I Flatter Myself, Therefore,
That You'll Receive My Letters As Conceived, Not According To
Scientific Rules To Which I Am A Perfect Stranger, But Agreeable To
The Spontaneous Impressions Which Each Subject May Inspire.
This is
the only line I am able to follow, the line which nature has herself
traced for me; this was the covenant which I made with you, and with
which you seemed to be well pleased.
Had you wanted the style of the
learned, the reflections of the patriot, the discussions of the
politician, the curious observations of the naturalist, the pleasing
garb of the man of taste, surely you would have applied to some of
those men of letters with which our cities abound. But since on the
contrary, and for what reason I know not, you wish to correspond
with a cultivator of the earth, with a simple citizen, you must
receive my letters for better or worse.
LETTER II
ON THE SITUATION, FEELINGS, AND PLEASURES, OF AN AMERICAN FARMER
As you are the first enlightened European I have ever had the
pleasure of being acquainted with, you will not be surprised that I
should, according to your earnest desire and my promise, appear
anxious of preserving your friendship and correspondence. By your
accounts, I observe a material difference subsists between your
husbandry, modes, and customs, and ours; everything is local; could
we enjoy the advantages of the English farmer, we should be much
happier, indeed, but this wish, like many others, implies a
contradiction; and could the English farmer have some of those
privileges we possess, they would be the first of their class in the
world.
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