of that original character, of that fpirit which pre-fides at the formation of people, and at the* eftablifhment of nations.
Virginia will retain this difcriminating character longer than the other States 5 whether it be that prejudices are more durable,, the more abfufd, and the more frivolous they are, or that thofe which injure a part only of the human race, are more fubject to remark than thofe which affect all mankind.   In the prefent revolution, the ancient families have feen, with pain, new men occupying diftinguifhed fituations in the army, and in the magistracy ; and the Tories have even hence drawn advantages, to cool the ardour of the lefs zealous of the Whigs. But the popular party have maintained their ground, and it is only to be regretted that they have not difplayed the fame activity in combating the Englifh, as in difputing precedences. It is to be apprehend-
cd,
29o        TRAVELS IN
ed, however, that circumftances becoming lefs favourable to them, on a peace, they may be obliged entirely to give way, or to fupport themfelves by factions, which muff, neceifarily difturb the order of fociety. But if Reafon ought to blufh at beholding fuch . prejudices fo ilrongly eftablifhed amongft a new people, Humanity has ftill more to fuf-fer from the ftate of poverty, in which a great number of white people lives in Virginia. It is in this country that I faw poor perfons, for the firft time, after I paffed the fea j for, in the midft of thofe rich plantations, where the negro alone is wretched, miferable huts are often to be met with, inhabited by whites, whofe wane looks, and ragged garments, befpeak poverty. At firft: I was puzzled to explain to myfelf, how, in a country where there is ftill fo much land to clear, men who do not refufe to work, fhould remain in mifery; but I have fince learned, that all thefe ufelefs territories, thefe immenfe eftates, with which Virginia is covered, have their proprietors. Nothing is more common than to fee fome of them poffeffing five or fix thoufand acres of
land,
land, who clear out only as much as their negroes can cultivate 5 yet will they not give, nor even fell the fmalleft portion of them, becaufe they form a part of their pofteftions, and they are in hopes of one day augmenting the number of their negroes.   Thefe white men, without fortune, and frequently without induftry, are ftrait-ened, therefore, on every fide, and reduced to the fmall.number of acres they are able to acquire.   Now, the land not being good in general in America*, efpecially in Virginia, a confiderable number of them is neceftary,
in
* The land, within the mountains, in the hitherto fettled parts of North America, are not in general very good, and it is of thefe only that the Marquis fpeaks ; but as the authors of the Nouvclle Encyclopedic obferve, in their new article of the United States, this mull have been the cafe in almoft every new country, the foil of Europe having been meliorated by the progrefs of population, the quantity of manure, and the means by which the earth is pro» te£led from the effects of heavy rains, &c. by care and cultivation.   Abbe RaynaPs remarks on this fubject, in his laft work, called the Revolution of America, difcover fo much ignorance as fcarcely to merit the elaborate difcuffion bellowed on them by the ingenious authors of the Encyclopedic, who h»YC
in order to clear it with fuccefs, becaufe they are the cattle from which the cultivator derives his aid and his fubfiftence. To theeaftward are a great number of cleared grounds, but the portions of land which are eafily purchafed there, and for almoft nothing, confift always of at leaft two hundred acres ; befides, that to the fouthward, the climate is lefs healthy, and the new fet* tiers, without partaking of the wealth of Virginia, (hare all the inconveniencies of the climate, and even the indolence it in* fpires*.
Beneath
likewife tranfcribed from him feveral important paf-fages, which have been ably and fully refuted by Mr. Payne. Translator.
* The indolence and diflopation of the middling and lower claries of white inhabitants of Virginia, are fuch as to give pain to every reflecting mind. Horfe-racing, cock-fighting, and boxing-matches, are (landing amufements, for which they neglect all bufinefs ; and in the latter of which they conduct, themfelves •with a barbarity worthy of their favage neighbours. The ferocious practice of ftage-boxing in England, is urbanity, compared with the Virginian mode of fighting. In their combats, unlefs fpecially precluded, they are admitted (to ufe their own term) " to bite, b-11—ck, and goudge," which operations, when the firft onfet with fills is over, confifts in fattening
Beneath this clafs of inhabitants, we mull: place the negroes, whofe fituation would be
flill
on the nofe or ears of their adve.rfaries with their teeth, feizing him by the genitals, and dexteroufly fcooping out an eye ; on which account it is no uncommon circumftance to meet men in the prime of youth, deprived of one of thofe organs.   This is no traveller's exaggeration, I fpeak from knowledge and obfervation.   In the fummer months it is very common to make a party onhorfeback to a limeflone fpring, near which there is ufually fome little hut with fpirituous liquors, if the party are not themfelves provided, where their debauch frequently terminates in a boxing-match, a horfe-race, or perhaps both.   During a day's refidence at Leelburg, I was myfelf accidentally drawn into one of thefe parties, where I foon experienced the Strength of the liquor, which was concealed by the refrelhing coolnefs of the water.   While we were feated round the fpring, at the edge of a delightful wood, four or five countrymen arrived, headed by a veteran cyclops, the terror of the neighbourhood, ready on every occafion to rifk his remaining eye.   We foon found ourfelves. under the neceffity of relinquifhing our polls, and making our efcape from thefe fellows, who evidently fought to provoke a quarrel.   On our return home, whilfl I was rejoicing at our good fortune* and admiring the moderation of my company, we arrived at a plain fpot of ground by a wood fide, on which my horfe no fooner fet foot, than taking the bit between his teeth, off he went at full fpeed, at-Vol. II. O tendel
ftill more lamentable, did not their nati>-ral infenfibility extenuate, in fome degree, the fufferings annexed to flavery. On feeing them ill lodged, ill cloathed, and often oppreffed with labour, I concluded that their treatment was as rigorous as elfewhere. I have been allured, however, that it is ex-extremely mild, in comparifon with what they fuffer in the fugar colonies -y and, in truth, you do not ufually hear, as at Saint
Domingo,
tended by the hoops and hallo-wings of my companions. An Englifhman is not eafily thrown off his guard on horfeback ; but at the end of half a mile my horfe Hopped fhort, as if he had been fhot, and threw me with confiderable violence over his head ; my buckle, for I was without boots, entangled me in the ftirrup, but fortunately broke into twenty pieces. The company rode up, delighted with th& adventure ; and it was then, for the firft time, I dif-covered that I had been purpofely induced, by one of my friends, to change horfes with him for the afternoon ; that his horfe had been accuftomed to fimilar exploits on the fame race ground ; that the whole of the bufinefs was neither more nor lefs than a Virginian piece of pleafantry ; and that my friends thought they had exhibited great moderation in not expofing me, at the fpring, to the effects of " biting, b-ll~king, and goudging" Translator
Domingo, and Jamaica, the found of whips, and the cries of the unhappy wretches whofe bodies they are tearing to pieces*. This arifes from the general character of the O 2 Virginians,
* During the Tranflator's refidence in the Weft Indies, he took confiderable pains to inform himfelf of the different modes of treatment of the negroes, by the principal European nations, poffeffing colonies in that quarter of the globe, the refult of which was, that the Dutch are the moft cruel; the Englifh more humane; the French ftill morefo; and the Spaniards the moft indulgent matters. He was greatly ftruck with this gradation, the truth of which feemed to be confirmed by his own obfervations ; but he leaves it to others to decide what influence the various forms of government, and the religious principles or prejudices of each of thefe nations, may have in the operation of this feeming paradox. A lover of truth will never fhrink from the difcumon of any queftion interefting to humanity, whatever be his political or religious bias. The Tranflator, from impulfe, and from reafon, is a ftrenuous affer-tor of the rights and original equality of mankind ; but it is an old remark, that Republicans are the vvorft matters, a pofition which purfued through the above fucceffion, feems in fome meafure to receive a confirmation; yet to him appears unaccountable from any given principles, unlefs it be the arifto-cratic principles, which, to the misfortune of mankind, have hitherto uniformly taken pofTeflion of alt
the
Virginians, which is more mild than that of the inhabitants of the fugar iflands, who confid: almoft entirely of rapacious men, eager and prefling to make fortunes to return to Europe. Another reafon is, that the produce of their culture not being of fo much value, labour is not urged on them with fo much feverity ; and, to do juftice to both, it is becaufe the negroes, on their fide, are notfo much addicted to cheating and thieving as in the iflands. For the propagation of the black fpecies being very rapid, and very confiderable here, the greater! part of the negroes are born in the country; and it is remarked that they are generally lefs depraved than thofe imported from Africa. I muff, likewife do the Virginians the juftice to declare, that many of them treat their negroes with great humanity. I muft add likewife, a ftill more honourable teftimo-
the republican governments, and baffled the forcfight of the virtuous and good. But there is reafon to hope that the democracies of America will form a brilliant and confolmg exception to the triumphant reproaches of the idolators of regal power.
Translator.
NOR T H * A M E R I C A. i97
ny, that in general they feem afflicted to have any flavery, and are conftantly talking of abolifhing it, and of contriving fome other means of cultivating their eftates. It is true that this opinion, which is almoft generally received, is infpired by different motives. The philofophers, and the young men, who are almoft all educated in the principles of a found philofophy*, regard nothing but juftice, and the rights of humanity. The fathers of families, and fuch as are principally occupied with fchemes of intereft, complain that the maintenance of their negroes is very expenfwe ; that their labour is neither fo productive nor fo cheap, as that of day labourers, or white fervants ; and, laftly, that epidemical diforders, which are very common, render both their property and their revenue extremely precari-O 3 ous.
* The truth is, that the prevalent religion of the principal inhabitants in America, and particularly to the Southward, is pure deifm, called by the name of Philofophy in Europe, a fpirit which has contributed in no fmall degree to the revolution, and produced their unfettered conftitutions of freedom and toleration. Translator.
ous.   However this may be, it is fortunate that different motives concur in difgufting men with that tyranny which they exercile upon their fellow creatures at leaft, if not people entirely of the fame fpecies ; for the more we regard the negroes, the more muft we be perfuaded that the difference between them and us, confifts in fomething more than complexion.   As ft>r the reft, it cannot be denied that it is a very delicate point to abolifh flavery in America.   The negroes in Virginia amount to two hundred thoufand.   They equal at leaft, if they do not exceed, the number of white men. Ne-ceffarily united by intereft, by the conformity of their fituation, and the fimilarity of colour, they would unqueftionably form a diftinct. people, from whom neither fuc-cour, virtue, nor labour, could be expected. Sufficient attention has not been paid to the difference between flavery, fuch as it exifts in our colonies, and the flavery which was generally eftablifhed among the ancients, A white Have had no other caufe of humiliation, than his actual ftate $ on his being freed, he mixed immediately with free men,
an4
and became their equal.   Hence that emulation among the Haves to obtain their liberty, either as a favour, or to purchafe it with the fruit of their labour.   There were two advantages in this; the pofiibility of enfranchising them without danger, and that ambition which almoft generally took place among them, and turned to the advantage of morals, and of induftry.   But in the prefent cafe, it is not only the Have who is beneath his mafter, it is the negro who is beneath the white man. No act. of enfranchife-•ment can efface this unfortunate diftinction; .accordingly we do not fee the negroes very anxious to obtain their freedom, nor much pleafed when they have obtained it. The free negroes continue to live with the negro {laves, and never with the white men, info-much that intereft alone makes them defirous of quitting flavery, when they are .endowed with a particular induftry,of which they wifh to reap the profits.   It appears, therefore, that there is no other method of abolifhing flavery, than by getting rid of the negroes, a meafure which muft be very gradually adopted.    The beft expedient
would
would be to export a great number of males, and tojsncourage the marriage of white men with the females. For this purpofe the law mud be abrogated which tranfmits flavery by the fide of the mother; or it might be enacted, that every female Have fhall become, ipfo fac3o, free, by marrying a free man. From refpeCt to property, perhaps it might be jufl; to require of the latter, a compenfa-tion to be fixed by law, to be paid either in labour or in money, as an indemnity to the proprietors of the negrefs but it is certain, at all events, that fuch a law, aided by the illicit, but already well eftablifhed commerce between the white men and ne-greffes, could not fail of giving birth to a race of mullattoes, which would produce another of Quarierons, and fo on until the colour fhould be totally effaced.
But I have enlarged fufhciently on this fubjecf, which has not efcaped the policy and philofophy of the prefent age. I have only to apologize for not having treated it with declamation; but it has always been my opinion that eloquence can influence only the refolutions of the moment, and
that
NO RTH-AMERICA. 501
that every thing which can only be effected by time alone, mult be the refult of reafon; it is not difficult, however, 10 add ten or a dozen pages to thefe reflections, which are to be confidered as a Symphony compofed only of the principal parts, con corni ad libitum.
We have feen the inconveniencies of flavery, and of the too extenfive poffeflion of territory in Virginia ; let us now examine the inconfiderable number of advantages arifing from them. The Virginians have the reputation, and with reafon, of living nobly in their houfes, and of being hofpi-table ; they give ftrangers not only a willing, but a liberal reception. This arifes, on one hand, from their having no large towns, where they may affemble, by which means they are little acquainted with fociety, except from the vifits they make; and, on the other, their lands and their negroes furniffutig them with every article of confumption, and the neceffary fer-vice, this renowned hofpitality coff s them very little. Their houfes are fpacious, and ornamented, but their apartments are not
commo-
%oi TRAVELS   I N"
commodious ; they make no ceremony of putting three or four perfons into the fame room* ; nor do thefe make any objection to their being thus heaped together; for being" in general ignorant of the comfort of reading and writing, they want nothing in their whole houfe but a bed, a dining-room, and a drawing-room for company. The chief magnificence of the Virginians con-fiits in furniture, linen, and plate ; in which they refemble our anceflors, who had neither cabinets nor wardrobes in their catties, but contented themfelves with a well-Stored cellar, and a handfome buffet. If they fometimes diflipate their fortunes, it is by gaming, hunting, and horfe-races-f-; but
the
* Throughout America, in private houfes, as well as in the inns, feveral people are crowded together in the fame room ; and in the latter it very commonly happens, that after you have been fome time in bed, a flranger of any condition, (for there is little distinction) comes into the room, pulls off his clothes, and places himfelf, without ceremony, between your Sheets. Translator.
f I have already fpoken of horfe races, but it is with regret I add, that the general fpirit of gaming is prevalenUn this as well as in all the United States,
but
the latter are of fome utility, inafmuch as they encourage the breed of horfes, which are really very handfome in Virginia. We fee that the women have little Share in the amufements of the men ; beauty here ferves only to procure them huf-bands ; for the moft wealthy planters, giving but a fmall fortune with their daughters, their fate is ufually decided by their figure. The confequence of this is, that they are often pert and coquettifh before, and forrowful helpmates after marriage. The luxury of being ferved by Haves ftill farther augments their natural indolence; they are always furrounded by a great number of them, for their own Service, and that of their children, whom they content themfelves with fuckling only. They, as well as their hufbands, pay attention to them when young, and neglect them when grown up. We may fay in general of the Americans, as of the Englifh, that they are
very
but more particularly throughout the fouthern ones, which has already been attended with fuicide, and all its baneful confequences. Translator. >
very fond of their infants, and care little for their children,   It would be a delicate dif. cufficn, perhaps, to enquire, whether this be really a natural fentiment, and whether our conduct, which is very different, be not the refult of felf-love, or of ambition; but we may fafely affirm, that the care we take of ours, is a means of attaching ourfelves to them, and of enfuring their reciprocal attachment; a fentiment the noblenefs and utility of which cannot be contefted*. 1 I was defirous of celebrating the virtues peculiar to the Virginians, and in fpite of my wifhes, I am obliged to limit myfelf to their magnificence and hofpitality.   It is not in my power to add generofity ; for they are ffrongly attached to their intereffs ; and their great riches, joined to their pretentions, gives more deformity to this vice. I
ought
* I confefs myfelf at a lofs to difepver from what fource of obfervation the author has derived the fa& on which he reafons fo ingeniously. Perhaps it is the fecret fpiritof national prejudice that has led me, who was born an Englilhman, to reverfe the remark, as applied to the two countries of France and England ; but I leave the fact and the difcuffion to more acute obfervers. Translator.
ought, in the firft inftance, to have [treated of the article of religion ; but there is nothing remarkable refpecling it in this country, except the facility with which they difpenfe with it. The eftablifhed religion, previous to the Revolution, was that of the Church of England, which we know requires Epifcopacy, and that every Prieft muft be ordained by a Bifhop. Before the war, perfons deftined to the Church, went to England, to ftudy and to be ordained. It is impoflible, therefore, in the prefent cir-cumftances, to fupply the vacancies of the Paftors who drop off. What has been the confequence of this ? That the churches have remained fhut; the people have done without a Paftor, and not a thought has been employed towards any fettlement of an Englifh church, independent of England *. The moft complete toleration is eftablifhed;  but  the other communions
have
* During the war there was a great fcarcity of Minifters of the Epifcopal Church, on account of the numbers of that body who attached themfelves to England, which was pretty generally the cafe ; but after the peace, many young Americans, deflin-
guifhcd
have made no acquisition from the loffes of the former ; each feci: has remained in its original fituation ; and this fort of religious interregnum, has been productive of no dif-order. The clergy have befides received a fevere check in the new conftitution, which excludes them from all Share in the government, even from the right of voting at
elections,
gnifhed for the gown, finding a repugnance on the part of the Englifh Bifhops, got ordained by the Nonjuring Bifhops in Scotland. An act has at length paffed, however, to authorize the ordination of Foreign Clergy by the Englifh Bifhops, which is evidently intended to promote the caufe of the Hierarchy in the United States. I fhall here take the opportunity of mentioning, that on account of the great fcarcity of Bibles, a new edition was publifhed by one Aikin, a printer, of Philadelphia, by order of Congrefs, under the infpection of the Reverend Mr. White, brother-in-law to Mr. Morris, and the other Chaplain to that body ; but fuch are ancient prejudices, that very few of the zealous follow, ers either of Luther or of Calvin, could be brought to look upon it as the genuine old book. The wary devotees, dreaded, no doubt, Similar errors to that for which the Company of Stationers were mulcted in the time of King Charles; the omiflion of the negative in one of the Commandments, by printing «* Thou JJwlt do murder." Translator.
elections.   It is true that the judges and lawyers are fubjected to the fame exclufion, but that is from another motive ; to prevent the public intereft from falling into competition with that of individuals.   The legif-lator dreaded the re-action of thefe interefts ; it has been thought proper, in ffiort, to form a fort of feparate body in the State, under the name of the Judicial Body.   Thefe general views are perhaps falutary in themfelves ; but they are attended with an inconvenience at the prefent moment; for the lawyers, who are certainly the moft enlightened part of the, community, are removed from the civil councils, and the administration is entrufted either to ignorant, or to the leaft Skilful men.   This is the principal objection made in the country to the prefent form of government, which to me appears excellent in many refpects.   It is every where in print, and eafily to be procured ; but I Shall endeavour to give a.Sketch of it in a few words.   It is compofed, ift. Of the ASfembly of Deputies, named by the cities and counties, a body correfponding with the Houfe of Commons.   2dly. Of a
Senate,
Senate, the members of. which are elected by feveral united counties, in a greater or lefs number, according to the population of the counties, which anfwers to the Houfe of Peers. 3dly. Of an Executive Council, of which the Governor is prelident, and the members chofen by the two Chambers ; a fubflitute for the executive power °f the King in England*.
It is not by accident that I have pofl> poned the confederation of every thing re-fpecting the progrefs of the Arts and Sciences in this country, until the conclufion of my reflections on Virginia ; I have done it exprefsly becaufe the mind, after beftowing its attention on the variety of human initi-tutions, repofes itfelf with pleafure on thofe which tend to the perfection of the under-ftanding, and the progrefs of information ; and above all, becaufe having found myfelf under the neceflity of fpeaking lefs advan-
tageoufly
* Sec the Constitutions of the different States republished in England by the Reverend Mr. Jack-fon, and the excellent translation from the original, with notes, published in Paris by the Duke de la Rocbcfomault. Translator,
tageoufly of this State than I wilhed to have done, I am happy to conclude with an article, which is wholly in their commendation.   The College of William and Mary, whofe founders are announced by the very - name, is a noble eftablifhrnent which em-bellifhes Williamfburg, and does honour to Virginia.   The beauty of the edifice is fur-paffed by the richnefs of its library, and that, ftill farther by the diftinguifhed merit of feveral of the Profelfors, fuch as the Doctors MadMJon, Wythe, Bellini, Sec. Sec. who may be regarded as living books, at once affording precepts and examples. I muft likewife add, that the zeal of thefe Profeffors   has been   crowned with the moft diftinguifhed fuccefs, and that they have  already formed many diftinguifhed characters, ready to ferve their country in the various departments of government. Amongft thefe, it is with pleafure I mention Mr, Short, with whom I was particularly connected.   After doing juftice to the exertions of the Univerfity of Williamfburg, for fuch is the College of Wil-Vol. II. P liam
liam and Mary ; if it be neceffary for its further glory to cite miracles, I fhall only obferve that they created me a Doctor of Laws.
Williamjburg, ift oj May 1782.
d Journey
A Journey into New Hampjhire, the State of Maffachuffets, and Upper Penfylvania*
The Baron de Viomenil having joined the army in the beginning of October, I ought to have refigned to him of courfe the command of the firft divifion, fo that I had now no neceffary occupation, unlefs I had chofen to take the command of the fecond divifion, in which cafe I muff have fuperfeded the Comte de Viomenil, which was far from my intention ; it depended upon myfelf, therefore, to return to Philadelphia, to wait for Mr. de Rochambeau, who was expected there, after marching his troops to the eaftward ; but my departure would have too plainly difcovered the intention of embarking them, which it was wifhed to keep a fecret, at leaft until they had reached Hartford. The Comte de Viomenil, on the other hand, being defirous of vifiting Saratoga, the Baron de Viomenil requefted me to retain the command of the firft, whilft P z kc
he took that of the fecond divifion. I con-fented, therefore, to facrifice another lift— lefs and fatiguing fortnight, and marched with the troops to Hartford*.   I fubmitted
alfo
* The Translator attended the French army on their march, nearly the whole way, from Alexandria to the North River, and was a witnefs to their Strict difcipline, and the furprizing harmony between them and the people of the country, to whom they gav<j not the Slightest reafon of complaint. He infills the more on this fact, as it appears to him no lefs lingular than interefting. On their arrival at their quarters on the march, the whole country came to fee them, and it was a general fcene of gaiety and good humour. When they encamped at Alexandria, on the ground formerly occupied by Bradock, the moft elegant and handfome young ladies of the neighbourhood danced with the officers on the turf, in the middle of the camp, to the found of military mulic ; and, (a circumftance which will appear lingular to European ideas,) the circle was in a great mea-fure compofed of ibldiers, who, from the heat of the weather, had difengaged themfelves from their cloaths, retaining not an article of drefs except their "Shirt?, which in general were neither extremely long, nor in the belt condition ; nor did this occafion the leafl embarafTemcnt to the ladies, many of whom were of highly polilhed manners, and the moft exquisite delicacy ; or to their friends or parents; fa whiuifical and arbitrary are manners.
f k anslator,
alfo not to return to the fouthward, before Mr. de Rochambeau, and to accompany him thither after feeing them embarked. I de-termined, however, to avail myfelf of thefe circumflances to vilit the upper part of the State of Maffachuffets, and New Hampshire, which I had not yet feen. With .this view I fet out from Hartford the 4th of November, the very day the Comte de Rochambeau marched with the firft divifion to encamp at Bolton*. It was two in the afternoon when I got on horfeback; my companions were Meftieurs Lynch, de Mon-tefquieu, the Baron de Taleyrand, and Mr. de Vaudreuil. We followed the Bolton route to a crofs road, about three miles be-P 3 yond
* The French army, at the time the Marquis fpeaks of, had been for fome time encamped at Crompont, near Cortland's manor, a few miles from that of General Washington's, and between which there was a daily intercourfe. The Translator dined, in October 178a, in General Washington's tent, with the Marquis de Laval, the Baron de Viomenil, and feveral French officers, within hearing of the Britifh guns, which were at that period happily become a bruium fulmen.
Translator.
yond the Meeting-houfe, where there is a flone for the traveller's direction. We here took to the left, to reach Mr. Kendal's tavern, in the townfhip of Coventry, feven-teen miles from Bolton, and four from the crofs roads. In a quarter of an hour we met Mr. Kendal, who was on horfeback, carrying- letters to Mr. de Rochambeau, from the Marquis de Vaudreuil, our Admiral ; for this route, which is the lhorteft between Bolton and Hartford, was preferred for the chain of expreffes between the fleet, the army, and Philadelphia. Mr. de Mon-tefquieu returned with him to Bolton, to know whether thefe letters contained any intere/ting intelligence. As we travelled flowly, he rejoined us in half an hour, and informed us, that they were only anfwers to thofe he had received from the army, with the Ifate of the troops to be embarked. Before we reached Mr. Kendal's, we palTed a hut which fcarcely merited the name of a hogboufe, and was only half covered, but which was inhabited by a man who accofled us in French ; he was a labourer from Canada, who had frequently
changed
NORTH.AMERICA. 21^
changed habitations, and had feven children. We were well lodged and treated at Mr. Kendal's, who is above the common clafs, and is more occupied in commerce than in farming; he fat down to table with us, and we were pleafed with his converfa-tion.
We fet out at half paft eight in the morning of the 5th, and travelled through a very agreeable and variegated country, prefenting us every moment with the view of handfome habitations.   The face of the country is unequal, but the hills are neither high nor fteep.   We flopped to bait our horfes at Mr. Clark's tavern, in AJhford townfhip,  by the fide of the rivulet of Mountbope, on this fide of a river marked in the chart by the name of Moncboas, and of a branch of that river called Bigjlack. We left this place at two o'clock, the country ftill continuing to be pleafant. I was particularly ftruck with the pofition of Woodjiock-meeting, which is placed on an eminence, commanding a very gay and well-peopled country.    There are feveral inns around this meeting, but we went
three
three miles and a half further, to Mrs. Chandler's. Our journey this day, was thirty-three miles, it being feventeen from ClarJis to Chandler s tavern* This houfe is kept by a widow, who was from home, and Mr. Lynch, who had preceded us, was very ill received by an old fervant maid. We found him in great diflrefs, becaufe fhe would make no preparation of even killing a few chickens, before fhe received the orders of her miff refs. Fortunately, however, the latter arrived in a quarter of an hour, in a fort of fingle horfe chaife, and we found her very polite and obliging, fhe gave us a tolerable fupper, and we were neatly lodged*.
The 6th we fet out at ten o'clock, having been apprized that on reaching Oxford, it would be neceffary to enquire the road at a tavern kept by Mr. Lord, at twelve miles diflance, but the weather being bad when vve got there, we determined to flop a couple of hours until the rain ceafed, which had continued the whole morning. We had two roads to chufe   that which goes
through
* This is one of the beft houfes I met with in America. Translator.
through Shrew/bury would have led us more directly to Portfmouth ; but I preferred that by Grafton, which leads to Concord; that celebrated fpot, where the firft blood was med, which commenced the civil war. The rain abating a little, we refumed our journey at two, and paffed through Salton, a pretty enough place, where there are feveral well-built houfes ; but the rain redoubling, we were obliged to halt feven miles farther on, at Baron's tavern, where we were well received. We dried our-felves by a%4good fire, in a very handfome apartment, adorned with good prints, and handfome mahogany furniture; and finding the ufeful correfpond with the agreeable in this houfe, we reconciled our-felves to the bad weather, which had forced us into fuch good quarters.
We left this place at nine the next morning, the road leading us through Grafton, after which we paffed Black/lone river, and arrived at Gales tavern, fifteen miles from Baron's, after a journey through a very pleafant country. I remarked that the meadows, of which there are a great
number,
number, were in general interfered and watered by trenches cut on purpofe. Mr. Gal es informed me that thefe meadows were worth from ten to twenty dollars an acre ; from one of which, in his poffefiion, he reaped four tons of hay an acre. The after-grafs is for the cattle, to produce butter and cheefe, principally of this country. The price of meat is here about twopence-halfpenny the pound of fourteen ounces. After baiting our horfes, we continued our journey, by Marlborough, where there are handfome houfes, and more collected than in the other towns or townffirps.   We at length entered a wood, which conducted us to the river of Concord, or Billerika9 over which we paffed by a bridge about a mile from the Meeting, and at the fame dif-tance from Mr. Johns, where it was near nine o'clock before we arrived.   This is an excellent inn, kept by a molt determined Whig? who acted his part in the the affair of Concord*.   Major Pitcairn, who commanded the Englifh on this occafion, had
lodged
* It took place on the 19th of April 1775. General Gage had detached from Bofton all his grenadiers,  light infantry, and fome other troops,
lodged frequently at his houfe, in travelling through the country in difguife ; a method he had fometimes taken, though very dangerous, of gaining information to communicate to General Gage. The day on which he headed the Englifh troops to Concord, he arrived at feven in the morning, followed by a company of grenadiers, and went immediately to Mr. John's tavern, the door of which being fhut, he knocked feveral times, and on the refufal to open it, ordered his grenadiers to force it.  Entering it himfelf the firft, he pufhed Mr. John with fuch
violence
amounting together to 900 men, under the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Smith, and Major Pitcairn. At Lexington they fell in with a company of Militia, whom they found under arms.   The Englifh, in a haughty tone, ordered the Americans to difperfe, which they refilled, and whilft the'converfation was confined to words, the Englifh fired without giving notice,   and  at  that difcharge killed  feven or eight Americans, who had made no difpofitioa to fhelter themfelves  from the fire ;  they were compelled to give way to numbers.   The Englifh advanced to Concord, where they paid dearly for their violence, and this firft acf of hoftility, for Which   they  were alone  refponfible,  coft them near 300 men.    Major Pitcairn was flain at the battle of Bunker's Hill, a fhort time after the affair of Concord. ,
violence as to throw him down, and afterwards placed a guard over him, frequently infifting on his pointing out the magazines of the rebels.   The Americans had in fact collected fome cannon and warlike ftores at Concord, but having received timely notice in the night, they had removed every thing into the woods, except three twenty-four pounders, which remained in the prifon yard, of which Mr. John was the keeper. Major Pitcairn carrying his violence fo far as to clap a piftol to his throat, Mr. John, who had himfelf been in a paffion, grew calm, and tried to pacify the Englifh commander,   He allured him that there were only the above three pieces at Ccncord, and that he mould fee them, if he would follow him.   He conducted him to the prifon, where the Englifh entered, he fays, in a rage at feeing the Yankees fo expert in mounting cannon, and in providing themfelves with every thing neceffary for the fervice of artillery, fuch as fpunges, rammers, &c.   Major Pitcairn made his men deftroy the carriages, and break the trunnions ; then ordered the prifon to be fet
open,
open, where he found two prifoners, one of whom, being a Tory, he reieafed.
