m LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DDoosannA / ^ . r» "4.' -^M/l„ .o \3^ 'o. » * ^'V . -"-^ .0^ •• ■■ y '^'" ^ ** <^. ^<^. ■ > ^;^' V v ^••. '^e GRA YD ON'S MEMOIRS OF HIS OWN TIME. Sic ego sim ; liceatqiie caput canescere canis, Temporis et prisci facta referre senera. — Tibullus. id 7^ MEMOIRS HIS OWN TIME. REMINISC ENCES MEN AND EVENTS REVOLUTION. BY ALEXANDER GRAYDON. EDITED I?y JOHN STOCKTON LIT TELL, MEMBER OF THE HISTaaia*n RO©«Tar OF PENNSYLVANIA, ISTOaWn RO©^'Jffi(0F PHILADELPHIA: LINDSAY & BLAKISTON. 1846. A Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1846, . BY JOHN S. LITTELL, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. GRIGGS & CO., PRINTERS. CONTENTS. Page Editor's Introduction. ..----- xi Introduction. - - - - - - - - 13 CHAPTER I. Bristol. — The Autlior's account of liis family, and early education. — So- ciety of Philadelphia. — Accident. — Family history. — Quakers. — School at Bristol. — School discipline. — Mr. Dove. — Philadelphia Academy. — Mr. Kinnersley. — Anecdote. — Early Adventure. — Author's early Cha- racter. — Ballad. — Death of the Author's father. — Latin School. — Mr. Beveridge. — Anecdotes of Mr. Beveridge. — Scliool anecdote. — Singular petition. — Beveridge's poems. — Philadelphia. — Academy. — Author's ear- ly class-mates. - ... . . . - - IG CHAPTER n. Retrospective events in the Author's history. — Philadclpliia. — Yellow fever. — Lodging-house. — Foot races. — Paxton boys. — They threaten the city. — Ogle and Friend. — Author's early amusements. — Scliool anecdotes. — Sailing excursion. — Swimming and Skating. — Abbe Raynal. — Lodging- house guests — Baron De Kalb. — Lady Moore. — Lady Susan O'Brien. — Woodward. — Sir William Draper. — Frank Richardson. — Anecdote — Major Etherington. — Anecdote. — Majors Small and Fell. — General Reid. — Captain Wallace. — .Anecdote of Joseph Church. — Rivington the printer. ........ 42- A* VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. Pugo The Author mixes in new Society. — Is destined for the Law. — His charac- teristic Indolence. — Anicric;in players. — Anecdotes. — Dramatic Poetry. — Author's pursuits. — Debating Society. — Metaphysical subtleties. — Causes of youthful follies. — Letters of Junius. — Tamoc Caspipina. — Mr. Duche." 79 CHAPTER IV. The Author removes to York. — Society there. — A Maryland Parson. — Odd character. — Judge Stedman. — Mr. James Smith. — Family circle. — Author returns to Philadeljjhia. — Prosecutes the study of the Law. — Fencing — Mr. Pike. — City Tavern. — Singular case of mental derange- ment. — Retrospective reflections. — Causes of the American War. — State of Parties. — V^olunteer Companies. — Political consistency. — Preparations for War.— Anecdote. — Early attachment. — Dr. Kearsley. — Mr. Hunt. — Major Skene. - - - 100 CHAPTER V. Congress Assembles. — Continental Battalions. — State of Parties. — Mr. Richard Penn. — His Character. — Levy of Troops. — Officers. — Ad venture. — Patriotism. — Recruiting. — 111 Success. — Discipline. — Author sent on a Mission. — Baron Woedtke. — Military Preparations. — Road to Albany. — Saratoga.— 'Fort Edward. — Lake George. — ^^General Schuyler. — His Cliaracter. — Autlior returns to his Regiment. — Judge Livingston. 129 CHAPTER VL Tiio Author leaves Philadclpiila. — Appearance of the Army. — Character of the Soldiers. — Erection of Fort Washington. — Fort Lee. — Character of General Mifflin. — An odd Character. — .Connecticut Light Horse. — Character of the Army. — Declaration of Independence. — Statue of George III.— British land on Long Island. — Action with the Enemy.— New York. — Privations of Soldiers. — Long Island. — Entrenchments. — Skir- mishing. — Midnight Scene in Camp.— Retreat to New York. — Reflec- tions.— WasUington vindicated.— General Howe. — Conduct of the British. 14i CONTENTS. Vll CHAPTER VII. Page Americans abandon New York.— Take post at Fort Washington.— Cha- racter of Officers.— Fire in New York. — Putnam. — Greene.— Promo- tions. — Fort Washington threatened. — Summoned by General Howe. — Americans attacked and retire. — Account of the Engagement. - 172 CHAPTER VIII. The Author a Prisoner.— Conduct of British Officers and Soldiers.— The Author's Treatment. — State of Prisoners.— Visits to Prisoners.— Treat- ment. — Major Maitland. — Reflections. — Americans and Englisii con- trasted. —Character of General Howe. — Killed and Wounded. — Charac- ter of Mr. Becket. — Humanity of British Officers. — March of Prisoners to New York. — Occurrences on the Road. — Generosity of a Highlander. — Disposal of Prisoners. — Officers' Quarters. — Baggage Restored. — Author appears in Regimentals. — Reflections. - - - '-^03 CHAPTER IX. Pardon offered by Howe to the Americans, upon return to their allegiance. — Letter of General Washington. — An Officer's dinner party. — A singu- lar Character. — Treatment of Prisoners. — Reflections on the American policy. — Memorial presented to General Howe. — Situation of Affairs. — American Officers. — Deserters from the cause of Independence. — Pros- pects.— Coffee-house Incident. — British Provost Marshal. — Colonel Al- len. — Result of application to General Howe. — Exchange of Pi isoners. — Removal of officers to Loriar Island. ... - - SS'J CHAPTER X. Situation of Officers at Long Island. — Society at Flat-bush. — Manners of the People. — Mr. Bache. — Captain Hutcliins. — Domine Reubell. — Do- mine Van Zinder. — An Excursion. — Public Feeling. — Mr. Wallace. — Officers' Appointments. — Obstructions to an Exchange. — Hardships of Captivity. — Elagiac Stanzas of the Author. — Obstacles to exchange of officers. — Author visited by his Mother. — Maternal Anxiety. — British Post. — Officers.— Sir George Osborne. — Bon Mot. — Applications for -A.uthor's release. — Application to General Howe. — Autlior liberated on his Parole. — Reflections on War. ..... 264 VUl CONTENTS. CHAPTER XL Page The Author leaves Long Island for New York and Elizabethtown. — Author arrives at New York. — Travelling Companions. — Tench Coxe. — Ar- rival at the American Camp. — General Washington. — Colonel Hamilton. — American Army. — General Wayne. — Occurrences on the Road. — Au- thor arrives at Pliiladclphia. — Arrival at Reading. — Political Feelings. — Declaration of Independence. — Character of Franklin, — Leading Men. — Mr. Canon. — Mr. Bryan. - - - . . - 271 CHAPTER Xn. Philadelphia Threatened. — Washington marches to meet the Enemy. — Review of the Army. — Action at Brandy wine. — Reflections on National Strengtl). — Measures of Washington. — Character of his Operations. — Defeat of Burgoync.— Society at Reading.— Generals Mifflin, Gates, Con- way, Lee. — Captain Speke. — Prisoners. — British Officers on Parole. — Author Exchanged. — .Married. — Reflections. — Occurrence of the War. — Charles Tliomson. -.....- 289 CHAPTER Xni. AfFectalion in Titles. — Escape of Prisoners. — Major Williams. — Mr. For- rest. — General exchange of Prisoners. — &'ui)ernumcrary Officers. — Generals Washington and Charles Lee. — Character of Lee. — Drayton. — Laurens. — Military Anecdotes. — Author enrolled in the Militia. — Wanton Oppression. — Mr. Parvin. — Quaker Opinions of War. — Dr. Franklin. — Visiters at Reading. — Mrs. Macaulay. — Popular Feeling, — Milton. — Constitutionalists and Republicans.*— Author obtains an ap- pointment. — John Dickinson. — Political Consistency. — Charles James Fox. ---...... 3I.S CHAPTER XIV, Constitution of the United States. — Washington elected President. — Meeting of Convention. — The Senate. — Executive Power. — ^Regulation of tlie Press. — State of Parties. — Leading Characters in the Convention. — French Revolution. — Burke and Paine. — Washington's Administra- tion. — Party Dissensions. — Mr. Jefferson. — State of Parties. - 33.'» CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER XV. Page Yellow Fever. — Marsh Effluvia. — Popular Feelings towards France. — Party Feelings. — A Threatened Insurrection suppressed by tiie Presi- dent. — The Western E.vpcdition. — Address to the President. — French Party. — Treaty with Great Britain Opposed. — Rochcfoucault. — French Travellers. — M. Talon. — Genet. — Wasliington's Retirement. — Character of Washington. ....... 365 CHAPTER XVI. Election of John Adams to the Presidency. — His Administration. — Mission to France. — French Party in America. — Imposition of Taxes. — Singular Fabrication. — Anotlier popular Insurrection. — Election of Jefferson to the Presidency. — Popular Fanaticism. — Author's Political Principles. — Death of Washington. — Character of Jefferson. — Concluding Reflec- tions. — Conclusion. ....... .38.5 APPENDIX. Alexander Graydon, the Elder, - - - - - - 417 Dr. Lauchlan Macleane, .-.---- 418 Warren, - - - - - - - - - 421 Battle of Bunker's Hill, ------- 421 John Hancock, ........ 425 Reverend Jacob Duche, ...---. 428 Letter from Mr. Duche to General Washington, - - . . 429 General Washington to Francis Hopkinson, .... 437 Francis Hopkinson to Jacob Duche, . - . - . 438 Letter from Mr. Duche to General Washington, .... 441 Letter from General Washington to Mr. Duche, .... 442 Joseph Galloway, .-....- 443 John Dickinson, ....... 445 Letter from Washington to Reed, ...... 449 Capture of General Charles Lee, ...... 451 General Washington to Colonel Reed or Cadwalader, - - - 454 X CONTENTS. Page Washington at Brandywinc, ...... 455 Battle of Monmouth, ..--... 457 General Lee to General Washington, ..... 459 General Lee to General Washington, ..... 461 Washington to Lee, ....... 462 Lee to Washington, ....... 462 Lee to Washington, ... - . . . 463 Washington to Lee, ....... 463 Charges against Lee, ....... 464 Washington and Lee, - .... - 464 Washington to Reed, ....... 466 Lee's Queries, Political and Military, - ... . . 466 Miss Franks and General Lee, ...... 468 General Lee to Miss Franks, ...... 470 Colonel John Laurens, ....... 472 Charles James Fox, ....... 476 Washington at Harrisburgh, ...... 478 President Adams, - - ..... 480 President Adam's Answer to the Harrisburgh Address. Comments by Mr. Graydon. ........ 482 Jefferson, His Election to the Presidency, .... 484 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. No apology will be offered by the Editor for the republication of tliis volume. The candid and intelligent reader, whatever may be his political predilections, who, in the spirit of honour- able inquiry, seeks only for truth, who can value manly sincerity, and appreciate the importance of the subjects truthfully and grace- fully discussed by its accomplished Author, would feel his under- standing insulted, and his taste and judgment questioned, by any such attempt. Five and thirty years have elapsed since, at an obscure, pro- vincial press, the first edition of this Work was anonymously, issued, and left to win its way, by slow degrees, and without any of the adventitious aids so abundantly characteristic of the present time, to public notice and favour. It was, moreover, at that comparatively early period of our national being, a far more serious enterprize to write and to publish a book, even of the modest dimensions of this, than can easily be conceived by those who only regard, with feelings approaching to wonder, the rapid and endless multiplications of the press at this more prosperous xii editor's introduction. and more literary era. In addition to these disadvantages, although its respectable printer availed himself of such facilities for its external decoration as his, then, remote position enabled him to command, the appearance of the volume was singularly unattractive and defective. To these formidable obstacles to its success may be superadded yet another. The title, — a most important feature in the mystery of authorship, — failed to con- vey a just idea of its character and scope, and it dropped, un- heeded, from the press.* The personal friends of the Author, — and they were numerous and w'armly attached, — it is true en- couraged the publication of the Work by liberal subscriptions for copies, which, to some extent, were subsequently distributed as gifts ; but its sale, at the book-stores, was extremely restricted, and scantily contributed to the liquidation of expenses incurred. This edition is presented to the public with a title somewhat modified, but, as the Editor conceives, more expressive and ap- propriate ; and this is the only freedom, in the way of alteration, he has presumed to take. The personal nature of these Memoirs has left but little for the Editor to add, in regard to their estimable Author ; who has, with an unrestrained and a steady hand, frankly delineated his own character throughout the work. This, at all times, an extremely delicate and difficult task, is said, by those who knew him well, to have been faithfully accomplished; and although there was little beyond the limits of habitual and gentlemanly propriety for * The original title was as follows : — " Memoirs of a Life, Chiefly Passed in Pennsylvania, within the Last Sixty Years, with OccasLonal Remarks upon the General Occurrences, Cliaracter and Spirit of that Eventful Period. Harrisburgh : Printed by John Wyeth. 1811." editor's introduction. xiii him to expose in the way of confession, that confession has been honestly and courageously made. In the year 1785, having received, from the Executive Com- mittee of Pennsylvania, an appointment to the Prothonotaryship of the newly organized county of Dauphin, Mr. Graydon re- moved to Harrisburgh for the purpose of entering upon the duties of his office, which he continued to perform in a manner alike creditable to himself and advantageous to the public, until his sudden expulsion by Governor McKean, — to whom belongs the unenviable distinction of being the father of political proscription in the United States. He then retired to a small farm which he possessed in the vicinage of Harrisburgh, where he continued to reside until the year 1816, when he returned to Philadelphia with the intention of engaging in literary pursuits, and, with a view to the increase of a very restricted income, of entering upon the business of a Publisher. "There never breathed a man who, when his life Was closing, might not of that life relate Toils long and hard,"* and Mr. Graydon was, by no means, a fortunate exception to the general rule. Ere he could mature the plans, from which, in his life's decline, he had hoped to secure the independence he coveted, and which would have adorned, with a peculiar grace, his character, tastes, and years ; or from which to repair the breach unexpectedly, cruelly, and causelessly made by arbitrary and vindictive Executive power, he yielded to the mandate w^hich all must obey, and closed his honourable, useful, and virtuous life on the second day of May, 1818, in the sixty-seventh year of his * Wordsworth. B XIV EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. age. Mr. Graydon was twice married. His first wife, in whom he has well succeeded in engaging the interest of the reader, was Miss Wood, from Berks country, who died at Harrisburgh early in the year 1794. His second wife was Miss Theodosia Pettit, daughter of Colonel Charles Pettit, of Philadelphia, who sur- vived her husband eighteen years. He had no children by ehher marriage. Mr. Graydon was ardently attached to literature, and to lite- rary pursuits. He was a frequent and acceptable contributor to the "Port Folio" in its palmiest days of popularity and influ- ence. These contributions, which, for the most part, were mo- destly denominated "Notes of a Desultory Reader," contain his opinions of the authors whose works he had read, accompa- nied with occasional critiques upon their style, and are invariably written in the strain of candour and ease that so remarkably cha- racterize the Memoirs; affording, moreover, indubitable evidence of the elevation and purity of his own sentiments, and of an enlarged, w^ell disciplined and highly cultivated mind. His lite- rature, indeed, was various, extensive, and elegant to a degree unusual at the time in which he lived ; and not very common among his steam-propelling, money-seeking countrymen, at any subsequent period. It was, at one time, the wish of the Editor to incorporate these articles into this edition of the Memoirs, but he was reluctant to swell the volume by the addition of matter having no connexion with the topics of which it treats. If, however, another edition should be called for, the original intention may be deemed worthy of reconsideration ; or they may, perhaps, form a separate vo- lume, under the thle of " Remains." ITiey were valuable con- editor's introduction. XV tribiitions, and creditable to the periodical literature of the day, and are certainly deserving of publication and preservation. The Editor of the "Port Folio" in a notice of the Memoirs, contained in his number for April, I8l8, in language appropriate and strong, declares that the "performance is one of the most interesting which the loom of American authorship has produced ;" and, in adverting to the unfortunate garb in which it came forth, remarks farther, that he felt no surprise that the public had failed to discover the " Gem, that was concealed beneath an unpromising exterior." The brief critique is valuable, both on account of the justness of the writer's views, and also as evidence of a generous and candid contemporaneous appreciation of our Author. The following extract will not be unacceptable to the reader : — "We shall not hesitate to say, in going back to a book that was published before our labours commenced, that our object is to stimulate the reading part of the community to the vindication of their taste, which deserves reproach while these Memoirs lie forgotten on the shelves. To those who would acquire a familial' view of the state of manners and public opinion about the time that our Revolution commenced, tliere is nothing which contri- butes so much accurate testimony ; and to others, who have not forgotten this eventful period, w^e know of nothing more capti- vating. We are aware that the fastidious delicacy of some has been offended by the freedom with which the writer has spoken of individuals ; but a very great distinction must be admitted be- tween conversation and writing. Zimmerman justly remarks, that 'to entertain readers is only to deliver freely in writing that which, in the general intercourse of society, it is impossible to saj- with safety and politeness.' It is time thatt his mawkish delicacy XVI EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. should be overcome, or ^ve shall have nothing manly in our lite^ rature ; nothing true in our history, or just in our memoirs. Our writers, to be popular, must deal in the most ridiculous bombast and fulsome panegyric. Our western world must be peopled by nothing but a race of orators, like those who fulmined the thunder of eloquence on classical grounds, and heroes who would have rivalled a Marlborough, a Prince Eugene, or a Marshal Saxe. If Cumberland and Marmontel had written under all the restrictions which the fastidiousness of some of our good republicans would impose upon the Press, where would be the witchery of their pages ? If the optiinates of our cities — we should say, 'persons in society^ if we could accompany the observation by a fac-simile of the customary shrug — if such people will insist on an exemption from the jurisdiction of the Press, they must contribute their quota to the general fund of amusement and instruction in some other way. If they would prevent us from laughing at the ostentation of the exterior of their houses, let them show that hospitality and refinement dwell within the doors. If they cannot discern the pleasures and utility of literature, let them respect the pursuits of wiser men, and not act as if all knowledge was confined to the conclave of a bank or a counting-room. In conclusion, we must observe of Mr. Graydox's book, that its veracity and its candour are altogether beyond impeachment, and he has ques- tioned no man's morality." Within a few weeks after the above was written, when called upon to record the demise of this excellent man, the same writer, who enjoyed the pleasure and advantage of his personal friend- ship, thus feelingly alludes to the much regretted event: — "Mr. Graydon. was ojQ.e of the few survivors of that old school of ac- EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. XVII complished gentlemen, who flourished before our Revolution ; — at a period when the courtesy of society was not disturbed by insubordination in systems, nor violated by laxity in sentiments. That he has indulged himself in some harshness in these Memoirs will not be denied ; nor will that language be censured by those who remember the merciless persecution by which it was pro- voked. " "So looks the chased lion Upon the daring- huntsman tliat has galled liim ; Then makes him nothing." In his youth, Mr. Graydon was remarkable for the elegance of his person, and he retained that advantage in an uncommon de- gree to his latest hour. The elements of his temper were kindness and good will ; he was frank and generous ; his disposition was sociable and equally fitted to win esteem or disarm resentment ; his conversation, chaste and pleasant, diffused the same agreeable feelings around him which seemed to warm his own heart. His last private communication to the writer of this memorial, derives peculiar interest from the melancholy event by which it was speedily followed. The letter contained a translation of a Latin epigram ; and though the muse of our friend cannot boast the melody of the Swan, yet she breathes the same prophetic strain. The reader w^ill require no apology for the insertion of an extract from Mr. Graydon's letter to the Editor : — " In a slow convalescence from a lingering indisposition, I have amused myself with the enclosed translation, which is at the service of the Port Folio, if worthy of its pages. It struek me as a pleasing trifle, and though no poet, I had a mind to try how I could dress it in English metre. I am not unmindful of b2 xviii kimtok's intkoimjction. tlic slory in (iil ?>l;is of tlic Archbisliop of Granada, — the old t^ciillciiiiin so (•(■lcl)i;itr(| lor liis liomilics. For, tliough like him, I jii;iy not \w scnslhlc of a decadence, in iny mental faculties, it Miiiy nevcrlhclcss exist ; and, whether or nol, every person, I pre- sume who li;is iiltiiincd to my years (65) will feel a want of the vis animcE or animi, lli;it is necessary to the ready performance of a literary iindeiiakinfj,-, &c." TIM': OinfJINAL. Avulsii i'. r;mui, frcjiis 6 n)i8crurul;i, vircuti, Marcidii. (jno viHiis? — (iiio vadain, ncscio — Qucrcuin M.ilcniMiii r-()liiiii(:iiarcnt oiik laid prostr.ile hy llu^ storm. Hence, doomed the si)ort of every vn^rrant breeze, I'm liurried n|) file monni, t.\n-n down again ; One wiiile I mildew under shading tiees, Now, whirl'd afield, I hleaeii upon the plain. In short, I GO, wm;uK ai,i. tmincis kartiily tend, And, unresisting, met t my wasting foes : iNjr oaky and hr.imliles have; one eommon end — The foliage ol" the laurel and the rose. * * * * * * " The Memoirs contain some things that are hold and un]v,dateal)le, but it is a work of unexampled can- dour and hudi; and will conduce more to a veritable history ol' editor's INTIIODUCTION, XIX the times, to which it relates, than any other publication now- extant." * * * " Mr. Graydon never lost sight of those im- perishable principles for which he had contended on the field. He cherished the love of liberty, which beat in his heart until it became the impression of his conscience and the conviction of his understanding. Though a severe suJfTerer from political in- tolerance, nothing like tergiversation could be ranked among his failings. The perilous appearances in our political horizon ntver alarmed the soldier of the Revolution, who knew that the rela- tions of truth and justice are immutable." In the year 1822, Mr. John Galt, well known for his many entertaining and valuable contributions to English literature, caused the re-publication of the Memoirs at Edinburgh, in a handsome volume, tp which he prefixed a dedication to the Arne- rican Envoy, then resident near the Court of St. James. In this dedication Mr. Galt bears the following judicious testimony to the merit and character of the work : — " It is remarkable, that a production so rich in the various ex- cellencies of style, description and impartiality, should not have been known to the collectors of American books in this country, especially as it is, perhaps, the best personal narrative that has yet appeared relative to the history of that great conflict which terminated in establishing the Independence of the United States. The candour with respect to public occurrences, which it dis- plays — the views of manners in Pennsylvania, prior to the memo- rable era of 177G — and the incidental sketches of historical cha- racters, with which it is enriched, cannot fail to render the volume a valuable addition to the stock of general knowledge, and will, probably, obtain for the Author no mean place among those who have added permanent lustre to the Engli-sh language." XX editor's introduction. Commendations, thus unequivocal, from sources entitled to deference and weight, render it unnecessary to dwell longer upon the subject. It only remains for the Editor to allude, with be- coming brevity, to his humble labours; and, while freely admit- ting a general and a cordial sympathy with the Author in the feelings and opinions he has so well portrayed and expressed, to disclaim responsibility for their utterance where it may not justly attach to him. He has, indeed, on several occasions, in the notes, ventured to express dissent from the judgments of the writer ; subsequent de- velopments having placed within his reach, information which could not have been accessible to Mr. Graydon. The observations appended by the Author to the last page of his private copy of the "Memoirs," are annexed to the original conclusion, injustice to him, and as a more befitting, present ter- mination of the volume. But, as the Editor may not alter or mollify any of its expressions, it is but justice to himself to remark, that this is done without concurrence, on his part, in all the sentiments they contain. On the contrary, he cannot, whatever may be his own predelictions, indulge in indiscriminate censure of the acts of any party that may chance to be in the ascendant. The great mass of the native population — and any disparagement of the other, influential and gradually con- trolling portion, is emphatically disclaimed' — who, alone, cherish an exclusive, or, at least, predominant attachment to the soil and institutions of their country, are, without doubt, patriotic ; and, perhaps, the only serious charge that may reasonably be placed to their account, is that of a too great ductility towards mere party-leaders ; adopting, without due examination or reflection — such as becomes intelligent citizens deserving of their freedom EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. XXI and independence — the plausible dogmas of ignorant, unprinci- pled demagogues, or of inexperienced and reckless experi- mentalists. Whatever may have been the defects of the " Madisonian Policy," to which Mr. Graydon alludes — and in regard to which the knowledge of the Editor is entirely historical — it cannot, he presumes, be denied that the Government of the country, at that gloomy period, was encompassed by difficulties and menaced by dangers of no ordinary character ; and, as it was a manifest and monstrous dereliction of fdial duty to withhold the necessary aid in her extrication and defence, so was it little short of treason to interpose obstacles to the complete and triumphant vindication of her rights and honour. Yet, to such unnatural lengths have party antipathies, rage, andbhndness, tempted men whose services and genius would otherwise have deserved and commanded un- qualified admiration and gratitude. It is, assuredly, the part of wisdom to avoid warlike or angry collision and controversy with other nations, alike injurious in their tendency to prosperity and to morals ; — let. the people, therefore, look well to their rulers, and be duly careful in their selection ; — but it is equally an obvious dictate of patriotism, w-hatever the "policy," by which she may become involved, at any and at every sacrifice, to shield the country from discomfiture and disgrace. Nor can the Editor permit the fears or the doubts of the Author, or of other equally thoughtful and patriotic men, to w-eaken his firm and abiding faith in the permanency of our institutions. Of the lasting prevalence of republican feeling, and of the rapidly progressive and widely spreading love for these institutions, no genuine son of the soil should ever encourage or entertain a doubt. It is true, that the xxii editor's intkoduction. people — fondly loved, and caressinj^ly llntlered by those who alone are capable of serving Iheni, and who are, therefore, ex- clusively deserving of then- smiles and olUces, iiiid honours — have made some startling mistakes, which have paled the cheek, and checked the warm current of patriotic ho])e. We have seen, for example, a citizen of consummate ability, of ])rofound learning, and of unsurpassed experience, hurled from the high station which his genius and talents adorned, in the whirl of popularity achieved by a. patriotic and fortunate General, whose great mili- tary talents, and brilliant exploits in the field, were deemed sulli- cient qualifications for the most elevated of civic trusts ! We have, also, seen a statesman who, for forty years, has been a leading public servant, — exercising, in the national councils, a commanding and conservative influence; and who, for two-thirds of this long period of toilsome, self-sacrificing devotion to his coun- try, has been, of that country, — under the guidance of a higher Intelligence, — thrice the preserver; — an illustrious offspring of its free, equalizing, and nurturing institutions, — its greatest living name, — we have seen this wise and generous man, ostracised by strangers who are called his countrymen ; and another, without name, or fame, or service, elevated, by the controlling influence of the same law^-created citizens, from the " thick darkness " of obscurity, to the Chair of Washington ! Such occurrences overshadow whh temporary gloom and despondency, the prospect into futurity, and sicken the heart and depress the spirit of the enlightened patriot, whose duty it is, notwithstanding, never to despair while there is service to render or while a sacrifice is required. After he had commenced the preparation of the Memoirs for EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION, XXIU the press, and had made considerable progress in the division of the work into chapters for the greater convenience of reference, — a plan not adopted by the Author, — the Editor was fortunate in procuring a copy of the Edinburgh edition in which Mr. Galt had performed this service in a manner somewhat different, but, on the whole, very satisfactorily ; and his arrangement, in this respect, with slight modification, has been adopted. Beyond this, however, Mr. Galt did not venture to proceed. To this Edition, a Table of Contents, and a general Index have been added ; and also an Appendix containing illustrative matter, which could not, without burdening the page, be crowded into notes. Acknowledgements are due to Mr. Andrew Graydon, of Har- risburgh, for the kindness and courtesy which unreservedly placed at the disposal of the Editor, documents that have greatly facili- tated his researches, and especially for the use of his Uncle's j)ri- vate copy of the Memoirs, to many of the pages of which the Author had appended notes with a view, unquestionably, to a future republication. These notes have been faithfully transcribed and placed where their writer evidently intended them to appear ; while those of the Editor have received their appropriate designa- tion. The volume is thus submitted, once more, but in a befitting dress, to the candour of the intelligent and discriminating reader, as a valuable addition to the historical literature of the country for whose independence and happiness its Author perilled his fortunes and his life ; and whatever may be his impressions in respect to the oj)inions which it contains, their manifest sincerity will com- mand respect, and the style and temper of their expression, xxiv editor's introduction. while deserving of general imitation, will challenge good-will and admiration. The beautiful tribute of Wordsworth to the Memory of Lamb, is, with slight modification, almost equally applicable here, and may, not inappropriately, terminate the trespass of the Editor upon the patience of his reader : — " To a good man of most dear memory This stone is sacred. Here he lies apart From the great city wlicre he first drew breath, Was reared and taught ; and humbly earned his bread To the strict labours of the merchants' desk, By duty chained. Not seldom did these tasks Tease, and the thought of time so spent depress His spirit, hut the recompense was higli ; Firm Independence, Bounty's rightful sire ; " Affections warm as sunshine, free as air; And when the precious hours of leisure came, Knowledge and wisdom, gained from converse sweet With books, or while he ranged the crowded streets With a keen eye, and overflowing Iieart: So genius triumphed over seeming wrong, And pour'd out truth in works by thouglitful love Inspired — works potent over smiles and tears. And as round mountain-tops the lightning plays, Thus innocently sported, breaking forth As from a cloud of some grave sympathy, Humour and wild instinctive wit and all The vivid flashes of his spoken words." J. S. L. Germantown, Pennsylvania, April 11th, 1816. M E M I H S OF A LIFE, PASSED CHIEFLY IN PENNSYLVANIA. INTRODUCTION. The dealers in self-biography, ever sedulous to ward ofl' the imputation of egotism, seldom fail to find apologies for their un- dertakings. Some, indeed, endeavour to persuade , themselves, that they design their labours merely for their scrutoires ; while others, less self-deceived, admit they have an eye to the public. The Cardinal De Retz is brought out at the request of a lady ; Rousseau, by the desire of showing himself to a misjudging world, in all the verity of nature ; Marmontel, writes his life for his children at the instance of their mother; and Cumberland, so far as his motives can be collected from his introduction, because he lived and was an author. If, from these, we recur to the account given of himself, by our own Franklin, we shall find, that, although addressed to his son, it is intended for the world ; and that the acknowledged motives to it, are a combination of family curiosity and personal vanity, with the desire of showing the connexion between thrifty youth and respectable age — a kind of practical comment on the useful truths, contained in Poor Richard's almanac. Next to the good fortune of having figured in some brilliant, active career ; of having been the companion of a hero, or the depository of state secrets ; of having seen cities and men ; of having wandered "through antres vast, and deserts idle,"" or been 2 14 INTRODUCTION. the subject of "moving accidents by flood and field;" the avowed inducement of Mr. Cumberland, is perhaps the most plausible. Unfortunately, for the person, who, here presumes to appear before the public, he is without one of these claims to attention. He has no pretensions to fame or distinction in any kind, neither as soldier, nor statesmen, nor traveller, nor author. He is not wholly without hope, however, that his presumption may be pal- liated ; and that, in his object, of giving a representation of the character, spirit and more minute occurrences of his time, it will be perceived, that there is no form, into which his work can be thrown, with so much advantage, as into that of personal me- moirs. By his own story, if he is not misled by sell-love, a kind of menstruum is afforded, for the incongruous mass of his mate- rials, serving to harmonize, in some degree, the abrupt transitions and detached details, which, a delineation of the various incidents of "many coloured life " requires. As to himself, he is fully conscious, that it matters not, To whom related, or by wliom begot ; and, therefore, he would fain buttress his undertalving, by the opinion of an eminent poet, as vouched by Mr. Walpole, viz. " That if any man were to form a book, of what he had seen or heard himself, it must, in whatever hands, prove a most useful and entertaining one." A most seducing ignis-fatuus truly, con- sidering the latitude with which it is laid down ! But, far from wishing to forclose the reader by an opinion, which he must own he considers a very questionable one; or to lure him on to an expectation of what he might vainly seek to find, he an- nounces at his outset, that the pages here set before him, hold out no other inducement to his perusal, than such as may arise from the fidelity with which he will relate incidents within the scope of ordinary life ; and depict some occurrences, which came under his notice, during the progress of the revolution, and since its con- summation. In doing this, he will have occasion to speak as well of others as himself. He may sometimes resort to motives in ac- counting for men's actions; and, as these receive their qualities INTRODUCTION. 15 from the mind of the agent, he will with equal freedom and truth disclose the complexion of his own, having little, he thinks, no inclination that it should pass for better than it is. If the mould in which it has been formed, is not the most perfect, so neither, does he trust, is it absolutely the most worthless : if not calculated to produce a cast to the taste of worldly wisdom ; one, that may advance experimentally the sound philosophy of thrift, and prac- tically mark the routes to private wealth and public greatness, it will yet be found abundantly fruitful, in negative instruction on both points. 16 ' BRISTOL. CHAPTER I. Bristol. — The Author's account of his family, and early education. — Society of Philadelphia. — Accident. — Family history. — Quakers. — School at Bristol. — School discipline. — Mr. Dove. — Philadelphia Academy. — Mr. Kinnersley. — Anecdote. — Early Adventure. — Author's early Character. — Ballad. — Death of tlie Author's father. — Latin School. — Mr. Beveridge. — Anecdotes of Mr. Beve- ridge. — School anecdote. — Singular petition. — Beveridge's poems. — Philadel- phia. — Academy. — Author's early class-mates. My recollections of the village of Bristol, in which I was born on the 10th of April, N. S., in the year 1752, cannot be supposed to go farther back than to the year 1756 or 1757, There are few towns, perhaps, in Pennsylvania, which, in the same space of time, have been so little improved, or undergone less alteration.* Then, as now,t the great road leading from Philadelphia to New York, first sldrting the inlet, at the head of which stand the mills, and then turning short to the left, along the banks of the Dela- ware, formed the principal and indeed only street, marked by any thing like a continuity of building. A few places for streets, were opened from this main one, on which, here and there, stood an humble, solitary dwelling. At a corner of two of these lanes, was a Quaker meeting house ; and on a still more retired spot, stood a small Episcopal church, whose lonely grave yard with its * Just about the time of writing tiiesc memoirs, Bristol took a start, and has since become a place of fashionable resort during the summer montlis, to which its baths and chalybeate waters, together with its convenience to the inhabitants of Philadelphia, by means of the then newly invented steamboats, have, no doubt, principally contributed. t 181K BRISTOL. 17 surrounding woody scenery, might have furnished an appropriate theme for such a muse as Gray's. These, together with an old brick jail, (Bristol having once been the county town of Bucks,) constituted all the public edifices in this my native town. Its site, though flat, is not unpleasant, particularly along the bank of the Delaware, rising to a commanding height from a fair and gravelly margin. Hence, the eye might rove at large both up and down the river, and after traversing a fine expanse of water in an oblique direction, find an agreeable resting place in the town of Burlington on the opposite shore.* As in this country, there is little temptation to the tracing of a long line of ancestry, I shall content myseh' with deducing a very brief genealogy. And this, not so much perhaps, from an ac- quiescence in the revolutionary idea of the insignificance of an illustrious pedigree, as from real inability to produce one. I can go no farther, at least, than to vouch, that we had a coat of arms in tiie family, borne about on the body of an old-fashioned chaise, and engraved upon our spoons, and a double-handled caudle cup. But if instead of groping amidst the darkness of transat- lantic heraldry, we confine ourselves to our own shores, which seems much the most congenial to the noble spirit of independence we are pleased to manifest on other occasions, I am warranted in asserting, that I am descended from ancestors, respectable both as to station and character; from a stock not ignoble, but honest and generous : And if parental propensities are transmitted to off- * Bristol, in 1846, is the largest town in Bucks county, and is distant twenty miles from Philadelphia. "The Delaware branch of the canal from Easton ter- minates here in a spacious basin, bringing to the place an extensive coal trade The Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad passes in the rear of the town. Steam- boats are constantly touching at tbfc landing." Besides the Episcopal churcli, above mentioned, and Quaker meeting Iiouse, there is now a Methodist meeting house, a bank, (the Bank of Bucks county,) an extensive flouring mill, several hotels and stores. " The distinguishing characteristic of the place, is its quiet- ness and rural beauty. The population in 1840 was 1,438. Scott, in his geo- graphy published in 1806, says that Bristol, at that time, contained 90 houses. By the census of 1800, the population was 511; in 1810, 628; in 1820, 908^ Bristol was incorporated as a borough by Sir William Keith, governor of the pro- vince of Pennsylvania, on the 14th of November, 1720."^ — Er. 2* 18 author's ancestry. spring in the human race, but in half the degree that they are among quadrupeds, the value we may be disposed to set on vir- tuous progenitors, is very far from chimerical. Several years residence on a fai-m, has afforded me opportunity for some ob- servations upon the nature of domestic animals ; and I have found, what I should have been disposed to laug-h at, had I not proved it, that, among the ox kind especially, the vices, which seemed mere habits of the female parent, have invariably descended to her offspring. I venture this remark, though not quite in unison with the tone of the subject ; and though liable to be strained into an assumption of worth on my part, to which I may in fact be wholly destitute of pretension. My father was an Irishman, and, as it appears from some im- perfect documents in my possession, came to this country in the year 1730. He was born, I think, in Longford, and was brought up under the care of his maternal grandfather in Dublin, or its neighbourhood. Being designed for the pulpit, he had received a suitable education, to which, having added many of the accom- plishments at that time in fashion, he was distinguished in Phila- delphia both as a scholar and a gentleman. It was not long since, that the late chief justice Shippen informed me, he was the person always appealed to, in the coffee-house controversies of the yoimg men of the day, on points of science and literature. During his presidency of the county courts of Bucks, he had made himself, as I have understood, a very tolerable lawyer, insomuch that at the time of his death, he was, as I have been informed, in nomination for the office of a judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. From the copies of letters to his friends in Ireland, soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, he appears not to have taken up very favourable sentiments of its inhabitants. "Most of our trading people here," says he, "are complaisant sharpers; and that maxim in trade, to think every man a knave, until the contrary evidently appears, would do well to be observed here if any where. — In this province we have a toleration for all religions, which some have enlarged so far, as to make a neglect and in- difference of all religion, their only religion." These being the opinions of a young man but of about two and twenty years of ACCIDENT. ' 19 age, it is not improbable, that they were too hastily formed ; but if, unfortunately for the honour of our infant metropolis, they were correct, it is some relief to hear, that mercantile integrity, joined to genuine and unaffected hospitality, was also to be found there, as appears from the following extract of a letter, dated the l8th of March, 1731. " Soon after we arrived here, it happened, and I hope providentially for us, (himself and his father-in-law, Mr. Emerson, who made one family,) that we rented a house from one Mr. Peter Baynton, adjacent to his own, who is a considerable merchant in this city. As he is a man of singular sobriety, and not well affected to the reigning humour in this town, he has ad- mitted us into his chief confidence, and distinguished us as his principal friends and associates, insomuch that he will enter upon no project or design in trade, without admitting us to a share in it: and from the success of some we have already undertaken, we have not the least room to doubt of his sincerity and kind- ness." Such is my father's sketch of Philadelphia manners eighty years ago.* From the same letter it appears, that at the instance of this Mr. Ba^Titon, he had contemplated with him a partnership in trade, to be carried on in the town of Burlington, which, he observes, " though it be now somewhat obscure, it has yet many advantages capable of improvement." This contemplated removal, however, did not take place. He continued in business in Philadelphia, and in the war, probably, with Spain, which broke out in the year 1741, was concerned with several of the principal merchants in that city in building and fitting out the Tartar privateer. f This vessel, supposed to be tlie finest, as she was the largest, that had at that time, been built on the Delaware, had a singular fate. On her passage to tlie sea, at a fine season of the year, she was lost in the bay. To make the most of a gentle breeze that was blowing, she vras * 1731. t Commanded by Capt. Macky. She was launched 24th May, 1744. More than eighty people were drowned, among whom were Mr, Legate of New Castle, Capt. McKnight of Philadelphia, and Capt. Bodeman. She was a sharp-built vessel, and out of all proportion rigged and masted, and under ballasted. She overset in a moment with but little wind, and went down instantly. Letter 31st July, 1774, from Lynford Lardner to Richard Penn. 20 FAMILY HISTORY. under full sail, when either from a deficiency of ballast, a dispro- portion in her rigging, or some other fault in her construction, she was almost instantaneously overturned by a flaw from the shore. The greater part of the owners, who had formed a party to see her out of the capes, were on board, and among them my father. So mild was the day, and so little cause was there for appre- hension, that he was amusing himself on deck with one of Mo- liere's plays, when the disaster occurred. Finding himself pre- cipitated among the waves, he immediately seized on a chest that had floated from the vessel, and placing himself on the middle of it, its extremities served to support a sailor on each side of him. In this situation, they were driven at the mercy of the waves for a considerable time, without any prospect of relief. They were sometimes about to quit their hold, and at once resign themselves to a fate, which appeared inevitable. This was peculiarly the case with one of the sailors, whom my father exerted himself to the utmost to encourage, since if he had abandoned the chest, it would have lost its equilibrium, and in the weak, exhausted state in which they were, they must all have perished. At length, a vessel hove in sight and appeared to be making towards them : It proved to be so, and they were taken up while yet enough of vital power remained, to render the means used for their restora- tion efficacious. The captain, if I am not mistaken, and the greater part of the Tartai-'s crew, were drowned, as were most of the owners that were on boai'd. Although I have heard my father relate the circumstances of this misfortune, and have since heard it spoken of in the family, my recollection of the particulars is very imperfect. My mother, the second wife of my father, was the eldest of four daughters ; she was born in the island of Barbadoes, and when about seven years of age, was brought to Philadelphia by her parents, who then came to reside in that city. Her father was a German, born, if I mistake not, in Frankfort on the Maine. He had been engaged in trade while in Barbadoes, and brought with him into Pennsylvania, a pretty good property. Her mother was from Scotland, having first drawn breath in the city of Glas- gow ; but by what means a pair of so little national affinity as these my grand parents on the mother's side, were brought to- FAMILY HISTORY. 21 gether, I never learned. From their conversation, however, I remember they had resided some time in London, previously to their settling in Barbadoes. Notwithstanding the apparent want of associating principles in some respects, they yet agreed very well : While the tongue of my grandfather faithfully retained the character of its original dialect, that of his spouse, though in a less degree, bore testimony also, to the countiy of her extraction ; and while he, a determined episcopalian, had his pew in Christ's church, she, a strict presbyterian, was a constant attendant at Buttonwood meeting house. No feuds, however, were engen- dered by this want of religious conformity ; and if my grandfather sometimes consented to hear a sermon at the meeting house, it might be considered as a concession on his part, for a sermon of ai'chbishop Tillotson, which was regidarly read aloud, by one of the family on Sunday evening. Though a loud talker, and some- what rough and boisterous in his manner, the old gentleman was at bottom, highly liberal, benevolent, and good natured. The good lady, on the other hand, was rather austere ; and the management of her family, strongly tinctured with the primitive discipline of her church. Her countenance, on Sunday, always assumed an un- usual degree of severity, and while under her tutorage, I might truly say, in the meaning of the poet, it shone no Sabbath day to me. Then, instead of rest, my labours were augmented ; then chapters were to be read, and long catechisms to be conned or repeated. The best things may be overdone ; and the imposition of hard and unreasonable tasks is more apt to create disgust, than conciliation to instruction. So, at least, it was with me: I deemed ray tutoress unfeeling and tyrannical, while, by her, I was considered as reprobate and incorrigible. Although my progenitors, on neither side, appear to have pos- sessed the talent of amassing wealth, there is a circumstance com- mon to both, which seems unequivocally to indicate liberality and sincerity of heart. And yet it is a circumstance, which, probably, would have escaped me, had it not been noticed by my uncle, by marriage, the late judge Biddle.* Your family, said he one * Edward Biddle, Esq. Wilkinson, in his " Memoirs" warmly eulogizes him. "He was a man whose public and private virtues commanded respect, and excited 22 QUAKERS. day to me, has had an honour which has happened to few, that of mducing two persons wholly unconnected with you, to at- tach themselves to you; to make your interests their own, and without contract or pecuniary tie, to remain with you till their deaths. One of these w^as a Scotchman, of the name of Thomas Gordon, who came into my grandfather's service in Philadelphia, in the capacity of a clerk, continued with him after he had de- clined business, and remained among us long after his death, until the time of his own decease, which happened at Reading, in tlie year 1777. He was born in Aberdeen, and had been bred to business in a counting-house at Rotterdam. He never was married. In his latter days, he became a perfect clock in regu- lai'ity; was a truly honest man, and what will be thought still better by many, he was a genuine whig of seventy-six^ though too old or infirm to carry arms in the revolutionary contest. The otlier, was a maiden lady of the society of friends, who, upon occasion of my mother being in want of a female domestic, offered to assist her for a short time, came into the family soon after I was born, and never left it until taken from us by death, at an advanced age, in the year 1794. Her name was Ann Burgess ; she was a woman of good understanding and reputably con- nected. With the exception of the family of Doctor Denormandie, our ow'n, and perhaps one or two more, the principal inhabitants of Bristol were Quakers. Among these, the names of Buckley, Wil- liams, Large, Meritt, Hutchinson and Church, are familiar to me. The last, bred to the trade of a cooper, but who had put his son in the business, and employed himself more in the management admiration from all persons : He was speaker of the last assembly of Penn- sylvania under the proprietory government, and in the dawn of the Revolution devoted himself to tlie cause of his country, and successfully opposed the over- bearing influences of .loseph Galloway: ardent, eloquent, and full of zeal, by his exertions, during several days and nights of obstinate, warm and animated discus- sion, in extreme sultry weather, he overheated himself, and brougiit on an inflam- matory rheumatism, which radically destroyed his health, and ultimately de- prived society of one of its greatest ornaments, and his country of a statesman, a patriot and a soldier; for he had served several campaigns in the war of 1756, and if his health had been spared, would, no doubt, have occupied the second or third place in the Revolutionary armies." — Ed. QUAKERS. 23 of a small farm and nursery of fruit trees, was a sincere and steady friend to our family. He Avas married to the sister of Ann Bur- gess, just mentioned, and was a very worthy man, possessing a good natural understanding, with a strong addiction to philo- sophical speculations. His attachment to my father went beyond friendship : it reached to admiration and veneration. He thought him, as he has often told me, one of the best and wisest men that ever lived. I never knew him do a foolish thing, said he, but once. Upon my asking him what that was ; it was, said he, on occasion of some worthless fellow reporting that he had seen one or more Indians in the swamp beyond the church, assembling a body of the militia, of which he was colonel,* and marching out with drums beating, and colours flying, against the supposed enemy. But this instance is equivocal. Whether my father gave credit to the report or not, others might, and no doubt did be- lieve it : It was also incumbent on him to be alert ; to inculcate that duty upon his men, and to inure them to alarms : and although more silence, and less parade, might have been more truly mili- tary, yet something of the "pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war," is allowable to militia, particularly to a body w^hich had certainly never encountered an enemy. Besides, to the calm incredulity of friend Church upon this occasion, we might perhaps safely add, a little both of the spirit of party and of quakerism. The people of his society, from principles averse from war, were charged with being too friendly to the Indians ; with being too ready to palliate their enormities, and conse- quently, indisposed to listen to the alarming accounts, which the panic produced by Braddock's defeat, had spread throughout the country. By this event, every obstacle to their incursions being removed, in the minds of the timid they were to be looked for * In Franklin and Hall's Gazette of February 9th, 1747, eight of the officers of Bucks county it is there stated — Alexander Graydon, Captain; Anthony Denor- mandie, Lieutenant ; James Barker, Ensign. In the same paper of the I5th March, same year, it is farther stated — Superior officers of a regiment in Bucks county, Alexander Graydon, Esq., Colonel, Matthew Hughes, Esq., Lieutenant Colonel ; John Denormandie, Esq., Major. He was also recommended in a nomination for a field officer in the Provincial Corps raising in 1758, but he declined the ap. pointment. See his letter in Appendix. 24 DOVE. every where. From the consternation that prevailed, I can still recollect, that the horrors of a discomfiture by such a foe, were among my most early and lively impressions. To the terrors of the tomahawk and the scalping knife, the imagination adds the savage yells, the gloomy woods and dismal swamps, which are their usual accompaniments; and, hence, minds that have been deeply impressed by the fatal fields of Braddock and St. Clair, ai'e well prepared for the sombre interest imparted by Tacitus's aflfecting description of that of Varus, visited after an interval of six years, by Germanicus :• — Occulta saltuum, mcestos, locos, visuque ac memoria deformes. Medio campi albentia ossa, utfiigerunt, ut restitenint disjecta vel aggerata. " Those deep and dreary re- cesses, hideous both to sight and memory; wdth the whitening bones, scattered or heaped together, as either they belonged to those who fell in flight, or met their fate resisting." There being no traces in my memory, of any incidents worthy of remark, during the period of my infancy, I pass on to the era of my removal to Philadelphia, for the sake of my education. This, I suppose to have been, betsveen my sixth and seventh year. I recollect little or nothing of going to school at Bristol, farther than that there was one, and the master's name Pinker- ton, a kind, good humoured Irishman, from whom I might have learned, that as one thing was cruel big, so another might be cruel little. In the city, I lived with, and was under the care of my grandfather. The school he first put me to, was that of David James Dove, an Englishman, and much celebrated in his day, as a teacher, and no less as a dealer in the minor kind of satirical poetry. To him were attributed some political effusions in this way, which wqxq thought highly of by his party, and made a good deal of noise. He had also made some figure, it seems, in the old world, being spoken of, as I have heard, though in what way I know not, having never seen the w^ork, in a book, entitled — The Life and Adventures of the Chevalier Taylor.* As the story went, * Tliis was Taylor the occulist, spoken of in Boswell's life of Johnson, and who, though sprightly, was, according to the doctor, an instance how far impu- dence could carry ignorance. He challenged me once to talk Latin with him, says the doctor. I quoted some of Horace, which he took to be my own speech* He said a few words well enough. SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 25 some one reading tliis performance to Mr. Dove on its first ap>- pearance, with the mischievous design of amusing himself at his expense, as he knew what the book contained, he (Dove) bore testimony to the truth of the contents, with which, he said, he was perfectly acquainted, exclaiming, as the reader went along, true, true as the gospel! but when the part was reached, in which he himself is introduced in a situation somewhat ridiculous, he cried out, it was a lie, a most abominable lie, and that there was not a syllable of truth in the story. At any rate. Dove was a hu- mourist, and a person not unlikely to be engaged in ludicrous scenes. It was his practice in his school, to substitute disgrace for corporal punishment. His birch was rarely used in canonical method, but was generally stuck into the back part of the collar of the unfortunate culprit, who, with this badge of disgrace tow- ering from his nape like a broom at the mast-head of a vessel for sale, was compelled to take his stand upon the top of the form, for such a period of time, as his offence was thought to deserve. He had another contrivance for boys who were late in their morn- ing attendance. This was to despatch a committee of five or six scholars for them, with a bell and lighted lantern, and in thi^ "odd equipage," in broad day light, the bell all the while ting- ling, were they escorted through the streets to school. As Dove affected a strict regard to justice in his dispensations of punish- ment, and always professed a willingness, to have an equal mea- sure of it meted out to himself in case of his transgressing, the boys took him at his word ; and one morning, when he had over- staid his time, either through laziness, inattention, or design, he found himself waited on in the usual form. He immediately ad- mitted the justice of the procedure, and putting himself behind the lantern and bell, marched with great solemnity to school, to the no small gratification of the boys, and entertainment of the spectators. But this incident took place before I became a scho- lar. It was once my lot to be attended in this manner, but what had been sport to my tutor, was to me a serious punishment. The school was, at this time, kept in Videll's alley, which opened into Second, a little below Chesnut street. It counted a number of scholars of both sexes, though chiefly boys ; and the assistant, or writing master, was John Reily, a very expert pen- 3 26 ACADEMY DOVE CHARLES THOMSON. man and conveyancer, a man of some note, who, in his gayer moods affected a pompous and technical phraseology, as he is characterized under the name of Parchment, in a farce written some forty years ago, and which, having at least the merit of no- velty and personality, was a very popular drama, though never brought upon the stage. Some years afterwards. Dove removed to Germantown, where he erected a large stone building, in the view of establishing an academy upon a large scale ; but I be- lieve his success was not answerable to his expectations. I know not what my progress was under the auspices of Mr. Dove, but having never in my early years, been smitten with the love of learning, I have reason to conclude, it did not pass mediocrity. I recollect a circumstance, however, which one afternoon took place at my grandfather's, to the no small entertainment of the old gentleman, who often adverted to it afterwards. Dove was there, and in endeavouring to correct my utterance, as I had an ill habit of speaking with my teeth closed, as if indifferent whether I spoke or not, he bawled out in one of his highest tones: " Why don't you speak louder ? open your mouth like a Dutchman — say Being now, probably, about eight years of age, it w'as deemed expedient to enter me at the academy, then, as it now continues * This Dove was a satirical poet, and has been described by Judge Peters, an early pupil of his, as a "sarcastical and ill-tempered doggerelizer, who was but ironically Dove ; for his temper was that of a hawk, and his pen the beak of a fal- con pouncing on innocent prey." He became, says Watson, a teacher of languages in the Philadelphia Acade- ray, and was chiefly conspicuous for tlie part lie took in the politics of tlic day, and by his caustic rhymes in ridicule of his opponents, he wrote poetical illus- trations to accompany the caricatures which abounded in his time, and was, him- self, in turn, a rich subject for the caricaturist. Watson records a characteristic anecdote of Charles Thomson, secretary to the Congress of 1776. When young, Thomson resided in the family of Dove, who, with his wife, was much addicted to scandal, a propensity in the highest degree offensive to the honourable nature of the future secretary. Wishing to leave Ihcm, but dreading their tongues, he adopted an ingenious expedient to prevent their injurious exercise. He gravely inquired of them one evening, if his conduct, as a boarder, had been satisfactory to them. They promptly replied in the afHrmativc. Would you, then, asked Thomson, be willing to give me a certificate to tliat effect ? " O, certainly." A certificate was accordingly given, and the next day he parted from them in peace* — Ed. ANECDOTE. , 27 to be, under the name of a university, the principal seminary in Pennsylvania; and I was accordingly introduced by my father, to Mr. Kinnesley, the teacher of English and professor of oratory. He was an Anabaptist clergyman, a large, venerable looking man, of no great general erudition, though a considerable proficient in electricity; and who, whether truly or not, has been said to have had a share in certain discoveries in that science, of which Doc- tor Franklin received the whole credit. The task, of the younger boys, at least, consisted in learning to read and to write their mo- ther tongue grammatically ; and one day in the week (I think Friday) was set apart for the recitation of select passages in poetry and prose. For this purpose, each scholar, in his turn, ascended the stage, and said his speech, as the phrase was. This speech was carefully taught him by his master, both with respect to its pronunciation, and the action deemed suitable to its several parts. Two of these specimens of infantile oratory to the disturbance of my repose, I had been qualified to exhibit : Family partiality, no doubt, overrated their merit ; and hence, my declaiming powers were in a state of such constant requisition, that my orations, like worn out ditties, became vapid and fatiguing to me ; and conse- quently, impaired my relish for that kind of acquirement. More profit attended my reading. After ^Esop's fables, and an abridge- ment of the Roman history, Telemachus was put into our hands; and if it be admitted that the human heart may be bettered by instruction, mine, I may aver, was benefited by this w^ork of the virtuous Fenelon. While the mild wisdom of Mentor called forth my veneration, the noble ardour of the youthful hero excited my sympathy and emulation. I took part, like a second friend, in the vicissitudes of his fortune, I participated in his toils, I w^armed with his exploits, I wept where he wept, and exulted where he triumphed. As my lot has been cast in a turbulent period, in a season of civil war and revolution, succeeded by scenes of domestic discord and fury, in all of which I have been compelled to take a part, I deem it of consequence to myself, to bespeak toleration for the detail of a school-boy incident, that may in some degree serve to develope my character. It may equally tend to throw some light on the little world, upon whose stage I had now entered. A few 28 ANECDOTE. days after I had been put under the care of Mr. Kinnersley, I was told by my class-mates, that it was necessary for me to light a battle with some one, in order to establish my claim to the ho- nour of being an academy boy: that this could not be dispensed with, and that they would select for me a suitable antagonist, one of my match, whom after school I must fight, or be looked upon as a coward. I must confess, that I did not at all relish the proposal. Though possessing a sufficient degree of spirit, or at least irasci- bility, to defend myself when assaulted, I had never been a boxer. Being of a light and slender make, I was not calculated for the business, nor had I ever been ambitious of being the cock of a school. Besides, by the laws of the institution I was now a subject of, fighting was a capital crime ; a sort of felony deprived of clergy, whose punishment was not to be averted by the most scholar-like reading. For these reasons, both of which had suffi- cient weight with me, and the last not the least, as I had never been a wilful transgressor of rules, or callous to the consequences of an infraction of them, I absolutely declined the proposal ; al- though I had too much of that feeling about me, which some might call false honour, to represent the case to the master, which would at once have extricated me from my difficulty, and brought down condign punishment on its imposers. Matters thus went on until school was out, when I found that the lists were appoint- ed, and that a certain John Appowen, a lad who, though not quite so tall, yet better set and older than myself, was pitted against me. With increased pertinacity I again refused the combat, and insist- ed on being permitted to go home unmolested. On quickening my pace for this purpose, my persecutors, with Appowen at their head, followed close at my heels. Upon this I moved faster and faster, until my retreat became a flight too unequivocal and in- glorious for a man to relate of himself, had not Homer furnished some apology for the procedure, in making the heroic Hector thrice encircle the walls of Troy, before he could find courage to encounter the implacable Achillus. To cut the story short, my spirit could no longer brook an oppression so intolerable, and stung to the quick at the term coward which was lavished upon me, I made a halt and faced my pursuers. A combat immedi- ately ensued between Appowen and myself, which for some time. EARLY ADVENTURE. 29 was maihtained on each side, with equal vigour and determina- tion, when unhickily, I received his fist directly in ray gullet. The blow for a time depriving me of breath, and the power of re- sistance, victory declared for my adversary, though not without the acknowledgment of the party, that I had at last behaved Avell, and shown myself not unwortliy the name of an academy boy. Being thus established, I had no more battles imposed upon me, and none that I can recollect of my own provoking ; for I have a right to declare, that my general deportment was correct and un- offending, though extremely obstinate and unyielding under a sense of injustice.* I gave an early instance of this, in once burning the rod with which my father had corrected me ; and upon his finding it out, and coiTCcting me a second time, I de- clared I would drown myself, and ran towards a creek in a meadow not far oflf, w^ith such an appearance of determination to execute the threat, that he thought proper to despatch a servant after me in haste ; and upon my being brought back, rather to yield to the violence of my temper, than persist in the attempt to subdue it. In saying my resistance proceeded from a sense of injustice, I would by no means have it understood, that my father had been culpable. I rather suppose, that a too ardent idea of the rights of a child, had led me to consider that conduct oppressive, which was merely the eflfect of a paternal concern for my welfare. "While upon the topic of those early adventures, by which we are initiated into the ways of the world, I may mention a circum- stance of another nature, which happened not very long after my arrival in the city. One evening about dusk, I was amusing myself on the pavement before the door, with some marbles ; for having never been very strongly incited by a spirit of gambling, I fre- quently played alone, and even when I had a companion I gene- * The poignancy of my feelings on such occasions, lias given me a degree of veneration for justice which I have rarely discovered in others. Nor has my own interest or that of my connexions or country, ever led me to espouse their cause, when unsupported by right. Hence, I can never be a patriot in the mo- dern acceptation of the word ; more especially, as in sifting the merits of a cause, I have a most unlucky propensity of referring all acts of subsequent aggression to the original wrong. A monstrous supererogation of morality this, in the eyes of orthodox patriotism. 3* 30 EARLY CHARACTER. rally preferred playing in fun, to speak technically, to playing in earnest. A little, skulking rogue, with whom I had no kind of acquaintance, came up to me, and as he joined me in play with some marbles of his own, he took occasion to observe, that his were too small for him, but as mine, on the contrary, were large and exactly suited to his hand, he proposed an exchange, offering me the odds, first, of two, and then of three for one. Having no disposition to traffic with him, being pleased with my own and satisfied with their number, I at first objected to his proposal, but he pressed me in so earnest a manner to accommodate him with but a part of mine, that after some hesitation, I consented. With- out giving me time for a resumption of my first determination, he picked up six or eight of my marbles, and throwing me down three or four times the number of his own, the amount of boot being apparently wholly unworthy of calculation, he decamped in a twinkling. Upon gathering up the commodities I had received ia such abundance, I found them rather light'; and on closer inspec- tion, discovered, that as they had been but clay in the hands of the potter, so I had been an equally ductile material in the hands of a swindler. These things are but puerilities, and very trifles, it is true, but can it be said that they are irrelative to the objects I §et out with ? And are they not prototypes of the transactions, which the more important scene of man every day exhibits ? If swindling and oppression beset us in infancy, does experience warrant us in affirming that the state of manhood is exempt from them ? Might I here be pardoned a brief recognition of the qualities my childhood had unfolded, I might say, that, with a sufficient share of obstinacy and impatience of control, I had never manifested a propensity to mischief; and though I might sometimes have been a follower, I had never promoted or been a leader in those pranks which are denominated unlucky: Thank Heaven, I had never been guilty of a trick, and rarely, if ever, of a lie. I had no cunning, and consequently, gave no token of those talents which might qualify me, one day, to rise in a commonwealth. On a scrutiny, therefore, of my character, the possibility might have been inferred, that in an evil hour and at a riper age, my passions might have hur- ried. i»e into acts of fatal rashness, as, under better stars, they might EARLY CHARACTER. 