Who Knows What Revolutions Russia And America May One
Day Bring About; We Are Perhaps Nearer Neighbours Than We Imagine.
I
view with peculiar attention all your towns, I examine their
situation and the police, for which many are already famous.
Though
their foundations are now so recent, and so well remembered, yet
their origin will puzzle posterity as much as we are now puzzled to
ascertain the beginning of those which time has in some measure
destroyed. Your new buildings, your streets, put me in mind of those
of the city of Pompeia, where I was a few years ago; I attentively
examined everything there, particularly the foot-path which runs
along the houses. They appeared to have been considerably worn by
the great number of people which had once travelled over them. But
now how distant; neither builders nor proprietors remain; nothing is
known! "Why thee hast been a great traveller for a man of thy
years." Few years, Sir, will enable anybody to journey over a great
tract of country; but it requires a superior degree of knowledge to
gather harvests as we go. Pray, Mr. Bertram, what banks are those
which you are making: to what purpose is so much expense and so much
labour bestowed? "Friend Iwan, no branch of industry was ever more
profitable to any country, as well as to the proprietors; the
Schuylkill in its many windings once covered a great extent of
ground, though its waters were but shallow even in our highest
tides: and though some parts were always dry, yet the whole of this
great tract presented to the eye nothing but a putrid swampy soil,
useless either for the plough or for the scythe. The proprietors of
these grounds are now incorporated; we yearly pay to the treasurer
of the company a certain sum, which makes an aggregate, superior to
the casualties that generally happen either by inundations or the
musk squash. It is owing to this happy contrivance that so many
thousand acres of meadows have been rescued from the Schuylkill,
which now both enricheth and embellisheth so much of the
neighbourhood of our city. Our brethren of Salem in New Jersey have
carried the art of banking to a still higher degree of perfection."
It is really an admirable contrivance, which greatly redounds to the
honour of the parties concerned; and shows a spirit of discernment
and perseverance which is highly praiseworthy: if the Virginians
would imitate your example, the state of their husbandry would
greatly improve. I have not heard of any such association in any
other parts of the continent; Pennsylvania hitherto seems to reign
the unrivalled queen of these fair provinces. Pray, Sir, what
expense are you at e'er these grounds be fit for the scythe? "The
expenses are very considerable, particularly when we have land,
brooks, trees, and brush to clear away. But such is the excellence
of these bottoms and the goodness of the grass for fattening of
cattle, that the produce of three years pays all advances." Happy
the country where nature has bestowed such rich treasures, treasures
superior to mines, said I: if all this fair province is thus
cultivated, no wonder it has acquired such reputation for the
prosperity and the industry of its inhabitants.
By this time the working part of the family had finished their
dinner, and had retired with a decency and silence which pleased me
much. Soon after I heard, as I thought, a distant concert of
instruments. - However simple and pastoral your fare was, Mr.
Bertram, this is the dessert of a prince; pray what is this I hear?
"Thee must not be alarmed, it is of a piece with the rest of thy
treatment, friend Iwan." Anxious I followed the sound, and by
ascending the staircase, found that it was the effect of the wind
through the strings of an Eolian harp; an instrument which I had
never before seen. After dinner we quaffed an honest bottle of
Madeira wine, without the irksome labour of toasts, healths, or
sentiments; and then retired into his study.
I was no sooner entered, than I observed a coat of arms in a gilt
frame with the name of John Bertram. The novelty of such a
decoration, in such a place, struck me; I could not avoid asking,
Does the society of Friends take any pride in those armorial
bearings, which sometimes serve as marks of distinction between
families, and much oftener as food for pride and ostentation? "Thee
must know," said he, "that my father was a Frenchman, he brought
this piece of painting over with him; I keep it as a piece of family
furniture, and as a memorial of his removal hither." From his study
we went into the garden, which contained a great variety of curious
plants and shrubs; some grew in a greenhouse, over the door of which
were written these lines:
"Slave to no sect, who takes no private road,
But looks through nature, up to nature's God!"
He informed me that he had often followed General Bouquet to
Pittsburgh, with the view of herbalising; that he had made useful
collections in Virginia, and that he had been employed by the king
of England to visit the two Floridas.
Our walks and botanical observations engrossed so much of our time,
that the sun was almost down ere I thought of returning to
Philadelphia; I regretted that the day had been so short, as I had
not spent so rational a one for a long time before. I wanted to
stay, yet was doubtful whether it would not appear improper, being
an utter stranger. Knowing, however, that I was visiting the least
ceremonious people in the world, I bluntly informed him of the
pleasure I had enjoyed, and with the desire I had of staying a few
days with him. "Thee art as welcome as if I was thy father; thee art
no stranger; thy desire of knowledge, thy being a foreigner besides,
entitleth thee to consider my house as thine own, as long as thee
pleaseth:
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