The firft moments of trouble and vivacity being over, Major Pitcairn returned to Mr. John's, where he breakfafted, and paid for it. The latter refumed his ftation of innkeeper j numbers of the Englifh came to afk for rum, which he meafured out as ufual, and made them pay exactly. In the mean time, the Americans, who had paffed the river in their retreat, began to rally, and to unite with thofe, who, apprized by the alarum bells, and various expreffes, were coming to their afliftance. The difpofition Major Pitcairn had to make for his fecurity, whilft he was employed in fearching for, and deftroying the ammunition, was by no means difficult; it was only neceflary to place ftrong guards at the two bridges to the North, and South, which he had done. Towards ten o'clock in the morning, the firing of mufquetry was heard at the North bridge, on which the Englifh rallied at the place appointed, on a height, in a church-yard fituated to the right of the road, and oppofite the town houfe. Three
hundred
hundred Americans, who were alfembled on the other fide of Jthe river, defcended from the heights by a winding road which leads obiiquely to the bridge, but which, at fixty paces from the river, turns to the left, and comes ffraight upon it. Until they had reached this angle, they had their flank covered by a fmall flone wall; but when they came to this point, they marched up boldly to the bridge, which they found the enemy employd in breaking down. The latter fired the firft, but the Americans fell upon them, and they eafily gave way, which appears rather extraordinary. Mr. John affirms that the Englifh at firft imagined the Americans had no ball, but that they foon found their error, on feeing feveral of their foldiers wounded. They even fpeak here of an officer, who informed his men that they had nothing to fear, for that the Americans jired only with powder; but a drummer who was near him receiving at the moment a mufquet fhot, replied, Take care of that powder. Captain. The '    Englifh had three men killed here, and feveral wounded, two of them were officers.
The
The Americans now paffed the bridge, and formed immediately on a fmall eminence, to the left of the road, as they were fitu-ated, and at fhort cannon fhot from that on which the Englifh were collected. There they remained fome time watching each other ; but the fight of fome houfes on fire irritated the Americans,  and determined them to march towards the Englifh, who then retreated by the Lexington road, which forming an elbow, the Americans, who knew the country, took the firing of the bow, and got up with them before they advanced a mile.   It was here the retreating fight began, of which every body has feen the accounts, and which continued to Lexington, where the Englifh were joined by the reinforcement under the command of Earl Percy.
It was on the morning of the 8th that I examined the field of battle at Concord, which took me up till half paff, ten, when I refumed my journey. Ten miles from Concord is Bellenka, a pretty confiderable townfhip; the country here was lefs fertile, and the road rather ftony.   We halted at
South
South Andover, five miles beyond Billerika, at a bad inn, kept by one Forfter j his wife had fome beautiful children, but fhe appeared difordered, and I thought her rather drunk. She fhewed me, with much importance, a book her eldeff. daughter was reading, and I found it, to my no fmall furprizc, to be a book of prayers in Italian. This daughter, who was about feventeen, repeated alfo a prayer in the Indian language, of which fhe underftood not a word, having learnt it accidentally from an Indian fervant; but her mother thought all this admirable. We contented ourfelves with baiting our horfes in this wretched alehoufe, and fet out at half paff. one, travelled through South and North Andover. North-PariJ1:y or, North Andover, is a charming place, \where there are a great number of very ,handfome houfes, a quantity of meadows, .and fine cattle. Almofl on quitting this long townfhip, you enter Bradford, where night overtook us, and we travelled two or three miles in the dark before we reached Haverhill ferry. It was half pafl fix before we had croffed it, and got to Mr. Har-
ward's
ward's, inn, where we.had a good fupper, and good lodgings. Ac Haverhill, the Me-rimack is only lit for veffels of thirty tons, but much larger ones are built here, which are floated down empty to Newbury. Three miles above Haverhill are falls, and higher up the river is only navigable for boats. The trade of this town formerly confided in timber for fhip-building, which has been fufpended fince the war. It is pretty confiderable, and tolerably well built; audits fituation, in the form of an amphitheatre on the left fhore of the Merimack, gives it many agreeable afpects.
We left this place the 9th, at nine in the morning, our road lying through Plajiow, a pretty confiderable townfhip ; after which we met with woods, and a wild and horrid country. We faw a great: number of pines and epicias; there are alfo feveral large lakes, fome of which are traced upon the chart. Since we quitted the confines of Connecticut, I have in general ob-ferved a great number of thefe ponds, which contributed to increafe the refemblance between this country and that of the Bour-
Vol. II. fannois,
bannois,  and  the  Niver??ois, in France. Twelve miles from Haverhill is King/Ion * a townfhip inferior to thofe we had ohferved upon the route ; and at the end of eighteen miles is Exeter, at prefent the capital of New Ilampfhire, that is to fay, the place where the Prefident or Governor refides, and the members of the ftate alTcmble. It is rather a handfome town, and is a fort of port i for veftcls of feventy tons can come up, and others as large as three or four hundred tons are built here, which are floated down Exeter river into the bay of that name, and thence to Pijcataqua. We flopped at a very handfome inn kept by Mr. Rufpert, which we quitted at half paft two ; and though we rode very faft, night was coming on when we reached Portfmouth The road from Exeter is very hilly. We paffed through Greenland, a very populous townfhip, compofed of well built houfes. Cattle here are abundant, but not fo handfome as in Connecticut, and the State of MafTachufTets.   They are diiperfed over fine meadows, and it is a beautiful light to fee them collected near their hovels in the 7 evening.
N O R T H.AMERICA. 227
evening. This country prefents, in every refpect, the picture of Abundance and of Happinefs. The road from Greenland to Portfmouth is wide and beautiful, inter-fperfed with habitations, fo that thefe two townfhips almoft touch. I alighted at Mr. Broqfter's, where I was well lodged; he feemed to me a refpectable man, and much attached to his country.
In the morning of the 10th I went to pay a vifit to Mr. Albert de Rioms, Captain of the Pluton* who had a houfe on fhore, where he refided for his health 5 he invited me to dinner, which he advifed me to accept, as the Comte de Vaudreuil was in great confufion on board his (hip, the mizen maft of which had been ftruck by lightning five days before, and which penetrated to his firft battery; but he offered me his boat to
Q^2 carry
* The Marquis de Vaudreuil's fquadron was then at Bofton, and fome of his fhips were refitting, and taking in mafts at Portfmouth. M. de Albert de Rioms is the officer who commanded the evolutions of the French fquadron, on the late vifit of the King to Cherbourg. Translator.
carry me on board the Auntfle.   Jn return-mg for my cloak, I happened to pafs by the meeting, precifely at the time of fervice, and had the curiofity to enter, where I remained above half an hour, that I might not interrupt the preacher, and to fhew my **refpect. for the alfembly ; the audience were not numerous on account of the fevere cold, but I faw fome handfome women, elegantly drejSed.    Mr. Barkminjier, a young mini fie r,  ipoke with a great deal of grace, and reafonably enough for a preacher. I could not help admiring the addrefs with which he introduced politics into his fer-mon, by comparing the Chriflians redeemed by the blood of Jefus Chrifr, but ft ill compelled to fight againft the flefh and fin, to the Thirteen United States, who, notwithstanding they have acquired liberty and independence, are under the neceflity of employing all their force to combat a formidable power, and to preferve thofe invaluable treafures.   It was near twelve when I embarked in Mr. Albert's boat, and faw on the left, near the little Ifland of Rifng
Caflle,
NORTH-AMERICA. 229
Caftfe, the America* (the (hip given by Congrefs to the King of France) which
*. The America is the venel given by Congrefs to the King of France, to replace the Alagnifiquc, loft on Lovei's ifland in Bofton harbour, when the French, fleet entered that port fome months after the defeat of the Comte de Graife. This lliip was dciigned for the well known Paul Jones, who by his command of the little fquadron on the coafts of England, had acquired the title of Commodore, and was fighing after that of Admiral of America, which Congrefs, no bad appreciators of merit, thought proper to refufe him. The Tranflator met him at a public table at Bofton, on his return from Porlf-mouth, where he told the company, that notwithstanding the reafon he had to be difcontented, he had given his advice in the conitruction and launching of the venel, in which latter operation, however, the lTiip (truck fail on the flip, but without any material damage. This accident is not intended by any means as an imputation on Mr. Jones, who certainly was fortunate enough, at one time, to render confiderable fervice to America. He is faid to have acquired a confiderable property by the prizes he made in that cruize, but his officers and crews complain (the Tranflator does not fay with what juftice) that there has never been any distribution of the prize money, and that numbers of his maimed and 'mutilated failors were reduced to beg for afubfiftencc in France, and elfcwhere, to the difcredit of Ame-
t rica,
had been juft launched, and appeared to me a fine (hip. 1 left on the right the lile of Wafhington, on which ftands a fort of that name. It is built in the form of a liar, the parapets of which are fupported by ffakes, and was not finished Then leaving Newcajlle on the right, and Bittcry on the left, we arrived at the anchoring ground, within the firft pafs. I found Mr. Vau-dreuil on board, who prefenred me to the officers of his (hip, and afterwards to thefe of the detachment of the army, among whom were three officers of my former regiment of Guienne, at prefent called Viennois. He then took me to fee the ravages made by the lightning, of which M. de Eire, who then commanded the fliip, M. de Vaudreuil having flept on fhore, gave me the following account : At half pall two in the morning, in the midft of a
very
rica. Mr. Jones read fome pretty enough verfes in his own honour to the fame company, at Brackett's tavern in Bofton, extracted from a London newf-paper, and faid to be written by Lady Craven. The America is now at Breft, and is efteemed one of the handfomeft Ihips in the i rench navy.
Translator,
very violent rain, a dreadful explofion was heard fuddenlv, and the centinel, who was in the gallery, came in a panic into the council chamber, where he met with M. Bire, who had leaped to the foot of his bed, and they were both ftruck with a ftrong fulphureous fin ell. • The bell was immediately rung, and the (hip examined, when it was found that the mizen mail: was cut fhort in two, four feet from the forecaflle ; that it had been lifted in the air, and fallen perpendicularly on the quarter-deck, through which it had penetrated, as well as the fecond battery. Two failors were crufhed by its fall, two others, who never could be found, had doubtlefs been thrown into the fea by the commotion, and feveral wTere wounded.
At one o'clock we returned on more to dine with M. Albert de Rioms, and our fellow guefls were M. de Bire, who acted as Flag Captain, though but a Lieutenant; M. de Mortegues, who formerly commanded the Magnifique (loft at the fame period on Lovel's ifland in Bofton harbour) and was deflined to the command of the
America >
Jmerka-, M. de Si her, Lieutenant en pied of che PiUton ; M. d'Hizeures, Captain of the regiment of Vjennois, &c. after dinner we went to drink tea with Mr. Lajigdon. He is a handfome man, and of a noble carriage ; he has been a member of Congrefs, and is now one of the firft people of the country ; his houfe is elegant and well fur-nifhed, and the apartments admirably well wainfeattedj he has a good manufcript chart of the harbour of Portfmouth. Mrs. Langdon, his wife, is young, fair, and tolerably handfome, but I converfed lefs with her than with her hufband, in whofe favour 1 was prejudiced, from knowing that he had diiplayed great courage and patriotifm at the time of Burgoyne's expedition. For repairing to the council chamber, of which he was a member, and perceiving that they were about to difcufs fome affairs of little confequence, he add re fifed them as follows : " Gentlemen, you may talk as long as you ** pleafe, but I know that the enemy is on *f our frontiers, and that I am going to " take my piftols, and mount my horfe, # to combat with my fellow citizens >'
the
at.;
the greatefl part of the members of the council and affembly followed him, and joined General Gates at Saratoga.   As he was marching day and night, repofing himfelf only in the woods, a negro fervant who attended him fays to him, " Mafter, you << are hurting yourfelf, but no matter, you «« are going to fight for Liberty ; I mould (C fuffer alfo patiently if I had Liberty to * defend."   " Don't let that flop you," replied Mr. Langdon, " from this moment " you are free."   The negro followed him, behaved with courage, and has never quitted him.    On leaving Mr. Langdon's, we went to pay a vifit to Colonel Wentworth, who is reflected in this country, not only from his being of the fame family with Lord Rockingham, but from his general acknowledged character for probity and talents.   He conducted the naval department at Portfmouth, and our officers are never weary in his commendation.   From Mr. Wentworth's, M. deVaudreuil and M. de Rioms took me to Mrs. Whipple's, a widow lady, who is, I believe,  fiffer-in-law to General Whipple; fhe is neither young nor
hand-
'
handfome, but appeared to me to have a good undcnlanding, and gaiety. She is educating one of her nieces, only fourteen years old, who is already charming. Mrs. Whipple's houfe, as well as that of Mr. Wentworth's, and all thofe I faw at Portfmouth, areveryhandfomeand well fumiihed.
I propofed, on the morning of the i ith, to make a tour amongft the iflands in the harbour, but fomefnow having fallen, and the weather being by no means inviting, I contented myfelf with paying vilits to fome officers of the navy, and amongft others to the Comte de Vaudreuil, who had flept on fhore the preceding night; after which we again met at dinner at Mr. Albert's, a point of union which was always agreeable. M. d'Hizeure had ordered the mufic of the regiment of Vennois to attend, and I found with pleafure, that the tafte for mufic, which I had infpired into that corps, ftill fubfifted, and that the ancient muficians had been judicioufly replaced.*   After din*
ner,
* The Marquis dc Chaftellux, amongft his various accomplifhmcnts, is diftinguiihed not only in the character of an amateur, but for his fcientific knowledge of mulic. Translator.
ner, we again drank tea at Mr. Langdon's, and then paid a vifit to Dr. Brackett, an, efteemed pbyfician of the country, and afterwards to Mr. Thompfon.   The latter was born in England ; he is a good feaman, and an excellent fhip builder, and is befides a fenfible man, greatly attached to his new country, which it is only fifteen years fince he adopted.   His wife is an American, and pleafes by her countenance, but ftill more by her amiable and polite behaviour. We finifhed the evening at Mr. W'entworth's, where the Comte de Vaudreuil lodged ; he gave us a very handfome fupper, without ceremony, during which the converfation was gay and agreeable.
The 12th I fet out, after taking leave of M. de Vaudreuil, whom I met as he was coming to call on me, and it was certainly with the greateft fincerity that I teftified to him my fenfe of the polite manner in which 1 had been received by him, and by the officers under his command.
The following are the ideas which I had an opportunity of acquiring relative to the town of Portfmouth.   It was in a pretty
flourishing
flourishing ftate before the war, and carried on the trade of fhip timber, and fait fifth. It is eafy to conceive that this commerce mull: have greatly fullered fince the com- . mencement of the trouble?, but notwithstanding, Portfmouth is, perhaps, of ail the American towns, that which will gain the molt by the prefent war.   There is every, appearance of its becoming to New England, what the other Portfmouth is to the Old} that is to fay, that this place will be made choice of as the depot of the continental marine.   The accefs to the harbour is eafy, the road immenfe, and there are feven fathoms water as far up as two miles above the town;   add to this,  that notwithstanding its northern fituation, the harbour of Portfmouth is never frozen, an advantage arifing from the rapidity of the current. This circumftance, joined to its proximity to the timber for ihip-building, elpecially for mails, which can only be balanced by the harbour of Rhode Ifland, will doubtlefs determine the choice of Congrefs.   But if a naval eitablifhment be thought necellary at Portfmouth, the quays, the rope-walks,
the
the arfenals, &c. muff, be placed in the iflands, and not on the continent; for it would be eafy for an enemy's army to land there, and take pofTeffion of the town, the local fituation of which would require too confiderable a developement of fortification to fhelter it from infult. I imagine however, that a good entrenched camp might be formed between the two creeks, but I am only able to judge of that from a flight obfervation, and from charts.
It has happened in New Hampfhire, as in the State of Maflachuflets, that the lof-fes of commerce have turned to the advantage of agriculture ; the capitals of the rich, and the induflry of the people having flowed back from the coafts towards the interior of the country, which has profited rapidly by the reflux. It is certain that this country has a very flourifhing appearance, and that new houfes are building, and new farms are fettling every day.
New Hampfhire hitherto has no permanent conftitution, and its prefent government is no more than a fimple convention j it much refembles that of Penfylvania, for it
con Gils
confifts of one legiflative body, compofed of the reprefentatives of the people, and the executive council, which has for its chief, a Preiident, inftead of Governor. But during my If ay at Portfmouth, I learnt that there was an affembly at Exeter for the pur-pofe of eftabiifhing a conftitution, the principal articles of which were already agreed on. This conftitution will be founded on the fame principles as thofe of New-York and Maffachuffets. There will be, as in the former, an executive power vefted in the hands of the Governor, the Chancellor and the Chief Juftices; the latter of whom will be perpetual, at leaft quam diufe bene gejferin't, during good behaviour, but the members of the ienate will be annually changed, and the requiiite qualification of a fenator, very inconfiderable, which I think is a great inconvenience *. Mr. Langdon obferves, and perhaps with reafon, that the country is as yet too young, and the materials wanting to give this fenate
all
* A new form of government has been eftablifhed fince the peace. Translator.
all the weight and confidence it. ought to have, as in Maiyland, where the fenators are elected for three years, and muft poflefs at leaft five hundred pounds.
At Portfmouth I was told of a new feet, which could not fail of making fome noife in the country. An individual, I think, of the name of Andrews, thinks proper to preach a doctrine called that of the Uni-verfalifts. He pretends that Jefus Chrift having redeemed all men, no man can be damnedfor were it otherwife, his million would be ufelefs, at leaft in a great mea-fure. If this opinion be not novel, it is certainly very commodious; but it forms rather a fubject of converfation, and even of pleafantry, than matter of difpute.
When I was at Portfmouth the neceffa-ries of life were very dear, owing to the great drought of the preceding fummer. Corn cofts two dollars a bulhel, (of fixty pounds weight) oats almoft as much, and Indian corn was extremely fcarce. I fhall hardly be believed when I fay, that I paid eight livres ten fols (about feven (hillings and three-pence) a day for each horfe.
Butcher's
Butcher's meat only was cheap, felling at two-pence halfpenny a pound. That part of New Hampfhire bordering on the coafl is not fertile; there are good lands at forty or fifty miles diffance from the fea, but the expence of carnage greatly augments the price of articles, when fold in the more inhabited parts. As for the value of landed property it is dear enough for fo new a country. Mr. Rufpert, my landlord, paid feventy pounds currency per annum, (at eighteen livres, or fifteen fhillings the pound) for his inn. Lands fell at from ten to fixteen dollars an acre. The country produces little fruit, and the cyder is indifferent.
The road from Portfmouth to Newbury paffes through a barren country. Hampton is the only townfhip you meet with, and there are not fuch handfome houfes there as at Greenland. As we had only twenty miles to go, I was unwilling to flop, and defu*ed the Vicomte de Vaudreuil only, to go on a little before us to dinner. It was two o'clock when we reached Mcrimack ferry, and from the fhore we faw the opening
ngs of the harbour, the channel of which paffes near the northern extremity of Plumb IJland, on which is a fmall fort, with a few cannon and mortars. Its fituation appears to me well chofen, at leaft as far as I was capable of judging from a diitance. At the entrance of the harbour is a bar, on which there are only eighteen feet water in the higheft tides, fo that although it be a very commercial place, it has always been refpected by the Englifh. Several frigates have been built here ; amongft others, the Charles-Town, and the Alliance *• The har-Vol. II. R bour
* The privateers which fo greatly molefted the Britifh trade were chiefly from the ports of Newbury, Beverley, and Salem, in which places large fortunes were made by this means ; and fuch mult ever be the cafe in any future war, from the peculiarity of their pofition, whence they may run out at any feafon of the year, and commit depredations on any of the maritime powers to which America is hoftile, with little fear of retaliation. Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Gulphs of St. Lawrence, and of Florida, and the whole trade of the Weft-Indian Archipelago, are in a manner at their doors. However Great Britain may affect"to defpife America, fhe is perhaps, even in her prefent infant
bour is extenfive, and well fheltered. After palling the ferry in little flat boats, which
held
Hate, from various circumftances, the moft formidable enemy fhe can have to cope with, in cafe of a rupture ; for, as nations ought collectively to be difpaifionatc, though individuals are not, it behoves her to reflect, where, and in what manner fhe can return the blow. Mr. Jefferfon, the prefent Minifter of the United States at Verfailles, amongft other excellent obfervations on this fubject has the following, which I extract with pleafure from his Notes on Virginia, a moft interefting work, with which I have juft privately been favoured. " The fea is the field " on which we fhould meet an European enemy, *' on that element it is neceffary we fhould poffefs *' fome power. To aim at fuch a navy as*the " greater nations of Europe poffefs would be a f. foolifh and wicked wafte of the energies of our *' countrymen. It would be to pull on our heads '* that load of military expence which makes the " European labourer go fupperlefs to bed, and moi-*« ftens his bread with the fweat of his brow. It u will be enough if we enable ourfelves to prevent 41 infnlt from thofe nations of Europe which are *l weak on the fea, becaufe circumflances exiji which lt render even the flronger ones weak as to us, Provi-il dence has placed their richcjl and mofl defencelefs pof " fcjfmIi at 0Ur door \ has obliged their mofl precious *' commerce to pafs- as it were in review before us. «' To protect this,  or to affail us, a fmall part
Held only five horfes each, we went to Mr. Davenport's inn, where we found a good R 2 i dinner
" only of their naval force will ever be rifqued " acrofs the Atlantic.   The dangers to which the " elements expofe them here are too well known, «« and the greater danger to which they would be •* expofed at home, were any general calamity to " involve their whole fleet.   They can attack us '* by detachment only ; and it will fufhee to make our " felves equal to what they may detach.   Even a " fmaller force than they may detach will be ren-" dered equal or fuperior by the quicknefs with which *« any check may be repaired with us, while loffes with " them will be irreparable till too late.   A fmall " naval force then is neceffary for us, and a fmall " one is neceffary.   What this fhould be I will not '« undertake to fay.   I will only fay it fhould by no *' means be fo great as we are able to make it. Sup-" pofing the million of dollars, or £300,000 fieri. " which Virginia would annually fpare without dif-" trefs, be applied to the creating a navy.   A fingle " year's contribution would build, equip, man, and " fend to fea a force which fhould carry 300 guns. " The reft of the confederacy exerting themfelves " in the fame proportion would equip 1500 guns " more.   So that one year's contribution would fet «' up a navy of 1800 guns.   The Britifh fhips of the " line average 76 guns; their frigates 38. 1800 '.** guns then would form a fleet of 30 fhips, 18
dinner ready. I had letters from Mr. Went worth to Mr. John Tracy, the moll conlidurable merchant in the place; but, before I had time to fend them, he had heard of my arrival, and, as I was riling from table, entered the room, and very politely invited me to pafs the evening with him. He was accompanied by a Colonel, whofe name is too difficult for me to write, having never been able to catch the manner of pronouncing it; but it was fomething like Wigjleps. This Colonel remained with me till Mr. Tracy finifhed his bufinefs, when he came with two handfome carriages, well equipped, and conducted me and my Aide de Camp to his country-houie. This houfe itands a mile from the town, in a very beautiful fituation ; but of this I could myfelf
•( of which might be of the line, and 12 frigates. 11 Allowing eight men, the Britifh average, for every " gun, their annual expence, including fubfiftence, « cloathing, pay, and ordinary repairs, would be " about 1280 dollars for every gun, or 2,304,000 '** dollars for the whole. I ftate this only as one *' year's poflible exertion, without deciding whe-" ther more or left than a year's exertion fhould u U thus applied." Translator.
fslf form no judgment, as it was already night.   I went however, by moonlight, to fee the garden, which is compofed of different terraces.   There is likewife a hot-houfe and a number of young trees. The houfe is very handfome and well nnifhed, and every thing breathes that air of magnificence  accompanied   with fimplicity, which is only to be found amongft merchants.   The evening paffed rapidly by the aid of agreeable converfation and a few glaffes of punch.   The ladies we found af-iembled were Mrs. Tracy, her two filters, and their coufin, Mifs Lee.   Mrs. Tracy has an agreeable andafenfible countenance, and her manners correfpond with her appearance.   At ten o'clock an excellent fupper was ferved, we drank good wine, Mifs Lee fung, and prevailed on Meffieurs de Vaudreuil and Taleyrand to fing alfo : towards midnight the ladies withdrew, but we continued drinking Madeira and Xery. Mr. Tracy, according to the cuftom of the country, offered us pipes, which were accepted by M. de Taleyrand, and M. de Mon-tefquieu, the confequence of which was R 3J that
that they became intoxicated, and were led home, where they were happy to get to bed. As to myfelf, I remained perfectly cool, and continued to converfe on trade and politics with Mr. Tracy, who in-tereited me greatly with an account of all the viciflitudes of his fortune fince the beginning of the war. At the end of 177.7, his brother and he had loft one and forty fhips, and with regard to himfelf, he had not a ray of hope but in a fingle letter of marque of eight guns, of which he had received no news. As he was walking one day with his brother, and they were rea-foning together on the means of fubfifting their families (for they were both married) they perceived a fail making for the harbour. He immediately interrupted the converfation, faying to his brother, " Perhaps it is a prize for me/' The latter laughed at him, but he immediately took a boat, went to meet the (hip, and found that it was in fact a prize belonging to him, worth five-and-twenty thoufand pounds fter-ling. Since that period, he has been almoft always fortunate, and he is at pre-*
fent
lent thought to be worth near £120,000 fterling.   He has my warmed: wihhes for his profperity ; for ^le is a fenfible, polite man, and a good patriot.   He has always aflifted his country in time of need, and in 1781 lent five thoufand pounds to the State of Maffachuffets for the cloathing of their troops, and that only on the receipt of the Treafurer, yet his quota of taxes in that very year amounted to fx thoufand pounds.   One can hardly conceive how a fimple individual can be burthened fo far ; but it muff be underftood, that befides the duty of 5 per cent, on importation, required by Congrefs, the State impofed another tax of the fame value on the fale of every article, in the nature of an excife, on rum, fugar, coffee, &c.   Thefe taxes are levied witli great rigour: a merchant who receives a veffel is obliged to declare the cargo, and nothing can go out of the fhip or warehoufe without paying the duty. The confequence of this reffraint is, that the merchants, in order to obtain free ufe of their property, are obliged themfelves to turn retailers, and pay the whole duty,
the
the value of which they muff recover from thofe to whom 'they fell    Without this, they could neither draw from their (tores what is neceffary for their own confump-tion, nor the fmall articles, which they are . in the way of felling, at the firft hand; th$y are confequently obliged to take out licences, like tavern-keepers and retailers, thus fup-porting the whole weight of the import both as   merchants and as lhop-keepers. Patriot as he is, Mr. Tracy cannot help blaming the rigour with which commerce is treated; a rigour arifing from the preponderance of the farmers or landholders, and alfo from the necefTity which the government is under of finding money where it can; for the farmers eafily evade the taxes ; certificates, receipts, alledged grievances, reduce them almoft to nothing. Thus has a State, yet in its infancy, all the infirmities of age, and taxation attaches itfelf to the very fource of wealth, at the rifk of drying up its channels.   [This obfervation appears rather forced, as applied generally, the Marquis admitting that thefe
,unpofitions
impofitions were the refult of a critical and immediate want. Tranflator.}
I left Newbury Port, the 13th at ten in the morning, and often flopped before I loft fight of this pretty little town, for I had great pleafure in enjoying the different aipects it prefents.   It is in general well built, and is daily increaiing in new buildings.   The warehoufes of the merchants, which are near their own houfes, ferve by way of ornament, and in point of architecture refemble not a little our large green-houfes.   You cannot fee the ocean from the road to Ipfwich; and the country to the eaftward is dry and rocky.   Toward the * weft it is more fertile; but in general the land throughout the country, bordering on the fea, is not fruitful.   At the end of twelve miles is Ipfwich, where we ftopped to bait our horfes, and were furprized to find a town between Newbury and Salem, at leaft as populous as thefe two feaports, though indeed much lefs opulent. But mounting an eminence near the tavern, I faw that Ipfwich was alfo a fea-port; I was told however that the entrance was
difficult,
2 so T R A V E L S IN
difficult, and that at fome times of the year there were not five feet upon the bar. From this eminence you fee Cape Anne, and the fouth fide of Plumb ifland, as well as a part of the north. The bearing of the coafl, which trends to the eaftward, feems to me badly laid down in the charts; this coaff, trends more foutherly above Ipfwich, and forms a fort of bay. Ipfwich at prefent has but little trade, and its fifhery is alfo on the decline; but the ground in the neighbourhood is pretty good, and abounds in paflurage, fo that thefeamen having turned farmers, they have been in no want of fubfiffence *, which may account likewife -        . for
* The activity and enterprize of the inhabitants of the Eaftern States are unremitted. The fcaman when on fhore immediately applies himfelf to fome handicraft occupation, or to hulbandry, and is always ready at a moment's warning to accompany the captain his neighbour, who is likewife frequently a mechanic, to theflfheries. Weft-India voyages are the moft perilous expeditions, fo that it is no uncommon circumftance to find in a crew of excellent New England mariners, not a fingle fcaman, fo. to fpeak, by profcffion. Hence arife that zeal, fobriety, induftry, ceconomy and attachment for
for the very confiderable population of this place, where you meet with upwards of
two
which they are fo juftly celebrated, and which can- . not fail of giving them,  fooner or later, a decided fuperiority at leaft in the feas of the New World. This education and thefe manners are the operative caufes of that wonderful fpirit of enterprize, and perfeverance, fo admirably painted by Mr. Edmund Burke, in his wife, eloquent, and immortal fpeech of March 22, 1775, on his motion for conciliation with the colonies.   " Pray, Sir, fays he, ** what in the world is equal to it ?  Pafs by the 44 other parts (of America), and look at the manner " in which the people of New England have of late' " carried on the whale fifhery.   Whilft we follow *' them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and u behold them penetrating into the deepeft recef-' *' fes of Hudfon's Bay, and Davis's Streights, whilft' ** we are looking for them beneath the artic circle, '* we hear that they have pierced into the oppofite " region of polar cold, that they are at the antipodes, " and engaged under the frozen ferpent of the *l fouth.   Falkland's Ifland which feemed too re-" mote and romantic an object for the grafp of na-" tional ambition, is but a ftage and refting place '* in the progrefs of their victorious induftry. Nor ** is the equinoctial heat more difcouraging to them than the accumulated winter of both the poles. ** We know that whilft fome of diem draw the
two hundred houfes, in about two miles fquare. Before you arrive at Salem, is a handfome riling town called Beverley. This is a new efrablifhment produced by commerce, on the left fhore of the creek which bathes the town of Salem on the north fide. One cannot but be aftonilhed to fee beautiful houfes, large warehoufes, See. fpringing up in great numbers, at fo fmall a diftance from a commercial town, the prosperity of which is not diminifhed by it*.