31 have impelled me into the path of a Hampden ; but, that in no situation, I could have trod the track of a Gracchus or a Drusus. The Gracchi fond of mischief making laws, And Drusi popular in faction's cause. Neither could the unshrinking determination which must enter into the composition of a Brutus, have justly been imputed to me ; not even on the specious ground of public good: my stuff was not so stern. My amusements, as I have already said, depended much upon myself. I had a passion for drawing ; and my early essays were considered as indications of much genius for the art. I was in the practice also, of cutting men and horses out of cards. By separating the legs of the bipeds, I mounted them without diffi- culty ; and by a similar process on those of the quadrupeds, I could give them a firm stand on a table. By these means I could either send them a hunting with a pack of hounds, in like manner set upon their feet, or attach unmounted horses to sleighs or wheel carriages (all of which I manufactured) at pleasure. My talent also gave me the command of regiments of cavalry, and my even- ings, when there was no company, were generally employed in ar- ranging them in order of battle. Divided into two bodies, they were disposed in hostile array, while round pieces of card representing cannon balls, were the missiles alternately thrown at the different corps; that side being held to be defeated, which was first battered down. It was truly a war of extermination, as the vanquished were always cut off to a man. Both my grandfather and grand- mother, as well as my aunts, were pleased with my exhibitions ; and it became a matter of doubt in the family, whether my genius most inclined me to the profession of a limner or a general. Music, too, was an art for which I had discovered a propensity, and had already the enthusiasm of an amateur. From the drums and fifes of Otway's regiment, which every morning passed our door, I had, among other tunes, learned the grenadier's march ; and I remember one day being on a visit to my father, who then resided in the country at a place of Doctor Denormandie's, as I was whistling it with great devotion, and marching to it in proper time, he was delighted with the truthof my ear and the correctness 32 ADDISON BALLAD. of my performance : For he was much of a musical man, and played upon the violin, though, as I have been informed by one of his old friends, with more of science than execution. Another circumstance of some affinity to the topic, I cannot withhold, since it is an evidence of my coincidence in taste with the celebrated Mr. Addison. I have somewhere seen it mentioned, that he was a warm admirer of the ballad of Salley of the alley. I once, when very young, heard my mother sing it over a cradle, and was so enraptured with its simple pathos, that I was continually importuning her to repeat it. Whether it was the composition or the melody which had charmed me, I know not, but to my infant heart it appeared inimitably tender and affecting. The only verse I recollect of it is the following : — Of all the days within the week, I dearly love but one day, And that's the day that comes between Saturday and Monday : For then I'm drcst All in by best, • To walk abroad with Sally, She is the darling- of my heart And lives in our alley. Though an old ballad, it is possible that it may be yet so well known as to render this recital unnecessary, if not to give it an appearance of triteness. At any rate, I should hardly have ven- tured to notice it had it not been dignified by the approbation of a respectable name.* * The author of the Ballad was Henry Carey, translator of Dante, and a popu- lar English poet. " The works of Carey do not appear in any of our great col- lections, where Walsh, Duke, and Yalden slumber on the shelf. Yet Carey was a true son of the muses, and a most successful writer. To this ballad of Sally in our alley,' he prefixed an argument so full of nature, that the song may derive an additional interest from its simple origin. The author assures the reader that the popular notion, that the subject of his ballad had been the noted Sail}' Salis- bury, is perfectly erroneous, he being a stranger to her name at the time the song was composed. "As innocence and virtue were ever the boundaries of his muse, so in this little poem he had no other view than to set forth the beauty of a chaste and disinte- rested passion even in Uie lowest class of human life. The real occasion was this : DEATH OF author's FATHER. 33 It was some time before my entering into the Latin school, that I had the misfortune to loose my father. This was in March,, 1761. He had just finished a country house on a favourite spoty sufficiently elevated to overlook the adjacent district for some miles round, and to command a view of the town of Bristol, dis- tant not quite a mile, as well as that of Burlington, together with an extensive intervening tract of meadow ground, stretching to the shore of the Delaware, whose bright expanse was also subject- ed to the eye. He had long been improving the site before he began to build ; had planted it with the best fruits in every kind, and given to it the style of embellishment, both with respect to the disposition of the grounds and the trees, which was at that time in fashion. But this residence, at once so cherished and de- lightful, he was permitted to enjoy not quite a year. The blow was desolating to my mother, " whose heart was apt to feel ;" and who, in addition to the calamity of being bereaved of one with whom her union had been happiness uninterrupted, found herself at about the age of two and thirty, solely involved in the cares of a young family of four children, of whom I, about to complete my ninth year, was the eldest. To me, who was at home when the event took place, it was rather a shock than a matter of poignant grief. It was the first death that had been brought home to me ; and the deep distress of the family, together with the dismal ap- paratus of coffins and hearses, could not fail to overwhelm me in tlie general gloom. The next day I was sent to Philadelphia, whither the remains of my father, attended by his faithful and de- jected friend Joseph Church, were conveyed for interment. As funeral honours upon these occasions, are the only solace of the A shoemaker's 'prentice, making holy-day with his sweetheart, treated her with a sight of Bedlam, the puppet-shows, the flying-chairs, and all the elegancies of Moorfields ; whence proceeding to the Farthing Pie-house, he gave her a collec- tion of buns, cheese-cakes, gammon of bacon, stuffed beef, and bottled ale; through all which scenes the author dodged them (charmed with the simplicity of their courtship,) whence he drew this little sketch of nature; but, being then young and obscure, he was very much ridiculed for this performance; which, neverthless, made its way into the polite world, and amply recompensed him by the applause of the divine Addison, who was pleased, more than once, to mention it with ap- probation." — D'' Israeli's Calamities of Authors. — Ed, 34 LATIN SCHOOL. afflicted, they were here bestowed with an unsparing hand. Much pomp was shown, and much expense incurred, both of which would have been saved had the will of the deceased, which en- joined a plain and economical burial, been previously opened. The pall, sustained by six of his old city friends, I followed as chief mourner, and saw the body deposited in the grave yard of Market street meeting-house, in or near the tomb wherein his first wife had been laid. My father, as already mentioned, came to tliis country a married man, and was about twenty years older than my mother. Though he died possessed of a large and valuable landed property in the neighbourhood of Bristol, con- sisting of an equal part of one thousand acres, purchased in con- junction with Mr. M'llvaine in the year 1752 of William Whita- ker of London, it was encumbered ; and the provision, made ne- cessary by a settlement on his first marriage, for two children, who were the issue of it, rendered the residue inadequate to the sup- port of his w^idow and her children. Hence, a removal of the fa- mily to Philadelphia became expedient, and was resolved on as soQn as the requisite arrangements could be made ; and it accord- ingly took place in the course of the year.* * I was unwilling to enlarge on the topic of my family, or I might have said a great deal more of my father. From the enthusiasm with which I have heard him spoken of by some who knew him, I have reason to infer, that he was not only a man of unquestionable probity, but that there was, also, much of attraction in his character. Among his qualities, was that of a singularly clear and har- monious voice, which he frequently exercised in reading aloud. His choice of books for this purpose, often fell upon Tclemaches, Don Quixote, and Shakspeare, passages from all of which, I remember to have heard him read ; particularly the opening of the first, which introduces the disconsolate Calypso with her attendant nymphs, and the two strangers just shipwrecked on her isle, and to which he gave all the romantic melancholy and pathos that belong to it. From Don Quix- ote, the mad attack on the wind-mills and the sheep, by his elevated voice and theatrical manner, for he really acted the passages, lost nothing of the animation originally impressed upon tlicm by their inimitable author. Nor was Shakspeare more a sufferer in his hands. Parts of his Henry IV. I have lieard liim read, and also of his Julius Cojsar, in which the speech of Marcellus the Tribune, begin- ning "Wherefore rejoice, what conquests brings he home? What tributaries follow him to Rome, &c," from the uncommon energy of his manner of reciting it, is particularly impressed on my mind. I have understood from my mother that he had been a member of LATIN SCHOOL. 35 I liave said that I was about to enter the Latin school. The person whose pupil I was consequently to become, was Mr. John Beveridge, a native of Scotland, who retained the smack of his vernacular tongue in its primitive purity. His acquaintance with the language he taught, was, I believe, justly deemed to be very accurate and profound. But as to his other acquirements, after excepting the game of backgammon, in which he was said to ex- cel, truth will not warrant me m saying a great deal. He was, however, diligent and laborious in his attention to his school ; and had he possessed the faculty of making himself beloved by the scholars, and of exciting their emulation and exertion, nothing would have been wanting in him to an entire qualification for his office. But, unfortunately, he had no dignity of character, and was no less destitute of the art of making himself respected than be- loved. Though not perhaps to be complained of as intolerably severe, he yet made a pretty free use of the ratan and the ferule, but to very little purpose. He was in short no disciplinarian, and consequently very unequal to the management of seventy or eighty boys, many of whom were superlatively pickle and unruly. He was assisted, indeed, by two ushers, who eased him in the bur- den of teaching, but who, in matters of discipline, seemed disin- clined to interfere, and disposed to consider themselves rather as subjects than rulers. I have seen them slily slip out of the way when the principal was entering upon the job of capitally punish- ing a boy, who from his size, would be likely to make resistance. For this had become nearly a matter of course ; and poor Beve- ridge, who was diminutive in his stature, and neither young nor vigorous, after exhausting himself in the vain attempt to denude the delinquent, was generally glad to compound for a few strokes over his clothes, on any part that was accessible. He had, in- deed, so frequently been foiled, that his birch at length was rarely brought forth, and might truly be said to have lost its terrors — it was tanquam gladiumin vagina repos'itum. He indemnified him- self, however, by a redoubled use of his ratan. a conversation and reading club in Philadelphia, in which the task of reading a new book was always devolved on him when present, and that, in this capacity, Young's Night Thoughts, on their coming out, were read by him to the com- pany. 36 ANECDOTES OF MR. BEVERIDGE. So entire was the want of respect towards him, and so hable was he to be imposed upon, that one of the larger boys, for a wager, once pulled off his wig, which he effected by suddenly twitching it from his head under pretence of brushing from it a spider; and the unequivocal insult was only resented by the peevish exclamation of hoot mon ! Various were the rogueries that were played upon him ; but the most audacious of all was the following. At the hour of con- vening in the afternoon, that being found the most convenient, from the circumstance of Mr. Beveridge being usually a little be- yond the time ; the bell having rung, the ushers being at their posts, and the scholars arranged in their classes, tliree or four of the conspirators conceal themselves without, for the purpose of observing the motions of their victim. He arrives, enters the school, and is permitted to proceed until he is supposed to have nearly reached his chair at the upper end of the room, when in- stantly the door and every window-shutter is closed. Now, shrouded in utter darkness, the most hideous yells that can be conceived, are sent forth from at least three score of throats ; and Ovids, and Virgils, and Horaces, together with the more heavy metal of dictionaries, whether of Cole, of Young, or of Ainsworth, are hurled without remorse at the head of the astonished pre- ceptor, who, on his side, groping and crawling under cover of the forms, makes the best of his way to the door. When attained, and Light restored, a death-like silence ensues. Every boy is at his lesson ; no one has had a hand or a voice in the recent atro- city : what then is to be done, and who shall be chastised. ScBvit atrox Volscens, nee teli conspicit usquam Jluctorem, nee quo se ardens immittere possit. Fierce Volscens foams with rage, and gazing round Descries not him who aim'd the fatal wound ; Nor knows to fix revenge. — This most intolerable outrage, from its succeeding beyond ex- pectation, and being entirely to the taste of the school, had a run of several days ; and was only then put a stop to by the inter- ference of the faeulty, who decreed the most exemplary punish- SINGULAR PETITION". 37 merit on those who should be found offending in the premises, and by taking measures to prevent a farther repetition of the enormity. I have said, and with truth, that I was no promoter of mis- chief; but I will not take upon me to assert, that I was proof against the irresistible contagion of such a scene, or that I did not raise my voice in the discordant concert of the screamers : though I can safely declare, that I never threw at the master, and that I was wholly ignorant of the contrivers and ringleaders of this shameful proceeding. In the year 1765, Mr. Beveridge published by subscription a small collection of Latin poems. Of their general merit I pre- sume not to judge, but I think I have heard they were not much commended by the British reviewers. The latinity probably is pure, the prosody correct, the versification sufficiently easy and sounding, and such as might serve to evince an intimate acquaint- ance with the classics of ancient Rome : But I should doubt their possessing much of the soul of poetry. One of them is neither more nor less than an humble petition in hexamaters, and cer- tainly a very curious specimen of pedantic mendicity. It is ad- dressed to Thomas Penn, the proprietary of Pennsylvania; and the poet very modestly proposes, that he should bestow upon him a few of his acres, innumerable, he observes, as the sands of the Delaware ; in return for which, his verse shall do its best to confer immortal fame upon the donor. By way of farther induce- ment to the gift, he sets before his excellency the usual ingrati- tude of an enriched and unknown posterity, on the one hand ; and on the other, the advantage which Ajax, iEneas and Maece- nas derived from the muses of Homer, of Virgil and Horace. But lest I might be suspected of misrepresentation, let my good quondam preceptor speak for himself. Jugera quum tibi sint quot habet Delavarus arenas, Quid magnum minimo tribuas si propria parvcD. Fundamenta casce, Boreae qu!i frig^ora pellam. Non dabis ingrato dederis licet a-ris egeuo, Quodque tibi minimum, magnum esset pauca roganti. Sin renuas, tanti nee sint commereia nostra, Hoc quoque ne pigeat cito spem proecidere vanam. 4 38 beveridge's poems. Nee periisse ptita, dedcris quod vivus amico ; Credere fas sit enim, si quid mea carmina possint, Sera licet, majora feras quam Mexico nobis, Seu Tagus aiiriferis cxnndans mittit arenis ; Auguror ct si quid vivos post fata superstes. Quid juvat ignotis, ingratis forsitan, auri Pondera, frugiferis vel millia jugera campis Linqucre post natis ? Nequeunt nam proderc faroam j^ Divitiae, nequeunt titulis monumenta superbis. Quid foret ^Eneas, et magni nominis Ajax, Atque alii quorum sunt nomina multa virorum ; Ni foret et vates divini carminis auctor Mseonides, sacro qui primus verticc Pindi Deduxit faciles Plioebo plaudente, Camoenas? Vol quid Majcenas animi mentisque benignee Ni bencfacta sui celcbrassct carmen Horati, Et Maro munificum cecinisset gratus amicum ? &c. &0. Might not one here be tempted to exclaim in the spirit of Prior to Boileau! Pindar, that eagle mounts the skies. While virtue leads the noble way : Too like a vulture Bev^ridge flies Where sordid iut'rest lures the prey. I never heard, however, that the poet was the better for his appH- cation: I rather think that the proprietor was of opinion, there was a want of reciprocity in the proposal, and that, whatever the carmen Horati vel Maronis might have been worth, that of Mr. Beveridge did not amount to a very valuable consideration. Another of the principal poems in this collection is a pastoral, ■Vvhich, if Mr. Beveridge had had the salutary fear of Boileau be- fore his eyes, he certainly would not have written; since, never was production more completely under the lash of the following satirical lines. . Viendrai-jc, en unc Eglogue entoure de troupeaux Au milieu do Paris cnfler mcs chalumeaux, Et dans mon cabinet assis au pied dcs hetres, Faire dire aux cchos des sottises champetres 1 beveridge's poems. 39 The complainant in this pastoral is an Edinburgh cit, whom he appropriately calls Urbanus : nevertheless he is, without the small- est difficulty, transformed into a shepherd, surrounded with sheep, and proclaiming to the echoes his sottises champetres, in strains like these — Audiit et planctus gcmebunda remurmurat Echo, Echo sola meos miserata est, inquit amores ; Tristia nam maestis ex saxis assonat imis, riebile luctisonis responsat et usque cicutis. Me miserum quoties exclaino, higubris ilia Me miserum ingcminat gelidis e vallibus : Eheu, Clamanti exclamat, repetitis vocibus, Eheu ! But after all, it is perhaps too much to expect from a modern, good Latin, good poetry, and good sense, all at the same time. As it frequently happens in human affairs, that men are mis- placed, and that those found in a subordinate station are better fitted for the supreme authority than those who are invested with it, so it generally was in the Latin school of the academy. The ushers, during the term of my pupilage, a period of four years, or more, were often changed ; and some of them, it must be admitted, were insisfnificant enough : but others, w^ere men of sense and re- DO ? spectability, to whom, on a comparison with the principal, the management of the school miojht have been committed whh much advantao-e. Amons; these was Mr. Patrick Allison, afterwards officiating as a Presbyterian clergyman in Baltimore ; Mr. James Wilson, late one of the associate justices of the supreme court of the United States ; and Mr. John Andrews, afterwards Doctor An- drews of the University of Pennsylvania. It is true, they were much younger men than Mr. Beveridge, and probably unequal adepts in the language that w^as taught; but even on the supposi- tion of this comparative deficiency on their part, it would have been amply compensated on the score of judicious discipline and instruction. With respect to my progress and that of the class to which I belonged, it was reputable and perhaps laudable for the first two years. From a pretty close application, we were well grounded in grammar, and had passed through the elementary books, much to the approbation of our teachers; but at length, with a single 40 PHILADELPHIA ACADEMY. exception, we became possessed of the demons of liberty and idleness. We were, to a great degree, impatient of the restraints of a school ; and if we yet retained any latent sparks of the emu- lation of improvement, we were, unfortunately, never favoured with the collision that could draw them forth. We could feel- ingly have exclaimed with Louis the fourteenth, mais a quoi sert de lire ! but where's the use of all this pouring over books! One boy thought he had Latin enough, as he was not designed for a learned profession ; his father thought so too, and was about taking him from school. Another was of opinion that he might be much better employed in a counting-house, and was also about ridding himself of his scholastic shackles. As this was a con- summation devoutly wished by us all, we cheerfully renounced the learned professions for the sake of the supposed liberty that would be the consequence. We were all, therefore, to be merchants, as to be mechanics was too humiliating ; and accordingly, when the question was proposed, which of us would enter upon the study of Greek, the grammar of which tongue was about to be put into our hands, there were but two or three who declared for it. As to myself, it was my mother's desire, from her knowing it to have been my father's intention to give me the best educa- tion the country afforded, that I should go on, and acquire every language and science that was taught in the institution ; but, as my evil star would have it, I was thoroughly tired of books and confinement, and her advice and even entreaties were overruled by my extreme repugnance to a longer continuance in the college, which, to my lasting regret, I bid adieu to when a little turned of fourteen, at the very season when the minds of the studious be- gin to profit by instruction. We were at this time reading Horace and Cicero, having passed through Ovid, Virgil, Caesar, and Sal- lust. From my own experience on tliis occasion, I am inclined to think it of much consequence, that a boy designed to com- plete his college studies, should be classed with those of a similar destination. Of a dozen or more class-mates, the lapse of more than forty years, puts it out of my power to recognise more than three of them, who are yet alive ; though there may be others ; settled at a distance. One of those, who was the exception to the idle pro- author's early olass-mates. 41 pensity I have mentioned, has lately filled an important office in the state ; another of them, though a boy of good parts and much vivacity, early betook himself to a very retired walk of life, from which he never emerged ; and the third, with whom I have ever continued in the closest intimacy and friendship, leads, in ease and affluence on his paternal estate, the happy life of a country gentleman, within a convenient distance of the metropolis. In making this enumeration, there occurs to me a member who joined us perhaps about a year before I left the college. I cannot call him a boy, since he was married, and for ought I know, between thirty and forty years of age. His puckered cheeks, at least, would have justified the latter part of this conjecture. He was preparing himself for the pulpit of an anabaptist meeting-house, and although the acquisition of his Latin was sufficiently arduous in all conscience, he was yet courageous enough to be looking forward to the attainment also of the Greek and the Hebrew. With a rueful length of visage and features of the coursest mould, his figure was tall, raw-boned and ungainly, and certainly a very heterogeneous ingredient in the mass in which he had chosen to compound it. But he was not more distinguished by the uncouth- ness of his appearance than by the meekness of his deportment. It was of the back of this overgrown school-boy that Beveridge usually strove to. avail himself, in those abortive, flagellant efforts I have mentioned ; and the function, however unpleasing to the Brobdingnagian, he had too strong a sense of duty to decline. Such was th^ personage, who, from a clerical ardour, had been tempted to transform himself into this scholastic phenomenon. His name, I think, was Stevens; an d^ though I have amused my-, self with the recollection of his ludicrous attributes, it is with still more satisfaction I bear testimony to those, that, from their simple benevolence, were truly respectable. 42 RETROSPECTIVE EVENTS, &C. CHAPTER II. Retrospective events in the Author's history. — Philadelphia. — Yellow fever. — Lodging house. — Foot races. — Paxton boys. — They threaten the city. — Ogle and Friend. — Author's early amusements. — School anecdotes. — Sailing ex- cursion. — Swimming and Skating. — Abb^ Raynal. — Lodging-house guests.— Baron De Kalb. — Lady Moore, — Lady Susan O'Brien. — Woodward. — Sir Wil- liam Draper. — Frank Ricliardson. — Anecdote. — Major Ethcrington. — Anec- dote. — Majors Small and Fell. — General Reid. — Captain Wallace. — Anecdote of Joseph Church. — Rivington the printer. Although it was in my fifteenth year, as already mentioned,, that I took my leave of the academy, yet the circumstances I am now about to avert to were antecedent to that event, and are to be considered as having taken place within the five years pre- ceding it. Among the persons who were acquainted and visited at my grandfather's, were Doctor Laughlin M'Lean* and his lady. The latter rarely missed a day, when the weather was favourable, of calling upon our countrywoman, my grandmother ; and I well remember, she was always attended or rather preceded by a small white dog, enormously fat, in which quality he even exceeded his mistress, who yielded to few of her species and sex, in the pos- session of an enviable embonpoint. The doctor was considered to have great skill in his profession, as well as to be a man of wit and general information, but I have never known a person who had a more distressing impediment in his speech. Yet, notwith- standing this misfortune, he some years after, on his return to Europe, had the address to recommend himself to a seat in the British House of Commons. He is understood to be the same Lauchlan Macleane, who at Edinburgh evinced a generous be- nevolence in administering to the relief of the celebrated Oliver * Dr. Lauchlan Macleane. Sec Appendix B. — Ed. YELLOW FEVER. 43 Goldsmith, as related in the life of that poet ; and it is this cir- cumstance which has principally induced me to notice him here. About the year 1760 or 1761, to the best of my recollection, the city was alarmed by a visitation of the yellow fever. I can say nothing of the extent of its ravages, having been, happily, too young to be infected with the panic it produced, or to have been at all interested in the inquiry, whether it had an adequate cause. My impression rather was, that it was an occurrence by no means to be deprecated, since the schools were shut up, and a vacation of five or six weeks, its fortunate consequence. As the city was deserted by such as could leave it without too much inconvenience, my grandfather took refuge at his country house near Germantown, whither, as one of his family I accompanied him, and remained there until the danger was supposed to be over. It was in the fall, probably of this very year, that my mother removed to Philadelphia, ui the view of keeping a lodging house, an employment, which in Pennsylvania, has been the usual resource of persons in her situation, that is, of widows, reputably brought up, left in circumstances too slender for the support of their families. She began with taking boys who went to the academy, of which there were generally a number from the southern provinces and the West India islands. Being thus esta- blished, I left my gi-andfather's for her house, and by this change of residence, bid adieu to the old route, which for about two years I had traversed in going to and returning from school, in the winter four times, and in the summer six times a day. I had my choice, indeed, of different streets, and sometimes varied my course ; but it generally led me through what is now called Dock street, then a filthy uncovered sewer, bordered on either side by shabby stables and tan-yards. To these, succeeded the more agreeable object of Israel Pemberton's* garden (now covered in part by the * This property, together with the mansion erected thereon, was originally in possession of William Clarke, Esq. For several years, says Watson, the pre. mises were occupied by some of the earlier governors. It was purchased by Andrew Hamilton, Esq., Attorney General. Its next owner was Israel Pem- berton, and subsequently became celebrated as " Pemberton's House and gardens." The building was large, containing many parlours and chambers, and stood on, 44 FOOT RACES, bank of the United States)* laid out in the old fashioned style of uniformity, with walks and allies nodding to their brothers, and decorated with a number of evergreens carefully clipped into py- ramidal and conical forms. Here the amenity of the view usually detained me for a few minutes : Thence, turning Chestnut street corner to the left, and passing a row of dingy two-story houses, I came to the Whale bones, which gave name to the alley, at the corner of which they stood. These never ceased to be occa- sionally an object of some curiosity, and might be called my second stage, beyond which there was but one more general ob- ject of attention, and this was to get a peep at the race horses, which in sporting seasons were kept in the widow Nichols's stables, which from her house, (the Indian Queen at the corner of Market street,) extended perhaps two-thirds or more of the way to Chestnut street. In fact, throughout the whole of my route, the intervals took up as much ground as the buildings ; and with the exception of here and there a straggling house, Fifth street might have been called the western extremity of the city. My course was much shortened by the removal to my mother's, who had taken a house in Arch street, facing the Friends burying ground. The first lads that were placed with her, were two brothers, the sons of a colonel Lewis of Virginia. The younger, named Samuel, about a year older than myself, had the attrac- tions of a pleasing countenance and great gentleness of manners. Though he belonged to a younger class than mine, the living and sleeping together were sufficient to cement a warm attachment the south side of Chestnut street, a short disi ance west of Third. Afler the decease of Mr. Pembcrton, it was occupied by Alexandkr Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. The building- was razed about the year 1800, and the grounds divided into building- lots upon which were soon erected more convenient structures, many of which have already given place, in their turn, to the loftier and more commodious edifices of still more recent time.— -Ed. * Purchased by the late Mr. Steplien Girard, and occupied for many years by him as a successful banker. His bank was in high credit at the time of his decease, and, under his able and judicious management, had always, and fre- quently during periods of depression and trial, sustained its high reputation. At his death, the building was occupied and known as "the Girard Bank," — a new institution under far different auspices, which, in due time, met with a violent end. The building remains, however, — a lucky circumstance ! — Ep. FOOT RACES. 45 between us, and there was not a boy in the school in whose welfare and competitions I took so decided an interest ; the ar- dour of which was in almost perpetual requisition, from the cir- cumstance of his being a champion in the gymnastic exercise of running, which was then the rage. The enthusiasm of the turf had pervaded the academy, and the most extravagant transports of that theatre on the triumph of a favourite horse, were not more zealous and impassioned, than were the acclamations which fol- lowed the victor in a foot-race round a square. Stripped to the shirt, and accoutred for the heat by a handkerchief bound round the head, another round the middle, with loosened knee-bands, without shoes, or with mocasons instead of them, the racers were started ; and turning to the left round the corner of Arch street, they encompassed the square in which the academy stands, while the most eager spectators, in imitation of those who scour across the course at a horse-race, scampered over the church burying gi'ound to Fifth street, in order to see the state of the runners as they passed, and to ascertain which was likely to be foremost, on turning Market street corner. The four sides of this square can- not be much less than three-quarters of a mile ;* wherefore, bot- tom in the coursers, was no less essential than swiftness, and in both, Lewis bore away the palm from every one that dared enter against him. After having in a gi-eat number of matches com- pletely triumphed over the academy, other schools were resorted to for racers; but all in vain: Lewis was the Eclipse that distanced every competitor, the swift-footed Achilles, against the vigorous agility of whose straight and well-proportioned form, the long legged stride of the overgrown, and the nimble step of the dap- per, were equally unavailing. I was scarcely less elated with his triumphs, than if I myself had been the victor: I was even supremely happy in the circumstance, w^hich gave me a claim to a more than common degree of interest in him, and from my ex- perience of the force of these associations, in which, by a kind of metonymy, we take the place of the real agent, I can fully enter into the feelings of the butcher, who ecstacied at the good be- * Overrated, as from the description of tlie city in Proud's History of Penn- sylvania, it appears that the distance is not half a mile, being only a little more than 700 yards. 46 PAXTON BOYS. haviour of his dog at a bull baiting, exclaimed to Charles the Second, "Damme, sir, if that is'nt my dog!" Since the time of those exploits, in which I was too young to enter the lists, I have valued myself upon my own agility in running and jumping; but I have never had the vanity to suppose, that at my best, I could have contended w4th any chance of success, in so long a race against Lewis. At what time I was separated from this friend of my youth I cannot remember ; but have to regret, that I lost the opportunity of seeing him, when several years afterwards, having I know not w^hat business in Philadelphia which required despatch, he called upon me one evening when I chanced to be out, and as he was obliged to leave the city very early in the morning, staid in the hope of meeting me till a very late hour. But my engagements unfortunately detained me too long, and he had been obliged to depart before I returned. This could not have been long be- fore the war, probably between the year 1770 and 1772, when we had both attained to years of manhood; but whatever may have been his destiny, I have never since heard of him.* . Of all the cities in the world, Philadelphia was for its size, per- haps, one of the most peaceable and unwarlike ; and Grant was not wholly without data for supposing, that with an inconsiderable force he could make his way, at least, through Pennsylvania. So much had the manners of the Quakers, and its long exemption from hostile alarm, nourished this disposition, that a mere handful of lawless frontier men, was found sufficient to throw the capital into consternation. The unpunished, and even applauded mas- sacre of certain Indians at Lancaster,! who in the jail of that town had vainly flattered themselves that they possessed an asylum, had so encouraged their murderers, who called themselves Paxton boys, that they threatened to perpetrate the like enormity upon a * It is not only possible but probable, tbat he might have been one of the Lewis's who defeated the Indians in tlip great battle of Point Pleasant in the year 1774. There was a General and a Colonel Lewi*, brothers, the latter of whom fell in the action. — See Cuming^s Tour, p. 123. t This was in December, 17G3 ; six Indians were killed at Conestoga Manor on the 14th of this month ; and the Temaindcr of the tribe being fou'itcen in number were killed at Lancaster on the 27th. — 2(Z Proud, p. 326. PAXTON BOYS CAPTAIN LOXLEY. 47 number of other Indians under the protection of government in the metropohs ;* and for this purpose, they at length put them- selves in arms, and actually began their march. Their force, though known to be small in the beginning, continually increased as it went along, the vires acquirit cwnrf^being no less the attri- bute of terror than of fame. Between the two, the invaders were augmented to some thousands by the time they had approached within a day or two's journey of their object. To the credit, however, of the Philadelphians, every possible effort was made to frustrate the inhuman design of the banditi ; and the Quakers as well as others, who had proper feelings on the occasion, ex- erted themselves for the protection of the terrified Indians, who were shut up in the barracks, and for whose immediate defence, part of a British regiment of foot was stationed there. But the citadel or place of arms was in the very heart of the city, all around and within the old court-house and Friend's meeting- house. Here stood the artillery, under the command of captain Loxley,t a very honest, though little, dingy-looking man, with regimentals, considerably war-worn or tarnished ; a very sala- mander or fire drake in the public estimation, whose vital air was deemed the fume of sulphureous explosion, and who, by what- ever means he had acquired his science, was always put foremost when great guns were in question. Here it was that the grand stand was to be made against the approaching invaders, who, if rumour might be credited, had now extended their murderous purposes, beyond the savages, to their patrons and abettors. Hence, the cause had materially changed its complexion, and instead of resting on a basis of mere humanity and plighted faith, it had emphathically become the cause of self-preservation ; little doubt being entertained that the capital would be sacked, in case of the predominance of the barbarous foe. In this state of con- sternation and dismay, all business was laid aside for the more important occupation of arms. Drums, colours, rusty halberts and bayonets, were brought forth from their lurking places; and, * About 140 in number.— 2d; Proud, p. 326. t This doughty gentleman was a Lieutenant under Braddock in 1756, and was certainly a man of considerable influence and repute, notwithstanding the humorous description of the text. — Ed. 48 PAXTON BOYS. as every good citizen who had a sword had girded it to his thigh, so every one who had a gun had placed it on his shoulder. In short, hella, horrida bella, war, destructive war, was about to desolate the hitherto peaceful streets of Philadelphia. But with all this, the old proverb was not belied ; and the be- nign influence of this ill wind was sensibly felt by us school-boys. The dreaded event was overbalanced in our minds by the holy- days which were the effect of it ; and so far as I can recall my feelings on the occasion, they very much preponderated on the side of hilarity. As the defensive army was without eyes, it had, of course, no better information than such as common bruit could supply ; and hence, many untoward consequences ensued : One was the near extinction of a troop of mounted butchers from Germantown, who, scampering down Market street with the best intentions in the world, were announced as the Paxton boys, and by this mis- take, very narrowly escaped a greeting from the rude throats of captain Loxley's artillery. The word fire was already quivering on his lips, but Pallas came in shape of something, and suppressed it. Another emanation from this unmilitary defect of vision, was the curious order, that every house-holder in Market street should affix one or more candles at his door before daylight, on the morning of the day on which, from some sufficient reason no doubt, it had been elicited that the enemy would full surely make his attack, and by no other than this identical route, on the cita- del. Whether this illumination was merely intended to prevent surprise, or whether it was that the commander who enjoined it was determined, like Ajax, that if perish he must, he would perish in the face of day, I do not know, but certain it is, that such a decree went forth and was religiously complied with. This I can affirm from the circumstance of having resided in Market street at the time. The sage precaution, however, proved superfluous, although with respect merely to the nearness of the redoubted invaders, there was colour for it. It was soon ascer- tained that they had reached Germantown, and a deputation of the least obnoxious citizens with the olive branch, was sent out to meet them. After a parley of some days, an armistice was agreed upon, and peace at length so effectually restored, that the formi- PAXTON BOYS PARTY SPIRIT. 49 dable stragglers who had excited so much terror, were permitted, as friends, to enter the city. Party spirit, at this time, ran very high, and the Paxton* men * Generally known as "the Paxton boys," — from the township of Paxton, in Lancaster county, associated to avenge alleg-ed barbarities of the Indians. Among tiieir leaders were Stewart, Calhoun, Smith and Dickey. They created much excitement at tlie time, (1764.) " tn this year," — says Watson — "under an alarm of intended massacre, fourteen being previously killed on the Conestoga, the Indians sought shelter in Lancaster, and, for better security, were placed under bolts and bars in the county prison ; but, at noon, a party on horseback, from the country, rode through the streets to the prison, and there forcibly entered and killed unresisting men and women on the spot. Tlie citizens of Lancaster were loudly blamed for their apathy. Tliey suffered the perpetrators of this cruel outrage to depart unpunished. Meanwhile other friendly Indians who had received information of this massacre, sought refuge in Philadelphia, the news of which exasperated the "Paxton boys," who at once resolved to march to the city, for the purpose of completing the destruction they had commenced, and also to take summary vengeance upon the friends, ixsiding there, of their intended victims. " The news of their approach, which outran them, was greatly magnified ; the utmost excitement prevailed, and a fearful struggle was anticipated. Among the citizens of Philadelphia were many who entertained feelings of bitter hostility towards the unfortunate race, for their conduct during the Indian war. The 'Paxton boys,' to the number of several hundred, armed with rifles, and clad in hunting sliirts, aifecting the rudest manners, approached the city in two divisions as far as Germantown, and the opposite bank of the Schuylkill, where they finally entered into afi'ected negotiations with the citizens, at the head of whom was Dr. Franklin, and returned to their homes, to the terror of the country through which they passed, " In the meantime, the Indians sought refuge in Philadelphia, having with them their Moravian minister. They were at first conducted, by order of the governor, to the barracks in the Northern Liberties ; but the highianders there refused them shelter, although it was cold December weather, and for several hours they were exposed to the unrestrained insults of the rabble. They were subsequently sent to New York. They were guarded by a company of seventy highianders as far as Amboy, where they were stopped by order of General Gage. They next returned to Philadelphia. All these removals were measures of security, as fears were still entertained from many of the excited citizens, who were favourable to the movements which threatened their destruction* In the midst of the panic caused, at night, by the reported proximity of the ' Paxton boys,' the town was illuminated, alarm bells were sounded, and the citizens hastened for arms to the barracks. Many young Quakers joined the de- fenders there, where they speedily threw up intrcnchments. Dr. Franklin and others, who went forth to meet the leaders, conducted them into the city, that they might point out, if possible, those who had been guilty of alleged ex- cesses. But they failed to make the necessary recognition, and fearing that the 5 ,*• 50 PAXTON BOYS PARTY SPIPvIT. were not without a number of clamorous advocates, who entirely justified them on the score of their sufferings from the savages, who, during tlie war, had made incursions upon them, and mur- dered their kindred and friends. It was even alleged, that the pretended friendly Indians had been treacherous, having always maintained an understanding with the hostile ones, and frequently conducted them into our settlements : But this rested on mere suspicion, Vv'ithout a shadow of proof that ever I heard of. It was enough, however, to throw it out to obtain partisans to the opinion ; and, whether the Paxton men were " more sinned against than sinning," was a queslion which was agitated with so much ardor and acrimony, that even the school-boys became warmly engaged in the contest. For my own part, though of the religious sect which had been long warring with the Quakers, I was entirely on the side of humanity and public duty, (or in this, do I beg tlie question ?) and perfectly recollect my indignation at the sentiments of one of the ushers who was on the opposite side. His name was Davis, and he was really a kind, good natured man ; yet from the dominion of his religious or political pre- judices, he liad been led to apologize for, if not to approve of, an outrage, which was a disgrace to a civilized people. He had been among the riflemen on their coming into the city, and talk- ing with them upon the subject of the Lancaster massacre, and particulai'ly of the killing of Will Sock, the most distingiashed of the victims, related whh an air of approbation, this rodomon- tade of the real or pretended murderer. " I," said he, " am the man who killed Will Sock — this is the arm that stabbed him to the heart, and I glory in it." Notwithstanding the fine colouring of Mr. Davis, young as I was, I am happy in being able to say, that I felt a just contempt for the inglorious boaster, who appeared to me in the light of a cowardly ruitian, instead of a hero. There was much political scribbling on this occasion ; and among the citizens were well prepared to make good their defence, they professed to be satisfied and soon returned to their homes." The Indians remained in the city for several months, where their ilumbers were speedily thinned by the ravnges of the small-pox. Fifty-six were buried in the Potter's Field, now known as Washington Sijiiare, the good people of Phila- delphia preferring tiiis to the more cuphonous designation of Park ! — Ed. OGLE AND FRIEND. 51 pamphleteers of the day, Doctor Franklin, drew his pen in behalf of the Indians, giving a very afFecting narrative of the transaction at Lancaster, which, no doubt, had its effect in regulating public opinion, and thereby putting a stop to the farther violence that was meditated. But it was not alone by hostile alarms, that the good people of Philadelphia were annoyed. Their tranquillity had been likewise disturbed by the uncitizeniike conduct of a pair of British officers, who, for want of something better to do, had plunged themselves into an excess of intemperance ; and in the plentitude of wine and hilarity, paraded the streets at all hours, A la clarte de cicux dans Tonibrc de la nuit, to the no small terror of the sober and the timid. The firm of this duumvirate was Ogle and Friend, names always coupled to- gether, like those of Castor and Pollux, or of Pylades and Orestes. But the cement which connected them, was scarcely so pure as that which had united those heroes of antiquity. It could hardly be called friendship, but was rather a confederacy in debauchery and riot, exemplified in a never ending round of frolic and fun. It was related of Ogle, that upon hiring a servant, he had stipulated with him that he should never get drunk but when his master was sober. But the fellow some time after requested his discharge, giving for his reason, that he had in trutli no dislike to a social glass himself, but it had so happened, that the terms of the agreement had absolutely cut him off from any chance of ever indulging his propensity. Many are the pranks I have heard ascribed, either conjointly or separately, to this par nohile fratrum. That of Ogle's first appearance in Philadelphia, has been thus related to me by Mr. Will Richards, the apothecary, who, it is well known, was, from his size and manner, as fine a figure for Falstaff as the imagination can conceive. " One afternoon," said he, " an officer in full regimentals, booted and spurred with a whip in his hand, spattered with mud from top to toe, and reeling under the effects of an overdose of liquor, made his entrance into the coffee-house, in a box of which I was sitting, perusing a newspaper. He was 52 OGLE AND FRIEND. probably under the impression, that every man he was to meet would be a Quaker, and that a Quaker was no other than a hcensed Simon Pure for his amusement : for no sooner had he entered, than throwing his arms about the neck of Mr. Joshua Fisher with the exclamation of — "Ah, my dear Broadbrim give me a kiss," he began to slaver him most lovingly. As Joshua was a good deal embarrassed by the salutation, and wholly unable to parry the assault or shake off the fond intruder, I interfered in his behalf and effected a separation, when Ogle, turning to me, cried out, ' Hah ! my jolly fellow, give me a smack of your fat chops,' and immediately fell to hugging and kissing me, as he had done Fisher. But instead of the coyness he had shown, I hugged and kissed in my turn as hard as I was able, until my weight at length brought Ogle to the floor and myself on top of him : Nevertheless, I kept kissing away, until nearly mashed and suffocated, he exclaimed, 'for Heaven's sake let me up, let me up, or you will smother me !' Having sufficiently tormented him and avenged Joshua Fisher, I permitted him to rise, when he seemed a good deal sobered, and finding that I was neither a Quaker nor wholly ignorant of the world, he evinced some respect for me, took a seat with me in a box, and entering into conversa- tion, soon discovered, that however he might be disguised by in- toxication, he well knew what belonged to the character of a gen- tleman. This," said Richards, " was the commencement of an acquaintance between us ; and captain Ogle sometimes called to see me, upon which occasions he always behaved with the utmost propriety and decorum." This same coffee-house, the only one indeed in the city, was also the scene of another affray by Ogle and Friend in conjunc- tion. I know not what particular acts of mischief they had been guilty of, but they were very drunk, and their conduct so ex- tremely disquieting and insulting to the peaceable citizens there assembled, that being no longer able to endure it, it was judged expedient to commit them ; and Mr. Chew happening to be there, undertook, in virtue probably of his office of recorder, to write their commitment: But Ogle, facetiously jogging his elbow, and interrupting him with a repetition of the pitiful interjection of ^S/2A, noWi Mr. Chew .'" he was driven from his gravity, and OGLE AND FRIEND. 53 obliged to throw away the pen. It was then taken up by Alder- man M n with a determination to go through with the busi- ness, when the culprits reeling round him, and Ogle in particular> hanging over his shoulder and reading after him as he wrote, at length, with irresistible efTect, hit upon an unfortunate oversight of the alderman. "Ay," says he, "my father was a justice of peace too, but he did not spell that word as you do. I remember perfectly well, that instead of an S he always used to spell cir- cuMSTANCE witli a C." This sarcastic thrust at the scribe, en- tirely turned the tide in favour of the rioters ; and the com-^ pany being disarmed of their resentment, the alderman had no disposition to provoke farther criticism by going on with the mittimus. The iiTcgularities of these gay rakes were not more eccentric than diversified ; and the more extravagant they could render them, the better. At one time, they would drive full tilt through the streets in a chair ; and upon one of these occasions, on ap- proaching a boom which had been thrown across the street, in a part that was undergoing the operation of paving, they lashed forward their steed, and sousing against the spar with great vio- lence, they were consequently hurled from their seats, like Don Quixote in his temerarious assault of the windmills. At another time, at Doctor Orme's, the apothecary, where Ogle lodged, they, in emulation of the same mad hero at the puppet show, laid about them with their canes upon the defenceless bottles and phials, at the same time assaulting a diminutive Maryland parson, whom, in their frolic, they kicked from the street-door to the kitchen. He was a fellow lodger of Ogle's ; and, to malfc him some amends for the roughness of this usage, they shortly after took him drunk to the dancing assembly, where, through the instrumentality of this unworthy son of the church, they contrived to excite a notable hubbub. Though they had escaped, as already mentioned, at the coffee-house, yet their repeated malfeasances had brought them within the notice of the civil authority ; and they had more than once been in the clutches of the mayor of the city. This was Mr. S , a small man of a squat, bandy-legged figure; and hence, by way of being revenged on him, they bribed a negro with a precisely similar pair of legs, to carry him a billet, which 5* 54 author's early habits. imported, that as the bearer had in vain searched the town for a pair of hose that might fit him, he now api)hed to his honour to l)e informed where he jmrchased nis stockings. I have been told that Ccncral Lee, when a captain in the British service, had got involved in this vortex of dissipation ; and although afterwards so strenuous an advocate for the civil rights of the Americans, had been made to smart severely for tlieir vio- lation, by the mayor's court of Philadelphia. The common observation, that when men become soldiers they lose the character ;uid feelings of citizens, was am])ly illustrated by the general conduct of the British officers in America. Their studied contempt of the mohairs^ by which term all those who were not in uniform were distinguished, was manifest on all occa- sions: and it is by no means improbable, that the disgust then excited, might have more easily ripened into that harvest of discontent, which subsecjiK'nt injuries called forth, and which termiuati'd in a subduction of allegiance from the parent land. At the era of these various intestine commotions, I could not have more than completed my twelfth year. My attention to my school exercises, as already observed, was not at this time to be complained of; and a part of my evenings was either employed in writing them or committing them to memory. In relation to the latter, I will mention a circumstance which to me appeared remarkable, though jM'rhaps it was not peculiar. After labouring in vain to master my task, I have gone to bed, scarcely able to repeat a line of it, but in the morning when I awoke, it has been perfect in my memory. The same thing has often occurred in respect to tunes I have been desirous of acquiring: and indeed I have ever found, that the morning was the propitious season for the exertion of my mental faculties. But though not materially deficient in attention, it had not the smallest reference to future utility ; and something less than A wizard irufrlit have said, I ne'er shall rise by benefice or trade. A scramble was ever my aversion, and the unthriftiness of my character might also have been inferred, from my inditli-'rence to author's early amusements. 55 those games which have gain for their object. I never coukl boast my winning at marbles or chuckers ; and as I chiefly played them for pastime, I never attained to that degree of perfection in them, w^hich the keener stimulus of profit is calculated to pro- duce, and which alone perhaps can lead to the fame of a dabster. When in })ossession of any of these implements that w^ere reckoned handsome or good, I never felt the inclination I have observed in those of better trading parts, of turning them into pence : with me they w^ere hobby horses, not articles of com- merce ; and though I had no dislike to money, it never impressed me as a primary good, a circumstance more essential than may be imagined, to what is called success in life. I do not speak of this as a virtue ; and if it w^ere one, I have certainly little reason to rejoice in it. It is not one of those, at least, which leads to riches and advancement ; or which, under the world's law, has a right to look for other than its own reward. In gymnastic ex- ercises, however, my relish was keen and altogether orthodox. For those of running, leaping, swimming and skating, no one had more appetite ; and for the enjoyment of these, fatigue and hunger w^ere disregarded. To these succeeded a passion for fowling and boating ; fishing being too sedentary and inactive ibr my taste. If furnished on Saturday afternoon or other holyday, with cash enough lor the purchase of powder and shot, or the liire of a batteau or skiff, as the propensity of the day might incline, I had nothing more to wish for. In my land ram- bles, the environs of Philadelphia for several miles round, were thoroughly traversed, from the uplands of Springx'tsbury, Bush- hill and Centre-wood, to the low grounds and meadows of Pas- syunk and Moyamensing ; while, in ray water excursions, the sedgy shores of the Delaware, as well as the reedy cover of Petty's, League and Mud Islands, were pervaded and ex- plored in pursuit of ducks, reed-bird and rail. No pestilent vapours then arose from these marshes ; and instead of the deadly fevers which have since proceeded from, or been fos- tered by them, their effluvia gave a /est to the cold morsel in the locker. But notwithstanding the ardour with which these sports were 56 SCHOOL ANECDOTES. pursued, I not unfrequently surrendered myself to the reveries of a pleasing melancholy, to which I have ever been occasionally inclined. For hours together have I sat alone, listening to the church bells, which it was the custom to ring on the evening be- fore market day, and which, from the back part of a house wherein we some time resided on the south side of Arch street, were heard to much advantage. Rousseau, who takes great pains to represent himself as different from all others, and who seems to suppose that the mould in which he was cast has been broken, informs us, that the chime of bells always singularly af- fected. him. But the lively testimony of my own feelings assures me, that never, not even on the day when he took a ramble in the suburbs of Annecy while Madam de Warrens was at vespers, and gave himself up to those delightful illusions, of which he has given so enchanting a description, was he more under the in- fluence of their transporting sounds than I have been. How often has the simple melody of Turn again WifMngton, " resound- ing through the empty-vaulted night," completely lifted me from the earth ; absorbed me in etherial visions, and sublimed me into such abstraction from this low world and its concerns, as to identify my conceptions with those of the poet, when he exclaims. How vain the ardour of the crowd, How low, how httle arc the proud, How indigent the great ! The amusements I have been speaking of, were of no advantage to me as a student ; but what was lost to the mind by my strong addiction to active recreations, was gained to the body ; and tended to invigorate a constitution naturally tender. My exer- cises were often carried to toil. I was extremely fond of rowing, and took great delight in feathering my oar, sometimes skimming it along the surface of the water in the manner of a wherry man, sometimes resting it horizontally between the thole pins in the fashion of a bargeman. I had also made some proficiency in sculling, which appeared tome a highly enviable qualification: but the trimming of sails, laying a boat to the wind, with the management of the helm and the application of the proper terms, SAILING EXCURSION. 57 were, in my eyes, acquisitions more truly honourable than the best of those which are attained in a college. The subject recalls a memorable expedition I engaged in, when perhaps about the age of thirteen. Returning from morning school at eight o'clock, a boy, a brother of the late Mr. Robert Morris, proposed an ex- cursion to Chester, for the purpose of seeing the Coventry frigate which there rode at anchor. From an over greediness of grati- fication, his plan was to have two boats, whereas one would have been very ample for four of us, the number of the company. But then the projector of the voyage might have found competi- tors for the helm, which he wished to engross ; and had, accord- ingly, secured an unambitious ship-mate, in a son of captain Loxley, of Paxton war memory, already mentioned. A skiff he had already prepared for himself and his comrade, and suggested where a batteau might be obtained for the other two of the party, one Corbett from the island of Montserrat, and myself. Each boat had a sail, and he observed, that as the wind and tide would be favourable, we could run down in a few hours. I objected, that I had not breakfasted. Neither had he, he said, nor indeed any of us ; but this was of little consequence, as we co\dd fur- nish ourselves with cakes. My mind fluctuated awhile between the charms of the adventure and the impropriety of going with- out permission, and consequently subjecting my mother to a most distressing state of anxiety on my account : For I was nei- ther an habitual truant-player, nor a contemner of the feelings of a most affectionate parent, though I should have been ashamed to have said so. But such was the eagerness for the frolic with my associates, that it would not admit of a moment's delay ; and the allurements of pleasure proving too potent for principle, I yielded to persuasion, and we embarked. It was a fine morning ; a gentle breeze propelled us in our course, and in a few hours we were delightfully wafted to the place of destination. We saw the frigate, had the pleasure of sailing round her, the satis- faction of counting her guns, of contemplating her bright sides, (for she appeared to be nev/,) of admiring her rigging, and the duck-lil'ze beauty with which she sat upon the water. But here fruition ended. Water excursions are keen whetters of the appe- tite, and the calls of hunger began to be importunate. I forget 58 SAILING EXCURSION. whether we had taken any cakes with us, but if we had, the sup- ply had been very insulheient for tlie day's provision. Hereupon, a canvass took phnee of the state of our pockets: they were found empty and pennyk'ss: We were, in short, a miserable crew of Gautiers sans arge?}f, and being too proud to beg for victuals, we had no resource but unripe fruit. As the wind was unfavour- able to our return, we were obliged to wait for the turning of the tide, and in the mean time, employed ourselves in sauntering about the village, the orchards, and the shore. We found, too, that we were very much out in our reckoning, the tide of flood not making for above an hour later than our calculation. At length, however, we had the satisfaction to find, that the marks we had made in the sand were unequivocally encroached upon by the water, and that floating substances were at a stand, if not really changed in their direction. We hailed the event, and im- mediately embiuked. Jkit now our toils began. It was already late in the afternoon : The wind, still ahead, had considerably in- creased, and the lowering as})ect of the sky indicated approaching rain. It came on about dusk, and in this situation we had to tug at ovu" oars like galley slaves, for the whole distance of from six- teen to eighteen miles. Then it was, we perceived the folly of our two boats. It was between ten and eleven at night when we reached the chy, wet, almost starved, and exhausted with labour. As I well knew what must be my mother's cruel situation, I hastened to show myself, and found her a prey to the most af- flicting uncertainty. She had not been able to obtain any satis- factory tidings of me, and knew not what to conclude. My tres- pass, however, being readily forgiven, I appeased my hunger and went to bed. Extreme fotigue, especially when it has been min- gled with anxiety, is unfavourable to repose, and I slept but ill. I was tormented with distressing dreams, contending, as it seemed, with tasks above my strength, and buffeting whh waves *'in night and tempest wrapt." Borne by tli' outrageous flood To distance down, I ride tiie ridgy wave. Or wiiehn'd beneath the boiling- eddy sink. The exercises of swimming and skating were so much widiin SWIMMING AND SKATING. 59 the reach of the boys of Phih\delphla, that it would liave been surprising, had they neglected them, or even had ihcy not ex- celled in them. Both Delaware and Schuylkill present the most convenient and delightful shores for the former, whilst the heat and the length of the summers invite to the luxury of bathing; and the same rivers seldom fail in winter, to olll-r the means of enjoying the latter ; and wlien lliey do, the ponds always afford them. Since the art of swimming has been, in some degree, dig- nified by Dr. Franklin's having been a teacher of it, and having made it the subject of a dissertation, I may, perhaps, be warranted in bringing forward my remark. Wiien in practice, I never felt myself spent with it ; and though I never undertook to swim farther than across Schuylkill, at or near the middle ferry where the bridge now stands, it appeared to me that I could have con- tinued the exercise for hours, and consequently have swum some miles. To recover breath, I only found it necessary to turn upon my back, in which position with my arms across my body or pressed to my sides, since moving them as many do, answers no other pur])Ose than to retard and fatigue the swimmer; my lungs had free piny, and I felt myself as jjcriectly at ease, as if reclined on a sola. In short, no man can be an able swimmer, who only swims with his face downward : The pressure of the water on the breast, is an impediment to respiration in that attitude, which, for that reason cannot be long continued ; whereas, the only incon- venience in the su})ine posture, is, that the head sinks so low, that the ears are liable to receive water, a consequence which might be prevented by stopping them v.ith wool or cotton, or covering them with a bathing c;q). With respect to skating, though the Philadelphians have never reduced it to rules like the Londoners, nor connected it with their business like Dutchmen, I will yet hazard the opinion, that they were the best and most elegant skaters in the world. I have seen New England skaters, Old England skaters, and Holland skaters, but the best of them could but " make the judi(;ious grieve." I was once slightly ac(juainted with a wordiy gentleman, the quon- dam member of a skating club in London, and it must be ad- mitted that he performed very well for an Englishman. His High 60 SKATING. Butch, or as he better termed it, his outer edge skating, might, for aught I know, have been exactly conformable to the statutes of this institution : To these, he would often appeal ; and I recollect tlie principal one was, that each stroke should describe an exact semicircle. Nevertheless, his style was what we should deem a very bad one. An utter stranger to the beauty of bringing for- ward the suspended foot towards the middle of the stroke, and boldly advancing it before the other, at the conclusion of it, tlius to preserve throughout his course, a continuity of movement, to rise like an ascending wave to its acme, then, gracefully like a descending one, to glide into the succeeding stroke without effort either real or apparent — every change of foot with this gentleman, seemed a beginning of motion, and required a most unseemly jerk of the body ; and unequivocal evidence of the want of that power, which depends upon a just balance, and should never be lost — which carries the skater forward with energy without ex- ertion ; and is as essential to his swift and gi'aceful career, as is a good head of water to the velocity of a mill wheel. Those who have seen good skating will comprehend what I mean, still better those who are adepts themselves ; but excellence in the art can never be gained by geometrical rules. The two reputed best skaters of my day, were General Cadwallader and Massey the biscuit baker ; but I could name many others, both of the aca- demy and Quaker school who were in no degree inferior to them ; whose action and attitudes were equally graceful, and like theirs, no less worthy of the chisel than those, which in other exer- cises, have been selected to display the skill of the eminent sculp- tors of antiquity.* I here speak, be it observed, of what the * Watson also informs ns tliat "during the old fashioned winters, when, about New Year's day, every one expected to see or hear of an 'Ox Roast' on the Delaware, upon the thick ribbed ice, the river's surface was covered with skaters. Of the many varieties of skaters of all colours and sizes mingled together, and darting about here and there, 'upward and downward, mingled and convolved;' a few were at all times distinguished above the rest for dexterity, power and grace, and among these were William Tharpc, Dr. Foulke, Governor itlifflin, C. W. Peale, George Ilcyl, and Joe Claypoole, not to omit a black Othello who, from his apparent muscle and powerful movement, might have sprung, as did the Moor from 'men of royal siege.' In swiftness he had no competitor; he out- stripped the wind; the play of his elbows in alternate movement with his 'low SKATING ABBE RAYNAL. 