And Who Would Not Take A
Pleasure In Seeing These Strangers Settling As New Countrymen,
Struggling With Arduous Difficulties, Overcoming Them, And Becoming
Happy.
Landing on this great continent is like going to sea, they must have
a compass, some friendly directing needle; or else they will
uselessly err and wander for a long time, even with a fair wind:
Yet
these are the struggles through which our forefathers have waded;
and they have left us no other records of them, but the possession
of our farms. The reflections I make on these new settlers recall to
my mind what my grandfather did in his days; they fill me with
gratitude to his memory as well as to that government, which invited
him to come, and helped him when he arrived, as well as many others.
Can I pass over these reflections without remembering thy name, O
Penn! thou best of legislators; who by the wisdom of thy laws hast
endowed human nature, within the bounds of thy province, with every
dignity it can possibly enjoy in a civilised state; and showed by
thy singular establishment, what all men might be if they would
follow thy example!
In the year 1770, I purchased some lands in the county of - - , which
I intended for one of my sons; and was obliged to go there in order
to see them properly surveyed and marked out: the soil is good, but
the country has a very wild aspect. However I observed with
pleasure, that land sells very fast; and I am in hopes when the lad
gets a wife, it will be a well-settled decent country. Agreeable to
our customs, which indeed are those of nature, it is our duty to
provide for our eldest children while we live, in order that our
homesteads may be left to the youngest, who are the most helpless.
Some people are apt to regard the portions given to daughters as so
much lost to the family; but this is selfish, and is not agreeable
to my way of thinking; they cannot work as men do; they marry young:
I have given an honest European a farm to till for himself, rent
free, provided he clears an acre of swamp every year, and that he
quits it whenever my daughter shall marry. It will procure her a
substantial husband, a good farmer - and that is all my ambition.
Whilst I was in the woods I met with a party of Indians; I shook
hands with them, and I perceived they had killed a cub; I had a
little Peach brandy, they perceived it also, we therefore joined
company, kindled a large fire, and ate an hearty supper. I made
their hearts glad, and we all reposed on good beds of leaves. Soon
after dark, I was surprised to hear a prodigious hooting through the
woods; the Indians laughed heartily. One of them, more skilful than
the rest, mimicked the owls so exactly, that a very large one
perched on a high tree over our fire. We soon brought him down; he
measured five feet seven inches from one extremity of the wings to
the other. By Captain - - I have sent you the talons, on which I have
had the heads of small candlesticks fixed. Pray keep them on the
table of your study for my sake.
Contrary to my expectation, I found myself under the necessity of
going to Philadelphia, in order to pay the purchase money, and to
have the deeds properly recorded. I thought little of the journey,
though it was above two hundred miles, because I was well acquainted
with many friends, at whose houses I intended to stop. The third
night after I left the woods, I put up at Mr. - - 's, the most worthy
citizen I know; he happened to lodge at my house when you was
there. - He kindly inquired after your welfare, and desired I would
make a friendly mention of him to you. The neatness of these good
people is no phenomenon, yet I think this excellent family surpasses
everything I know. No sooner did I lie down to rest than I thought
myself in a most odoriferous arbour, so sweet and fragrant were the
sheets. Next morning I found my host in the orchard destroying
caterpillars. I think, friend B., said I, that thee art greatly
departed from the good rules of the society; thee seemeth to have
quitted that happy simplicity for which it hath hitherto been so
remarkable. Thy rebuke, friend James, is a pretty heavy one; what
motive canst thee have for thus accusing us? Thy kind wife made a
mistake last evening, I said; she put me on a bed of roses, instead
of a common one; I am not used to such delicacies. And is that all,
friend James, that thee hast to reproach us with? - Thee wilt not
call it luxury I hope? thee canst but know that it is the produce of
our garden; and friend Pope sayeth, that "to enjoy is to obey." This
is a most learned excuse indeed, friend B., and must be valued
because it is founded upon truth. James, my wife hath done nothing
more to thy bed than what is done all the year round to all the beds
in the family; she sprinkles her linen with rose-water before she
puts it under the press; it is her fancy, and I have nought to say.
But thee shalt not escape so, verily I will send for her; thee and
she must settle the matter, whilst I proceed on my work, before the
sun gets too high. - Tom, go thou and call thy mistress Philadelphia.
What. said I, is thy wife called by that name? I did not know that
before. I'll tell thee, James, how it came to pass: her grandmother
was the first female child born after William Penn landed with the
rest of our brethren; and in compliment to the city he intended to
build, she was called after the name he intended to give it; and so
there is always one of the daughters of her family known by the name
of Philadelphia.
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