The
" line and ftrike the harpoon on the coaft of •* Africa, others run the longitude, and purfue " their gigantic game along the coaft of Brazil. *' No fea but what is vexed by their filheries. No ** climate that is not witnefs to their toils. Nei-" ther the perfeverance of Holland, nor the a&ivity tl of France, nor the dextrous and firm fagacity of ** Englifh enterprize, ever carried this moft peri-** lous mode of hardy induftry to the extent to *« which it has been pufhed by this recent people ; «' a people who are ftill, as it were, but in the griftle, K and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood."
Translator. * The town of Beverley began to flourifh greatly towards the conclufion of the war by the extraordinary fpirit of enterprize, and great fuccefs of. the
Meflieurs
N ORTH-AMERI C A. 253
The rain overtook us jufl as we were paf-fing near the lake which is three miles from Beverley. We croffed the creek in two flat-bottomed boats, containing each, iix horfes. It is near a mile wide ; and in croffing, we could very plainly diftinguifh the opening of the harbour, and a caftle fituated on the extremity of the neck, which defends the entrance. This neck is a tongue of land running to the eaftward and connected with Salem only by a very narrow fort of caufe way. On the other fide of the neck, and of the caufeway, is the creek that forms the true port of Salem, which has no other defence than the extreme difficulty of entering without a good practical pilot. The view of thefe two ports, which are confounded together
to
Meflieurs Cobbets, gentlemen of ftrong underftand-ings and the moft liberal minds, well adapted to the moft enlarged commercial underftandings, and the bufinefs of government. Two of their privateers had the good fortune to capture in the European feas, a few1 weeks previous to the peace, leveral Weft-Indiamen to the value of at leaft £100,000 fterling. Translator.
to the fight; that of the town of Salem, which is embraced by two creeks, or rather arms of the fea, the fhips and edifices which appear intermingled, form a very beautiful picture, which I regret not having feen at a better feafon of the year. As 1 had no letters for any inhabitant of Salem, I alighted at Goodhue s tavern, now kept by Mr. Robin/on, which I found very good, and was foon ferved with an excellent fupper. In this inn was a fort of club of merchants, two or three of whom came to vifit me; and amongft others, Mr. de la Fille, a merchant of Bourdeaux, who had been eftablifhed five years at Bofton ; he-appeared a fenfible man, and pretty well informed reflecting the commerce of the country, the language of which he fpeaks well *.
The 14th in the morning, Mr. de la Fille called upon me to conduct me to fee the
port
* The Tranflator, who was refiding at this time at Salem, regretted exceedingly his accidental ab-fence on the day the Marquis fpent there, which he learnt, to his great mortification, on his return to the inn which the Marquis had jufl quitted.
Translator.
port and fome of the warehoufes.   I found the harbour commodious for commerce, as veffels may unload and take in their lading at the quays ;  there were about twenty in the port, feveral of which were ready to fail, and others which hadjuft arrived.   In general, this place has a rich and animated appearance.   At my return to the inn I found feveral merchants who came to telf ify their regret at not having been apprized more early of my arrival, and at not having it in their power to do the honours of the town.   At eleven, I got on horfeback, and taking the road to Bofton, was furprifed to fee the town, or fuburb of Salem, extending near a mile in length to the weftward.   On the whole, it is difficult to conceive the ftate of increafe, and the profperity of this country,   after fo long, and fo calamitous a war.   The road from Salem to Bofton paffes through an arid, and rocky country, always within three or four miles of the fea, without having a fight of it; at length however,,after
paffing
palling Lynn -f, and Lynn Creek, you get a view of it, and find yourfelf in a bay formed by Nahanfs Point, and Putting's Point.   I got upon the rocks to the right of the roads, in order to embrace more of the country, and form a better judgment. I could diftinguifh not only the whole bay but feveral of the iflands in Bofton road, and part of the peninfula of Nantucket, near which I difcovered the mafts of our fhips of war.   From hence to Winifimmet ferry, you travel over difagreeable roads, fometimes at the foot of rocks, at others acrofs fait marfhes.   It is jufl eighteen miles from Salem to the ferry, where we embarked in a large /cow, containing twenty horfes ; and the wind, which was rather contrary, becoming more fo, we made feven tacks, and were near an hour in palling.   The landing is to the northward of the port, and to the eafl of Charles-Town ferry. Altho'
I knew
f Lynn is a very populous little place, and is celebrated for the manufacture of women's fhoes, which they fend to all parts of the continent. The town is almoft wholly inhabited by fhoe-makers.
Translator.
NORTH-AMERICA. 257
I knew that Mr. Dumas had prepared me a lodging. I found it more convenient to alight at Mr. Bracket's, the CromwAl\ head, where I dined *. After dinner I went to the lodgings prepared for me at Mr. Col-fon's, a glover in the main ffreet. As I was dreffing to wait on the Marquis de Vaudreuil, he called upon me, and after permitting me to finifti the bufmefs of the toilet, we went together to Dr. Cooper"s, and thence to the affociation ball, where I was received by my old acquaintance Mr. Brick, who was one of the managers. Here I remained till ten o'clock; the Marquis de Vaudreuil opened the ball
* This is a moft excellent inn, and Mr. Brackett a fhrewd and active friend to rhe true principles of the revolution., His fign of Cromwell's head gave great umbrage to the Britifh under General Gage, who would not fuffer it to remain. This circum-ftance alone could have induced Mr. Brackett to re-ftore it after they were expelled the town, as reflection might have convinced him, that in the actual pofition of America, there was much more to be apprehended from a Cromwell than a Charles.
Translator.
Vol. II.
S with
with Mrs. Temple". M. de l'Aiguille the cider, and Mr. Trucguet danced alfo, each
of
* The reader will obferve that the author in (peaking of this lady, of Mr. Bowdoin, her father, and the reft of the family, difdains to mention her huf-band, Mr. John Temple, fo celebrated for political duplicity on both fides of the water. This gentleman was, however, at this very time at Bofton, abufing Gov. Hancock, Dr. Cooper, and the moft tried friends to America, in the public prints, and endeavouring to fow diffentions amongft the people. Every newfpapcr into which he could obtain admiflion, was fluffed with difgufting encomiums on Mr. John Temple, whom Mr John Temple himfelf held forth as the paragon of American patriotifm, as the moft active and inveterate enemy to England, and a victim to Britifh vengeance, which he endeavoured to prove by inftances taken from the Englifh prints, of his treachery to England, and by boafting of his dexterity in outwitting the Miniftry of that country. Yet no fooner did peace take place, than to the aftonifhment of every fenfible and honeil man in Europe and America, this very pcrfon, equally detefted by, and obnoxious to, both countries, was difpatched as the fole reprefentative of England to that country, of which he is alfoafworn citizen, and whofe father-in-law is the prefent Governor of Malfachuffets. It is impoflible to add to the folly and infamy of fuch a nomination. The choice of an Ambauador to Congrefs would have
fallen
of* them a minuet, and did honour to the French nation, by their noble and eafy manner ; but I am forry to fay, that the contrail: was confiderable between them and the Americans, who are in general very auk-ward, particularly in the minuet. The prettieft women dancers wrere Mrs. Jarvis, her filler, Mifs Betfy Broom, and Mrs. Wbitmore. The ladies were all well dreffed, but with lefs elegance and refinement than at Philadelphia*.   The alfembly room is
S 2 fuperb,
fallen with more propriety on Arnold. His was a bold and (ingle aft of treachery ; the whole political lif& of Mr. Temple has been one continued violation of good faith. For further particulars of this gentleman's condu£t, fee the Political Magazine for 1780, p. 691, and 740, but volumes might be written on this fubje&. The Tranflator is forry to add, that whilft he lives and flourifhes, the virtuous, the amiable Dr. Cooper is in his grave, and Mr. Hancock, that illuflrious citizen, he fears, not far removed from it. Translator.
* The Tranflator was prefent at this affembly at Bofton, which was truly elegant, where he faw Mr. J. Temple (landing behind the croud, eyeing, like Milton's Devil, the perfect harmony and good humour fubfifting between the French officers and the inhabitants, not as a friend to Britain, for that would
have
fuperb, in a good flyle of architecture, well decorated, and well lighted; it is admirably well calculated for the coup cToeily and there is good order, and every neceffary refreshment. This alfembly is much fuperior to that of the City Tavern at Philadelphia.
The 15th, in the morning, M. de Vaudreuil, and M. le Tombes, the French Conful, called on me the moment I was going out to vifit them. After fome con-verfation, we went firit to wait on Governor Hancock*, who was ill of the gout, and unable to receive us ;  thence we went
to
have been pardonable, but to difcord, for he was at this very inflant boafting of his inveteracy to Britain. Translator.
* I had feen Mr. Hancock eighteen months before, on my former journey to Bofton, and had a long convcrfation with him, in which I ealily dif-covered that energy of character which had enabled him to aft fo diftinguifhed a part in the prefent revolution. He formerly poffeffed a large fortune, which he has almoft entirely facrificed in the defence of his countrv, and which contributed not a little to maintain its credit. Though yet a young man, for he is not yet fifty, he is unfortunately very fubjeft to the gout, and is funic times, for whole months, unable to ice company. \
to Mr. Bowdoins, Mr. Brick's, and Mr. Cvfi/ng's, the Deputy Governor. I dined with the Marquis de Vaudreuil, and after dinner drank tea at Mr. Bowdoin's, who engaged us to fupper, only allowing M. de Vaudreuil and myfelf half an hour to pay a vide to Mrs. Cufhing. The evening was fpent agreeably, in a company cf about twenty perfons, among whom was Mrs. Whitmore, and young Mrs. Bowdoin, who was a new acquaintance for me, not having feen her at Bolton when I was there the preceding year. She has a mild and agreeable countenance, and a character corre-fpending with her appearance.
The next morning I went with the Marquis de Vaudreuil to pay fome other viiits, and dined with Mr. Brick, where were upwards of thirty perfons, and amongft others Mrs. Tudor, Mrs. Morton, Mrs. Swan, 6cc. The two former underffood French ; Mrs. Tudor in particular knows it perfectly, and fpeaks it tolerably well. I was very intimate with her during my flay at Bofton, and found her poffeffed, not only of underftanding, but of grace and deli-
S 3. cacy,
cacy, in her mind and manners. After dinner, tea was ferved, which being over, Mr. Brick in fome fort infilled, but very politely, on our flaying fupper. This fupper was on table exactly four hours after we rofe from dinner; it may be imagined therefore that we did not eat - much, but the Americans paid fome little compliments to it; for, in general, they eat lefs than we do, at their repaffs, but as often as you choofe, which is in my opinion a very bad method. Their aliments behave with their flomachs, as we do in France on paying vifits; they never depart, until they fee others enter. In other refpe&s we paffed the day very agreeably. Mr. Brick is an amiable man, and does the honours of his table extremely well; and there reigned in this fociety a ton of eafe and freedom, which is pretty general at Bofton, and cannot fail of being pleafing to the French.
The day following I waited at home for M. deVaudreuil, who called on me to conduct me to dinner on board the Souverain. This fhip, as well as the Hercuk, was at anchor about a mile from the port. The officer who , com-
commanded her, gave us a great and excellent dinner, the honours of which he did, both to the French and Americans, with that noble and benevolent fpirit which characterizes him. Among the latter was a young man of eighteen, of the name of Barrel, who had been two months on board, that by living continually with the French, he might accuftom himfelf to fpeak their language, which cannot fail of being one day ufeful to him*. For this is far from being a common qualification in America, nor can it be conceived to what a degree it has hitherto been neglected; the importance of it however begins to be felt, nor can it be too much encouraged for the benefit of both nations. It is faid, and certainly with great truth, that not only individuals, but even nations, only quarrel for want of a proper understanding; but it may be affirmed
* This is a very amiable young gentleman, and his father a great connoifTeur in prints and paintings; He was happy to have the opportunity of purchafing a compleat collection of Hogarth's piints from the Tranflator, then on his return to Europe.
Translator.
firmed in a more direct: and pofitive fenfe, that mankind in general are not difpofed to Jove thole to whom they cannot eafily communicate their ideas, and impreffions. Not only does their vivacity miter, and their impatience become inflamed, but felf-love is offended as often as they fpeak without being understood ; inftead of which, a man experiences a real fatisfaction in enjoying an advantage not poiieffed by other?, and of which he is authorized conftantly to avail himfelf. I have remarked during my refi-dence in America, that thofe amongft our officers, who fpoke Englifh, were much more difpofed to like the inhabitants of the country, than the others who were not able to familiarize themfelves with the language. Such is in fact the procedure of the human mind, to impute to others the contrarieties we ourfelves experience ; and fuch, poflibly, is the true origin of that dilpofition we call humeur, which muft be confidered as a difcontent of which we cannot complain; an interior dilTatisfaction which torments us, without giving us the right of attributing the caufe of it to any
other
NORTH-AMERICA        af, 5
other perfon. Ilumeur, or peevjfhnefs, feems to be to anger, what melancholy is to grief; both one and the other are of longer duration, becaufe they have no fixed object, and do not cany, fo to fpeak, their complement with them ; fo that never attaining that excefs, that maximum of fenfibility, which brings on that repofe, or change of fituation which nature wills, they can neither be completely gratified, nor exhale themfelves entirely. As for the Americans, they teftified more furprize than peeviih-nefs, at meeting with a foreigner who did not underffand Englifh. But if they are indebted for this opinion to a prejudice of education, a fort of national pride, that pride fuffered not a little from the reflection, which frequently occurred, of the language of the country being that of their op-preffors. Accordingly they avoided thefe expreffions, you fpeak Englifh; you under-Jand Englifh well; and I have often heard them fay—you fpeak American well the American is not difficult to learn. Nay, they have carried it even fo far, as ferioufly to propofe introducing a new language; and
fome
fome perfons were defirous, for the convenience of the public, that the Hebrew mould be fubflituted for the Englifh. The pro-pofal was, that it fhould be taught in the fchools, and made ufe of in all public acts. We may imagine that this project: went no farther; but we may conclude from the mere fuggeftion, that the Americans could not exprefs in a more energetic manner, their averfion for the Englifh.
This digreflion has led me far from the Souverain, where I would return, however, with pleafure, were it not to take leave of the Commandeur de Glanderes, and to experience a thick fog, which compelled me to renounce an excurfion I propofed making in the harbour, and to get back to Bofton as faff, as poffible, without vifiting Cajlle IJland, and Fort William. On landing, the Marquis de Vaudreuil and I went to drink tea at Mr. Cufhing's, who is Lieutenant Governor of the State; whence we went to Mr. Tudor's, and fpent a very agreeable evening. M. de Parois, nephew of M. de Vaudreuil, had brought his harp, which he
accom-
N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 267
accompanied with great tafte and ikill; this was the firft time, however, for three years, that I had heard truly vocal and national mufic : It was the firft time that my ear had been ftruck with thofe airs, and thofe words, which reminded me of the plealiires, and agreeable fentirnents, which employed the beft aera of my life. I thought myfelf in Heaven, or which is the fame thing, I thought myfelf returned to my country, and once more furrounded by the objects of my affection. »
On the 17th, I breakfafted with feveral artillery officers, who had arrived with their troop; that corps having greatly preceded the reft of the infantry, in order to have time to embark their cannon, and other ftores. At eleven I mounted my horfe, and went to Cambridge, to pay a vifit to Mr. Willard, the Prefident of that Univer-fity,. My route, though fhort, it being fcarce two leagues from Bofton to Cambridge, required me to travel both by fea and land, and to pafs through a field of battle, and an intrenched camp. It has been long faid that the route to Parnaffus is difficult, but the obftacles we have there to
encounter,
encounter, are rarely of the fame nature with thofe which were in my way.   A view of the chart of the road, and town of Bofton, will explain this better than the molt elaborate defcription.    The reader v, ill fee that this town, one of the molt ancient in America, and which contains from twenty to five and twenty thoufand inhabitants, is built upon a peninfula in. the bottom of a large bay, the entrance of which is difficult, and in which lie difperfed a number of iflands, that ferve ftill further for its defence ; it is only acceffible one way on the land fide, by a long neck or tongue of land, furrounded by the fea on each fide, forming a fort of caufeway.   To the Northward of the town is another peninfula, which adheres to the oppofite fhore by a very fhort rock, and on this peninfula is an eminence called Bunker s-hz'll, at the foot of which are the remains of the little town of Charles-town.   Cambridge is lituated to the North-weft, about two miles from Bofton, but to go there in a right line, you muff, crofs a pretty confiderable arm of the fea, in which are dangerous fhoals, and, upon the coaft,
moraffes
moraffes difficult to pafs, fo that the only communication between the whole northern part of the Continent, and the town of Bolton, is by the ferry of Charlejiown, or that of Winijjimet.   The road to Cambridge lies through the field of battle of BunkerVhill.   After an attentive examination of that poff, I could find nothing formidable in it* ; for the Americans had fcarcely time to form a breaftwork, that is, a  flight   retrenchment without a ditch, which fhelters the men from mufquet fhot, as high as the breaff.   Their obfiinate re-fiftance therefore, and the prodigious lofs fuftained by the Englifh on this occation, muff be attributed folely to their valour. The Britifh troops were repulfed on all fides, and put in fuch diforder, that Gen. Howe is faid to have been at one time left fingle in the field of battle, until General Clinton arrived with a reinforcement, and turned the left of the American pofnion,
which
* Bunker's-hili is an eminence neither more fteep, nor more difficult of accefs than Primrefe hill near Hampftead, in the neighbourhood of London.
Translator.
which was weaker and more acceffible on that fide. It was then thatGen. Warren^^o was formerly a phyfician, fell, and the Americans quitted the field, lefs perhaps from the fuperiority of the enemy, than from knowing that they had another pofition as good, behind the neck which leads to Cambridge; for, in fact, that of Bunker's-hill was ufeful only in as much as it commanded Charleffown ferry*, and allowed them to raife batteries againft the town of Bofton. But was it neceffary to expofe themfelves to the deffruction of their own houfes, and the daughter of their fellow citizens, only that they might harrafs the Englifh in an afylum which fooner or later they mutt abandon ? Befides that, the Americans could only occupy the heights of Bunker Vhill, the Hoops and frigates of the enemy taking them in flank theinftant they
defcended
* A bridge of 1503 feet in length, and 42 in breadth, is juft compleated (in 1786) between Bolton and Charleftown, well lighted at night with 40 lamps. 'J'his important work was executed by fubfeription. The.grcateft depth of the water is 46 feet nine inches, and the leaft is 14 feet. Translator.
defcended from them.    Such, however, was the effect of this memorable battle, in every refpect honourable for our allies, that it is impofiible to calculate the confequences of a complete victory*.   The Englifh, who had upwards of eleven hundred men killed and  wounded,   in  which number were feventy officers, might poffibly have loft as many more in their retreat; for they were under the neceffity of embarking to return to Bofton, which would have been almoft impracticable, without the protection of their fhipping; the little army of Bofton would in that cafe have been almoft totally deftroyed, and the town mull of courfe have been evacuated. But what would have been the refult of this ?  Independence was not then declared, and the road to negociation was ftill open; an accommodation might have taken place between the Mother Country and her Colonies, and animofities might
have
* This attack on Bunker's-hill took place in the time of the hay harveft, and much execution was done amongft the Britilh by fome field-pieces, and mufquetry concealed behind the cocks of hay.
Translator.
have fubuded. The reparation not have been compleated, England would not have expended one hundred millions ; fhe would have preferved Minorca and the Floridas; nor would the balance of Europe, and the liberty of the feas have been reftored. For it muff in general be admitted, that England alone has reafon to complain of the manner in which the fate of arms has decided this long quarrel.
Scarcely have you paffed the neck which joins the peninfula to the Continent, and which is hemmed in on one fide by the mouth of the Myjiicky and on the other by a bay called Milk Pond, than you fee the ground riling before you, and you diftin-guifh on feveral eminences the principal-forts which defended the entrenched camp of Cambridge. The left of this camp was bounded by the river, and the right extended towards the fea, covering this town which lay in the rear. I examined feveral of thefe forts, particularly that of ProfpeSi-bill. All thefe entrenchments feemed to me to be executed with intelligence; nor was I furprized that the Englifh refpe&ed
them
N O R T H -A M E R I C A. 273
them the whole winter of 1776. The American troops, who guarded this poft, palfed the winter at their eafe, in good barracks, well flanked, and well covered ; they had at that time abundance of provifions, whilft the Englifh, notwithstanding their communication with the fea, were in want of various eflential articles, particularly fire-wood and frefh meat. Their govern-* ment, not expecting to find the Americans fo bold and obftinate, provided too late for the fupply of the little army at Bofton. This negligence, however, they endeavoured to repair, and fpared nothing for that pur-pofe, by freighting a great number of veffels, in which they crowded a vaft number of lheep, oxen, hogs, and poultry of every kind ; but thefe fhips, failing at a bad feafon of the year, met with gales of wind in going out of port, and were obliged to throw the greateft part of their cargoes into the fea, infomuch that, it is laid, the coaft of Ireland, and the adjoining ocean, were for fome time covered with herds, which, unlike thofe of Proteus, were neither able to liveamidft the waves, nor gain the fhore. Vol. II. T The
The Americans, on the contrary, who had the whole continent at their difpofal, and had neither exhaufted their refources, nor ^heir credit, lived happy and tranquil in their barracks, awaiting the fuccours pro-mifed them in the fpring. Thefe fuccours were offered and furnifhed with much gene-rofity by the Southern Provinces; province?, with which, under the Englifh Government, they had no connexion whatever, and which were more foreign to them than the mother country. It was already a great mark of confidence, therefore, on the part of the New Englanders, to count upon that aid which was offered by generofity alone :* but who could forefee that a citizen of Virginia, who, for the firft time, vifited thefe northern countries, not only fhould become their liberator, but fhould even know how to erect trophies, to ferve as a bafe to the
great
* Surely good policy had fome fhare in the alacrity of thefe proffered fuccours, nor does this fup-pofkion, whilft it does credit to the difcernment, derogate from the generofity of the Virginians.-- -Tua resagitur, paries cumpoximus ardetl
< » Translator.
great edifice of Liberty ? Who could forefee that the enterprize, which failed at BunkerV hill, at the price even of the blood of the brave Warren, and that of a thoufand Englifh facrificed to his valour, attempted on another fide and conducted by General Wafhington, fhould be the work only of one night, the effect of a fimple manoeuvre, of a fingle combination ? Who could fore-fee, in fhort, that the Englifh would be compelled to evacuate Bofton, and to abandon their whole artillery and all their ammunition, without cofting the life of a fingle foldier ?
To attain this important object, it was only neceffary to occupy the heights of Dorchefter, which formed another peninfula, the extremity of which is within cannon fhot of Bofton, and in a great meafure commands the port: but it required the eye of General Wafhington to appreciate the importance of this poft; it required his activity and refolution to undertake to fteal a march upon the Eng!ifh, who f grounded it with their fhipping, and  who could tranfport troops thither with the greateft T 2 facility.
facility. But it required flill more : nothing fhort of the power, or rather the great credit he had already acquired in the army, and the difcipline he had eftabliihed, were requifite to effect a general movement of the troops encamped at Cambridge and at Roxbury, and carry his plan into execution, in one night, with fuch celerity and filence, as that the Englifh mould only be apprized of it, on feeing, at the break of day, entrenchments already thrown up, and batteries ready to open upon them- Indeed he had carried his precautions fo far, as to order the whips to be taken from the waggoners, left their impatience, and the difficulty of the roads might induce them to make ufe of them, and occafion an alarm. It is not eafy to add to the affonifhment naturally excited by the principal, and above all, by the early events of this memorable war ; but I muff mention, that whilff. General Wafhington was blockading the Englifh in Bofton, his army was in fuch want of powder as not to have three rounds a man -9 and that if a bomb-ketch had not chanced to run on
fhore
N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 277
fhore in the road, containing fome tons of powder, which fell into the hands of the Americans, it would have been impoiTibie to attemp t the affair of Dorchefter; as with-out it, they had not wherewithal to ferve the batteries propofed to be erected.
I apprehend that nobody will be difpleaf-ed at this digreflion; but fhould it be otherwifc, I muff obferve, that in a very fhort excurfion I had made to Boffcn, eighteen months before, having vifited all the retrenchments at Roxbury and Dorchef-ter, I thought it unnecefiary to return thither, and I was the lefs difpofed to it from the rigour of the feafon, and the fhort time I had to remain at Bolton. But how is-it poflible to enter into a few details of this fo juftly celebrated town, without recalling the principal events which have given it renown ? But how, above all, refift the plea-fure of retracing every thing which may contribute to the glory of the Americans, and the reputation of the illuftrious Chief? Nor is this ftraying from the temple of the Mufes, to confider objects which rnuft long continue to conftitute their T 3 theme.
theme.   Cambridge is an afylum worthy of them ; it is a little town inhabited only by ftudents, profeffors, and the fmall number of fervants and workmen whom they employ.   The building delfined for the univerfity is noble and commanding, though it be not yet compleated ; it already contains three handfome halls for the clalfes, a cabinet of natural philofophy, and inftru-ments of every kind, as well for aflronomy, as for the fciences dependant on mathematics ; a vail gallery, in which the library is placed, and a chapel correfponding with the grandeur and magnificence of the other parts of the edifice.   The library, which is already numerous,  and   which contains handfome editions of the belt authors, and well bound books, owes its richnefs to the zeal of feveral citizens, who, fhortly before the war,  formed a fubfeription, by means of which they began to fend for books from England.   But as their fund was very moderate, they availed themfelves pf their connexions with the mother country, and,  above all,   of that generofity which the Englifh invariably difplay whenever
ever the object is, to propagate ufeful knowledge in any part of the world. Thefe zealous citizens not only wrote to England, but made feveral voyages thither in fearch of affifiance, which they readily obtained. One individual alone, made them a prefent to the amount of £500 hurling ; I wifh I could recollect: his name, but it is eafy to difcover it *. It is infcribed in letters of gold over the compartment containing the books which he beffowed, and which form a particular library. For it is the rule, that
each
* The Tranflator is happy in being able to fup-ply this deficiency, by recording the refpedled name of the late Thomas Hollis, Efq; a truly eminent citizen of England, who, in every aft of his pubic and private life, did honour to his illnftrious name, to his country, and to human nature.   One of his anceflors too, of the fame name, founded, in this fame college, a profefToilhip for the mathematics and natural philofophy, and ten fcholarihips for ftudents in thefe and other fciences, with other benefactions, to the amount of little lefs than £5000 fterling. Public virtue, and private accomplifhments fcem to be hereditary in this family ;  Mr. 7hornets Brand Hollis, the inheritor of this fortune, purfuing.thc footfleps of his excellent predeccflbrs—paribus oequls.
Translator.
each donation to the univerfity fhall remain as it was received, and occupy a place apart; a practice better adapted to encourage the generofity of benefactors, and to exprefs gratitude, than to facilitate the librarians labour, or that of the ftudents. It is probable therefore, that, as the collection is augmenting daily, a more commodious arrangement will be adopted.
The profeffors of* the univerfity live in their own houfes, and the ftudents board in the town for a moderate price. Mr. Willtira\ who was jufl elected Prefidenr, is  alfo   a member of  the  academy of Bofton,   to which  he  acts  as Secretary of the foreign correfpondence.   We had alrea-ly had   fome intercourfe with each other,   but  it pleafed me  to have the opportunity of forming a more particular acquaintance with him; he unites to great underffanciing and literature, a knowledge of the abftrufe iciences, and particularly aftronomy.   I mult here repeat, what I have obferved elfewhere, that in comparing our univerfities and our ftudies in general, with thofe of the Americans, it
would
N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 2Si
would not be our intereft to call for a de-cifion of the queftion, which of the two nations fhould be confidered as an infant people.
The (hort time I remained at Cambridge allowed me to fee only two of the pro-feffors, and as many ftudents, whom I either met with, or who came to vifit me at Mr. Willard's.   I was expected to dine with our Conful, Mr. de Letombes, and I was obliged to hurry, for they dine earlier at Bofton than at Philadelphia.   I found upwards of twenty perfons aflembled, as well French officers, as American gentlemen, in the number of whom was Doctor Cooper, a man juftly celebrated, and not lefs diftinguifhed by the graces of his mind, and the amiablenefs of his character, than by his uncommon eloquence, and patriotic zeal.   He has always lived in the-ftrictefr. intimacy with Mr. Hancock, and has been ufeful to him on more than one occafion. Amongft the Americans attached by political intereft to France, no one'has difplay-ed a more marked attention to the French, nor has any man received from Nature a
character
character more analogous to their own. But It was in the fermon he delivered, at the folemn inauguration of the new conftitution of Maffachuifets, that he feemed to pour forth his whole foul, and develop at once all the refources of his genius, and every fentiment of his heart. The French nation, and the monarch who governs it, are there .characterized and celebrated with equal grace and delicacy. Never was there fo happy, and fo poignant a mixture of religion, politics, philofophy, morality, and even of literature. This dif-courfe mult be known at Paris, where I fent feveral copies, wThich I have no doubt will be eagerly tranflated. I hope only that it will efcape the avidity of thofe hafty writers, who have made a fort of property of the prefent revolution 3 nothing, in fact, is more dangerous than thefe precipitate traders in literature, who pluck the fruit the moment they have any hopes of felling it, thus depriving us of the pleafure of enjoying it in its maturity. It is for aSalluft and a Tacitus alone to tranfmit in their works, the actions and harangues of their
content-
contemporaries ; nor did they write till after fome great change in affairs had placed an immenie interval between the epocha of the hiftory they tranfmitted, and that in which it was compofed ; the art of printing too, being then unknown, they were enabled to meafure, and to moderate, at plea-fure, the publicity they thought proper to give to their productions.
Doctor Cooper, whom I never quitted without regret, propofing to me to drink tea with him, I accepted it without difficulty. He received me in a very fmall houfe, furnilhed in the fimpleft manner, every thing in it bore the character of a mo-defty which proved the feeble foundation of thofe colonies fo induftrioufly propagated by the Englifh, who loft no occafion of insinuating that his zeal for the Congrefs and their allies had a very different motive from patriotifm and the genuine love of liberty *.   A vifit to Mrs Tudor, where Mr. de
Vaudreuil
* Mr. John Temple finding himfelf detected, and ill received at Bofton, was the undoubted author of thefe calumnies againft Doctor Cooper, who had
Vaudreuil and I had again the pleafure of an agreeable convention, interrupted from time to time by pleafmg muiic, rapidly brought round the hour for repairing to the club. This affembly is held every Tuef-day, in rotation, at the houfes of the different members who compofe it; this was fhe day for Mr. Rujjel *, an honeft merchant,
nobly dared to warn his countrymen againft his infidious attempts to difunite the friends to liberty, under the niafk of zeal and attachment to America. He dared, contrary to the decifive evidence of a long feries of pure difinterefted public conduct in the hour of danger, when^Mr. Temple was a lkulking; penlioned refugee in England, more than to insinuate, that Doctor Cooper, and Mr. Hancock, that martyr to the public caufe, were actually in pay of the French court;   but if ever there could be a doubt, entertained of fuch characters, founded on the affertions of fuch a man, his fubfequent conduct has irrefragably proved, that as the calumny was propagated by him, fo the fuggeftion muft have originated in his own heart.   Let not the Anglo-. American Conful General to the United States complain.   Iliftorical juftice will overtake both him and Arnold.   It is a condition in the indenture of their bargain. Translator.