61 Philadelphians were^ not what they are, since I am unacquainted with the present state of the art ; and as from my lately meeting with young men, who, though bred in the city had not learned to swim, I infer the probability, that skating may be equally on the decline. The Abbe Raynal,* when speaking of Philadelphia, in his Philo- sophical History of the East and West Indies, observes that the gutter ' skates, while darting forward and uttering occasionally a wild scream peculiar to his race while in active exertion of body, was very imposing in ap- pearance and effect. Of the gentlemen before enumerated, George Heyl took the lead in graceful skating, and in superior dexterity in cutting figures and ' High Dutch ' within a limited space of smooth ice. On a larger field of glass, among others he might be seen moving about elegantly and at perfect ease, in curve lines, with folded arms, being dressed in red coat (as was tlic fashion) and buckskin ' tights,' his bright broad skates in an occasional round flashing upoa the eye ; then again to be pursued by others he might be seen suddenly changing to the back and heel foncard movement, offering them his hand, and at the same time eluding their grasp by his dexterous and sudden deviations to tlie right and left, leaving them to the toil of 'striking out* after him with all their strength. "The next best skater, was Dr. Foulke. Skating 'High Dutch,' and being able to cut the letters of his own name at one flourish constituted his fame as a skater. "C. W. Peale, (founder of the Museum) was only distinguished for using a remarkable pair of 'gutter skates,' with a singular prong, capped and curved backwards, with whicli he moved leisurely about in curve lines. Tiiey loolied as if they had been brought to him from afar, as a contribution to the curiosities of his Museum." — Eo. * This celebrated person was born in 1712 : educated among the Jesuits, and had even become a member of their Order : but was expelled fof denying the supreme authority of the church. He afterwards associated with Voltaire, D'Alembert, and Diderot, and was, by them, employed to furnish the theological articles for the Encyclopedia. In this, however, he received the assistance of the Abbe Yvon, to whom he did not give above a sixth of what he received ; which, being afterwards discovered, he was obliged to pa}' Yvon the balance^ His most celebrated work is his Political and Philosophical History of the European settle- ments in the East and West Indies ; which has been translated into all the languages of Europe and much admired. Tins work was followed in 1780 by another entitled the Revolution of America, in whicli the Abbe pleads the cause of the Americans with zeal. The chief trait in Raynal's character was his love of liberty; but when he saw the length to whicli the French Revolutionists were proceeding, he made one effort to stop them in their career. In May, 1791, he addressed a letter to the Constituent National Assembly, in which, after compli- menting them upon the great things they had done, he cautioned them against the dangers of going farther. He lived not only to see his forebodings of public 6 62 SKATING — ABBE RAYNAL. houses are covered with slate, a material amply supplied from quarries in the neighbourhood. But, unfortunately, for the source from which the Abbe derived his information, there were no such quarries near the city that ever I heard of, and certainly but a single house in it with this kind of roof, which, from that circum^ stance, was distinguished by the name of The Slate House. It stood in Second street, at the corner of Norris's alley, and was a singular old fashioned structure, laid out in the style of a fortifica- tion, with abundance of angles both salient and re-entering. Its two wings projected to the street in tlie manner of bastions, to vhich, the main building retreating from sixteen to eighteen feet, erved for a curtain. Within, it was cut up into a number of Lpartments, and on that account, was exceedingly well adapted the purpose of a lodging house, to which use it had been long ppropriated. An additional convenience, was a spacious yard )n the back of it, extending half way to Front street, enclosed by '. high wall, and ornamented with a double row of venerable, ofty pines, which afforded a very agreeable rus in urbe, or rural cene in the heart of the city. The lady who had resided here nd given some celebrity to the stand by the style of her accom- Qodations, either dying or declining business, my mother was ersuaded by her friends to become her successor ; and, accord- ngly obtained a lease of the premises, and took possession of diem to the best of my recollection, in the year 1764 or 1765.* calamity realized, but to suffer his share of it. Afler being stripped of all his property, whicli was Considerable, by the robbers of tlie Revolution, he died in poverty, March, 1796, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. — Lond. Ency. — Ed. * The slate-roof house is still standing, in 1846, a creditable monument to the forbearance of its lady. owner, in the midst of the general war which, for years, has been steadily waged against every relic of the oldemtime. How much longer it will be suffered to remain it were vain to conjecture. Its origin, its uses, and the historical characters who, from time to time, have dwelt within its walls, should create a feeling of interest, for its preservation on the part of Piiiladclphians; and prompt the adoption of immediate measures for tliat patriotic purpose. In this age of "Constitutional scruples," tiie city councils might not feel at liberty to appropriate the sum necessary for its purchase and restoration ; but the citi- zens themselves by limiting the sum to a trifle, might readily fill a subscription for a few thousand dollars, and, by placing it under the guardiansliip of the city, insure for it the necessary care. We arc informed by the zealous chronicler,\Vatson, that this house was erected LODGING HOUSE SLATE-ROOF HOUSE. 63 While in this residence, and in a still more commodious one in the upper part of Front street, to which she some years afterwards removed, she had the honour, if so it might be called, of enter- taining strangers of the first rank who visited the city. Those who have seen better days, but have been compelled by hard necessity, to submit to a way of life, which to a feeling mind, whoever may be the guests, is sufficiently humiliating, are much indebted to Mr, Gibbon, for the handsome manner in which he speaks of the hostess of a boarding house at Lausanne. With the delicacy of a gentleman and the discernment of a man of the world, the historian dares to recognise that worth and refinement are not confined to opulence or station ; and that although, in the keeper of a house of public entertainment, these qualities are not much to be looked for, yet, when they do occur, the paying for the comforts and attentions we receive does not exempt us from the courtesy of an apparent equality and obligation. An equally liberal way of thinking, is adopted by Mr. Cumberland, who tells us in his Memoirs, that the British coffee-house was kept by a Mrs. Anderson, a person of great respectability. If, then, an education and situation in early life, which enabled my mother to maintain an intercourse in the best families in the city, pretentions, in no degree impaired by her matrimonial connexion, or an in- dustrious, irreproachable conduct in her succeeding years of widowhood, can give a claim to respect, I have a right to say with Mr. Cumberland, that the principal lodging house in Phila- delphia, was kept by a person of great respectability. A biographical sketch of the various personages, who, in the course of eight or nine years, became inmates of this house, for Samuel Carpenter whom he eulogizes for his early public spirit, and that it was occupied by William Pcnn, on his second visit in the year 1700. One month after Penn's arrival, John Penn, called the "American," was born in this house. In 1703, the property was purchased by William Trent, the founder of Trenton — the capitol of New Jersey, for i)850. Watson quotes a letter from James Log'an in 1700 to Penn as follows: "William Trent designing- for Eng- land is about selling his house, (that he bought of Samuel Carpenter,) which thou lived in, with the improvement of a beautiful garden. I wish it could be made thine, as nothing in this town is so well fitting a Governor. His price is X900 of our money, which it is hard thou can'st not spare." He could not spare it, however, and it became the property of a Mr. Norris, in whose family it still continues. — Ed. 64 LODGING HOUSE GUESTS BARON DE KALB. might, from the hand of a good delineator, be both curious and amusing. Among these, were persons of distinction, and some of no distinction : many real gentlemen, and some, no doubt, who were merely pretenders to the appellation. Some attended by servants in gay liveries ; some, with servants in plain coats, and some with no servants at all. It was rarely without officers of the British army. It was at diffei ent times, nearly filled by those of the Forty-second or Highland regiment, as also by those of the Royal Irish. Besides these, it sometimes accommodated officers of other armies, and other uniforms. Of this description, was the Baron de Kalb, who visited this country probably about the year 1768 or 1769 ; and who fell a major-general in the army of the United States at the battle of Camden. Though a German by birth, he had belonged to the French service, and had returned to France, after the visit just mentioned. During our revolu- tionary contest, he came to tender us his services, and returned no more. The steady and composed demeanour of the Baron, bespoke the soldier and philosopher ; the man who had calmly estimated life and death, and who, though not prodigal of the one, had no unmanly dread of the other. He was not indeed a young man ; and his behaviour at the time of his death, as 1 have heard it described by Mons. Dubuisson, his aid-de-camp, was exactly conformable to what might have been supposed from his character.* *" The representation of the Baron,"^ — says the author in a MS. note — "as an enthusiast for liberty, whoso sacred cause lie crossed the Atlantic to espouse, is one of the ' lame and impotent conclusions ' of our republican fanatics. He cared just as much for our liberty, probably, as did the other French subjects who assisted us under the standard of the Count de Roehambeau. He, no doubt, thought the occasion favourable for crippling the power of Britain, and of avenging the loss of Canada. At the same time, he was politic enough to take the tone of the people he was acting with, and might, therefore, have talked of liberty with the rest, but he would have deemed it quite sufficient to his fame, to be con- sidered as at once faithful to France and her allies, and of having acquitted him- self as a brave and accomplished soldier; and this was all we had to require of him." Tiie Baron was born in Germany^ about the year 1717. When young, he entered into the service of France, in which he continued for forty -two years, and obtained the rank of brigadier-general. In 1757, during the war between Eng- land and France, he was sent, by the French government, to the American LADY MOORE. 65 Another of our foreign guests, was one Badourin, who wore a white cockade, and gave himself out for a general in the Austrian service ; but whether general or not, he, one night, very unex- pectedly left his quarters, making a masterly retreat with the loss of no other baggage than that of an old trunk, which, when opened, was found to contain only a few old Latin and German books. Among the former, was a folio, bound in parchment, which I have now before me ; it is a ponderous tract of the mys- tical Robert Fludd, alias de Fluctibus, printed at Oppenheim in the year 1618, and in part dedicated to the duke de Guise, whom the author informs us he had instructed in the art of war. It is to this writer probably, that Butler thus alludes in his Hudi- bras: He, Anthroposoplius and Floud, And Jacob Behman understood. From this work of Mr. Fludd, which among a fund of other important matter, treats of astrology and divination, it is not im- probable that its quondam possessor Mr. Badourin, might have been a mountebank-conjuror, instead of a general. Among those of rank from Great Britain with whose residence we were honoured, I recollect Lady Moore and her daughter, a colonics, in order to learn the ])oints in which they were most vulnerable, and how far the seeds of discontent might be sown in tliem towards tlie mother country. He was seized, wliile in the performance of his commission, as a sus- pected person, but escaped detection. He then went to Canada, where he re- mained until its conquest by the British, after which he returned to France. In 1777, during the war of the revolution, he came a second time to the United States, and offered his services to Congress. They were accepted, and he was soon after made a major-general. At first he was placed in tlie northern army, but, when the danger which threatened Charleston from the formidable expedition under Sir Henry Clinton, in 1778, rendered it necessary to reinforce the American troops in the Soutii, a detacliment was sent to them, consisting of the Maryland and Delaware lines, which were put under his command. Before he could arrive, however, at the scene of action. General Lincoln had been made prisoner, and the direction of the whole southern army devolved upon the Baron, until the appoint- ment of General G^tes. On the 15th of August, Gates was defeated near Cam- den by Lord Rawdon, and, in the battle, De Kalb, who commanded the right wing, fell, covered with wounds, while gallantly fighting on foot. A tomb was erected to his memory, by order of Congress, in the cemetery of Camden. — Ency. Amer. — Ed. 6* 66 LADY MOORE WOODWARD. sprightly Miss, not far advanced in her teens, and who having apparently no dislike to be seen, had more than once attracted my attention.* For I was just touching that age when such ob- jects begin to be interesting and excite feelings, which disdain the invidious barriers, with which the pride of condition would sur- round itself. Not that the young lady was stately ; my vanity rather hinted, she was condescendingly courteous ; and I had no doubt, read of women of quality falling in love with their in- feriors: Nevertheless, the extent of my presumption was a look or a bow, as she now and then tripped along through the entry. Another was Lady Susan O'Brien, not more distinguished by her title, than by her husband, who accompanied her, and had figured as a comedian on the London stage, in the time of Garrick, Mos- sop and Barry. Although Churchill charges him with being an imitator of Woodward,f he yet admits him to be a man of parts; * Sir Henry Moore, the last British governor of New York, that I remember, (says ]\Irs. Grant,) came up this summer to see Albany and the ornament of Albany, Aunt Schuyler; he brought Lady Moore and his daughter with him. This is the same family alluded to in the text, but I was not aware (says the author in, a MS. note) that Sir Henry was governor of New York. Mrs. Grant and myself, probably not differing much in age, appear nearly at the same time to have been looking back on the scenes of our youth, and to have brought to remembrance not only some of the characters, but to have coincided in our remarks on several subjects. The Miss Moore alluded to, I remember to have heard, was, some years after the time of this our joint recognition of her, consi- dered as an elegant woman in England, where, it was said, she led the fashions. t Woodward, endowed with various powers of face, Great master in the science of grimace, From Ireland ventures,, favourite of the town, Lur'd by the pleasing prospect of renown ; A squeaking Harlequin made up of whim. He twists, he twines, he tortures every limb, Plays to tlie eye witii a mere monkey's art And leaves to sense the conquest of the heart.. Wc laugi), indeed, but on reflection's birth. We wonder at ourselves, and curse our mirth, His walk of parts he fatally misplaced, And inclination fondly took for taste ; Hence hath the Town so often seen displayed Beau in burlesque, high life in masquerade, But when bold wits, not such as patch up plays, Cold and correct in these insipid days. LADY MOORE WOODWARD. 67 and he has been said to have surpassed all liis cotemporaries in the character of the fine gentleman ; in his easy manner of tread- ing the stage, and particularly of drawing the sword, to which action he communicated a swiftness and a grace which Garrick imitated, but could not equal.* O'Brien is presented to my recollection as "a man of the middle height, with ef symmetrical form, rather light thart athletic. Employed by the father to in- struct Lady Susan in elocution, he taught her, it seems, that it was no sin to love ; for she became his wife, and, as I have seen it mentioned in the Theatrical Mirror, obtained for him, through the interest of her family, a post in America. But what this post was., or where it located him, I never heard. A third person of celebrity and title was sir William Draper,! Some comic character, strong.featiired, urge To probability's extremest verge, Wlicre modest judgment her decree suspends, And for a time, nor censures, nor commends, Where critics can't determine on the spot, Whether it is in Nature found or not, There Woodward safely shall his powers exert. Nor fail of favour where he shows desert. Hence he in Bobadil such praises bore. Such worthy praises, Kitely scarce had more. GhurchilVs Rosciad. — Ed. * Shadows beliind of Foote and WoodwARD came; Wilkinson this, O'Brien was that name. Strange to relate, but wonderfully true, That even shadows have their shadows too ! With not a single comic power endued The first a mere mere mimic's mimic stood. The last, by nature formed to please, who shows. In Johnson's Stephen, which way Genius grows ; Self quite put off,, affects, with too much art. To put on Woodward in each mangled part ; Adopt his shrug, his wink, his stare : nay, more, His voice and'croaks ; for Woodward croak'd before. When the dull copier simple grace neglects, And rests his Imitation in defects. We readily forgive ; but such vile arts Are double guilt in men of real parts. Churchill's Rosciad. — Ed. t Vide correspondence in the " Letters of Junius." In his celebrated contro- vcrsy with the " great unknown," sir William displayed a degree of ability and. CS SIR WILLIAM DRAPER — FRANK RICHARDSON. who made a tour to this country, a short time alter his newspaper encounter with Junius. It has even been sug-gested tliat this very incident sent the knight on his travels. Whether or not, it had so important a consequence, it cannot be denied, that sir WilUam caiio-ht a tartar in Junius ; and tliat when he commented his attack, he had evidently underrated his adversary. During his stay in Philadelphia, no one was so assiduous in his attentions to him as Mr. Richardson, better known at that time bv the name of Frank Richardson, then from England on a visit to his friends. This gentleman was one of the most singular and successful of American adventurers. The son of one of our plainest Quakers, he gave early indications of that cast of chai'acter which has raised him to his present station, that of a colonel in tlie British guai'ds. At a time, when such attainments formed no part of education in Pennsylvania, he sedulously employed him- self, in acquiring skill in tlie use of tlie small sword and the pistol, as if to shine as a duellist, had been the first object of his ambi- tion. Either for a contempt for tlie dull pursuits oi the "home skill that challenged the admiration even of his relentless adversary. He attained the rank of General in the British army. He was born at Bristol, (England) where his father held the post of collector of the customs. He was thoroughly educated at Eton and at Cambridge. In 1763, he was "couqucrer of Manilla." He arrived at Charleston, Sdfiith Carolina, in January, ITTO, and during- tlie sum- nier of that year visited Maryland where he was received witji much hospitality. From Maryland he passed into New- York, and while there, was married to 3Iiss De Lancey, who died in 1778, leaving him a daughter. In 1779, he was ap- pointed Lieutenant-Governor of Minorca. He died at Bath, January, 1787. Wraxall says he was " a man hardly better known to posterity by his cap- ture of Manilla, than by his correspondence with Jcxius. He was endowed with talents which, whether excited in the field or in the closet, entitled him to great consideration. His vanity, which led him to call his house at Clifton, near Bristol, " Manilla Hall," and there to erect a cenotaph to his fellow-soldiers, who fell before tint city during the siege exposed him to invidious comments. * * Jc.Niis's obligations to his oflicious friendship for the Marquis of Granby was indelible: for, however admirably written may be his letter of the 21st of Janu- ary, 1769, which opened the series of those celebrated compositions, it was Dra- per's answer, with his signature annexed to it, that drew all eyes towards the two literary combatants. Great as were Jcnics's talents, yet, if he had been left to exhale his resentment without notice or reply, he might have found it difficult to concenter on himself the attention of all England.— But, the instant that Sir William avowedly entered the lists as Lord Granby's champion, a new interest was awakened in the public mind." — Ed. ANECDOTE. 69 keeping youth " of his day, or from tlic singularity of his propen- sities repelHng association, he was sohtary and rarely with com- panions. Fair and delicate to effeminacy, he paid great attention to his person, which he had the courage to invest in scarlet, in defiance of the society to which he belonged, in whose mind's eye, perhaps as to that of the blind man of Locke, this colour from their marked aversion to it, resembles the sound of a trumpet; and no less in defiance of the plain manners of a city, in which except on the back of a soldier, a red coat was a phenomenon, and always indicated a Creole, a Carolinian, or a dancing master. Willi these qualifications, and these alone, perhaps, Mr. Richard- son, at an early age, shipped himself for England, where soon, having the good fortune to establish a reputation for courage by drawing his sword in behalf of a young man of rank, in a broil at the theatre, he was received into the best company, and thence laid the foundation of his preferment. Such, at least was the generally received account of his rise. But whether accurate or not, his intimate footing with sir William, is an evidence of the style of his company whilst abroad, as w^ell as of the propriety of his conclusion, that his native land was not his sphere.* As the story went : on Mr. Richardson's first going to England, he happened to be in the same lodgings wdth Foote, the come- dian, with whom he became intimate. One day upon his coming out of his chamber, "Richardson," says Foote to him, " a person has just been asking for you, who expressed a strong desire to see you, and pretended to be an old Philadelphia acquaintance. But I knew better, for he was a d d ill-looking fellow, and I have no doubt the rascalwas a bailiff; so I told him you were not at home." But here either Foote's sagacity had been at fault, or he had been playing off a stroke of his humour, the visiter having really been no other than Mr. , a respectable * lie is the same Richardson alluded to in the following extract of a letter from General Wasliington to Mr. Reed, dated 14tli January, 177G: " Mr. Sayre has been committed to the tower, upon the information of a certain Lieutenant or Adjutant Richardson (formerly of your city,) for treasonable practices; an inten- tion of seizing his majesty, and possessing himself of the Tower, it is said in "The Crisis." But he is admitted to bail himself in five hundred pounds, and two sureties in two hundred and fifty pounds each." — Sjiarks'' Wriliiigs of Wash, ington, Vol. iii. p. 242.— Ed. r^ 70 MAJOR ETHERINGTON. merchant of Philadelphia, though not a figure the most debonair to be sure. From Philadelphia, sir William passed on to New- York, where, if I mistake not, he married. During his residence in that city, he frequently amused himself with a game of rackets, which he played with some address ; and he set no small value on the talent. There was a mechanic in the place, the hero of the tennis court, who was so astonishingly superior to other men, that there were few whom he could not beat with one hand attached to the handle of a wheelbarrow. Sir William wished to play with him, and was gratified; the New-Yorker having urbanity enough to cede the splendid stranger some advantages, and even in conquering, to put on the appearance of doing it with difficulty : Yet, apart, he declared that he could have done the same with the incumbrance of the wheel-barrow. These are heresay facts : they come, how- ever, from persons of credit, in the way of being acquainted with tliem. But what imports it the reader to know, that sir William Draper was a racket-player? Nothing, certainly, unless we reflect, that he was a conspicuous character, the conqueror of Manilla, and still more, the literary opponent of Junius. Without granting something to celebrity of this latter sort, what possible interest could we take in learning that doctor Johnson liked a leg of pork, or that he could swallow twelve or more cups of tea at a sitting?* Major George Etherington, of the Royal Americans, was an occasional inmate of our house, from its first establishment on the large scale, until the time of its being laid down, about the year 1774. He seemed to be always employed in the recruiting ser- vice, in the performance of which, he had a snug, economical * Much aUention was paid to sir William, in Philadelphia, and among other who waited on him was a Mr. WJiarton, an old Quaker who, from his pride an affected dignity of manner, received the title of Duke. Sir William obscrvin; that he entered the room and remained with his hat off, bcg-ged that as it wa' contrary to the custom of his society to do so, lie would dispense with thi unnecessary mark of respect. But the "Z)//A-e" feeling his pride piqued at th' Bupposition tliat he should uncover to Sir William Draper or to any other mari promptly corrected the mistake, into which Sir William's considerate politenes' had betrayed him, by bluntly giving him to understand that his being uncovered was not intended as a compliment to him, but was for his own convenience am.' comfort — the day being warm. — Ed. MAJOR ETHERINGTON. 71 method of his own. He generally dispensed with the noisy cere- mony of a recruiting coterie ; for having, as it was said, and I believe truly, passed through the principal grades in its composi- tion, namely, those of drummer and sergeant, he was a perfect master of the inveigling arts which are practised on the occasion, and could fulfil, at a pinch, all the duties himself. The major's forte w^as a knowledge of mankind, of low life especially ; and he seldom scented a subject that he did not, in the end, make his prey. He knew his man, and could immediately discover a fish that w^ould bite : Hence, he wasted no time in angling in wrong waters. His superior height, expansive frame, and muscular limbs, gave him a commanding air among the vulgar; and, while enforcing his suit with all the flippancy of halbert elocution, he familiarly held his booby by the button, his small, black, piercing eyes, which derived additional animation from the intervention of a sarcastic, upturned nose, penetrated to the fellow's soul, and gave him distinct intelligence of what was passing there. In fact, I have never seen a man with a cast of countenance so extremely subtile and investigating. I have myself, more than once, undergone its scrutiny ; for he took a very friendly interest in my welfare, evinced by an occasional superintendance of my educa- don, in so far at least, as respects the exterior accomplishments. Above all things, he enjoined upon me the cultivation of the French language, of which he had himself acquired a smattering from a temporary residence in Canada; and he gave me a pretty sharp lecture upon a resolution I had absurdly taken up, not to learn dancing, from an idea of its being an effeminate and un- manly recreation. He combated my folly wdth arguments, of v/hich I have since felt the full force ; but which, as they turned upon interests, I was then too }'Oung to form conceptions of, they produced neither conviction nor effect. Fortunately for me, I had to deal with a man who was not thus to be baffled. He veiy properly assumed the rights of mature age and experience, and accordingly, one day, on my return from school, he accosted me with, " Come here young man, I have something to say to you," and with a mysterious air conducted me to his chamber. Here I found myself entrapped. Godwin, the assistant of Tioli, the dancing master, was prepared to give me a lesson. Ether- 7.2 ,- ANECDOTE.rM- •-;.:- ington introduced me to him as the pupil he had been speaking of, and saying, he would leave us to ourselves, he politely re- tired. The arrangement with Tioli was, that I should be attended in the major's room until I was sufficiently drilled for the public school ; and the ice thus broken, I went on, and instead of stand- ing in a corner, like a goose on one leg (the major's comparison) " while music softens and while dancing fires," I became qualified for the enjoyment of female society, in one of its most captivating forms. Major Etherington had a brother in the rank of a captain, so like himself, as to realize the story of the two Socias, and to re- move half the improbability of the plot of Shakspeare's Comedy of Errors. Any one, at a first sight, might have mistaken the one for the other, at least I did, for a moment ; but on a close inspection it would be discovered, that the captain was more scant in his proportions, as well as several years younger than his brother. Tom, for so the captain was familiarly called by the major, had taken his turn to recruit in Philadelphia, while his superior was employed elsewhere. From a comparatively weaker discernment of human character, he had enlisted a lad and con- verted him into his waiting man, whom George, on a junc- tion which soon after took place, pronounced to be a fool, and wholly unfit for a soldier. This the captain denied strenuously, and the question became the frequent topic of good humoured altercation between them, until an incident occurred, which gave the major an unequivocal triumph. One morning very early, the brothers lodging in the same apartment, this recruit, and for the first time, common servant of the two, softly approached the bed of tlie major, and gently tapping him on the shoulder to awal^en him, very sapiently inquired, if he might clean his shoes. George, with infinite presence of mind, replied, that it was not material, but " go," says he, " and ask my brother Tom if you may clean his." The poor fellow did as he was bid, and probably as he would have done if he had not been bidden ; and Tom's slumbers became victims also, to the same momentous investigation. The major took care to relate the circumstance at the breakfast table, and, of course, obtained a unanimous suffi-age to his opinion, that the captain's recruit was not exceeding wise. MAJOR ETHERINGTON ANECDOTE. 73 Although Etherington was extremely deficient in literature,^ few persons possessed more acuteness of intellect, or a happier talent for prompt replication. A warm dispute having one day taken place at the coffee-house, between Mr. Bradford, who kept it, and Mr. Delancey of New York, in which the parties appeared to be proceeding to blows, major Etherington stepped between them and separated them. The next day, on a supposition of partiality to Delancey, he was roundly taken to task by Bradford, He observed, that he had merely interfered as a common friend to both. "No sir," said Bradford, "you were the decided champion of Delancey, you laid your hands upon me, and kept your face to me, while your back was turned to him." "Very well then, sir," said Etherington, with quickness, "I treated you politely, and Mr. Delancey with a rudeness for which I owe him an apology." A ready, unexpected turn of this kind, has always a good effect on the bystanders, and they accordingly lent their aid in restoring good humour.* As I have said that the major commenced his military career in the humblest walks of his profession, the reader may expect to heai" of the exploits which produced his extraordinary promotion. * There is anotlier instance of his mental readiness, I had introduced into my manuscript, but vvhicli I was advised to suppress, as it was supposed to offer matter for malignant interpretation. But as I find my mother's character is well understood and remembered, I see no objection to introducing' it now ; nor for my own part, did I before. The major, one day, in passing- the kitchen door, received upon his clothes a little dirty water which Miss Ann Burgess, the elderly Quaker lady, already mentioned as one of the family, had, without seeing him, cast out of a bowl. The major was more disturbed at the accident than might have been expected from one of his character, and was not quite appeased by the evident concern and all the excuses the culprit could make, when she thought proper to set before him the conduct of Major Small, when a precisely similar accident vvhicli some time before had happened to him from the hands of my mother, aggravated, too, by the circumstance of his having been full dressed for an assembly, a toilet labour no less arduous with him-, than the five hours work of the haughty Celia of Swift. Instead, said she, of Major Small's refusing to be satisfied with her apologies, he made her a low bow, begged that she would be under no concern about the matter, and, very respectfully, walked up to her and kissed her. Then I am to kiss you, I suppose. Eh ! said Etherington. This lucky hit, while it alarmed and completely embarrassed the maidenly preciseness of the old lady, not aware *hat she liad given an opening for it, put EthcringtoTi into a good humour and amicably terminated tlie affair. 7 74 MAJOR ETHERINGTON. But it was not to martial prowess that he owed it. The world gave out, that a certain wealthy widow of the county of New Castle, became enamoured of him, and first purchased him a commission. His saving knowledge soon enabled him to pur- chase a better one, and from a captaincy, the station in which I first knew him, he had risen to that of a colonel, when I last saw him in Philadelphia, just at the approach of the w^ar. What then brought liim there is uncertain. He was, however, taken notice of by the committee of safety; required to hasten his departure, and in the mean time, put under his parole. He endeavoured to make a jest of the matter, by assuring them, that they need not be under the least apprehension of his going an inch nearer to the scene where fighting was to be looked for. He several times called to see us while in town, and observing me in the light in- fantry uniform, he undertook to recommend to me, between banter and earnest, that if I inclined to a military life, at once to get a commission in the British service, which he would charge himself to procure for me : That as to our idle parade of war, it would vanish in smoke, or, if seriously persisted in, would infalli- bly terminate in our disgrace, if not ruin. I asked him if he had been to see us exercise. "Oh no," said he, "that would be highly improper ; we make it a point in the army never to look at awkward men; we hold it unpolite." The colonel was no doubt correct in his opinion of our tactics ; though I was nettled a little at his contemptuous manner of treating us. But I here dismiss him with the observation, that he was a singular man, who knew the world and turned that knowledge to his advantage. He had certainly much mental ability, and of a cast, which he himself conceived would have well qualified him for the bar ; a profession, for which, he has told me, nature intended him. In this estimate of his talents, however, it is not improbable, that he might have attributed too much to management and chicane, which had essentially availed him in the business of recruiting : For he valued himself upon them here ; and I well remember that upon my mother's telling him of captain Anstruther, who had recruited in his absence, sending a drum about before he left the city, to proclaim, that if any one had been^ aggrieved by him or his party, to call upon him and he should be redressed, he re- GENERAL REID WARREN. 75 plied — "And was'nt he a d d fool for his pains?" In men- tioning captain Anstruther it occurs to me, that he may be the same who is stated to have fallen as a general officer in the battle of Corunna. There were two other majors, with whose company we were a long time favoured. These were Majors Small and Fell ; and if names had any appropriation to the persons of those who bear them, these might very well have been interchanged ; for Small was a stout, athletic man, who might be supposed to possess a capacity for Jelling, while the other was one of the smallest men I have seen. Some one asking, one day, if major Small was at home? "No," says Fell, "but the small majo7^ is," Small is a principal figure in Trumbull's print of the death of Warren. He is represented in the humane attitude of putting aside with his sword, a British bayonet, aimed at the breast of the dying patriot.* Another officer of the British army, who was some time our in- mate, is suggested by a notice of his death in the Monthly Maga- zine of J\Iarch, 1807. This was General John Reid, who is stated to have died in his 87th year, the oldest officer in the service. In this account of him, it is said, that in the meredian of his life, he was esteemed the best gentleman German flute performer in England : that he was also particularly famed for his taste in the composition of military music, and that his marches are still ad- mired. This gentleman was a colonel at the time I speak of him. His fame as a performer on the flute i recollect, as also to have heard him play : but probably I was too little of a connoiseur to duly appreciate his talents. I cannot say that my expectations were fully answered ; his tones were low and sweet, but the tunes he played were so disguised and overloaded with variations, as with me to lose much of their melody. From these gentlemen of the army, I pass to one of the navy, rude and boisterous as the element to which he belonged. His name I think was Wallace, the commander of a ship of war on the American station, and full fraught, perhaps, with the ill humour of the mother country towards her colonies, which she was already * See Appendix C, for an interesting account of tiie battle of Bunker's Hill.— Ed. 76 CAPTAIN WALLACE JOSEPH CHURCH. beginning to goad to independence. His character upon the coast, was that of being insolent and brutal beyond his peers; and his deportment as a lodger, was altogether of a piece with it. Being asked by my mother, who, by the desire of the gentlemen, was in the custom of taking the head of her table, if he would be helped to a dish that was near her, " Damme, madam," replied the ruffian, " it is to be supposed that at a public table every man has a right to help himself, and this I mean to do." Witli a tear in her eye she besought him to pardon her, assuring him that in future he should not be offended by her officiousness. At another time, when Joseph Church of Bristol, who has already been mentioned as a friend of the family, was in town and at our house, which, in his visits to the city, he always made his home, my mother mentioned to the gentlemen, who were about sitting down to supper, but three or four in number, of whom captain Wallace was one, that there was a friend of hers in the house, a very honest, plain man of the society of Friends, and begged to know if it would be agreeable to them that he should be brought in to supper. They all readily assented, and none with more alacrity than Wallace. Accordingly Mr. Church was introduced, and sat down. During supper, the captain directed his chief discourse to him, interlarded with a deal of very course and insolent raillery on his broad brim, &c. Church bore it all very patiently until after supper, when he at length ventured to say — " Captain, thou has made very free with rae, and asked me a great many questions, which I have endeavoured to answer to thy satisfaction : Wilt thou now permit me to ask thee one in my turn?" "Oh, by all means," exclaimed the captain, "any thing that you please, friend — what is it?" " Why, then, I wish to be informed, what makes thee drink so often ; art thou really dry every time thou earnest the liquor to thy mouth?" This was a home thrust at the seaman, whose frequent potations had already produced a degree of intoxication. At once, forgetting the liberties he had taken, and the promise he had given of equal freedom in return, he broke out into a violent rage, venting him- self in the most indecent and illiberal language, and vociferating, with an unlucky logic which recoiled upon himself — "What! do you think I am like a hog, only to drink when I am dry ?" But RIVINGTON, THE PRINTER. 77 matters had gone too far for a reply; and the object of his wrath very prudently left the table and the room as expeditiously as possible. It cannot be denied, that there was some provocation in the question proposed : but he knows little of the Quaker cha- racter, who does not know, that the non-resisting tenent does not prohibit the use of dry sarcasm, which here was unquestion- ably in its place. It would be easy to extend these biographical details ; but my materials, at best, are too deficient in interest to warrant much presumption on the patience of the reader : I shall therefore only add to the list, the names of Hancock* and Washington, each of whom had at different times sojourned at our caravansary. Yet another, of some eminence, though not exactly in the same kind, whom I ought not to omit, was Rivington, the printer, of New York. This gentleman's manners and appearance were sufficiently dignified ; and he kept the best company. He was an everlasting dabbler in theatrical heroics. Othello, was the character in which he liked best to appear ; and converting his auditory into the " most potent, grave and reverend signiors" of Venice, he would deliver his unvarnished tale : " Her father lov'd me, oft invited me," &o. With the same magic by which the listening gentlemen were turned into senators, my mother was transformed into Desde- mona ; and from the frequent spoutings of Rivington, the officers of the 42d regiment, and others, wdio were then in the house, became familiarized to the appellation, and appropriated it. Thus, Desdemona, or rather Desdy, for shortness, was the name she generally afterwards went by among that set of lodgers ; and I recollect the concluding line of a poetical effusion of Lieute- nant Rumsey of the 42d, on occasion of some trifling fracas^ to have been — " For Desdy, believe me, you don't become airs !" In the daily intercourse with her boarders, which my mother's custom of sitting at the head of her table induced, such fami- liarities might be excused. They were only to be repelled, at * For a Sketch of the Lifo and Character of Hancock, see Appendix D. — Ed. 78 RIVINGTON, THE PRINTER. least, by a formal austerity of manner, which was neither natural to her, nor for her interest to assume. The cause of umbrage was a midnight riot, perpetrated by Rumsey, Rivington and Doc- tor Kearsley, in which the doctor, mounted on horseback, rode into the back parlour, and even up stairs, to the great disturbance and terror of the family ; for, as it may well be supposed, there was a direful clatter. Quadrupedante sonitu quatit imgula domum. DANGERS OF IDLENESS. 79 CHAPTER III. The Author mixes in new Society. — Is destined for the Law. — His characteristic Indolence. — American players. — Anecdotes. — Dramatic Poetry. — Author's pur- suits. — Debating- Society. — Metaphysical subtleties. — Causes of youthful fol- lies. — Letters of Junius. — Tanioc Caspipina. — Mr. Duche. About the year 1769 or 1770, my grandfather died. My in- attention to dates disqualifies me for fixing the year, nor is it ma- terial. His disorder was a complication of dropsy and asthma. I well remember being with him a few evenings before his death, and seldom saw him in better spirits. He was anticipating my future consequence in life ; and, as like too many others, I was destined in vain, D^une robe a longs plis halayer le barreau — To sweep, with fuU-sleev'd robe, the dusty bar.* He was making himself merry with the fancy of my strutting with my full-bottomed periwig and small sword, the costume he attached to a bannister of law, as he was pleased to term what in England is called a barrister. But it will be recollected, that I have already said that the old gentleman was a German, no great adept in English, and let me add, no great scholar in any language ; although his man- ners were those of a man of the world, and a frequenter of good company, somewhat blunt, however, and occasionally facetious. The story of the toper and flies, worked up into an ode by Peter Pindar, I have more than once heard related of him. The scene was laid in Philadelphia, where, being at a friend's house to dine, * This quotation would apply better, or at least more literally, if gowns had been worn at our bar.. 80 DANGERS OF IDLENESS. and asked to take some punch before dinner, he found several flies in the bowl. He removed them with a spoon, took his drink, and wdth great deliberation was proceeding to replace them, "Why, w^hat are you doing, Mr. Marks,"* exclaimed the enter- tainer, "putting flies into the bowl ?" " Why, /don't like them," said he, "but I did not know but you might," — his mode of suggesting that the bowl should have been covered ; for decanters and tumblers, be it observed, are a modern refinement in the ap- paratus of punch drinking. Whether the story really originated with my grandfather, and travelled from the continent to the islands, where Doctor Wolcott picked it up ; or whether the hu- mour was of insular origin, and merely borrowed and vamped up by my grandfather, I pretend not to decide, but certain it is, that he had the credit of it in Philadelphia, many years before the works of Peter Pindar appeared. If want of occupation, as we are told, is the root of all evil, my youth was exposed to very great dangers. The interval be- tween my leaving the academy, and being put to the study of the law at about the age of sixteen, w^as not less than eighteen months ; an invaluable period, lost in idleness and unprofitable amusement. It had the effect to estrange me for a time from my school-companions, and, in their stead, to bring me acquainted with a set of young men, whose education and habits had been wholly different from my own. They were chiefly designed for the sea, or engaged in the less humiliating mechanical employ- ments ; and w^ere but the more to my taste for affecting a sort of rough independence of manners, which appeared to me manly. They were not, however, worthless ; and such of them as were destined to become men and citizens, have, with few exceptions, filled their parts in society with reputation and respectability. As I had now attained that stage in the progress of the mind, in which Neglected Tray and Pointer lie And covics unmolested fly, the void was supplied by an introduction into the fair society, with which these young men were in the habit of associating. It * Joseph Marks; the name might have been mentioned before. FEMALE SOCIETY LOVE. 81 consisted generally of Quakers ; and there was a witching one among them, with whom, at a first interview in a party on the water, I became so violently enamoured, as to have been up, perhaps, to the part of a Romeo or a Pyramus, had the requisite train of untoward circumstances ensued. But as there were no feuds between our houses, nor unnatural parents to "forbid what they could not prohibit," the matter in due time, passed off with- out any dolorous catastrophe. Nor was it long before I was translated into a new set of female acquaintance, in w^hich I found new objects to sigh for. Such, indeed, I was seldom, if ever,, without, during the rest of my nonage ; and with as little reason, perhaps, as any one, to complain of adverse stars. Nevertheless, I should hesitate in pronouncing this season of life happy. If its enjoyments are great, so are its solicitudes; and although it should escape the pangs of "slighted vows and cold disdain," it yet is racked by a host of inquietudes, doubt, distrust, jealousy, hope deferred by the frustration of promised interviews, and wishes sickening under the w^eight of obstacles too mighty to be surmounted. In the language of the medical poet, " The wholesome appetites and powers of life Dissolve in Languor. Your cheerful days are gone ; The generous bloom tliat flusli'd your cheeks, is fled. To sighs devoted and to tender pains, Pensive you sit, or solitary stray, And waste your youth in musing." But the peril of fine eyes, was not the only one which beset me. During my residence in the State-house, I had contracted an intimacy with the second son of Doctor Thomas Bond, who lived next door ; a connexion Avhich continued for several years. He was perhaps a year older than myself, and had, in like man- ner, abandoned his studies, and prematurely bidden adieu to the college of Princeton. Handsome in his person, in his manner, confident and assured, he had the most lordly contempt for the opinion of the world, that is, the sober world, of any young man I have known ; as well as a precocity in fashionable vices, equalled by few, and certainly exceeded by none. Admiring his talents S2 RICHARD BOND. and accomplishments, I willingly yielded him the lead in our amusements, happy in emulating his degagee air and rakish ap- pearance. He it was who first introduced me to the fascination of a billiard-table, and initiated me into the other seductive arcana of city dissipation. He also showed me where beardless youth might find a Lethe for its timidity, in the form of an execrable potion called wine, on the very moderate' terms of two and six pence a quart. At an obscure inn in Race street, dropping in about dark, we were led by a steep and narrow stair-case to a chamber in the third story, so lumbered with beds as scarcely to leave room for a table and one chair, the beds superseding the necessity of more. Here we poured down the fiery beverage ; and valiant in the novel feeling of intoxication, sallied forth in quest of adventures. Under the auspices of such a leader, I could not fail to improve ; nor was his progress less promoted by so able a second. In a word, we aspired to be rakes, and were gratified. Mr. Richard Bond, was the favourite of his father, studied physic under him, and notwithstanding his addiction to pleasure, would probably have made a respectable figure in his profession : for he had genius, no fondness for liquor, no unusual want of application to business, and vanity, perhaps, more than real propensity, had prompted his juvenile excesses. But he was destined to finish his career at an early age, by that fatal disease to youth, a pulmonary consumption. H^ had a presentiment of this, and frequently said when in health, it would be his mortal distemper. Yet his frame seemed not to indicate it : he had a pro- minent chest, with a habit inclined to fulness. Our intimacy had ceased for some time before his death. I know not why, unless he had been alienated by a latent spark of jealousy, in relation to a young lady, for whom we both had a partiality ; mine, indeed, slight and evanescent ; his, deep and more lasting, and which, I have understood, only ended with his life. As it was necessary I should be employed, the choice of a vocation for me, had for some time engaged the attention of my near connexions. The question was, whether I should be a merchant, a physician, or a lawyer. My inclinations were duly consulted. I had no predilection for either, though I liked the law tlie least of the three, being sensible that my talents were not CHOICE OF A PEOFESSION. 83 of the cast which would enable me to succeed in that profession. I searched my composition in vain, for the materials that would be required. If they were there, the want of fortitude to bring them forth, would be the same as if they were not ; and this seemed a deficiency I could never supply. To rise at the bar with due gravity and recollection ; to challenge the attention of the court, the jury, and the by-standers; to confide in my ability to do justice to a good cause ; to colour a bad one by the re- quisite artifice and stimulation ; and to undertake to entertain by my rhetoric, where I must necessarily fail to convince by my logic, I felt to be a task far beyond my strength ; and I shuddered at it, in idea only, even in my most sanguine, self-complacent moments. To what this infirmity, inaccurately termed diffidence, is owing, or whether it be a defect in the mental or bodily powers, is not, I believe, ascertained ; yet it exists to a degree scarcely super- able in some, while in others, it is a sensation almost unknown. It appears, however, to be considerably under the influence of education, since, if felt at all, it never shows itself in a thorough bred Quaker: neither do we suppose it to exist in a Frenchman, though the phrase mauvaise honte, is a proof that the imbecility has been recognised by the nation ; a circumstance we might be led to doubt, too, from the account given by Doctor Moore of the National Assembly.* He tells us, that of the great number of members of which it was composed, there appeared to be none who could not express themselves with perfect freedom and ease ; and that there seemed to be a continual competition for the pos- session of the tribune. How diflferent, he observes, from an as- sembly of Englishmen! I might add, of Americans! But that the feeling is natural, if indeed there could be a doubt of it ; that it was known to the ancients, and that it is not merely an effect of modern manners, is evinced from the following lines of Petro- nius on Dreams, in which the trepidation is not only recognised, but very strongly depicted. * There is a striking^ coincidence between these observations and the follow- ing', in Miss Edgeworth's novel of "Patronage." "Strange that France should give a name to that malady of mind which she never knew, or of which she knows less than any other nation, upon the surface of the civilized globe !" 84 DIFFIDENCE — MAUVAISE HONTE. "Qui causas orarc solcnt, Icgesque forumque Et pavido cernunt inclusum corde tribunal." I have said it is inaccurately termed diffidence : it rather ap- pears to me, to proceed from too much pride and self-attention, a kind of morbid sensibility, ever making self the principal figure in the scene, and overweeningly solicitous for the respect of the audience : dreading, in equal degree, its contempt and the humi- liation of a failure. Hence, as one that is too fearful of falling will never excel in the hazardous exercises, such as riding and skating, so the destined public speaker who will not risk a fall, can never expect to succeed. If he is too fastidious to submit to occasional humihation, he must undergo the perpetual one of being really, as well as reputedly unqualified for his profession. Some diffidence or distrust of our powers, does, no doubt, attend the species of mauvaise honte we are speaking of; but it is more often, I believe, the distrust of being able to display tlie talents we possess, or at least ascribe to ourselves, than an underrating of tliem ; and appears to have its primary cause, as already said, in a temperament of too much susceptibility to shame, — and if so, tlie French have given it a very proper appellation. But notwithstanding my conviction of an inaptitude for the bar, it was, however, the profession assigned me. I had declared for tlie study of physic, and overtures had accordingly been made to a practitioner of eminence, but he happening at the time to have as many students as he wanted, declined taking another. Failing here, it was deemed inexpedient any longer to defer placing me somewhere. I had certainly been already too long unemployed ; and my uncle, (the executor of my father's will, in conjunction with my mother) who had all along been desirous that I should go to the bar, his own profession, again recommended it ; and proposed taking me into his own family, where, by his assistance, the use of his library, which was a very ample one, and an occa- sional attention to the business of his office, that of Prothono- tary of the Common Pleas, which he held as deputy of the late Governor Hamilton, then residing at Bushhill, I had the means of acquiring a knowledge of the law, both as to principle and prac- tice ; and the proposal being in many respects eligible and agree- AUTHOR BEGINS THE STUDY OF LAW. 85 able, was embraced. I was sensible that it was no less to my advantage than reputation, that I should be doing something : there was no one, with whom, in the character of a master, I could expect to be more pleasantly situated than with my uncle, who was a man of unbounded benevolence and liberality; and my imagination went to castle-building in the remote prospect of a trip to England, for the purpose of completing my education at the temple ; for whatever may be the case now, this was the grand desideratum or summiim honum with the aspiring law-youth of my day. As to the sober part of the calculation, whether the occupation I was about to embrace was adapted to my talents, would command my application, and be likely to afford me the means of future subsistence, it was put aside for the more imme- diately grateful considerations already mentioned. I cannot venture to pronounce, however, that the medical profession would have suited me much better. In truth, I was indolent to a great degree ; and with respect to that heroic fortitude which subdues the mind to its purposes, withdraws it at will from the flowery paths of pleasure, and forces it into the thorny road of utility, the distinguishing trait in the character of Caesar, and which justifies the poet in designating him as " the world's great master, and his own,'''' I have very little to boast of, I was ever too easily seduced by the charm of present gratification, and my general mood in youth, was an entire apathy to gainful views. With the strongest inclination to be respectable in life, and even with am- bition to aspire to the first rank in my professsion, I yet felt an invincible incapacity for mingling in the world of business, the only means by which my desire could be gratified. My imagina- tion, almost ever in a state of listless, amorous delirium, Where honour still, And great design, against the oppressive load, By fits, impatient heaved, could rarely be brought down to the key of sober occupation, or attuned to the flat fasque nefasqiie of the sages of the law ;* and * This state of mind is admirably represented by this short passage in Wa- verley : "all thai was common-place, all that belonged to the evcry-day world, was melted away, and obliterated in these drt^ams of imagination." 8 86 HIS CHARACTERISTIC INDOLENCE. my acquaintance with them, was of course, a very slight one. Were we justified in laying our unthriftiness on nature, I might say, that she never intended me for a man of business. If she has denied me the qualifications of an advocate, she has not cer- tainly been more liberal to me of those of a trafficker; for whether it be owing to pride, to dulness, to laziness, or to impatience, I could never excel in driving a bargain : And as to that spirit of commercial enterprise or speculation, which only asks the use of money to increase it, I never possessed a spark of it; and conse- quently, though I have sometimes had cash to spare, it rarely, if ever, was employed; for the very good reason, that commodities in my hands, always turned out to be drugs. In thus character- izmg myself, I aflfect not singularity: for the discomfort of my declining age, I but depict myself too truly. A short time before the epoch of my becoming a student of law, the city was visited by the company of players, since styling themselves, The old American company. They had for several years been exhibiting in the islands, and now returned to the continent in the view of dividing their time and labours between Philadelphia and New- York. At Boston, tlicy did not appear, So pecvisli was the edict of tlie may'r, or at least of those authorities which were charged with the cus- tody of the public morals. The manager was Douglas, rather a decent than shining actor, a man of sense and discretion, married to the widow Hallam, whose son Lewis, then in full culmination, was the Roscius of the theatre. As the dramatic heroes were all his without a competitor, so the heroines were the exclusive pro- perty of Miss Cheer, who was deemed an admirable performer. The singing department was supplied and supported by the voices of Wools and Miss Wainwright, said to have been pupils of doctor Arne ; while in the tremulous drawl of the old man, in low jest and buffoonery, Morris, thence the minion of the gallery, stood first and unrivalled. As for the Tomlinsons, the Walls, the Aliens, &c., they were your bonifaces, your Jessamys, your Mock Doctors, and what not. On the female side, Mrs. Douglas was a respectable, matron-like dame, stately or querulous as oc- PHILADELPHIA THEATRICALS. 87 casion required, a very good Gertrude, a truly appropriate lady Randolph with her white handkerchief and her w^eeds; but then, to applaud, it was absolutely necessary to forget, that to touch the heart of the spectator had any relation to her function : Mrs. Harman bore away the palm as a duenna, and Miss Wainwright as a chambermaid. Although these were among the principal performers at first, the company was from time to time essentially improved by additions: Among these, the Miss Storers, Miss Hallam and Mr. Henry, were valuable acquisitions ; as was also a Mr. Goodman, who had read law in Philadelphia with Mr. Ross. This topic may be disgusting to persons of gravity ; but human manners are my theme, as well in youth as in age. Each period has its play things; and if the strollers of Thespis have not been thought beneath the dignity of Grecian history, this notice of the old American stagers may be granted to the levity of me- moirs. Whether there may be any room for comparison between these, the old American company, and the performers of the present day, I venture not to say. Nothing is more subject to fashion than the style of public exhibitions ; and as the excellence of the Lacedemonian black broth, essentially depended, we are told, on the appetite of the feeder, so, no doubt, does the merit of theatrical entertainments : I cannot but say, however, that in my opinion, the old company acquitted themselves with most anima- tion and glee — they were a passable set of comedians. Hallam had merit in a number of characters and was always a pleasing performer. No one could tread the stage with more ease : Upon it, indeed, he might be said to have been cradled, and wheeled in his go-cart. In tragedy, it cannot be denied, that his decla- mation was either mouthing or ranting ; yet a thorough master of all the tricks and finesse of his trade, his manner was both grace- ful and impressive, " tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, a broken voice, and his whole function suiting with forms to his conceit." He once ventured to appear in Hamlet either at Drury lane or Covent Garden, and was endured. In the account given of his performance, he is said not to have been to the taste of a London audience, though he is admitted to be a man of a pleasing and interesting address. He was, however, at Philadel- ANECDOTE. phia, as much the soul of the Southwark theatre, as ever Garrick was of Drury lane ; and if, as doctor Johnson allows, popularity in matters of taste is unquestionable evidence of merit, we cannot withhold a considerable portion of it from Mr. Hallam, notwith- standing his faults. The subject of this old company, opens the door to a trifling anecdote of a very early origin. Over their stage, in imitation of the sons of Drury, they have fixed the motto of Totus mundus ngit histrionem — The whole world act the player. Some young ladies, one evening, among whom was one of my aunts, applied to the gentleman who attended them for the meaning of the words. Willing to pass himself off for a scholar, and taking for his clew, probably, the word onimdus, he boldly interpreted them into — ''We act Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays," and the ladies were satisfied. But, to the lasting disquiet of the unlucky beau, they were not long after undeceived by some of their more learned acquaintance. Although the theatre must be admitted to be a stimulous to those vices, which something inherent in our nature renders es- sential to the favoured hero of the comic drama and the novel, it was yet useful to me in one respect. It induced me to open Ijooks which had hitherto lain neglected on the shelf. A little Latin, and but a little, was the chief fruit of my education. I was tolerably instructed in the rudiments of grammar, but in no- thing else. I wrote a very indifferent hand, and spelled still worse than I wrote. I knew little or nothing of arithmetic; that, as a branch of the mathematics, being taught in the academy after the languages. But nov/ I became a reader of plays, and parti- cularly of those of Shakspeare, of which I was an ardent and un- affected admirer. From these I passed to those of Otway and Rowe, and the other writers of tragedy, and thence to the English poets of every description. Poetry, indeed, has continued to be my favourite reading; and when I feel disposed to read aloud, it is always my choice. From being wholly unapprised of the structure of the sentences, and the place of the pauses in prose, the reading of it requires much greater attention to the manage- ment of the breath ; and is therefore to me, much the most diffi- cult and laborious. Nor has my bias for metrical compositions DRAMATIC POETRY. 89 been confined to the English authors. A small knowledge of French has enabled me to make acquaintance with the Henriade of Voltaire, the poems of Boileau, and those of some other writers ; and that it has not been more general, has principally been owing to want of books. Nevertheless, I cannot but subscribe to the decree of the English critics, that the French is not the language of the Muses, at least in their sublimer moods. What, for in- stance, can be more completely unharmonious and halting, than these lines in the Henriade, which appear to have been con- siderably laboured to the end of producing a grand effect ? " On entendoit gronder ces bombes cffroyablcs, De troubles de la Flandre cnfants abominablcs. Lc salt pf'-tre enfonce dans ces globes d'arain, Part, s'echauffe, s'enibrase, et s'ccarte soudain :" " Cannons and kettle drums — sweet numbers these." The term salt petre, though no doubt susceptible of elegance in French poetry, since it is used by one of its greatest masters, would in ours, set all collocation at defiance ; and could appear in no other metre than doggerel. Observations, however, of this kind should not be dogmatically urged, since how far our taste for melody may be natural or artificial, is not easy to ascertain. But cer- tainly the music of French numbers is extremely flat and mono- tonous to an English ear, though, to a French one, our best- sounding measure may be sing song no less vapid. In the Latin classics too, I have been a dipper; and the best of my progress in that language is to be ascribed to my fondness, for its poetry. Why was I not, when at school, imbued with the same relish! I might then have been a scholar, and the whole body of Roman poetry, the Corpus omnium veterum poetarum latinorum, (a huge, unwieldy tome, which had belonged to my father) in a chronological series from Andronicus and Ennius to Maurus Terentianus, might have been at my finger ends ; whereas now, only scraps of it are occasionally elicited with difficulty, either when disposed to learn, upon what subjects it was that Lu- cretius, Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, Lucanus, Statins, &c. &c. had respectively employed their pens ; or when I would follow Mr. Gibbon in his references to the poets of later times, the Cal- 9Q author's pursuits. phurnius's, the Nemesianus's, the Claudianus's, the Prudentius's and Sidonius's. Still, according to my manner, this was but a species of amusement, the duke without a particle of the utile, to me who had no manner of concern with the decline of the Roman empire or the songsters which belonged to it. It was not however Latin, but English poetry, which first led me astray: I did not, it is true, ^^en stanzas, but I often read them when I should have engrossed; I had, as Junius says of sir William Draper, "the melancholy madness of poetry without the inspiration." The only project I embraced which promised advantage to me in my profession, or indicated a serious design to pursue it, was my joining a society of young men, instituted for the purpose of disputing on given subjects, as well as of reciting passages from the English classics. It chiefly consisted of law students, though there were some among us who were designed for the pulpit; and the members were generally such as had obtained degrees in the seminaries either of Princeton or Philadelphia. The first question in which I was appointed to take a part, was that very hackneyed one, " Whether a public or a private education is to be pre- ferred." There were two on each side ; and our reasonings were reduced to writing and read in full assembly, where the president pro tempore made his decision. I soon discovered that the argu- ments I had to reply to, though proceeding from one of high reputation for scholarship, had been borrowed almost Avord for word from Rollins's belles-lettres. Restrained by delicacy from exposing the plagiarism, I answered them as well as I could from my own resources, and had some allowances made me, since it had become pretty well known, that Rollin was my real antago- nist. In fact, my opponent would hardly have ventured to put himself so much in my power by stealmg from so common a book, had he not calculated pretty largely on my unacquaintance with any books. It next fell to me to propound a question ; and having not long before met with one in a magazine which was suggested as a curious subject of investigation, I submitted it to the assembly. It was, "Whether there be most pleasure in the reception, or communication of knowledge." As proposer of the question I had the choice of my side, as well as the conclusion Qf the argument; and I declared for the "communication." As METAPHYSICAL SUBTLETIES. 91 this was a subject on which school books gave no light, the dis- putants had to draw solely from their own funds ; and in some, there was a considerable falling off. To me the topic was as new as to any of them ; but my production had the good fortune to be approved, and to aid in obtaining the decision of the president. But I soon became weary of this scholastic employment. It ap- peared tome both puerile and pedantic; and the formality of addressing the chair with the feigned gravity of a pleader, re- quired a kind of grimace I felt myself awkward at. Indeed, the two orations I had written, like that of Cicero for Milo, were not delivered by their author, who did not appear; but tliey were read for me by my friend and fellow-student, Andrew Robeson. I once, however, w^ith this same gentleman, risked my declaiming powers, in a scene of Venice Preserved; but in what character I appeared I do not remember. I also involved myself about thi^ period, in metaphysical subtleties; and with Mr. James Hutchinson, the late Doctor Hutchinson, who then lived with Bartram, the apothecary, and with whom I had become intimate, I frequently reasoned upon fate, "fixed fate, free-will, fore-knowledge absolute," &c. Our acquaintance found cement in the circumstances of our both being Bucks county men and exactly of an age. The doctor's father, Randal Hutchinson, a Quaker, did the mason-work of my father's house at Fairview;* and agreeably to the custom in the country, resided with him while employed in it. From family tradition, for I do not remember old Randal, he was what might be called a queer jmt. Being once called upon for his song on occasion of a little merriment, he declined it with the dry remark that he could do his own singing : and so indeed it appeared, as he was in the habit every evening after work, of singing out in rustic drone to his hands assembled round him, a celebrated political poem of that time, entitled The washing of the Blackmoor white. It was levelled, if I do not mistake, at the aristocracy of the day ; and if so, the doctor had a sort of hereditary right to that zeal against the WELL BORN of his own, which has rendered his name a fa- vourite signature with democratic essayists. But for all this, he * Part of this farm was subsequently converted into an occasional race-ground. 92 MORALITY OF FICTITIOUS HEROES. was a friendly man, and no foe to good company; and as to po- litical propensities, they seem in some men to be inherent in- stincts, wholly independent of the reasoning faculty, and no more to be resisted than a constitutional tendency to be fat or lean: A sort of restless spirits these, prone to act, to confederate and in- trigue ; and who, though not absolutely bad at heart, have yet a lamentable itch for mischief. If there are such men, my quondam friend was one of them. The old and the austere may declaim as they will against the follies and vices of youth, the natural propensities will still pre- vail ; and for one student of law that is restrained by the solid eloquence of Professor Blackstone from " whiling away the awk- ward interval from childhood to twenty-one," two or three per- haps are lead astray by the seducing rake of Doctor Hoadley. Ranger, returning to the temple in a disordered dress, after a night of riot and debauchery, has unfortunately, more allurements for a young man of metal, and still more unfortunately for the generality of young ladies, to whom it is his first desire to be agreeable, than the sober, orderly student, pale with the incipient lucubrations of twenty years, I will not undertake to say, that autliors are right in exhibiting such characters as a Dorimant, a Jones, a Pickle, a Ranger, or a Charles Surface, but in so doing they draw from nature, and address themselves to the taste of their readers. Has ever novel or comedy been popular, whose hero is a man of strict morality and virtue ? The Grandison of Richardson, the Bevil of Steel, and Henry of Cumberland, are but insipid characters in the eyes of those who are customers for the productions of the novelist and dramatist. Happy indeed, are they, who, without being lost to the feelings of youth, can yet indulge them with discretion and moderation ; and who do not forget, that although the fashionable gaieties may for a time re- commend them to the thoughtless of both sexes, it is application to business that must provide the means of ease, contentment and respectability in life. Such was not my case. I wanted strength of mind for the judgment of Hercules, and was for seizing the present moment with Horace. I might not live to be old, and if I did, what were its dull satisfactions in comparison of the vivid, entliusiastic enjoyments of youth! In this temper, I plunged deep DISSIPATION. 93 into dissipation, with the exception of gaming, having never found much attraction in the fortuitous evohitions of a shuffled pack of cards, or a shaken dice box. But the pleasures of the table, the independence of tavern revelry, and its high-minded contempt of the plodding and industrious, were irresistibly fascinating to me. Though without the slightest addiction to liquor, nothing was more delightful to me than to find myself a member of a large bottle association sat in for serious drinking; the table officers appointed, the demi-johns filled, the bottles arranged, with the other necessary dispositions for such engagements ; and I put no inconsiderable value upon myself for my supposed, "potency in potting," or, in modern phrase, my being able to carry off a re- spectable quantity of wine. Although a grievous headach was the usual penalty of my debauch, the admonition vanished with the indisposition, while a play or some other frivolous reading, beguiled the hours of penance. I blush to think of the many excesses I was guilty of while involved in this vortex of intemper- ance. Wine rarely deprived me of my feet, but it sometimes inflamed me to madness ; and, in the true spirit of chivalry, the more extravagant an enterprize the greater was the temptation to .achieve it. Every occupation requires its peculiar talents,. and where mischief is the object, the spirit of noble daring is certainly an accomplishment. Hence, my energy on these occasions was duly appreciated by my companions. As to those convivial quali- fications, which are wont to set the table in a roar, I had never any pretentions to them, though few enjoyed them with more relish. But these talents are often fatal to the possessor and they hastened, if they did not induce, the catastrophe of poor Kinners- ley, a son of the already mentioned teacher at the academy. As he was several years older than myself, he belonged to an elder class in the school of riot ; yet I have sometimes fallen in with him. He had not indeed the gibes and flashes of merriment, which are attributed to the jester of Horwendillus'' s court; but of all men I have seen, he had the happiest knack of being gross without being disgusting, and consequently, of entertaining a company sunk below the point of attic refinement. Modest by nature, and unobtrusive, probably from a conviction that he thereby gave zest to his talents, he always suffered himself to be called 94 Richardson's novels. upon for his song, \vliich he then generally accompanied with his violin, to the exquisite delight of his hearers. He possessed humour without grimace or buffoonery ; and in the character of the drunken man, which he put on in some of his songs, and w^hich may be endured as an imitation, he was pronounced by Hallam to be unequalled. But unfortunately, the character be- came at length too much a real one ; and it is to be lamented, that one whose exterior indicated a most ingenious disposition, should prematurely close his career by habitual intemperance. The study of the law, as may be supposed, went on heavily during this round of dissipation. I occasionally looked into Blackstone, but carefully kept aloof from the courts, where my attendance as a future candidate for the bar, was not to be dis- pensed with. Light reading was the day's amusement ; and, as already said, it chiefly consisted of poetry and plays. The novels of Fieldino- and Smollet I had read ; but as for those of Richard- son, I had some how talcen up the idea, that they were formal stuff, consisting chiefly of the dull ceremonials relating to court- ship and marriage, with which, superannuated aunts and grand- mothers torment the young misses subjected to their control. But taking up one evening the last volume of Clarissa, I accidentally opened it at a letter relating to the duel between Lovelace and Morden. This arrested my attention, and I soon found that the concerns of men, not less than those of the other sex, were both understood and spiritedly represented by the author. I immedi- ately procured the work, and read it with more interest than any tale had ever excited in me before. The cruel, unmerited mis- fortunes of Clarissa, often steeped me in tears : yet the unrelenting villany of her betrayer, was so relieved by great qualities, so en- tirely was he the gentleman when he chose to put it on, that the feeling' of destestation was intermingled with admiration and re- spect ; and had flgiu'e, rank, fortune, borne me out in the re- semblance, his, of all the characters I had met with, would in the vanity of my heart, have most prompted me to an imitation ; though abhorring as much as any one his vile plotting and obdu- racy. Like the young man mentioned in the letters of Lord Chesterfield, I almost aspired to the catastrophe, as well as the accomplishments of this libertine destroyed. Nor was I singular MORAL EFFECTS OF NOVELS. 95 in this ambition : Lovelace has formed libertines, as MacHeath has formed highwaymen. A young American, when at the temple, between forty and fifty years ago, played the part of the former with too fatal success, of which, I have been told, he pre- served, and sometimes showed the story, written by himself: and that this character was the model which the young Lord Lyttleton prescribed to himself, appears to me evident from the cast of some of his letters. Rowe's Lothario, which Doctor Johnson tells us is the outline of Lovelace, is ever more favoured by an audience than the virtuous and injured Altamont whom, even the circumspect Mr. Cumberland brands with the epithet of wittol: And is there a young and giddy female heart, that does not beat in unison with Calista's when she exclaims : " I swear I could not see the dear betrayer Kneel at my feet, and sigh to be forg-iven, But my relenting heart would pardon all, And quite forget 'twas he that had undone me." Richardson, it is true, could not have made his story either natural or interesting without ascribing great qualities to Lovelace. So refined and all accomplished a woman as Clarissa, was not to be taken with an ordinary man ; yet what shall we say of the in- struction intended to be conveyed by the exhibition of such a character ! Villain as he is, I very much fear, that to the youth of both sexes, he is, upon the whole, more admired than detested. The probability therefore is, that after all our attempts at advice and reformation, the world wdll proceed according to its original impulse, and that each season of life will retain the propensities adapted to its destination. He who presumes to face the world in the character of his own biographer, ought to be armed with resolution for the encounter of great difficulties. To expose his follies, though but his very early ones, is far from a pleasant task ; and yet it is in some de- gree, imposed upon him by the obligation he is under to repre- sent himself truly. To do it lightly, as I have done, may argue with some, too much indulgence for vice ; and to treat the mat- ter as a subject for deep humiliation and contrition, would be to assume an austerity, I must confess I do not harbour. Still I can 96 JUNIUS. say with truth, that the dehneation is painful ; and that I feel it to require an apology on the score of decorum. It was about this time that the letters of Junius appeared, and from the English gazettes found their way into ours. The cele- brity of these philippics excited general attention, and, of course, mine ; but the mere fashion of admiring them, would never have prevailed over my indifference to their subject matter, to induce me to read them, had they not possessed a charm unusual in such performances. I sought them with avidity, and read them with delight. Some diversity of opinion still exists with respect to their style. Cumberland gives us to understand, that he sees little to admire in them ; Johnson, however, seems to have thought differently ; and their continued popularity must be considered as something more than equivocal evidence of their merit.* Mr. Heron conceives their author, whoever he was, to have formed his style in a great measure, on Chillingworth, Swift, Bolingbroke and Shebbeare. I am unacquainted with the writings of Chil- lingworth, nor do I discern in Junius any great likeness to Swift ; but there is certainly a striking resemblance in his manner to The dedication to a noble lord, prefixed to the remarks on the History of England by Bolingbroke, and also to Angeloni's Letters by Doctor Shebbeare, which, when I read them many years ago, ap- peared to me to be wTitten with uncommon spirit, elegance and force. But if Junius formed his style upon these distinguished writers, he sometimes drew his observations from 'those who are nearly obsolete. In his fifteenth letter, which is addressed to the Duke of Grafton, there is an allusion to a sentiment in Bacori's Advancement of Learning, of which Mr. Heron does not seem to have been aware. " Yet, for the benefit of the succeeding age," says Junius in his concluding sentence, " I could wish that your retreat might be deferred until your morals shall happily be ripened to tliat maturity of corruption, at which the worst examples cease to be contagious." Bacon has it, that "men o'erspread with vice, do not so much corrupt public manners, as those that are * Their "merit" it were folly to deny. This is great, beyond dispute ; but certainly much of tlicir long continued popularity must be attributed to the still unrcvealed mystery of their authorship. — Ed. JUNIUS. 97 half evil, and in part only." Pictredo serpens magis contagiosa est quam matura. I think in some of the early editions of this letter, the words "as philosophers tell us," were inserted between the words "which" and " the," reading thus — " at which, as phi- losophers tell us, the worst examples cease to be contagious." Were it warrantable to infer an imitation from a similitude in a single point, Mr. Heron might go back to the Latin classics, and add the names of Horace, Juvenal and Petronius to those of the English writers, whom Junius is supposed to have studied and to have had in his eye. That abrupt and indignant use of the im- perative mood, so frequent in him, is also to be met with in each of these Latin authors. "Content yourself, my lord, with the many advantages," &c. — "Avail yourself of all the unforgiving piety," &c. — "Return, my lord, before it be too late," &c. — "Take back your mistress" — "Indulge the people. Attend New Market," &c.' — "Now let him go back to his cloister," &c. Thus Horace — / ?wmc, argentum e.t marmor vefus, &c. — / 7mnc et versus tecum meditare canoros : and Juvenal, speaking of Han- nibal, I demens, et scevos curre per Jllpes ; — and in the eloquent reflections over the body of Lycas in Petronius, the speaker ex- claims, " Ite nunc mortales, et magni cogitationibus pectora implete. Ite cauti, et opes fraudibus capias jjer tnille aomos, disponite .'''' But whether Junius had models or not, he probably surpassed all who went before him in the graces of diction. He appears to have impaited an unknown music to English prose, and to have given it a fascination, in no wdse inferior to the language of Rousseau. The beginning of his sentences are no less harmonious than his cadences at their close ; nor, to my ear, can any lines in poetry, taking the preceding passage along with them, flow with more sweetness and ease, than do the following, in one of the letters to the Duke of Grafton. "You had already taken your degrees with credit in those schools, in which the English nobility are formed to virtue," &c., as do also the four concluding periods of the letter containing the remarked sentiment from Lord Bacon. I am aware it may be thought, that too much stress is here laid on mere sound ; but if we analyze the sources from which our relish of good composition is derived, we shall be compelled to acknowledge the great importance of the ear in the discernment 9 98 MR. DUCHE. of literary excellence. Cicero, as we are told by Lord Kames, I think, has even employed redundant words for the improvement of his harmony; and Rousseau informs us, that he has spent whole nights in constructing and rounding a period ; hence may be inferred the importance these great writers attached to this part of their art. As it was highly fashionable at this time to speak of Junius, he is descanted upon in the letters of Tamoc Caspipina, which came out in Philadelphia in the year 1771. In these, he is prettily de- nominated The knight of the polished armour, a fancy, with which the writer seems not a little pleased, since he has taken care that the idea shall not be lost for want of repeating.* These letters proceeded from the pen of the Rev. Mr. Duche, a very popular preacher of the Episcopal denomination. He had a fine voice and graceful delivery, but was never rated high in point of ability. His sermons were deemed flowery and flimsy, like the letters of Caspipina. Mr. Duche was a whig before, and, I believe, after the Decla- ration of Independence ; but being in Philadelphia when the British army took possession of it, and thinking, probably, that his country was in a fair way of being subdued, he changed sides, and wrote a very arrogant, ill-judged letter to General Washing- ton, in which he advises him to renounce a cause which had very much degenerated, and to " negotiate for America at the head of his army." Mr. Duche was weak and vain, yet probably not a bad man : His habits, at least, w^ere pious ; and, with the ex- ception of this pohtical tergiversation, his conduct exemplary. His whimsical signature of Tamoc Caspipina, is an acrostic on his designation, as. The Assistant Minister Of Christ's Church And St. Peters, In Philadelphia, In North America, f * " I find C — grows more and more dissatisfied witii Junius. He entreated Sir William Draper, who was at New York in October last, once more to enter the lists with this Knight of the polished armour. Sir William, however, very politely replied, that he had engagements on his hands at present of a more agreeable nature. Your Lordship lias doubtless seen Lady Draper before this time, so that you may guess what these engagements were." — Caspiiiina's Lett, to Rt. Hon. Viscount P., ith July, 1771.— En. t A gentleman well acquainted with Mr. Duchd in England, after the trans- actions alluded to, conceiving that his conduct was mistaken here, and particu- MR. DUCHE. 99 larly as to his being a Whig after the Declaration of Independence, expressed liis wish tliat in tlie event of a second edition of these Memoirs, I would correct and alter the passage. But though willing to gratify this gentleman, I cannot do so at the expense of truth ; and I have no reason to suppose I have mis-stated any fact. As to my comments, they may not, perhaps, be warranted, but that must mucli depend on the political opinions of the time. Such a letter as the one alluded to might not, under some circumstances, have been arrogant, but from my impression of the character of Mr. Duche, and the part he acted, I am not induced to alter or suppress the epitliet. Although pious and exemplary in his deportment, as I have admitted, he was much of a courtier, and, in my view» a person of so liglit a character as to be carried away by the prevailing fashion of thinking among what are called the better sort, by whom, at this time, the Whig cause was considered vulgar and rapidly on tlie decline. If the justness of the American claims warranted the blood which had already been spilt for them, the battles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill, with the invasion of Canada and assault on Quebec, the Declaration of Independence was not a moral but simply a political question ; and whether the measure was judicious or not, it could not convert a cause, originally good, into a seditious and criminal rebellion. For this reason it certainly savoured of arrogance in Mr. Duche, to say the least of it, merely for this difference in opinion, to reproach his late associates with sinister views, and to advise General Washington to desert and betray them. See Appendix E, for this celebrated Letter, and others relating to the subject above referred to by Mr. Graydon. — Ed. 100 AUTHOR REMOVES TO YORK. CHAPTER IV. The Author removes to York. — Society there. — A Maryland Parson. — Odd cha- racter. — Judo-e Stcdman. — Mr. James Smith. — Family circle. — Author returns to Philadelphia. — Prosecutes the study of the Law.— Fencing.— Mr. Pike. — City Tavern. — Singular case of mental derangement. — Retrospective reflec- tions. — Causes of the American War. — State of Parties. — Volunteer Com- panies. — Political consistency. — Preparations for War. — Anecdote. — Early attachment.— Dr. Kearsley. — Mr. Hunt.— Major Skene. My irregular course of life had much impaired my health, for the re-establishment of which, and to enable me to pursue my studies without interruption from my free-living companions, my imcle advised my spending the approaching summer in Yorktown. Mr. Samuel Johnson, the Prothonotary of that county, was his particular friend, a respectable man who had been in the practice of the law, and had a very good library. Having been apprised of the project, he kindly offered me the use of his books, as w^ell as his countenance and assistance in my reading. Accordingly, I submitted to become an exile from Philadelphia, with nearly the same objects and feelings of Propertius, when he left Rome for Athens. " Magnum iter ad doctas proficisci cogor Athenas — RomaniE turrcs, ct vos valeatis amici Qualiscunquc mihi, tuque pucUa vale." Not that York* was an Athens ; but I was sent thither for improve- * York, the seat of justice for York county, is interesting on account of the revolutionary associations here adverted to. It is situated on the banks of Co. dorua creek. It is a rich and Uiriving borough, with a spirited and intelligent population of over five thousand. Among the public buildings of the place, the new court-house, finished in 1842, at a cost of about $150,000, will at once attract attention. Congress retired to York from Philadelphia, immediately after YORK. 101 ment, and there were various attractions in the city from which it was, no doubt, prudent to withdraw me. It was in the spring of 1773, that I was transferred to this pleasant and flourishing- village, situated about twelve miles beyond the Susquehanna. It was this circumstance which rendered it an eligible retreat for Congress in the year 1778, when General Howe was in posses- sion of the Capitol and eastern parts of Pennsylvania.* I w^as the battle of Brandy wine, in September, 1777, and for nine months occupied the old court-house, which stood, until 1841, in the centre of the public square. Its population, at the period of Mr. Graydon's residence, could hardly have ex- ceeded 1500. In the year 1800 tlie number of its inliabitants was 2500. — Rail roads afford convenient and daily access to Philadelphia, a distance of 83 miles — and to Baltimore, distant 56 miles. The society of York is excellent, and the citizens of the borough are influential tliroughout the county and state. — Ed. * Or rather when the Capitol held possession of Sir William Howe. We learn from the "Memoirs" of Lee, that, " while Washington was engaged, without cessation, in perfecting his army in the art of war, and in placing it out of the reach of that contagious malady so fatal to man, Sir William was indulging) with his brave troops, in all the sweets of luxury and pleasure to be drawn from the wealthy and populous city of Philadelphia ; nor did he once attempt to dis- turb that repose, now so essential to the American geneial. Thus passed tlie winter; and the approaching spring brought with it the recall of the commander of the British army; who was succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton, heretofore his second." Wrax.\ll, indeed, says that the " Howes appear to have been either lukewarm, or remiss, or negligent, or incapable. Lord North's selection of those two com manders excited, at tlie time, just condemnation ; however brave, able, or meri- torious, they might individually be esteemed as professional men. Their ardour in tlie cause itself was doubted; and still more questionable was their attachment to the administration. Never, perhaps, in the history of modern war, has an army, or a fleet, been more profusely supplied with every requisite for brilliant and efficient service, than were the troops and ships sent out by Lord North's Cabinet in 1776, across the Atlantic. But, the efforts abroad, did not correspond with the exertions made at home. The energy and activity of a Wellington, never animated that torpid mass. Neither vigilance, enterprise, nor co-operation characterized the campaigns of 1776 and 1777. Dissipation, play, and relaxation of discipline, found their way into the British camp." Lee, with a just and generous regard for the reputation, even of an enemy, says, in his Memoirs, in reference to the earlier movements of Sir William in America, " it would be absurd to impute to him a want of courage, for he emi- nently possessed that quality. To explain, as some have attempted to do, his apparent supineness, by supposing him friendly to the Revolution, and, therefore, disposed to connive at its success, would be equally stupid and unjust, for no part 9* 102 YORK SOCIETY THERE. well received by Mr. Johnson, but with that formal, theoretical kind of politeness, which distinguishes the manners of those who constitute the better sort, in small secluded towns : and if, in these days, the Prothonotary of a coimty of German population, was not confessedly the most considerable personage in it, he must have been egregiously wanting to himself. This could with no propriety be imputed to my j^atron. Although apparently a mild and modest man, he evidently knew his consequence, and never lost sight of it, though to say the truth, I received full as much of his attention as either I desired or had a right to expect : He rtjH'ated die tender of his books and services, com2:)limented me witli a dinner, suggested that business and pleasure could not be well prosecuted together, and consigned me to my meditations. I established myself at a boarding-house, at whose table I found u practising attorney, a student of law, another of physic, and a young Episcopal clergyman, who had lately arrived from Dublin. The first was a striking instance of what mere determination and perseverance will do, even in a learned profession. He was an Irishman, a man of middle age — the extent of whose attainments was certainly nothing more, than in a coarse, vulgar hand, to draw a declaration ; and in equally vulgar arithmetic, to sum up the interest due upon a bond. His figure was as awlnvard as can well be imagined, and his elocution exactly corresponded with it. From the humble post of under-sheriff, he had lately emerged to his present station at the bar, and was already in good practice. By industry and economy, his acquisitions soon ex- ceeded his expenses ; and he died not long since, in pretty afl3u- ent circumstances. Justice, however, requires it should be added, that his want of brilliant qualities, was compensated by an ade- quate portion of common sense, by unblemished integrity, and liberality in his dealings with the poor. Nor should it be forgot- ten, that after having taken part with his adopted country in the struggle for her rights, he did not, like too many of his country- men, by a blind obedience to vindictive passions, much more than of Sir William's life is stained with a single departure from the lino of honour." It must be confessed, however, that at this time Sir William had not become acquainted with the allurements of Philadelphia society, where, '' snug as ajlea," as facetiously sung by the poet, he revelled long and luxuriously.— Eo. A MARYLAND PARSON. 103 efface the merit of his services. — The law-student was from Wihnington ; an easy, good-natured young man, whose talents appeared to be misplaced in their present direction. They were, probably, better adapted to the army, into which he entered on the breaking out of the war, and was killed at the battle of Bran- dywine, holding the rank of a Major in the Pennsylvania line. — The student of physic, though with some rusticity to rub oft", was yet a pretty good scholar ; nor was he deficient in natural endow- ments. To these, he added a manly and honourable way of thinking, which made him respectable in the army, (which he also afterwards joined,) as well as in the path of civil life, in which he possesses an honourable station in the western country. The clergyman was only an occasional lodger, his pastoral duties often calling him to Maryland and elsewhere, which pro- duced absences of several weeks at a time. He had probably the propensities of that species of gownman, which I have heard Whitfield call a downy doctor ; as, whatever might have been his deportment on solemn occasions, in his intercourse with rae, he did not seem to be one who considered the enjoyment of the present sublunary scene, by any means unworthy of regard. One day, as I was strumming a tune from the Beggar's opera, upon a fiddle I had purchased, with a view of becoming a performer upon it, he entered my apartment. " What," says he, " you play upon the violin, and are at the airs of the Beggar's opera !" He imme- diately began to hum the tune I had before me, from which, turn- ing over the leaves of the note-book, he passed on to others, which he sung as he went along, and evinced an acquaintance with the piece, much too intimate to have been acquired, by any thing short of an assiduous attendance on the theatre. After amusing himself and me for some time with his theatrical recol- lections, " I am," said he, " to give you a sermon next Sunday, and here it is," pulling from his pocket a manuscript. Perusing the title page, he read, it was preached at such a time in such a place, and at another time in such a place, giving me to understand from the dates, that it was not of his own composition, and that he made no difficulty of appropriating the productions of others. In a word, Mr. L seemed in all respects to be what was then called in Pennsylvania a Maryland Parson; that is, one who 104 MR. JAMES SMITH. could accommodate himself to his company, and pass, from grave to gay, from lively to severe," as occasion might require. Among his other accomplishments, he was no incompetent jockey ; at least I have a right to infer so, from the results of an exchange of horses between us, a short time before my return to the city : I do not, however, insinuate that he took me in, but merely that he had the best of the bargain. Besides my fellow boarders there were several young men in the town, whose company served to relieve the dreariness of my solitude ; for such it was, compared with the scene from which I had removed. These, for the most part are yet living, generally known and respected. There was also in the place an oddity, who, though not to be classed with its young men, I sometimes fell hi with. This was Mr. James Smith,* the lawyer, then in con- siderable practice. He was probably between forty and fifty years of age, fond of his bottle and young company, and pos- sessed of an original species of drollery. This, as may perhaps be said of all persons in this way, consisted more in the manner than the matter ; for which reason, it is scarcely possible to con- vey a just notion of it to the reader. In him it much depended on an uncouthness of gesture, a certain ludicrous cast of counte- nance, and a drawling mode of utterance, which taken in con- junction with his eccentric ideas, produced an effect irresistibly comical ; though on an analysis it would be difficult to decide, whether the man or the saying most constituted the jest. The most trivial incident from his mouth was stamped with his origi- nality, and in relating one evening how he had been disturbed in his office by a cow, he gave inconceivable zest to his narration, * Mr. Smith, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a native of Ireland, whence his father emigrated, it is supposed, between 1715 and 1720. James Smith received his education at the College of Philadelphia. After Ills admission to the bar, he removed to the vicinity of Shippensburgh, and there established himself as a lawyer and surveyor, but soon after removed to York, where he continued to reside, during the remainder of his life. He held high rank at the bar and, was greatly distinguished for his wit and good humour. He was a member of several important conventions. In 1775, he was elected to Congress, and retained his scat in that body, until November, 1778, when he resumed his professional business, frcwn which he withdrew in 1800. He died in 180G.— Ed. JUDGE STEDMAN ANECDOTE. 105 by his manner of telling how she thrust her nose into the door, and there roared like a JYumidian lion. Like the picture of Gar- rick between tragedy and comedy, his phiz exhibited a struggle between tragedy and farce, in which the latter seemed on the eve of predominating. With a sufficiency of various reading to fur- nish him with materials for ridiculous allusions and incongruous combinations, he was never so successful as when he could find a learned pedant to play upon : and of all men, Judge Stedman, when mellow, was best calculated for his butt.' The judge was a Scotchman, a man of reading and erudition, though extremely magisterial and dogmatical in his cups. This it was which gave point to the humour of Smith, who, as if desirous of coming in for his share of the glory, while Stedman was in full display of his historical knowledge, never failed to set him raving by some monstrous anachronism, such for instance, as " don't you remem- ber, Mr. Stedman, that terrible bloody batde which Alexander the Great fought with the Russians near the Straits of Babelman- del?" "What, sir!" said Stedman, repeating with the most ineffable contempt, " which Alexander the Great fought with the Russians! Where, mon, did you get your chronology?" "I think you will find it recorded, Mr. Stedman, in Thucidydes or Herodotus." On another occasion, being asked for his au- thority for some enormous assertion, in which both space and time were fairly annihilated, with unshaken gravity he replied, " I am pretty sure I have seen an account of it, Mr. Stedman^ in a High Dutch almanac printed at Aleepo,'''' his drawling way~ of pronouncing Aleppo. While every one at table was holding- his sides at the expense of the judge, he, on his part, had no doubt that Smith was the object of laughter, as he was of his own unutterable disdain. Thus e^ery thing was as it should be, all parties were pleased ; the laughers were highly tickled, the self- complacency of the real dupe was flattered, and the sarcastic vein of the pretended one gratified; and this, without the smallest suspicion on the part of Stedman, who, residing in Philadelphia, was ignorant of Smith's character, and destitute of penetration to develope it. York, I must say, was somewhat obnoxious to the general charge of unsociableness, under which Pennsylvania had always 106 FAMILY CIRCLE. laboured : or if I wrong her, I was not the kind of guest that was calcuhucd to profit of lier hospitaUty. Perhaps I approached her under unfavourable auspices, those of a young man debauched by evil communications ; or perhaps there was a want of conge- niality between her manners and mine. Be it as it may, there was but a single house in which I found that sort of reception which invited me to repeat my visit ; and this was the house of a Jew. In this, I could conceive myself at home, being always received with ease, with cheerfulness and cordiality. Those who have known York, at the period I am speaking of, cannot fail to recollect the sprightly and engaging Mrs. E., the life of all the gaiety that could be mustered in the village : always in spirits, full of frohc and glee, and possessing the talent of singing agree- ably, she was an indispensable ingredient in the little parties of pleasure which sometimes took place, and usually consisted in excursions to the Susquehanna, where the company dined, and, when successful in angling, upon fish of their own catching. It was upon one of these occasions, the summer before I saw her, that she had attracted the notice of Mr. John Dickinson, the cele- brated author of the Farmer'' s Letters. He had been lavish in her praise in the company of a lady of my acquaintance, who told me of it, and thence inferred, how much I should be pleased with her when I got to York. I paid little attention to the in- formation, having no conception that I could take any interest in the company of a married woman, considerably older than myself and the mother of several children. The sequel proved how much I was mistaken, and how essential to my satisfaction was female society; the access to a house in which I could domesti- cate myself, and receive attentions, not the less grateful from ap- parently being blended with somewhat maternal. The master of the house, though much less brilliant than the mistress, was always good-humoured and kind ; and as they kept a small store, I re- paid as well as I could the hospitality of a frequent dish of tea, by purchasing there what articles I wanted. After whihng away about six months, the allotted time of my exile, reading a little law in the morning, and either fowling, riding or strolling along the banks of the Codorus, a beautiful stream which passes through the town, in the afternoon, I at AUTHOR RETURNS TO PHILADELPHIA. 107 length set out on my return to Philadelphia. For the sake of company and yet more for the satisfaction of seeing the country, I took a circuitous route, crossing the Susquehanna at M'Call's ferry, at the Jfarrows. This place is rude and romantic to a great degree. The water is extremely deep, above fathoms,* as it is stated in Scull's map, and the current much obstructed by rocks, which rise above the surface in huge and shapeless craggs. Leaving the river, we crossed the Octararo, which discharges itself into it ; and thence, shaping our course through a pleasant country to Newark and Wilmington, we reached Philadelphia after a journey of three or four days, in the latter part of October. I cannot take my final leave of York before mentioning, that I visited it again when Congress held their session there, in the year 1778. Mr. Johnson, who had been a widower, was then married to a lady from Maryland. The laws having been silenced by arms, he was no longer Prothonotary ; and what was still more unfortunate for him, he had no chance of ever becoming so again, being much disaffected to the American cause, I found him extremely soured by the state of affairs : He was at no pains to conceal his disgust at it, and shook his head in fearful antici- pation of future calamities. Five years had produced a consider- able change in respect to the inhabitants of the town. The young men I had been acquainted with had been generally in the army, and were consequently dispersed. The E 's were not there ; or at least, I did not see them ; and if my memory does not mislead me, the family had removed to Baltimore. Although I had not made myself a lawyer, I returned to the city somewhat improved in health,, as well as in my habits of living. My disposition, however, was unaltered. I still affected the man of pleasure and dissipation ; had a sovereign contempt for matrimony, and was even puppy enough, with shame I yet think of it, to ape the style of Lovelace, in some of my epistolary * From the account of Tlieodorc Burr, who threw the immense arch of 360 feet, 4 inches, over the river at this place, in the winter of 1814-15, the depth of the water is 150 feet. This noble bridge was, in part, carried away by the flood of March, 1846 — the greatest known within fifty years. — Ed. lOS PROSECUTES THE STUDY OF THE LAW. correspondencies. As my uncle was still bent on qualifying me for the practice of my profession, he proposed my pursuing my studies, for the winter, under the direction of Mr. James Allen. As this gentleman was without a clerk, my being there was con- sidered as a matter of mutual convenience. In return for the use of his books, I did the business of his office, which was not very burdensome, and left me sufficient time for reading. Mr, Allen, the second son of old Mr. William Allen,* the chief justice, and perhaps the richest and most influential person in the province, was a man of wit and pleasantry, who, for the gratification of his ambition, was determined also to be a man of business, the only road in Pennsylvania, to honours and distinction. For this pur- pose, he engaged in the practice of the law, in which, at this time, he was very assiduous and attentive. As he was very gentlemanly in his manners, good-humoured and affable, I passed my time with him altogether to my mind. His good sense and good breeding, suggested the true line of behaviour to one be- yond the age of apprenticeship, and who, though doing the busi- ness of a clerk, did not perform it for hire. He also took a friendly interest in my improvement, submitting the cases in which he was consulted to my previous examination and opinion, and treating the timidity which many feel on first speaking in public, as a weakness very easily overcome. In relation to the * The same gentleman alluded to by Howe in his " Narrative,^'' quoted by Sparks, in the Appendix, to the 4tli vol. of the writings of Washington, as Mr. William Allen, a gentleman who was supposed to have great family in- fluenee in the province of Pennsylvania; Mr. Clialmers, much respected in the three lower counties on the Delaware and in Maryland; and Mr. Clifton, the Chief of the Roman Catholic persuasion, of whom there was said to be many in Philadelphia, as well as in tlie rebel army, serving against their inclinations : these gentlemen were appointed commandants of corps, to receive and form for service all the wcll-afTectcd that could be obtained, (meaning loyalists, of course,) and what was the success of these efforts?" — To the honour of tiie American name, and with native pride — I answer in Howe's own language, — " In 3Iay, 1778, when I left America, Colonel Allen had raised oflly 152 rank and file; Colonel Chalmers, 336, (a goodly proportion, however, for the three patriolic coun- ties on the Delaware !) and Colonel Clifton, 180; which, together with three troops of Light Dragoons, consisting of 132 troopers, and 174 real volunteers from Jersey, under Colonel V'andyke, amounting in the whole to 974 men, constituted all the force that could be collected in Pennsylvania, after the most indefatigable exertions during eight months." — Ed. DR. SKINNER. 109 subject, he gave me, I remember, a very laughable account of his own coup d'essai in conjunction with the facetious Harry Elwes, at Easton. To have been regular in the history of my education I should have mentioned, that I had already acquired sufficient knowledge of French to be able to read it with tolerable facility. I now undertook to learn the use of the small sword of a Mr. Pike, who had lately arrived in Philadelphia, and was much celebrated for his ability both as a dancing and fencing master. Amusement and exercise were my inducements to the undertaking, little thinking that I was acquiring professional skill, and that a sword, in a year or two, would be a badge of my calling. From what I have since seen, I do not think that Mr. Pike, although, like Rousseau's master, sufficiently ^er de Part de tuer im homme, was an accomplished swordsman. He nevertheless probably taught the science very well, and had certainly a knack of close pushing, which I have never met with in any other ; that is, in the exercise of quarte and tierce, by placing the point of his foil near the guard of his adversary's, he could disengage and thrust with such quick- ness, as with certainty to hit the arm of the assailed. I laboured in vain, for six or eight months to acquire this dexterity: from continued practice, however, the slight of hand came at last, upon which I valued myself not a little, and was equally valued by others. There was but one other pupil in the school who had been equally successful, and this was my particular friend the reverend Mr. Clay, of New-Castle, who was then a merchant, and who, in respect of his present clerical function, might say, non lios qucesitum mumis in usus. This accomplishment had nearly brought me, when in the army, into perilous contact with a Doctor Skinnerj* who had the fame of a duellist, and having * Alexander Skinner. — He is depicted at large, by General Henry Lee, in liis "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States." "He was a native of Mai^Jand. He was virtuous and sensible; full of original humour of a peculiar cast; and eccen^.ric in mind and manners. In person and in love of good cheer, as well as in dire objection to the field of battle, he resem- bled, with wonderful similitude, Shakspeare's FalstafF. Yet Skinner had no hesitation in fighting duels, and liad killed his man. When urged by his friends to explain why he, who would, when called upon by feelings of honour to risk his life in single combat, advance to the arena with alacritj^, should abhor so 10 110 DR. SKINNER. already killed his man. A Mr. Hanson of Maryland, who had been a scholar of Pike, and knew what I could do, had made a considerable bet with the doctor, that he would find a person in the army, who in spite of him, would hit him in thrusting tierce, or rather quarte over the arm. He called upon me, when the army dreadfully, the field of buttle, — he uniformly, in substance, answered, that he considered it very arrogant in a surgeon (whose province it was to take care of the sick and wounded) to be aping the demeanour and duty of a commissioned officer, whose business it was to fight : an arrogance which he cordially con- temned, and of which he should never be guilty. Moreover, — he would add, — he was not more disposed to die than other gentlemen; but that he had an utter aversion to the noise and turmoil of battle. It stunned and stupified him. How- ever, when Congress should think proper to honour liim with a commission, lie would convince all doubters that he was not afraid to push the bayonet." General Lee, in describing an action near a stream over which his dragoons could not pass — being too wide for their horses to leap, and too deep in mud for them to attempt to ford — it was impossible to pursue the advantage his troops had gal- lantly gained, and "having only sabres to oppose to tiie enemy's fire, and tliose sabres withiield from contact by the interposing chasm, he was forced to draw off from the vain contest, after several of his dragoons had been wounded, among whom was Dr. Irvin, surgeon of the legion cavalry," states, that such was Dr. Skinner's unvarying objection to Irvin's custom of risking his life, whenever he was with the corps going into action, that, kind and amiable as he was, he saw with pleasure, that his prediction, often communicated to Irvin to slop his practice, (which, contrasted with his own. Skinner felt as a bitter reproach) was at length realized, when Irvin was brought in wounded ; and he would not dress his wound, although from his station he had a right of preference, until he had attended upon all tiie privates— reprehending with asperity Irvin's custom, and sarcastically complimenting him, occasionally, with the honourable scar he might hereafter show. Surely he was the Dr. Sitgreaves of Cooper ! When he first appeared in the lower country, he wore a long beard and huge fur cap, the latter through necessity, the first through some superstitious notion, the meaning of which it was impossible to penetrate. An officer who really esteemed him, asking him " why he suffered his beard to grow to sucli an unusual length," he tartly replied, " It is a secret, sir, betwixt my God and myself, that human impertinence shall never penetrate." On a night alarm at Ninety-Six, as Colonel Lee was hastening forward to ascertain the cause, he met Skinner in full retreat, and stopping him, sai+1, " what is the matter Doctor, whither so fast — not frightened I hope V " No, Colonel, no," replied Skinner, " not absolutely frightened, but, I candidly confess, most damnably alarmed." Being once asked which of the ladies of South Carolina possessed in his esti- mation, the greatest attractions? he replied, "The widow Izard beyond all com- parison. I never pass her magnificent sideboard, but the plate seems ready to tumble into my pocket." — Ed. MR. BRADFORD MR. ROBINSON. Ill lay at Haerlem heights, to know if I would push : With some reluctance I consented, but before the time appointed arrived, some movement took place, which separated me from Mr. Skin- ner, and the question was not decided. The instruction I re- ceived from Pike, I considerably improved by practice, and began to grow vain of my skill, until I met with Major Clow (or Clough) of Colonel Baylor's dragoons, who had been a pupil of Angelo and others of the best masters in Europe. He soon convinced me that I had still much room for improvement ; though he was pleased to assure me, that I was by far the best fencer he had met with in America, and much superior to Benson, a fencing master in New York. During the time of my being with Pike, Mentges, who was afterwards a Colonel in our service, had opened a fencing school. Among his scholars were Messrs. Robeson* and Bradford;! then * Pcrliaps the son of him — -mentioned as Robinson, by Watson, whose ortho- sraphy in names, like the style of his inimitable " Armals " is sui generis ! The gentleman, referred to by Watson, " was Clerk of the Provincial Council, and owner of the first hired prison. In 1685 he gave offence to the council, and they resolved 'that the words spoken by him, concerning the impeachment against Judge Moore, was drawn hab nah, which expression of his we do unanimously declare to be undecent, unallowable, and to be disowned.' " Soon after, it was farther resolved, that Patrick Robinson could not be removed from his Clerk*s office until he was legally convicted of the offence. They, however, determine ''that he shall be readily dismissed from any public office of trust in this govern- ment." — Ed. t Bradford commenced his professional career at a very early age, and his instructive history is deserving of the attention of those, especially, upon wliom adverse fortune has laid her depressing hand. His circumstances were exceed- ingly restricted, and he was several years at the Bar with few or no clients; and so discouraging appeared his prospects, that at one time he seriously contem- plated the abandonment of his professional liopes, and the adoption of the sea as his new and perilous home. Mr. Bradford was buried in the grave-yard of St. Mary's, in the ancient, rural city of Burlington, New-Jersey ; and his monument bears the following beautiful and comprehensive inscription, which supersedes the necessity of farther biogra- phical details : "Here lies the remains of William Bradford, Attorney-General of the United States, under tlie Presidency of Washington ; and previously Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, and a Judge of the Supreme Court of that State. In private life he had acquired the esteem of all his fellow-citizens. In professional attain- ments he was learned as a lawyer, and eloquent as an advocate. In the execu- 112 COL, MENZIES. students of law, the former already spoken of, and the latter of whom became a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and afterwards Attorney- General of the United States. Coming into the school I was asked to take a foil, and in succession contended \vith each of these gentlemen ; but the result was unlucky for Mentges,* as it too plainly evinced his incapacity for the business he had undertaken, and of course, soon deprived him of his pupils. At the city tavern, which had been recently established, and was in great vogue, I often spent my evenings. It was at this time much frequented by Mr. William Hockley, a gentleman of fortune, who was liable to fits of mental derangement ; and while these prevailed, was a prominent figure at all public places: for as he was perfectly harmless, it was not thought necessary to re- strain him from going abroad. . The effects of this misfortune tion of his public offices, he was vigilant, dignified and impartial. Yet, in the bloom of life ; in the maturity of every faculty that could invigorate or embellish the human tnind; in the prosecution of the most important services that a citizen could render to his country ; in the perfect enjoyment of the highest honours that public confidence could bestow upon an individual ; blessed in all the pleasures which a virtuous reflection could furnish from the past, and animated by all the incitements which an honourable ambition could depict in the future — be ceased to be mortal. A fever, produced by a fatal assiduity in performing his official trust at a crisis interesting to the nation, suddenly terminated his public career, extinguished the splendour of his private prosperity, and on the 23d day of August, 1795, in the 40th year of his age, consigned him to the grave — La- mented, Honoured and Beloved." — En, * The CoT.ONFX Menzies, of Garden ; who relates the following amusing anec- dote : " Sometime previous to the evacuation of Charleston, Colonel Menzies, of the Pennsylvania line, received a letter from a Hessian officer within the garrison, who had once been a prisoner, and treated by him with great kindness, express, ing an earnest desire to show his gratitude, by executing any commission with which he would please to honour him. Colonel Menzies replied to it, requesting him to send twelve dozen Cigars ; but, being a German, and little accustomed to express himself in English, he was not very accurate in his orthography, and wrote Sizars. Twelve dozen pairs oT Scissors were accordingly sent him, which, for a time, occasioned much mirth in the camp, at the Colonel's expense ; but no man knew better how to profit from the mistake. Money was not, at the period, in circulation; and by the aid of his runner, distributing his scissors over the country, in exchange for poultry. Colonel Menzies lived luxuriously, while the fare of his brother officers was a scanty pittance of famished beef, bull-frogs from ponds, and cray-fish from the neighbouring ditches." — Ed. SINGUAR CASE OF MENTAL DERANGEMENT. 113 appeal too forcibly to humanity, to be considered as the subject of merriment, otherwise the flights of this gentleman might, for a short time, have been truly amusing. His fancies were the most lively and brilliant that can be imagined. He had full persuasion that he excelled in every thing that was worthy of attention, though the turf and the theatre were the chief scenes of his glory. Some- times he achieved the exploits himself; at others, he only wit- nessed their performance, and, like Horace's haudignobilis Argis^ conceived he had been the hearer of the most wonderful actors. "Se crcdcbat miros auuire trajcdos." Whatever he chose to do, that he chose to do best : Hallam was but a fool to him when he chose to be a player ; he had more than once, when a fencer, disarmed Pike with a pipe shank ; and had taken, when a sportsman, all the purses at all the race-grounds between Savannali and New York. His vivid conceptions sup- plied him wnth a stud ; and he would run over the names of his horses and their pedigrees, descanting, as he went along, on the respective merits of his riders with astonishing volubility, and with a gaiety and sprightliness of manner, that even Garrick, if he could have equalled, could not have excelled: And this rodo- montade was occasionally accompanied by so peculiarly agreeable and animated a laugh, as might have served for a model, to a performer of genteel comedy. Yet, notwithstanding these wild coruscations of genius, Mr. Hockley, when himself, was remark- ably dull and phlegmatic ; one, who never perhaps had had a foil in his hand, and who had little or no relish for races or plays. His case would almost induce a belief, that there was really "a pleasure in being mad, which none but madmen know ;" and that however deplorable the condition of the melancholy or raving maniac, there is a malady of the mind, which, in its paroxysms, is nothing more than a delightful illusion, Mentis gratissimus. error. I suppose the time I have now arrived at, to be the winter of 1774-5. From this era, although I could not look back upon my conduct with approbation, I could yet do it w-ithout anguish or remorse. I had spent much time unprofitably, but had been guilty of no baseness : I had been rather dissolute in my habits 10* 114 RETROSPECTIVE REFLECTIONS. — too indulgent to gay profligacy, and had even sometimes asso- ciated with it to the disadvantage of my character, but had hap- pily preserved myself free from its contagion. I neither liked liquor nor gaming; I had contracted no debts — used no unwarrantable means to obtain money or credit ; nor, among my vanities and follies, had I ever committed an action, which might tend to de- prive me of that self-respect, which is the best security for a future* course of honourable and moral conduct. I was open, however, to a galling, self-reproach, in that at the age of nearly twenty- three, instead of being in a situation to maintain myself, I w'as still dependant upon my mother, not only for necessaries, but my pocket-expenses, which though not extremely profuse, were less limited than they ought to have been.* But a period was now approaching which tended equally to interrupt the pursuits of pleasure and of business ; and, inasmuch as it did the latter, to lessen my chagrin at being disqualified for engaging in it. Pennsylvania, hitherto so tranquil and so happy, was in common with her sister provinces, about to experience the calamities, which sooner or later, seem the inevitable destiny of exevj region inhabited by man. Her golden age was at its close ; and that iron era which w^as to sever the ties of friendship and of blood; to set father against son, and brother against brother, with many other frightful evils in its train, w^as about to supervene. The ministry seemed resolved upon enforcing their assumed right of taxing the colonies, and there was an equal de- termination on the part of America, to resist the pretension. The supremacy of the mother country, it was held, on the one hand, necessarily involved the right of legislatingADver, and consequently of imposing taxes on, every part of her dominions ;f while it was * Even tills reproach I niiglit have spared niysclf, had I reflected that there was exclusively due to me from my father's estate about 170/. the proceeds of a prize drawn in the Academy lottery, by a ticket presented to me by my grandHither, and for vvhicii, he, as trustee for me, took a bond from my father, re- ceiving- the money, dated Sept. 14th, 1756, and whicli money I never demanded. IJut what is this to the world ? Not much to be sure. Still it is something to a proscribed man, interested in mitigating as much as possible his atrocities. t My doctrine has ever been, that legislation involves in it every possible power and exercise of civil government. — Lord Lyttelton' s Letters. The same doctrine is maintained by General Burgoyne in his Letters to Gene- ral Lee, and elsewhere. CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. 115 contended on the other, to be a fundamental principle of the con- stitution, that no money could be drawn from the people without their consent, signified throug-h the medium of a representation in parliament ; and that as the colonists had no such representa- tion, they were not subject to parliamentary taxation. An excep- tion was, however, made with respect to the regulation of trade, and a distinction was taken between internal and external taxes ; the latter of which only, not having revenue for their object, it was said, could be constitutionally laid. The discussion of the points in controversy, only served to put the parties farther asunder. To the Americans, it disclosed the disadvantages of a dependance on a power so remote as that of Britain, and so op- pressed by a weight of debt. It was also perceived, that as we were not, so neither could we be, efficiently represented in her parliament ; and that, in any shape, therefore, to admit her right to tax us, would be to throw ourselves entirely on the generosity of a nation, tempted to large exactions from the consideration that she would be relieved in proportion to what she could draw from us,* and prompted to invigorate the arm of coercion from her observation of our rapidly increasing strength, which, if not speedily repressed and held in subjection, might soon defy con- trol, f A similar view of the subject, no doubt, led the ministry * The American war, said Mr. Windiiam, lie was afraid had been undertaken for no belter reason, than the hope of saving ourselves, by taxing America. — Speccii in 1792. "May Is/, 1774." t " There is a great business in agitation, and has been for some time ; but, without the thorough-bass of opposition, it makes no echo out of Parliament. Its Parliamentary name is — Regulations for Bosto.v. Its essence, the ques- tion o^ sovereignty over America. Shall I tell you in one word, my opinion? If the Bostonians resist, tiie dispute will possibly be determined in favour of the crown by force. If thoy temporize or submit, wailing for a more favourable moment, and preparing for it, the wound, skinned over, will break out hereafter with more violence, not that I lay any stress on my conjectures. People collect their guesses from what they have read, heard, or seen, but times are unlike; and a single man can sometimes give a new colour to an age." " November ^Uh 1774." "Don't tell me I am grown old and peevish and supercilious— name the ge- niusses of 1774, and I submit. The next Augustan age will dav^m on the other side of the Atlantic. Tlicre will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xeno- 116 CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. to appreciate the importance of retaining in due dependance so fruitful a field of exaction ; and to conceive, that if the application of force should be necessary for the purpose, the sooner it should be applied the better. All things considered, they had certainly some grounds to calculate upon success: And as to the proposal, of raising by our own legislatures, the supplies that might be asked for, besides, that an acquiescence in it, would very strongly resemble a renunciation of sovereignty, it is scarcely in the nature of power to condescend to petition for that which it supposes itself able to compel ; and pride is ever more gratified in the ex- ercise of generosity, than in the performance of justice. The ministry had the support of a great majority of the nation at home. Interest, which made resistance popular with us, made compulsory measures popular w'ith them. It was this collision, that at this time, severed the two countries; though nature, which had placed the Atlantic ocean between^ them, had thereby inter- posed an insurmountable bar to .a much longer .colonial connexion on constitutional principles.* In another view, when the nur- turing season is past, the young of all kinds are left to act for themselves. Even man, by a law of his own, pursuing that of nature, has appointed a time for the enfranchisement of youth-; and America had perhaps completed her years of minority. But waving analogies, that may be fitter for illustrations than argu- ments, the merits of the question, were, I think, on the side of the phon at New York, and, in time» a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newlon at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a descrip- tion of the ruins of St. Paul's, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra; but am I not prophesying, contrary to my consummate prudence, and casting horo- scopes of empire like Rousseau? Yes; well, I will go and dream of my visions." ii— Walpolc's Letters to Horace Mann. — Ed. • * Dr. Franklin, writing in his journal on the 14th December, 1774, says, " In the course of conversation, more than sixteen years ago, long before any dispute with America, the present Lord Camden, then Mr. Pratt, ^id to him : 'For all what you Americans say of your loyalty, and alFuhat, I kftow you will one day throw off your dependence on^ this country ; and, notwithstanding your boasted affection for it, you will set up for independence.' " Dr. Franklin said that he answered him, "No such idea was ever entertained by the Americans, nor will any such ever enter their heads, unless you grossly abuse them." "Very true," replied Mr. Pratt, that is one of the main causes I sec will happen, and will produce the event." — E». MR. JOSEPH GALLOWAY. 117 colonies; and the inference, that the authority contended for by Britain, would uUimately reduce them to vassalage, was by no means chimerical. This being generally perceived and assented to, a great proportion, and perhaps a great majority of the most wealthy and respectable in each of the provinces, was arrayed in opposition to the ministerial claim. I speak of the early stages of the contest. In Pennsylvania, this was certainly the case, though as to the extent to which the opposition should be carried, there was doubtless a great diversity of opinion ; many sincere whigs considering a separation from the mother country as the greatest evil that could befal us. The merchants were on the whig side, with few^ exceptions ; and the lawyers, who, from the bent of theiv studies, as well as their habit of speaking in public, were best qualified to take a lead in the various assemblies that became ne- cessary, were little less unanimous in the same cause. A few, indeed, of the oldest and most conspicuous practitioners in Philadelphia w^ere either disaffected or lukewarm. Among these, Mr. Joseph Galloway,* though a member of the first Con- gress, w^as known to be a disapprover of the measures pursuing. By obtaining a seat in Qpngress, therefore, his design undoubtedly was, to impede, if he could not divert the current of affairs ; but finding no matter to w^ork upon, and taking the hint, probably, from a halter coiled up in a box, that w^as said to be sent to him, he gave up the contest, and went off to the invading army, as soon as an opportunity offered. From Mr. Chew^,f Mr. Tilghman,| * See Appendix F, for a biograpliical notice of I\Ir. Galloway. — Ed. + Mr. Chew was prominent in early times. In 1772 he was preferred to the Bench. Perhaps no one exceeded him in an accurate knowledge of Common law» or in the sound exposition of Statutes; his solid judgment, tenacious memory, and persevering industry, rendered him a safe and steady guide. At the bar his language was pertinent and correct)»but seldom characterized by effusions of elo- quence ; his arguments were close, and frequently methodized on tiie strict rules of logic; his object always seemed to be to produce conviction, not to obtain ap- plause." — Watson''s Annals. -^ The name will be remembered from its association with "Cliew's House," and the Battle of Germantown. He was the owner of the property, which still (1846) remains in the family. — Ed. X Mr. I. Tilghman, futiier of Mr. Edward Tilghmau and of Mr. William Tilghman, late Chief Justici/ of Pennsylvania. — Ed. 118 STATE OF PARTIES. and Mr. Shippen,* no activity was expected or claimed, as they were what was called Proprietary men, and in the enjoy- ment, under that interest, of offices of trust and importance. Their favourable disposition to the American cause, was, however inferred, from the sons of the first two having joined the military associations, Mr. John Ross, who loved ease and Madeira, much better than liberty and strife, declared for neutrality, saying, that let who would he king, he well knew that he should be subject. An observation, which, judging only from events, may be thought by some, to contain as much intrinsic wisdom as the w^hole of the Farmerh Letters, with all the legal, political, and constitutional knowledge they display. But tlie abuse of libert}, ought not to induce apathy to oppression, however it may dispose us to delibe- rate before we plunge into a new order of things. Mr. James Al- len was also suspected of having no very cordial affection for the cause, although he shouldered a musket in the ranks of the mi- litia. What chiefly led to the suspicion, was, that he had laboured to organize a committee of privates, which, however accordant such a measure might be, with the republican spirit, that was coming in fashion, it was, to say the least of it, a very question- able experiment on military subordination and discipline. As business had, for some time, been entirely laid aside, I no longer attended his office, and consequently had less opportunity of knowing his real sentiments. His brother, Mr. Andrew Allen, the attorney-general, was more ardent, and considered also to be more sincere. He liad attached himself to the corps of city Cavalry, commanded by Mr. Markoe ; but not long after, recognising his error, he withdrew, giving out that he would hang up his cap and regimentals as monuments of his folly, and upon the declaration of independence, he sought an tisylum with General Howe. These were the principal gentlemen of standing in the profession who may be considered as exceptions to the temper of the Penn- sylvania bar. On the whig side of the question, Mr. John Dickinson, always in the political antipodes of Mr. Galloway, was, at this time, * Edward Shippen, Cliicf Justice of Pennsylvania, born 1729, died April 15, 1806. He was a cousin of Kr. Wm. Shippen of the University, and father of Mrs. General Arnold. — Ed. JOHN DICKINSON. GENERAL REED. 119 most prominent and distinguished. By his Farmer's Letters, he had acquired a high reputation, both for patriotism and abiUty ; though he was, if I mistake not, among the disapprovers of inde- pendence, and thence fell under a cloud, which obscured him all the war, and even involved him in the suspicion of disaffection and toryism.* Next in conspicuousness to Mr. Dickinson, among the members of the city bar, were Mr. Reedf and Mr. * For a Sketch of the Life and Character of Mr. Dickinson, see Appendix G. — Ed. t Mr. Reed was the son of Mr. Andrew Reed, from Ireland, "engaged in trade in the town of Trenton," and was born there in 1742. In 1775, at the age of 33 years, he was elected President of the Provincial Convention. In the same year he was appointed Military Secretary to Wasiiixg- TON, who appears to have entertained a high opinion of his talents and patriotism. In June, 1776, he was, at the suggestion of Washington, appointed by Congress Adjutant-General of the Continental Army. The Appendix to the fourth volume of Sparks' " Life and Writings of Washington " contains a correspondence be- tween General Washington and Mr. Reed, upon the subject of a misunderstand- ing between them, to which the reader, who may feel an interest in the matter, is referred. On the 12th of May, 1777, Reed was elected a brigadier by Congress, and in September of the same year, he was elected to the Continental Congress. " Such, however, was the active interest which he took, in the operations of the campaign in Pennsylvania, that he did not join the delegation in Congress at all under this election. But just at the close of the campaign, a new election took place on the 10th of December when he was again chosen, Franklin and Robert Morris being in the same delegation." The attempt to bribe General Reed by Governor John- stone, one of the Britisli Commissioners, who arrived in 1778, is detailed at length in the modest and appropriate "Life of Joseph Reed " by his grandson Mr. Henry Reed, of Philadelphia. Associated as Commissioners with Mr. Johnstone, were the Earl of Carlisle, and Mr. William Eden, afterwards Lord Aukland. They left England in April, 1778. Walpole alludes to them on the 5th of March, in his letter to Horace Mann. "You will have been impatient for the consequences of Lord North's Conciliatory Plan. The substantial consequences cannot, you are sen- sible, be known till the Commissioners arrive in America and return the answer of the Congress." It is to the son of the Earl of Carlisle, who fell at Waterloo, that Byron beautifully and penitentially alludes in the third Canto of Cliilde Harold : " Their praise is hymn'd by loftier harps than mine ; . •/ Yet one I would select from tiiat proud throng, Partly because they blend me with his line, And partly that I did his Sire some wrong" In October 1778, Walpole again writes, "Governor Johnstone is returned, the other two Commissioners remain to make peace, to which we are told the Ameri- 120 MR. m'kean. M'Kean,* each of whom was distinguished both during and after the revolution. The young gentlemen of the profession with a cans are disposed ; a proof of which is our sending another army thither." Tiie reason for Joiuistonc's return is tliiis accounted for by the P^ditor of Walpole's Letters : " Governor Johnstone had been charged by the Congress with an attempt to corrupt and bribe General Reed with the sum of ten thousand pounds and a public situation in tlie Colonies ; to which offer the General is said to have answered, 'that he was not worth purchasing, but, such as lie was, the King of England was not rich enougii to do it.' In consequence of this, the Congress in- terdicted all intercourse and correspondence with the Commissioners while Governor Johnstone continued one of tliem. He therefore resigned and returned to England." In a letter to George Selwyn, of the (Uh of November, Mr. Charles Townshend says, "Governor Johnstone is as mad as a bull. He foams at the mouth, and swears that he will impeach Lord Howe and Sir William, for not reducing America. Wcdderburn says, he talks in a very manly style ; and he is hiuch caressed by ministers whom he has abused in so coarse a style to the Americans : You may be sure he caresses them in his turn. He puts me in mind of a charac- ter of King James I., given by an old Scotch Lord at his accession : ' Ken you an ape I If I'se hold him he will bile you; if you hold him, he will bite me.' General Reed, by the unanimous vote of both branches of the state govern- ment was, in 1778, elected "President" of Pennsylvania. He was subsequently re-elected to Congress, and died, at Philadelphia, in March 1785, in his forty-tliird year. His career, — his public career especially, was short but truly brilliant. Like bis illustrious friend, William Bradford, of whom mention has already been made, and whose pre-eminent abilities he was among the first to discover and appreciate, he lived at a stirring period, fruitful in great events, many of which were crowded into the brief time allotted to him here, and with which his name is honourably and permanently associated. — Ed. * Thomas McKean — afterwards Chief Justice and also Governor of Ponnsyl- vania — an able and ardent politician of the ultra democratic school, althougli his training and associations in early life were of a character to influence to the adoption of an opposite i)o]itical creed. He was a zealous revolutionary patriot and, in his earlier political career especially, is entitled to warm commendation. He was born at Chester, in Pennsylvania, in 1734, and commenced the practice of his profession at the age of twenty-one. In October, 1762, he was elected a member of the Assembly for the county of New Castle, and was annually returned for seventeen successive years, although he resided in Philadelphia for the last s'lK years of that period. He was a delegate to the General Congress, which met at New York in l765. In the same year he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Orphan's Court for the county of New Castle. In November term, I'/G.'), and February term, 17G6, he was one of the bench that ordered the officers of the court to proceed in their duties, as usual, on unstamped paper. In 1771 he was appointed Collector of the port of New Castle. He was appointed a delegate to the General Congress of 1774, from the MR. m'kEAN. 121 few exceptions, were also in whig politics ; and accordingly fell into some of the associations which were forming for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of tactics. In the country the same spirit was prevalent at the bar, the members of which, some of whom were of the first eminence, distinguished themselves by their zeal in opposition to the ministerial claims ; and as these lower counties of Delaware, and he continued to serve in that body until 1783. He was President of Congress in 1781, and, although a member of that body, ho held and executed the office of Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, from the year 1777. He was exceedingly active in promoting the Declaration of Independence, which he signed, and soon after that event marched with a battalion, of which he was Colonel, into New Jersey, to support General Washington^ and acquitted himself gallantly in several dangerous skirmishes, while he remained witli the army. Upon his return to Delaware, lie drew up, in a single night, a Constitution for that State, which, on the following day, was. unanimously adopted by the As- sembl3\ In 1777 he acted as "President" ofthe state of Delaware. "At that period," as he relates, " he was hunted like a fox by the enemy ; and was compelled to remove his family five times in the course of a few months, and at length placed them in a little log house on tlie banks of the Susquehanna." While here he was treated with great deference by the country people, and the straggling Indians^ who had their village in that vicinity. The Chief Justice, when on the Bencli, wore an immense cocked-hat, and was dressed in a scarlet gown. He discharged the office of Chief Justice for twenty-two years, and "gave striking proofs of ability, impartiality and courage." "He was a member of the Convention of Pennsylvania that ratified the Con- stitution of the United States, and made a masterly speech in its support." He was also a member of the Convention that formed the first Constitution of Penn- sylvania ; a body composed of some of tlie purest and ablest men of any age or nation, but whose wise and patriotic labours became unpalatable to the '■'■pro- gressive democracy'''' of recent and more enlightened times ; and Pennsylvanians have now the privilege and the honour of living under a Constitution, the work of men, previously "unknown to fame," and whose magnificent labours will, it is believed, prove satisfactory to the " democracy," however " progressive," for seve- ral years to come ! In 1779, Judge MeKean was elected Governor of Pennsylvania, and held the office during tlie constitutional period of nine years, having been twice re-elected. In 1803 it was proposed to hira to become a candidate for the Vice-Presidency — a post of honour then, as it had previouslyj been filled by men who had earned the respect of their country — but he declined. "In 1 808 he retired from public life, in which he had been engaged for fifty years, and died in June, 1817, in his 84th year. He was one of the fathers of the Republic, and in this quality will be honoured, aside from the resentments which his proceedings as a jjarty-politician engendered." — Ed. 11 122 ^^OLUNTEER COMPANIES. very forcibly appealed to the pocket, the great body of Genrtam farmers, extremely tenacious of property, were readily gained. Exceptions however were to be found: The Menonists and some other sects were generally disaffected. As to the genuine sons of Hibernia, it was enough for them to know that England was the antagonist. Stimulants here, were wholly superfluous ; and the sequel has constantly shown, that in a contest with Englishmen, Irishmen, like the mettlesome coursers of Phaeton, only require reining in. Lfibor est inhibere volentes. The spirit of liberty and resistance being so generally diffused, it seems scarcely ne- cessary to mention, that it drew into its vortex the mechanical interest, as well as that numerous portion of the community in republics, styled The People; in monarchies, The Populace; or still more irreverently. The Rabble or Canaille. But notwith- standing this almost unanimous agreement in favour of liberty, neither were all disposed to go the same lengths for it, nor were they perfectly in unison in the idea annexed to it. Wilkes had just rendered the term popular in America; and, though perhaps there is not any one in our language more indefinite, yet the sense in which it was doubtless most generally received, was that which brings it nearest to licentiousness and anarchy, since hallowed by the phrases of Equality, and the Rights oj" Man. The Quakers, as a society, were charged witli disaffection, and probably with truth. They were desirous, however, of screening themselves under their non-resisting principles and known aver- sion to war; and in this, although they might not have been sin- cere, they at least were consistent. But notwithstanding their endeavour to keep aloof from the contest, a good number of their young men swerved from their tenets ; and affecting cockades and uniforms, openly avowed themselves fighting men. They went so far as to form a company of light infantry, under the command of Mr. Copperthwaite,* which was called The Quaker Blues, and- instituted in a spirit of competition with The Greens, or, as they were sneeringly styled, The silk stocking company, commanded by * Joseph Cowpekthwait. — He was Sheriff of Philadelphia County, and sub- 3eq.uently a Justice of the Peace. A gentleman of intelligence and influence. — Ed. VOLUNTEER COMPANIES. 