* The Tranflator had the pleafure of being acquainted with the fon of Mr. Ruffel and his friend Winthrcp, in France and Holland. He had the good fortune likewife to meet with the latter at Bof*
chant, who gave us an excellent reception. The laws of the club are not ftraitening, the number of dimes for fupper alone are limited, and there mud: be only two of meat, for fupper is not the American repair. Vegetables, pies, and efpecially good wine, are notfpared. The hour of aflem-bling is after tea, when the company play at cards, converfe, and read the public papers, and fit down to table between nine and ten. The fupper was as free as if there had been no ftrangers, fongs were given at table, and a Mr. Stewart fung fome which were very gay, with a tolerable good voice.
The 19 th the weather was very bad, and I went to breakfaft with Mr. Broom, where I remained fome time, the converfation being always agreeable and unreftrained. Some officers who called upon me, having taken up the reft of the morning, I at length joined Mr. de Vaudreuil to go and
dine
ton. He takes a pride in mentioning thefe amiable young men, as they cannot fail of becoming valuable members of a riling country which attracts the attention of the world. Translator.
dine with Mr. Cuming. The Lieutenant Governor, on this occafion, perfectly fup-ported the juftly acquired reputation of the inhabitants of Bofton, of being friends to good wine, good cheer, and hofpitality. After dinner he conducted us into the apartment of his fon, and his daughter-in-law, with whom we were invited to drink tea. For though they inhabited the fame houfe with their father, they had a feparate houfehold, according to the cuftom in America ; where it is very rare for young people to live with their parents, when they are once fettled in the world. In a nation which is in a perpetual ftate of increafe, every thing favours of that general tendency ; every thing divides and multiplies. The fenfible and amiable Mrs. Tudor was once more our centre of union, during the evening, which terminated in a familiar and very agreeable fupper at young Mrs. Bowdoin's. Mr. de Parois, and Mr. Dumas fung different airs and duets, and Mrs. Whitmore undertook the pleafure of the eyes, whilft they fupplied the gratification of our ears.
The
The 20th was wholly devoted to fociety. Mr. Broom gave me an excellent dinner, the honours of which were performed by Mrs. Jarvis and her fifter, with as much politenefs and attention as if they had been old and ugly. I fupped with Mr. Bowdoin, where I ftill found more handfome women affembled. If I do not place Mrs. Temple, Mr. Bowdoin's daughter, in the number, it is not from want of refpect, but becaufe her figure is fo diftinguifhed as to make it unneceffary to pronounce her truly beautiful ; nor did fhe fuffer in the comparifon with a girl of twelve years old, who was formed however to attract attention. This was neither a handfome child nor a pretty woman, but rather an angel in difguife of a young girl; for I am at a lofs otherwife to exprefs the idea which young perfons, of that age, convey in England and America; which, as I have already faid, is not, amongft us, the age of Beauty and the Graces. They made me play at whift, for the firft time fince my arrival in America. The cards were Englifh, that is, much handfomcr and dearer than
ours,
ours, and we marked our points with Louis-d'ors, or fix-and-thirties ; when the party-was finifhed, the lofswas not difficult toi'et-tle j for the company was ftill faithful to that voluntary law eftablifhed in fociety from the commencement of the troubles, which prohibited playing for money during the war. This law however, was not fcrupuloufly obferved in the clubs, and parties made by the men amongft themfelves. The inhabitants of Bofton are fond of high play, and it is fortunate, perhaps, that the war happened when it did, to moderate this paftion which began to be attended with dangerous confequences *.
On Thurfday the 21ft there fell fo much fnow as to determine me to defer my departure, and Mr. Brick, who gave a great dinner to Mr. d'Aboville, and the French artillery officers, underftanding that I was ftill at Bofton, invited me to dine, whither I
went
* It is with real concern the Tranilator adds, that gaming is a vice but too pravelent in all the great towns, and which has been already attended with the moft fatal confequences, and with frequent fui-cide. Translator.
went in Mr. de Vaudreuil's carriage. Mr. Barrel came alfo to invite me to tea, where we went after dinner; and, as foon as we were difengaged, flattened to return to Mrs, Tudor's. Her hufband, * after frequently whifpering to her, at length communicated to us an excellent piece of pleafantry of her invention, which was a petition to the Queen, written in French, wherein, under the pretext of complaining of Mr. de Vaudreuil and his fquadron, (he beftowed on them the moll: delicate and molt charming eulogium. We paffed the remainder of the evening with Mr. Brick, who had again invited us to fupper, where we enjoyed all the pleafures infeparable from his fociety. I had a great deal of converfation with Doctor Jarvis, a young phyfician, and alfo a furgeon, but what was better, a good whig, with excellent views in politics. When Mr. D'EJlaing left Bofton, the fick and wounded were intrufted to his care, Vol. II. U and
* Mr. Tudor is the gentleman who has fo' frequently diftinguifhed himfelf by animated orations on the annual commemoration of fome of the lcad-lng events of this civil war. Translator,
and he informed me, that the fick, who were recovering faff, in general relapfed, on removing them from the town of Boffon, where they enjoyed a good air, to Roxbury, which is an unhealthy fpot, furrounded With marines. The phyficians in America pay much more attention than ours to the qualities of the atmofphere, and frequently employ change of air as an effectual remedy.
The 22d I fet out at ten o'clock, after taking leave of Mr. Vaudreuil, and having had reafon to be fatisfied with him, and the town of Bofton. It is inconceivable how the flay of the fquadron has contributed to conciliate the two nations, and to ffrengthen the connections which unite them *. The
virtue
* During my ftay at Bofton, a young Chevalier de Malthe, Monfieur de I'Epine, belonging to Mr. de Vaudreuil's fquadron, died, and I was prefent at his funeral. He was buried with the forms of the Catholic Church, by the firft Chaplain to the fleet, and his remains were attended to the place of interment, belides his brother officers, 8cc. by the members of the fenate and affembly, the principal inhabitants of the town, and the minifters of every feci of religion in Bofton.   The holy candles, and all the
virtue of Mr. de Vaudreuil, his fplendid example of good morals, as well as the fim-plicity and goodnefs of his manners, an example followed, beyond all hope and belief, by the orficers of his fquadron, have captivated the hearts of a people, who, though how the mod determined enemies to the Englifh, had never hitherto been friendly to the French. I have heard it obferved a hundred times at Bofton, that in the time
U 2 even
Catholic ceremonies were ufed on the occafion, In a town too, where, a few years before, the hierarchical rionTp even of the church of England barely met with toleration; an ufeful leffon this to Machiave-lian rulers, whofe flrength confifts in the filly dif-cord and divifions of their fellow creatures. The Tranflator contemplated this interefting fcene with a complacent curiofity, which was only interrupted by the folitary di Satisfaction of Mr. John Temple, who, as well as his honeft coadjutor, the pious Arnold, " was fhocked at feeing his countrymen *« participating in the rites of a church, againft whofe antichrijiian corruptions your pious anceftors " would have witneffed with their blood." Set this zealous prote/iant's proclamation, after felling himfelf to England, for £7000 3 per cents, and fa-crificing the amiable, unhappy Major Andre.
Translator.
even of the greater! harmony with the mother country, an Englifh (hip of war never anchored in the port without fome violent quarrels between the people and the failors yet the French fquadron had been there three months without occalioning the flighteft difference. The orficers of our navy were every where received, not only as allies, but brothers; and though they were admitted by the ladies of Bolton to the greateft familiarity, not a fingle indif-cretion, not even the moft diftant attempt at impertinence ever difturbed the confidence, or innocent harmony of this pleafing intercourfe.
The obfervations I have already made on the commerce of New England, render it unneceffary to enter into any particular details on that of the town of Bofton. I fhall only mention a vexation exercifed towards the merchants 5 a vexation ftill more odious than that I have fpoken of relative to Mr. Tracy, and of which I had not the fmalleft fufpicion, until Mr. Brick gave me a particular account of it. Befides the excife and licenfe duties mentioned above, the merchants
chants are fubjecl to a fort of tax on wealth, which is arbitrarily impofed by twelve af-feffors, named indeed by the inhabitants of the town ; but as the moft confiderable merchant has only one vote any more than the fmalleft fhoopkeeper, it may be imagined how the interefts of the rich are refpecT-ed by this committee. Thefe twelve af-feffors having full powers to tax the people according to their ability, they eftimate, on a view, the bufinefs tran faded by each merchant, and his probable profits. Mr. Brick, for example, being agent for the French navy, and interefted befides in fe-feveral branches of commerce, amongft o-thers in that of infurance, they calculate how much bufinefs he may be fuppofed to do, of which they judge by the bills of exchange he endorfes, and by the policies he underwrites, and according to their valuation, in which neither lories nor expences are reckoned, they fuppofe him to gain fo much a day; and he is confequently fub-jecled to a proportionable daily tax. Dur-ring the year 1781, Mr. Brick paid no lefs than three guineas and a half per day. It
U 3        ' »
is evident that nothing fhort of patriotifm,, and above all, the hope of a fpeedy conclu-fion to the war, could induce men to fub-mit to fo odious and arbitrary an import; nor can the patience with which the commercial intereft in general, and Mr. Brick in particular, bear ^his burthen, be too much commended.
The 22d I went, without flopping, to Wrentham, where I flept, and reached Providence to dinner the 23d; where I found our infantry ailembled, and waiting till the veffels were ready to receive them, Here I remained fix days, during which 1 made an excurfion of four-and-twenty hours to vifit my old friends at Newport.
The 30th I left Providence, with Meffrs. Lynch, Montefquieu, and de Vaudreuil, and flept at Voluntown. The next day Mr. Lynch returned to Providence *, and
we
* Mr. Lynch, who was Aide Major General, and defigned to be employed under the orders of the Baron de Viomenil, embarked with the troops. Mr. de Taleyrand was determined to follow them, as a fimfle volunteer, and, affuming the uniform of a foldier in the regiment of Soiffonnois,
we feparated with mutual regret. The fame day, the ill of December, we flopped at Windham to reft our horfes, and flept at Whites tavern at Andover, near Bolton. The 2d I got to breakfaft at Hartford, where I ftaid two or three hours, as well to arrange many particulars relative to the departure of my baggage, as to pay a vifit to Mrs. Wadfworth. Mr. Frank Dillon, who had come to me at Providence, where he remained a day longer than me, joined me here. From hence we went to Farming-ton, where we arrived as night was coming on, and alighted at an inn kept by a Mr. Wadfworth, no relation of the Colonel's; but with whom I had lodged a month be- * fore, when on the march with my divifion. Mrs. Lewis, hearing of my arrival, fent her fon to offer me a bed at her houfe, which I declined with a promife of breakfafting
with
he marched into Bqiton in the ranks of the company of Chaffeurs. This company embarked in the fame venel with the Comte de Segur, then Colonel en fecond of the SohTonnois; and Mr. de Taleyrand remained attached to it till his return *q Europe.
with her the next morning; but, in a quar^ ter of an hour, fhe called on me herfelf, accompanied by a militia Colonel, whofe pame I have forgot, and fupped with us, The 3d, in the morning, I vifited Mr. Pitkin the minifter, with whom I had lodged the preceding year, when the French army was on its march to join General Wafhington on the North river. He is a man of an extraordinary turn, and rather an original, but is neither deficient in literature nor information. His father was formerly Govern nor of Connecticut; he profeffes a great regard for the French, and charged me, half joking, and half in earneft, to give his compliments to the King, and tell him that there was one Prefbyterian minifter in America on whofe prayers he might reckon. I went to breakfaff, with Mrs. Lewis, and at ten fet out for Litchfield. The roads were very bad, but the country is embellifhed by new fettlements, and a confiderable number of houfes newly built, feveral of which were taverns. It was four when we arrived at Litchfield, and took up our quarters at Sbeldings tavern^ a new inn, large, fpa-
cious
cious and neat, but indifferently provided. We were (truck with melancholy on feeing Mr. Shelding fend a negro on horfe* back into the neighbourhood to get fome-thing f6r our fupper, for which however we did not wait long, and it was pretty good.
The 4th we fet out at half pan: eight, and baited at Wafhington, after admiring a fecond time the picturefque profpect of the two falls, and the furnaces, half way between Litchfield and Wafhington. Nor was it without pleafure that I obferved the great change two years had produced in a country at that time wild and defart. On paf-fing through it two years before, there was only one miferable alehoufe at this place ; at prefent we had the choice of four or five inns, all clean and fit to lodge in. Morgans paffes for the bell, but through mif-take we alighted at another, which I think is not inferior to it. Thus has the war, by flopping the progrefs of commerce, proved ufeful to the interior of the country ; for it has not only obliged feveral merchants Jo quit the coafts, in fearch of peaceable
habitations
habitations in the mountains, but it has compelled commerce to have recourfe to inland conveyance, by which means many roads are now frequented which formerly were but little ufed. It was five in the afternoon when I arrived at Moo: houfe's tavern. In this journey, 1 paffed the river at Bull's works, and having again flopped to admire the beauty of the landfcape, I had an op-? portunity of convincing myftlf that my former eulogium is not exaggerated. The river, which was fwelled by the thaw, renr cjered the cataract ft ill more fublime; but a magazine of coals having fallen down, in fome meafure deflroyed the profpect of the furnaces. On this occafion I had not much reafon to boaft of the tavern. Colonel Moorhoufe, after whom it was named, no longer kept it, but had refigned it to his fon, who was abfent, fo that there were r,one but women in the houfe. Mr. Dillon, who had gone on a little before, had the greateft difficulty in the world to perfuade them to kill fome chickens; our fupper was but indifferent, and as foon as it was over, and we had got near the fire, we faw thefe
women, to the number of four, take our
place
place at table, and eat the remainder of it, with an American dragoon, who was fta-tioned there.   This gave us fome uneafinefs for our fervants, to whom they left in fact a very trifling portion.   On anting one of them, a girl of fixteen, and tolerably handfome, fome queftions the next morning, I learnt that fhe, as well as her fiffer, who was fpmething older, did not belong to the family; but that having been driven by the favages from the neighbourhood of Wyoming, where they lived, they had taken refuge in this part of the country, where they worked for a livelihood, and that being intimate with Mrs. Moorhoufe, they took a pleafure in helping her, when there were many travellers; for this road is at prefent much frequented.    Obferving this poor girl's eyes filled with tears in relating her misfortune, I became more interefted, and on defiring farther particulars, fhe told me, that her brother was murdered, almoft before her eyes, and that fhe had barely time fo fave herfelf on foot, by running as faft: as fhe could   that fhe had travelled in this banner fifty miles, with her feet covered with blood, before fhe found a horfe. In
other
other refpects me was in no want, nor did ihe experience any mifery. That is a burthen almoft unknown in America. Strangers and fugitives, thefe unfortunate lifters had met with fuccours. Lodgings, and nourishment, are never wanting in this country ; cloathing is more difficult to procure, from the dearnefs of all forts of fluffs; but for this they ftrive to find a fubftitute by their own labour. I gave them a Louis to buy fome articles of drefs with, my Aides de Camp, to whom I communicated the ftory, made them a prefent likewife, and this little act of munificence being foon made known to the miftrefs of the houfe, obtained us her efleem, and fhe appeared very penitent for having fhewn fo much repugnance to kill her chickens.
The 5th we fet out at nine, and rode, without flopping, to Fifh kill, where we arrived at half paft two, after a four-and-twenty miles journey through very bad roads. I alighted at Boer orris tavern, which I knew to be the fame I had been at two years before, and kept by Mrs. Egremont. The houfe was changed for the better, and we made a very good fupper.   We paffed
the North-river as night came on, and ar* rived at fix o'clock at Newburgh, where I found Mr. and Mrs. Wafhington, Colonel Tilgbam,  Colonel Humphreys, and Major Walker.   The head quarters of Newburgh confift of a fingle houfe, neither 'vaft nor commodious, which is built in the Dutch fafhion. Thelargeft room in it (which was the proprietor's parlour for his family, and which General Wafhington has converted into his dining room) is in truth tolerably fpacious, but it has feven doors, and only one window.   The chimney, or rather the chimney back, is againft the wall   fo that there is in fact but one vent for the fmoke, and the fire is in the room itfelf.   I found the compony affembled in a fmall room which ferved by way of parlour.   At nine fupper was ferved, and when the hour of bedtime came, I found that the chamber, to which the General conducted me, was the very parlour I fpeak of, wherein he had made them place a camp-bed.   We affembled at breakfaft the next morning at ten, during which interval my bed was folded up, and my chamber became the fitting-room for the whole afternoon ; for American manners
do
do not admit of a bed in the room in which company is received, efpecially when there are women. The fmailnefs of the houfe, and the difficulty to which I faw that Mr. and Mrs. Wafhington had put themfelves to receive me, made me apprchenfive left Mr. Rochambeau, who was to fet out the day after mej by travelling as faft, might arrive on the day that I remained there. I refolved therefore to fend to Fifh-kill to meet him, with a requeft that he would ftay there that night. Nor was my precaution fuperfluous, for my exprefs found him already at the landing, where he flept, and did not join us till the next morning as I was fetting out. The day I remained at head quarters was paffed either at table or in converfation. General Hand, A -jutant General, Colonel Reed of New Hampfhire, and Major Graham dined with us. On the 7th I took leave of General Wafhington, nor is it difficult to imagine the pain this feparation gave me; but I have too much pleafure in recollecting the real tendernefs with which it affected him, not to take a pride in mentioning it. Colonel
Tilghman
Tilghman got on horfeback to fhew me, in the road, the barracks that ferve as winter quarters for the American army, which were not quite finifhed,   though the fea-fon was already far advanced, and the cold very fevere. They are fpacious, healthy, and well built, and confift in a row of log-houfes containing two chambers, each inhabited by eight foldiers when complear, which makes commonly from five to fix effectives ; a fecond range of barracks is def-tined for the non-commifTioned officers. Thefe barracks are placed in the middle of the woods, on the Hope of the hills, and within reach of water; as the great object is a healthy and convenient fituation ; the army are on feveral lines, not exactly parallel with each other.   But it will appear fingular in Europe, that thefe barracks fhould be built without a bit of iron, not even nails, which would render the work tedious and difficult, were not the Americans very expert in putting wood together-After viewing the barracks, I regained the high road; but palling before General Gates's houfe, the fame that General Knox inhabited
bited in 1780, I flopped fome time to make a vifit of politenefs. The remainder of the" day I had very fine weather, and I flopped and baited my horfes at an inn in the townfhip of Cbefier. In this inn I found nothing but a woman, who appeared good and ho-nefl, and who had charming children. This route is little peopled, but new fet-tlements are forming every day. Before we reached Chefler we paffed by a bridge of wood, over a creek, called Murderers river, which falls into the North River, above New Windfor, on the other fide of Chefler j I flill kept fkirting the ridge of mountains which fepar^tes this country from the Clove. Warwick, where I flept, a pretty large place for fo wiJd a country, is twelve miles from Chefler, and twenty-eight from Newburghj I lodged here in a very good inn kept by Mr. Smith, the fame at whofe houfe I had flept two years before at Cheat, which was much inferior to this. The American army having, for two years pafl, had their winter quarters near Weflpoint, Mr. Smith imagined, with reafon, that this road would be more frequented than that of Paramus,
and
and* he had taken this inn of a Mr. Beard, at whofe houfe we flopped next day to breakfaff. The houfe had been given up to him with fome furniture, and he had upwards of one hundred and fifty acres of land belonging to it, for the whole of which he paid feventy pounds, (currency) making about one hundred piffoles. I had every reafon to be content both with my old acquaintance and the new effablifhment*
The next morning, the 7th, we fet out before breakfaft, and the fnow began to fall as foon as we got on horfeback, which did not ceafe till we got to Beard's tavern. This houfe was not near fo ^ood as the other, but the workmen were bufy in augmenting it. On enquiring of Mr. Beard, who is an Irifhman, the reafon of his quitting his good houfe at Warwick to keep this inn, he informed me, that it was a fet-tlement he was forming for his fon-in-law, and that as foon as he had put it in order, he fhould return to his houfe at Warwick. This Mr. Beard had long lived as a merchant at New-York, and even fold books, which I learnt from obferving fome good
Vol. II. X ones
3o6 TR.AVELS IN
ones at his houfe, amongft others, Human Prudence, which I purchafed of him. It ceafed Inowing at noon, and the weather moderated ; but in the afternoon it returned in blafts, for .which however I was indemnified by the beautiful effect produced by the fetting-fun amidft the clouds, its rays being reflected on the eaft, and forming a fort of parhelion.   Towards the evening the weather became very cold, and we reached Sujfex an hour before dark, and took up our lodgings at Mr. Willis's. The fire being not well lighted in the room intended for me, I ftepped into the parlour, where I found feveral  people who appeared to b*e collected together upon bufinefs ; they had, according to cuftom, drank a good quantity of grog,   one of them, called Mr. Archibald Stewart, fmelt pretty flrong.   A converfalion took place among us, and Mr. Poops, formerly Aide de Camp to General "Dickinfon, and at prefent a rich landholder in the Jerfeys,  having learnt *   that I was going to Bethlehem ;:, or imagining
* Bethlehem is a fort of colony founded by the Moravian brethren,   frequently called Rerrenhuter.
gining fb from the queftions I afked about the roads, very obligingly invited me to come the next day and fleep at his houfe. His houfe is on the banks of the Delaware, twenty-fix miles from Suffex, thirteen from Eaflon, and twenty-four from Bethlehem. At firft I had fome difficulty in accepting his offer, from the apprehenfion one naturally has of being flraitened onefelf, or of ftraitening others. He infifled however fo ffrongly, and affured me fo often that I fhould find no inn, that I partly promifed to lie at his houfe the following night. Thefe gentlemen, and he in particular, gave me every neceffary information ; and, as I was defirous of feeing Moravian Mill *, a village fituated near Eaflon, four miles above Suffex, he directed me to Mr. Cal-ver, who keeps a fort of an inn there. The company went away, and we paffed a very X 2 agreeable
It was to fee this eftablilhment, and the town of Eaflon and the Upper Delaware that I quitted the ordinary route, which leads from New Windfor to Philadelphia.
* This is a property they have purchafed in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem.
agreeable evening by a good fire, hugging ourfelves at not being expofed to the fevere cold we experienced on ftirring out of the houfe. We were alfo well content with our landlord, Mr. Willis, who feemed to be a gallant man, and very convertible. He was born at Elizabeth-town, but has been fixteen years fettled at Suffex. Thus does population advance into the interior parts, and go in fearch of new countries.
I fet out the 8th a little before nine, the weather being extremely cold, and the roads covered with fnow and ice; but on quitting the Ridge, and turning towards the weft, by defcending from the high mountains to lower ground, we found the temperature more mild, and the earth entirely free. We arrived at half paft eleven at the Moravian Mill, and, on flopping at Mr. CaherSy found that Mr. Poops had announced our coming, and that breakfaft was prepared for us *. This frefli attention on his part, encouraged me to accept
his
* The. Moravian left is pretty generally known in-Europe.  They arc the followers of the famous
his offer for the evening.   As foon as we had breakfafled, Mr. Calver, who had treat-X3 ed
Count Zin%endorj'*whofe picture they have at Bethlehem ; they have feveral eftablifhments in Europe, fimiliar to thofe the Marquis is about to fpeak .of, one of which I have feen at Zleji near Utrecht, where Louis the XlVrh took up his quarters, but America feems to be the promifed land of feftaries. Even the defpifed, ill treated Jews, are well received jn the United States, and begin to be very numerous ; many of them were excellent citizens dur ring the fevere trial of the war, and fome even loft their lives as foldiers, gallantly righting for the liberties of their country. One family, in particular, I believe of the name of Salvador, at Rhode Ifland, was moft eminently diftinguifhed. What a glorious field is this for unprejudiced philanthropic fpecu-Jation ! Translator.
* The following account of the Moravians is taken from a tranflation from the German, of an account of that body, by the
Reverend B. La Trobc.-" The feet of the Vttttas fratrum,
t* more commonly known by the names of Herrenhuters and Mo-" ravians, was at firft formed by Nicholas Lewis, Count of Zin-*f zendorff, at Bartheldorf in Upper Lufetia* in the year 1722. t* Finding his followers incrcafe, particularly from Montvia, he ** built an houfe in a wood near Bartheldorf for their public P meetings : and, before the end of the year 173a, this place grew f* into a village, which was called Herrnhuth, and contained fi about fix hundred inhabitants, all of them following Zinzcn-44 dorff, and leading a kind of monaftic life. From this time 4i the fedt has fprcad its branches from Germany, through all the
ed us with an anxiety and refpeft, more German than American, ferved, us by way of conductor, and led us firft to fee the faw-mill, which is the moft beautiful, and the beft contrived I ever faw. A fingle man only is neceffary to direct the work, the fame wheels which keep the faw in motion, ferve alfo to convey the trunks of trees from the fpot where they are depofited to the work-houfe, a diftance of twenty-five or thirty toifes ; they are placed on a fledge, which Hiding on a groove, is drawn by a rope which rolls and unrolls on the axis of the wheel itfelf. Planks are fold at fix fhil-Iings, Penfylvania currency (about three Shillings and four-pence fterling) the hundred ; if you find the wood, it is only half the money, and the plank in that cafe is
fawed
" Proteflant flares in Europe, made confiderable eftablifhments " on the continent of America, and Weftern Ifles, and extended V itfelf to the Eaft-Indies, and into Africa. In England, Mo-" ravian congregations are formed at London, Bedford, Oak-«' brook near Derby, Pudfey near Leeds, Dunkerfield in Chefhire, - *' Leominfter, Haverford Weft, Briftol, Kingfwood, Bath, and «' Tetherton." Their fettlements are becoming very numerous too, but not their population, in all the different States in tale American Union. Translator^
(awed for one farthing per foot *: This mill is near the fall of a lake which fur-
nifhes
* It is remarked, that on the lands within reach of the M oravian fcttlements, the cultivation is fuperior, and every branch of hulbandry is better carried on, firft, from the emulation excited by thefe induffrious people, and fecondly, from the fupply the countryman procures from them of every neceffary implement of hulbandry, &c. fabricated in thefe fettle-ments.   Befldes thofe the Marquis fpeaks of, I vifit -cd fome others, not far from Bethlehem, at one of which, called Nazareth, is a famous gunfmith, from whom my friend Major Pierce Butler, bought a pair of piftols, many of which I faw there of the moft perfect, workmanfhip.   Nothing can be more enchanting than thefe eftablifhments; out of the fe-queftered wildernefs they have formed well built towns, vaft edifices allofitone, large orchards, beautiful and regular fhaded walks in the European fafhion, and feem to combine with the moft compleat fe pa rati on for the world, all the comforts and even many of the luxuries of polifhed life.   At one of their cleared-out fettlements, in the midft of a forcft, between Bethlehem and Nazareth, poiTeffing all the advantages of mills and manufactures, I was aftonifh-edwith the delicious founds of an Italian concerto, but my furpnze was ftill greater on entering a room where the performers turned out to be common workmen of different trades, playing for their amufement. At
mines it with water. A deep cut is made in a rock to form a canal for conducting the waters to the corn-mill, which is built within mufket-fhot of the former; it is very handfome, and on the fame plan with that of Mrs. Bowling at Peterfburgh, but not fo large. From the mill I went to the church, which is a fquare building, containing the houfe of the minifier. The place where the duty is performed, and which may properly be called the church, is on the frit floor, and refembles the Pref-byterian meeting-houfes, with this difference, that there is an organ and lome religious pictures      This houfe of prayer,
fo
each of thefe places, the brethren have a common room, where violins and other ihftruments are fuf-pended, and always at the fervice of fuch as chufe to relax themfelves, by playing fingly, or taking a par* in a concert. Translator.
* The Moravians appear to me to be a feet between the Methodifts and the Catholics ; at Nazareth, I met with an old Gloucefterfhire roan, who came to America with the late Mr. Whitfield, with whom I had much converfation, and who told me that that gentleman was much refpe&ed, both living and dead, by the Moravians; but, indeed, belides
fo Angularly placed, reminded me of a ftory I heard at Bofton. Divine fervice was formerly celebrated there in one of their places of worfhip, where the faithful were not affembled, ris true, on the firft floor, but which, lijie this, contained the minifter's houfe, below which were cellars. The pallor, a very learned man in other refpects? befides his fpirjtual functions, carried on a
trade
that, their hymns refemble much thofe of our Metho-diils, by fpiritualizing even the groffeft carnaltransactions , I found that they ail fpoke of him as one of their own feet, but utterly difclaimed Mr. Wefley. 7tiey are very fond of pictures reprefenting the Paf-Jion, to which they pay a relpedt little fhort, if at all, of idolatry. Their carnai allufions are fully verified in rhe following hymn taken from one of their books in the Moravian chapel at Pudfey in England, in 1773, 311 allufion than which nothing can be more jniamous and lhocking.
\\ And lhe fo bleffed is, She gives him many a kifs: Fix'd are her eyes on him ; Thence moves her every limb -> And fince lhe him fo loves, She only with him moves : His matters and his blood Appear her only good."
Translator.
trade in wine; that is to fay, a great •deal of it went out of his cellar, but riot a drop ever entered it. A fimple negro fervant he had, ufed to fay, that his mafter was a great faint, for that he employed him every year in rolling into his cellar a number of calks of cyder, over which, when he had preached and prayed a few Sundays, they were converted into wine.
On coming out of church I perceived Mr. Poops, who had taken the trouble to come and meet me. We mounted on horfeback together, and after palling through a toler, ably fertile valley, in which are fome beautiful farms, chiefly Dutch, and well cultivated fields, we arrived in the evening at his houfe. It is a charming fettlement, confiding of a thoufand acres of land, the greateft part of which is in tillage, with a fine corn-mill, a faw-mill, and diftillery. The manor-houfe is fmall, but neat and handfome. He conducted us into a parlour, where we found Mrs. Poops, his wife, Mrs. Scotland his mother-in-law, and Mr^ Scotland his brother-in-law. Mrs. Poops has a pleafing countenance, fomewhat injured
jured by habitual bad health, her behaviour is that of an accomplifhed woman, and her converfation amiable. The evening was fpent very agreeably, partly in converfation, and partly at play ; for Mrs. Poops gave me a leftbn of backgammon, and I gave her one of irk trac. I had fome converfation alfo with Mr. Scotland, a young man, who though but fix-and-twenty, has made three campaigns, as Captain of artillery, and is now a lawyer of great practice. I have already obferved that this is the mofl: refpec-table, and moft lucrative profeffion in America. He told me that he ufually received, for a fimple confultation, four dollars, and fometimes half a Joe ; (thirty-fix millings fterling) and when the action is commenced fo much is paid for every writ, and every deed, for in America lawyers act likewife in the capacity of notaries and attornies. I had much pleafure in converfing with Mr. Poops, who is a man of a good education, well informed, and active, and concerned in a variety of bufinefs, which he conducts with great intelligence. He had been employed in the Commiffary's department
meht when General Green * was Quarter* Mafter General, and made extraordinary exertions to fupply the army, which rendered him fo obnoxious to the tories, that he was for a long time obliged to remain armed in his houfe, which he barricaded every night. The fupper was as agreeable as the preceding part of the evening; the ladies retired at eleven, and we remained at table till midnight. Mr. Poops's brother arrived as we were at the defert; he appeared to me a fenfible man, he had married in Virginia the daughter of Colonel Finis,, who had efpoufed one of his fillers. He was now a widower.
The next day, the ioth of December, we breakfafled with the ladies, and fet out at half pafl ten ; Mr. Poops accompanying
me
* The Gazettes have jufl announced the death of General Green. In him America has loft one of her beft citizens, and moft able foldiers. It is his greatcft eulogium to fay, that he ftood high with General Wafhington, who recommended him to. Congrefs, and that he amply juftified the opinion, entertained of him by that great, good man.
Translator.
me to Eajlon, where he had fent to prepare dinner.   I mould have preferred my ufual cuftom of making my repaft at the end of my day's journey, but it was neceffary for a little complaifance to return the civilities I had received.   Two miles from the houfe of Mr. Poops we forded a fmall river, and travelled through an agreeable and well cultivated country.    Some miles before we came to Eaflon, we paffed over a height from whence one difcovers a vafl tract of country, and amongft others, a chain of mountains, which Mr. Poops defired us to remark.   It forms a part of that great chain which traverfes all America from South to North*.   He pointed out to us two hiatus, or openings, refembling two large doors or windows, through one of which flows the river Delaware ; the other is a gap leading to the other fide of the mountains, and is the road to Wyoming, a pafs become celebrated
* Thefe are called the Kittatinny mountains. For an account of this hiatus, or gap, fee Mr. Charles Yhompfons Obfervations on Mr. Jefferfon's Notes on yirginia, under the account of the National Bridge.
Translator.
brated by the march of General Sullivan in 1779 *. Before we got to Eaflon, we palfed,
in
* Sec the firft Journal, where the author gives an account of his converfations with General Schuyler. In whatever manner this expedition was fet on foot, which took place in 1779, after the evacuation of Philadelphia, and the divcrfion made by d'Eftaing's fquadron, the greatefl difficulty to furmount was, the long march to be nr.idc through woods, deferts, and moraffes, conveying all their provifions on'beafls of burthen, and being continually expofed to the attacks of the favages.    The inftrudtions given by General Sullivan to his officers, the order of march he prefcribed to the troops, and the difcipline he had the ability to maintain, would have done honour to the mofl experienced amongft ancient or modern Generals. It may fafely beafferted, that the Journal of this expedition would lofe nothing in acomparifon with the famous retreat of the ten thoufand, which it would refemble very much, if we could compare the manoeuvres, the object of which is attack, with thofe which have no other than the prcfervation of a forlorn army.   General Sullivan, after a month's march, arrived, without any check, at the entrenched camp, the laft refuge of the favages ; here he attacked them, and was received with great courage, infomuch that the victory would have remained undecided, had not the Indians loft many of their Chiefs in battle, which never fails to intimidate them, and retreated during
the
in ferry boats, the eaftern branch of the Delaware; for this town is lituated on the fork formed by the two branches of that river. It is a handfome, though inconfi-derable town, but which will probably enlarge itfelf on a peace, when the Americans, no longer under apprehenfions from the favages, fhall cultivate anew the fertile lands between the Sufquehannah and the Delaware. Mr. Poops took us to the tavern of Mr. Smith, who is at once an innkeeper and lawyer. He has a handfome library, and his fon, whom Mr. Poops prefented to me on my arrival, appeared to be a well educated and well informed young man. I invited him to dinner, as well as another youth who boarded with him, a native of Dominica, who had come to compleat his
ftudies
the night. The General dcltroycd their houfes and plantations, fince which they have never fhewft themfelves in a body. However flight and infufh-cient the idea may be that I have given of this campaign, it may, neverthclefs, aftonilh our European military men, to learn that General Sullivan was only a lawyer in 1775, and that in the year 1780 he quitted the army to refume his profefTion, and is now Civil Governor of New Hampfhire.
iludies amongft the Americans, to whom he feemed much more attached than to the Englifh. He had made choice or Eafton as more healthy, and more peaceable than the other towns of America, and found all the neceffary inftrudion in the leffons and the books of Mr. Smith. As they knew of my coming, we did not wait long for dinner, and at half paft three we got on horfebackj Mr. Poops being ftill fo good as to accompany me a mile or two, to obtain my per-miflion for which, he pretended that there was a crofs road where I might lofe myfelf. At length we parted, leaving me penetrated with*gratitude for his numerous civilities. Before 1 loft fight of Eafton I flopped upon a hill, from whence I admired, for fome time, the pidlurefque coup d'ml prefented by the two branches of the Delaware *, and the confufed and whimfical form of the mountains*
* In travelling over this hill; the Tranflator flopped near an hour to view this noble and enchanting profpect, with which it is impofuble to fatiate the eye. Nothing can be more delightful than the town and neighbourhood of Eafton.
Translator.
N 6 R T H - A M E R 1 C A. jjj,
tains, through which they purfue their courfe. When I was fatisfied with this ipectacle, it was neceffary to pufh forward to reach Bethlehem before night, and we travelled the eleven miles in two hours, but not before the day Was clofed We had Vol. II. Y ncy
* The firft time I vifited Bethlehem was from Philadelphia, and after travelling two days through a country alternately diverfified with favage fcenes and cultivated fpots, on iffuing out of the woods at the ciofe of the evening, in the month of May, found myfelf on a beautiful extenfive plain, with the vaft eaftern branch of the Delaware on the right, richly interfperfed with wooded iflands, and at the difbmce of a mile in front of the town of Bethlehem, rearing its large ftone edifices out of a foreft, lituated oil, a majeftic, but gradually riling eminence, the back ground formed by the fetting fun. So novel and unexpected a tranfition filled the mind with a thoufand lingular and fublime ideas, and made an imprefhon on me, never to be effaced. The romantic and pidf urefque effect of this glorious difplay of natural beauties, gave way to the ftill more noble and in-terefting fenfations, arifing from a reflection on the progrefs of the arts and fciences, and the fublime anticipation of the " populous cities," and '< bufy *' hum of men," which are one day to occupy, and to civilize the vaft wildemclfes of the New World.
Translator.
no difficulty in finding the tavern, for it is precifely at the entrance of the town.
1 his tavern was built at the expence of the Society of Moravian Brethren, to whom it ferved formerly as a magazine, and is very handfome and fpacious *.   The perfon who
keeps
* This inn, for its external appearance, and its interior accommodations, is not inferior to the beft of the large inns in England, which, indeed, it very much refcmblcs in every refpecl. The firft time I was at Bethlehem, in company with my friends Major Pierce Builcr■, Mr. Thomas Elliot, and Mr. Charles Pinkney, Carolina gentlemen, we remained here two or three days, and were conftantly fupplicd with venifon, moor game, the moft delicious red and yellow bellied Trout, the higheft flavoured wild strawberries, the moft luxuriant afparagus, and the beft vegetables, in fhort, I ever faw ; and notwithstanding the difficulty of procuring good wine and fpirits at that period, throughout the Continent, we were here regaled with rum and brandy of the beft quality, and exquiflte old Port and Madeira. It was to this houfe that the Marquis dc la Fayette retired, to be cured of the firft wound he received in fighting for America ; an accident, which I am well aflured gave this gallant young nobleman more pleafure than moft of our European pctits maitres would receive from the moft flattering proofs of the favour of a miftrefs. Mr. Charles Pinkney, whom I have above mentioned,
is
keeps it is only the cafhier, and is obliged to render an account to the adminiftrators. As we had already dined, we only drank tea, but ordered a breakfaffc for the next morning at ten o'clock. The landlord telling me there was a Grow/1% or heath bird, in the houfe, I made him bring it, for I had long had a great defire to fee one. I foon obferved that it was neither the Pouk de Pharaon, nor the Heath Cock;
Y 2 it
is a young gentleman at prefent in Congrefs for South Carolina, and who, from the intimate knowledge I have of his excellent education and ftrong talents, will, I venture to predidt, whenever he pleafes to exert them, Hand forth amongft the moft eminent citizens of the new confederation of Republics. It is my boaft and pride to have co-operated with him, when he was only at the age of twenty, in the defence of the true principles of liberty, and to have feen productions from his pen, which, in point of composition, and of argument, would have done honour to the head and heart of the moft experienced and moft virtuous politician. Should the prefent Work ever fall into his hands, let him recognize in this juft tribute to his worth, an affectionate friend, ^vho, knowing his abilities, wifhes to excite him to exertion, in the noble, but arduous field before mtn- Translator.
it was about the fize of a Pheafarit, but had a fhort tail, and the head of a Capon, which it refembled alfo in the form of its body, and its feet were covered with down. This bird is remarkable for two large tranf-verfe feathers below his head ; the plumage of his belly is a mixture of black and white, the colour of his wings of a red grey, like our grey Partridges. When the Growfe is roafted, his flefh is black like that of a Heath Cock, but it is more delicate, and has a higher flavour *•
I could not derive much information from my landlord on the origin, the opinions, and manners of the fociety, but he informed me that I fhould next day fee the minifters and adminiflrators, who would gratify my curiofity. The nth, at half paft eight, I walked out with a Moravian, given me by the landlord, but who was likewife ill informed, and only ferved me
as
* This bird mutt be what we call the black or grey game, and not what is known by the name of Greivfe in England. Translator.
as a guide *. He was a feaman, who imagines he has fome talents for drawing, and amufes himfelf with teaching the young people, having quitted the fea fince the war, where, however, he had no fcruple in fending his fon f. He fubiifts on a fmall Y 3 eftate
* Our company was much more fortunate, Major Butler having obtained letters from Philadelphia to Mr. Van Vleck, a man of property, living here, but formerly of New-York. Translator.
f It is remarkable enough, that the fon of this Moravian, whofe name is Garrifon,  mould have ferved on  board a veffel with   me,   and was, without exception,  the moft worthlefs profligate fellow we had in a mixt crew of Englifh, Scotch, Irifh, and Americans, to all of whom his education had been infinitely fuperior.   Neither bolts nor bars could prevent, nor any chaftifement correct, his pilfering difpofition.   In a long winter's voyage of thirteen weeks, with only provifions and water for five, this fellow was the bane and peft of officers, pafTenjgers, and feamen.   Whilft every other man in thelfiip, even the moft licentious in profperity, fub-mitted to regulations laid down to alleviate our dreadful fufferings, and preferve our lives, this hardened, unreflecting wretch, ignorant of every feeling of fympathy and human nature, feemed to take a favage delight in diffufing mifery around him, and adding to the diftretTes of his fellow fuffercrs. He
had
eftato he has at Reading, but lives at Beth-lchcm, where he and his wife board in a private family. We went firft to vifit the houie for Jingle women. This edifice is fpa-cious, and built with ftone. It is divided, into feveral large chambers, all heated with-fcoves, in which the. girls work, fome coarfe work, fuch as fpinning cotton, hemp, and wool, others, work of tafte and luxury, fuch as embroidery, either in thread, or filk, and they excel particularly in working ruffles, little pocket-books, pin-cufhions, &c. like our French nuns. The fuperin-tendant of the houfe came to receive us. She is a woman of family, born in Saxony ; her name is Madame de Gqftorjf but £he does not prefume upon her birth, and appeared furprized at my giving her my hand, as often as wc went up and down flairs *.
She
had been well educated in the humane principles of the Moravians, but he truly verified the juft adage cf Ccrruptlo optimi pcjjlma. Translator.
* When the Tranilator vifited Bethlehem, the fuperintendant, or at leaft her deputy, was a Mrs. Langley, a very mild pretty behaved Englifh woman, who had been a follower of George Whit* £dd, Translator,
She conduced us to the firft, floor, where fhe made us enter a large vaulted apartment, kept perfectly clean, in which all the women fleep, each having a hed a-part, in which is plenty of feathers *. There is never any fire in this room, and though it be very high and airy; a ventilator is fixed in the roof like thofe in our play-houfes.   The kitchen is not large, but it is clean, and well arranged; in it there are immenfe earthen pots, upon furnaces, as in our hofpitals.    The inhabitants of the -   houfe dine in the refectory, and are ferved every day with meat and vegetables ; they have three fhillings and fixpence currency per week, about fourpence per day, to the common ffock, but they have no fupper, and I believe the houfe furnifhes only bread for breakfaft.    This expence, and what they pay for fire and candle deducted, they enjoy the produce of their labour, which is more than  fufficient to maintain them.
This
* The Americans in general are remarkably fond of very large foft feather beds, even in the hotteft climates, and we fuffered greatly in this particular, at the inn at Bethlehem. Translator.
This houfe alfo has a chapel, which ferves only for evening prayer, for they go to their church on Sundays.   There is an organ in this chapel, and I faw feveral inilru* ments fufpended upon nails.   We quitted Madame de Gaftorff well pleafed with her reception, and went to the church, which is fimple, and differs little from that we had feen at  Moravian mill.    Here alfo are feveral religious pictures.   From hence we went to the houfe of the fingle men.    I entered the intendant's apartment, whom I found employed in copying mufic.   He had in nib room an indifferent/or^ piano, made in Germany.   I talked with him on mufic, and difcovered that he was not only a performer, but a compofer.   So that on his accompanying us to the chapel, and being afked to touch the organ, he played fome voluntaries, in which he introduced a great deal of harmony, and progrefiions of bafe. This man, whofe name 1 have forgot, is a native of New-York,   but  refided feven years in Germany, whence he had lately arrived.   I found him better informed than thofe I had yet met with, yet it was with
fome
fome difficulty that I got from him the following details: The Moravian brethren, in whatever quarter of the world they live, are under the difcipline of their metropolitans, who refide in Germany*, from whence commilfaries are fent to regulate the different eftablifhments. The fame metropolitans advance the fums neceffary for forming them, which are paid in proportion as thefe Colonies profper; thus the revenue of the mills I have fpoken of, as well as the farms and manufactures of Bethlehem, are employed in the firft inftance to pay the ex-pences of the community, and afterwards to reimburfe the fums advanced in Europe. Bethlehem, for example, poffefTes a terri^ torial property, purchafed by the Moravians in Europe, which confifts of fifteen hundred acres of land, forming a vaft farm, which is
managed
* The Moravians maintain a conftant intercourfe with Germany in particular, of which country thofe in America are chiefly natives, and think nothing of a voyage to Europe. Governor Jofeph Reed, of Philadelphia, had a fon here, learning the German language, when I was at Bethlehem.
Translator.
managed by a fteward> who accounts for it to the community. If an individual wants a lot of land, he muff purchafe it of the public, but under this refr.ricr.ion, that in cafe of defection from the feet, or emigration from the place, he fhall reftore it to the community, who. will reimburfe him the original payment. As to their opinions, this feci: refembles more the Lutherans, than the Calvinifb; differing, however, from the latter, by admitting mufic, pictures, &c. into their churches, and from the- former, by having no Bifhops, and being governed: by a Synod *. Their police, or difcipline, is of the monaftic kind, fince they recommend celibacy, but without enjoying it, and keep the women fepa-rate from the men. There is a particular houfe, alfo, for the widows, which I did-not vifit. The two fexes being thus habitually feparated, none of thofe familiar connexions exifr, between them, which lead to
marriage j
* I do not fpeak with confidence, but am inclined to think that they have Bifhops, at leaft a perfon was pointed out to us at Bethlehem, under that denomination. Translator,
N OR TH- AMERICA. 331
marriage; nay, it is even contrary to the fpirit of the feet, to marry from inclination.   If a young man finds himfelf fuffi-ciently at his eafe to keep houfe for himfelf, and maintain a wife and children, he prefents himfelf to  the commiflary, and afks for a girl, who (after confulting with the fuperintendant of the women) {Tranflator} propofes one to him, which he may, in fact, refufe to accept; but it is contrary to the cuflom, to choofe a wife for himfelf. Accordingly, the Moravian Colonies have not multiplied, in any proportion, to the other American Colonies.   That at Bethlehem is compofed of about fix hundred perfons, more than half of whom live in 3 ffate of celibacy ; nor does it appear that it has encreafed for feveral years.   Every precaution is taken to provide for the fubfiffence of their brethren, and in the houfes deflined for the unmarried of both fexes, there are matters who teach them different trades.
The houfe of the fingle men which I faw in detail, does not differ from that of the women; I fhall only take notice of a very convenient method they have of
awakening
awakening thofe who wifh to be called up at any given hour all their beds are numbered, and near the door is a flate, on which all the numbers are regiftered. A man who wifhes to be awakened early, at five o'clock in the morning for example, has only to write a figure of 5 under his number, the watchman who attends the chamber, obferves this in going his rounds, and at the hour appointed, the next morning goes flraight to the number of the bed without troubling himfelf about the name of the fleeper.
Before I left the houfe, I mounted on the roof, where there is a Belvidere, from whence you fee the little town of Bethlehem, and the neighbourhood 5 it is compofed of feventy or eighty houfes, and there are fome others belonging to the colony at the distance of a mile or two; they are all handfome and built with ftone *.   Every houfe
has
X OvSI'    ^^f*'**v -m*£ -9m\iKr,\\i&c£l^+.
* From this Belvidere the view is beautifully ro. mantic, and amongft other objects on the eaftern tide of the Delaware, you fee a cultivated farm formed outflf an immenfe wood and near the fummit of
a; lofty mountain, which 1 likewife vifited, and every
NORTH- AM ERICA 333
has a garden cultivated with care. In returning home I was curious to fee the farm, which is kept in good order, but the infide was neither fo clean, nor fo well kept as in the Englifh farm-houfes, becaufe the Moravians are Itill more barbarous than their language. At length at half pah: ten I returned to the inn, where I was expected by my moor fowl, two woodhens, and many other good things, fo that I was ftill better fatisfied with my breakfaft than with my walk *. At twelve we fet out to travel twenty miles farther, to Kalfs tavern, a German houfe very poor and filthy. We had paffed the eaftern branch of the Delaware
ftep of which gives you the idea of enchanted ground. Belides the particular gardens to each private houfe there is a Jarge public walk belonging to the community, nay, the church-yard itfelf is a gay fcene of beauty and regularity, the verdent turf being clad in fummer with flrawberries and flowers.
Translator.
* Notwlthftanding the good cheer at the tavern, the author, and I hope the reader, will pardon me for not crediting this declaration.
Translator.
ware a mile from Bethlehem * j there is neither town nor village on the road, but the burghs to which the fcattered houfes we faw, belonged, are called Socconock and Springfield. The 12th I breakfafted at Montgomery, twelve miles from KalPs tavern, and palling Whitemarfh and German town, we arrived towards five at Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, 24thofDcc. 1782.
* The eaftern branch of the Delaware which paffes by Bethlehem, and forms a junction with theJ weflcrn at Eafton, is here called the Lccha. There is an excellent ferry over this rapid ftream, of which I have fpoken in the firft volume. The Moravians amongft an infinity of other ingenious inventions, have a large hydraulic machine in the middle of the town which is at a great height from the river for raifing the water to fupply the inhabitants. Translator.
LET-
NORTH-A MERIC A.
LETTER
from the
MARQUIS DE CHASTELLUX,
t o
Mr.   MADDISON, *
Profcflbr of Philofophy in the Univerfity of WILLIAM SBURGH.
IHave not forgot, Sir, the promife I made you on leaving Williamfburgh; it reminds me of the friendfhip with which you were pleafed to honour me, and the flattering prejudices in my favour, which were the confequences of it.   I am afraid that I
have
* Mr. Maddifon's fon is a member of the Alfembly, and has ferved in Congrefs for Virginia. This young man, who at the age of 30 aflonilhes the new Republics by his eloquence, his wifdom, and his genius, has had the humanity and the courage, (for fuch a propofition requires no fmall lhare of courage) to propofe a general amancipation of the flaves, at the beginning of this year, 1786 : Mr. Jefferfon's ab-fence at Paris, and the fituation of Mr. Iflythe, as
one
have undertaken more than I am able to perform; but I mall at leaft addrefs you in the language of fincerity, in the fort of literary bankruptcy I am now about to make.—By putting you in full polTeilion of my feeble refources, however, I may perhaps obtain a ftill further portion of that indulgence, to which you have fo frequently accuftomed me. The fubje£t on which I rather thought of afking information from you, than of offering you my ideas, would require long and tranquil meditation, and fince I quitted Virginia, I have been continually travelling, fometimes from duty with the troops, at others to gratify my curiofity in the eaftern parts of America, aS far even as New Hampfhire. But even had my time been fubject to lefs interruption,
I am
one of the judges of the State, which prevented them from lending their powerful fupport, occafioned it to mifcarry for the moment, but there is every reafon to fuppofe that the proportion will be fuccefs-fully renewed. As it is, the alfembly have palfed a law declaring that there (hall be no more Haves in the Republic but thole exilting the firft day of the feffion of 17^5-6, and the defendants of female flavcs. Translator.
I am not fure that I fhould have been more capable of accomplifhing your wifhes. My mind, aided and excited by yours, experienced an energy it has fince loft; and if in our converfation, I have chanced to exprefs fome ientiments which merited your approbation,, it is not to myfelf that they belonged, but to the party that fpoke with Mr. Maddifon. At prefent I muff appear in all my weaknefs, and with this further difad-vantage, that I want both time and leifure not only to rectify my thoughts, but even to throw them properly on paper. No matter ; I venture on the talk, perfuaded that you will eafily fupply my unavoidable omif-fions, and that the merit of this effay, if there will be any, will be compleated by yourfelf.
The moft frequent object of our conver-fations was the progrefs that the arts and fciences cannot fail of making in America, and the influence they muft neceffarily have on manners and opinions. It feems as if every thing relative to government and legiflation ought to be excluded from fuch dilcuflions,  and undoubtedly a ftranger,
Vol. II. Z fhould
mould avoid as much as poflible, treating matters of which he cannot be a competent judge. But in the phyfical, as in the moral world, nothing frauds ifolated, no caufe acts.fingle and independent. Whether we confider the fine arts, and the enjoyments they produce, as a delicious ambrofia, the gods have thought proper to partake with us, or whether wc regard them as a danger-pus poifon.j that liquor, whether beneficent or fatal, muft always be modified by the velfel into which it is infufed. It is neceffary therefore to fix our attention for a moment on the political conftitution of the people of America, and in doing this, may I be permitted to recal a principle, I have eftablifhed, and developed elfewhere; * which is, that the character, the genius of a people, is not folely produced by the government they have adopted, but by the circumftances under which they were originally formed. Locke, and after him, Rouffeau have obferved that the education of man fhould commence from the cradle,
that
See the'author's work—d< t'a fcliche' publique.
that is to fay, at the moment when he is contracting his firft habits; it is- trie fame with States. I Long do we difcover in the rich and powerful Romans, the fame plunderers collected by Romulus to live by rapine; and in our da^s the French docile and poliflied, poffibly to excefs, flill pre-fe.cve the traces of the feudal fpirit; wh^ft the Englifh ainidft their clamours -agahift the royal authority, continue to manifeft a fefpect for the crown, which Tecals the epoch of the conqueft, and the Norman gcy-vernment. Thus every thing -that is, partakes of what has been; and to attain a thorough knowledge of any people, it is not lefs neceffary to ftudy their hi (lory than their legiflation. If then we wilh to f6rm an idea of the American Republic, we muft be careful not to confound the Virginians, whom warlike as well as mercantile, an ambitious as well as fpeculative genius brought upon the continent,.with the New Englanders who owe their origin to en-thuliafm ; we muft not expect to find pre--.ciisly the fame men in Penfylvania, -where the firft colonifts thought only of keeping and Z 2 cultivate
cultivating the deferts, and in South Carolina where the production of fome exclusive articles fixes the general attention on external commerce, and effablifhes unavoidable connexions with the old world. Let it be obferved, too, that agriculture which was the occupation of the firft. fettlers, was not an adequate means of affimilating the one with the other, fince there are certain fpecies of culture which tend to maintain the equality of fortune, and others to def-troy it.
Thefe are fufficient reafons to prove that the fame principles, the lame opinions, the fame habits do not occur in all the thirteen United State9, although they are fubject nearly to the fame force of government. For, notwithftanding that all their conlfi-tutions are not fimilar, there is through the whole a democracy, and a government of reprefentatton, in which the people give their fuffrage by their delegates.    But if we chufe to overlook thofe fhades which dif-tinguifh this confederated people from each other; if we regard the thirteen States only as one nation, we fhall even then obferve
that
that (he muft long retain the impreilion of thofe chcumftances, which have conducted her to liberty. Every philofopher acquainted with mankind, and who has ftudied the fprings of human action, muft be convinced that, in the prefent revolution, the Americans have been guided by two principles, whilft they imagined they were following the impulfe of only one. He will diftinguifh, a pojitive and a negative principle, in their legiflation, and in their opinions. I call that principle, pofitive, which in fo enlightened a moment as the prefent, Reafon alone could dictate to a people making choice of that government which fuited them the beft; I call that a negative principle which they oppofe to the laws and ufages of a powerful enemy for whom they had contracted a well founded averfion. Struck with the example of the inconveniences offered by the Englifh government, they had recourfe to the oppofite extreme, convinced that it was impofTible to deviate from it too much. Thus a child who has met with a ferpent in his road, is not contented with avoiding it, but flies far from Z 3 the
342 TRAVELS .IN
the fpot where he would be out of danger of his bite.   In England, a feptennial par-, liament invites the.King to purchafe a mar jbrity. on which/he: may;reckon for a long period;' the..-American aifemblies therefore muft be annual s on the other fide of the water, the executive power, too uncontrolled in its action, frequently efcapes the vigilance of the legiflative authority ; on this continent, each officer, each miniffer of the people muft be under the immediate dependence of the afiemblies, fo that his firft care on attaining office, will be to court the popular favour for a new election. Among the Knglifh, employments confer, and procure rank and riches, and frequently elevate their poffeffors to too great a height: among the A mericans, offices .neither conferring wealth, por confederation, will not, itis true, become obiects of intrigue or purchafe, but they will be held in fo little eftimation as to make them avoided, rather than fought afT ter, by the moft enlightened citizens, by which means every employment will fall into the hands of new and untried men, ^ac only perfons- who can expect to hold them to advantage.
In
In continuing to confidcr the thirteen United States under one general point of view, we (hall obferve ftill other circum-, fiances which have influenced as well the principles of the government, as the na--tional lpirit.   Thefe thirteen States were -at firft colonies ; now the firft neceflity felt in all riling colonies is population; I fay in-riling colonies, for I doubt much whether that neceflity exifts at prefent,- fo. much as is   generally imagined.     Of this however I am very fure, that there will ftill be a complaint of want of population, long after the neceflity has ceafed ; America will long continue to reafon as follows: we muft endeavour to draw foreigners amongft us, for which purpofe it is indifpenlibly nece£» fary to afford them every pofiible advantage ; every perfon once within the State, fhall be confidered therefore as a member of that State, as a real citizen.   Thus one year's  refidence in the fame place fhall fuffice to eftablifh him an inhabitant, and every inhabitant fhall have the right of voting, and (hall conftitute a part, of the ibvereign power; from-whence it will re-....... "   4..... —   • ••• \<Mt
fult that this fovereignty will communicate and divide itfelf without requiring any pledge, any fecurity from the perfon who is invefted with it.   This has arifen from not confidering the pombility of other emigrants than thofe from Europe, who are fuppofed to fix themfelves in the firft fpot where they may form a fettlement; we fhall one day however, fee frequent emigrations from State to State j workmen will frequently tranfplant themfelves, many of them will be obliged even to change fixations from the nature of their employments, in which cafe it will not be fingu-lar to fee the elections for a diftrict of Connecticut, decided by inhabitants of Rhode ifland or New York *.
Some
* There are various opinions in America on the fubject. of encouraging emigration. Mr. Jefferfon, for example, a man of profound thought, and great penetration, is of opinion that emigrants from Europe are not defireable, left the ' emigrants bringing with them not only the vices, but the corrupt prejudices of their rcfpeclive ancient governments, may be unable to relith that bold uni-verfal fyftem of freedom and toleration which is a novelty to the pld world ; but I venture to think*
Some political writers, efpecially the more modern, have advanced, that property alone
fhould
and truft, that fuch emigrations will be attended with no bad confequences ; for who will be the emigrants to a country where there are neither gold nor filver mines, and where fubfiftence is alone to be obtained by induftry ? Men of fmall, or no fortunes, who cannot live with comfort, nor bring up a family in Europe; labourers and artizans of every kind ; men of modefly and genius, who are cramped by infurmountable obftacles in countries governed by cabal and intereft ; virtuous citizens compelled to groan in fiience under the effects of arbitrary power ; phibfophers who pant after the liberty of thinking for themfelves, and of giving vent, without danger, to thofe generous maxims which burft from their hearts, and of contributing their mite to the general ftock of enlightened knowledge ; religious men, deprefTed by the hierarchical eftablilhments of every country in Europe ; the friends to freedom ; in fhort, the liberal, generous, and active fpirits of the whole world.—To America, then, I fay with fervency, in the glowing words of Mr. Payne, who is himfelf an Englifh emigrant.—" O! receive the fugitives and prepare in time an afylum for mankind." The hif-tory of the late revolution too, may juftify our hopes, for it is an obfervation, for the truth of w.hich I appeal to fadr, that the Europeans fettled in America were poflefTed of at leafi as mucHj energy, and ferved that country with as much zeal and cn-»
fhould conftitute the citizen. They are of opinion that he alone whofe fortune is ne-celfarily connected with its welfire has a right to become a member of the State. In America* a fpecious anfwer is given to this reafoning; amongft us, fay they, landed property is fo eafily acquired, that every workman who can ufe his hands, may be looked upon as likely foon to become a man of property. But can America remain long in her-prefent fituation r And can the regimen of her infant ftate agree w^th her, now (he has affumed the virile robe ?
The following, Sir, is a delicate queflion which I can only propofe to a philofopher like you. In eftabliftiing amongft themfelves a purely democratic government, had the Americans a real affection for a democracy ? And if they have wifhed all men to be equal, is it not folely, becaufe,
from "
thufiafm in the cabinet, and in the field, as the na» .tivc Americans, and to fpeak with the late Lord Chatham, who faid many abfurd, but more wife things than moft ftatefmcn, " they infufed a portion of new health into the conftitution."