123 Mr. John Cadwalader,* and which having early associated, had ah-eady acquired celebrity. This nickname evinced, that the canker worm, jealousy, already tainted the infantile purity of our patriotism. The command of this company, consisting of the flower of the city, was too fine a feather in the cap of its leader to be passed by unenvied: it was, therefore, branded as an aristo- cratic assemblage, and Mr. (since general) Mifflin, had the credit of inventing the" invidious appellation. To this association I be- longed. There were about seventy of us. We met morning and evening, and from the earnest and even enthusiastic devotion of most of us to learn the duty of soldiers, the company, in the course of a summer's training, became a truly respectable militia corps. When it had attained some adroitness in the exercises, we met but once a day. This was in the afternoon, and the place of rendezvous the house of the captain, where capacious demi- johns of Madeira, were constantly set out in the yard where we formed, for our refreshment before marching out to exercise. The ample fortune of Mr. Cadwalader had enabled him to fill his cel- lars with the choicest liquors; and it must be admitted, that he dealt them out with the most gentlemanly liberality. He probably meant it, in part, as an indemnification for our voluntary submis- sion while under arms, to all the essential points, as well as the little etiquette of subordination, requii'ed of privates under the most regular discipline. On taking a retrospect of the company, and looking round for * John Cadwalader was, subsequently to this period, appointed Colonel of one of the City Batt^-lions, from which rank he rose to that of Brigadier-General, and was entrusted with the command of the Pennsylvania troops in the Winter cam- paign of '76 and '77. He acted in this command, and as a volunteer, in the Battles of Princeton, Brandy wine, Gcrmantown, Monmouth, and on other occa- sions, and received the thanks of Washington, wiiose confidence and esteem he alvvaj's possessed. He was appointed to command one of the divisions into which the army was separated when Washington determined to attack the enemy at Trenton ; but in consequence of the ice in the river, neither he nor Cccneral Irvine, the commander of another division, could cross the river in time. But, the day after Washington's return, he effected the passage, supposing him still on the Jersey side, and pursued the vanquished enemy to Burlington. In 1778, he was appointed by Congress, General of Cavalry — an appointment which he declined on the score of being more useful in the station which he occnpied. He died Feb. 10, 1786, in the 44th year of his age. — Ency. Amer. — Ed. 124 POLITICAL CONSISTENCY. Ihose who remain of it, I see a few Avho are yet alive and in re- spectable situations. Much the greater number, however, have resigned their places to that posterity, for whose interests it was the fashion of seventy-six to be extremely concerned. It is to be hoped, therefore, that posterity will continue to pay the easy re- compence of an annual toast to the memory of those departed friends, who no longer stand in their way. But I am chiefly struck with the strong tendency to evaporation, which inheres in a fiery zeal ; as well as with the utter insignificance of that dull quality, consistency, on the versatile scale of republican virtue. I have a gentleman in my eye who was ever among the foremost in patriotism, and for volunteering our services on every occasion. Was there an enterprise in view, replete wuth difficulty and dan- ger! The Gi'eens, in his opinion, should monopolize, or at least partake of the glory. Was there a sacrifice to be made to economy ! They should be the first to set an example of frugality to their countrymen. In short, were it "to fight, to fast, to drink up Elsil, eat a crocodile, heVl do't." Yet this gentleman, so full of zeal in seventy-five, was so thoroughly emptied of it in seventy- six, as to translate himself to the royal standard in New York ; for which, however, he found a salvo in the Declaration of Inde- pendence. On the conclusion of the war, he w^as, in conside- ration of his youtli and inexperience when he committed the^aux pas, permitted to return to the bosom of his country, and adroitly falling in with the views of the prevailing party, he obtained a subordinate appointment in the Treasury Department, during the Presidencies of Washington and Adams: when again wheeling about with the public sentiment, which ushered into office first M'Kean and then Jefferson, he obtained, upon the principle pro- bably of a quid pro quo, an office from each of them, the latter of which he yet retains, and, like the French revolution, returning to the point from which it set out, he is now as pure a patriot as he was at the commencement of his career. It must be confessed, that the gentleman has had a serpentine course : Yet, without ar- raigning his motives, which may have been good, though diver- sified, I shall content myself with observing, that he has had the singular fortune to behold with equal eye, the carting of the tories in Philadelphia in the yeai' 1775; the sad havoc of the whigs in PREPARATIONS FOR WAR ANECDOTE. 125 New York, in the year 1776 ; the discomfiture of the anti-fede- ralists, in the years 1790 and 1794; then the overthrow and per- secution of the federaHsts in the year 1800 : In each and every of these turmoils, he has contrived to be uppermost, and still rides triumphant on the surface of the tempestuous sea^ an unequivocal proof of his fitness for the times in which he has been destined to appear. This instance would not have been adverted to, were it not that in an illustration of the times, it was too remarkable to be omitted. In preparing for the scene of war that was approaching, no martial employment was neglected. It was even deemed of con- sequence to be a marksman with a pistol ; and connected with this object, I recollect an unpleasant incident, which might also have proved a serious one. Captain Biddle and myself having gone out to take a shot, and posted ourselves in a situation, thought convenient and safe, we marked our target on a board fence, in a cross street, between Arch and Race streets. We had fired several times, and were loading again, when a man suddenly coming upon us, out of breath, pale as ashes, without his hat and his hair standing on end, exclaimed, that we had killed his child. This information, as may be supposed, put a stop to our amusement; and we immediately accompanied him to his house, with feelings not to be envied. When we arrived, however, we found matters not so bad as had been anticipated. The child was crying in its mother's arms : it had been struck upon the body ; but the force of the blow had been broken by a loose, linsey petticoat. The ball had passed through a pane of glass ; and from the ap- pearance of the hole exactly corresponding to its size without di- verging cracks, it must have had considerable force, though dis- charged at a distance which we thought greater than our pistols would carry. By expressions of concern for the accident and the accompaniment of a few dollars, our transgression was overlooked, and all perturbation composed. The daily unremitted course of exercise which my military duties and my fencing, at this time composed, had thoroughly established my health. The serious aspect of the times, had alsa brought temperance into fashion ; and instead of tavern suppers, I generally passed my evenings with my female acquaintance, 11* 126 DR. KEARSLEY. among whom there was one to whom' my affections were deeply and permanently engaged. The attachment was reciprocal ; and the din of arms which threatened us with a separation, involving a cruel uncertainty in respect to the destiny of our love, but served to render it more ardent and more tender.* Vows of constancy were mutually plighted ; and we gave so much of our time to each other, that I had little to spare to my quondam companions, whom I was really desirous of shaking off, and who, on their part, com- plained that I had turned dangler, and become good for nothing. There was a time when their raillery might have had some effect, but now it was entirely thrown away, and, like a true knight, I wholly devoted myself to my mistress and my country. Among the disaffected in Philadelphia, Doctor Kearsley was pre-eminently ardent and rash.f An extremely zealous loyalist, and impetuous in his temper, he had given much umbrage to the whigs ; and if I am not mistaken, he had been detected in some hostile machinations. Hence he was deemed a proper subject for the fashionable punishment of tarring, feathering and carting. He was seized at his own door by a party of the militia, and, in the attempt to resist them, received a wound in his hand from a bayonet. Being overpowered, he was placed in a cart pro- vided for the purpose, and amidst a multitude of boys and idlers, paraded through the streets to the tune of the rogue's march. I happened to be at the coffee-house when the concourse arrived there. They made a halt, while the Doctor foaming with ]-age and indignation, without his hat, his wig dishevelled and bloody from his wounded hand, stood up in the cart and called for a bowl of punch. It was quickly handed to him ; when, so vehement was his thirst, that he drained it of its contents before he took it from his lips. What were the feelings of others on this lawless proceeding, I know not, but mine, I must confess, * "And flinty is Lcr heart can view, To battle march a lover true, Can hear, perchance, his last adieu, Nor own her share of pain." t Nephew of the celebrated Dr. .Tolin Kearsley— founder of "Clirist Church Hospital for Poor Widows." A jrentlonian nuieli distinguished for his public spirit, and architectural taste." — Eb. MAJOR SKENE. 127 revolted at the spectacle. I was shocked at seeing a lately re- spected citizen so cruelly vilified, and was imprudent enough to say, that had I been a magistrate, I would, at every hazard, have interposed my authority in suppression of the outrage. But this was not the only instance which convinced me, that I wanted nerves for a revolutionist. It must be admitted, however, that the conduct of the populace was marked by a lenity which pecu- liarly distinguished the cradle of our republicanism. Tar and feathers had been dispensed with, and excepting the injury he had received in his hand, no sort of violence was offered by the mob to their victim. But to a man of high spirit, as the Doctor was, the indignity in its lightest form was sufficient to madden him : it probably had this effect, since his conduct became so ex- tremely outrageous, that it was thought necessary to confine him. From the city he was soon after removed to Carlisle, where he died during the war. A few days after the carting of Mr. Kearsley, Mr. Isaac Hunt, the attorney, was treated in the same manner, but he managed the^ matter much better than his precursor. Instead of braving his conductor like the Doctor, Mr. Hunt was a pattern of meekness and humility ; and at every halt that was made, he rose and ex- pressed his acknowledgments to the crowd for their forbearance and civility. After a parade of an hour or two, he was set down at his own door, as uninjured in body as in mind. He soon after removed to one of the islands, if I mistake not, to Barbadoes, where, it was understood, he took orders.* Not long after these occurrences, Major Skene of the British army, ventured to show himself in Philadelphia.! Whatever * He did take orders, and upon his return to England, became a tutor in the fliuiily of the Duke of Chandos. He was the father of Mr. Leigh Hunt, cele- brated for his poetic genius, and for many valuable contributions 'to English literature. — Ed. + We are glid not to lose sight of this truly loyal and facetious gentleman. In the Appendix to the 3d volume of Sparks^ Life and Writings of Washington, is the following notice of him : "Major Skene had been appointed Governor of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and empowered to raise a regiment in America. On this ground he was taken into custody, when he arrived in Philadelphia, June, 1775; his papers were ex- amined by order of Congress, and he was retained as a prisoner. He had been 128 MAJOR SKENE. might have been his inducement to the measure, it was deemed expedient by the newly constituted authorities, to have him arrested and secured. A guard was accordingly placed over him at his lodgings, at the city tavern. The officer to whose charge he was especially committed, was Mr. Francis Wade, the brewer, an Irishman of distinguished zeal in the cause, and one who was supposed to possess talents peculiarly befitting him for the task of curbing the spirit of a haughty Briton, which Skene undoubtedly was. I well recollect the day that the guard was paraded to escort him out of the city on his way to some other station. An immense crowd of spectators stood before the door of his quarters, and lined the street through w^hich he w^as to pass. The weather being warm, the window sashes of his apartment were raised, and Skene, with his bottle of wine upon the table, having just finished his dinner, roared out in the voice of a Stentor, " God save great George our king P^ Had tlie spirit of seventy^five in any degree resembled the spirit of Jacobinism, to which it has been unjustly compared, this bravado would unquestionably have brought the Major to the lamp-post, and set his head upon a pike; but as, fortunately for him, it did not, he was suffered to proceed with his song, aud the auditory seemed more generally amused than offended. many years in the army ; was an ensign at Cartliag-ena and Porto Bello, under General Wcntworth; he served in Flanders; was a Lieutenant at the battle of CuUoden ; served under Sir .Tnffrcy Amherst in Canada; was first Major of Bri- gade at the conquest of Martinique and Havana, at which latter place he entered the breach when it was stormed ; was often wounded; was appointed to run a line between Canada and the Britisii Colonies, and to superintend tlie settlement of the border country, then uninhabited ; and, in 1773, he applied to Lord Dart- mouth to recommend him to the King for the appointment of Governor of Ticon- deroga. Crown Point, and their dependencies, where he, at that time, commanded a rorps of militia, having lands and a residence at the southern extremity of Lake Champlain." — Ed. CONGRESS. 129 CHAPTER V. Congress Assembles.— Continental Battalions.— State of Parties.— Mr. Richard Penn. — His Character.— Levy of Troops. — Officers. — Adventure. — Patriotism- — Recruiting. — 111 Success. — Discipline. — Author sent on a Mission. — Baron Woedtke. — Military Preparations. — Road to Albany. — Saratoga. — Fort Edward. — Lake George.— General Schuyler. — His Character. — Author returns to his Regiment. — Judge Livingston. In the spring of 1775, Congress assembled in Philadelphia. It was in every respect a venerable assembly ; and although Penn- sylvania had delegated to it some of her most distinguished cha- racters, they were supposed to be eclipsed by the superior talents which came from the southward and eastward. New England had sent her Adams's, and Virginia her Lee's and Henry's ; all of whom were spoken of as men of the first rate abilities. Not long after the organization of this body, their president, Peyton Randolph of Virginia, died, and John Hancock, of Boston, was selected to supply his place. Towards the close of the year, they passed a resolution for levying some continental battalions, four of which were to be raised in Pennsylvania. One had already been raised and officered by the province ; but as the applicants for commissions in this, were not of my set of acquaintance, I did not apply. Upon the promulgation, however, of this resolution of Congress, I signified to the committee of safety, in whom the power of appointment was lodged, and of which body my uncle was a member, my wish to be employed. The appointments were made, and in a list of thirty-two captains, I ranked the six- teenth, and accordingly received my commission from Congress, dated January the 6th, 1776. Upon this nomination of the com- mittee of safety, which also extended to all the inferior commis- sioned officers, the field officers, who had already been assigned 130 CONTINENTAL BATTALIONS. to particular battalions, had a meeting for the purpose of selecting their captains and subalterns. In this arrangement, it fell to my lot to be attached to the third battalion, under the command of Colonel John Shee, and of which Mr. Lambert Cadwalader, the younger brother of ]\Ir. John Cadwalader, already mentioned, was Lieutenant-Colonel. It appeared to have been the primary object of these gentlemen, to select as much as possible their officers from tlie city and its neighbourhood, of whom they had a greater proportion than w^as to be found in either of the other regiments, respectively commanded by St. Clair, Wayne and Magaw. But this circumstance, though it might have a propitious influence on the discipline of the regiment when raised, was certainly un- favourable to the business of recruiting, since, as the country was chiefly to be depended upon for men, country officers would of course, have the best chance of obtaining them. But two gentlemen of w^hat might be called our principal fami- lies, had come forward on this occasion. These w^re Mr, Cad- walader, and Mr. William Allen, who was appointed Lieutenant- Colonel of the regiment of St. Clair : so that of four sons, the eldest alone, Mr. John Allen, was an acknowledged disapprover of our proceedings. The father, too old to be active, was yet supposed to lean to the whig side. It would appear, however, from the sequel, that this family were either never cordial in the cause, or that they had inconsiderately imagined that its object might be obtained by a resolute show of resistance, merely ; since upon the adoption of the measure of independence, all the sons, excepting James, joined General Howe in New York. He re- mained at home, and took his chance with his native country, though wholly inactive. I remember once seeing him on New York island, towards the close of the summer of 1776, where he probably came to see how the land lay. But he was then in declining health, and in somewhat more than a year after, was relieved from all sublunary solicitudes ; as was his father also, before the close of the war. The revolution was fatal to this family, precipitating it from the very pinnacle of importance in Pennsylvania, down to the lowest depth of insignificance with both parties. Its early whigism had perhaps as much disgusted the tories, as its final defection had exasperated the whigs ; and RICHARD PENN ANECDOTE. 131 the British array, though it yielded it protection, afforded it httle of respect. Mr, Wilham Allen endeavoured to recover his con- sequence by raising, or endeavouring to raise, a regiment on the royal side in Philadelphia in the year 1778, very pompously heading his recruiting advertisement with the words, nil desperan- dum Teucro duce, et auspice Teucro. It is to be presumed, how- ever, that this swaggering motto referred to General Howe, and not to himself. Nor, in adverting to the mutability of human affairs, can we overlook the unfavourable tendency of the contest to the proprie- tary family. Both the brothers, John and Richard Penn, had been governors of Pennsylvania ; the former being in office at the be- ginning of hostilities. By yielding to the torrent, which it would have been impossible to withstand, he gave no offence, and avoided reproach ; though it was deemed expedient to have him secured and removed from Philadelphia, on the approach of the royal army in the year 1777. Mr. Richard Penn, having no official motives for reserve, was even upon terms of familiarity with some of the most thorough-going whigs, such as General Lee and others : An evidence of this was the pleasantry ascribed to him, on occasion of a member of Congress, one day observing to his compatriots, that at all events "they must hang together:" "If you do not, gentlemen," said Mr. Penn, " I can tell you that you will be very apt to hang separately."* Of all the governors of Pennsylvania under the old regime, he was probably the most popular, though his popularity might not have been precisely of the kind which irradiates a favourite of the present day. It was, it must be confessed, a good deal confined to the city; and perhaps rather much to that description of per- sons, who are not the chosen people of Virginian repuljlicanism. * This witticism is claimed for Franklin by Sparks, wlio tlius relates it in his Life of Franklin, page 408. It was at the signing of the Declaration of Indepen- dence. "We must be unanimous," said Hancock; "there must be no pulling different Ways ; we must all hang together." " Yes," replied Franklin, "we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." It has been ascribed also to Mr. John Penn, one of the signers of the Declara- tion of Independence, and a member of Congress from North Carolina. Who §hall settle the knotty point! — Ed. 132 OFFICERS. But it was such as was then in fashion, and good and substantial enough for those who knew no better. It required, however, fewer sacrifices ; and might yiekl possibly as much pleasure on retrospection, as that enjoyed by the most idolized of our demo- cratic worthies.* Against the expected hostilities, Pennsylvania had made im- mense exertions. Prior to tlie four regiments of St. Clair, Shee, Wayne and Magaw, that of De Haas, and Hand's rifle regiment, were already raised and equipped ; and afterwards, Irvine's, and two provincial battalions, respectively commanded by Miles and Atlee, in the whole, nine regiments, complete and very reputably officered. Had all the other provinces done as much in proportion to their ability, and the men been enlisted for the war, we might have avoided the hair-breadth 'scapes which ensued. To return to smaller concerns. An anxiety little inferior to that of the colonels, in procuring what they thought good officers for their regiments, at this time, agitated the commanders of com- panies, in respect to the subalterns that should be assigned them. My second lieutenant, Mr. Forrest,! who had served his appren- ticeship to an apothecary in Philadelphia, I well knew to be active, capable, and more than commonly adroit in the military exercises ; but my first lieutenant, I had not yet seen, I was not, however, long in the dark, and when he appeared, I cannot say that his exterior was the most prepossessing ; or that it announced those qualities we at first look for in the soldier. He was tall, extremely thin, and somewhat lounging in his appearance ; and to add to its uncouthness, he wore an enormous fur cap. Colonel Shee used * Richard Pcnn was tlic brotlicr of.Tolin Pcnn, Governor of Pennsylvania, at tlie cotnmencement of iiostilitics. He is described in Watson's Annals, as " a fine portly lookinfr man, — a bon vivant, very popular. He died in England in 1811, at the age of 77 years. — Eu. t Subsequently known as Colonel Forrest, and distinguished for zeal and ac- tivity during the revolution. He was in several engagements, and had the cha- racter of being a brave and skilful olficer. After the war he resided at German- town, where his opinions underwent a remarkable change. He attached himself to the society of Quakers, adopting their language and garb. He was a man of considerable humour, arul of manners agreeable to the " sovereign people," who, in 1815, elected him to Congress. He died in the year 1826, at the age of eighty- three years. — Ed. RECRUITING ADVENTURE. 133 to describe somewhat humourously, his first impression upon him ; and when he was first seen by a httle Scotch servant boy of my mother's, who afterwards became my drummer, he emphatically exclaimed : Well, sic an a spindle ! Yet for all this, any man might have thought himself honoured in having Mr. Edwards for his lieutenant. Though born in Pennsylvania, he was recent from a college in Rhode Island. Possessing good sense, a remarkable aptitude to take a polish, and talents to recommend himself to his Superiors in command, he soon obtained the favour of the colonels of the regiment, with whom he was upon a very familiar footing. He was, besides, a man of courage ; and in the course of the war, became the aid- de-camp and particular friend of General Lee ; so much so, that he was one of the principal devisees in the will of that officer. Of my ensign, it will be enough to say, that he was a plain and unaspiring man, who, in the walk of humble duty, " kept the noiseless tenor of his way." The object now was to raise ray company, and as the streets of the city had been pretty well swept by the preceding and contempo- rary levies, it was necessary to have recourse to the country. My recruiting party was therefore sent out in various directions ; and each of my officers as well as myself, exerted himself in the busi- ness. Among the many unpleasant peculiarities of the American service, it was not the least that the drudgery, which in old mili- tary establishments belong to sergeants and corporals, here de- volved on the commissioned officers ; and that the whole business of recruiting, drilling, &c., required their unremitted personal at- tention. This was more emphatically the case in recruiting ; since the common opinion was, that the men and the officers were never to be separated, and nence, to see the persons wlio were to com- mand them, and above all, the captain, was deemed of vast im- portance by those inclining to enlist : for this reason I found it necessary, in common with my brother officers, to put my feelings most cruelly to the rack ; and in an excursion I once made to Frankford, they were tried to the utmost. A number of fellows at the tavern, at which my party rendezvoused, indicated a desire to enlist, but although they drank freely of our liquor, they still held offi I soon perceived that the object was to amuse them- selves at our expense, and that if there might be one or two among 12 134 PATRIOTISM. them really disposed to engage, the others would prevent them. One fellow in particular, who had made the greatest show of taking the bounty, presuming on the weakness of our party, con- sisting only of a drummer, corporal, my second lieutenant and myself, began to grow insolent, and manifested an intention to begin a quarrel, in the issue of which, he no doubt calculated on giving us a drubbing. The disgrace of such a circumstance, pre- sented itself to my mind in colours the most dismal, and I re- solved, that if a scuffle should be unavoidable, it should, at least, be as serious as the hangers which my heutenant and myself car- ried by our sides, could make it. Our endeavour, however, was to oruard amiinst a contest : but the moderation we testified, was attributed to fear. At lenglh the arrogance of the principal ruffian, rose to such a height, that he squared himself for battle and ad- vanced towards me in an attitude of defiance. I put him by, with an admonition to be quiet, though with a secret determination, that, if he repeated the insult to begin the war, whatever might be the consequence. The occasion was soon presented; when taking excellent aim, I struck him with my utmost force between the eyes and sent him staggering to the other end of the room. Then instantly drawing our hangers, and receiving the manful co-opera- tion of the corporal and drummer, we were fortunate enough to put a stop to any farther hostilities. It was some time before the fellow I had struck, recovered from the blow, but when he did, he was quite an altered man. He was as submissive as could be wished, begging my pardon for what he had done, and although he would not enlist, he hired himself to me for a few weeks as a fifer, in which capacity he had acted in the militia ; and during tlie time he was in this employ, he bore about the effects of his insolence, in a pair of black eyes. This incident would be little worthy of relating, did it not serve in some degi'ee to correct the error of those who seem to conceive the year 1776 to have been a season of almost universal patriotic; enthusiasm. It was far from prevalent in my opinion, among the lower ranks of the people, at least in Pennsylvania. At all times, indeed, licentious, levelling principles are much to the general taste, and were of course popu- lar with us ; but the true merits of the contest, were little under- Stood or regarded. The opposition to the claims of Britain origi- RECRUITING. 135 nated with the better sort : it was truly aristocratic in its com- mencement; and as the oppression to be apprehended, had not been felt, no grounds existed for general enthusiasm. The cause of liberty, it is true, was fashionable, and there w^ere great prepara- tions to fight for it ; but a zeal proportioned to the magnitude of the question, was only to be looked for in the minds of those sagacious politicians, who inferred effects from causes, and who, as Mr. Burke expresses it, " snuffed the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze."* Certain it was, at least, that recruiting went on but heavily. Some officers had been more successful than others, but none of the companies were complete ; mine perhaps contained about half its complement of men, and these had been obtained by dint of great exertion. In this situation, Captain Lenox of Shee's regiment also, suggested the trying our luck on the eastern shore of Maryland, particularly at Chester, situated on the river of that name. It having been a place of some trade, it was supposed there might be seamen or long shore men there, out of employ. We accordingly set out on the expedition, making our first effort at Warwick, an inconsiderable village, a few miles w^ithin the boundaries of Maryland. Here we remained a day or two, our stay having been prolonged by bad weather. At the tavern we put up at, we made acquaintance with a gentleman of note, vrho resided in the neighbourhood, and pretty generally known by the familiar name of Dan Heath. He seemed to like our company, as he was continually with us while we staid. Mr. Heath was a sportsman, and apparently too little interested in political con- cerns, to be either much of a whig or a tory, though from the in- difference he evinced, we rather concluded him the latter. He helped us, however, to recruit, a fellow, he said, who would do to stop a bullet as w^ell as abetter man, and as he was a truly worth- * "The American Revolution is, universally, admitted to have begun in the upper circles of society. It turned on principles too remote and abstruse for vul- gar apprehension or consideration. Had it depended on the unenlightened mass of the community, no doubt can be entertained, that the tax imposed by parlia- ment, would have been paid without a question. Since, then, the upper circle of society did not take its impulse from the people, the only remaining- inquiry is who gave the Revolutionary impulse to that circle itself? It was unquestionably Patrick Henry." — Wirfs Life ofHeiiry. — Ed. 136 RECRUITING. less dog, he held, that the neighbourhood would be much in- debted to us for taking him away. When we left Warwick, he f'ultilled his promise of accompanying us some miles under pre- tence of aiding us in getting men, but as he showed us none, we were convinced that he attended us more for his own sake than ours, and that having nothing to do, probably, he had availed himself the opportunity to kill a little time. He gave the tone to the conversation on the road, which generally turned on the sports of the turf and the cockpit ; but he never spoke with so much animation, as when expatiating on those feats of human prowess, wlierein victory is achieved by tooth and nail^'m. modern phrase, by biting and gouging: and pointing out to us one of the heroes of these direful conflicts: "There," says he, " is a fellow that has not his match in the country : see what a set of teeth he has, a man's thumb would be nothing to them." On bidding good morning to Mr, Heath, with whose vivacity v/e were amused, we pursued our course to Chester, and as soon as we arrived there, delivered our letters of introduction. The gentlemen to whom they were addressed, received us with the utmost politeness, and declared their w^armest wishes for the success of our errand, though accompanied with expressions of regret, that they could not give us encouragement to beat up in their town, as well because there were few, if any, in it, that were likely to enlist, as that their own province was about raising troops ; and as that was the case, it would not be taken well should they assist in transferring any of their men to the line of Pennsylvania. With such unfavourable prospects in Maryland, it would have been folly to have proceeded far- ther: we therefore, set ofl" on our way home the next morning, declining several invitations to dinner. W^e found this country well deserving of its reputation for hospitality. Between War- wick and Georgetown, we were taken home to lodge by a gen- tleman of the name of Wllmer, whom we had never seen be- fore : We were warmly pressed by Mr. Harry Pierce, with whom we met by accident on the road, to spend some time with liim at his residence in the neighbourhood, and met with no less cor- dial'ty, from Mr. Thomas Ringold, of Chester, who had once when very young, lodged at my mother's. Returning by War- THE author's success IN RAISING MEN. 137 wick, we sent forward our solitary recruit, for whom we tossed up; and in winning, I was, in fact, but a very small gainer, since his merits had been set at their full value by Mr. Heath ; and he was never fit for any thing better than the inglorious post of camp colour man. After this unsuccessful jaunt, I bent my course to the Four-lane ends, Newtown, and Corryell's ferry ; thence passing into Jersey, I proceeded to the Hickory tavem, to Pittstown, Baptisttown, Flemmingtown, and other towns, whose names I do not remem- ber. As Captain Stewart (the late General Walter Stewart) of our regiment, had recently reapt this field, I was only a gleaner: In the whole of my tour, therefore, I picked up but three or fouf men: and could most sincerely have said, That the recruiting- trade, witii all its train, Of endless care, fatigue, an-d endless pain, I could most gladly have renounced, even without the very pre- ferable alternative of Captain Plume. My number of privates might now have amounted to about forty, but these were soon augmented by the noble addition of one and twenty stout native Americans, brought by Lieutenants Edwards and Forrest from Egg Harbour. Towards spring, our battalion was complete; and already, from the unremitted attention that had been paid to it by the of- ficers of every grade, it had made, for so short a time, a very laudable progress in discipline. Besides partial drillings it was exercised every morning and evening; and what was of still more importance, habits of obedience and subordination were strictly inculcated and maintained. We were comparatively well armed, uniformed and equipped ; audit is but justice to. say, that in point of all the exteriors, by which military corps are tested, ours was on a footing with the most promising on the con- tinent. W^e were quartered in the barracks, together with the other battalions that were raising; and by way of counteracting the general gloom, not diminished by the practice of fiist-days and sermons, borrowed from New England, we promoted balls and other amusement. Had the contest been a religious one, and our people been inflamed by a zeal on points of faith like 12* 138 AUTHOR SENT ON A MISSION. the Crusaders or the army of Cromwell, this might have been the proper method of exciting them to acts of heroism; but they were to be taken as they were, and as this was not the case, it was certainly not the mode to make soldiers in Pennsylvania. The puritanical spirit was unknown among us; and the endea- vour to promote it, did but conflict with other propensities on which a military ardour might be engrafted. It might, how- ever, have been wholly difTerent in New England; but whether so or not, General Lee, with his usual profaneness, treated their solemnities with ridicule, telling them, in the spirit of the ancient fable of Hercules and the wagoner, that Heaven ivas ever found favourable to strong battalions. About the close of the month of May, I w^as appointed to carry a sum of money in specie to General Schuyler at Lake George, for the purpose of promoting the operations in Canada ; and I owed my nomination to this service to the friendly intentions of President Hancock, who had particularly designated me. Ensign Stout was the officer assigned by Colonel Shee to accompany me.* We accordingly set out in a chair, that being thought the most ronvenient mode of carrying the money, which was enclosed in two or three sealed bags. One soldier mounted and armed in addition, constituted the escort; and we were furnished with credentials for obtaining fresh horses as often as they might be necessary. To see the country between New York and the Lake, which was entirely new both to my companion and myself, was highly agreeable ; but we did not so well like the responsibility of our charge. It is obvious that it might have been wrested from us, without great diificulty, even though each one of the triumvi- rate had possessed the bravery of Csesar. Hence, policy cuctated * Colonel John Shee. He was, I think, from Lancaster county. He had tlic confidence of Washington, who, in a letter to the President of Congress, of 10th June, 1 77G, says, 'HoCon.orress I suhmit the propriety of keeping- the two Continental battalions, under Colonels Slice and Magaw, at Philadelphia, where there is the greatest probability of a speedy attack upon this place from the King's troops." It will be seen, hereafter, that, having obtained leave of absence to visit his family, he " converted that leave into an entire abdication of his command." An extraordinary procedure, certainly, on the part of an officer who had proved his capacity and zeal, and who had enjoyed^ in a high degree, the confidence and esteem of his superiors..— Ed. BARON WOEDTKE. 139 the concealment of the treasure, so far as might consist with the requisite vigilance. At Princeton, where we dined on the second day of our journey, we thought proper to have our bags brought into our room. The inn-keeper, like the generality of his profes- sion, was loquacious and inquisitive; and being an extremely good whig into the bargain, took the liberty of sounding us re- specting the contents of our bags, of which he had formed a very shrewd guess. We did not think it necessary to deny that they contained money, or to conceal from him the object of our mis- sion, which he was equally desirous of knowing. Upon learning that the destination was Canada, he entered into a dissertation upon our affairs in that quarter, telling us among other things, that the Prussian General, the Baron Woedkie, had been a few days before at his house, on his way to that country. But he reprobated the Baron in very hard terms, repeatedly exclaiming with a most significant emphasis, that he was no general ; and in the sequel, favouring us with his reasons for this opinion, gave us to understand, that he (the Baron) had made his servant grease with a feather a certain part, to which he gave its very coarsest appellation, that had suffered from the friction of riding. Whe- ther our host had become acquainted with this circumstance by looking through a key-hole, or by what other means, we were not informed, but its unlucky effect upon him, convinced me of the justness of the observation, that no man is a hero to his valet de chanibre. This same Baron it was, who, finding liberty, one day, the impassioned theme of some members of Congress and others, exclaimed — Jlh, liber dy is a fine ding ; I likes liber dy ; der koenig von Prusse is a great man for liherdy! and so no doubt lie was, for his own liberty or importance as a member of the Germanic body; and it might puzzle many a flaming demagogue to show a better title to the character.* * The honest Baron, however, was not more absurd than was tlic sticklers for Bonaparte, who always connected liberty witli liis name and views, as the same men did those of Robespierre, when riding- at the top of the revolutionary wheel. With them liberty appeared to mean hostility to all regular, legitimate govern, ment; which, in the same vocabulary signifies tyranny. New power creates new men, ergo, the devotion to it of all ambitious insignificants. Brigadier-General the Baro\ de Woedtke. — Wilkinson in his Memoirs gives some account of this Prussian officer ; but it is, by no means, flattering. 140 NEW YORK MILITARY PREPARATIONS. But notwithstanding this requisite for our service, evinced by the Baron's love of liberty, I believe he did not very well suit us ; and that although Tlie Prussian General made a great noise upon his first appearance, the public mind in respect to him, whether correct or not, pretty well accorded with that of our host, who, at parting with us, expressed much anxiety for our safety and that of our charge, recommending to us in future, not to take our bags out of the chair, where we breakfasted and dined. The propriety of this advice we were aware of, and observed it where practica- ble ; tliat is, where the treasure was sufficiently under our eyes without removal. At New York, we spent about an hour in a slight survey of the barricades, which General Lee had caused to be thrown across some of the streets ; and on our way out of town, fell in with a New England regiment at exercise. Its commander was ex- tremely busy, in instructing his troops in street firing, at that day, our most favourite manffiuvre ; as we simply supposed that all our great battles were to be fought in our cities. We surveyed these men with all the respect that was due to the gseat military reputation of their country; but, we were obliged to confess, that they did not entirely come up to the ideas we had formed of the heroes of Lexington and Bunker's hill. This, we took to be a militia corps, from the circumstance of its not being a He liad been sent with instructions to tlie Baron, to detach 500 men, to cover General Arnold's retreat from Montreal. In his search for the Baron, he en- countered dilRculties and hardships, which are graphically described: "After a night's rest in a filthy cabin, I resumed my march, and the first officer of my acquaintance whom I met, was Lieutenant-Colonel William Allen, of the second Pennsylvania regiment, who, to my incjuiry for Dc Woedtke, replied, he had '^no doubt the least was drunk, and in front of the army J I then informed him of my orders for a detachment. Ilis reply was remarkable': 'This army, Wilkinson, is conquered by its fears, and I doubt whetlier you can draw any assistance from it; but Colonel Wayne is in tlie rear, and if any one can do it, he is the man,' On this I quickened my pace, and half an hour iifler met that gallant soldier, as much at his ease as if he was marcliiiig to. a parade of exercise ; he confirmed Allen's report respecting Dc Woedtke, and witliout hesitation determined to exe- cute the order." "Tlie Baron," says Sparks, "had been for many years an ofiiccr in the army of the King of Prussia, and had risen to tlie rank of Major. Coming to Phila- delphia with strong letters of recommendation to Dr. Franklin from persons of eminence in Paris, he was appointed by Congress a Brigadier-General. He died at Lake George in the summer of 1776." — Ed. SARATOGA CANADA COMMISSIONERS. 141 whit superior, in any visible respect, to the worst of ours. How- ever, thought we, these men may nevertheless have some knack at fighting, w^iich only discloses itself in the moment of action. After leaving New York, we passed through a number of villages between that city and Albany ; but these, of which the almanacs will give a much more accurate account than I can, I shall neither undertake to name or locate. Poughkeepsie, how- ever, must be excepted ; as here we quartered for a night, under the hospitable roof of old Doctor Baird, so called to distinguish him from his son of the same profession. The doctor was a re- lation of Mr. Stout's, and on my being made known to him, I had the satisfaction to find that he had formerly been acquainted wdth both my father and mother, of whom he spoke in tlie warmest and most friendly terms. My mother, he was pleased to say, he remembered, the finest girl in Philadelphia ; and that she had the manners of a lady bred at a court. The old gentleman was one of those who went under the denomination of tories ; but if it was justly applied, he possessed too much liberality to permit his politics, in any degree, to interfere with the duties of hospitality. He considered us probably as young men, deluded but not sedi- tious ; as accessary to, but not responsible for, the calamities which w^ere about to befal the country; and in addition to a good supper, entertained us with the military exploits of the Duke of Marlborough, who appeared to be his favourite hero. In the morning betimes we pursued our journey, and in the course of it, reached Albany about noon. Here we dined with a gentleman in regimentals bearing the title of major ; though I do not either recollect his name, or the corps to which he belonged, if indeed he belonged to any, for majors and captains had by this time, become very good travelling appellations. He had just re- turned from Canada, and drew^ a most lamentable picture of our affairs in that country, descanting upon men and things with equal freedom and satire. He delivered himself with unusual flip- pancy ; and wound up a very animated philippic upon our mili- tary operations in that quarter, with an, " in short, gentlemen, we have commissaries there without provisions ; quarter-masters with- out stores; generals without troops ; and troops without discipline, bv G— d." 142 LAKE GEORGE. Leaving Albany, ^ve passed by Stillwater, Saratoga, and other places, which have since acquired interest from the defeat and surrender of General ]5urgoyne and his army. Near to Fort Ed- ward we met Doctor Franklin, Mr. Carroll, and (I think) Mr. Chase, returning from Canada, to which they had been deputed commissioners from Congress.* We delivered them a letter from that body, as we had been enjoined to do in case of meeting them, as also to take their orders in respect to our ulterior pro- ceedings : As they made no change in our destination, we went on. Immediately beyond Fort Edward, the country assumed a dreary, cheerless aspect. Between this and lake George, a dis- tance of about twelve miles, it was almost an entire wood, ac- quiring a deeper gloom, as well from the general prevalence of pines, as from its dark, extended covert being presented to the imagination as an appropriate scene for the "treasons, stratagems and spoils" of savage hostility ; to which purpose, it had been de- voted in former days of deadly dissension. It was in this tract of country that several actions had been fought ; that Baron Dies- kau had been defeated ; and that American blood had (lowed, as well as English and French ; in commemoration of which, the * The commissioners were Dr. Franklin, Snmucl Cliasc, and Cliarlcs Carroll of ("arrolllon, all signers of llie Declaration of Independence ; and the Reverend John Carroll, afterwards Romish Archbishop of Baltimore, wliose religious pro- fession and cliaracter, and French education peculiarly fitted him, it was sup- posed, " to exercise a salutary influence with the priests in Canada, who were known to control the people." Mr. Chase was greatly distinguished l)y his eloquence, abilities, and zeal in the revolutionary cause. In 1791, he was ap- pointed Ciiicf .Justice of the general Court of Maryland ; and five years afterwards was promoted by Washington, to the ofiice of an associate judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. Having, in his official conduct, given much offence to the Democratic party, he was impeached by the House of Representatives* His trial before the Senate "is memorable on account of the excitement which it produced, the ability witli which he was defended, and the nature of his ac- quittal." He continued the exercise of his judicial functions, with signal ability, until his decease, on the 19th of June, 1811. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last of the signers of thp Declaration, was born in 17.37. He was a member ofCdngress for several years. He served in the United States from 1788 to 1791, from which time until 1801, he was an active member of the Senate of Maryland — his native state. He died on tiie 14th of November, 1832,— Eo. LAKE GEORGE GENERAL SCHUYLER. 143 terror we attach to the adventitious circumstances which seem to accelerate man's doom, had given to a piece of standing water near the road, the name bloody pond. The descending sun had shed a browner horror on the wilderness ; and as we passed the dismal pool, we experienced that transient emotion of commissera- tion, which is natural to the mind when contemplating past events, involving the fall of friends, the fortune of war, and the sad lot of human kind. Denique oh casus bellorum, et sortem hominum. At length, after a journey of three hundred and thirty miles, arriving at the quarters of General Schuyler, on the border of the Lake, w^e acquitted ourselves of our charge. He proposed to me, if agreeable, to go on with it ; but in addition to attractions of a private nature, which drew me to Philadelphia, the wish to be there in- order to make provision for our march to New York, orders for which had been daily expected before we set out, in- duced me to decline the opportunity of seeing the country beyond the Lake, as well as my friends in the northern army. We there- fore only staid at this post, until the return despatches to Congress were prepared, which was the third day after our arrival. Though General Schuyler has been charged with such haughti- ness of demeanour, as to have induced the troops of New Eng- land to decline serving under his command, as stated in Marshall's Life of Washington, the reception we met with, was not merely courteous but kind. His quarters being contracted, a bed was prepared for us in his own apartment, and we experienced civili- ties that were flattering from an officer of his high rank. Though thoroughly the man of business, he was also a gentleman and man of the world ; and well calculated to sustain the reputation of our army in the eyes of the British officers, (disposed to de- preciate .it,) as is evideirced by the account given by General Burgoyne of the mafmer in which he was entertained by him at Albany. But that he should have been displeasing to the Yankees^ I am not at all surprised: he certainly was at no pains to conceal the extreme contempt he felt for a set of officers, who were both a disgrace to their stations and the cause in which they acted!* * Peabody, in his Life of Sullivan, speaks of General Schuyler " as a brave and indefatigable officer, whose unpopularity through a large portion of the 144 CHARACTER OF GEN. SCHUYLER. Being yet a stranger to the character of these men, and the con- stitution of that part of our mihtary force which in Pennsylvania was considered as the bulwark of the nation, I must confess my surprise at an incident which took place while at dinner. Besides the General, the members of his family and ourselves, there were at table a lady and gentleman from Montreal. A New England Captain came in upon some business, with that abject servility of manner, which belongs to persons of the meanest rank : he was neither asked to sit or take a glass of wine, and after announcing his wants, was dismissed with that peevishness of tone we apply to a low and vexatious intruder. This man, in his proper sphere, might have been entitled to better treatment ; but when presuming to thrust himself into a situation, in which, far other qualifications than his were required, and upon an occasion too which involved some of the most important of human interests, I am scarcely prepared to say, it was unmerited.* The day we spent at this station was employed in taking a view of the remains of Fort William Henry, and in sauntering country it is not easy to explain." Mr. Graydon has briefly solved tlie mystery. Of the justice of the above observations, respecting New England officers, we have no means of judging. It cannot, however, fiiil to excite a feeling of regret that such severity of expression was considered necessary in regard to them, what, ever may have been their demerits. Our New England brethren nobly performed their whole duty throughout the entire war, and well have they since sustained their republican institutions and character. General Schuyler had the reputation of being cold and reserved in his intercourse with officers and men. Such was his natural disposition. But he was a brave, accomplished and devoted patriot, and iiis name and reputation will ever be dear to his country. General Wilkinson's impressions, however, appear to have been of a different and more favourable character. He says, "Schuyler was an cleve of Major- Gencral Bradstreet in the seven years' war, possessed a strong, fertile and culti- vated mind ; with polislied manners he united tlie most amiable disposition and insinuating address, and his convivial pleasantry never failed to interest and enliven his society ; in the discharge of his military duties, he was able, prompt, and decisive, and his conduct in every branch of service marked by active in- dustry and rapid execution." — Ed. * Sec in Appendix H, a letter from General Washington to President Reed, ilated " Head Quarters, Passaic Falls, 18tli Oct., 1780," on the subject of Ge- neral Schuyler and General Arnold, also showing that he never had any particular consideration for, or confidence in, the latter. — Ed. RETURN OF THE AUTHOR JUDGE LIVINGSTON. 145 along the margin of the immense fountain of pure water which constitutes Lake George. We were much indebted upon this occasion to the polite attentions of Mr. Brockolst Livingston,* who was at this time one of the Aids-de-camp of Gen. Schuyler, and who so far dispensed with his avocations as to show us what was worthy of being seen. We lost no time in setting off, as soon as the despatches were ready for us ; and returned with ail possible expedition, in order to prepare ourselves for the expected march of our regiment to join the main army under the Commander- in-chief. Orders for that purpose had already been received, and were complied with in about a week after our return. The troops were transported by water to Trenton ; from whence marching to Elizabethtown, they were again embarked in vessels which carried them to New York. * Son of the celebrated William Livingston — Governor of New Jersey. He was entered as a student at Nassau Hall, Princeton, but left the College, in 1776, for the field, and became one of the family of Gen. Schuyler. He was afterwards attached to the suite of Gen. Arnold, with the rank of Major, and shared in the honour of the conquest of Burgoyne. In 1779 he accompanied Mr. Jay to Spain, as private Secretary. In 1802 he was called to the Bench of the Supreme Court of New York, and in 1806, was transferred to that of the Supreme Court of the United States, which station he lield, with distinguished ability, until his decease in March, 1823, in the 66th year of his age. — Ed. 13 146 THE AUTHOR LEAVES PHILADELPHIA. CHAPTER VI. The Author leaves Philadelphia. — Appearance of the Army. — Character of the Soldiers. — Erection of Fort Washington. — Fort Lee. — Character of General Mifflin. — An odd Character. — Connecticut Light Horse. — Character of the Army. — Declaration of Independence. — Statue of George IIL — British land on Long Island. — Action with the Enemy. — New York. — Privations of Soldiers. — Long Island. — Entrenchments. — Skirmishing. — Midnight Scene in Camp. — Retreat to New York. — Reflections. — Wasliington vindicated. — General Howe. — Conduct of tiie British. The much deprecated event of marching from Philadelphia, was not the less afflicting for having been foreseen. The reader is acquainted with the attraction which existed there; and it is for those alone who have felt the eflervescence of the passions, to form a just conception of the pangs, attendant on this separa- tion from it. To say it was a disruption of my heart strings, would be a language neither too forcible nor figurative for the occasion. The other absences imposed by the demands of impe- rious duty, were not without disquietude; but they were cheered by the prospect of a speedy termination. This, before me, was a toiling sea without a shore ; a dreary, illimitable void ; and in subjecting myself to the stern mandate which now forced me away, I recognise a sacrifice which imparts some merit to my poor exertions in behalf of my country. If equal deprivations were sustained by others, I venture confidently to affirm, that es- timated by the measure of sufTering, none were greater than my own. On account of my late service interfering with the neces- sary preparations for the march, I liad been permitted for about a week, to defer the moment of exile. When no longer to be postponed, I took my passage in the stage, where, indifferent to all around me, I sat ruminating on scenes of happiness departed, cheerless and lost to every hope of their return. Dreams of glory, it is true, sometimes crossed my imagination, but discordant to APPEARANCE OF THE ARMY. * 147 the tone of the predominant passion, the images were painful, and deeply tinged with despair. In so desolating a frame of mind, I perceived the necessity of active duty, which should leave me no time for reflection ; and under this impression, as I approached my place of destination, became as impatient for its attainment as I had been reluctant in setting out for it; eager to immerse myself in martial occupations, " As in the hardy camp and toilsome march, Forget all softer and less manly cares." A considerable portion of our motley array had already as- sembled in New York and its vicinity. The troops were chiefly from the eastern provinces; those from the southern, with the exception of Hand's, Magaw's, and our regiment, had not yet come on. The appearance of things was not much calculated to excite sanguine expectations in the mind of a sober observer. Great numbers of people were indeed to be seen, and those who are not accustomed to the sight of bodies under arms, are al- ways prone to exaggerate them. But this propensity to swell the mass, had not an equal tendency to convert it into soldiery; and the irregularity, want of discipline, bad arms, and defective equipment in all respects, of this multitudinous assemblage, gave no favourable impression of its prowess. The materials of which the eastern battalions were composed, were apparently the same as those of which I had seen so unpromising a specimen at Lake George. I speak particularly of the officers, who were in no single respect distinguishable from their men, other than in the coloured cockades, which, for this very purpose, had been pre- scribed in general orders ; a different colour being assigned to the officers of each grade. So far from aiming at a deportment which might raise them above their privates, and thence prompt them to due respect and obedience to their commands, the ob- ject was, by humility, to preserve the existing blessing of equa- lity : an illustrious instance of which was given by Colonel Put- nam, the chief engineer of the army, and no less a personage than the nephew. of the Major-General of that name. " What," says a person meeting him one day with a piece of meat in his hand, " carrying home your rations yourself. Colonel !" " Yes," says 148 *" CHARACTER OF THE SOLDIERS. he, " and I do it to set the officers a good example." But if any aristocratic tendencies had been really discovered by the Colonel among his countrymen, requiring this wholesome example, they must have been of recent origin, and the effect of southern con- tamination, since I have been credibly informed, that it was no unusual thing in the army before Boston, for a Colonel to make drummers and fifers of his sons, thereby, not only being enabled to form a very snug, economical mess, but to aid also considera- bly the revenue of the family chest. In short, it appeared, that the sordid spirit of gain was the vital principle of this greater part of the array.* The only exception I recollect to have seen, to these miserably constituted bands from New England, was the regiment of Glover from Marblehead.f There was an ap- * Tiiis scutirnent is supported by a passage in a letter from General Washing- ton to General Reed, dated Cambridge, 10th February, 1776. "Notwitlistanding all the public virtue which is ascribed to these people, there is no nation under the sun that pays more adoration to money than they do." 1 am aware that these references to General Washington's sentiments will be strongly repulsive to the feelings of many worthy men, from the consideration that tlie General's character stands particularly higii in New England, and that in that quarter of the Union are found not only the greatest number of his admirers, but also many of the ablest defenders of his policy and fame. But can these con- fidential declarations of his opinions, emanating from an ardent love of his coun- try and zeal in her cause, justly lessen him in the estimation of a single man of liberality and understanding? Is truth to be eternally muffled up and the mate- rials of fiiithful history suppressed, lest her exposure in certain instances may be displeasing to some good men and grateful to a malignant faction ? for useful it cannot be. To the promulgation indeed of these truths, the retribution is ccrtairi. His book, " llie unkindest cut of all," to an autlior, will not sell. It will be shunned like a pestilence in those places, where the truths it holds out, are unwelcome. For this reason I have been given to understand that my publication will not do at all for a New England market. Some repugnance of the same kind would Fcem to exist against it in New York, as not long since a book-seller of that city informed me he could not dispose of a single copy. Even in its birth-place, Penn- sylvania, it is very illy calculated for popularity ; and as for Virginia and her dependencies sweeping the whole Southern States to Louisiana inclusive, it must then be, if not too contemptible for notice, a subject of the bitterest execration. Nevertheless, I am consoled by the invincible pride of conscious honesty and the major arnica Veritas, in a collision with all other friendships. t John Glovkr, a nativcof Marblchead, in Massachusetts, a Brigadier-General in the army of the United States. With his command he formed the advance of the army in its passage of the Delaware, and was, of course, at tiic Battle of Tren- lon. lie conducted Burgoync's army, after its surrender, through the New Eng- CHARACTER OF THE SOLDIERS GENERAL GLOVER. 149 pearance of discipline in this corps; the officers seemed to have mixed with the world, and to understand what belonged to their stations. Though deficient, perhaps, in polish, it possessed an apparent aptitude for the purpose of its institution, and gave a confidence that myriads of its meek and lowly brethren were in- competent to inspire. But even in this regiment there were a number of negroes, which, to persons unaccustomed to such as- sociations, had a disagreeable, degrading effect. >, If there were any troops here, at this time, from Jersey, I do not recollect seeing them ; and those of New York, appeared not to be very numerous. They, however, afforded officers, who might have been distinguished without a badge ; and who were suffi- ciently men of the world, to know that the levelling principle w^as of all others, the most incompatible with good soldiership. Colo- nel Hamilton* had been furnished by this province, making his debut in the new career as a captain of artillery ; but I never saw him in this capacity, and I believe he was soon taken into the family of the Commander-in-chief. Reinforcem.ents were yet ex- pected from the southward. Among these were Miles'sf and land States. He enjoyed, in a very liigli degree, the confidence and esteem of the Coinmander-in-cliief, whose commendation was warmly bestowed. He served throughout the war with high reputation. — En. * Alexander Hamilton, a name not very dear to the "progressive democracy '' of our party.ridden country, but nevertheless, one of the brightest and greatest that ever adorned the annals of any nation. His personal appearance is graphically described by Sullivan in his " Familiar Letters," already quoted : " He was under middle size, thin in person, but remarkably erect and dignified in his deportment. His hair was turned back from his foreliead, powdered, and collected in a club behind. His complexion was exceedingly fair, and varying from this only by the almost feminine rosiness of his cheeks. His might be considered, as to figure and colour, an uncommonly handsome face. When at rest, it had rather a severe and thoughtful expression ; but when engaged in conversation, it easily assumed an attractive smile. When he entered a room it was apparent, from the respect- ful attention of the company, that he was a distinguished person. His appearance and deportment accorded with the dignified distinction to which he had attained In public estimation." At the period of his death, in July, 1804, he was in his 48th year. — Ed. t Miles is mentioned by Washington in his letter to the President of Congress, dated New York, August 12th, 1776: "The enemy have made no movements of consequence, nor have we any farther intelligence of their designs. Colonel Smallwood and his battalion got in on 13* 150 CHARACTER OF THE SOLDIERS. Atlee's provincial regiments from Pennsylvania; Hazlet's* from Delaware, and Smalhvood'sf from Maryland, both, I think, on the ♦•ontinental establishment; and in addition, large drafts from the militia of Pennsylvania. All these were assembled in time for the opening of tlie campaign : but although the multitude, of which they were apart, contained some excellent raw materials, and Was not without officers of spirit, possessing feelings suitable to their situation, yet diffused throughout the mass, they w'ere certainly extremely rare. The eye looked round in vain for the leading gentry of the country ; those, most emphatically pledged to the cause, "by life, by fortune, and by sacred honour ;"| and taking the army in the aggregate, with its equipments along with it, he must have been a novice or a sanguine calculator, who could sup- pose it capable of sustaining the lofty tone and verbal energy of Congress, In point of numbers merely, it was deficient; though a fact then little known or suspected. Newspapers and common report, indeed, made it immensely numerous ; and it was repre- sented that General Washington had so many men, that he wanted Friday ; and Colonel Miles is also here with two battalions more of Pennsylvania Fiflcmen." * Colonel John Haslet : He distinanished himself at the Battle of Lon^ Island. In 1776, with seven hundred and fifty men, he attacked the encmy^s outposts at the Village of Mamaronee, and forced their guards, taking thirty. six prisoners, a pair of colours, and si.xty stand of arms. He was killed at the Battle of Prince- ton. T Colonel William Smallvvood was at the action of Wliite Plains. He was pro- moted to tlie rank of general, and, in 1777, was despatched to take command of tiie Maryland Militia on the Western Shore. He joined tlie main army in Sep- tember of the same year, and was at the Battle of Germantown. In 1785, he was elected to Congress, and the same year, Governor of Maryland. He died, Febru- ary, 179-2.— Ed. t Congress, to be sure, were privileged; and there must be civil functions as well as military. But these were a good deal a matter of choice; and as the war was a common cause, the very creature of association, its rubs should have been somewhat equalized. Thoughts of this kind, however, would sometimes intrude into minds soured by hard duty, Anotiicr thing whicii also tended to lessen the number of young men of figure was, that many prudent men tliought the time extremely convenient for sending their sons to Europe for education. There they could be better taugljt and were out of harm's way; and upon the wliole, one is justified in saying as Cornelius Ncpos docs of the Atlienians, in his Life of Tlirasybulus, nam jam illis temporibus fortius boni pralibertalc lori.uebanlur, nuam pugnabunt. FORT WASHINGTON. COLONELS MAGAW AND PUTNAM. 