Translator,
NOI'TH-AME R 1C A.
from, the very nature, of things:, they were themfelves nearly in; that fituation? .For. to preferve. a popular government in all its integrity,; it is not fufficient, .not to admit either rank or nobility* riches alone never fail to produce marked differences,' by fo much the greater,, as 'there exift no others. No<v fuch is the prefent happinefs of America that Are. has no poor, that every man-in it enjoys a certain eafe and independence, and that if fome have been able to obtain a fmaller portion of .them than others, they are fo furrounded by refources, that the future is more, looked to, than their prefent fituatiom Such is the general tendency to a ftate. of equality ; that the fame enjoyments which would be deemed.fuperfluous in every other part of the world, are here confidered as neceffaries. Thus the falary of the workman muft not only be equal to his fubfiftence and that of his family, but fupply him with proper and commodious furniture for his. houfe, tea and coffee for his wife, and the filk- gown fhe wears.as often as fhe goes from home; and this.is one of the principal caufes of the fcarcity, pf labpur fp generally attributed tQ the want.
of hands. Now, Sir, let us fuppofe that the increafe of population may one day reduce your artizans to the fituation in which they are found in France and England. Do you in that cafe really believe that your principles are fo truly democratical, as that the landholders and the opulent, will ftill continue to regard them as their equals ?—. I fhall go ftill further, relying on the accuracy of your judgment to teftify every thing you may find too fubtle or too fpeculative in my idea. I fhall aik you then, whether under the belief of poffefling the moft perfect democracy, you may not find that you have infenfibly attained a point more remote from it, than every other Republic. Recollect, that when the Roman fenate was compelled to renounce its principles of tyranny, the very traces of it were fuppofed to be effaced, by granting to the people a participation of the confular honours. That numerous and oppreffed clafs found themfelves exalted by the profpect alone which now lay open to a fmall number of their body, the greateft part of them remained necefiitous, but they confoled themfelves by faying, we may me day become con-
fuls.
fuls.   Now obferve, Sir, that in your prefent form of government, you have not attached either fufficient grandeur, or dignity to any place, to render its pofleffor illultrious, flill lefs the whole clafs from which he may be chofen.   You have thrown far from you all hereditary honours, but have you beftow-ed fufficient perfonal diftinctions ? Have you reflected that thefe diftinctions, far from being lefs confiderable than thofe which took place among the Greeks and Romans, ought rather to furpafs them ? The reafon of this is very obvious: the effect of honours and diftinctions is by fo much the more marked, as it operates on the greater number of men affembled together. When Cneius Duillius, was conducted home on his return from fupper to the found of instruments, the whole city of Rome was witnefs to his triumph : grant the fame honours to  Governor Trumbull * ; three houfes at molt in Lebanon will hear the
fy mphony.
* Mr. Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut, inhabits the town of Lebanon, which occupies'a league of country, and where there arc not fix houfes lefs diftant than a quarter of a mile from each other.
35°       •   T R AV EL SIN
fymphony. Men muft be moved by fo.mc fixed-principle.; Js it not better that this fhould be by vanity than i.nterell:? I have no doubt'thaf love of country will always prove a powerful motiye, but do not flatter yourfelf that this will loffg exiit with the., fame fpirit. The greateft efforts of the mind, like thofe of the body, are in refiHance; and the fame may happen with refpect to the State, as in matters .of opinion, to which we ceafe to be attached, when-they ceafe to be contefled. .
Behold many objects* Sir, which have palled in review before us. We have only glanced at them, but to diftinguifh them more.clearly, requires more penetrating eyes than mine ; you hold the telefcope; do you apply your optics and you will make good ufe of them. My talk will be accomplifh-ed if I can only prove to you that thefe enquiries are not foreign to my fubject. I fhall obferve then "that to know to wrhat precife point, and on what principle you fhould admit the arts and fciences in your nation, it is neceffary firft to uhderftand its natural tendency ; for we may direct the courfe of rivers, but not repel them to their
fource.
fource. Now, to difcover the natural tendency of a nation, not only, muft we examine its actual legiflation, but the oppofi-tions which may exift between the govern, ment and prejudices, between the laws and habits; the re-adiou, in fhort, which thefe different moving powers may produce, one upon the other. In the prefent in-ftance, for example, it is important to fore-fee to what degree the democracy is likely .to prevail in America, and whether the.fpirit of that democracy tends to the equality of fortunes, or is confined to the equality of ranks. It is melancholy to confefs, that it is to a very great inequality in the diftri-bution of wealth, that the. fine arts, are indebted for their moft brilliant sras. In the time of Pericles, immenfe trea-fures were concentred in Athens, unappropriated to any particular purpofe under the reign of Auguftus, Rome owed her ac-quifition of the fine arts to the fpoils of the world, if the fine arts were ever really na* turalized at Rome; and under that of the Julii and Leo the Tenth. Ecclefiaftic pomp and riches, pufhed to the higheft
point,
point, gave birth to the prodigies of that famous age.   But thefe epochas, fo celebrated in the hiftory of the arts, are either thofe of their birth, or of their revival; and limilar circumftances are not neceffary to maintain them in the flourishing and profperous ftate they have attained. There is one circumftance, however, which we have not yet touched upon, and which feems indifpenfible, as well for their pre-fervation, as for their eftabliihment. The arts, let us not doubt it, can never flourifh, but where there is a great number of men. They muft have large cities, they muft have capitals.    America pofieffes already five, which feem ready for their reception, which you will yourfelf name ; Bofton, New-York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleftown.   But they are fea-ports, and commerce, it cannot be dilfembled, has more magnificence than tafte ; it pays, rather than encourages artifts.-There are
two great queftions to refolve, whether large towns are ufeful or prejudicial to America, and whether commercial towns fhould be the capitals.   Perhaps it will be imagined,
that
that the firft queftion is anfwered by the fble reflection, that rural life is beft fuited to mankind, contributing the moft to their happinefs, and the maintenance of virtue, without which there can be no happinefs*' But it muft be remembered, that this fame virtue, thofe happy difpoiitions, thofe peaceable amufements, we enjoy in the country, are not unfrequently acquisitions made in towns.   If Nature be nothing for him who has not learnt to obferve her, Retirement is fterile for the man without information*' Now this information is to be acquired beft in towns.   Let us not confound the man retired into the country, with the man educated in the country.   The former is the moft perfect; of his fpecies, and the latter frequently does not merit to belong to it. In a word, one muft have education ; I will fay further, one muft have lived with a certain number of mankind to know how to live well in one's own family.   To abridge the queftion, fhall I content myfelf with ex-prefling to you my wifhes ?  I fhould defire that each ftate of America, as far as it is practicable, had a capital to be the feat of Vol. II. A a govern-
government, but not a commercial city. I ihould defire that their capital were lituated in the centre of the republic, fo that every citizen, rich enough to look after the education of his children, and to tafte the pleafures of fociety, might inhabit it for fome months of the year, without making it his only refidence, without renouncing his invaluable country feat. I fhould de-iire that at a fmall diftance, but more considerable than that which feparates Cambridge from Bofton, an univeriity might be eftablifhed, where civil and public law, and all the higher fciences, fhould be taught, in a courfe of ftudy, not to be commenced before the age of fourteen, and to be of only three years duration. I fhould defire, in fhort, that in this capital and its appendage, the true national fpirit might be prefer ved, like the facred fire 5 that is to fay, that fpirit which perfectly aftimilates with liberty and public happinefs. For we muft never flatter ourfelves with the hopes of modifying, after our pleafure, commercial towns. Commerce is more friendly to individual,
dividual, than to public liberty*, it dif-criminates not between citizens and ftran-Aa 2 gers.
* I cannot here omit an anecdote which places, in a ftrong point of view, the diftinct.ion between individual and public liberty, made by the mere merchant. In the early part of life Ifpentfomeyears inthecomptinghoufe of one of the mofl confiderable merchants of the city of London, a native of Switzerland, for the moderate premium of one thoufand guineas.   This happening to be the period of the violent unconflitutionai proceedings againft Mr. Wilkes, the foreign merchant differing from the Englifh apprentice, entered with zeal into all the meafures of the then adminiftra.. tion, which, though a republican by birth, he maintained with all the virulence of the tools of defpotifm. The American war followed, and this gentleman was no lefs active with offers of his life and fortune, from his compting-houfe in the city, in fupport of the arbitrary views of the fame fet of men, accompanied on all occafions with pofitions deftructive of every idea of public charity.   But mark the difference, when individual libertywas in queftion.—Happening to dine with Mr. John Pringlc, of Philadelphia, in 1782, the converfation fell on this merchant, who is at prefent one of the firft in the world, and fome queftions were afked me refpecting his politics; my anfwers correfponded with what I have above faid of him; but. judge of my aftonifhnient, when Mr. Pringle afTured uie, fmiling, and gave me ocular dcmonflration of
the
gers. A trading town is a common receptacle, where every man tran(ports his manners, his opinions, and his habits; and the beft are not always the moft prevalent. Englifh, French, Italian, all mix together, all lofe a little of their diftindtive character, and in turn communicate a portion of it; fo that neither defects nor vices appear in their genuine light; as, in the paintings of great artifts, the different tints of light are fo blended, as to leave no particular colour in its primitive and natural ftate.
Though it feems impoffible to conclude this article without fpeaking of luxury, I have, notwithstanding, fome reluctance to employ a term, the fenfe of which is not wellafcertained. To avoid here all ambiguity, I fhall confider it only as an expence, cbufive in its relations, whether with the fortune of individuals, or with their fituation.
In
the fact, that America had not a better friend ; pro. ducino-, at the fame time, an invoice of a cargo of gunpowder (hipped by his order on joint account, for the
Rebels of America, at L'Orient, by which this Mr__,
of London, cleared near £.10,000 flerling ! 1
Translator,
In the former cafe, the idea of luxury approaches that of dimpation, and in the latter, that of oftentation. Let us illuftrate this thought by an example—If a Dutch merchant fpends his property in flowers and Ihells, the fort of luxury into which he has fallen is only relative to his means, fince his tafte has led him further than his faculties would admit. But if, in a republic, a very wealthy citizen expends only a part of his fortune in building a noble palace, the luxury with which he is reproached, is in that cafe proportionable to his fituation ; it fhocks the public, in the fame manner as proud and arrogant behaviour inipires eftrangement and hatred.
We muft do juftice to commerce, it loves enjoyments more than luxury ; and if we fee the merchant fometimes pafs the limits, it is rather from imitation than natural propensity. In France and England, we fee fome oftentatious merchants, but the example is given them by the nobles. There is another more ridiculous, but lefs culpable abufe, from which commerce is not free ; which is, fafhion. This muft doubtlefs Aa 3 prevail
prevail wherever there are many foreigners; for what is ufage amongft them becomes fajhion, when they eftablifh themfelves elfe-where.   On the other hand, the numerous correfpondencies, the intereft even of the merchants, which confifts in provoking, in exciting the tafte of the confumers, tends to eftablifti the empire of fafhion.   What ob-ftacle muft be oppofed to this ? I propofe this queftion to myfelf with pleafure, as it leads me back to the fine arts by an indirect road.   I fhall afk, what has been heretofore the remedy for thofe caprices of opinion which have begot fo many errors, fo many revolutions ? Is it not Reafon and Philofophy ?   Well then !  the remedy againft the caprices of the fafhion is the ftudy of the arts,   the knowledge of abftract beauty, the perfection of tafte. But, what! Do you hope to fix the ftandard of that tafte, hitherto fo variable ?    How often  has it changed ?   How often will it not again vary ?   I fhall continue to anfwer in the manner   of   Socrates,    by interrogating myfelf, and  I fhall fay,   What ridiculous opinions have not prevailed in the
world,
world, from the time of the Grecian fo-phifts to the theologians of our days ? Has not Reafon, however, begun to refumeher rights, and do you think, that when once recovered, fhe will ever lofe them ? Why are you fo un-reafonable as to expect that objects -fo frivolous as furniture and drefs fhould attain perfection before religion and legiflation. Let us never ceafe repeating, that Ignorance is the fource of evil, and Science that of good. —Alas ! do you not fee that the Greeks, who had fome how acquired very early, fuch juft notions of the arts and tafte do you not fee, I fay, that they never varied in their modes ? Witnefs the ftatues modelled at Rome by Grecian artifts ; witnefs the noble and elegant mode of drefs ftill retained by that people, though living amongft the Turks.   Erect altars, then, to the fine arts, if you would deftroy thofe of fafhion and caprice.   Tafte, and learn to relifh nectar and ambrofia, if you are afraid of becoming intoxicated with common liquors.
Perhaps, Sir, what I am about to fay fhould only be whifpered in your ear. I am going to handle a delicate fubject, I am
venturing
venturing to touch the ark.   But be af-fured, that during a three years refidence in America, the progrefs of the women's drefs has not efcaped me.   If I have enjoyed this as a feeling man, if the refults of this progrefs have not been viewed by me with an indifferent eye, my time of life and character are a pledge to you that I have ob-ferved them as a phjlofopher.   Well, Sir, it is in this capacity I undertake their defence, but fo long only as things are not carried to an excefs.   The virtue of the women, which is more productive of happinefs, even for the men, than all the enjoyments of vice, if there be only real pleafures arifing from that fource ; the virtue of the women, I fay, has two bucklers of defence; one is retirement, and diftance from all danger: this is the hidden treafure mentioned by Rcchefoucault, which is untouched, ber Caufe it is undifcovered.   The other is lof-tinefs, a fentiment always noble in its relation to ourfelves.   Let them learn to appreciate themfelves ; let them rife in their, own eflimation, and rely on that eftimablp pride for the preferyatjon of their virtue
as
as well as of their fame. They who love only pleafure, corrupt the fex, whom they convert only into an inftrument of their vo-luptuoufnefs ; they who love women, render them better by rendering them more amiable. But, you will fay, is it by drefs, and by exterior charms, that they muft eftablifh their empire ? Yes, Sir, every woman ought to feek to pleafe; this is the weapon conferred on her by Nature to com-penfate the weaknefs of her fex. Without this lhe is a Have, and can a Have have
virtues ? Remember the word decus, of which we have formed decency; its original import is ornament. A filthy and negligent woman is not decent, fhe cannot infpire refpecf. I have already allowed myfelf to exprefs my opinion by my wifhes: I defire, then, that all the American women may be well dreffed ; but I have no objection to feeing that drefs fimple. They are not formed to reprefent the feverity of the le-giflationj neither ought they to contraft with it, and convey a tacit infult on that feverity. GolrJ, filver, and diamonds, then, fhall  be banifhed from American
. drefs;
drefs; what excufe can there be for a luxury which is not becoming ? But this indulgence, Sir, which I have expreffed for the toilet of the women, I am far from allowing to the men. I am not afraid to fay, that I mould have a very bad opinion of them, if in a country where there are neither etiquette nor titles, nor particular diftinctions, they fhould ever give into the luxury of drefs; a luxury, which even the French have laid afide, except on marriages and entertainments, and which no longer exifts any where but in Germany and Italy, where certainly you will not go in fearch of models.
Obferve, Sir, that we have imperceptibly prepared the way for the fine arts, by removing the principal obftacles which might be oppofed to them; for, if far from rendering nations vain and frivolous, they rather tend to preferve them from the exceffes of luxury, and the caprices of fafhion, they can certainly be confidered neither as dangerous nor prejudicial. Still, perhaps, you will retain fome fcruple on the article of luxury j but recollect, Sir, if you pleafe,
the
the definition I have given of it, and if you reflect that every fortune which exceeds the neceffary demands, infenfibly produces fome fort of perfonal riches, fuch as valuable furniture, gold and iilver trinkets, fumptuous fervices of plate, &c. you muft perceive that this conftant furplus of annual income would   be infinitely better beftowed on painting, fculpture, and other productions of the arts.   Luxury, we have faid, is often an abufive employ of riches, relatively to the condition of him who poffeffes themv Now, what oftentation is there in poffefiing a fine painting, or a handfome ftatue ? Surely the parade of a magnificent fide-board will be more often five to the fight of an un-wealthy neighbour, than an elegant cabinet adorned with paintings.    I doubt, even, whether the man who keeps a mufician in his pay, be fo much an object of envy as him who maintains race-horfes and a pack of hounds.
But let us go farther; it is not only the productions of the fine arts of which I wifh to procure the poffeflion to America > the fine arts themfelves muft be placed
within
within her bofom. If I am defirous of her purchafing pictures, it is that (he may have painters; * if I encourage her to fend for muficians, it is that (he may become mu-fical in her turn. Let her not apprehend the fate of the Romans, to whom fhe has the apparent pride, but the real humility to compare herfelf. The Romans, ferocious, unjuft, grafping from character, and
oftentatious
* America, in her infant ftate, has already burfr. forth into the full fplendour of maturity in the immortal paintings of a Copley and a JVcjl. Further glory ftill attends her early progrefs, even in the prefent day, in a Stewart, a Trumbull and a Brown ; nor is Peak unworthy of ranking with many modern   painters of no  inconliderable  fame ; ages rnaypoflibly not clapfe before pofterity may apply to America, what Mr. Tickell has faid, fo happily, heretofore of the mother country, See on her Titian's and her Guido's urns, Her fallen arts forlorn Hfperia mourns ; While Britain wins each garland from her brow, Her wit and freedom firft, her painting now.
For wit, let me refer the reader of tafte to the poem of Mac Fingal, written by another Trumbull of Connecticut, who is juftly ftiled the American Hudihas.   Quails «b inceptoprocejferit, acJibiconjleu
Translator,
NO RTH-AMERICA. 365
oftentatious from vanity, were able to purchafe the mafter-pieces, but not the tafte of the arts.   The Americans proceeding in general from the moft poliflved countries of Europe, have not to ftrip themfelves of any barbarous prejudices.   They ought rather to compare themfelves with the Greek colonies; and certainly, Syracufe, Marfeilles, Crotona, and Agrigentum had no reafon to envy the mother country.   There is one bafe on which, all they who like you are equally attached to good tafte and to your country, may fafeiy reft their hopes. Your fellow citizens live, and will long continue to live, in the vicinity of Nature; lhe is continually under their hands j (he is always great and beautiful.   Let them ftudy; let them confult her, and they can never go aftray.   Caution them only, not to build too much on the pedantic legiflations of Cambridge, of Oxford,  and Edinburgh, which have long aflumed a fort of tyranny in the empire of opinion, and feem only to have compofed a vaft clajfic code for no other purpofe than to keep all mankind in clafs, as if they were ftill children.
Thus
Thus, Sir, you will have the complete enjoyment of the fine arts; fince you will yourfelves be artifts : but is it not to be feared, that the powerful attraction with which they operate on fenfible minds, may divert a riling people from feveral more ufeful, though lefs agreeable occupations ? I am far from being of that opinion; I think, on the contrary, that the moft diftinftive, and moft peculiar advantage of America is that the rapid advances fhe is making are not laborious, that they are not due to the excefs of labour. Every American has twice as much leifure in the day as an European. Neceflity alone compels our painful efforts, and you are ftrangers to neceflity. Befides that, your winters are long and rigorous, and many hours may be well fpared to domeftic fociety 5 this reflexion too is applicable only to the lower claffes of the people. You, who live in Virginia, know what time is facrificed to play, to hunting, and the table; much more than is neceffary to form a Phidias or a Polycletes.
You will infift, perhaps, and you vill afk, whether a tafte for the arts and letters will' not tend to render your fellow citizens effe-1 minate ?
minate ?  Whether it will not render them frivolous and vain ? Whether the national character and manners will not neceffa-farily be impaired, and admitting even their Utility, you will defire to have their early progrefs, at leaft, conducted with a certain meafure ?   I think, that you will find aa anfwer to our prefent enquiry in many of* the preceding obfervations.   But it is time for me to eftablifh a general principle, the extenfive confequences of which you will develop better than lean ; as long as a tafie for the arts canajfimilate itfelf with rural and domeflk life, it will always be advantageous to your country, and vice verfa.——Public fpectacles, gaudy affemblies, horfe-races, &c. drag both men and women from the country, and infpire them with a difguft for it.   Mufic, drawing, painting, architecture, attach all perfons to their homes.   A harpfichord is a neighbour always at command, who anfwers all your queftions, and never calumniates.   Three or four perfons in the neighbourhood join to pafs the evening together ; here is a concert ready formed. A1 young lady,in her irkfome moments, amufes herfelf in drawing; when become a wife and
mother
mother, (he ftill draws, that (he may inftruct her children ; and here is another important article, of which I had hitherto taken no notice.—Do you wifh your children to remain lori£- attached to you ? Be your-felves their teachers. Education augments ttid prolongs the relation that fubfifts between you ; it adds to the confideration, the refpecl: they entertain for you. They mud long be perfuaded, that we know more than them, and that he who teaches always knows more than the perfon to be taught. In America, as in England, parents fpoil their children when they are young, and they abandon them to themfelves when they grow up; for, in- thefe two nations, education is neither enough attended to, nor fufficiently prolonged. Indulgent to children in their tender age, the people there form them into petty domeftic tyrants; negligent of them when they attain to ado-lefcency, they convert them into ftrangers.
At prefent, Sir, it feems to me, that there remains no good reafon to hinder us from attracting the fine arts to America. Unfortunately it is not the fame with artifts. I do not think I can better exprefs my good
opinion
opinion of the Americans, than by declaring, that they will always incur fome rifle in receiving a foreigner, amongft. them. The Europeans, it muft be confeffed, have vices from which you are exempt, and they are not in general, the beft amongft thafn who quit their country, efpecially who pafs the feas. Let us however, do this juftice to painters, and fculptors, that the affiduity of their labours, and above all that the fentiment of the beautiful, that delicacy of tafte which they have acquired, render them, generally fpeaking, better than other men.—It is different with refpecl: to mufic and dancing. Cuftom has thought proper to place the latter among the fine arts, nor do I oppofe it, fince it feems to im»-prove our exterior, and to, give us that decorum, the fource of which is the refpecl of others, and of ourfelves. But this apology for the art, does not conftitute that of its. profeflbrs. Diftruft in general the maf-ters who come to you from Europe; be diffident even of thofe you may yourlelves •fend for. It will always be much fafer not to truft to chance, but to make fubferip-Vol. II. B b tions
tions in each (late, in each town, to engage artifts to fix themfelves amongft you; but in this cafe apply only to correfpon-dents in Europe on whom you may rely. The commiflion with which you entruft them, ought to be facred in their eyes, and the fmalleft negligence on their parts, would be highly criminal; yet even they are liable to be deceived ; and as it is much better to defer, even for a long time, the progrefs of the arts,  than to make the flighteft ftep towards the corruption of your manners, it is my principal recommendation to the Americans to naturalize as much as poftible, all foreign artifts; to aftimilate and identify them with the inhabitants of the country; to effect which, I fee no better method than by fending them huf-bands and proprietors ; act fo as to induce them to marry, enable them to acquire
lands, and to become citizens. It is thus that by fecuring the empire of morals, you
will ftill further guard againft the effect of
thofe national prejudices, of that difdain
which render foreigners fo ridiculous and
odious,
odious, and which reflect upon the art itfelf, the difguft infpired by the artifh
Henceforward, Sir, let us enlarge our views; the fine arts are adapted to America : they have already made fome progrefs there, they will eventually make much greater; no obffacle, no reafonable objection can flop them in their career; thefe are points at leafl on which we are agreed. Let us now fee to what purpofes they may be converted by the public, the flate, and the government. Here, a vaft field opens to our fpeculation, but as it is expofed to every eye, I (hall fix mine on the object with which it has moft forcibly been ftruck. Recollect, Sir, what I have faid above, relative to officers and public dignities; I have remarked that a jealoufy, pofiibly well founded in itfelf, but pufhed to the extreme, had made honours too rare, and rewards
too moderate amongft you.-Call in the
fine arts to the aid of a timid legiflation ; the latter confers neither rank, nor permanent diftinction ; let her beftow ftatues, monuments and medals. Aftonifhed Europe, in admiring a Wafhington, a Warren, B b z a
a Green, and a Montgomery, demands what recompence can repay their fervices; behold that recompence, worthy of them and of you. Let all the great towns in America prefent ftatues of Wafhington, with this infcription : Pater, liberator, defensor patriae ; let us fee alfo thofe of Hancock and of Adams, with only two words, primi proscripti ; that of Franklin, with the Latin verfe infcribed in France below his portrait—(eripuit c^lo fulmen, sceptrumqjje tyranni, Tranflator) &c, &c. * what glory would not this reflect upon America! It would be found that fhe has already more heroes, than fhe could procure marble and artifts.—-j- and your
public
* This vcrfe is of that virtuous politician and good man, Mr. Turgot. The Tranflator has infert-ed it, as it feems by the author's omitting it, to be of too high a flavour for the French ccnfure.
Translator.
+ Although it be highly proper to infift upon this fort of recompence, it may not be amifs that the world fhould know that Congrefs, as far as opportunity would admit, have nm been rctnifs in bellowing fuch honourable rewards, which they have decreed in different forms on CTcry fuitable occalion to the
public balls, your curia?, why fhould not they offer in relief, and paintings, the bat-B b 3 ties
Baron de Kaalb, &c. Sec. and a marble monument was voted by that body to the memory of my inestimable friend Montgomery, foon after his glorious fall, in the following words:
Extracl from the Journals of Congrefs.
Thurfday, January 25, 1776.
" The Committee appointed to confider of a pro-44 per method of paying a jufl tribute of gratitude to " the memory of General Montgomery, brought *' in their report, which was as follows:
«' It being not only a tribute of gratitude juflly «' due to the memory of thofe who have peculiarly " diftinguifhed themfelves in the glorious caufe of " liberty, to perpetuate their names by the mofl " durable monuments erected to their honour, but " alfo greatly condufive to infpire poflerity with " emulation of their illuflrious anions.
41 Refolved, That to exprefs the veneration of the " United Colonies for their late General, Richard ** Montgomery, and the deep fenfe they enter-" tain of the many fignal and important ferviccs of " that gallant officer, who, after a feries of fuccef-*' fes, amidfl the mofl difcouraging difficulties, fell *' at length in a gallant attack upon Quebec the 0 capital of Canada; and to tranfmit to future ages, M as examples truly worthy of imitation, his patrio-«' tifm, conduct, boldnefs of enterprize, infuper-
able perfeyerance, and contempt of danger and
ties of Bunker s-kill, of Saratoga, of Trenton, of Prince-town, of Monmouth, of Cow-pens
*{ death ; a monument be procured from Paris, or " other part of France, with an infeription facred <( to his memory, and expreflive of his amiable *' character, and heroic achievements, and that tfie-*' continental treafurers be diietted to advance a «' fum not exceeding £300 flerling to Dr. Benja-** min Franklin, who is delired to fee this refolu-<f tion properly executed, for defraying the expence " thereof."
This refolve was carried into execution at Paris by that ingenious artifl, Mr. Caffiers, fcuptor to the King of France, under the direction of Dr. Franklin. The monument is of white marble, of the mofl beautiful fimplicity, and inexpreflible elegance with emblematical devices, and the following truly clafTical infeription, worthy of the modefl, but great mind of a Franklin.
To the GLORY of Richard Montgomery, Major General pf the Armies of the Uriited States of America, Slain at the Siege of Quebec trre 31ft of December, 1775, aged 38 years. The academy of inferiptions and Belles lettres, have cpmpofed medals for the Generals, Wafhington, Green, Gates, Morgan, &c.   The State of Virginia alfo fent for Monfieur Houdon the flatuary from faris to America fince the war exprefsly to tifcp a model, in. prder to form the flatue of General
pens, of Eutaw Springs ? Thus would you perpetuate the memory of thefe glorious
deeds;
Wafhington—an example however which Congrefs do not think proper to follow, during the lifetime of the General, for reafons which may poffibly not be difapproved of, by the Marquis de Cheftellux, even in fo unexceptionable an inftance.
Over this monument, the Tranflator who was the intimate friend of this excellent young man, filed an affectionate, tributary tear, when at Paris in the year 1777. He had long known and looked up to him with admiration, for he was deep in the fecrets of his head and heart. His attachment to liberty was innate, and matured by a fine education, and a glorious underftanding. The Tranflator whilft he indulged his private forrow at the fight of this fad, though noble teftimonial of his friend's tranfcendent's virtues, felt his mind awed and overwhelmed with the magnitude of the event which led to this cataftrophe, and with reflections on the wonderful revolutions, and extraordinary difpenfa-
tions, of human affairs.-But a few months, and
he had feen the deceafed hero, an officer in the fervice of England, an officer too of the moft diftinguifhed merit, who had fought her battles fuccefs-fully with the immortal Wolfe at Quebec, the very fpot on which righting under the ftandard of freedom, he was doomed to fall in arms againft her; but a few months, and he fees his dead friend the Subject of a monument, confecrated to his memory
deeds; thus would you maintain, evert through a long peace, that national pride,
' fo
by the united voice of a free people, and his monument, and his fame, as a victim to tyranny, and a champion of freedom, configncd to be celebrated by an enflaved people, againft whom he had often fought in defence of the fame caufe, in which he facrificed his life. There is a remarkable circum-flance connected with his fall, which merits to be recorded. One of General Montgomery's Aides de Camp, was Mr. Macphcrfm, a mofl promifing young man, whofe father refided at Philadelphia and was greatly diflinguifhed in priyajeeringin the war of 1756. This gentleman had a brother in the i6th regiment in the Britifh fervice, at the time of Montgomery's expedition into Canada, and who was as violent in favour of the Englifh government, as this General's Aide de Camp was enthufiaflic in the caufe of America ; the latter had accompanied his General a day or two previous to the attack in which they both loft their lives, to view and meditate on the fpot where Wolfe had fallen; on his return, he found a letter from his brother the Englifh officer full of the bittereft reproaches againft him for having entered into the American fervice, and containing a pretty direct wifh, that if he would not abandon it, he might meet with the deferved fate of a rebel. The Aide de Camp immediately returned him an anfwer full of flrong reafoning in defence of his conduct, bvjt by no means attempting
lb neceffary to the prefervation of liberty ; and you might, without alarming even that liberty, laviih rewards equal to the facrifices ihe has received. £
It would be injurious, Sir, to you and to your country, to infift longer on thefe reflections; my attention is excited by a
frelh
to make the oppofite principles of his brother, and not only free from acrimony, but full of expreflions of^tendemefs and affection; this letter he dated, *' from the fpot where Wolfe loft his life, in fighting the caufe of England, in fricndjliip with America" This letter had fcarcely reached the officer at New York, before it was followed by the news of his brother's death. The effect was inftantaneous, nature, and perhaps reafon prevailed ; a thoufand, not unworthy fentiments rufhed upon his diftref-fed mind ; he quitted the Englifh fervice, entered into that of America, and fought every occafion of diftinguifhing himfelf in her fervice !