151 no more, and had actually sent many home, as superfluous. It is true, there were men enough coming and going ; yet his letters of that day demonstrate how truly weak he was in steady, perma- nent soldiers. It was probably between the twentieth and twenty-fifth of June, that I arrived in this busy scene ; in a few days after which, our regiment and Magaw's* were marched towards Kingsbridge, and encamped upon the ground on which Fort Washington was erected. We were here under the command of General Mifflin, and immediately employed in the construction of that fortress, under the direction of Colonel Putnam, who, as already men- tioned, was our principal engineer, and, considering his want of experience, not destitute, perhaps, of merit in his profession. As a man may be a rhetorician or a logician though unacquainted with the terms of the art, so might Mr. Putnam have been a good practical artist, though misterming the Gorge the George. But this was merely a mistake in pronunciation ; and I will not per- mit myself to question, that he had real science enough to have smelt out Moliere's jest about a demi-lune and a luiie toute en- tier e.j * Colonel Robert Magaw. — He was appointed to the command of Fort Washington. When General Howe demanded the surrender of tlie garrison. Colonel Magaw returned the following gallant answer to tlie British Adutant- General : — "15i/« November, 1776." " Sir, if I rightly understand the purport of your message from General Howe, communicated to Colonel Swoope, this post is to be immediately surrendered, or put to the sword. I think it ratlicr a*mistake, than a settled purpose of General Howe, to act a part so unworthy of himself, and of the British nation. But give me leave to assure his Excellency, that, actuated by the most glorious cause that mankind ever ftught in, I am determined to defend this post to the very last ex- tremity. — Robert Magaw." — Eji. 1 Colonel RuFUS Putnaji. — In regard to his qualifications as an engineer. General Washington, in his letter to Congress of 20th December, 1776, says, "I have also to mention, that, for want of some establishment in the department of engineers, agreeably to the plan laid before Congress, in October last, Colonel Putnam, who was at the head of it, has quitted, and taken a regiment in Massa- chusetts. I know of no other man tolerably well qualified, for the conducting of that business. None of the French gentlemen, whom I have seen, with ap- pointments in that way, appear to me, to know any thing of the matter." And again in his letter to Congress, from Pompton Plains, in July, 1777, he remarks,, 152 FORT WASHINGTON. In the course of some weeks, our labours had produced im- mense mounds of earth, assuming a pentagonal form, and finally issuing in a fort of five bastions. As Caesar, in his operations, has been said to have made great use of tlie spade, I shall not insist upon the improbus labor being beneath the dignity of a soldier ; but certain it is, that we then thought it so, and that the continual fatigue-duty we were subjected to, was not only extremely irksome, but unfavourable also to our improvement in tactics, which, nevertheless, was assiduously attended to. The perpe- tual clouds of dust which the dry weather of the season occa- sioned, gave us the appearance of scavengers ; a circumstance sadly at variance with the neatness of person inculcated by Colonel Shee, and of which he was an enthusiastic admirer : it made our duty also extremely severe, and gave me an inflamma- tion in my eyes, which was the only indisposition I experienced during the campaign. Sickness, however, on the approach of fall, prevailed among our men to a great degreee ; and little more than half our number, was at any time fit for duty. Thus, without fighting, are armies " skiggishly melted away." One of the chief objects in building Fort Washington is under- stood to have been, to prevent the enemy passing up the Hudson, on whose eastern bank it stood, on very commanding ground. On the opposite side of the river, Fort Lee, in the same view, was afterwards erected : and these, with the sinking of some hulks in the channel, were expected, or at least hoped, to be sufficient for the purpose. But the inefficacy of these impedi- ments was soon evinced by two frigates, that taking advantage of a favourable wind, sailed by us with great gallantry, in English phrase, returning our fire in great style. We were too high for their guns to be brought to bear upon us with any certainty ; though one ball was thrown into the fort. Our elevated situation was nearly as unfavourable to the success of our fire upon them ; "Colonel Putnam, I imagine, will be with him (General Schuyler) before this, as his regiment is part of Nixon's brigade, who will answer every purpose he can possibly have for an engineer at this crisis." Colonel Putnam served well and faithfully, throughout the war; at its close he held the rank of Brigadier-General, and was, subsequently, one of the first set- tlers in the North Western territory. — ^Pd, GENERAL MIFFLIN. 153 to remedy which in future, a battery was constructed below, in a very advantageous position. But this w^as attended with no better effect; as two other frigates, not long after, passed in defiance of the guns of both batteries, and apparently without having sus- tained the slighest injury. I afterwards learned, however, when prisoner in New York, that upon one of these occasions, one of the frigates had been hulled, and some men killed and wounded ; among the latter, a midshipman, a son of Mr. Courtland Skinner, of Amboy, lost his arm. To have been regular, I should have mentioned the arrival of the hostile forces, and their occupancy of. Staten Island as a pre- paratory station. From the uncertainty in what quarter they might invade us, the utmost vigilance was inculcated every where, and observed at our post. The lines were manned every morn- ing an hour before day-light ; we were several times formed for action; and once marched to Bloomingdale in full expectation of meeting the enemy, who it was confidently asserted, had made good a landing there, or in the neighbourhood. The intelligence proved untrue, if such indeed had been received. But it is not improbable, that it was merely a contrivance of General Mifflin, to inure us to alarms and render us alert, objects, that to a certain extent, were not without utility ; but the General was a bust- ler, who harassed us unnecessarily ; and, considering the un- avoidable severity of our duty, to the real injury of the health of the troops. His manners were better adapted to attract popularity than to preserve, it. Highly animated in his appearance, and possessing in an eminent degree the talent of harranguing a mul- titude, his services in giving motion to the militia, were several times, in the course of the war, felt and acknowledged ; but that he was equally calculated to keep alive military ardour and con- fidence, cannot be affirmed. He was full of activity and appa- rently of fire ; but it rather resembled the transient blaze of light combustibles, than the constant, steady flame of substantial fuel : though in saying this it should be mentioned, that I have no ground to insinuate that his fortitude was not equal to any de- mand that might have been made upon it. He assumed a little of the veteran from having lain before Boston ; was very fond of telling us that he would bring us into a scrape ; and it must be 154 AN ODD CHARACTER. confessed, that he was considerably happy in the display of that apathy to human carnage, which is affected by great commanders, in the spirit of which the great Frederick tells us, that "When sovereigns play for provinces, the lives of men are but as coun- ters." So much 'tis better to direct the game, than be a compo- nent part of its machinery! But whatever might have been Mifflin's deficiencies, he had many qualifications for his station that too many others, placed in higher ones, wanted. He was a man of education, ready apprehension and brilliancy ; had spent some time in Europe, particularly in France, and was very easy of access with the manners of genteel life, though occasionally evolving those of the Quaker. In delineating both men and events, my object is truth ; otherwise the friendly attention I never fail to receive from this gentleman, might have led me into a strain of less qualified encomium.* The first frigates that passed us, took their station in Tappan sea, where an attempt was made to set them on fire. It failed as to the larger vessels, but a tender was destroyed. One of the persons who embarked in this service as a volunteer, was the surgeon's mate of our regiment, a singular character and degene- rate son of Mordecai Yarnall, a Quaker preacher. I was amused * General Thomas Mifflin. — He was appointed Qiiarter-master-General by Washington, in 1775. Richard Henry Lee, in his reply to Washington's letter informing him of this, says : — " I think you could not possibly have appointed a better man, to his present office than Mr. Mifflin. He is a singular man, and you certainly will meet with the applause and support of all good men, by pro- moting and countenancing real merit and public virtue, in opposition to all private interests and partial affection." He distinguished himself at the siege of Boston by his coolness and intrepidity, and, at the age of 32, was appointed by Con- gress, a Brigadier. In 1777 he was promoted to the rank of Major-General. In 1783, he was elected to Congress from Pennsylvania, his native state, and presided, with ability and dignity, over the deliberations of that body. In 1785, lie was speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and subsequently, president of the Supreme Executive Council. He had been a member of tlie convention which framed the Constitution of the United States, and, in 17i)9, assisted as president of the convention, in forming the new Constitution of the Slate. He was the first Governor under this Constitution, and held the office for nine years, liaving been thrice elected. As president of Congress, he received, at Annapolis, the resigna- tion of General Washington, as Commander-in-chief, delivering on tlie occasion, a brief, but eloquent address in reply to the speech of Washington, He died, at Lancaster, on the 21st of January, 1800, aged 56. — En. CONNECTICUT LIGHT HORSE. 155 with his oddities, and sometimes listened to his imitations of his father's manner of preaching, as well as that of many others of the public friends. Though a temporary apostate from the prin- ciples of his forefathers, in which he had been strictly brought up, I never doubted that they had taken root in him; and that if he was not prematurely cut off, they would vegetate and fruc- tify in due season: nor was I mistaken. Many years after, I saw him zealously sustaining his paternal vocation, surrounded by a circle of friends. He had come to preach in the town in which I resided: I went to hear him, and had the pleasure of taking him home with me to dinner with several of his atten- dants, where every thing passed with as much gravity and de- corum, as if I had never seen him in any other character. Mr. Yarnall's former profaneness could not but have occurred to him on this occasion ; but whatever might have been his recollec- tions, he dissembled them admirably. Among the military phenomena of this campaign, the Connec- ticut light horse ought not to be forgotten. These consisted of a considerable number of old fashioned men, probably farmers and heads of families, as they were generally middle aged, and many of them apparently beyond the meridian of life. They were truly irregulars; and whether their clothing, their equip- ments or caparisons were regarded, it would have been difficult to have discovered any circumstance of uniformity; though in the features derived from " local habitation," they were one and the same. Instead of carbines and sabres, they generally carried fowling pieces; some of them very long, and such as in Pennsyl- vania, are used for shooting ducks. Here and there, one, "his youthful garments, well saved," appeared in a dingy regimental of scarlet, with a triangular, tarnished, laced hat. In short, so little were they like modern soldiers, in air or costume, that, dropping the necessary number of years, they might have been supposed the identical men who had in part composed Pepperil's army at the taking of Louisbourg. Their order of march corre- sponded with their other irregularities. It " spindled into longi- tude immense," presenting so extended and ill-compacted a flank, as though they had disdained the adventitious prowess derived from concentration. These singular dragoons were vo- 156 CHARACTER OF THE ARMY. lunteers, who came to make a tender of their services to the Commander-in-chief. But they staid not long at New York. As such a body of cavalry had not been counted upon, there was in all probability a want of forage for their jades, which, in the spirit of ancient knighthood, they absolutely refused to de- scend from; and as the general had no use for cavaliers in his insular operations, they were forthwith dismissed with suitable acknowledgments for their truly chivalrous ardour.* An un- lucky trooper of this school had by some means or other, found his way to Long Island, and was taken by the enemy in the bat- tle of the 27th of August, The British officers made themselves very merry at his expense, and obliged him to amble about for their entertainment. On being asked, what had been his duty in the rebel army, he answered, that it was to fiank a little and carry tidings. Such at least was the story at New York among the prisoners. But notwithstanding the unwarlike guise of the troops from New England, there was no part of the continent perhaps, in which so little impression could be made, or in which the enemy was so cautious of advancing. Their numbers and zeal ren- dered them formidable when fighting on their own ground pro aris etfocis; and pitiful as was the figure the eastern men made this campaign, the defence of Bunker's hill was worthy of the bravest veterans. f I attempt not to assign a cause for the falling * It appears from a letter of General Washington, that they refused fatigue duty, because it was beneath the dignity of troopers. t General Washington writes under date of 10th February, 1776, to Joseph Reed: "Tlie party sent to Bunker's Hill had some good and some bad men en- gaged in it. One or two courts have been held on the conduct of part of them. To be plain, these people are not to be depended upon if exposed ; and any man will fight well if he tliinks himself in no danger. I do not apply this only to these people. I suppose it to be the case with all raw and undisciplined troops." — Sparks, Vol. iii. p. 285. With no other motive than a love of justice, a protest must here be entered against a judgment so severe as that expressed by our author in the text. What- ever may have been the deficiencies of a portion of the New England troops in equipment and discipline — deficiencies by no means peculiar to them — tiie cou- rap-e, fortitude, and self sacrificing zeal with which the trials and difficulties of the Revolution were fnet, endured, and finally overcome, ought not to be questioned. All tliis is matter of history. The country that could furnish such " exigent CHARACTER OF THE ARMY. 157 off; and should even be fearful of recognising it, were there not documents in existence, and hundreds yet alive to attest the truth of my representations. I have in vain, endeavoured to ac- count for the very few gentlemen and men of the world, that at this time appeared in arms from this country, which might be considered as the cradle of the revolution. There were some indeed, in the higher ranks; and here and there a young man of decent breeding, in the capacity of an aid-de-camp or brigade major; but anything above the condition of a clown, in the regiments we came in contact with, was truly a rarity. Was it that the cause was only popular among the yeomanry? Was it that men of fortune and condition there, as in other parts of the continent, though evidently most interested in a contest, whose object was to rescue American property from the grasp of British avidity, were willing to devolve the fighting business on the poorer and humbler classes ? Was it, in short, that they held the language of the world, and said, "Let the guH'd fools the toils of war subdue. Where bleed the many to enrich the few?" Or was it, that that simple way of thinking and ill appreciation of military talent, which had made a drivelling deacon,* second men " as Prescott, Warren, Greene, Knox, Putnam, Lincoln, Stark, and Sulli- van ; an Adams, a Hancock, an Otis and a Quincv, cannot be supposed to be defi- cient in enlightened patriotic zeal, or in men with " hearts to do and dare " all that brave and patriotic men may do and dare, in defence of their liberties and rio-hts- and the page of History glows v/ith the story of their services, sufFerino-s and worth. — Ed. * This was General Ward,* with whose resignation and that of Brigadier Frye General Washington makes himself merry in a letter to General Lee, published in the Memoirs of the latter. So little does the character of the time appear to be known at present, that 1 deem it necessary to fortify my remarks. * General Artemas Ward. — He had been appointed, by the Provincial Con- gress of Massachusetts, commander of all the forces raised by that Colony. He was the first Major-General in the American army. He graduated at Harvard in 1748. " For several years he was an active and useful member of the General Court, and, in 1774, one of the Provincial Congress. He served in the war pre- vious to the peace of Paris, and when the Revolutionary struggle commenced was appointed Major-Goneralj and was even thought of as Generalissimo. 14 158 GENERALS WARD AND FRYE. in command, was then prevalent among them ? Whatever was the reason, New England was far behind the other provinces in the display of an ardent, unequivocal zeal for the cause, in the quality of her officers; and notwithstanding that she has since shown herself more prolific of liberal, well-informed, exigent men, than any other part of the union, her soldiery, at the time I am speaking of, was contemptible in the extreme. Neither did the fighting department appear to be fashionable among the gentry of Virginia. It must be admitted that she furnished some gentlemen aids-de-camp and volunteers, and afterwards, corps of cavalry, respectably officered; but the seri- ous, drudging business of war, devolves on the infantry; and in this description of force, she evinced but little brilliancy. One of her regiments, I recollect, did duty with us when we were encamped on Haerlem heights. "* Its commander had the ap- pearance of a reputable planter, and might for any thing I know to the contrary, have been both patriotic and brave ; but neither himself nor his officers, were of the kind that bespoke the elite of their country : they were not in the style of their vocation ; in a word, they were not Bay.lors, nor Griffins, nor Lees, nor Mon- roes. But allowing every possible merit to these gentlemen, it does not lesse-4i the force of my observation in respect to their State, of whose subsequent exertions, I am ignorant. He commanded the troops at Cambridge until the arrival of Washington, when he was placed at the head of the right wing at Roxbury. His firmness and in- trepidity were strikingly displayed on various trying occasions. He resigned his commission in April, 1776, though at the request of Washington he continued for some time longer in command. He was afterwards chosen one of the Council of Massachusetts, where he was distinguished for his integrity and independence of spirit. He was elected to Congress on tlie organization of the General Govern- ment, and died late in the year 1800, at the age of seventy-three." — Enc. Anier. — Ed. Bkisadier-General Joseph Frve. — Washington writes concerning him to Congress, 31st August, 1 77.) : — " He entered into the service as early as 1745, and rose through the different military ranks, in the two succeeding wars, to that of Colonel. From these circumstances, together with the favourable report made to me of him, I presume he sustained the character of a good officer, though I do not find it distinguished by any peculiar service." Colonel Frye received from Congress the appointment of Brigadier-General in the Continental army, upon the recommendation of the Commander-in-chief. He resigned his commission in April, 1776. — Ed. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 159 Among the mistakes of ray life, in a view to advancement, I may justly reckon my not essaying the aid-de-camp career. To the rank and pay of major, which followed the appointment, an exemption from hard duty immediately took place, and the for- tunate incumbents had cause to hug themselves in a world of other pleasant consequences. They, comparatively, fed well and slept well; used horses legs instead of their own, upon a march; and were, besides, in the true road to preferment. The late Ge- neral Walter Stewart,* was a younger Captain than myself, in the same regiment. But he chose the better path I allude to : in doing so he escaped captivity, was warmly recommended to Congress by his General, and complimented with a regiment, while his elder officers were languishing in captivity, neglected, superseded and forgotten. Captain Scull, also, of our regiment, had attached himself to General Thomson ; and the Colonels fear- ing they should lose more of us, were assiduous in representing the employment of an aid, as not only unworthy of a man of spiirit, but as being out of the line of promotion : In the latter, at least, they were egregiously mistaken. The Declaration of Independence,! w'hose date will never be * Honourable mention is made of Colonel Walter Stewart by General Wash- ington in his letter of 13tii January, 1780, to Lord Sterling-. Colonel Stewart rendered valuable services at the time of the revolt in the Pennsylvania line, which were recognised by Washington and Wayne. — Ed. t The Declaration of Independence was read, in public, by Commodore Hop- kins, from " the platform of an Observatory which had been erected by Ritten- house, at the rear of the State House. But few people assembled to hear it, and among these there were no manifestations of enthusiasm. They quietly retired at its conclusion. It was above the comprehension of the mass. The principles upon which it was based, and the language of the Declaration itself, were not immediately appreciated and understood. Another proof of what has been else- where asserted in these 'Memoirs' — that the 'Revolution is universally admitted to have begun in the upper circles of society.' The apathy, timidity, or igno- rance, thus manifested at its birth-place was not imitated elsewhere, and whatever may Imve been the reception of the great intelligence by the army — among the people, and nowhere more warmly than at Boston, the news was received, ac- cording to BoTTA, 'with transports of joy.' Nor were any of those public demon- strations omitted which governments are accustomed to employ, on similar occasions, to conciliate the favour of the people. The artillery was fired, bonfires were kindled, the people seemed actually delirious with exultation. On the 11th of July, the manifesto of Congress was published in New York, and was read to each brigade of the Anierican army, which, at that time, was assembled in the 160 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. forgotten so long as Liberty remains the fashion, and demagogues continue to thrive upon it, was, with the utmost speed, trans- mitted to the armies; and when received, read to the respective \ regiments. If it was not embraced with all the enthusiasm that j has been ascribed to the event, it was at least hailed with accla- mations, as no doubt any other act of Congress, not flagrantly ' improper, would at that time have been. The propriety of the measure had been little canvassed among us ; and perhaps it was to our honour, considered merely as soldiers, that we were so little of politicians. A predilection for republicanism, it is true, had not reached the army, at least the Pennsylvania line ; but as an attempt to negotiate in our unorganized situa.tion, would pro- bably have divided and ruined us, the step was considered wise, although a passage of the Rubicon, and calculated to close the door to accommodation. Being looked upon as unavoidable, if resistance was to be persisted in, it was approved ; and produced vicinity of the city : it was received with universal acclamation. The same evening the statue of George III., which had been erected in 1770, was taken down and dragged through the streets. It was decided that the lead of which it was composed, should be converted into musket balls. These excesses, however blameable in themselves, were not without utility if considered politically; they excited the people and hurried tliem on to the object that was desired. At Balti- more, Independence having been proclaimed in the presence of cannoniers and militia, tiie people could not contain their enthusiasm. The air resounded with salutes of artillery, and tiie shouts that hailed the freedom and happiness of the United States of America. The effigy of the King became the sport of the popu- lace, and was afterwards burnt in the public square. The rejoicings at Boston were the greatest of all. Independence was there proclaimed from the balcony of the State House, in the presence of all the authorities, civil and military, and of an immense concourse of people, as well from the city itself as from the coun- . try. The garrison was drawn up in order of battle in King street, which from tliat moment took the name of State street ; the troops formed in thirteen detachments, to denote the thirteen United Stiites. At a given signal, a salute of thirteen cannon was fired upon Fort Hill, which was immediately answered by an equal number from the batteries of the Castle, of the Neck, of Nantasket, and - of Point Alderton. The garrison, in their turn, fired thirteen salutes ormusketry, each detachment firing in succession. The authorities and most considerable inhabitants then convened at a banquet prepared in the Council Chamber. All the bells rung in token of felicitation ; the joy was universal, and its demonstra- tions were incessantly renewed. In the evening all the ensigns of royalty, lions, sceptres or crowns, whether sculptured or painted, were torn in pieces and burned." — Ed, STATUE OF GEORGE III. DEMOLISHED. 161 no resignations among the officers that I am aware of, except that of Lieutenant-Colonel William Allen, already mentioned, who was with his regiment in Canada. He called at our camp on his way to Philadelphia, where he appeared somewhat surprised and mor- tified that his example had no follow^ers. Being now independent, we had no farther use for a king, or even the semblance of one ; for which reason the equestrian sta- tue of George the Third, in New York, was thrown down and demolished. The head of the King was cut off by way of in- flaming the public valour : but so little was the spirit of seventy- six like the spirit of subsequent eras, that the act was received with extreme coldness and indifference. Had even George him- self been among us, he would have been in no great danger of personal injury, at least from the army. We were, indeed, begin- ning to grow angry with him ; and were not displeased with Paine for calling him a royal brute, but we had not yet acquired the true taste for cutting throats. The suspense in which we had for many weeks been held, ia respect to the meditated operations of the enemy, was at length removed by the landing of a considerable force on the 22d of August, on Long Island. Among the measures taken to counter- act him, hand-bills, addressed to the German troops, inviting de- sertion by a promise of land, were prepared by Congress, and endeavoured to be circulated among them. For this business, Christopher Ludwig, a baker of Philadelphia, was, among others, selected. As he was a German, and had been a soldier in his younger days, he was supposed to be peculiarly fitted for the purpose. Full of zeal for the cause, he was already at his post, and was bold enough to undertake the perilous employment ; but whether he ventured himself in the enemy's camp, I never learned. I rather suspect he was shy, as he well knew the penalty of detection in such an enterprize. At any rate, the overtures had no effect : no deserters came over to us. This Ludwig, though far advanced in years, could yet play the old soldier widi much address, and thence contrived to make himself conspicuous. Be- ing employed some time after to manage the ovens, he assumed the title of Bakermaster- General of the army, and made a vow never to shave his beard until a fortunate conclusion of the con- 14* 162 BAKER-GENERAL THE BRITISH LAND ON LONG ISLAND, test.* It is a little remarkable, that the patriotism of the Baker- General should have displayed itself in the same manner as that of Cato did, during the civil war of Rome, who, as we are in- formed by Lucan, neither shaved, nor cut his hair. " Ut primum tolli ferut, improperly, I presume, as the Hessians must have been in possession of the north end of tlie hill, as soon as Rawlings was driven from it. REFLECTIONS ON THE SITUATION OF THE TROOPS. 193 and that it might have been liable to some positive objections I am not aware of, the desideratum already adverted to, would na- turally induce a preference of the farther lines; and no doubt the calculation was, that after fighting to the utmost in the first, we might fight again in the second. In fact, the idea of taking an extensive range, and equally resisting in every part the compres- sion to the centre, the effect and advantage of regular fortifica- tions sufficiently manned, is extremely plausible and seducing; insomuch, that none but an old General who has been taught by long experience to know the importance of adhering to rules of proportion, as well in the management of animate as inanimate machinery, will have the boldness to disregard it. Whether these last two schemes of defence or either of them, occurred to our Commander, I do not know ; but if they did occur, they were probably contemplated as dernier resorts, or efforts in reserve, which, it would be time enough to employ, when our first exer- tions should have been overpowered. The same reasoning might have induced General Greene to suppose, that after slaughtering a host of the enemy, we might methodically withdraw into the citadel of Fort Washingfon: and then, provided each of us had killed his man, and thus fulfilled the object of the operation, if any object it had, we might have been snugly slipped over the Hudson, as erst we had been over the East river. But in hello no7i licet his errare, we should beware of repeating a mistake in war; and how this fine project was marred and the garrison put Ji07-s de combat will now be seen. I repeat, however, that the error was in attempting to defend the place, not in the disposition of the troops, which, all things considered, was perhaps, as ad- vantageous as possible. But supposing Fort Washington tenable, " what single pur- pose," as it has been observed by General Lee, " did it answer to keep it? Did it cover, did it protect a valuable country? Did it prevent the enemy's ships from passing and repassing with impunity?" No; but we had been too much in the habit of evacuating posts, and it was high time to correct the procedure. This garrison must stand, because it had been hitherto too fashionable to run away; and Pennsylvania and Maryland must 17 194 POSITION OF THE TROOPS. pay for the retreating alacrity of New England.* If any thing better can be made of General Greene's motives for retaining the post, as mentioned in General Washington's official letter to Congress, I am willing to take to myself the discredit of per- version. If what I say should be thought to implicate the Com- mander-in-chief, and to impugn his decision, I cannot help it. A good man he undoubtedly was, nor will party malignity be ever able to deprive him of the fame of a truly great one. But my veneration for truth, is even greater than that for his charac- ter ; nor will my admiration of his virtues induce me to say, that his military career was without a blemish. f On the sixteenth of November, before day-break, we were at cur post in the lower lines of Haerlem heights ; that is, our regi- ment and Magaw's, and some broken companies of Miles's and other battalions, principally from Pennsylvania. This might be called our right wing, and was under the command of Colonel Cadwalader ; our left, extending to the Hudson above, and on the north side of the fort towards King's-bridge, was commanded by Colonel Ravvlings| of Maryland, who had there his own regi- .ment of riflemen, and probably some other troops; though as the position was narrow, numbers were not so essential to it, as to other parts of the general post. The front or centre extending a considerable distance along Haerlem river, § was committed to * Once for all let me be understood as only alluding in these remarks to the bad cohstitution of the New England troops; and by no means to the people generally, who have no doubt the means of furnishing as good offieers as any other part of the Union. But from their shameful inattention to it, this eampaign, the southern officers were warranted in their indignation. t Subsequent developments prove, as we have shown, that the opinion of Gene- ral Washington was adverse to the course which circumstances beyond his con- trol, compelled him to adopt. If the information, since so faithfully collected and concentrated by tiie indefatigable Sparks, had been within reach of our author, we have too high an opinion of his candour to suppose tliat he would have in- dulged in a strain of remark as unjust as it is painful to peruse. — Ed. t Colonel Moses Rawlings. — General Washington speaks of him in his letter to John Augustine Washington, 19th November, 1776: "By General Greene's account the enemy have suffered greatly on the north side of Fort Washington. Colonel Rawlings' regiment was posted there, and behaved with great spirit." — Ed. § In calling this the front, I conform to Judge Marshall's description of tho' ATTACKED BY THE BRITISH. 195 the militia of the Flying Camp, and Colonel Magaw placed him- self in the most convenient station for attending to the whole, having selected one or two officers to assist him as aids-de-camp. I think it was between seven and eight o'clock, when they gave us the first shot from one of their batteries on the other side of Haerlem riv^er. It was well directed, at a cluster of us that were standing together observing their movements ; but it fell short by about ten or fifteen yards, and bounded over the spot we had precipitately abandoned. In correcting this error they afterwards shot too high, and did us no harm ; at least, while I remained in this part of the field, which though enfiladed or rather exposed in the rear, was too distant to be very seriously annoyed. They had better success in front, killing a man with a cannon ball, belonging to our pickets, which they drove in. Soon after, they approached the lines in great force under cover of a wood, in the verge of which they halted, and slowly began to form, giving us an occasional discharge from their artillery. Tired of the state of suspense in which we had remained for se- veral hours, I proposed to Colonel Cadwalader, to throw myself with my company into a small work or ravelin about two hun- dred yards in advance, for the purpose of annoying them as they came up. To this he assented, and I took possession of it; but found it was a work that had been little more than marked out, not knee high, and of course affording no cover. For this rea- son, after remaining in it a few minutes, with a view to impress my men with the idea that a breastwork was not absolutely ne- cessary, I abandoned it, and returned into the intrenchment. This unimportant movement was treated with some respect: Not knowing its meaning, it induced the troops that were in column, immediately to display ; and the irregulars to open upon us a action. As the longest line of the position, it was the front, but seems improperly so called when it is considered that, except at its upper extremity, no troops were posted on it. It would be more correct, therefore, to consider the posts, the one crossing the island on the nortli under Colonels Rawlings and Baxter, and the other on the south, under Colonel Cadwalader, as two distinct and unconnected positions, separated as they were by a space of about three miles. This interval for above half its extent, lying along the banks of the Haerlem, was to depend for defence on casual supplies of troops, as they could be spared from other places. 196 BATTLE OF HAERLEM HEIGHTS. scattering fire. Soon after my return to the lines, it being ob- served that the enemy was extending himself towards the Hudson on our right, Colonel Cadwalader detached me thither with my company, with orders to post myself to the best advantage for the protection of that flank. I accordingly marched, and took my station at the extremity of the trench, just where the high grounds begin to decline towards the river. This situation, from the intervention of higher land, concealed from my view the other parts of the field; and thence, disqualifies me from speak- ing of what passed there, as an eye-witness: But that the action had begun in earnest, I was some time after informed by my sense of hearing. It was assailed by a most tre- n^endous roar of artillery, quickly succeeded by incessant vol- lies of small arras, wdiich seemed to proceed from the east and north ; and it was to these pcvnts, that General Howe chiefly di- rected his efforts. The direct and cross fire from his batteries on the east side of the Haerlem, effectually covered the landing of his troops, and protected them also in gaining the steep ascents on our side. It Vv^as no disgrace to the militia, diat they shrunk from this fire; such of them at least as were exposed to it with- out cover. I question whether the bravest veterans could have stood it, unless I am deceived as to the advantage of the ground on which the batteries were erected. When the heights were gained, the enemy planted there must maintain themselves by their small arras, since the artillery frora their batteries would be equally fatal to them as to us. On receiving intelligence that embarkations of British troops were about to be thrown across Haerlem river in his rear. Colonel Cadwalader made de- tachments from his position (already much too weakly manned) to meet this body of the enemy, as yet unopposed by any part of our force. The first detachment arrived in time to open afire upon the assailants before they reached the shore, and it was well directed and deadly. Nevertheless their great superiority of force, adequately aided by artillery, enabled them to land, and by extending themselves, to gain the heights. On this ground it was that a sharp contest ensued ; speaking of which in his official account of the action. General Howe says, " it was well de- fended by a body of the rebels :" and so it undoubtedly was, when ISSUE OF THE ENGAGEMENT' DEFENCES, 197 it IS considered that but about one hundred and fifty of our men, with a single eighteen pounder, were opposed by eight hundred British troops, under cover of a battery. But overpowered by numbers, the resistance was inefl'ectual ; and the detachments engaged in it, retired towards the fort. Rawlings, on his part, made a gallant stand against the Hessians under the command of General Knyphausen, to whom had been assigned the perilous glory, of gaining this strong piece of ground, differing essentially from that on the borders of Haerlem river, in the want of oppo- site hei2;hts for batteries. The Germans here lost a great many men ; but as they had been bought by his Britannic ma- jesty, he had an unquestionable right to make a free use of them; and this seemed to be the conviction of General Howe. Raw- lings also suffered a good deal in proportion to his numbers. He had I think two officers killed ; and himself, Major Williams, and some others, were wounded; one of whom, a Mr. Hanson, died in New York. The attainment of the post of Rawlings, put the Hessians in possession of the ground which commanded the fort ; as that, possessed by the British, commanded the open field. Hence, the contest might be said to be at an end. Colonel Cadwalader, aware that he was placed between two fires; and that the victorious enemy in his rear, would soon ex- tend themselves across the island, ordered a retreat just in time to prevent his interception. But I here suspend my own relation for the purpose of in- troducing a more ample statement of unquestionable authenticity, obligingly furnished by a friend ; and which, embracing more detail, and mentioning some interesting particulars but little known, will occupy a few pages, much to the advantage of these Memoirs. " Fort Washington stood on an eminence, situated on the margin of the Hudson, or North river, about two miles and a-half below King's-bridge. The access to the level on the top of it, is steep and difficult on every side, except on the south, where the ground is open, and the ascent gradual, to the fort. The hill extends along the North river about half a mile from the fort ; and at the termination of it were some small works, 17* 198 DISPOSITION OF THE TROOPS. which, with the natural strength of the place, were deemed a sufficient protection against the enemy, in that quarter. " Nearly opposite to the fort, on the west side of Haerlem river, a body of men was posted to watch the motions of the enemy, who had erected works on the high and commanding ground east of that river, apparently with the design of covering a landing of troops in that part of the island of New York. From this post, along the west side of Haerlem river, to Colonel Roger Morris's house, a distance of not less than a mile and a-half, there were no troops posted either for observation or defence. "About a mile below Morris's house, two lines, nearly parallel to each other, were constructed by General Washington, when the army retired to the upper part of the island, after the evacuation of New York. These lines extended from the vici- nity of Haerlem river, across the island, to the North river, and were in length, each about a mile. The first line, towards New York, intersected the great road leading to King's-bridge, after the height is ascended from Haerlem plains: It was a slight intrenchment, with a few weak bastions, without platforms for cannon, and furnished with no other ordnance than a few old iron pieces of small caliber, scarcely fit for use, and an iron six pounder mounted on trucks. The second line was stronger, both from the nature of the ground, which afforded small emi- nences for bastions closed in the rear, and from having the in- tervals between the bastions strongly picketed. These lines were defensive works for the whole American army. The first line seemed calculated, rather for retarding the approach of the enemy, than as a seriously defensive work ; it being nothing more (with the exception of the bastions) than a shallow ditch, with the earth thrown outwards. The second line was formed at a proper distance from the first, so as to protect the latter by musketry as well as cannon, and to drive out the enemy, should he get possession of it: but this second line, on the day of the attack of Fort Washington, was from necessity, wholly without defence, either af troops, or artillery of any description. "A summons having been sent by General Howe, on the day preceding the attack, to Colonel Magaw, to surrender the fort ; ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE. 199 and having met with a spirited refusal, the attack on the fort, and the posts connected with it, was expected, and actually took place on the following day. Colonel Magaw, who com- manded on the island, remained in the fort; Colonel Rawlings, with his regiment of riflemen, was posted on the rear of Mount Washington ; Colonel Baxter, with his regiment of militia, on Haerlem river, opposite Fort Washington; and Colonel Lambert Cadwalader, at the first line, about two and a half miles from the fort, with about eight hundred men, including a reinforce- ment of a hundred militia sent him, about ten or eleven o'clock in the morning. " The operations of the enemy were announced early in the morning, by a cannonade on Colonel Rawlings' position, and a distant one, from the heights of Morrisania, on the line occupied by Colonel Cadwalader ; the former with the view of facilitating the attack on that point, by three thousand Hessians ; the latter, to favour the approach of Lord Percy, with one thousand six hundred men. "At ten o'clock in the morning, a large body of the enemy appeared on Haerlem plains, preceded by their field pieces, and advanced v/ith their whole body, towards a rocky point of the height, which skirted the plains in a southern direction from the first line, and at a considerable distance from it — and, commencing a brisk fire on the small work constructed there, drove out the party which held it, consisting of twenty men, and took posses- sion of it: the men retiring with the picket guard to the first line. The enemy, having gained the heights, advanced in column, on open ground, tow^ards the first line ; whilst a party of their troops pushed forward, and took possession of a small unoccupied work in front of the first line ; from whence they opened their fire with some field pieces and a howitzer, upon the line, but without effect. When the column came within proper distance, a fire from the six-pounder was directed against it ; on which, the whole column inclined to their left, and took post behind a piece of w^oods, where they remained. As it was suspected that they would make an attempt on the right of the line, under cover of the wood, that part was strengthened. "Things remained in this position for about an hour and a 200 ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE. half, during which interval, General Washington, with Generals Putnam, Greene, Mercer, and other principal officers, came over the North River from Fort Lee, and crossed the island to Morris's house ; whence they viewed the position of our troops, and the operations of the enemy in that quarter. Having remained there a sufficient time to observe the arrangement that had been made for the defence of that part of the island, they retired by the way they came, and returned to Fort Lee, without making any change in the disposition of the troops, or communicating any new orders. It is a fact, not generally known, that the British troops took possession of the very spot on which the Commander-in- chief, and the general officers with him, had stood, in fifteen minutes after they left it.. " Colonel Rawlings was some time late in the morning attacked by the Hessians, whom he fought with great gallantry and effect, as they were climbing the heights ; until the arms of the riflemen became useless from the foulness they contracted from the fre- quent repetition of their fire. From this incident, and the great superiority of the enemy, Colonel Rawlings was obliged to retire into the fort. The enemy having gained the heights, imme- diately pushed forward towards the fort, and took post behind a large store-house, within a small distance of it. " But to return to what passed at the first line towards New York. Litelligence having been received by Colonel -Cadwala- der, that the enemy were coming down Haerlem river in boats, to land in his rear, he detached Captain Lenox with fifty men, to oppose them, and, on farther information, a hundred more, with Captains Edwards and Tudor.* This force, with the addition of about the same number from Fort Washington, arrived on the heights near Morris's house, early enough to fire on the enemy in their boats,! which was done with such effect, that about ninety were killed and wounded. The great superiority, however, of the * The subalterns under Captain Lenox, were Lieutenants Lawrence and TiLTON, and Ensign M'Intire — the others are unknown. t This body from the Fort, from the testimony of an eye witness, and by per- mission of the gentleman who furnishes the aceount, I am authorized to state, did not arrive so early ; neither was it engaged. It consisted of tlic Flying Camp, and could not be brought into actioa ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE. 201 enemy, (their numbers amounting to about eight hundred men,) prevailed over the. bravery and good conduct of our troops, who, with some loss retired to Fort Washington. " This body of the enemy immediately advanced, and took pos- session of the grounds in advance of, and a little below Morris's house, where some soldiers' huts had been left standing, not far from the second line. This position of the enemy being ob- served, it was expected they w^ould march down and take pos- session of the second line, (which from the want of men, was entirely without defence,) and thereby place the troops in the first line, between two fires. This important movement did not, how- ever, take place ; owing, as was afterwards learned, to the appre- hension they entertained, that the enclosed bastions concealed tlierein a number of men, whose fire would greatly annoy them. They hesitated; — and this being perceived, from the delay that took place. Colonel Cadwalader, to avoid the fatal consequences that must have resulted from the expected movement, immediately resolved to retire to the fort, with the troops under his command ; and as the measure required promptness and activity, he sent orders to the right and left of the line, to move off towards Fort Washington, on the signal being given ; which, after a proper interval of time, being made, the whole was put in motion, (those on the left retiring obliquely tow^ards the centre of the second line,) passed the second line and when they came opposite to the body of the enemy posted at the huts, received their fire, which was returned in an irregular manner ; and, pursuing the road which led to the fort, under the heights by the North river, arrived there with little or no loss. " The militia under Colonel Baxter, posted on Haerlem river, were attacked by the British guards and light infantry, who landed on the island of New York, protected by the fire from the work on the heights on the opposite side of the river. A short contest ensued ; but our troops, overpowered by numbers, and leaving behind them Colonel Baxter, who was killed by a British ofl[icer as he was bravely encouraging his men, retired to the fort. The guards and light infantry, then crossed the island to the heights on the North river, a little below the fort, under 202 ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE. which Colonel Cadwalader with his party, but a few minutes be- fore, had passed, in his way to the fort."* * General Wilkinson says, " I conversed with General Greene, respecting the affair at Fort Washington, who was cliiefly blamed for attempting to hold the place, and I recollect well, ho observed, ' I would to God we had had ten thousand men there.' lie was of opinion tiic ground was tenable, and that it was lost by the insufficiency of our force, and I am inclined to the same opinion." — Mems., vol. 1. — Ed. author's perilous situation. 203 CHAPTER VIII. The Autlior a Prisoner. — Conduct of British Officers and SoIdierr\ — The Author's Treatment. — State of Prisoners. — Visits to Prisoners. — Treatment. — Major Maitland. — Reflections. — Americans and English cojitrasted. — Character of General Howe. — Killed and Wounded. — Character of Mr. Eecket. — Humanity of Britisli Officers. — March of Prisoners to New York. — Occurrences on the Road. — Generosity of a Highlander. — Disposal of Prisoners. — Officers' Quar- ters. — Baggage Restored. — Author appears in Regimentals. — Reflections. These things, or the greater part of them, had probably passed before I had abandoned my station, taken as already mentioned, in pursuance of orders for strnegthening the right. The line of entrenchment was too extensive to be manned without leaving intervals. Some of these were large, and intervening hillocks cut off the communication in some parts; otherwise, the whole of us under the command of Colonel Cadv/alader must have retreated at the same time. The first notice that I had of the entrenchment being given up, w^as from an officer I did not know, posted at .some distance from me, going off with his men. I called to him to know what he meant. He answered, that he was making the best of his way to the fort, as the rest of the troops had retreated long since. As I had no reason to doubt his veracity, I imme- diately formed my company, and began to retire in good order, which is more than I can say of my neighbour or his corps; and amidst all the chagrin, I afterv/ards felt, that the events of the day had been so unpropitious to our glory, I had the satisfaction to reflect, that the men were always obedient, and ready to par- take of any danger their officers would share with them. This, however, was but matter of inference; since I never was at- tacked, though continually fronted by a strong force, and incom- moded by their ordnance, though without being injured by it. After proceeding some hundred paces I reflected that I had no ■■~\. 204 AUTHOR TAKEN PRISONER. orders for what I was doing ; and that, although I had no right to expect exactness, in a moment of such pressure, it was yet possible my movement might be premature. I knew nothing of what had passed in the centre, or of the enemy being master of the high grounds in my rear about Colonel Morris's house, from which, no doubt, had proceeded the cannon balls that whizzed by us; and for which, coming in that direction, I could not ac- count. To be entirely correct in my conduct, I here halted my men, and went myself to a rising ground at some distance, from which I might have a view of the lines where Colonel Cadwala- der had been posted. They seemed thoroughly manned; and at the instant, I beckoned to the officers to march back the com- pany, which they immediately put in motion; but looking more attentively, I perceived that the people I saw, were British and Hessian troops that were eagerly pressing forward. Upon this, I hastened back to my party, and as there was no time to be lost, being in a situation to be cut to pieces by a corps of ca- valry, I ordered them under the command of my ensign, to make the best of their way and join the body of men, which none doubted being our own, on the heights beyond the inner lines; and that I would follow them as fast as I could, for I was a good deal out of breath with the expedition, I had used in going to and returning from the ground, which gave me a view of the outer lines. I accordingly walked on, accompanied by Forrest who did not choose to leave me alone. Edwards was not with me, having been promoted to the command of a company and employed as already mentioned. The body I had pointed to and directed my company to join, under the idea of their being our own men, turned out to be the British, consisting of Colonel Stirling's divisions of Highlanders, a circumstance that was not at first perceived on account of the distance; nor, owing to the smoke of an irregular fire which they kept up, and the entrench- ment in which they were posted, covering them to the breast, was it manifest until we got pretty near them. Upon this dis- covery, we held a moment's consultation, and the result was, that hemmed in as we were on every side, there was no chance of escaping; and that there was nothing left but to give our- selves up to them. Had we been aware, at first, of their being HIS SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT. 205 the enemy, we might have eluded them by shaping our way along the shore of the Hudson, as my men, soon discovering who they were, had done ; but in full confidence that they were odr people, I bent my course in the opposite direction to the main body, in the view of meeting Colonel Cadwalader there, and taking his farther orders. Thus circumstanced, we clubbed our fusees in token of surrender, and continued to advance towards them. They either did not or would not take the signal ; and though there were but two of us, from whom they could not pos- sibly expect a design to attack, they did not cease firing at us. I may venture to say, that not less than ten guns were discharged with their muzzles towards us, within the distance of forty or fifty yards; and I might be nearer the truth in saying, that some were let off within twenty. Luckily for us, it was not our rifle- men to whom we were targets; and it is astonishing how even these hlunt shooters could have missed us. But as we were ascending a considerable hill, they shot over us. I observed they took no aim, and that the moment of presenting and firing, was the same. As I had full leisure for reflection, and was per- fectly collected, though fearful that their design was to give no quarter, I took oft* my hat with such a sweep of the arm as could not but be observed, Vt^ithout ceasing however to advance. This had the intended effect: x\ loud voice proceeded from the breast-work, and the firing immediately ceased. An oflScer of the forty-second regiment advanced towards us; and as I was foremost, he civilly accosted me by asking me my rank. Being informed of this, as also of Forrest's, he inquired where the fort lay and where Colonel Magaw was. I pointed in the direction of the fort, and told him I had not seen Colonel Magaw during the day. Upon this, he put us under the care of a sergeant and a few men, and left us. The sergeant was a decent looking man, who, on taking us into custody, bestowed upon us in broad Scotch the friendly admonition, of Young men, ye should never fight against your king. The little bustle produced by our sur- render, was scarcely over, when a British officer on horseback, apparently of high rank, rode up at full gallop, exclaiming, What ! ta/dng prisoners ! Kill them^ kill every man of them. My back was towards him when he spoke ; and although by this 18 206 HIS SUBSEQUENT TREATM3NT. time, there was none of that appearance of ferocity in the guard, which would induce much fear, that they would execute his command, I yet thought it well enough to parry it, and turning to him, I took off" my hat, saying, Sir 1 put myself under your protection. No man was ever more effectually rebuked. His manner was instantly softened: He met my salutation with an inclination of his body, and after a civil question or two, as if to make amends for his sanguinary mandate, he rode off" towards the fort, to which he had inquired the way. Though I had delivered up my arms, I had not adverted to a cartouch box which I wore about my waist, and which, having once belonged to his Britannic Majesty, presented in front, the gilded letters G. R. Exasperated at this trophy on the body of a rebel, one of the soldiers seized the belt with great violence, and in the attempt to unbuckle it, had nearly jerked me off" my legs. To appease the offended loyalty of the honest Scot, I submissively took it off" and delivered it to him, being conscious that I had no longer any right to it. At this time a Hessian came up. He was not a private, neither did he look like a regular othcer: He was some retainer, however, to the German troops; and was as much of a brute as any one I have ever seen in the human form. The wretch came near enough to elbow us; and half unsheathing his sword, with a countenance that bespoke a most vehement desire to use it upon us, he grinned out in broken English, Eh, you rebel, you dam rebel ! I had by this time entire confidence in our Scotchmen; and therefore regarded the caitiff' with the same indifference, that I should have viewed a caged wild beast, though with much greater abhorrence. These transactions which occupied about ten minutes, passed upon the spot on which we were taken, whence we were marched to an old stable or out house, where we found about forty or fifty prisoners already collected, principally officers, of whom I only particularly recollect Lieutenant Brodhead of our battalion. We remained on the outside of the building; and for nearly an hour, sustained a series of most intolerable abuse. This chiefly pro- ceeded from the officers of the light infantry ; for the most part, young and insolent puppies, whose worthlessness was apparently their recommendation to a service, which placed them in the STATE OF PRISONERS. 207 post of danger, and in the way of becoming food for powder, their most appropriate destination next to that of the gallows. The term rebel, with the ephithet dmnned before it, was the mildest we received. We were twenty times told, sometimes with a taunting affectation of concern, that we should every man of us be hanged ; and were nearly as many times paraded with the most inconceivable insolence, for the purpose of ascertaining whether there were not some deserters among us ; and these were always sought for among the officers, as if the lowest fellow in their army was fit for any post in ours. "There's a fellow," an upstart Cockney would exclaim, "that I could swear was a de- serter." "What countrymen, are you sir? Did you not belong to such a regiment?" — I was not indeed challenged for a deserter; but the indignity of being ordered about by such contemptible whipsters, for a moment unmanned me, and I was obliged to apply my handkerchief to my eyes. This was the first time in my life, that I had been the victim of brutal, cowardly oppression; and I was unequal to the shock; but my elasticity of mind was soon restored, and I viewed it with the indignant contempt it deserved. For the greater convenience of guarding us, we were removed from this place, to the barn of Colonel Morris's house, already mentioned, which had been the head quarters of our army, as it now was of the royal one. This was the great bank of deposit for prisoners taken out of the fort; and already pretty well filled. It was a good new building and we were ushered into it among the rest, the whole body consisting of from a hundred and fifty, to two hundred, composing a motley group to be sure. Here were men and officers of all descriptions, regulars and militia, troops continental and state, some in uniforms, some without them, and some in hunting shirts, the mortal aversion of a red coat. Some of the officers had been plundered of their hats and some of their coats; and upon the new society into which we were introduced, with whom a showy exterior was all in all, we were certainly not calculated to make a very favourable impression. I found Cap- tain Tudor here, of our regiment, who, if I mistake not, had lost his hat. It was here also that not long after I saw Ensign Sted- diford of our regiment at a little distance, at large, and in close- conference with Major Skene. So friendly an intercourse be- 208 VISIT TO PRISONERS. tween a British officer and a rebel was so strikingly in contrast to the general insolence I had received and was still treated with, that it baffled every hypothesis I could frame to account for it. But it was afterwards explained by Steddiford, The garrison had capitulated; and Skene being desirous to walk to this part of the field, had proposed to Steddiford to accompany him, ob- serving with the frankness and circumspection of an old soldier, that each would be a safeguard to the other. "I," says he, "shall protect you from our men, and you will protect me from yours, should there be any of either lurking in the woods, and disposed to hostility." Shortly after, it was announced by an huzza, that the fort had surrendered. This, I think, was about two o'clock. The officer who commanded the guard in whose custody we now were, was an ill- looking, low-bred fellow of this dashing corps of light infantry. Had dates accorded, he might have been supposed the identical scoundrel that had sat for the portrait of Norlherton, in Fielding's Tom Jones. As I stood as near as possible to the door for the sake of air, the enclosure in which we were being extremely crowded and unpleasant, I was particu- larly exposed to his brutality; and repelling with some severity, one of his attacks, for I was becoming desperate and careless of safety, the ruffian exclaimed, JYot a word, sir, or damme Pll give you my butt, at the same time clubbing his fusee and drawing it back as if to give the blow. I fully expected it, but he con- tented himself with the threat. I observed to him that I was in his power, and disposed to submit to it, though not proof against every provocation. As to see the prisoners was a matter of some curiosity, we were complimented with a continual succession of visitants, consisting of officers of the British army. There were several of these present, when a Serjeant-Major came to take an account of us; and particularly, a list of such of us as were officers. This sergeant, though not uncivil, had all that animated, degage impu- dence of air, which belongs to a self-complacent non-commis- sioned officer of the most arrogant army in the world ; and with his pen in hi& hand and his paper on his knee, applied to each of U5, in tui;n, for; his rank. He had just set mine down, when he TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 209 came to a little squat, militia officer from York county, who, somewhat to the deterioration of his appearance, had substituted the dirty crown of an old hat, for a plunder-worthy beaver that had been taken from him by a Hessian. He was known to be an officer from having been assembled among us, for the purpose of enumeration. You are an officer^ sir ! said the sergeant ; Yes, was the ansv/er. Your rank, sir! wuth a significant smile. I am a keppun, replied the little man in a chuff, firm tone. Upon this, there was an immoderate roar of laughter among tlie officers about the door, who were attending to the process ; and I am not sure,, I did not laugh myself. When it had subsided, one of them ad- dressing himself to me, observed with a compliment that had much more of sour than sweet in it, that he was really astonished I should have taken any thing less than a regiment. To remove as much as possible the sting of this sarcastic thrust at our service, for I must confess I was not sufficiently republican, to be insensible of its force, I told him, that the person who had produced their mer- riment, belonged to the militia, and that in his line as a farmer,, he was no doubt honest and respectable. Although the day was seasonably cool, yet from the number crowded in the barn, the air v;ithin was oppressive and suffo- cating, which, in additon to the agitations of the day, had pro- duced an excessive thirst; and there was a continual cry for water. I cannot say that this want was unattended to: the soldiers were continually administering to it by bringing water in a bucket. But though we, who were about the door, did well enough, the supply was very inadequate to such a number of mouths; and many must have suffered much. Our situation brought to my recollection that of Captain Hoi well and his party, in the black hole at Calcutta ; and had the weather been equally hot, we should not have been much better off. The fellow who had menaced me with his butt, stood with his fusee across the door. and kept us closely immured. I did not choose to ask favours of him; but addressing myself to the officers without the door, who had been put in good humour by their laugh at our poor militia captain, I asked them, if they made no distinction between; officers and privates. Most certainly we do, said one of them. I then observed, that it would be very agreeable to us to be- 18* 210 MAJOR MAITLAND. somewhat separated from them now, and to receive a little fresh air. Upon this, the sentinels were withdrawn to the distance of about ten or twelve feet from the building; and we were told, that such of us as were officers might walk before the door. This was a great relief to us, as well as to the men in giving them more room. As I was walking here, a gentleman, who I was afterwards informed was Major Maitland, of the 71st, I think, came up and entered into conversation with me. He had one arm in a sling, and it appeared to me, he had lost a hand. He regretted the extremes to which matters had been carried, and touched upon our infatuation, as he termed it, in attempting resistance to the power of Britain. He assumed the unqualified justness of her cause, and the consequent unjustness of ours; and adverting to the day's business, he observed, that I must be aware, that as we were taken by storm (speaking of myself and the other prisoners here collected) our lives were forfeited by the laws of war, and that we might have been put to the sword, without any just impeachment of their humanity; but such, added he, is the clemency of the British nation, that we have not availed ourselves of the right, but shall, on the contrary, treat you with every indulgence. This was delivered in the tone of a lecture which precludes the necessity of a reply. Accordingly, I gave it none ; and as the manner was mild and well intended withal, I received it in good part: as civility was a rarity, the value of this attention was proportionably enhanced and duly appreciated. The Major confirmed to me the surrender of the fort, which I had at first doubted, though I can hardly tell why. I certainly never had the expectation that it could have held out long: and [ cannot here forbear remarking, that its incapacity for defence, is unequivocally recognised by General Washington in his official letter to Congress. " I sent," says he, " a billet to Colonel Magaw, directing him to hold out, and I would en- deavour in the evening to bring ofj" the garrison if the fortress could not be maintained, as I did not expect it could, the enemy being possessed of the adjacent ground y Now, had the attempt been to defend the fort alone, instead of its environs, which had constituted; th.e post of the main army, this effect of the enemy's REFLECTIONS. 211 possessing the adjacent ground, would at once have taken place; and the fort have been untenable. The fort then, was not cal- culated upon as the point to be defended ; but it was the posi- tion in the open field. Hence, we were improperly termed a garrison ; and two thousand men, of which half were militia, were pitted against the whole of the British army. For seven thousand troops were actually employed in the attack, and the rest ready to support them. It was certainly enough then, that we fought them and withstood their efforts until noon. Because posts had been evacuated ; because Long Island, New York, King's-bridge and White Plains had successively been found untenable by the concentred force of the continent, this handful was to apologize to the country, for the supposed disgrace of our arms, and the defective constitution of our military system. As " the troops were in high spirits and would make a good de- fence,* why e'en let these southern men," says Generals Put- nam and Greene, "take the glory of it to themselves: Whatever be their fate, they will kill a good number of the enemy ; and desperate expedients are adapted to the declining state of our cause." These, it is true, were dashing counsels: nevertheless, to those acquainted with the unfriendly, repulsive temper which prevailed between the southern and eastern troops, and the selfish clannish spirit, testified on all occasions by the latter,! there would be nothing very revolting in the imputation of such motives ; in which also, the historian in the Annual Register, might find a clew to the solution of the enigma, why an opera- tion on so large a scale, should have been committed to but a Colonel. It was, at any rate, a current opinion among us who were taken, that we had been sacrificed to selfish feeling; nor upon a cool consideration of all the circumstances, after a lapse of four and thirty years, can I see full cause to renounce that opinion. I do not believe, at least, that if we had been New England men, we should have been left there. If Greene really knew no better at this era, he was deeply instructed by his error ; * See General Washington's letter, above alluded to, which shows that tlie defence or evacuation of the post, rested on tlie discretion of General Greene. t One instance of it, was a partial exchange of prisoners, continually carried on in favour of the eastern officers, to the cruel discouragenaent of the southern. 212 REFLECTIONS — GENERAL GREENE. since, whatever were the characters of his subsequent general- ship, it never disclosed symptoms of rash audacity.