Translator. * Mr. Trumbull fon to Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, who was imprifoned in England as a traitor, whilft he was ftudying painting under Mr, Weft, is now at Paris refiding with Mr. Jefferfon, and has finifhed two capital pictures of the death of IVarren and Montgomery. They are cfteemed chef <C-ceuvrts by all the connoiffcurs in this fublime art. Translator.
frefli object, but I fhould regard it alfo as an offence, to entertain an idea that it is neceffary to call the attention of America to this object, you are defirous that the progrefs of the fciences alfo fhould enter into your deliberations. It is poffible not to forefee their progrefs in a country already fo celebrated for its academies, and univer-fities, which rival thofe of the old world ; for its learned men; I will go further, for ks men of diftinguifhed genius, whofe names alone will mark famous epochas in the hillory of the human mind *, Doubt
not,
* Mr. Jefferfon in anfwer to a prejudiced remark of the Abbe Raynal, who fays, " on doit etre etone *' que Y Amerique noit pas encore produit un bon " poete, un habile mathematicien, un homme de «' genie dans un feul art, ou une feule fcience." Mr. Jefferfon, amidft abundance of good reafoning, fays in anfwer, " In war we have a tVaJhington, «« whofe memory will be adored while liberty Ihall «« have votaries, whofe name will triumph over time «•« and will in future ages afTume its juft ftation •« among the moft celebrated worthies of the world " when that wretched philofophy fhall be forgotten " which would have arranged him among the de-
generacies of mankind, (fee Buffer?s fyftem re-" fped\ing animals in America.)   In phyfics we have
not, Sir, that America will render herfelf illuftrious by the fciences, as well as by her arms, and government; and if the attention of the philofopher be ftill neceifary to watch over them, it is lefs to accelerate than to remove the obftacles which might poilibly retard their progrefs. Let the universities, always too dogmatical, always too
exclufive,
" produced a Franklin, than whom no one of the " prefent age has made more important difcoveriest nor has enriched philofophy with more, or more-" ingenious folutions of the phcenomena of Nature. " We have fuppofed Mr. Rittenhoufe fecond to np " aftronomer living : that in genius he muft be the " firft, becaufe he is felf taught. As an artift he has " exhibited as great a proof of mechanical genius as " the world has ever produced. He has not, indeed, if made a world ; but he has by imitation approached *4 nearer its Maimer than any man who has lived from " the creation to this day, &c. &c." There are va-ious ways, Mr. Jefferfon adds, of keeping truth out of fight. Mr. Rittenhoufe's model of the planetary fyftem has the plagiary appellation of an orrery ; and the quadrant, invented by Godfrey, an Ame-ricanzlio, and with the aid of which the European nations traverfe the globe, is called Hadley\ quadrant.—Thus too, the Tranflator adds, is the great Columbus robbed of tjie honour of giving his name to America! Translator,
380 T R A V EL S   I N
exclufive, be charged only to form good fcholars,r and leave to an unreftrained philofophy the care of forming good men. In England, the univerfities have laboured tQ deftroy fcepticifm, and from that period philofophy has been vifibly on the decline, it feems as if the Englifti, in every thing, wifh only for a halfliberty.   Leave owls and bats to flutter in the doubtful perfpi-cuity of a feeble twilight; the American eagle mould 'fix her eyes upon the fun. Nothing proves to me that it is not good to know the truth, and what has error hitherto produced ?—the mifery of the world.
As for academies, they will always be ufeful,   whilft   they are   very numerous.   An academican is a fenator of the republic of letters; he takes an oath to advance nothing he cannot prove ; he confe-crates his life to truth, with a promife to Sacrifice to it, even his felf-love.   Such men cannot be numerous ; fuch men ought not to be thrown into difcredit, by affociates unworthy of them.    But if academical principles tend to make fcience auftere and fcrupulous, the encouragements propofed
to
to the public ought to excite every mind, and furnifh a free channel for opinion. Of this nature are prizes propofed by the academies ; it is by their means that the activity of men's minds is directed towards the moft ufeful objects; it is to them that firft efforts are indebted for celebrity; it is by them alfo the young man thirfting for glory is difpenfed with fighing long after her firft favours. The more the fciences approach perfection, the more rare do dif-coveries become; but America has the fame advantage in the learned world, as in that which conftitutes our refidence. The extent of her empire fubmits to her obfervation a large portion of heaven and earth. What obfervations may not -be made between Penobfcot and Savannah ? between the lakes and the ocean ? Natural hiftory and aftronomy are her peculiar appendages, and the firft of thefe fciences at leaft, is fufceptible of great improvement.
Morals are a branch of philofophy lately in great repute.   As for myfelf, it appears that wherever the legiflation is good, morals are already formed ; and where the legiflation
giflation is defective, I know not the ufe of morals. It is in this cafe in general, as with health 5 little attention is paid to it until it he loft. Moralifts too, are like phyficians and apothecaries, whom a good regimen would render ufelefs, and who not unfre-quently ferve but to amufe our anxiety, and to treat our imagination, Preferve a good government, render the people mild and fenfible, and they will make morals for themfelves.
With refpect to religion, its object, and end, conceal it from our obfervations: as it confiders not the relations of men with each other, but their connection with God alone, its influence ought to be internal and perfonal; and whenever it extends further, it is invariably at the expence of public order. I cannot, therefore, but congratulate America on being the only country pof-fefling true toleration, which has not only triumphed over fuperftition, but which makes even the enemies of fuperftition blufli at the ignominious compromifes they have made with her. But that none of thofe objects which intereft you, Sir, may pafs before
fore our eyes without inducing fome reflections, I fhall allow myfelf to make one, which, I truft, will meet with indulgence from a philofopher.
All the religions eftabliffied in America, agree in one very important pointthey profcribe all fuperftition, all dependence oa any external power; but they agree alfo in a practice which feems to me to have no neceffary connection with the Proteftant tenets. I mean the extreme (everhy with which they obferve the Sunday. This day is con-fecrated to divine worfhip : be it fo; but it is alfo confecrated to reft, and what is this repofe without gaiety, without relaxation ? I venture to fay, that in America, you neither know the pain of labour, nor the pleafure of repofe, what a gloomy filence reigns in all your towns on Sunday ! a ftranger would imagine that fome epidemic, or plague, had obliged every one to confine himfelf at home *.—Tranfport yourfelf to
Europe,
* Whilft I was at Bofton, in 1782, there were violent debates in the afTembly, and the fenate, re-fpedting the duration of the Sabbath—one party were
Europe, and efpecially to a Catholic country ; behold, on the fame day, when divine fervice is over,  the people deluging the
fquares,
for having it confift of fix and thirty hours, commencing at fix o'clock on the Saturday evening, whilft the others infiftcd on abridging it to eighteen, reckoning from the midnight of Saturday, and finilhing at fix on the Sunday evening ; the former proportion patted the alfembly where the country intereft prevailed, but was thrown out in the fenatc by the predominant intereft of the merchants, aided by good fenfe, and the palpable abfurdity of fuch a regulation in a commercial country abounding with ftrangers. Mr. Cvbbct, a very fenfible man, and a rich merchant of Beverley, diftinguifhed himfelf on this occasion by a fpeech full of eloquence and wit.   As far as my memory ferves me, the fabbath is at length wifely limited to eighteen hours, I fay wifely, for not even travelling is permitted on a Sunday in the New England States, infomuch that you are at every inftant liable to be flopped by force, and carried by the deacons before a magiftrate, who inflifts a fine, and puts an end to your journey for the day. This ridiculous and unmeaning aufterity will probably be fome day put an end to, by the fatal exit of one of thefe bigotted officers of the church tribunal, who ■may poffibly be miftaken by fome fturdy traveller, orffranger, by feizing his horfe by the bridle, for a knight of the pad ; for, pleafantry apart, this is by no means an improbable prediction. Translator.
fquares, and public walks, and hurrying in crouds towards the fuburbs, towards the neighbouring villages, where a thoufand taverns are open to receive them ; every Where your ear is faluted with fongs, and inftrumental mufic ; every where your eyes are entertained  with gay and animated dances.   It is a truly affecting fpeclacle to fee the artizan prefiing towards the Gum-guettes, or houfes of entertainment; under one arm he holds his wife, dreif in her bed array, the other ferves him to Carry the youngeft of his children, whilft the remaining one, who is able to walk, faftens on his mother's hand, and ftrives to follow her ; this whole family are going to rejoice together*   If the wine gives rife to fome quarrels, they are appeafed by the women, who prevent that excefs of drinking to which men are but too fubjecT:; the family drink and dance amongft themfelves, and this happy day frequently encroaches on the night, and always terminates too foon. In America, it is the reverfe; as there is no-* thing but idlenefs without the refource of either fportor dance, the fexes feparate, the Vol. IL Cc women
women at a lofs what to do with their fine drefs, which has fhone only at the church or meeting, fall into a ftate of wretched liftleflnefs, which is only to be diverted by frivolous difcourfe, and fcandal; whilfr, the men, wearied with reading the bible to their children, affemble round a bowl, not prepared by joy, and at the bottom of which they find nothing but Ifupid intoxication.
I know not, Sir, whether the following principle be that of a philofopher, or only of a Frenchman ; but I am of opinion that every amufement which feparates the women from the men, is contrary to the welfare of fociety, is calculated to render one of the fexes clownifh, and the other flo-venly, and to deffroy, in fhort, that fenfi-bility, the fource of which Nature has placed in the intercourfe between the fexes.
Weigh thefe reflections, Sir, which are not fo frivolous, perhaps, as they appear, i-lappinefs is only compofed of enjoyments ; now, Sundays make the feventh part of our lives, and if you deduct from the people their days of extraordinary labour, you will
fee
fee that they conftitute the half of our beft time. Make happy days, then, of Sundays, give them to America, and you will have conferred on them an ineftimable prefent.
Thefe obfervations on the fabbath, on the day of repofe which fucceeds to labour, feem to apprize me that mine is at an end. May it not appear longer to you, than it has to myfelf, and may you, after bellowing on me fome moments of attention, not feel too fenfibly the want of that diffipation I have juft been extolling. Recognize at leaft, Sir, in this feeble effay, my devotion to your will, and the fincere attachment with which I have the honour to be, &c. &c.
On board the frigate L'Emeraude, in the Bay of Chefapeak, the iath of January, 1783.
Cc 2
Defcription
3S8
TRAVELS  I N:
Deferiptlm of the Natural Bridge, called in Virginia, Rocky Bridge.
ON my return from my journey in Upper Virginia, I regretted not having been able to take the dimensions of the Natural Bridge.   I was anxious that fome perfon, who was at once a designer and geometrician, fhould undertake an expedition to the Apalachians for that fole obje<£t, and that he fhould be provided with the in-flruments neceffary for accomplishing it Xvith accuracy.   No man was more capable of this than the Baron de Turpin, Captain in the royal corps of Genie; for in him were united all thofe branches of knowledge, ■'   which are carried to fo great a height in the corps to which he belongs, with the talent of defigning with as much facility as pre-cifion ; betides which, he was well enough acquainted with the Englifh language to difpenfe with an interpreter.   I propofed, therefore, to the Comte de Rochambeau, to charge him with this commifiion, which I was confident he would acquit with pleafure.
fure. The General thought that it would be rendering a frefh fervice to the Americans, to make them acquainted with one of the wonders which render their country celebrated, and that it would be pleafant enough for Frenchmen to be the firft to give them a precife idea and a correct plan of it*. The Baron de Turpin fet out, therefore, in Cc 3 the
* So interefting an object could not efcape the curiofity and obfervations of Mr. Jefferfon f. He had meafured the heighth and breadth of the natural bridge, of which he fpeaks in an excellent memoir compofed in 1781, a few copies of which he printed laft year under the modefl title of Notes upon Virginia,. or rather without any title, for this work has never been made public. We hope, however, the precious documents on natural philofophy, as well as politics, contained in that work, will not be loft to the
t The following is Mr. JhffersoN's account of the Natural Bridge alluded to in this note, which I am happy in being able to lay before the reader.
" The Xjtural Bridge, the moft fublime of Nature's works, is " on the afcent of a hill, which feems to have been cloven thro, 44 its length by fome great convulfion. The fillure, jufl: at the " bridge, is by fome admeafuremcnts 270 feet deep, by others only <f 205. It is about 45 feet wide at the bottom, and 90 feet at the " toj) j this of courfe determines the length of the bridge, and its " height from the water. Its breadth in the middle is about 60 " feet, but more at the ends, and the thicknefs of the mafs.at the " fummit of the arch, about 40 feet. A part of this thirknefs is " conftitutcd by a coat of earth, which gives growth to many large
the beginning of May, and in three weeks brought me back five plans, three of which
are
public. A well known man of letters J has made "ufe of them, and we recommend the perufal of a work, which will fpeedily make its appearance under the title of Obfervations on Virginia.
" trees. The refidue, with the hill on both fides, is one folid rock «« of limeftone. The arch approaches the femi-elliptical form • «* but the larger axis of the elipfes, which would be the cord of *' the arch, is many times longer than the tranfverfe. Though the " fides of the bridge are provided in fome parts with a parapet of " fixed rocks, yet few men have refolution to walk to them, and ** look over into the abyfs. You involuntarily fall on your hands " and feet, creep to the parapet, and look over it. Looking down " from this height about a minute, gave me a violent head-ach* " If the view from the top be painful and intolerable, that from M below is delightful in the extreme, It is impoffible for the ** emotions arifing from the fublime to be felt beyond what they *l are here: on the fight of fo beautiful an arch, fo elevated, fo *? light, and fpringing as it were up to heaven, the rapture pf the «? fpe&ator is really indcfcribable ! The fiffure continuing nar-*' row, deep, and ftreight for a confiderable diftance above and be-«« low the bridge, opens a fhort but very pleafing view of the *( North Mountain on one fide, and Blue Ridge on the other, at «< the diftance each of them of about five miles. This bridge is in *' the county of Rockbridge, to which it has given name, and affords " a public and commodious paflage over a valley, which cannot ** be crofted elftwhere for a confiderable diftance. The ftream " paffing under it is called Cedar Creek. It is a water of James river, and fufficient, in the dricft feafops, to turn a grift mill, " though its fountain is not more than two miles above."
Translator..
+ Monfieur DeMcumer, in his new article of EtatsUnh in the kft Livraifon of La Ncuvelle Encyclopedic, and the Abbe de Moi iaixt *ho is tranllating them into French. Translator.
are engraved and annexed to this work. Two of them prefentperfpe&ives, taken from the two fides of the Natural Bridge, and from the bottom of the valley from whence itfprings. The third is a bird's-eye view, and reprefents a part of the country in which it is. The two others being only fuppofed fections of this bridge where it holds by the bank, and which may be confidered as its abutment, I have not thought proper to have engraved, to avoid multiplying the plates neceffary to be given with this work. As to the dimentions, they are as follows, as given me by M. de Turpin :
" The Natural Bridge forms an arch of fifteen toifes (fix feet Englifh) in length, of that fpecies we denominate the Cow's Horn: the chord of this arch is feventeen toifes at the head of Amont, and nine at that of Aval, and the right arch is the fegment of an ellipfe, fo flat that the fmall axis is only a twelfth of the large one. The mafs of rock and Hone which loads this arch is forty-nine feet folid on the key of the great centre, and thirty-feven on that of the fmall one; and as we find about the
fame
fame difference in taking the level of the hill, it rrmy befnppofed that the roof is on a level, the* v/holf length of the key. It is proper to* obferve, that the live rock continues alfo the whole thicknefs of the arch, and that on the oppofite fide it is only 25 feet wide, in its greatefl breadth, and be^ comes gradually narrower.
** The whole arch feems to be formed of one and the fame ftone, for the joints which one remarks at the head of Amont, are the erTecf of lightning, which If ruck this part in 1779 j the other head has not the fmalleft vein, and the mtrados is fo fmooth, that the martins, which fly round it in great numbers, cannot fallen on it *. The abutments, which have a gentle Hope, are entire; and, without being abfolute planes, have all the polifh which a current of water would give to unhewn flone in a certain time. The four rocks adjacent to the abutments feem to be perfectly homogeneous, and to have a very trifling Hope, The two rocks on the right bank of the ri-
v» vulet
* Sec at the end of this article a note, which was too long to be inferted under the text.
NORTH-AM ERI CA. 393 vulct are 200 feet hio-h above the furface of
o
the water, the intrados of the arch 150, and the two rocks on the left baij: 180.
"/If we confider this bridge (imply as a piclurefijue object, we are (truck with the majefty with which it towers in the valley. The white oaks, which grow upon it, feem to rear their lofty fummits to the clouds; whilft the fame trees, which border on the rivulet, appear like fhrubs. As for the naturalift, he muft content himfelf with fuch obfervations as may guide a more hardy philofopher to form fome probable conjecture on the origin of this extraordinary mafs.
" From every part of the arch, and of its fupporters, cubic pieces of three or four lines dimenfion were taken, and placed fuc-ceflivcly in the fame aqua fortis; the former were diffolved in lefs than half an hour ; the others required more time, but this muft be attributed to the diminution of ftrength of the aqua fortis, which loft its activity in proportion as it became fatu-rated.
" We fee that thefe rocks being of a cal*
careous
careous nature, exclude every idea of a volcano, which befides cannot be reconciled with the form of the bridge and its adjacent parts. If it be fuppofed that this* afto-nifhing arch is the effect of a current of water, we muft fuppofe likewife that this current has had the force to break down, and carry to a great diftance, a mafs of 5000 cubic fathoms, for there remains not the flighted trace of fuch an operation. The blocks found under the arch, and a little below it, have their interior pofitions marked on the collateral pendants on the fide of Aval, and are occafioned by no other demolition than that of the bridge itfelf, which is faid to have been one third wider.
" The excavation of eight or ten inches^ formed in the pied droit, or fupporter, on the left bank of the ftream, under the fpring of the arch, lengthens it into the form of a crow's beak. This decay, and fome other parts which are blown up, give reafon to prefume that this furprizing edifice will one day become a victim of that time which has deftroyed fo many others."
Such
Such are the obfervations, the Baron de Turpin brought back with him, and with which he was pleafed to favour me. As their accuracy may be relied on, perhaps it would be fufHcient to tranfcribe them here^ and leave the reader to exercife his thoughts on the caufes which could produce this fort of prodigy.   This was in fact the refolution I had taken, when, abandoned to my own powers, of which 1 was juffly diffident, I was writing at Williamfburgh, and for myfelf alone, the Journal of my late expedition. A Spanifh work, however, which fell into my hands, confirmed me in the opinion I at firft had entertained, that it was to the labour only of the Creator that we owe the magnificent conftrudfion of the Natural Bridge.    The opinion of the Count de Buffon, whom I have fince confulted, has left me no doubt upon the fubjecl. His fublime conceptions of the different epochs of nature fhould have been fufHcient to put me in the way ; but the difciple, who knows how to do juftice to himfelf, is timid, even in the application of his mafters principles.   But, whoever has travelled in
America,
America,  becomes a witnefs entitled to depofe in favour of that genius whofe oracles frequently meet with too many op-pofers.   If it be neceffary to juftify what the Montefquieus, the Humes, the Vol-taires have laid on the fatal effects heretofore produced by fuperftition, by ignorance, and prejudice, we might flill, in furveying Europe, find whole nations which would prefent to us the picture of what we were 300 years ago.   Nations, which are, fo to fpeak, the cotemporaries of pad ages, and the truth of hiflorical facts would be demonstrated by thofe to which we ourfelves are witneffes.   It is the fame in America with refpect to the epoch of Nature, and all the documents of natural hiflory.   In vi-fiting this part of the world, you think yourfelf removed back a whole epoch ; the lower grounds, the plains are watered by fuch large rivers, and interfered by fo many creeks ; the coafts are fo frequently divided by gulphs, and arms of the fea, which feem to conduct the waves to the very heart of the country, and to the very foot of the mountains, that it is impoffible not to be
perfuaded
N O RTH-A MERICA 397
perfuaded that all this part of the Continent is not of new creation, and produced entirely by fucceliive ebbings of the water. On the other hand, if we obferve that all the high mountains form long chains parallel with each other, and almoft in a direction North and South ; that the greater!: part of the rivers, which fall into the ocean take their origin in the narrow vallies which feparate thefe mountains, and that after following their direction for a confiderable fpace, they turn fuddenly towards the Eaft, pierce the mountains, and at length reach the fea, acquiring magnitude as they proceed ; we (hall be apt to think ourfelves, if not contemporaries, at leaft not far removed from that epoch of Nature, when the waters collected to an extraordinary height in hollow vallies, were ftriving to break down their dykes, ftill uncertain of the means to be adopted for making their efcape; we fhall be led to think that the motion of the earth on its axis, or the wefterly winds, which in North America correfpond with the trade winds of the Tropics, and of which they are poflibly the effect, have at
length
length determined the motion of the waters towards the Eaft. In which cafe, one of thefe two circumfiances might happen ; either that the waters having exceeded the heights of the leafl lofty fummits which oppofed their paffage, formed a fort of gutters, by which the fuperfluity efcaped ; or that unable to attain the height of thefe mountains, they met with fome fofter parts of the greater mafs itfelf, which they firft fapped, and then entirely penetrated. In the firft cafe, if the declivity was very fteep, and the rock which ferved by way of apron was very hard, they would form a cataract, but where the declivity was lefs rapid, and the foil lefs compact, the waters not only will have formed the gutter which ferved them as a paffage, but have overthrown and hurried along with them the lands, forming them into long glacis, which would lofe themfelves finally in the plains. Thus Hudfon's River, the Delaware, the Potowmack, James River, and many others, have opened ways for themfelves to the fea, by piercing the mountains at angles, more or lefs approaching to right angles, and forming,
ing, more or lefs, fpacious vallies. In the fecond cafe, the waters unable to pafs the mountains, unlefs below their fiimmits, mull: have left above them a fort of calotte, or arch, limilar to that of the Natural Bridge. But how many chances are there, both that thefe arches muff fall down after a certain time, efpecially when the beds of the rivers becoming deeper and deeper, the burthen becomes too weighty, and they have loft their bafes! *
* Mr. Jefferfon, in his excellent Notes on Virginia, feems to lean to the fyftem of Euffon, in the following fublime and animated defcription :
" The courfes of the (following) great rivers of Virginia, fays he, are at right angles with the *' long chain of mountains, known in the European " maps by the name of the Apalachian Mountains. " James and Potama penetrate through all the «« ridges of mountains eaftward of the Alleghaney. " That is, broken by no watercourfe, it is in fad " thefpine of the country between the Atlantic on " one fide, and the Miffifippi and St. Laurence " on the other. The pafTages of the Patowmac " through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the " mofl fhipendous fcenes in nature ; you ftand on " a very high point of land. On your right comes " up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot 44 of the mountains an hundred miles to feek a
** vent.
Do we flill doubt of the probability of this hypoihefis ?   Do we with for more
linking
" vent. 'On your left approaches the Patoivmar, " in quell of a paffage alio. In the moment of " their jun&ion they rufh together againft the ** mountain, rend it afunder, and pafs off to the *« fea. The firft glance of this fcene hurries our " fenfes into the opinion that this earth had been ** created in time, that the mountains were formed " firft, that the rivers began to flow afterwards, that ** in this place particularly they have been dammed " up by the Blue Ridge of mountains, and have 46 formed an ocean which filled the whole valley; ** that continuing to rife, they have at length broken " over at this fpot, and have torn the mountain *' down from its fummit to its bafe. The piles of ** rock »n each hand, but particularly on the She-** nandoah, the evident marks of their difrupture 44 evulfion from their beds, by the mofl powerful «* agents of Nature, corroborate the impreffion^ «* But the diftant finilhing which Nature has given •« to the pidlure, is of a very different character. It ** is a true contrail to the fore ground. It is as placid ** and delightful as that is wild and tremendous. « For the mountain being cloven afunder, fhe pre-44 fents to your eye, through the cleft, a fmall catch 44 of fmoothblue horizon, at an infinite diftance in 44 the plain country, inviting you, as it were, from 44 the riot and tumult roaring around, to pafs through 44 the breach, and partake of the calm below. Here
" the
Irriking tokens, more evident traces of the operation of the waters, let us continue to
*' the eye ultimately compofes itfelf; and that way " too the road happens actually to lead. Youcrofs " the Patowmac above the junction, pafs along its *.* fide through the bafe of the mountain for three " miles, its terrible precipices hanging in fragments *' over you, and within about twenty miles reach Fre-** deric Town, and the fine country round it. This " fcene is worth a voyage acrofs the Atlantic. Yet " here, as in the neighbourhood of the Natural
Bridge, are people who have paffed their lives " within half a dozen miles, and have never been to
furvey thefe monuments of a war between rivers " and mountains, which mult have ihakenthe earth " itfelf to its centre."
Mr. Charles Thompfon, Secretary to Congrefs, in an Appendix to Mr. Jefferfon's work, adds the following remarks on the fame fubjeel:. The reader will pardon, I am confident, the length of thefe extracts from a work fo highly interefling, and which is not yet given to the public.
" The reflections," fays Mr. Thompfon, " I was " led into on viewing this paffage of the Patowmac " through the Blue Ridge were, that this country " mull have fuffered fome violent convulfion, and " that the face of it mull have been changed from " what it was probably fome centuries ago : that the *' broken and ragged faces of the mountain on each «* fide the river, the tremendous rocks which are left " with one end fixed in the precipice, and the others
Vol. II. D d travel
travel in America; let us 20 into the vici-nity of the Ohio, on the banks of the river
" jutting out, and feemingly ready to fall for want *' of fupport 5 the bed of the river for feveral miles *' below obftructed and filled with the loofe flones *« carried from this mound ; in fhort, everything on 44 which you cafe your eye, evidently demonftrates a 44 difruptare and breach in the mountain, and that, '« before this happened, what is now a fruitful vale *« was formerly a great lake or collection of water, M which pollibly might have here formed a mighty 44 cafcade, or had its vent to the ocean by the Suf-44 quchanna, where the Blue Ridge feems to termi-44 nate.   Befidcs this, there are other parts of this " country which bear evident traces of aiikeconvul-44 fion.   From the beft accounts I have been able to 44 obtain, the place where the Delaware now flows *i through the Kittatinny mountain, which is a con-" tinuation of what is called the North Ridge or 44 Mountain, was not its original courfe, but that it 44 paffed through what is now called, 44 The Wind " Gap," a place feveral miles to the Weftward, and " above an hundred feet higher than the prefent bed 44 of the river.   This Wind Gap is about a mile •* broad, and the Hones in it fuch as feem to have 44 been warned for ages by water running over them. *i Should this have been the cafe, there muft have 44 been a large lake behind that mountain, and by 44 fome uncommon fwell of the waters, or by fome 44 coiiYulfion of Nature, the river muft have opened
ver Kentucke ; we mav there obfervewhat follows, or rather what the recent hiftorian D d 2 of
<( its way through a different part of the mountain, " and meeting there with lefs obftruction, carried " away with it the oppoilng mounds of earth, and " deluged the country below with the immenfe col-iC lection of waters to which this paiTage gave vent. " There are ftill remaining, and daily difcovered* *' innumerable inftances of fuch a deluge on both *' fides of the river, after it paffed the hills above the *' falls of Trenton, and reached the Champaign. *' On the New Jerfey fide, which is flatter than the li Penfylvania fide, all the country below Creffwick " hills feems to have been overflowed to the diftance ** of from ten to fifteen miles back from the river, ** and to have acquired a new foil by the earth and " clay brought down and mixed with the native fand. 1 " The fpot on which Philadelphia flands evident-" ly appears to be made ground. The different " ft rata through which they pafs in digging to wa-" ter, the acorns, leaves, and fometimes branches " which are found above twenty feet below the fur-*' face, all feem to demonftrate this |.   I am in-
J From an accurate topographical obfervation of the mountainous parts of England, and other countries, on thefe principles, might we not be able to folve various phoenomena which prefent themfelves in the plains bordering upon rivers, that is to . fay, within, reach of fuch a fuppofed overflow of waters; the quantity of large folid oak timber, for example, found ifl Walker Colliery near Newcaftle, on the banks of the river Tyne, at the prodigious depth of ia<? fathoms ? TraksiA'TOR,
of that country • has written. " x^mongft " the natural curiofities of this territory,
" the
" formed that at York-Town in Virginia, in the "•bant of Yoik river, there are different ftrata of *' fhells and earth, one above another, which feem *' to point out that the country there has under-" gone feveral changes, that the fea has for a fuc-*' ceflion of ages occupied the place where dry land *' now appears, and that the ground has been fud-" denly raifed at various periods. What a change " would it make in the country below, mould the " mountains at Niagara, by any accident, be cleft " afunder, and a paffage fuddenly opened to drain " off the waters of lake Erie and the upper lakes ! '* While ruminating on thefe fubjecls, I have often *' been hurried away by Fancy, and led to imagine " that what is now the bay of Mexico was once a " champaign country, and that from the point or'' " cape of Florida, there was a continued range of " mountains through Cuba, Hifpaniola, Porto Ri-11 co, Martinique, Guadaloupe, Barbadoes and Tri-«' nidad, till it reached the coaft of America, and ts formed the fhores which bounded the ocean and " guarded the country behind: t?iat by fome con-«« vulfion or fhock of Nature the fea had broken *' through thefe mounds and deluged that vaft plain " till it reached the foot of the Andes ; that being '* there heaped up by the trade winds, always blow-
* Mr. Filfon, whofe work is lately tranflated into French. Translator.
" the winding banks, or rather the preci-" pice of Kentucke, and of the river Diek, " merit the firft rank. The aftonifhed " eye beholds, almoft on every fide, 3 or *' 400 feet of a calcareous rock, perpendi-*f cularly cut; in fome places a beautiful " white marble, curioufly fhaped in arches " or in columns, or piled upon a fine *£ ftone for building. Thefe precipices, <c as I have already obferved, refemble the *' fides of^a deep trench, or a canal, the *' earth around being level, except in the " courfe of the rivulets, and covered with " groves of red cedar ; you can only crofs <t this river at certain places, one of which " is worthy of admiration : It is a high^ <* way formed by the buffaloes, and wide D d 3 " enough
*« ing from one quarter, it had found its way back, " as it continues to do, through the gulph between " Florida and Cuba, carrying with it the loom and <{ fand it may have fcoopcd from the country it had occupied, part of which it may have depo-" lited on the fhores of North America, and with
" part formed the banks of the Newfoundland.--■
" But thefe are only the virions of Fancy." The Tranflator adds, but they are the fublime vifions of a great and enlightened mind. Translator.
" enough for waggons, in a gentle flope, «< from the fummit of the foot of a very " deep eminence, clofe to the river above " Lees-Town."