* But I must not forget I am a captive. Among the events of the afternoon was the meeting with a captain Wilson, of the light infantry, who called to inquire, whether there were any gentlemen among us from Philadelphia. Upon telling him that I was, he asked me if I knew Mr. Philip Wilson, a merchant of that city. I told him I had a slight acquaintance with him, as also with his brother Edward. " They are both," says he, " brothers of mine, and though I detest their principles," he was obliged perhaps to go farther on this point than a refined polite- ness might warrant, on account of his brother officers and soldiers standing by, "I shall be happy to render you every service in my power." He then minuted my name and rank on his tablets, as he did Tudor's, for the same reason of knowing his brothers ; and told us, he would do himself the pleasure of calling upon us in New York. He informed us, also, that he had seen Major West, Captain Lenox, I think, and some others of our friends at the fort, who had been inquiring for us. During the remainder of * Our author, again alludes with considerable bitterness, to General Greene apparently entertaining an opinion derogatory to his ability, and character as a military man. Posterity has already assigned to this truly great man, his just position, by the side of Washington. In 1786, Alexander Hamilton, pro- nounced a Eulogium on General Greene, before the society of the Cincinnati, at New York. It is but just, that the deliberate opinion of so competent a judge, should accompany that of the respectable and estimable author of the t' Memoirs-"' "So long as the measures, which conducted us safely through the first, and most critical stages of the war, shall be remembered with approbation ; so long as the enterprises of Trenton and Princeton, shall be regarded as the dawnings of that bright day, which, afterwards broke forthwith such resplendent lustre, so long, as the almost magic operations of the remainder of that remarkable winter, distinguished, not more by these events, than by the extraordinary spec- tacle of a powerful army, straightened within narrow limits, by the phantom of a military force, and never permitted to transgress those limits with impunity, in which skill supplied the place of means, and disposition was the substitute for an army ; — so long, I say, as these operations shall continue to be the object of wonder, so long ought the name of Greene, to be revered by a grateful country. To attribute to him a portion of the praise, which is due as well to the formation as to the execution of the plans, that effected these important ends, can be no derogation from that wisdom and magnanimity, which knew how to select, and embrace counsels worthy of being pursued."— Ed.. KIND TREATMENT OF THE AUTHOR. 213 the day, if I except a sight of General Howe, who was pointed out to me at a little distance, and the burning of a pretty large brick house hard by, which happened, as the soldiers told us, through the carelessness of some grenadiers in cooking beef steaks, nothing occurred of any consequence: but in the evening a most advantageous change took place, and from the custody of a low ruffian, we were transferred to that of a gentleman. This was Lieutenant Becket, to the best of my recollection of the 27th or 37th regiment. Upon taking the guard in the even- ing, he expressed concern about our lodging, and proposed to us to accompany him into the barn-loft to see whether that would do. He was also attended by some of his brother officers. We ascended by a very good step ladder, and found a spacious room, well roofed and floored and clear of lumber. "This, gentlemen, I think may do," said he; "I daresay, you have sometimes lodged in a worse place." That we had, we told him, and that this was as comfortable as we could desire. " I will send you, if I can," said he, at going away, " a bottle of wine : but at any rate, a bottle of spirits," and as to the latter, he was as good as his word ; a sol- dier, in about a quarter of an hour brought it to us, and this was our substitute for supper as well as dinner. In the morning, a little after sunrise, a soldier brought me Mr. Becket's compli- ments with a request that I would come down and breakfast with him, bringing two of my friends with me, as he had not the means of entertaining more. I thankfully accepted his invitation, and took with me Forrest and Tudor. He was seated on a bench before the door with a good fire before him, and the soldiers of the guard in a semicircle about him. Besides the bench we were accommodated with a chair or two, and he gave us a dish of very good cofTee with plenty of excellent toast, which was the only morsel we had eaten for the last twenty-four hours ; more fortu- nate in this than our fellow sufferers, who got nothing until the next morning, when the first provisions were drawn. The sol- diers were chatting and cracking their jokes on each other while we breakfasted ; and I was surprised at the easy familiarity which seemed to prevail between them and their officer. But it ap- peared to be perfectly understood between them, that their cote- ries, though so near each other, as that every word from either 214 AMERICAN AND ENGLISH CONTRASTED. , might be heard by both, were yet entirely distinct, and that each had an exclusive right to its own conversation: still they did not interrupt ours, being silent when we talked. The fact was, that Mr. Becket was the darling of his soldiers ; and one of them told us, that we should find few men like him. I had here an oppor- tunity to observe, the striking difference between their appoint- ments and ours. While our poor fellows, were some of them already ragged, and even the best of them, clad in flimsy, thread- bare clothes, with worse stockings and shoes, these were tight and comfortable in body and limbs ; and every soldier was ac- commodated with a woollen night cap, which most of them had yet on, A sad contrast for the contemplation of the American soldier ! Wisdom is no less attributable to nations than to indi- viduals ; and the British army, if I may so express myself, is a sensible establishment, in which every possible regard is had to both comfort and safety. Though, in extremities, it may be the business of the soldier to die, it is not forgotten, that he is to live if he can, consistent with his duty; and to this consideration, it appears to me, much attention was paid by General Howe in his operations against our post. He could not have had a doubt that his attack would be successful, yet this was not enough : it must be conducted with an eye to the saving of men, and the purchasing it as cheap as possible. Had he immediately ad- vanced against our lines on the south, the loss of the British troops, would, in all probability, have been heavy; whereas, in making his principal effort by Haerlem river under cover of his batteries, it was comparatively small : and when he had gained the high grounds in this quarter, he was at once master of the field. It has been said, that we could not have chosen a better ad- versary than General Howe ;* and it is not improbable that one * Such, at least, was the opinion generally entertained in England. Walpgle, who certainly " knew not how to spare, Yet seldom judged unjustly," is not sparing of his opinions. He writes to Horace Mann, 7th July, 1778, " General Howe is returned, richer in money than laurels," Wraxall's opinion of the Howes has already been quoted. — Ed. CHARACTER OF GENERAL HOWE. 215 more enterprising and less methodical, might have pushed us harder : Yet, though he was indolent, often treated us wdth unne- cessary respect ; and, in a too gi-eat security of his prey, might have meant to play us, as an angler plays a fish upon his hook, I am still inclined to think, that when he acted, he fought his army to advantage; that his dispositions were good, and planned with much discretion. General Burgoyne bears testimony to the faultless propriety of his disposition at Bunker's Hill, and Gene- ral Lee says, that " in the capacity of an executive soldier, he was all fire and activity, brave and cool as Julius Carsar." In the aflfair of Fort Washington, he must have had a perfect know- ledge of the ground we occupied. This he might have acquired from hundreds in New York ; but he might have been more tho- roughly informed of every thing desirable to be known, from one Dement,* an officer of Magaw's battalion, who was intelligent in points of duty, and deserted to the enemy, about a week before the assault. This man was probably an emissary from them ; he was an European, I recollect, and not originally an officer of the corps ; his name, at least, is not among those appointed by the committee of safety. Our situation under Mr. Beckett was as agreeable as it could be made. The term rebel was entirely banished from our hear- ing. When speaking of the belligerents, it was your people and our people, and the manners of all about him, took the tone he gave. His acquaintance too, seemed of an order wholly different from the rakehells we had seen yesterday ; nor do I recollect a single instance of incivility to any one of us, while under his care. But notwithstandmg this, my heart was ill at ease. It was * This man's name once helped me to a tolerable pun, and as this species of wit is often detailed by Mr. Boswell in his Life of Johnson, it is hoped that this single instance may be tolerated here. He was a coarse, ill-looking fellow ; and it being reported in New York, after we were taken, that a Miss A , a very pretty, delicate girl, who had resided at Morrisania, countenanced him as her lover. Doctor McHenry was expressing his astonishment at it, when I repeated to him the adage — Quos deus vult perdcre, prius dementaty — Note by Mr. Gray- don. The reader will pardon this, in consideration of the classic character and pro- pensities of our learned pun-dit; but it must be tile last trial, at least in this manner, of his forbearance ! — Ed. 216 KILLED AND WOUNDED. the prey of chagrin and a most afflicting uncertainty. I was deeply mortified at the idea that we were disgraced in the eyes of our countrymen, with whom the belief was current, that Fort Washington was impregnable ; and the events of the action had been, moreover, peculiarly unpropitious to the fame of the conti- nental battalions from Pennsylvania. All the glory that was going, had, in my idea of what had passed, been engrossed by the regiment of Rawlings, which had been actively engaged, killed a number of the enemy, and lost many themselves ; and although it seldom, if ever, happens, that there is close fighting in every part of a field, yet it is this alone which obtains eclat, or, that in the view of the world, escapes contempt. As to the merit of preserving a good countenance ; being firm in a post ; and only relinquishing it when no longer tenable, or expedient to be re- tained ; it can only be appreciated by persons of military expe- rience : It is at best, but of a negative kind, and has nothing in it of brilliancy.* How many did they kill? How many did they lose ? are the questions which produce the data on which martial fame is calculated ; and these were much against us. The num- ber of British killed, by General Howe's account, was not large ; and the whole loss is fixed by Mr. Stedman at eight hundred, by much the greater part of which was sustained by the Hessians, who attacked Rawlings, in a post extremely diflficult of access, naturally, and rendered still more so by works and abbatis. In the two battalions of Cadwalader and Magaw, there were but two or three oflUcers wounded, and one killed, or rather reputed killed, as I have recently understood that he survived his wounds, though very grievous, and was some years after living at Germantown. This was Captain Miller, who, as already mentioned, was going to shoot a sentinel on Montezores island. Among the wounded, was Captain Lenox, very slightly, and Ensign M'Intire, badly. As to myself, I was conscious I had done my duty, but this must * I was not aware at this time, that detachments from our regiments had maintained a contest which entitled them to tiie praise of the enemy ; for by the concurrent testimony of General Howe, and the historian, Mr. Stedman, the ground on which they fought was obstinately defended : and I have still so much of the esprit du corps and pride of a soldier about me, as to be gratified by the circumstance. KILLED AND WOUNDED, 217 remain unknown ; and I was unable to put aside the reflection, that we were both sacrificed and disgraced ; captive to an enemy, whose system it was to treat us with contempt ; to stigmatize us as rebels and load us with opprobrium ; and that all this was, probably, but a prelude to the impending ruin and subjugation of my country. In addition to these dismaying considerations, I thought my brother killed. I had intelligence from the fort, that he was not there ; neither had any one seen him after he had left the intrenchments ; though it was suggested, that a boat-load of the garrison that had been hard pressed, had got over to Fort Lee, and that he might have been in it. There was also room to hope, that if not among these, (admitting the circumstance of the boats having gone over to be true,) he might be at the village of Haerlem, in which, it was said, there was a small collection of prisoners. Being impatient to satisfy myself, and know the worst, I applied to Mr. Becket, for permission, if not improper, to go to Haerlem ; and if not successful there, to traverse the field of action. He granted my request without hesitation ; but observed, it was proper I should have a soldier with me, to protect me and account for my being at large ; and had he not been too polite, he might have added, to guard me, which, it would have been a neglect of duty in him, not to have attended to. I went to Haer- lem, but received no satisfaction. There were, indeed, some prisoners there, in the custody of the German troops ; but they had neither seen my brother, nor heard any thing of him. I then returned, and took my course, with my attendant, along the banks of Haerlem river, where the action had been warm. Within a few hundred yards of the barn in which we were quartered, I met with the bodies of three or four soldiers of our battalion, who had fallen by musket-balls ; but obtained nothing in regard to tlie object of my pursuit. Weary of the melancholy errand, and reflecting that the day would be insufficient to complete the search, I gave it up with a determination to look as much as pos- sible on the favourable side of things, and wait in patience for the event. Some time afi:er, Mr. Becket, who took a friendly interest in the cause of my distress, applied to a gentleman on horseback, who had superintended the interment of the dead, to know whether he had met with tlie body of an officer in the 19 218 CHARACTER OF MR. BECKWITH. uniform I wore, as I was anxious for the fate of a brother, who was missing. With much delicacy, addressing himself to me, he replied : " No sir, we buried no one with linen fme enough to have been your brother." This information, though not conclusive, was encouraging : and the liberality of our present treatment, added to the fineness of the morning, though pretty sharp, gave a fillip to my spirits, and a more pleasing turn to my thoughts. The sun looked vastly brighter to my eyes than it had done an hour before, and I began to Hatter myself that matters might not be so bad, as in a desponding moment I had supposed; that ere long we should be exchanged, and have an opportunity of retrieving the disgrace of our recent discomfiture. In this frame of mmd, con- versation took a more cheerful course, and I satisfied some of Mr. Becket's inquiries respecting our affairs. He was particularly inquisitive as to the character of General Washington, of whom, from misrepresentations, no doubt propagated for political pur- poses, he had received some very erroneous impressions. Ap- pearing to think favourably of him as a soldier, and as to the ex- terior quahfications of a gentleman, he had yet understood, that he was a man of desperate fortune, who, having wasted his own property, had also dissipated that of his wife^ by play, and had now no resource but in war and confusion. I assured him that nothing could be farther from the truth than this idea ; and left him, I believe, convinced of his error. Though he spoke with much moderation of the contest, the merits of which were but glanced at, he seemed to entertain no doubts of the justice of the side on which his profession had placed him, as well as our in- ability to withstand the power of the mother country. He was- forcibly struck with the ill condition of our troops, the badness of their arms, and insufficiency, in every respect, of our appoint- ments ; and observed, that a gentleman of our army required more than an ordinary degree of fortitude to take the field under' such disadvantages. The distinguished liberality of JVIr. Becket's deportment, re- quires of me something more than a mere passing remembrance. If my memory does not much deceive me, he told us he was an Irishman, and a married man. His figure was pleasing, rather manly than elegant ; tall, and though not corpulent, indicative of CHARACTER OF MR. BECK WITH. 219 a temperament inclining to fulness. His face was fine and beamed with candour and benevolence. He might have passed for a man of twenty-eight or thirty, though he could not well have been less than thirty-five, having served, as he informed us, in the war of fifty-six^ probably in the latter part of it, and it lasted until sixty- three. He mentioned this circumstance in adverting to the can- nonade of the preceding day, which he said had far exceeded in heaviness, any he had ever heard in Germany, or in his life. He had been long in service, and appeared to be generally known and respected in the army; being, indeed, eminently calculated to be beloved and admired; and so far as I could judge of him from the acquaintance of a day, he possessed the qualities, which, with equal power would have made him a Titus, and have given him a legitimate claim to the designation of ddicice Iniinani generis. The command of the guard, in his mode of exercising the func- tion, resembled a trust committed to him for our benefit ; and his conduct bespoke the guardian rather than the jailer. About noon, a young officer, smartly dressed and well mounted, rode up with his horse in a foam, and pulling out his watch, ob- served, that he had scarcely been an hour in coming from New York. He was a genuine, smooth-faced, fresh-coloured English- man, and from the elegance of his horse, and self-importance of his manner, I supposed him to be a person of family and con- sideration. " Becket," said he, looking round him, " this is a damn'd strong piece of ground — ten thousand of our men would defend it against the world." "I don't know that," returned Becket; "the ground, to be sure is strong, in some parts, but you go too far: I would not undertake its defence against the world, I assure you." The conversation then passed to other topics, and the cavalier, after a few minutes, rode off to exhibit himself elsewhere. Several other incidents, equally unimportant, occurred in the course of the day ; but one, that from the sub- stantial good which attended it at the time, I cannot omit: And this was, that from the table of General Jones, the officer of the day, with whom Mr. Becket dined, there came to me about two o'clock, a plate or small dish of victuals amply supplied. The contents consisted of two or three slices of corned beef with cab- 220 CIVILITY AND KINDNESS OF BRITISH OFFICERS. bage, the leg and wing of a turkey, with bread, &c. in proportion. In the language of Lord Kaimes, " could peace afford a sweeter scene," than was exhibited in the conduct of this kind, generous, noble-hearted gentleman! To be admired, it only needs to be faithfully depicted, and this is all my feeble pencil aims at. It consisted of a series of attentions, as delicate as they were friendly, of which, the following is an additional in.stance. In the evening we were drawn up for the purpose of being marched a part of the way towards New York. Being formed in the usual manner, in two ranks, with the officers on the right, in order to be foremost when faced for the march, our commander took his station in front, and gaily flourisliing a switch which he held in his hand, with a kind of apologetic smile for the liberty he was taking with us, " Come, gentlemen," said he, "we are all soldiers," (combining us with his own men, enclosing us in two lines ; and who, at the same time received the word of command,) To the right face ; then giving the word Mruxh, he good-humouredly walked along with us, without losing sight, however, of the decorum wliich actual duty required. When we had proceeded about half a mile, we were halted, for the purpose, as I afterwards found, of relieving the guard. As we §tood here, an, officer wrapped up in a camblet cloak, young and of a very pleasing address, who had been talking with Becket, came up to me, observing, that the evening was very cool, and asked if such weather was usual with us at this season of the year. I told him it was not unusual in the latter part of November. After an observation or two on this topic, he ex- pressed his hope that I had been well treated. As well as possi- ble, I replied, by some, and as ill by others. " I am extremely sorry for it," said he, " but there are rascals in all services." Soon after, Mr. Becket* informed us, that he was about to leave us, telling me that he would make it a point to obtain information respecting my brother, and that he would not fail to apquaint me with the resvdt in New York ; then bringing up Captain Manuel, » His name was, probably, Bcckwith, not Becket. In a list of the Britisli officers there is a Mr. Onslow Bcckwith, a second lieutenant in the 23d regiment on the 24th of April, 1762, who is presumed to be the gentleman here alluded lav 'inhere is no one of the name gf Becket on the list.. PRISONERS MARCHED TO NEW YORK. 221 the person who was to succeed him, he introduced me to him, with a particular recommendation of me to his care, and wished us a good evening. Under the command of Captain Manuel we continued our march until within six or seven miles of New York. We were here quartered very comfortably for the night, in the back part of a vacant house, of which Mr. Manuel took to himself the front. Although he had not the amenity and ease of manners so eminently possessed by his predecessor, he far outwent him in ceremonious civility ; and in one or two interviews I had with him, he almost overwhelmed me with bows. It would be unjust, however, not to say, that his usage of us was unexceptionable, though we were not much favoured with his company. Here, for the first time, we drew provisions for the almost famished prisoners, in which number, the reader knows, I have no right to include myself, and one or two of my friends; and it was politely referred to me, as the eldest officer in the company, to put my name to the provision return, made out also by ourselves. In the morning, early, the rest of the prisoners from the fort and Haerlem village, had come on ; and being all assembled, we took up the line of march, preparatory to our untriumphal entry into the city of New York. From the cir- cumstance of our being most advanced, we had the honour of forming the van of the procession, strung out to a great length, between a line of British infantry on either side. Captain Manuel, from an effect of the arrangements, had now ceased to accompany us ; instead of whom, we, in front, were escorted by a Captain Warren, a young Irishman of the Inniskillen regiment. He was not uncourteous or disobliging ; and was extremely prompt in attending to the want of drink, which sometimes occurred upon the road, on these occasions, offering the contents of his canteen to mix with the water that was brought us. But he was somewhat too lavish of the term rebel, extremely offensive to my ear, I must confess, however appropriate it might be. In the English lan- guage, it is too much interwoven with the idea of state criminality, to be other than highly opprobrious. It might be doubted, never- theless, whether in the mouth of Captain Warren, it had its full malignity ; and whether its adoption was not less owing to a de- sign to stigmatize, than to the insufficiency of his vocabulary. 19* 222 OCCURRENCES ON THE ROAD. He was fond of chatting, and, I might add, of boasting of th. prowess of the British troops, whom he took occasion to compar( with ours. I told him that I had often seen them before, and ad- mitted that they were well dressed and well armed, to which cir- cumstances, might perhaps be owing, their apparent advantage over ours. He took what I said in good part ; and what is a proof, that he ought to be excepted from the real scoundrels in the British service, is, that some time afterwards, meeting him in the street at New York, he stopped me, and behaved with an entirely correct civility. On the road, as we approached the city, we were beset by a parcel of soldier's trulls and others, who came out to meet us. It was obvious, that in the calculation of this assemblage of fe- male loyalty, the war was at an end; and that the whole of the rebel army, Washington and all, were safe in durance. Which is Washington? Which is Washington? proceeded from half a dozen mouths at once; and the guard was obliged to exert itself to keep them off. Some of them assailed us with vollies of Bil- lingsgate; and Colonel Maxwell, who rode along side of us, and whom I immediately recognised for a Captain Maxwell, who had once lodged at my mother's, had enough to do to silence one of them, calling out repeatedly: "Away with that woman! Take her way! Knock her down, the bitch! Knock her down!" Previously to entering the city, we were drawn up for about an hour, on the high ground near the East river. Here, the of- ficers being separated from the men, we were conducted into a church, where, if I mistake not, we signed a parole. While in this building, which, with the addition of those spectators who pressed in along with us, was pretty much crowded, a portly, well looking, middle-aged non-commissioned oflicer of the forty- second regiment, approached me, observing in a low voice, that lie was sure he had seen me before : "Was not my name ?" I answered in the affirmative. "I thought so," said he, "I have often seen you at your mother's in Philadelphia ; and though you were then but a boy, I clearly retrace your features. As you are pro- bably in want of money, may I beg you to accept of this ?" slip- ping into my hand a dollar. I objected to taking it, as I might never have an opportunity of repaying him. "No matter if GENEROSITY OF A HIGHLANDER. 223 you have not," said he ; "it is but a trifle, but such as it is, you cannot oblige me more than by accepting it." I accordingly put it in ray pocket, the confusion and bustle of the scene preventing my taking measures for ascertaining the means of seeing him again ; and having never afterwards met with him, I am still in- debted to this amount, together with the gratitude that is inse- parable from it, to this worthy, generous man, whose memory, it seems, was better than that of Colonel Stirling, Captain Grant, and many others, who had better means of recollection, than this sergeant. They did not see me, it is true ; and if they had, they were doubtless too much in the Bute system of politics, to have any charity for our rebellion, or one engaged in it. But Mr. Stirling, when a Captain, I always thought a haughty, self- important man, too intent on things above him to cast a glance at those beneath; and, whether correct or not in this opinion, having, in truth, no right to expect any thing from him or his elan, I w-as not disappointed ; nor should I have thought of taking notice of them, had not the disloyal ofhciousness of their sergeant, somehow prompted my pencil to give them a nook in the back ground. I ought before to have mentioned a visit from a Mr. Johnson, of Georgia, who had been my fellow pupil at Pike's fencing school. Whether it was on the day, or the day after we w'ere taken, I do not remember, but Johnson, wdiose politics I had not before known, was, I found, a staunch government man, and in- vested with a commission in the royal army. He appeared not displeased at seeing me well, but was at no pains to conceal his exultation at our misfortune, and the prospect he thence derived, of our being speedily subdued. Thus called upon, I bragged a little in my turn, though with a heart much less assured than his. Our men were confined in churches and sugar-houses, and quarters were assigned for us who were ofhcers, in the upper part of the town, in what was called the holy ground. But, be- sides, that it was not tout-a-fait horinete or entirely correct, to be- come a charge to his Britannic Majesty, after having presumed to resist his royal authority, J was somewhat apprehensive that his fare might not be the most sumptuous; and therefore, though but with the single dollar in my pocket, which I ow^ed to the 224 DISPOSAL OF THE PRISONERS. bounty of the benevolent Highlander, I yet ventured to take boarding at four dollars per week. I knew that I had an excel- lent banker in Philadelphia, and that if specie was to be pro- cured, my good mother would take care to get it, and send it to me. The person with whom I boarded was a Mrs. Carroll, who, under the protection of General Robertson, commandant of the town, was hardy enough to entertain rebels. She passed for the particular favourite of this gentleman ; and was sufficiently young and buxom, to give probability to the imputation. She played her cards with much address, and bent her politics, if she had any, to her interest. She was, no doubt, tory or whig, as best suited the company she happened to be in ; and, of course, with us, was always the latter — shaping accordingly her news and her anecdotes, of which she picked up abundance when she went abroad, and detailed to us on the opening of the budget on her return. With due allowance for her influences and motives, we were flattered, and sometimes instructed by her communications. What led me to these quarters, was the circumstance, of some of the Pennsylvania officers taken on Long Island, being already in them, viz. Colonels Atlee and Miles; Major Burd, Captain Her- bet, &c. There was also there a Mr. Coursey or De Courcey, of Smallwood's regiment; and they now, besides myself, re- ceived the addition of Colonel Magaw, Major West, Captains Lenox and Edwards, and Doctor McHenry, who afterwards be- came a member of General Washington's family and Secretary of War. Colonel Cadwalader, (through the interest of General Prescott, who, when a prisoner with us, had been liberally treated by Doctor Cadwalader, the father of the Colonel,) was imme- diately released, and went home on parole. From the number of her boarders, Mrs Carroll might be sup- posed to have a very large house, but this was not the fact. It was but an humble tenement in Queen's street, of two stories, with two or three chambers: but adjoining it, was a building, which, having been abandoned, we, at her instance, under the auspices of General Robertson, took possession of, and furnished wiih our own mattresses and blankets. Nothing was scarcer in New York, this winter, than fuel; but, clubbing our weekly allowance BAGGAGE RESTORED. 225 of coal, we were enabled to supply for our hostess, the parlor and kitchen fire. The next object of our cares, was our baggage at Fort Wash- ington. The security of that, belonging to those taken in the fort, was stipulated for on its surrender ; and although 1 could not claim the benefit of the capitulation, I did not doubt, that mine, as a part of the mass, would lare as well as the rest. It chiefly consisted of a mattress and trunk, in which, was a bundle of letters, the fruits of an interesting correspondence, which had never been intermitted, from the time of my leaving Philadel- phia, to that of my captivity; and which, I valued far beyond all my other possessions. They were now more precious than ever ; since all letters, to or from us, being subjected to inspec- tion, the intercourse must cease ; and the reperusal of these must console me for the privation of recent communications. My anxiety, however, was soon removed, by the safe arrival by water, two or three days after our reaching New York, of my trunk and mattress. I lost, indeed, a fowling-piece, small- sword and some other articles : but these were of little conse- quence; and I thought myself supremely fortunate in losing no more. The advantage of a change of clothes, being by this time very desirable, I gladly availed myself of the contents of my trunk, which, besides linen, stockings, &c., aflfbrded me a better suit of regimentals, and a newer hat than those I had on. As I saw no reason why I should not wear them, I put them on for the purpose of taking a walk through the city. My fellow-lodgers, who had been taken on Long Island, being older and more pru- dent than myself, evinced some surprise at my temerity. To them I appeared much better dressed than rebel beseemed; and they predicted the probability of insult and abuse, should I ex- hibit myself in a trim so remote from the garb of humility ; for as to themselves, they had, with the exception of Colonel Atlee, and one or two more, exchanged their martial habiliments for plain clothes ; and even in these, they rarely went out. With- out regarding their suggestions, however, I sallied forth alone, and walked past the coffee-house, down to the battery. Finding the gate-way open, I entered it, and after traversing it to its ex- tremity, I strolled back again; almost every sentinel, to my great 226 AUTHOR IN REGIMENTALS. surprise, I must confess, handling his arms to me as I passed. Leaving the battery, I took a turn into another part of the town, and after a considerable round, regained my lodgings, without having met with the smallest molestation. But I afterwards learned from Mr. Theophilact Bache, (of whom I shall have oc- casion to speak in the sequel) that he well recollected, once see- ing me pass the coffee-house, probably at this very time; and that he and some other gentlemen, had been obliged to exert themselves to prevent some blackguards insulting me. This conduct of mine would seem to indicate an arrogance, or an apathy, that I can aver was not in my character. It was not a want of feeling, but an excess of it, which prompted me to the proceeding. Revolting against the design to treat us as, state criminals, and to overwhelm us with the odium attached to that Condition ; smarting, too, from the personal insults I had received, and in a state of cruel suspense respecting my brother, the pre- vailing colour of which was, that he had been killed, my mind was slightly tinctured wnth that sombre enthusiasm, which exults in the opportunity of setting persecution at defiance ; and which in its excess, can subdue the strongest instincts of nature, as was evinced in the ferocious heroism of Charlotte Corday. iiowe's proclamation. 227 CHAPTER IX. Pardon offcreti by Howe to the Americans, upon return to their allegiance. — Letter of General Washington. — An OlKccr's dinner part}'. — A singular Cha- racter. — Treatment of Prisoners. — Reflections on the American policy. — Memorial presented to General Howe. — Situation of Affairs. — American Officers. — Deserters from the cause of Independence. — Prospects. — Coffee- house Incident. — British Provost Marshal. — Colonel Allen. — Result of appli- cation to General Howe. — Exchange of Prisoners. — Removal of Officers to Long Island. One of the first measures of the Howes, in consequence of their late success, was to issue a proclamation, tendering pardon to such as should renounce the cause of rebellion. I only re- collect its general tenor, and that the proffered grace might have been spared. Not more than one or two, and indeed not one to my certain knowledge, embraced the invitation, although warmly recommended to us by Mr. Commissary Loring. This was, no doubt, a matter both of surprise and mortification; and one, which in no degree tended to mitigate the contemptuous rigour of our treatment. Mr. Beckwith, it may be recollected, had promised to call upon me. He kept his word, and sought me at our allotted quarters on the holy ground. Not finding me there, or meeting ■with any one who could tell him where I lodged, he left a mes- sage for me, importing that after the most diligent inquiry, he had not been able to learn any thing respecting ray brother. Some time after, meeting in the street, a sergeant who had be- longed to his guard, I inquired for him, and was informed, that, very shortly after I had seen him, he had embarked for Rhode Island. Among the rare exceptions to the haughty demeanour of our lordly masters, might be mentioned, the occasional civility of 228 AUTHOR HEARS FROM HIS MOTHER. Major Skene, who seemed, for himself, to have adopted the conciliatory mode of conduct, and sometimes called to see us. Besides a slight acquaintance he had made with Colonels Atlee and Miles, he had, while in durance among us, contracted a sort of general acquaintance with the rebel character of America ; and he appeared not to think very ill of it, notwithstanding its colli- sion with the high pretensions of British supremacy, of which, he was an unqualified votary. He was a portly man, about forty, or forty-five, apparently frank and good-humoured ; and so far was he from resenting the usage he had received from us, that he acknowledged he had been treated full as well as he had a right to expect, since he had made it a point to be as trouble- some and vexatious as possible. Between two and three weeks had elapsed, when I received a letter from my mother. It was brought by a Captain Hesketh, of the British army, who had been a prisoner with us. It ac- quainted me he had money for me ; but a piece of intelligence of still greater consequence, was, that my brother was safe and at home. A boat had got over the Hudson, as I had heard, and to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy, by whom he had been closely pressed, he had put himself on board. Nothing now was wanting to make me as happy as my situation would admit. I waited upon Captain Hesketh, found him at home, and was very politely treated both by him and his lady, to whose notice I had been particularly recommended by Miss Amiel, of Philadelphia, a mutual acquaintance. Among other things, Mrs. Hesketh, who was the most communicative, informed me, that they had met General Washington on their road, at the head of his army, which must indeed have been a small one; though this unwelcome truth being spared, I had not the courage to elict it by any questions. And this account agrees with a letter of the General, to the Board of War, dated Brunswick, the 30th of November, wherein he speaks of having met with Captain Hesketh and his family. Of the same date, from the same per- son, and in his own hand, I shall now present the reader with a letter, which, considering the pressing situation of affairs, dis- plays a mind at once superior to adversity, and alive to the im- pressions of humanity, and the feelings of private distress. It LETTER FROM GENERAL AVASHINGTON. 229 appears to be in answer to a letter from my mother^ on hearing of my captivity. ''Brunswick, 30th JYov. 1776. "Madam, " Your letter to yonr son (enclosed to rae) went in the day after it came to my hands, by a flag which happened to be going to New York. " I am very sorry for the misfortune of your son's captivity, but these are accidents which must be experienced and felt in war. Colonel Cadwalader, who has been suffered to return to Philadelphia, would be able to inform you of your son's health. Any hard money, which you may be able to forward to me, or Mr. Tilghman, (who is of my family) shall be contrived to him by some means or other. "I am. Madam, " Your very humble servant, "Go: WASHINGTON." This letter is given verbatim as it is written, without pre-- suming to supply what may be supposed an omission in the last line. The words to be sent, after the word contrived, appear to be wanting. Whether they were left out through inadvertence, or in compliance with an American mode of speaking, taken notice of by Doctor Witherspoon, in an essay under the signature of " A Druid," I shall not undertake to decide. I can only say, that if it is an Americanism, I never heard it before,* and that it is not common in Pennsylvania. It is, however, perfectly in- telligible, and analogous to other contractions in the language of business. The letter spoken of by the General, as having been enclosed to him, and sent in by a flag, I did not receive until some time after that by Captain Hesketh. It had, probably, wandered out of its road, into the hands of a British officer of the same Chris- tian and surname, as well as rank, as this gentleman told a lady of my acquaintance in Philadelphia, when General Howe after- * An Americanism, certainly, but it was seldom, indeed, that General Wash- ington thus transgressed. The expression is common among a portion of our Western countrymen — and is not unusual, it is believed, in New-England. — Ed. 20 230 DINNER PARTY. wards got possession of it, that he had been fortunate enough to find a mother in this country, from whom he had received some very affectionate letters. It was about this time, that I received a billet from Captain Wilson already mentioned. It was equally addressed to Major West, Captain Tudor and myself ; and stated that a tour of duty into Jersey, had been the cause of his not attending to us before ; and after apologizing for not waiting on us, for some cause or other, it requested our company to dine with him on the day but one after its date, in which case, he would send his servant to show us the way to his quarters. We understood from his note, that he was fearful of paying his respects personally, in the usual manner. It was obviously the system of the British army to treat us as persons, with whom to maintain an intercourse, would, on their part, be both criminal and degrading; and Wil- son, from whatever cause, appeared more than ordinarily solici- tous to avoid any ground for suspicion of too much attention to us. West was indisposed, but Tudor and myself, for the sake of a little variety, waiving etiquette agreed to dine with him ; and when the day came, were conducted to his house, or rather to his chamber, by a soldier. The dinner party was small, con- sisting, besides ourselves, only of our entertainer and a Lieute- nant, whose name I have forgotten. He was a tall, and stout young Irishman, who, by way of high recommendation, W^ilson took an opportunity to inform me, was very brave; and had killed with his own hand, a Captain of ours at White Plains. This, I was, no doubt, to take as a compliment to myself, being as much as to say, I consider you as a brave man too, sir, by sup- posing you capable of appreciating the quality in another, though even at the expense of your own side. This young Ajax, how- ever, was modest and unassuming ; and both he and the Cap- tain, acted in exact conformity to that creed of a professional sol- dier, which, according to Lucan, is as old as the civil war of the first triumvirate, and contained in the declaration of Pompey's Generals Afranius and Petreius to Casar, that " War with its own occasions came unsought, And found them on the side for which tiiey fought." A SINGULAR CHARACTER. 231 The bottle was briskly circulated, and in the course of the after- noon, there were several droppers in ; among others, a curious little creature, who bore the commission of either a Captain or a Lieutenant. He had the appearance of a youth not exceeding twenty, and was one of the smallest and lightest men I ever be- held; a genuine 7naster Slender, that might have been "made out of a cheese-paring after supper :" If he weighed a hun- dred, it was much. From the conversation, in which he took his full proportion, it appeared that he had either a wife or a mistress ; for he complained that his lady, whom he called Bet- sey or Kitty, had grown vastly too fond of the pleasures of the town, and by inference, somewhat too indiflferent to himself. The circumstance, however, did not seem likely to break his heart ; and the less so, from not being thought necessary to be locked up in that repository. He evinced, in another instance, not necessary to detail, that he was an utter stranger to the nicer feelings ; and from such a graceless compend of premature de- bauchery being treated with some attention, I was induced to consider him as the degenerate oflspring of some great sire. Another person, who joined us in the evening, appeared to be- long to the navy. He was probably a surgeon, Captain of a transport, or something in that way, as, though he wore a cock- ade, he had no uniform. He was called upon for his toast. "Whathaveyou been drinking?" said he : "Peace, reconciliation, and so forth," replied Wilson. But the fellow, either stupid or perversely malignant, gave. Confusion to the rebels. This pro- duced at least confusion in the company, which was extremely disconcerted and hurt, our host in particular. Perceiving this I determined to give the circumstance the go by with the best possible grace ; and therefore, with a silent contempt for the toast, I drank to Captain Wilson. He returned the compliment, and the other gentlemen bowing around the table without re- peating the sentiment, it was only swallowed by the giver, who not long after, took his leave. The general hilarity was soon re- stored in the true national style, which, without the " feast of reason," has certainly much of the "flow of soul;" and what- ever a rigid policy might dictate elsewhere, it was wholly laid aside at this table. Tory or whig, loyal or disloyal, was out of 232 DINNER PARTY. the question ; and about eight or nine o'clock, Captain Wilson, putting us under the care of a soldier with a lantern in his hand, permitted us to depart, with full as much wine on board, as in conscience was due to our slight acquaintance with his brothers in Philadelj)hia : and thus by a single act of Irish hospitality, he cancelled the obligation he had voluntarily imposed upon himself, of rendering us every service in his power. Something, how- ever, was due to this gentleman for a treatment of us, altogether Uberal and obliging. But, while from the advantage of bearing commissions, we had the benefit of free air and the use of our limbs, our poor devoted soldiers were enclosed within walls, scantily supplied with pro- visions of bad quality, wretchedly clothed, and destitute of suffi- cient fuel, if indeed they had any. Disease was the inevitable consequence of such a situation ; and their prisons of course, soon became hospitals. A fatal malady was generated ; and the mor- tality, to every heart not steeled by the spirit of party, was truly deplorable. I once, and once only, ventured to penetrate into these abodes of human misery and despair. But, to what pur- pose repeat my visit, when I had neither relief to administer, nor comfort to bestow ! What could I say to the unhappy victims who appealed to me for assistance, or sought my advice as to the alternative of death or apostacy? For until rendered worthless and unfit for military duty by disease, they might enlist, and thus rescue themselves from the sufferings that awaited them. I en- deavoured to encourage them with the hope of an exchange, but humanity forbade my counselling them to rush on sure destruc- tion: I rather chose to turn my eye from a scene I could not me- liorate ; to put from me a calamity which mocked my power of alleviation. Our own condition, too, though a paradise to theirs, was be- coming hopeless. To say nothing of the danger of legal punish- ment, it indicated a captivity without end, or at least commen- surate with the war. To other existing obstacles, a new one was added by the capture of General Lee,* considered by Gene- ral Howe as a deserter from the British army, and therefore, not * For an account of this capture, see Appendix I. — Ed. TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 233 entitled to exchange. Meanwhile the sternness of power was displayed with unabating rigour and systematic perseverance. In this scene of military despotism, I sometimes indulged my melancholy in an evening walk, when, imagination taking its flight to the shores of the Delaware, insensibly led rny steps to the western part of the city. Having been the theatre of the late fire, it was marked by devastation ; and as nothing is more con- genial to the soul in gloom, than to wander among ruins, "What time the moon, in solemn splendour pours Long tiircads of silver through the gaping towers," it was the time I chose, to take my solitary ramble through the deserted and dilapidated edifices of Broadway. Here, amid the irregularly indented battlements which frowned in desola- tion, I meditated on the horrors of this guilty city, where " poor misfortune felt the lash of vice," and thousands of my unhappy countrymen were perishing under the hand of proud, unfeeling authority: Not poniarded, it is true, before the faces of their op- pressors, nor murdered by the impious mockery of judicial in- vestigation, but remorselessly consigned to slow consuming tortures, equally fatal and potent to destruction. In this, I ad- mit, I speak the language of indignant feeling; but unless the suffering of the American prisoners w^as the efiect of dire ne- cessity, the British nation should be less clamourous about the massacre of Jaffa, since the quality of her humanity, v/hen com- pared with that of France, would be precisely that of Nero, when contrasted with Domitian's ; and hence, the whitest, it must be granted, by a very few gradations. The former, as we are told by Tacitus, had the grace to avert his eyes from the enor- mities he ordained; while those of the latter, feasted on human agony, and noted down the sighs of those who dared to sympa- thize with the victims. Jfero tamen suhtraxit oculos ; jussitque scelera, non spectavit : prcscipua sub Domitiano miseriarum pars erat, videre ef aspici ; cum suspiria nostra subscriherentur. It is no grateful office to apologize for obduracy; nor is it for the sufferers to seek excuses for the conduct of their oppressors. Justice, nevertheless demands, that due consideration should be had for the situation of the invading army ; the scantiness of 20* 234 REFLECTIOIVS OIV THE AMERICAN POLICY. its limits ; its ability to guard its prisoners, and means of subsist- ing them; nor would the bandaged Deity, on a scrutiny, I fear, entirely hold guiltless the assertors of liberty and declared pro- tectors of the rights of man. By her own pitiable policy, the balance in an exchange of prisoners, was miserably against Con- gress; and her annual enlistments opposed a formidable bar to the most sacred duties both of honour and humanity. But the heroic epoch of seventy-six, had its full leaven of selfishness; and whe- ther we appealed to our own or the French revolution, no two things will be found less alike than patriotism and philanthrophy, however it may be the fashion to speak of them as the same. When the great business is to raise an empire or to save one, what care we for the welfare of a minute inconsiderable part; and a part too, not having the slightest relation to ourselves? In the scale of public utility, what comparison can there be between an ignorant, mercenary soldier, and an enlightened member of the grand National Council, whose precious neck might, perad- venture, be " destined to the cord,"* in case of an unprosperous issue to the contest! It is for your Howards to "plunge into the infection of hospitals, to take guage and dimensions of misery, depression and contempt;" it is for them, "to survey the man- sions of sorrow^ and pain, to remember the forgotten., to attend to the neglected f Congress had far higher concerns. Possibly, I go too far; yet there were certainly prisoners in our hands, who, if not equal in amount to those in the hands of the enemy, would at least have obtained a partial exchange ; perhaps, with proper management, the release of the whole of the men; and the ob- stacle arising from the situation of Lee, might have been re- stricted to the officers. But this would not have done; there was an ugly rub in the affair: the time of enlistment having- expired, our men were no longer soldiers, while those of the enemy were still subject to command, and in a condition, imme- diately to take the field. Is it not probable, therefore, that we ourselves may owe a little to the manes of our devoted country- men ? But should I still be deemed censurable for the freedom of my observations, perhaps some of the letters of General Wash- * An expression of General Gage's in some of liis publications. MEMORIAL PRESENTED TO GENERAL HOWE. 235 iNGTON, whose discretion will not be questioned, might be brought to my aid : from these it might appear, that the army was not always cherished with the most paternal care. Revolutions, however, are not the soil for any but the stoical virtues; and, counting every life that was lost, all the vile plebeian carcasses which have served to dress the hot bed, so rankly teeming with political fimgi. is there a statesman of nerve, a hopeful pupil of the Monticello school, who would not say, that, upon every principle of political economy, our independence was cheaply purchased ?* But the situation of the suffering soldiery, was not unattended to by their more fortunate officers ; and the means of relieving them were the subject of our daily consideration. The most ob- vious, was, to present an address to Sir William Howe ; but it was suggested, that, as the condition of the men could not but be known to him, it was to be considered as designed; and that, therefore, to state it, might be deemed impertinent, and be, in effect, injurious rather than beneficial to the end in view. This consideration, for awhile, restrained any interference in their behalf; but at length, it was resolved that a representation should be made. A memorial was prepared and signed by Colonels Magaw, Miles and Atlee, and they appointed me to deliver it. I accordingly repaired to head quarters ; and meeting with some gentlemen of the family at the door, I presented it to them, with a request that it might be submitted as soon as convenient, to the Commander-in-chief. They promised it should be laid be- fore him without delay, and inquired my name and rank, as the contents of the paper, not being known, it might be supposed to relate to myself, and at any rate, as on the deliverer of a paper, there rests a certain degree of responsibility for its contents. As soon as we had obtained a supply of cash, we equipped ourselves generally in plain clothes, in which we were less con- spicuous, and consequently, more at ease. There was a very * A revolution in the aggreg-ato, is a no less glorious thing than a battle, but they both lose many of their charms on an analysis ; and this must account for the puny features of my narrative, when compared with the noble countenance of general history. It ought also to plead for me, with those, who may charge mc with, Elalant au public notre misanthropie. 236 SITUATION OF AFFAIRS. large store kept by one Coffin, in which, it was confidently said, Sir William Howe had a concern. From its containing the best assortment of goods, we gave it our cusiom ; and I accordingly called there one day, to buy some cloth and oiher articles, but as my gold had been clipped, it could not be taken, and I left the store with an apprehension that my coin would be useless to me. Very soon after, however, Mr. Coffin contrived to let me know, that he had waived his objection, and that my money would be received ; and after this, I found myself a welcome customer for all of it I could spare. Although there must have been in New York a number of re- fugees from Philadelphia, I presume they did not go much abroad, as I do not remember ever meeting one of them in the street; and the only one who ventured to call upon us, was Colonel William Allen, already mentioned. He came to our lodging once or twice, in the evening. His situation was an extremely awkward one. In civil contests, there seems no medium; and neither side will tolerate neutrals. Having borne arms with us, he had not the merit of an orthodox tory with the British ; neither had he any claim to the whiggism of the day, having renounced the cause of independence, and associated his fortunes with those of the enemy. In this predicament, however exempt from per- sonal animosity we might be, there could be nothing cordial or free in our intercourse : it admitted only of a constrained and formal civility. I have little doubt, however, that Mr. Allen's personal feelings w^ere, at this time, more with us than his new friends. As I have infinitely more satisfaction in recollecting and recording acts of generosity than of intolerance, I cannot omit to note the attention I received from Mr. Heathcote Johnson, of Amboy. This gentleman used to spend a good deal of his time in Philadelphia, had lodged at my mother's, and consequently, remembered me, though much younger than himself. Meeting him one day in the street, he stopped me, and in a very friendly manner invited me to spend a few weeks with him at Amboy. This, I could on no account have consented to, had I been at liberty to leave New York ; but that not being the case, 1 availed myself of this restriction in declining his invitation. He replied that it might be got over ; and that if I would favour him with my SITUATION OF AMERICAN OFFICERS. 237 company, he had no doubt, but that he had sufficient influence to obtain an extension of ray limits. I was now obliged to de- cline his civility in more positive terms, though with a due im- pression of the liberality and kindness which had prompted it. Other attentions, of a character not wholly dissimilar, as coming from the royal side, we could well have dispensed with. These were from Captain Davenport and Colonel Houssacker, quondam w^higs and officers of our army. The first, originally appointed a lieutenant in our regiment, had, by the promotion of two of our captains to the station of aids-de-camp, and of our major to the lieutenant- colonelcy of a new battalion, risen to the command of a company, as had also Tudor and Edwards, the latter already spoken of as my first lieutenant. This Davenport was an Irish- man, who had been but a short time in Philadelphia; but by means of good connexion there, an air of the world, and a con- summate degree of effi'ontery, he had obtained not only a com- mission, but much consequence. He dressed well, and had a plausible exterior, but was found wholly destitute of honour and principle. After our retreat from Long Island, he remained in New York, either sick or pretending to be so, and though re- peatedly urged and commanded to join the regiment, he staid there until the British took possession of it. He was certainly a voluntary captive, if not a deserter; and there can be little doubt that he had renounced our cause and made his peace with the enemy. He notwithstanding came to see us, and wished to be sociable as formerly, affecting to consider himself as a prisoner, and alledging in proof of it, his confinement in the provost prison, where I believe he had been a short time. We understood him, but, as we had no absolute certainty of his baseness, we did not think it necessary to discard him ; for as he frequented the coffee- house, mixed with the British army and tories, we often received intelligence through him, that we could not otherw^ise have ob- tained ; and as he cared as little for one side as the other, his only objects being whole bones and an adherence to the prevailing one, he had no temptation to deceive us. As to Houssacker, he had been originally commissioned a Major of Wayne's battalion. He had, if I mistake not, been an Adjutant of the Royal Americans ; and was considered a capable disciplinarian. He was a German, j: 238 DESERTERS FROM THE CAUSE OF INDEPENDENCE. or ratlier a man of no country or any country; a citizen of the world, a soldier of fortune, and a true mercenary. Thinking that our cause was going down rapidly, he saw no reason for adhering any longer to it ; but came over to the enemy in the season of our extreme adversity, though he did not reach us until after th.e affairs of Trenton and Princeton. Not liking the name of a deserter, he called himself a prisoner, but certainly, if he was one, he had made much better terms than we had. He told us, however, that all was over ; and that General Washington was reduced to the necessity of giving enormous bounties for only two or three weeks service ; that by means of these, and harranguing his troops, he con- trived to keep a few in the field, but that there was not the smallest doubt, that the business was up, and America subdued. His inference was, that ^ye ought immediately to make our peace. " What do you shut yourselves up here for ?" said he, in his rattling manner, to Miles, Atlee and Magaw, with whom he was acquainted. " Why don't you go to the coffee-house and mix with the British army, as I do ? They will use you well you may depend upon it. Ahd, to be sure, the thing was easy enough ; it was only to change sides, to cry peccavi, and receive forgiveness." Nevertheless, Colonel Houssacker made no proselytes to his opinion, or rather to his principles. Our affairs, it must be confessed, were at a very low ebb ; in so far, at least, as success was dependant on sheer fighting. The immense multitude which had taken the field in the beginning of the summer, was no longer to be found : it had vanished ; three short months from the opening of the cam- paign, had melted it away. Perhaps, not less than two-thirds of it, had gone home ; no inconsiderable part had been put hors de combat by the enemy ; and the feeble remnant yet in arms, was not calculated to inspire confidence. Still we flattered ourselves that things were better than they ap- peared; and notwithstanding the dire bodings of Houssacker, our spirits were not a little raised by the handsome coups de main of Trenton* and Princeton ; both of which came to our knowledge, * Sec, in Appendix fl^ a IcUcr from General Washington to Colonel Reed or Colonel Cadwaladeu. Spakks sa3's he did not find this letter among Washing- ton's papers; AVilkinson gives it in his Memoirs, but he docs not mention AMERICAN PROSPECTS. 239 tliougli imperfectly. The mere circumstance of showing the country that the enemy was not invincible, we deemed of incal- culable importance. It was in vain that the truth was disguised in the papers : enough was learned from other channels, to con- vince us that some signal advantages had been obtained, and to induce a belief that the spirit of America was rising w'ith the crisis. We were always anxious to see the newspapers, though, to be disgusted and mortified, was the never failing result of a sight of them. But mercilessly as they be-rebelled us, the refugees, to our great delight, were not always spared ; as may be collected from the following superlatively stupid paragraph, wdiich appeared in the paper of Hugh Gaines. It was substantially, if not precisely, in these words : — " One of the rebels who had lately taken the benefit of the commissioners proclamation, complaining to a British officer, that he was not treated as a gentleman, the officer replied : — ' I take a gentleman to be a man of honour, and as it is plain no rebel can be such, you, having been one, cannot expect to be treated better than you are.' " I felt a strong itch to cast a squib at this Boeotian attempt at a sarcasm ; but the difficulty was to give it publicity. There was no getting it into a newspaper, and detection would infallibly have obtained the author a lodging in the provost prison. Upon consulting vrith Edwards, it was agreed to endeavour to have it placed in a conspicuous part of the coffee- house ; and accordingly, in the evening, we procured a black boy, wdio, for the small fee of a quarter of a dollar or half a crown, undertook to lay, unobserved, the follow^ing production, sealed and addressed, " To the officers of the British army," in one of the boxes of the coffee-room : " A friend to government, presents his warmest and most sub- missive acknowledgments to his ' very worthy and approved good masters,' the gallant officers of the British army, ever jire-eminent in mercy* for their manly and immortal triumph over the rebel, who had lately the unparalelled audacity to appear in the company whence lie obtained it. Its publication by Wilkinson, who, doubtless, considered it genuine, — and Sparks agrees with him, — is no proof of its authenticity. On the contrary, from internal evidence, we should pronounce it to be a forgery. — Ed. * Words in a letter or proclamation of General Gage, while at Boston, 240 COFFEE-HOUSE INCIDENT. of gentlemen — I say, gentlemen ; for from that witty and ingenious sarcasm, which appeared in Mr. Gaines' last paper, it is incon- testably proved that no rebel can be such ; and it is therein no less clearly demonstrated, that every man who wears a red coat, and has the magnanimity to insult a person in his power, has every claim to that respectable character, which humanity, politeness and true heroism can confer. But, while I applaud the glory, I cannot but condemn the policy of the deed ; for who knows, but tliat some of these poor, shabby rascals, may have the arrogance to call thenselves gentlemen on their own dunghill, and even to venture upon retaliation ? It is true, their cowardice and mean- ness of spirit, have hitherto induced them to treat their prisoners with the utmost lenity and civility ; but, from the spirit of enter- prize, they have lately discovered, it is much to be feared, that tliey may, one day, pluck up courage enough to look a British officer in the face, or even to insult a captive. "But I wander from my point, which was merely to celebrate this illustrious exploit, which far transcends the most heroic achievements of your ancestors. How shall I express my satis- faction of your conduct? In a word, I am dumb with admiration, and 'in silence muse your praise.' " We remained in ignorance of the issue of our machination, until the following evening, when, Davenport calling upon us, immediately testified by his countenance (for he was not an un- pleasant rogue) that some amusing mischief had occurred. " You are a couple of pretty fellows," said he to Edwards and myself; " you have made a devil of an uproar at the coffee-house!" We affected not to know what he meant, but he insisted upon it, that it was by us, and us alone, that a letter had been addressed to the" British officers, which had set some of them raving mad. We found he had seen it, as he mentioned its contents. Some of the officers, he told us, only laughed at it, and said it was ^ery well done, while others were so outrageous, as to put up a notice in the coffee-room, importing, that " no white-washed rebel should presume to set his foot there again, under pain of being turned or kicked out ;" for they supposed it to proceed from a refugee. Da- venport judged better; and was persuaded that we were its BRITISH PROVOST MARSHAL ETHAN ALLEN. 241 authors ; though we dissembled so well, that he appeared at length to doubt. We were highly tickled at the success of the con- trivance, but knew better than to put ourselves into the power of a man so unprincipled. He several times afterwards returned to the charge, persisting in his assertion that the letter was ours ; but we were so guarded, that he was never able to extort from us an admission that Ave knew any thing of the matter: To have gotten into the clutches of Conyngham, would have been paying too dearly for our joke. This Conyngham was the provost marshal, and by the concur- rence of all who had been under his dominion, he was a fellow that would not have disgraced the imperial throne of the Caesars, in the darkest days of Roman tyranny ; nor the republic of France, at the most refulgent era of Jacobinism. A just respect for the enbghtened and moral policy of our rulers, forbids my carrying the adaptation farther. Davenport himself bore testimony to his vil- lany ; one of whose traits, was, that in the evening, he would traverse his domain with a whip in his hand, sending his prisoners to bed, with the ruffian like Tattoo of, Kennel ye sons of bitches! Kennel, G — d damn ye ! Colonel Ethan Allen too, in the narra- tive of Ids captivity, says, that " he was as great a rascal as the army could boast of," with the single exception of Joshua Loring, the commissary of prisoners ; and he winds up a most violent, and possibly, not ill deserved invective against the commissary, in the following energetic and characteristic strain of eloquence. " He (meaning Loring) is the most mean spirited, cowardly, deceitful and destructive animal in God's creation below ; and legions of infernal devils, with all their tremendous horrors, are impatiently ready to receive Howe and him, with all their detestable accom- plices, into the most exquisite agonies of the hottest regions of hell-fire."* * Ethan Allen was a Brig-adier-General in the Revolutionary army. He was a native of Connecticut, but received his very limited education in Vermont; his parents having emigrated to that State while he was very young. "At the re- quest of the Legislature of Connecticut, Allen collected a body 'of about 230 Green Mountain hoys — as tlie settlers of Vermont were then designated — and marched against the Fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. At Castleton he was joined by Colonel Arnold. They arrived at the lake opposite to Ticonderoga on the evening of May 9th, and having, with great diiFiculty procured boats, 21 242 GENERAL WILLIAMS COLONEL ALLEN. Should this lan^iage be thought too highly wrought, it should be remembered, that lew have ever more severely felt the hand of arbitrary power than Allen ; and that he had but recently emerged from the provost guard, to which, for some alleged in- fringement of parole, he and Major Otho H. Williams, afterwards General Williams, a very gallant and already distinguished officer, had been committed.* Allen had been brought from Halifax to landed S3 men on the other shore during the niglit. Tlie day, however, begin- ning to dawn, Allen was obliged to attack the Fort before his rear could cross the lake, having previously animated his soldiers, by a harangue, which he con- cluded with saying, 'I now propose to advance before you, and in person to con- duct you through the wicket-gate; but, inasmuch as it is a desperate attempt, I do not urge on any one contrary to his will. You that will undertake volun- tarily, poise your firelocks.' They all immediately poised their firelocks. He then advanced at the head of the centre file to the wicket-gate, where a sentry snapped his fusee at him, and retreated, followed by Allen, who formed his men upon the parade. The apartments of the commanding officer having been pointed out to him by a sentry who asked for quarters, he instantly repaired thither, and, holding his sword over Captain de Laplace, whom he found undressed, demanded the surrender of the Fort. The latter asking him by what authority, ' I demand if,' said Allen, ' In the name of the Great Jehovah, and of the Continental Con- gress.' De Laplace was constrained to comply, and the Fort with its stores and garrison, was given up. General Allen was a man of strong mind and of an cnterprizing spirit. He was taken prisoner in Canada. He was kept in irons and treated with much severity. His Narrative of his captivity is curiously written, but, is evidentl}', a faithful account. Ho died suddenly in 1789. Allen was an infidel. He adopted sundry wild and absurd notions, among others, be- lieving with Pythagoras that the soul of man, after death, would live again in beasts, birds and fishes. He often said that he would live again under the ap- pearance of a large white horse. These opinions, however, he was supposed to profess, more from an affectation of singularity than conviction. While sitting in his library conversing with a physician. Dr. Elliot, Allen was informed that his daugiiter was dying, and desired to speak with him. He and Elliot imme- diately repaired to her chamber. His wife was distinguished for her piety, and had instructed her daughter in the principles of Christianity. As soon as her father stood at her bedside, she said to him, ' I am about to die ; shall I believe in the principles you have taught me, or shall I believe in what my mother has taught me?' He became greatly agitated; his chin quivered; his whole frame shook ; and, after waiting a few moments, he replied, 'Believe what your mother has taught you.' " — Ency, Amer. " Hear the voice within, The small, still voice of conscience, hear it cry, Ax Atueist Tiiou may'st live, but can'st not die I" — Gilford, — Eo. ^ Otho Holland Williajis : He rose to the rank of Adjutant-General, in which station he remained until the close of the revolutionary war. He grcatlv distin- GENERAL WILLIAMS COLONEL ALLEN. 