But let us confult Don Jofeph tTTJlloa, already fo celebrated by his Voyages ; he is the author of the above-mentioned Spanifh book, entitled, Noticias Americanos, in which he gives very curious and minute defcriptions of all Spanifh America. In the article I am going to traniUie, he begins by remarking a very fenfible difference between the mountains in America, lituat" ed under the torrid zone, and thofe we ob-ferve in other parts cf the globe; for although the height of the latter be often very confiderable, as the ground riles gradually, and their combined fummits form immenfe countries, they who inhabit them may be ignorant of their elevation above the level of the fea; whereas thofe of America being feparated, and, fo to fpeak, cloven their whole height, give inceffantly the idea, and even the meafure of their prodigious altitude.   " In this part of the world, " adds hea the earth is interfered by pro-
" found
" found trenches {quckradas) of a very " confiderable width, fince they form the " feparation of the mountains from each " other, and form frequently an opening, " of more than two leagues, at the upper " part of them.   This fpace becomes cdri-" tracfed in proportion as they are more " or lefs profound ; and it is in the bottom m of this kind of vallies that the rivers ff flow, which almoft: regularly occupy the m middle, leaving an equal extent of level " ground on each fide of them.   But what m is mofl remarkable, is, that the angles " or finuofities formed by thefe rivers, cor-" refpond perfectly with thofe we obferve " to the right and left in the fegments of " thefe mountains; fo that if we could at " once bring together the two fides of thefe " vallies,  we fhould have a folid mafs, " without any interruption.   The rivers " purfue their courfc in thefe embank-" ments, until they reach the plain, and " from thence the ocean.   In this latter ** part of their career, their bed is not deep, " and their bottom is nearly on a level " with the fea.   Thus it may in general
" be
" be remarked, that the more lofty the " mountains of the Cordelliers, the more •* profound is the bed of the rivers which " flow through their vallies."
if In the province of Angaras, amongft " the lufus Natura?, with which thefe coun-" tries abound, there is one which me-** rits particular attention. This province, «! which is a dependency of Guancavelica, f is divided into feveral departments j in " one of thefe departments, called Conaica, i* is the fmall village of Vinas, lituated at f< nine   leagues  diftance  from Conaica. " About midway between them, is a moun-*f tain known by the name of Corofunta: " on arriving at the foot of this mounr " tain, you enter into a cleft, or if you " will, an opening, through which flows «* the rivulet of Cbapllancas; this rivulet «« enters an embankment the breadth of 44 which is from twenty to five-and-twenty H feet, and its height upwards of forty; ** without being perceptibly wider at the " fuptrior than the inferior part. This *' gap,  which is occupied in its whole ?' width by the ftream, forms the only
commu-
u communication that exifts between Vinas " and Conaica. You can only crofs theri-" ver in thofe places where, as I have already *' faid, the opening is twenty feet broad, " and you are obliged to crofs it nine times, « taking advantage of thofe places where ct it departs a little from the rock, which * only happens where it has formed fome " linuoiities; for when its courfe isMirecT:, 66 it exactly fills the opening through which <f it pafles. This trench is formed out of *' the live rock, and with fo much regula-(f rity, that all the prominent parts of *{ one fide, correfpond perfectly with the " recipient parts or indentures of the other " in its whole height; inibmuch that it M might be taken for a canal cut exprefs-« ly for the paffage of the water, and " which had been executed with fo com-£c plete a fymmetry, as that the two fides «' might exactly fit each other, without '< leaving the fmalleft interffice between <e them. There is no danger in travelling '« this road, for the rock is too folid to '* give any apprehenfion of its crumbling, ff and the fmall river is not rapid enough
M to endanger boats 3 yet it is difficult to " fupprefs a fentiment of terror, on find-*' ing yourfelf engaged in this narrow gap, " the two fides of which, from their per-" feet coirefpondence, pfefent the idea of (i a box half opened for a moment, and H always ready to clofe upon you."
W The cavity I have been defcribing " is fo much the more worthy our obfer-f* vation, as it may be looked upon as a ft model, or example of what the vallies of *' the Cordilleras have been, when in their
origin they did not exceed the depth of " this; for their fides, which now form a fjf gentle Hope, were then doubtlefs per-" pendicularly cut, and it was not until " the waters undermined them to a great p depth, that the upper parts being over-" loaded, have fuccemvely crumbled down. m This analogy is even confirmed by the ffi decay to be obferved in the embank-" ment formed by the Cbapllancas > a wafte << occafioned by the flow and fuccefiive " effect of the rains and froit, and the " crevices produced by the fun, but which " are lefs fenfible there than elfewhere, be-
« caufe
" caufe the rock is harder, more folid, " and more continuous, not being inter-" rupted by any bed of earth, or other 44 matter eaiily to be diffolved or crumbled-. " Every thing therefore leads to a con-" clufion, that the waters alone have form-iC ed this canal in the form we now fee it, " and that they will continue to augment <c its depth, fince we know that time alone " is fufficient to reduce the harden: lfone " to a fine and almoft imperceptible fand, " and that this progrefs is already difcover-" able from the little fragments of frone " vifible at the bottom of the river, as well t* as from thofe it carries to the plain; " when, finding a more extenfive range, it " begins to enlarge its furface."
" Whether we attribute the origin of " this canal to the friction of the waters " which have gradually deepened it, or " whether we fuppofe the mountain to have " been rent alTunder by an earthquake, fo w as to open a new paffage for this river 16 which flowed antecedently in another di-m recfion ; it is frill certain that fuch an
aperture can not have exifted at the epo-
« cha
« cha immediately fubfequent to the de* u luge.   It is the fame with refpedt to the " larger embankments of this kind, known ** by the name of Quebradas, and which are " frequently to be met with in the upper " part of South America.   It is evident that \% they have been formed equally by the la-f* bour of the waters ; for on the one hand, " we know that the rapidity of their cur-" rent is capable of wrenching off flones « of an extraodinary fize 3  and on the *« other, we have manifeft proofs of the " continual effort made by them to deepen " their bed, an effort the traces of which M are difcovered in the huge blocks they €i have formed into the fhape of dice, or ** cubes, as often as the rocks oppofe too *' much exiftance to them to admit of their *' dividing and clearing away the whole ex-" tent of the bottom on which they exercife their activity.   In the river of Ifuchaca, <e near the village of that name, is a large "'inafs of ftone, of a regular fquare form, *« and each fide of which may be above five *' and thirty or forty feet.   When the wa-" ters are low,- it rifes five-and-twenty
« feet
" feet above their level.   But to account " for the form of thefe large cubic maffes, " as well as of other fmaller ones, which " are often to be found in the bed of ri-*' vers, and which are all regularly fhaped, tc we muft fuppofe that the waters have fuc-f* cefiively torn and wrenched off the rocks •c by which they were furrounded, thus " leaving them fingle, and ifolated, in their " prefent form 5 but this only until the *' beds of the rivers becoming deeper and " deeper, the waters meet at their bafes M with fome veins of earth or other mat-" ter eafy of diffolution ; for in that cafe " they will undermine and unfet them, " (fo to fpeak) fo as one day to difplace <£ them entirely and hurry them along. " Thefe maffes, once in motion, will fhock " either thofe on the banks, thofe they " meet with in the bed even of the ri-" ver, which breaking and being reduced " to various maffes of lefs demenfion, will •* be the more eafily drifted.   Such is with-" out doubt the origin of all thofe ftones " we fee under the water, or on the banks, u fome of which are very fmall, and others
" fo
fo enormous, that no human effort is ahie to remove them. As to the extraordinary profundity of thofe vallies or Qiicbradas, one example will be fum-cient to give an idea of it. The town of Guanvelica is built in a valley formed by diiferent chains of mountains ; the barometer there Hands at eighteen inches, one line and an half (this mean term is taken between eighteen inches and a quarter, and eighteen inches one third, which form the greatcrf. variation of the barometer at that place) ; according to this height of the mercury, the elevation above the level of the fea fhould be 1949 toifes. On the fum-mit of the mountain in which is the mine of Ajognes, a fpot frill habitable, and which is itfelf as much lower than other adjacent heights, as it is higher than the town of Guanvelica, the mercury only Hands at fixtecn inches jufl:, which gives 2337 toifes above the level of the fea, and about 500 toifes for the depth of the Quebrada, or valley of Gucni-ve/ica, which feems to be no other than
" the
" the deepened bed of the river we now M fee flowing through the middle of it."
After fo many obfervations on the extraordinary effects of the waters, have we not fome foundation for fuppofing that the Natural Bridge is alfo their production, and ought we not to regard it as a fort of l$ue» brada ?   When the vallies of the Apala-chians were only vaft lakes, in which the waters were retained prifoners, this little valley, whofe depth they traverfe, may have ferved as a partial refervoir, wherein they have remained even after thofe of the large vallies made their efcape.   The mafs of the rock out of which the Natural Bridge is excavated, may have ferved them as a barrier, but whether it be that they have not rifen to the fummit of the rock, or whether they fucceeded more eallly in fapping the lower part of it, they will in either cafe have left fubfifting that immenfe gap which form the arch fuch as we now fee it. It would be ufelefs, and perhaps rafh, to endeavour minutely to explain the manner in which the bending of this vault has been fo regularly traced out j but the caufe once
unde'rftood,
416 TRAVELS   IN •
underftood, all the effects, however varied, and however aftonifhing they may appear, mull: have the fame origin. We may ob-ferve befides, that the greater! bend of this vault correfponds with the angle formed by the valley in this place, infomuch that the rock feems to have been the more worked upon, as the effort of the waters have been more confiderable. However this may be, •7 leave every one at liberty to form fuch conjectures as he pleafes *, and as I have
faid
* Mr. Jefferfon, after fpeaking of the above paffage of the Spanifh. author, differs from him and from the Marquis de Chaftellux, in their reafoning on the probable caufes of its production, as follows : " Don Ulloa inclines to the opinion, that this . " channel has been effected by the wearing of the " water which runs through it, rather than that the «' mountain fhould have been broken open by any *' convulfion of Nature.   But if it had been worn «' by the running of the water, would not the rocks, «« which form the fides, have been worn plane ? or «' if, meeting in fome parts with veins of harder *« ftone, the water had left prominences on one " fide, would not the fame caufe have fometimes, *' or perhaps generally, occafioned prominences on •c the other fide alfo ?   Yet Don Ulloa tells us, *t that,on the other fide there are always correfpond-
faid above, my defign has been lefs to explain this prodigy of Nature, than to de-fcribe it with fuch accuracy as to enable the learned to form a judgment on the fub-jccV*.
" ing cavities, and that thefe tally with the promi-'* nences fo pefe&Iy, that were the two fides to come together, they would fit in all their inden-" tures, without leaving any void.   I think that " this - does not refemble the effect, of running wa-" ter, but looks rather as if the two fides had part-" ed afunder.   The fides of the break, over which *' is the Natural Bridge of Virginia, confifl of a veiny " rock which yields to time, the correfpondence " between the fatient and re-entering inequalities, " ifitexifted at all, has now difappeared. This " break has the advantage of the one defcribed by ** Don Ulloa In its fineft circumftance, no portion *' in that inftance having held together, during the V feparation of the other parts, fo as to form a bridge " over the abyfs." Translator.
* They who wifh to form an exact idea of the Natural Bridge, muft not judge of the ground plan of it, from the afpeft prefented by its fegments in file two landfcapes which are engraved. The ground over which travellers pafs is almoft level; but the parapets formed by the rocks are not fo ; befides that their declivity is exaggerated by an optical effect, the views having been taken from the banks of the rivulet, and very near the bridge. Vol. II. E c NOTE.
■'■4i8 TRAVELS IN
N     O     T E.
1 hough the fpring was far advanced when 1 vifited the Natural Bridge, and it was then the 20th of April, I do not recollect having fecn a fwallow of any kind. Mr. Le Baron de Turpin did not go thither till the 15th of May, by which time the martins, which appear later than the fwallows, had had time to arrive ; but I have reafon to think that the bird he here defcribes, is no Other than the fwal-ic-iv with the white rump, and which is improperly called a maftin in fome provinces of France.
I fhall take this opportunity to obferve, that the bird, called in America a martin (martinet) is a peculiar fpecies, not known in Europe, and which is no where defcribed, not' even in Catcfby, at leaft; if he means this bird, in fpeaking of "a Carolina martin, which he calls the purple martin *, unfortunately I am not fo able as I could wifh to fup-ply this deficiency. Many reafons have prevented me from profiting by my refidence in America by abandoning myfelf to fuch obfervations as the trifling knowledge I have gained of natural hiftory would have allowed me to make. In fact, the little room afligned even to general officers for tranf-
porting
m pettr Kabn, a Swedlfli traveller, who has certainly not bees' fparing of details, fpeaks very fuccinftly of this bird : he not even obferves that the female is not of the fame colour with tb> male, and items to confound it with the European, which he. calls the Kn^fi/h; martin* Sec .volume HI. p. 113. Gcrmaa Editioi,
■porting their effects, on our departure from Europe, did not allow me to carry any more books than were neceffary for the political and military knowledge of the continent", where I was going to make war, and it Was beyond my powers to work from
: memory, and after my own ideas ; befides that I had conceived an erroneous notion that every thing was already known and Written on a country fo well understood and fo much frequented as North America. I found, too late however, that I was deceived 5 the little fuccefs attending my efforts to derive fome advantage, either from my own curiofity, or from the information of fome perfons I employed, have convinced me, that it would even now be of great ufe to fend a little caravan, compofed of naturalifls, geographers and defigners, to America. But whilft this project,- which has already been propofed, is carrying into execution, I fhall here fubmit a few obfervations I have made on the martin of America.
This bird differs from our European martin in its form, its colour and its manners; in its form, as its body is pretty large, and fimilar to that of many other birds of different fpecies, fuch as the blackbird and the ftarling : in its colour, becaufe if the male be quite black like other martins, the female is of a cindery grey, a little clearer than that of our female blackbird, whilft its breaft is of a dirty and mixed white; in its manners, for thatin-ftead of being wild like our martin, it is ftill more familiar, and more domeftic, if pofTiblc, than our chimney fwallow. - The Americans have an almoft E e ? fuperftitious
420        •   TRAVELS IN
iupcrftitious rcfpcft for thefe birds; not only do they prepare for them, at the commencement of the fpring, earthen pots like thofe we affix to our wails to attract the fparrows, but they fufpend, beneath the projection of the roof, little cages for them to build in. The more credulous of the Americans fay that thefe birds bring good luck to the houfes that they vifit; the moft fcnfible imagine they are ufeful, not only in deftroying the flies which are very trouble-fomc in fummer, but becaufe by their boldnefs and their cries they drive away the birds of prey, when they come to attack the poultry. Thefe animals are fo familiar, that with a little adroitnefs, one may take them with the hand; their fong is far removed from the difagreeable cry of our martin; It refembles rather that of the chimney fwallow, but is much more melodious. I never faw them but at liberty, for I confefs that having a hundred times refolved to kill at leaft one or two of them, that I might infpedt, them more narrowly, I never had the courage ; fo much did I refpect the kind hofpitalitv afforded them, and which they accept with the fame confidence.
I do not know why Catefby calls this bird the purple martin, for I have never obferved the flighteft fhade of that colour in their wings ; thofe of the male are of the moft beautiful black, and as I have already faid, thofe of the female are of a cindery grey upon the back, and the belly is white, mixed with grey. If this bird was fjot a bird of paffage, and a bird, which like all thofe of the fame fpecies, muft trayd Very rapidly, it would appear probable,
that-
NOR TH-AMERI C A. 42-1
that in approaching the tropics it affumes a purple colour.   For we remark a feniible difference in the manner in which different birds, of the fame fpecies, are coloured as they approach nearer the tropics, or the equinoctial line.   The humming-birds we fee in Virginia, and which proceed even into Peniyl-v'ania and the Jerfeys, are of a grey colour, and their neck alone difplays the colours of the ruby, whilft thofe of Guiana and Brazil difplay, in their whole plumage, that brilliancy which Nature has bellowed only partially upon the others.   No fpecies would furnifh more examples of this progref-fion in brilliancy and integrity of colours than that of the ftarling, were not thefe birds emigrants, and could we but know with accuracy from what country thofe fwarms arrive which we fee in the fpring. The moft beautiful variety of thefe fpecies is the black ftarling, called the blackbird in America: when perched he appears quite black, but in the folds of his wings he has feveral feathers of a very lively red, but fhaded withal, fo as to be compared only to the carbuncle; and, in his flight, his brilliant colours produce an effect fo much the more agreeable as it is unexpected.   Another variety immediately follows, in the grey ftarling, which has alfo feveral red feathers, but fewer in number, and of a lefs lively red; a third is of a brown colour inclining to red, fomething like the hen pheafant: it has alfo in the fold of the wings three feathers absolutely red, but of a gloomy red, and without eclat; a fourth fpecies, in fhort, would be abfolutely fimilar to our European ftarling, had it not, at the fold of E e 3 tilt
the wing, three or four reddifh feathers, which feera to atteft its American origin,, and may be regarded as the facings of an incomplete uniform, but which is fufficient to indicate to what army this legion be-^ longs. There is every reafon to believe, that if we could afcertain from whence thefe birds come, which appear only at the commencement of the fpring, throughout North America, and even in Virginia and Carolina, we mould be able to determine that the greater or lefs brilliancy of their feathers is owing to the greater or lefs height of latitude they inhabit during the winter. We read in natural hiltory that the ftarling is not a bird of palfagc ; this may be true of European {ladings, but I can affirm, that from Bofton to the bay of Chefapcak, I have never feen one arrive but at the end of winter.
I have not fpoken of a fort of ftarling not mciir tioncd in the natural hiftory of Buffon, but which is to be feen in the King of France's cabinet, and is defcribed by Catefby ; it is with this however 1 fhould have begun, as being the bird which has led me to this long digrefhon, It is called in America the /taxiing crow. 1 his bird is a great deal larger than other ftarlings, and on confidering its beak, one is tempted to rank it with the jackdaw ; but there is no doubt of its being a real flailing, of which it has the cry and the manners ; it dwells in marines, and mixes with all the fpecies of ftarlings I have men-, tioned: Its colour is of a mixed and changeable red, which affords, according to the manner in which it is enlightened, bluifh and purple fliades : now it is probable enough that thefe birds, whofe colour
is
NORTH-AM ERI C A. 423
i ■ ^
is originally black, may acquire, from the vicinity of the fun, thefe purple or blue fhades which we remark in the ftarling crow; and in this cafe it is poffible that the purple martin of Catefby may cx-ift in South Carolina, though I have never feen it in Virginia : but it would ftill be difficult to explain why this martin, whofe origin muft be more foutherly, fhould not extend his emigration as far as Virginia and Penfylvania; for though we have obfervcd  that  ftarlings   are   birds   of paffage in America,  their emigrations muft be diftinguifhed from thofe  of the fwallows and the martins.   There is a great appeara»ice that the ftarlings content themfelves with retiring in winter to the neighbourhood  of the lakes and rivers which abound between the Pacific ocean and Atlantic, from 35 to 33 degrees of latitude.   It is enough for them, in fact., to avoid the froft which would hinder them from finding fubfiftence in the marfhes; whereas  the fwallows  muft return to countries where volatile infects do not ceafe to flutter in the air during the winter.    The following obfervation however was made by Mr. Fleming, Chief Juftice of Virginia, a man worthy of credit, and refpedtable in every point of view; he affured Mr. Jefferfon, that on a winter's day, as he was occupied  in fuperintending the felling of fome trees on a fpot he was about to fow,  he was fur-prized to fee fall, with a large cleft oak, a great number of martins, which had taken refuge and were benumbed in the crevices of the tree, as bats are found ia holes of rocks, and caverns,  Does this E e 4 fact,
fa&, which it is difficult to con tell, prove that martins do not emigrate like quails and ftorks • or only that a lazy troop of thefe birds, having delayed their departute too long, were furprized by the froft, and compelled to feek an afylum for the winter ?
Since 1 have fuffered myfelf to be led into the dif-cuffion of fubjects relative to natural hiflory, I fhall not terminate this long note without adding another article, on which however I can throw no new light, as it has been treated by the Count de Buffon •, but where I fhall have the fatisfaclion at leaft of confirming, by irrefragable proofs, what was revealed to him by mere dint of genius alone ; happy to find at once the opportunity of rendering a particular homage to the moft illuftrious man of the age, and of boafting of that friendfhip which has fo long connected us ; a friendlhip already of ancient date, fince it is coeval with my admiration of his immortal works. We know that one of the moft interefting articles of the hiflory of quadrupeds, is that of the opoffutn. Obfervation difcovered that the female of this animal has under its belly a fort of pouch in which it carries its young ones ; that they are never feen out of this pouch, before they are able to run about and feek their food, and that they remain, until that period, always attached to their mother's teat: but ignorance and credulity had adopted all forts of ridiculous tales refpe&ing the manner in which generation is performed between thefe animals. I found the opinion eftablifhed in Virginia, even amongft phyficians, that the young of the opoffum came out of their mother's
belly
belly by the teats. Their extreme fmallnefs, at the moment of their birth, alone could give fanction to this opinion, which anatomy would fo eafily have belied, on the flighteft attention. My firft occupation in the winter of 1781 to 1782 was to procure fome of thefe animals, and have them differed. Mr. Robillard, firft furgeon to our army, and one of the moft expert in France, was pleafed to undertake it. Having differed a male and female, he found the organs of generation fimilar to thofe of other quadrupeds, with this only difference, that he obferved a bifurcation in the glans penis of the male and the clitoris of the female, and that he dif-covered in the matrice of the latter a fort of partition or mediaftine, which divided it into two departments, but without being continuous enough for the two cavities not to be feparate from each other. This was fufficient to confirm and to explain the moft eflential articles of a defcription, which Mr. D'Aubenton had an opportunity of taking only from one which was preferved in fpirits of wine. But Mr. de Buffon, who with admirable fagacity concluded, that Nature, in forming this animal, had proceeded in a pecdliar manner, and given it the faculty of reproducing itfelf, intermediately, fo to fpeak, between that of quadrupeds and that of birds* in brder that the brevity of geftation might cor-refpond with their long incubation in the pouch they are preferved in ; Mr. de Buffon added: « No-'* body has obferved the length of the geftation of " thefe animals, which we prefume to be much ** fhortcr than in others ; and as this premature
" exclufion
V exelufion is an example lingular in Nature, we «> exhort fuch as have the opportunity of feeing " opo(Tunis alive in their native country, to endea-*' vour to diicover how long the females bear them, ♦* and how long alfo., after their birth, the young " remain attached to the teat before they quit it. *' This obfervation, curious in itfelf, may become «' ufeful, by pointing out to us poilibly fome means *« ofpreferving the lives of children born before " their time."   Here the interpreter of Nature, as it often happens to Aflatic drogomans, was under the neceflity of diving iiytp his mailer's thoughts before he attempted to exprefs them in intelligible language ; but when the interpreter is both minifter and con-, fidant, it matters little whether he tranflatcs or pronounces of himfelf; accordingly, the only appre-henfion I had was of not being able to procure the means neceffary to prove to the Americans a truth of which I was myfelf thoroughly pcrfuaded. For to attain this object, it was neceffary that tame opof-fums fhould be brought to copulate in this domef-tic flate, or rather ftate of flavery ; it was neceffary that this union fhould be productive, and that we fhould have an opportunity of obferving the refult. Now, nobody in this country had ever thought of rearing one, and we could only obtain thofe caught by the fojdiers in the woods.  ;I had poffeffed one, ■which was become very familiar, but I had fent it to tire Comte de Buffon, in the frigate, &Hcrmoinc \ the Comte de la Touche, who commanded- it, leaving .been fo kind as to charge himfelf with feveral animals and other objects of natural hiftory I wifried
N O R T H - A M E R I C A. 427
to fend to Europe. But chance fortunately fupplied me better than I could have been by all ray endeavours: The Chevalier d'Aboville, Brigadier des Armccs du Roi, and commander of our artillery, availing himfelf of our prefent ftate of repofe, employed, in augmenting his knowledge in phyilcs and natural hiflory, the fame talents, and the fame activity which had been of fuch eminent fervice during the campaign. He reared at his houfe feveral animals, and amongft others a female opoffum, which he had the good fortune to fee conceive, become a mother, and bring up her young in his own houfe, nay even in his own chamber. I cannot do better than tranferibe the obfervation he made, and with which he has been pleafed to favour me.
" The opoffum, fays he, is more timid than untraceable, and very readily becomes tame. I had a • fhe one fometime before I could get a male. At firft fhe appeared to be afraid of him ; and, to avoid a quarrel, I tied up the new comer in a box near my chimney. The female enjoyed the full liberty of the chamber, where fhe had likewife a box from whence fhe came out only at night to eat, and drink and void herfelf. The evening of the fecond day, after the arrival of the male, whilft I was writing before my fire, I faw the female advance flowly towards the box in which was the male, run under my bed, come towards the box, and return, advancing each time a little nearer, and at length become hardy enough to enter the box of the male, who, inftantly, threw himfelf
upon
upon her with fuch precipitation, that having hitherto obferved him very indifferent, I concluded It arofe from anger.   I drew her out,   and beat him.   A few minutes  after fhe returned  to the charge, and the male hearing her approach, came cut of his box, and the length of the cord allowing him to join her on the middle of the hearth, lie fell upon her with the fame impetuofity, and I foon perceived, that as the female was not afraid, I ought not to meddle with their affairs.   She was fquatted, and the male upon her, with all his feet refting on the ground, and both of them in a ftate of perfect immobility.   I regarded them in this position near half an hour ; I paffed my finger between them, and could perceive that there was no intro-miffion.   My prefence did not feem to embarrafs them, in the leaft, but that nothing might interrupt them, I went to bed.   The fire before which I left them, gave light enough for me to obferve them, which I continued to do for above half an hour in bed, and faw them ftill remain immoveable. I clofed my eyes for a few moments, and the female had mounted on my bed ; I carreffed her, and paff-ing my hand towards her pofteriors, found them wet, from whence I concluded, that notwithftand-ing appearances, the aft of copulation had been fully compleated, and the next day I found fome fpots upon the floor, which were!-a fecortd proof of it. But I.was foon confirmed in my opinion, by the change I.perceived in the pouch of the female.   They coupled on the 7th of Februaryand ten days after I remarked that the edge of the orifice of the pouch ; was
NORTH-AMERICA    . 429
was rather thicker; this appeared more fenfibly the following days, and I obferved that the pouch alfo became larger, and its aperture more widened than before. The night of the 20th, that is to fay, thirteen days after the copulation, (lie did not leave the box till the night was far advanced, and then only to eat, and drink, and void herfelf, after which fhe returned immediately to her box, fo that I had not time that day to continue to obferve the progrefs of the alteration in her pouch. The fourteenth day towards the evening, feeing that fhe did not come out of her box, I put my hand into it, which fhe greatly carreffed, licking it, and gnawing it very gently; fhe embraced my fingers with her little hands, and endeavouring to retain mine when I attempted to withdraw it; 1 gave her fome pieces of meat, which fhe ate, continuing to carefs my hand, and feeing that fhe could not retain it, fhe determined to follow it, and came out of her box ftill keeping hold of my finger. I was anxious to examine the pouch, and the change I perceived in it, convinced me that I had loft much in having miffed obferving it one day, and that I had fuffered the moft interefting moment to efcape. This pouch which had been gradually widening the preceding days, was then almoft clofed, prefenting only a fmall round aperture, in the middle of a cavity fimilar to a navel. The orifice of it was rather moift, and the hair round the orifice was wetted with a glairy humour common to the anus and the vagina. It feemed to me as if I could ftill have been able to introduce •ne of my fingers into the pouch ; but I' thought
that
.that this could not be effected without fo rein? the .paffage, and hurting it, perhaps too, without de-flroying the delicate embryos it contained. The .fifteenth day, whether it was that my impatience got the better of my fears, or whether the orifice of the pouch was really more open than the day before, I introduced my finger, and found, at the bottom of the pouch, a little round body, which appeared to be of about the fize of a pea.   The mother, who had before allowed me without much difficulty to put my fingers in her pouch, now became very unquiet, and endeavoured to efcape, which prevented me from examining with fufficient accuracy to afcertain whether the body was fpherical, whether it was adherent, and if there were feveral of them ; but it appeared to me adherent, and fituat-ed on one fide of the pouch, from whence I concluded that there was a fecond upon the other fide. The fixteenth night fhe only came out to eat, and returned immediately.   The feventeenth day in the evening,   fhe came  out,   and on examining her pouch, I found two bodies fituated at the bottom, the one befide the other, and adherent to the body of the mother i their volume did not exeeed that of a pea, and as far as I could judge of their form, by the touch,- it appeared to me to refemble that of a fig; with the fmall end implanted in a bafe of the form of a fegment of a fphere, and exhibited to the finger,  inequalities upon  its furface. Although I had felt only two bodies, I had no doubt of this pouch containing, a greater number.. The twenty-fifth day after the copulation, confequently
the
N O R T II - A M E R IC A. 4$i
the twelfth of the refidence of the young in tlic pouch, I began to feel them move under the finger, and a month after the fecond epocha,   I could plainly difcover them on half opening the pouch-Fifteen days later, it remained naturally open enough to fee them freely r and at the end of two months, the female lying down, and the opening of the pouch being in a more lax fituation than when fhe walked,   the young ones were partly out of the pouch, and might cafily be reckoned : they were to the number of fix, all holding to the mother by a canal which enters the maw of the young one, and which cannot be withdrawn, but by fuch vio~ lence as might deflroy it, if this fhould happen at an early period; for the young one is then unable to take hold again of the teat.   But when fix weeks old, it can refume it by flrong fuction, the aperture at the end of the muzzle being barely large enough to receive the pap, which is about two lines in length, and the fize of the fecond or third cord of a violin. The opoffum notwithftanding has a very wide maw, but as it remains attached to the mother, Nature has joined the two jaws by a membrane, which dries up and difappears as foon as the young one is three months old, at which term it begins to eat and to walk.
" The number of the young varies greatly; I have feen females with ten or eleven, others which had only five or fix. There are never more paps than young ones, and when they are weaned, thefe paps dry up, and detach themfelves, as in other animals ; the^mbilicai firing detaches itfelf from the young;
with
43-
TRAVELS, &c.
' with this difference, that the latter preferve the mark of the fpot where the firing was, whereas the female opoflum retains no trace of the points where the teats has'e been, and which ace not, as in other animals, placed in two parallel lines, but irregularly, and'as if by accident. It appears as if they formed themfelves in thofe places where the embryos happen to touch the mother's belly when file has-conveyed them into her pouch, fucceinvely, as fhe lays them ; for that is the mofl proper expreffion, undeveloped embryos being comparable only to eggs.'*
T  HE      EN D.
Vol.II.FLIL
V K li .', I' K V T I V "B    'I'"Ken I'm...    .P O I N T A.
fW.If. PI.III.
i" I. R a P K t T I V K 1 -rtkf 11 IVom   I'oi.fT W.