243 New York, a short time before the taking of Fort Washington, and was admitted to parole when we were. His figure was that of a robust, large-framed man, worn down by confinement and hard fare ; but he was now recovering his flesh and spirits ; and a suit of blue clothes, with a gold laced hat that had been pre- sented to him by the gentlemen of Cork, enabled him to make a very passable appearance for a rebel colonel. He used to show a fracture in one of his teeth, occasioned by his twisting off with it, in a fit of anger, the nail which fastened the bar of his hand-cufTs ; and which drew from one of the astonished spectators, the ex- clamation of " damn him, can he eat iron.'"' I had become well acquainted with him, and have more than once heard him relate his adventures while a prisoner before being brought to New York, exactly corresponding both in substance and language, with the narrative he gave tlie public in the year 1779. I have seldom met with a man, possessing, in my opinion, a stronger mind, or whose mode of expression was more vehement and oratorical. His style was a singular compound of local barbarisms, scriptural phrases, and oriental wildness ; and though iinclassic and sometimes iin- grammalical, it was highly animated and forcible. In the follow- ing sentence of his narrative, though it is not perhaps strictly cor- rect in its construction, there is to me, a flash of moral pathos not unworthy of a Robertson. " When the fleet," says he, " con- sisting of about forty-five sail, including five men of war, sailed from the cove (of Cork) with a fresh breeze, the appearance was beautiful, abstracted from the unjust and bloody designs they had in view." Notwithstanding that Allen might have had something of the insubordinate, lawless frontier spiritf in his composition, having been in a state of hostility with the government of New York before the war of the revolution, he appeared to me to be a man of generosity and honour ; several instances of which occur in his publication, and one, not equivocal, came under my own guislicd himself in the disastrous battle of Camden. Previous to the disband- mcnt of the army, Congress made him a Brigadier-General. He died in 1794. —Ed. t A spirit resembling that given by Scott to his Borderers, and wliich perhaps is common to men residing on the verge of policed communities, wjien the law- is feeble and inefEcient, and consequently contemned. 244 RESULT OF APPLICATION TO GENERAL HOWE. observation. General Washington, speaking of him in an official letter of May the 12th, 1788, observes, with a just discrimination, that there was an original something in him which commanded admiration. The representation which had been submitted to Gen. Howe, in behalf of the vSuffering prisoners, was more successful than had been expected. About a week, I think, after its delivery, the memorialists were given to understand, that their statement and propositions had been considered by Sir WiUiam Howe ; and that he was disposed to accede to them. These were, if I mistake not, that the men should be sent within our lines, where they should be receipted for, and an equal number of the prisoners in our hands returned in exchange. Policy, no less than humanity, recommended the measure ; since our men, no longer soldiers and too debilitated for service, even should they incline to re-en- list, gave a claim to sound men, immediately fit to take the field ; and there was, moreover, great danger that, if they remained in New York, the disease with which they were infected, might be spread throughout the city. That these considerations had their weight in the favourable result of the application cannot be doubted. At any rate, hope was admitted into the mansions of despair : the prison doors were thrown open, and the soldiers who were yet alive and capable of being moved, were conveyed to our nearest posts, under the care of our regimental surgeons, to them a fortunate circumstance, since it enabled them to ex- change the land of bondage for that of liberty, and to return to the bosom of their families and friends. Among these was Doctor M'Henry, with whom, from a residence in the same house, I was becoming intimate, though I had been but little acquainted with him before. The mention of this gentleman, brings along with it the recollection of my obligation to him, for his kindness and medical care of me, under the attack of a quinsy, but a very few days before he left us.* Immediately after the release of our men, a new location was * James McHexrv. He was appointed Secretary of \Yar by Washington, early in 1796, and was dismissed, with Colonel Pickering, Secretary of State, by the elder President Adams. — Ea. EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 245 assigned to us; and on the 2 2d of January, (1777,) as I find from Ethan Allen's narrative, though my recollection would have placed it in the middle of February, we were removed to Long Island, and by our parole, restricted to a district, consisting of Flat-bush, New-lots, Flat-lands and Gravesend, at each of which places, a part of us, were billetted on the inhabitants by Commis- sary Loring, for the stipulated sum of two dollars a head per week. What induced our removal from New York, I never learned : but without any inclination to assign undue importance to a trifle, it is not improbable, that the squib thrown into the coffee-house, as already mentioned, might have had its influence in bringing about the measure. Whatever some of the British officers might have thought, the refugees and tories could have had no doubt of the quarter whence it came. Its tenor, and still more, its consequences could not but have been both offensive and mortifying to them; and their feelings were entitled to the attention of Sir William Howe, whose protection they had sought. In addition to this, it is probable, that in other respects we did not sufl[iciently conform to the state of humfliation, in which it was the policy to place us. We took the full latitude of our parole, traversing the streets in all directions, with a good deal of assurance; and once, when the Tea- water pond was frozen over and covered with British officers, who thought themselves skaters, a few of us were audacious enough to mingle in the exercise, from the malicious pleasure more than any thing else, of showing them what arrant bunglers they were. But, to whatever cause it might be owing, it was, to the generality of us, a most unwelcome step. It was placing another river between us and our homes and though, in fact, we should be as visible to the eyes of Con- gress on Long Island, as at New York, we could not but consider the measure as unpropitious to an exchange ; and we regarded our transportation across the East river as a consignation to " dumb forgetfulness," where, no longer thought of by friends or foes, we were destined to waste the best of our days in a state of hopeless captivity. 21* 246 SITUATION OF OFFICERS AT LONG ISLAND. CHAPTER X. Situation of Officers at Long- Island. — Society at Flat-busli. — Manners of the People.— Mr. Baclie. — Captain Hutchins. — Domine Reubell. — Dominc Van Zinder. — An Excursion. — Public Feeling. — Mr. Wallace. — Officers' Appoint- ments. — Obstructions to an E.xchange. — Hardships of Captivity. — Elegiac Stanzas of the Author. — Obstacles to exchange of Officers. — Author visited by his Mother.— Maternal Anxiety. — British Post. — Officers. — Sir George Osborne. Bon Mot. — Aplications for Author's release. — Application to General Howe. — Author liberated on his Parole.— Reflections on War. Flat-bush was the place assigned for the officers of our regi- ment, as well as those of Magaw's. Here also, were stationed Colonels Miles, Atlee, Rawlings and Major Williams, the indul- gence of arranging ourselves agreeably to our respective circles of acquaintance, having been granted by Mr. Loring, of whom, for my own part, I have nothing hard to say. It is true, he laboured under that " curse of great ones," in having the " forked plague " fixed on him by Sir William : Yet as there is little doubt, that he considered himself amply indemnified by his office, he was not "robbed at all." Mr. Forrest and myself were billetted on a Mr. Jacob Suydam. His house was pretty large, consisting of buildings which appeared to have been erected at difTerent times, the front and better part of which, was in the occupation of Mr. Theophilact Bache and his family, from New York. Though we were in general, civilly enough received, it cannot be supposed, that we were very welcome to our Low Dutch hosts, whose habits of living were extremely parsimonious, and whose winter provision was barely sufficient for themselves. Had they been sure of receiving the two dollars a-week, it might have reconciled them to the measure ; but payment appeared to them to depend on the success of our cause, (Congress, or ourselves, being looked upon as the pay-masters,) and its failure, in their eyes, would in both cases SOCIETY AT FLAT-BUSH. 247 induce a stoppage of payment. They were, however, a people who seemed thoroughly disposed to submit to any power, which might be set over them ; and whatever might have been their propensities or demonstrations at an earlier stage of the contest, they were now the dutiful and loyal subjects of His Majesty George the Third ; and entirely obedient to the behests of their military masters in New York. As it was at the instance of these, that we were saddled upon them, they received us with the best grace they could put on. Their houses and beds we found clean ; but their living extremely poor, and well calculated to teach the luxurious, how infinitely less than their pampered appetites re- quire, is essential to the sustentation of life. In the apostrophe of Lucan, "O prodiga rerum Luxuries, nunquam parvo contenta paratu, Et qua^sitorum terra pelagoque ciborum Ambitiosa fames, et lautae gloria niensae I Discite quam parvo liceat producere vitam." Thus translated by Rowe : "Belioldl ye sons of luxury, behold I Who scatter in excess your lavish gold; You who the wealth of frugal ages waste, T' indulge a wanton supercilious taste ; For whom all earth, all ocean are explor'd To spread the various proud voluptuous board. Behold I how littb thrifty nature craves." A sorry wash made up of a sprinkling of bohea, and the dark- est sugar on the verge of fluidity, with half-baked bread, fuel being among the scarcest articles at Flat-bush, and a little stale butter, constituted ■ our breakfast. At our first coming, a small piece of pickled beef was occasionally boiled for dinner, but, to the beef which was scron consumed, succeeded clippers or clams, and our unvaried supper was supon or mush, sometimes with skimmed milk, but more generally with buttermilk blended with molasses, which was kept for weeks in a churn, as swill is saved for hogs. I found it, however, after a little use, very eatable ; and supper soon became my best meal. The table company con- 248 MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE. sisted of the master of the house, Mr. Jacob Siiydam, an old bachelor, a young man, a shoemaker of the name of Rem Hager- man, married to Jacob's niece, who, with a mewling infant in her arms, never failed to appear. A black boy, too, was generally in the room ; not as a waiter, but as a kind of enfant de Tnaison, w^ho walked about, or took post in the chimney corner with his hat on, and occasionally joined in the conversation. It is pro- bable, that but for us, he would have been placed at the table ; and that it had been the custom before we came. Certain it is, that the idea of equality, was more fully and fairly acted upon in this house of a British subject than ever I have seen it practised by the most vehement declaimers for the rights of man among ourselves. It is but fair, however, to mention, that I have never been among our transcendent republicans of Virginia, and her dependencies. But notwithstanding some unpleasant circum- stances in our establishment, every member of the family, the black fellow, to whom we had been the cause of some privations, excepted, was exceedingly courteous and accommodating. Rem Hagerman, and Yonichy, his wife, gave themselves no airs; nor was out harmony with uncle Jacob ever interrupted, but on a single occasion, when, soured a little by I know not what provo- cation, he made a show of knocking down Forrest with a pair of yarn stockings he had just drawn from his legs, as he sat in the chimney-corner one evening preparing for bed. It was, indeed, but an offer, though it might, for aught I know, have amounted to an assault in law, as Jacob was not so far from the person menaced, but that tlie feet of the stockings, if held by the other extremity, and projected from an extended arm, might possibly have reached him ; and a pair of long- worn yarn stockings, might, from daily alluvion, have acquired somewhat of the properties of a cudgel. But moments of peevishness were allowable to our host ; since, though we had for some time been consuming his provisions, he had never seen a penny of our money and it was somewhat doubtful, to say the truth, whether he ever would ; for, considering the contractors for our boarding liable for it, we never thought of paying it ourselves. As the Low Dutch are a people little known in Pennsylvania, and more especially, as it is my avowed intention to advert to the character of the time, this SOCIETY AT FLAT-BUSH. 249 sketch of their domestic economy and manners, may not be tliought impertinent. In a word, from what I saw of them on Long Island, I was led to consider them as a people, quiet and inoffensive beyond any I had seen ; such, from whom no enthu- siastic efforts, either of good or evil tendency, were to be looked for ; who were neither prolific of Catos nor Catilines ; and who, had they been the sole occupants of this great continent of ours, would still have been colonists, and never known what it was to be independent republicans. Their religious, like their other habits, were unostentatious and plain ; and a silent grace* before meat, prevailed at the table of Jacob Suydam. When we were all seated, he suddenly clasped his hands together, threw his head on one side, closed his eyes, and remained mute and motionless for about a minute. His niece and nephew followed his example ; but with such an eager solicitude that the copied attitude should be prompt and simultaneous, as to give an air of absurdity, to what might otherwise have been very decent. Although little of the vernacular accent remained on the tongues of these people, they had some peculiarities in their phraseology. Among these, instead of asking you to sit, or sit down to table, they invited you to sit by; and this I even observed in General Schuyler, when I was at Lake George. It might be asked by a stickling New Yorker, if "sit by" is not as proper, and even more so, than "sit down," w^hich, in strictness, is a redundancy. A Philadel- phian might admit it : but it would be no evidence of his want of candour, should he add, that it was, nevertheless, extremely awk- ward English. * Mrs. Grant, in lier " Memoirs of an American Lady," speaking- of the state of religion among- the settlers about Albany, says, " Thcii- religion, like their original national character, had in it little of fervor or enthusiasm; their manner of performing religious duties, was regular and decent, but calm, and to more ardent imaginations, might appear mechanical. None ever doubted of tlie great truths of revelation, yet few seemed to dwell on the result with that lively delight which devotion produces in minds of keener sensibility. If their piety, how- ever, was without enthusiam, it was also without bigotry ; they wished others to think as they did, without showing rancor or contempt towards those who did not. In many individuals, whose lives seemed governed by the principles of religion, the spirit of devotion seemed to be quiescent in the heart, and to break forth in exigencies ; yet that monster in nature, an impious woman, was never heard of among them." — Mem., chap. v. — Eo, 250 MR. BACHE MRS. BACIIE. The morning after our arrival at this place, we encountered Mr. Bache in the piazza, which extended the whole length of the building on the south side. His being an Englishman and a determined royalist, did not prevent him from accosting us very civilly, and manifesting a disposition to maintain a friendly intercourse with us, notwithstanding the difference in our politi- cal sentiments. Having long resided in New York, he was ac- quainted with the groimds of the contest ; and well knew, that the opposition to the mother country, was not confined to a low and desperate faction, as it was the fashion among the loyalists to represent it. He was aware, that his brother in Philadelphia,* (married to the daughter of Doctor Franklin) had embraced the Whig side of the question, as well as others of the first respecta- bility in America ; and was, therefore, perfectly sensible, that we were not the insignificant rebels, which policy depicted us. But whatever was the motive, the behaviour of Mr. Bache was alto- gether free from intolerance and party rancour : it was more, it was hospitable and kind. In addition to frequent invitations to tea, and to partake of his Madeira, to help us along a little, as he expressed it, in allusion to the mean fare of Jacob's table, I was indebted to him for the offer of his purse, although he neither knew me nor my connexions. As I stood in no need of it, I declined it, but with a due sense of the obligation the mere offer imposed. I availed myself, however, of the tender of his services in executing small commissions for me when he went to New York, which was almost every day ; and among these, he once negociatcd a bill of exchange in my favour, on Major * Mr. Richard Baciie. — lie was married to Sarah FraxNklin, on the 29th of October, 1767. It was of tliis patriotic lady, that M. De Marbois tlius wrote to Dr. Franklix, from Pliiladelpiiia, on tlic 4th January, 1781 : " If there arc in Europe any women, who need a model of attachment to domestic duties, and love for their country, Mrs. Baciie may be pointed out to them as such. She passed a part of tiie last year in exertions to rouse the zeal of the Pennsylvania ladies, and she made on this occasion such a happy use of the eloquence which you know she possesses, that a large part of the American army was provided with shirt;;, bought with their money, or made by their hands. In her applications for this purpose, she showed the most indefatigable zeal, and the most unwearied perseverance, and a courage in asking, which surpassed even the obstinate reluctance of the Quakers in refusing." — Ed. CAPTAIN HIJTCHINS. y 251 Small. It might have been this circumstance which led the Major to a knowledge that my mother, (at whose house he had long, and at different times, been a lodger, as already men- tioned,) had sons in the American army. For, on conversing once with Captain Hutchins, in London, on the subject of the war, he said to him, "would you have believed it, Hutchins, that Desdy had two of her sons in arms against us ?" But this fact could not have appeared quite so unnatural to the Captain, as it did to the Major, since, not very long after, for his attach- ment to the American cause, he was obliged to relinquish the British service, having first been arrested on a charge of trea- sonable practices. Captain Hutchins, I think, was a native of New Jersey.* On his coming over to us, he was appointed to the post of Geographer-General, which had probably been created for him. From his long and frequent residence in our house, he was domesticated in it : He was a worthy and a pious man ; but one, who, in his continued complaints of the injustice of the British government, in not fully remunerating his services, be- trayed but little knowledge of the world. Ca2sar, it is true, sent Labienus his pay and baggage, when that officer thought proper to join the standard of Pompey; but this was an instance of singular generosity. If Captain Hutchins, after spending the greater part of his life in the British army, chose to renounce it for that of America, he should at least have granted to his old employers, the privilege of some ill humour, and not have been too outrageous, even though some pecuniary deficiency had been its consequence: what was patriotism in his eyes — in theirs, was ingratitude ; and the right of thinking was mutual. But if these vile monarchists were unjust to a relinquisher of their cause, what shall we say of the conduct of our own republican rulers, to old officers, who have always been fiuthful? Com- * Thomas Hutchins, to whom General Washington wrote, OOUi August, 1786, upon the subject of " authentic documents wanted by the Empress of Russia, respecting- the language of the natives of this country, for the purpose of com- piling a universal Dictionary." Washington farther writes :— "Persuaded that a gentleman of your taste for science in general, and particularly of your capacity of acquiring the information in question, will enter upon the task with pleasure, I make no apology for troubling you with it." — Ed. 252 DOMINE REUBELL — DOMINE VAN ZINDER. paring the destiny of many of these with that of the adherents to the British government, I fear we shall not all be able to say with Rousseau : Heureux, toutes les fois que je medite sur les governemens^ de trouver toujours dans mes recherches, de nouvelles raisons d^ aimer celui de mon pays."^ Besides Mr. Bache, there were at this time, several New Yorkers, with their families, residing at Flat-bush. Of these, Mr. Axtle, was apparently the first in point of wealth and im- portance. I think he had been of the Governor's council. He was neatly seated at a country-house at the entrance of the village from New York ; and I had once the honour of supping with him, together with eight or ten of my fellow-prisoners, that had been selected on the occasion. What the object of this single attention was, could not be divined ; but after partaking of the hospitality, it would be wrong to ascribe it to other than a liberal motive, and after having obtained a footing in his house, it was our own fault that it was not improved. In the family of Mr. Axtle, there was a Mr. Frederick Depeyster, a young man better known in the village by the fondling appella- tion of Feady ; and two young ladies, all of whom, were the relations of Mrs. Axtle. One of these, a Miss Shipton, had so much toleration for our cause, as some time after, to marry a Major Giles of our army. Next in consequence to Mr. Axtle, might be placed Mr. Matthews, the mayor of New York, who divided his time between the village and the city, in each of which he had a house. There were also here a Mr. Sherbroke, and a Mr. Jauncey ; and Major Moncrief, of the British army, a relation by marriage to Mr. Bache, spent much of his time here, where he had a daughter. But the principal personage in a low Dutch village appears to be the Domine, or Minister; and Flat- bush, at this time, revered her Domine Reubell, a rotund, jolly looking man, a follower of Luther and a tory, on whom were billetted Colonels Atlee and Miles. At Flatlands, an adjacent hamlet, there was also a Domine Van Zinder, a disciple of Cal- vin, and a Whig. He was in person as well as principles, a .* Happy, so often as I contemplate otlicr governments, to find, in my re- searches, as I always do, new reasons for loving that of my own country I SOCIETY AT FLAT-BUSH — DOMINE VAN ZINDER. 253 perfect contrast to Mr. Reubell, being a lean and shrivelled little man, with silver flowing locks, " which streamed like a meteor to the troubled air," as he whisked along with great velocity in his chair through Flat-bush. Recalling his figure and triangular sharp-pointed hat, I have before me, the express image of the learned Knickerbocker's William the Testy. This latter Domine was distinguished by a species of pulpit eloquence, which might be truly said, to " bring matters home to mens' business and bosoms." Mr. Bache assured me, that, in once descanting on the wily arts of the devil, in seducing and ensnaring sinners, he likened him to my landlord, Jacob Suydam, sneaking and skulk- ing about to get a shot at a flock of snipes ; small birds of the plover kind, which, at certain seasons are very numerous on the beach; and in shooting of which, old Jacob, it seems, was emi- nently skilful and successful. I was indebted to Mr. Bache for much other local information; and was gratified to find, that our defence of Fort Washington, was considered by the British officers, as far from pusillanimous or disgraceful.* There was a fatiguing sameness in our occupations, for which we had no cure. During a residence of about five months upon Long Island, I was but once beyond the limits to which we were restricted, and this was to dine with Mr. Wallace, one of the principal merchants of New York, who now resided at Jamaica. Together with Major West and Captain Lenox, I had been recommended to him by the house of the Nesbits, or of Conyngham and Nesbit (I am not sure of the firm) in Phila- delphia, to whose friendship I was also indebted, as it was un- solicited, for a letter of credit on him, wdiich, however, I had no occasion to use. An instance, by the by, of the liberal uses of that commerce, which, in the enlarged and enlightened mind of Mr. Jefferson, only tends to corrupt and narrow the heart; and to sink those employed in it, into the most worthless part of the community. It was this circumstance, which procured us an invitation to dine with him; to enable us to do which, he had obtained for us a temporary dispensation from our parole, from * Even General Howe declared that the place had been well defended by the "Rebels." — Ed* 254 AN EXCURSION — PUBLIC FEELING. Mr. Loring, We cheerfully availed ourselves of the little va- riety this visit would aflbrd us, and waited upon Mr. Wallace, who entertained us with much hospitality. But 4here was one incident, I must confess, I did not altogether relish: perhaps it was designed as a delicate mode of assuring us, that the civility we received, was not to be considered, in any degree as a tolera- tion of our principles. After dinner, the son of our entertainer, a boy of about seven or eight years of age, came into the room, and his father putting a glass of wine into his hand, asked him Avhat he drank. " Church and King," pronounced the little fellow, in an audible voice. I did not know until now, that I had made so much progress in republicanism. Although loyalty to the king, had but lately been an ardent feeling in America, and had certainly been mine; and although I had recently con- templated becoming an Episcopalian, from an idea that it was the duty of all men to conform to the established religion of their country, where, to their minds, there were no essential objections to its tenets — yet the sentiment appeared to me degrading and slavish in the extreme. This is an instance how much our opi- nions are swayed by our passions and habits, and a corrobora- tion of the remark of Lord Chatham, "that the first blood drawn in the contest, would prove an irritabile vulnus, a wound that could not be healed, but which would fester and mortify the whole body." Upon our first arrival at Jamaica, after putting up our horses at an inn, we concluded to take a ramble through the town be- fore we went to Mr. Wallace's. We had accordingly strolled to nearly the end of the main street, when we observed a soldier, or non-commissioned officer, coming after us. We suspected his business to be with us, when approaching with due military etiquette, he gave us to understand, that he came by order of Colonel Fanning, who desired to speak with us at his quarters. We immediately returned with him, and were conducted to the colonel, who informed us, that he presumed we were prisoners ; and if so, as we were without our limits, he conceived it his duty to inquire into the cause of it. We told him that we came to dine with Mr. Wallace, who, we understood, had obtained permission for us so to do, from the commissary of prisoners. AN EXCURSION — MR. WALLACE. 255 Had we any certificate or evidence of this ? he asked. We re- plied, we had not, as we had entirely referred the matter to Mr. Wallace, and relied upon his assurance that we were privileged. Finding that he still seemed to consider it a dubious point, whe- ther we ought to be detained or set at liberty, we thought it time to assert ourselves, a little, and told him that it was a matter of the utmost indifference to us, what part he might adopt. After a moment's consideration, however, he thought proper to dismiss us. This Mr. Fanning had been secretary to Governor Tryon, and now commanded a regiment of new levies, stationed at this place. Though we assumed some cavalier airs on the occasion, it cannot be said, that the colonel had exceeded his duty, or be- trayed any wantonness of authority. As Mr. Wallace was from Ireland, it probably, would not have comported with the hospitality of his table, to have suffered us to leave it, unexhilarated. He pushed the bottle, therefore ; and detained us, anti-church and king-men, as we were, until we had received as much of his Madeira, as we could carry home with any tolerable convenience. Among the very few incidents which occurred to vary the wearisome sameness of Flat-bush, M'as the arrival, one day, of two or three officers of the British guards, to pay their respects to Captain Richardson of Magaw's regiment, who, they had but lately learned, was the brother of Colonel Francis Richardson, already mentioned in the early part of these Memoirs. I did not see them, but the circumstance was related to me by Edwards, who was cruelly mortified in the reflection, that a worse speci- men in outward appearance of the officers of our army, could hardly have been found, than in the person of Captain Richard- son. In addition to a mean slouching figure, he was disgustingly slovenly, and wretchedly calculated to support either the dignity of his brother or our army. Whether he was unlucky enough to be found by his visiters, I do not recollect; but it was un- questionably the interest of those who were piqued for the repu- tation of the American service, to keep him out of sight, or at least, to have him furbished up before appearing. As it was the policy of the enemy to vilify us, and depreciate our cause by re- presenting its supporters as vulgar and contemptible, it conse- 256 officers' appointments. quently stimulated us to appear to as much advantage as possible. Those who may think we attached too much importance to a good exterior, in the situation in which we were, know nothing of the qualifications respected among military men ; and they w'ould betray no less ignorance of the common feelings of man- kind, should they doubt that the respectability of our army was not of vast importance to our undertaking : as much, if not more, I will venture to aflirm, than even the respectability of Congress, a small, invisible body, not possessing the means of sensible im- pression on the mass of the people. In civil contests, it is highly requisite for the party in opposition to government, to counteract the advantage of recognised authority, by an appearance that may raise them above contempt, than which nothing can be more unfavourable to them.* This was strikingly exemplified at least, in our revolution; and is another instance of its dissimi- larity to that of the French, whose object being the subversion of society, found its early strength to consist in the vaunted base- ness of its partisans. We had now been captive nearly seven months, and the ob- stacle to an exchange, seemed in no likelihood to be removed. We had seen the letters which had passed upon the subject, be- tween the commanders of the two armies; and although we were satisfied with the reasoning on our side, and consoled in some degree, by the feeling manner, in which our situation was ad- verted to by General Washington, we were far from being re- conciled to our fate. Notwithstanding that Lee's being consi- dered as a'deserterby Sir William Howe, was the ostensible bar, it occurred to me, that the reluctance felt by Congress to restoring without an equivalent, the British soldiers in their possession, was their principal motive for disagreeing to any cartel that should be attended with that consequence. The rash, though not undeserved letter to the Council of safety too, stared full in the face, the unlucky wights, who had been indiscreet enough * "The habits and prejudices of the Englisli people," says Mr. Fox, in his History of the Rei^fn of .Tames II., "are in a great degree aristocratieal; nor liad he (the Duke of Monmouth) before him, nor indeed have wo since his time, had anc single example of an insurrection that was successful, unaided by the ancient families aad great landed proprietors." OBSTRUCTIONS TO AN EXCHANGE. 257 to put our names to it: and, as the council might be supposed to have some influence in the general concerns of the Confedera- tion, we sometimes, in our desponding fits, conceived ourselves no less the victims of resentment than of policy. Before our removal to Long Island, Colonel Miles had been permitted to visit his family in Pennsylvania ; and as he had been charged with some proposals relative to an exchange of prisoners, he had an interview with General Howe, either upon his going in, or his return. On this occasion, he received no very favourable impression of the literary talents or critical acumen of his Excel- lency, who, in commenting on the communications of General Washington, among other shrewd remarks, observed, that they were very badly compiled. For the General himself, he expressed much respect ; but lamented that he was surrounded by a set of lawyers, who led him astray, and who contributed to, if they did not solely cause, this bad compilation of his letters. Who compiled for Sir William, is not ascertained, that I know of, but I believe it was generally admitted, that in this particular, he was not better served than General Washington. General Lee tells us, that " McKensey, Balfour, and Galloway were his scribes; and that all the damned stuff which was issued to the astonished world, was theirs." Captivity is justly comprehended in the catalogue of human woes; its poignancy is recognised by Shakspeare in his play of Othello, and it is among the calamities, which are particularly adverted to, in the excellent liturgy of the Church of England. What peculiar sickness of the heart it is, may be collected from Rowe's beautiful allusion to it, in the wailings of Calista. " So the poor captive in a foreio-n realm, Stands on tlie shore and sends his wishes back, To the dear, native land from whence he came." How often have I done this from the summit of the com- manding heights which bounded our district towards Brooklyn, and afforded an extensive view of East Jersey. Here, like Toai Jones, from the top of Hazard hill, and for a similar cause, have I frequently reflected with a sigh upon the vast tract of land, which lay between me and my home. For although the par- 22* 258 ELEGIAC STANZAS OF THE AUTHOR. ticular object of my contemplation, was not within my sight, [ had, as was observed of Jones, by his discerning companion, a pleasure in looking that way. In my melancholy hours, I had made this spot, the scene of an elegiac essay, where, having lo- cated my forlorn captive, about sunset, I say, — Here on tlic lofty summit as he stood, His wistful eyes still sought the western shore; There, ting'd with gold, the distant liills he view'd Where yet her sons fair freedom's ensign bore. My unaffected conviction of the poverty of my poetic talent, for- bids a recital of more than a few stanzas of my fragmentary pro- duction, which are selected, as well because they serve to show my impressions at the time, in regard to the cruelty of the enemy, as that they confer attributes on General Washingto:v, which seem precisely, those which are the award of the present day, and will be that of all posterity. After a bitter apostrophe to Howe for the imputed murder of our soldiery, the doom-de- nouncing bard proceeds, For Heaven is just, and though the daz'z'ling rays Of royal favour, dignify thy name, Yet dire remorse shall tear thy future days, And hist'ry damn thee to eternal fame. Then too, shall truth impartially record. The gen'rous eflorts of the patriot few, Rous'd by their wrongs to draw tli' the avenging sword. And crush fell tyranny's destructive crew. First in the deathless animating page. Thy fame, great Washington ! illustrious shines ; Unsullied by the breath of party rage. More brilliant than Golconda's glitt'ring mines : For conduct, dignity and valour fam'd, 'Midst dark adversity serenely great, Thy dauntless soul with godlike ardour flam'd And soar'd above the scowling blasts of fate. 'Tvvas then, majestic Delaware ! thy wave. Became immortal from the splendid deed, &,c. OBSTACLES TO EXCHANGE OF OFFICERS. 259 When the attempt to settle a cartel had proved abortive, it was rumored that we were to be shipped for England ; and this we should generally have preferred to remaining where we were. We figured to ourselves somethins: of the nature of an adventure in the measure ; and from what Ethan Allen had told us, we did not doubt that we should find in it, some sources of gratification. The step, however, was not rationally to be looked for ; there could be no inducement to it, though there might be for the threat, upon the supposition that we had connexions powerful enough to prevail with Congress for an exchange. The most sanguine among us, had now given up the hope of deliverance; and, in addition to the pining tediousness of our situation, that engine for breaking hearts, the provost-prison, was ever open to receive the victims of brutal insolence and malignity. That this was no chimera, the following incident will prove. Some fel- lows, one morning, on the road to New York market with fish^ were stopped by Captain Lenox and two other officers, Lieute- nant Wright of Maryland, and Lieutenant Stewart of Delaware, I think, who wished to buy some ; but they were told by the fishmongers, that they would not sell to rebels. This produced re- proachful language on both sides, when the officers laying hold of the fish, began to bandy them about the jaws of the ragamuf- fins that had insulted them. A complaint was immediately lodged with General Robertson ; the accused v^ere escorted by a guard to New York, and on the statement of the complainants, being found in aggression, they were required to make acknow- ledgements to the injured; which, refusing to do, they were forthwith consigned to the custody of the provost-marshal. With him they remained for two or three weeks ; but, at length, were released, without being held to the concessions at first de- manded. Conyngham, it seems, had used them well ; partly owing, probably, to instructions from General Robertson, and partly to Mr. Lenox's being well supplied with money and ap- pearing of consequence, which better than any thing else, is cal- culated to mollify the heart of a genuine caitifl["in power. It was a generally received opinion among us, that a close confinement would be a virtual cancelling of our parole ; and hence, when these gentlemen were returned to their district^ 260 CAPTAIN HUCK. without the exaction of a new one, they submitted it to a board of officers, whether or not they would be justified in going away. I forget what officers composed the board; I only recollect that Colonel Ethan Allen was one, and that his opinion, was that of a man of honour and sound casuist. He admitted, that they had a right to escape from their actual confinement, but that now the case was altered ; and that, although no new parole had been given, yet the obligation of the former one, should be considered as returning on their enlargement ; and that they were under the same restraint, in point of honour, that they had been before their commitment to the provost. This was also the opinion of the board, and unanimously approved, as well by the gentlemen immediately interested, as by others, I have mentioned this cir- cumstance, principally to show, that Allen, however turbulent a citizen under the old regime, was not the vulgar ruffian, that the New York royalists represented him. While in this state of dejection, from the unavailing negotiation to establish a cartel, an incident, as little expected, as any other within the compass of possibility, took place. It was, to the best of my recollection, early in the month of June, that, one day, meeting with Mr. Christian Huck,* the lawyer, a refugee from Philadelphia, at Flat-bush, informed me, that my mother was in New^ York. The astonishment and even incredulity, I expressed by my manner, induced him to repeat liis assurance that such was the fact, that he had seen her and conversed with her, and that I might expect to see her at this place, either on the * Afterwards Captain Huck, of Tarlcton's Dragoons, I think, and the same who was killed in South Carolina in 1730-1. " This Mr. Huck" says Mr. Gray- don, " had read law in Piiiladelphia, with Mr. Isaac Hunt, before mentioned, and had received the early part of his education at the Charity School of the Acade- my, when I was a pupil there. He is spoken of in our accounts of him, as a monster of profancness and cruelty. But this ferocity must have been acquired by tlie fury with which the war was waged in the Southern quarter, as I remember nothing of these tiger-qualities in him, and I knew him from his boyish years up to those of manhood. If he was distinguished for any thing, it was for an af- fected sapience and a pretension to more knowledge than he possessed. A wag- gish fellow-student of his, the late Mr. Edwahu Tilghman, aware of this trait in his character, once asked him if a Felo-de-se could inherit an estate, when Huck, applying his finger to his nose, in an attitude of profound thought, replied, that, in some cases, he believed he could." AUTHOR VISITED BY HIS MOTHER. 261 present or succeeding day. Although aware that she yielded to none in the ardour of maternal aifection, yet nothing could be more unlooked for than this event ; and even the pleasure 1 pro- mised myself in seeing her, did not compensate for the disappro- bation I felt at the imprudence of the undertaking ; improper, in every point of view, in which I could contemplate it. When I reflected upon the difficulties she had to encounter, and her timidity in every mode of travelling, and particularly by water, which w^ould be occasionally necessary in her journey, I could not but conclude, that there must be some very extraordinary motive for it ; and my desire to meet her, was mixed with a painful anxiety. She arrived the day after she had been announced, having hired a person at Brooklyn, to bring her from thence in a chair. Her only object, I found, was to see me, and to endeavour to procure my release on parole ; as she had heard, that we were harshly treated, aiid on the point of being sent to England. The fatigue and anxiety of her journey, had so far overcome her, that on reaching New York, she had been ill for a few days, and had put herself under the care of a Doctor Carlton or Charlton, who, though he appeared to have acquitted himself well enough as a physician, had extremely shocked and disgusted her by his intolerant tory- ism. Upon finding what her errand was, he seemed to take pleasure in confirming to her, that the prisoners were to be sent to England, and hanged there, he added, for aught that he knew : but that, at any rate, it was what they richly deserved. She had been visited, I learned, by the Aliens, or some of them, Huck,* as already mentioned, and some others from Philadelphia, who were anxious to hear what was going on in that quarter. Upon * General Henry Lee disposes of Huck in a very summary manner. "Cap- tain Huck, of Tarleton's legion, had been dotaclied by Lieutenant-Colonel Turn- bull, commanding at Hanging Rock to disperse some of the exiles of South Carolina, who had lately returned to the State and were collecting in the neigh- bourhood of that place to assist in protecting their country. The captain, with forty dragoons, twenty mounted infantry, and sixty militia, ventured thirty miles up tlic country where the very exiles he was sent to disperse, attacked and de- stroyed his detachment. The captain, notorious for his cruelties and violence, was killed, as were several others, and the rest dispersed." — Ed. 262 OBSTACLE TO A RELEASE OF PBISONERS. mentioning her business to Mr. John Allen, he advised her not to be scrupulous as to the terms of my release, since the business would very soon be over, and a pardon be all that could be ob- tained by any who had borne arms. But before stating what took place on this side of the lines, let us go back a little to what oc- curred on the other. The projected undertaking had been long in contemplation ; and the friends as well as members of the family had been con- sulted on the occasion. Some advised it, but the greater part disapproved of it. Having acquaintances on both sides, my mother indiscriminately took their opinions ; and so far as party feeling appeared to enter into the question, it was observable, that the tories were for the measure, the whigs against it. The former were, of course, advocates for the benignity of General Howe ; and as they were incredulous, or affected incredulity, as to the ill treatment of prisoners, they would have rejoiced in her success, as an instance to the contrary. The ktter, did not, in the first place, think the application would be of any avail ; and, as upon this particular occasion, they were in the predicament, which Rochefoucault tells us, all men are in at all times, viz., that of " discovering something in the misfortunes of their best friends, which does not entirely displease them," they would, probably, have been better satisfied, that we should all have grown old in captivity, than have become vouchers for British clemency by an immediate release : As it was inconvenient for Congress to exchange us, it appeared to them much better that we should re- main prisoners until the conclusion of the war, if peradventure we should so long live, than, by coming out on parole, furnish the tories ivith a circumstance they might turn to the advantage of their side. So stern a thing is patriotism, when the comfort of third persons only is concerned ! As my mother, however, pos- sessed too little of the Roman spijit to be duly moved by such magnanimous considerations, the feelings of nature prevailed ; and she resolved on the enterprize. She purchased a horse and chair for the occasion, and set out for Philadelphia, her residence being at this time at Reading, to which place ^ she had removed, with several other families of her acquaintance, in the preceding winter, when the enemy had penetrated through Jersey to the MATERNAL ANXIETY. 263 Delaware. On her arrival in the city, one Fisher, a Scotchman, and relation of my grandmother, was officious in tendering his service to drive her to New York. As he was a retailer of dry goods, his object, no doubt, was traffic ; and to bring home with him some scarce light articles, in the chair box. The offi^r was accepted ; they set off, and had nearly reached Princeton, w^hen, to their great astonishment, they were overtaken by a detachment of cavalry, which had been sent in pursuit of them, with orders to arrest their progress. The cause was this. Fisher, it seems, was a tory either real or putative ; and the fact having been made known to General Mifflin, who was then in the city, it had set him a fidgeting, and, as no one could exactly foresee the consequences that might result to the infant nation, should a suspected Scotch shop-keeper get out of Philadelphia into New York ; the hue and cry on the occasion, was proportionably eager and vehement. It cannot be denied, how^ever, that the proceeding was quite in rule. The culprits were immediately taken into custody ; but my mother's guilt being merely that of bad neighbourhood, [nimium vidua Cremona,) having been wholly ignorant of tlie political tenets of her companion, she was conducted to the quarters of General Sullivan, who commanded at this post. Here she remained until due order was taken in the pre- mises, when, she found, that, instead of proceeding on her jour- ney, she was under the necessity of retracing her steps towards Philadelphia, under an escort of horse. When they had got back as far as Bristol, means were found for Mr. Fisher, the only prisoner, to pursue his way, without the chair, with which he had been accommodated so far; and Colonel M'llvaine, an old and particular friend, and indeed connexion of the family, kindly offering to accompany my mother to the Head Quarters of our army, from whence, the proper measures might be taken for her proceeding into the British lines ; her horse's head was once more turned towards New York. They reached the hospitable mansion of Mr. Vanhorne, of Bound-brook, on the evening of the day they set out. It fortunately turned out, that he had been acquainted with my father, and having connexions in Brunswick, he furnished my mother with a letter of introduction extremely useful to her, on her arrival there. Passing over un- 264 MATERNAL ANXIETY. important particulars, she was conducted with her horse and chair to the enemy's lines, by INIajor Scull, who was then obliged to leave her, and commit her to the courtesy of some Hessian officers, who were on duty there. It happened, during the cere- mony of the flag, that a gun was somewhere discharged on our side of the lines. This infringement of military etiquette, was furiously resented by the German officers, who expressed them- selves with a vehemence of gesture extremely alarming to my mother, who discovered what it related to, from the frequent repetition of the w^ords^ao- o/"^rMce; the only ones she under- stood. She supported herself as well as she could, under this inauspicious introduction into the hostile territory; and remain- ing in her chair, her horse was led by a soldier to the quarters of General Matthew or Matthews, who commanded in Bruns- wick.* Here, she alighted, and was shown into a parlour, where, in a few minutes, were set before her a decanter of wine and some biscuits. Being faint, and much in need of refresh- ment, she helped herself to a biscuit, and drank two glasses of wine; the first having proved so cordial and restorative to her dejected spirits, as to induce her to take a second. General Matthews did not keep her very long in waiting; and, on his appearing, being made acquainted with her object, and desire of being passed on to New York, as soon as might be conve- nient, he promised it should be attended to: his manner was that of a man of humanity and perfect good breeding. Upon leaving the General's quarters, her first care was to deliver the letter of Mr. Vanhorne. She readily found the house of the person to whom it was addressed, (I think Mr. Clarkson) was invited in, and seated alone in a parlour. There soon after came in two or three British officers, who, entering into conver- sation with the ease of men of fashion, gave her to understand that there had been a ball the preceding evening, at which had been the Misses Vanhornes, the ladies whom they now called to see. These gentlemen, one of whom was Sir John Wrottesley, * There is a General Matthew spoken of by Mr. Cunibcrhuid near tlie close of liis Memoirs. A son of Mr. Cumberland bad married the General's daughter, and be is called " a truly noble and benevolent gentleman." In all probability he is the same who commanded at Brunswick. BRITISH POST — OFFICERS — DUNOP. 265 were such frequent visiters at this house, that my mother, during her stay in it, became pretty well acquainted with them, as I found, upon her once meeting Sir John, with Miss Susan Van- horne, in the street of Flat-bush. Accosting her in a very sociable manner, he adverted to the circumstance of her finding me, who had then the honour of being introduced to him ; and less, I cannot say, British baronet though he was, since his demeanour was truly gentlemanly and worthy of his rank. By the same means, she had the opportunity of often seeing Colonel Donop,* a Major Hendricks and a Major Pauli, all of the German troops; the latter of whom, was polite enough to take charge of her horse and chair; to promise to send them to Mr. Vanhorne's, at Bound-brook, and in the mean time, to supply the necessary forage. There were five of the Misses Vanhorne, all handsome and well bred, who, not long after, with their mother, a widow lady, removed from this place to Flat-bush. A Mr. Clarkson, who was a connexion of theirs; if I mistake not, their uncle by mar- riage, and the very gentleman, at whose house they staid at Brunswick, and at which, my mother was so hospitably enter- tained, had a house also at Flat-bush. Being a whig, he had left it on the approach of the enemy; and it had been a good deal injured by the Germans. He was now permitted to return to it; and Mrs. Vanhorne and her daughters came along with him. Perhaps the way to this measure, was smoothed by the interest of the officers already mentioned ; and ladies often are the means of mitigating the ferocities of war. After being detained a week or more at Brunswick, my mother, with a number of other passengers, embarked in a sloop or shallop, for New York. The vessel in her passage, was fired upon by some of our people from the shore, but without injury * Count Donop ; He was made a prisoner at Red-Bank, and Washington, in his letter to Christopher, Greene, October 24ti], 1777, says, "Count Donop in particular, is a man of importance, and ought by all means to be taken care of!" " He died of his wounds," says Sparks, "three days after the action, at a house near the fort. A short time before his death, he said to Monsieur Duplessis, a French officer, who constantly attended him in his illness. ' It is finishing a noble career early ; I die the victim of my ambition and of tlie avarice of my sovereign.' " — Ed* 23 266 SIR GEORGE OSBORNE — BON MOT. to any one, and the destined port was at length attained without farther difficulty. Among the many unexpectedly agreeable circumstances of her situation at Brunswick, there were some unpleasant ones she had no means of avoiding. Although the political conversation of the British officers ought to have been restrained in the presence of the Misses Vanhorne, who had some relations in our Service, it was sometimes such as to be ex- tremely offensive to an American ear. An instance of this kind arose from the following circumstance. A young man of our army had been recently killed by the British cavalry, and his body so cruelly hacked and mangled by their sabres, that General Washington thought proper to send it in for their inspection. It was brought to the post of Sir George Osborne, who with much admired sangfroid, simply returned for answer, that he was no coroner. This circumstance was a theme of considerable merri- ment, and the hon mot of Sir George not a little applauded. As Mr. Bache with his family, had been latterly a good deal in New York, and, consequently, his part of Mr. Suydam's house, become less necessary to him, he permitted my mother to occupy it during her stay at Flat-bush. This was highly con- venient to her, and she became, in some degree, naturalized to her new situation. Her accustomed flow of good spirits re- turned ; and as she came pretty well supplied with cash, she contrived to get something better than clippers and supon; and to give one or two tea-drinkings, at which the rebel clan that attended them, was honoured with the company of some of the Misses Vanhorne, avowed whigs, notwithstanding their civility to the British officers. She also availed herself of the opportunity of learning from Major Williams, the art of making Johnny cakes, in the true Maryland fashion ; and good part of an after- noon, I remember, was spent in the notable cookery. But these recreations did not interfere with the object of her expedition, and her design of getting me home. I, in vain, endeavoured to dissuade her from her purpose. She was resolved to prove the result of an application ; and, in this view, in one of her first visits to New York, called upon Mr. Galloway, who was sup- posed to have much influence at Head Quarters. He spoke en- couragingly of the attempt, and said, he had little doubt, but it APPLICATIONS FOR THE AUTHOr's RELEASE. 267 would succeed. What would be the proper mode of applying to Sir "William Howe ? she asked. By memorial, said Mr. Gal- loway ; at the same time, kindly ojOfering to sketch one out for her, if she chose it. As she could do no less than accept his offer, and thank him for it, he went to work, and in a few minutes produced, what he said, accorded with his ideas on the subject. He then read to her, what he had written, purporting, that, "Whereas Mrs , had always been a true and faithful sub- ject of his Majesty George the Third ; and whereas, her son, an inexperienced youth, had been deluded by the arts of designing men," " 0, sir," said she, " that will never do ; my son can- not obtain his release on these terms." "Then, madam," said he, somewhat peevishly, "lean do nothing for you." She en- deavoured to soften as well as she could, the refusal to comply with • what he 'had recommended, and left him, a good deal depressed in her expectations. Fearful, that, in her ardour to obtain her object she might be tempted to go too far, I had cau- tioned her against yielding to any improper concessions ; and had solemnly declared, that I would accept of my enlargement upon no other terms than those of an exchange, or a parole. This first discomfiture, did not induce an abandonment of her pursuit: in a matter which interested her feelings, no one was more persevering; and she continued to advise with every one, she thought likely to have influence, and a disposition to assist her. Among the rest, she addressed herself to a Mr. Andrew Elliot, a person of respectability, and well known both in Philadelphia and New York. His advice was, that she should go at once in person to General Howe. Those you have applied to, or may apply to, said he, have little or no interest, though they may not choose to say so; but a direct, personal application to the Commander-in-chief, will, I verily believe, be propitious to your wishes. She had been some time between Flat-bush and New York, before this was suggested to her ; and she secretly re- solved to take an opportunity of putting it in execution. On one of her excursions to the city, she had been waited upon by her old acquaintance. Captain Grant, of the forty-second regi- ment. From him she found, that Colonel Stirling, and most of the old officers of the regiment, were there ; but upon Grant's 268 APPLICATION TO GENERAL HOWE. being unable to deny, that he, and consequently, the rest of them, knew, she had a son a prisoner, she at once testified by the coldness of her manner, that she had expected something better from them than a total neglect of me. Unacquainted with the human heart, under the baneful influence of party fury, and making no allowance for the repulsive nature of misfortune, especially when coupled with imputed guilt, she had made cal- culations little warranted by the practice of the world, more par- ticularly of that part of it, which is flushed with prosperity. On account of some meditated operation of the army, no one at this time was permitted to pass the lines ; and so far from get- ting me home with her, she was not without anxiety respecting her own return, which had been already longer protracted than she had counted upon. This interdiction of intercourse continued for several weeks ; but as soon as it was removed, and it became probable, that General Howe's attention was less engrossed by great concerns, she determined to give the advice of Mr. Elliot, a trial. Accordingly, one morning she went to New York, and without acquainting m.e with her design, which she knew I would oppose, boldly waited upon Sir William Howe ; and asking to speak with him, was shown into a parlour, where, taking a seat, and meditating upon the manner of addressing him when he should appear, he came into the room, and had got pretty near her before she perceived him. Rising, she said, " Sir William Howe, I presume!" He answered by a bow. She then made known her business, doubtless in her best style of elocution, and concluded by expressing the greatness of her obligation for his Excellency's permission for me to go home with her on parole. "And then immediately to take up arms against us again, I suppose !" said the General. " By no means, sir ; I solicit his release upon parole ; that will restrain him until exchanged : but on my own part, I will go farther, and say, that if I have any influence over him, he shall never take up arms again." Here, the feelings of the patriot were wholly lost in those of the " war- detesting " mother. The General seemed to hesitate, but gave no answer. On the renewal of her suit, however, he appeared by his manner, for he was sparing of words to assent, and so she construed it. But to put the mattei: out of doubt, she asked: "Havel your Excellency's AUTHOR LIBERATED ON PAROLE. 269 permission for my son to go home with me on his parole ?" Bow- ing, he answered " yes." " May Colonel Miles and Major West," added she, be permitted to go also ?" " Now, madam," observed the General, "you are making two requests instead of one," She begged his pardon for presuming to do so, as she ought cer* tainly to be satisfied with the great favour already granted ; and inquired if she was to mention the matter to Mr. Loring. He said it was unnecessary, as the proper measures would be taken to effect the purpose. The reason of her mentioning Colonel Miles, and Major West, was, that they had already obtained a promise of being liberated on parole ; and she was apprehensive, that unless they were put upon the same footing with me, I should suspect improper terms had been made, and mar the whole busi- ness. This caution, probably, was unnecessary ; the boon was extended to these gentlemen, as I presume it would have been, had they not been mentioned. From the General's quarters she immediately went to Mr. Loring, whom she had known in Phila- delphia, where he had some time resided, and acquainted him with the indulgence which had been granted her; upon which, he was pleased to observe, that it was more than I was entitled to, as not one of the prisoners had been more upon his high horse. Whatever grounds there maybe for ascribing cruelty to General Howe, it must be admitted, that no obduracy appeared at this in- terview ; and I have been careful to give it, precisely as it was related by my mother. War, indeed, in its essence is cruelty, espe- cially civil war: Its tendency is to make men ferocious and merci- less. In conflicts, in which our lives are continually at stake, we at length become callous even to the loss of our own party, and have, of course, still less concern for the destruction of our ad- versaries, notwithstanding, that particular situations may some- times call forth striking examples of sympathy and generosity. When, moreover, we consider the foe as obnoxious to legal punishment, our hearts are too apt to be steeled against all "com- punctious visitings of nature." Such seems to be the nature of man ; and the apathy of Howe to tlie miseries of his prisoners, serves to show that he was too like the bulk of his species, ever prone to severity against the opposers of established authority, when partaking of, or friendly to it. What was the conduct of 23* 270 REFLECTIONS ON WAR. the Duke of Alva, in the Low Countries ? That of the British, which we, as liege subjects, did not then disapprove, against the rebels in the year forty-six, commemorated by Smollet, in his " Mourn, hapless Caledonia, mourn ?" What were the hideous enormities of the French republicans against the people of La Vendee., and what mercy was evinced towards Burr, by the high- toned advocates of prerogative, under the mild sway of Mr. Jef- ferson? Though the abuse of power is always detestable, yet it may not be improper to look at home, before we devote others to destruction as monsters of unheard of cruelty. I neither have palliated, nor do I mean to palliate the sufferings of the prisoners at New York : they were shocking to humanity, and no one wit- nessed them with more anguish than myself; but this is no reason that we should not ask ourselves whether it was to be expected, that they were at once to be set at liberty, and if not, what other mode or place of confinement was within the power of the enemy ? or if the want of good and sufficient food,, and other ac- commodations was the cause of the mortality, are we perfectly sure they had better to administer ? If, in an entirely new state of the world, we are, on account of former injuries, to reject the aid of the only nation upon earth which has power to rescue us from impending perdition, it certainly behoves us, to inquire calmly into the extent of her aggressions, and for our own sakes, if not for hers, or the sake of justice, to admit the effect of any alleviating circumstances which may be found. But few of us, I trust, are in the unhappy predicament, to have been so hysterically alarmed during the war, as to be unable to forgive ; or to have incurred disgraces which can only be washed out and avenged by the common destruction of our old enemy and ourselves. AUTHOR LEAVES NEW YORK. 271 CHAPTER XI. The Author leaves Long Island for New York and Elizabethtown. — Author ar- rives at New York. — Travelling Companions. — Tench Coxe. — Arrival at the American Camp. — General Washington. — Colonel Hamilton. — Americara Army. — General Wayne. — Occurrences on the Road. — Author arrives at Pliila- delphia. — Arrival at Reading.. — Political Feelings. — Declaration of Independ- ence. — Character of Franklin, — Leading Men. — Mr. Canon. It was not long before the welcome summons arrived for our repairing to New York, for the purpose of being transported from thence in a flag vessel to Elizabethtown ; and upon this occa- sion, we were escorted to the end of the village, by a no small troop of our less lucky fellow-prisoners. It was made a condi- tion by Loring, that our boarding should be paid before we left Flat-bush; and the heart of old Jacob, was accordingly gladdened by the sight of a sum of money he had despaired of receiving. He and I parted very good friends; and it was but justice to say, that the treatment I received from him and his family, Mr. and Mrs. Hagerman, was both civil and obliging. As there was no subject upon which we, prisoners, had been so much in the dark, and were at the same time, so anxious to be informed of, as that of the state of our army and public affairs in general, Tudor, on my coming away, furnished me with a kind of cypher, by which, as soon as I had time to inform myself, I was to satisfy him by letter on certain points he particularly wished to know. The disguise was not in the character, but in the substitution of one piece of information for another, — for instance, a lady who was to be named, was to signify the army, and if that was strong and in a prosperous train, it was to be indicated by announcing the health and charming looks of the lady. There was a scale in the key, by which the intelligence might be graduated; and 272 AUTHOR ARRIVES AT NEW YORK. it was so contrived, as to admit of the transmission of pretty satisfactory information in a few important particulars. Know- ing the deep interest that was taken in the expected communi- cation, it was among my first cares on getting home, to perform this duty. But I must admit, that my statements, though correct in the main, were rather more flattering, than rigid truth would warrant. I could not endure the thought of reducing my com- panions in misfortune to despair. It was certainly admissible on this occasion, to adopt the practice of painters; and in pre- serving the lineaments and character of the countenance, to ren- der the portrait as pleasing as possible. It had the effect, as I afterwards learned, to put them in good heart: for, although I had not said every thing which might have been wished, it was ascribed to a propensity I was supposed to have, of looking rather on the unfavourable side of things ; and as I, so little san- guine, had ventured to say so much, it was inferred, that I might, with truth have said a great deal more. The particulars of this pleasing trip to New York, have en- tirely escaped my memory; as, how we travelled, though I pre- sume it was in a wagon for the convenience of carrying our baggage; whether it was in the forenoon or afternoon ; whether we left the city on the day we reached it, &c., though as to this, it is more than probable, that it was not until the day after, as I well recollect breakfasting with my mother at the house of Mr. Matthews, the Mayor, and that his daughter, who entertained us, was so much to my taste, that, for the moment I quite forgot the politics of her father, and might even have swerved, perhaps, from my loyalty to an allegiance, a thousand times sworn else- where. But it must not be imagined from the circum.stance of this breakfast, that I had apostatized from my principles. I have, fortunately, an excuse for accepting civilities from the offspring of an inveterate, and reputedly persecuting tory, which, I am not without hope, will obtain my pardon from the most deter- mined and least compounding republican of the present hour. A Miss Seymour, a cousin of Miss Matthews, had long been de- sirous of getting to Philadelphia to see her father who lay sick there; and as it was known to Mr. Matthews that my mother was soon to go thither, he had made himself acquainted with MR. TENCH COXE. 273 her, and recommended bis niece to her protection in the medi- tated journey. This it was, that procured me the honour of breakfasting with Miss Matthews, with whom her cousin stayed. But who, pray, was this sick Mr. Seymour? methinks I hear some high-toned, fastidious seventy-six man exclaim. He was, you may rest assured, sir, no "anti-revolutionary adherent of the enemy." He was no less a personage than Commodore Seymour, who, at this time, had the command of the Delaware gun-boats. — Yes, Commodore of the gun-boats! Another pecca- dillo, if haply they may be so called, of a similar complexion, I must confess myself guilty of; though, from an exuberance of good fortune, not always attending my imputed apostacies, I have, if I would avail myself of it, an equally good come off here. To make ^-profert then of my offence with its ablution along with it, I undertook to bring out, and actually did bring out with me, at the request of Mr. Tench Coxe, now in the full tide of republican orthodoxy, a letter to a lady in Philadelphia) to be delivered by my own hand to another lady in that city ; which commission I faithfully executed. I cheerfully did that for him, which shortly before, would have been the greatest favour to myself: Haud ignarus mail, miseris succurcre disco. Having alluded to this gentleman before, and in a manner, that may not be pleasing to him, although I have said nothing which does not arise from facts, of which he will not deny the correct- ness, I here sincerely avow, that I am much more disposed to do him a good than evil office. Notwithstanding the contrasted vi- cissitudes of our fortune, and that the great eras of his political ascension, have been those of my depression, I have not forgotten our boyish days, of which he, not long since put me in mind; my early acquaintance in his family ; the pleasant hours I have passed with himself and his brother (nearer my own age) as well at his father's house in town, as at his seat on the Schuylkill ; and that his mother was always spoken of by mine, as the near- est friend of her youth. Such recollections are far more grateful to the heart, than the bitter collisions of interested manhood, or the "fury passions" of political dissension. But not to linger in New York at a moment so precious, I 274 ARRIVAL AT THE AMERICAN CAMP. have to state, that after the signing of a new parole by Miles, West and myself, at the office of Mr. Loring, our little party with the addition of Miss Seymour, embarked in a small sloop for Elizabethtown-point, then held by us. The officer commanding on this occasion, was a son of Doctor Auchmuty, among the most distinguished in New York, for his zeal in the royal cause. The behaviour of this gentleman was perfectly agreeable to us; and we parted on the most civil terms. It is not impossible, though such rapid promotions are hardly to be looked for in the British army, that he may be the General Auchmuty, who not long since, acquitted himself so well at Montevideo; as he was stated in the newspapers to be a son of the Doctor.* The wea- ther being fine, but with very little wind, our passage was a pleasant one ; and in the course of the day, we had once more the happiness of treading our own ground. I should in vain en- deavour to describe my feelings on this occasion; for although they were chastised by the recollection, that my present liberty was held on suflferance, they were yet light, joyous and tumultu- ary. I had been about eight months captive ; and it was more than a year since I had seen Philadelphia. It must now have been from my best data for ascertaining it, about the middle o-f July. Our army lay at Morristown ; and after casting about for the means of being conveyed thither, we, at length, found them in a coal-wagon, little inferior to a coach and six, in a journey, which too much crowded the mind with pleasing ideas, to admit of much concern about the choice of a vehicle. When within a few miles of our destination, we met the General, on horseback, with three or four attendants. He recognised us, and stopping a few minutes congratulated my mother on the success of her errand ; and at going on, informed us, that he should return to camp in a few hours, where he expected to see us. By his ap- * Lieutenant-Ge.neral Sir Samuel Auchmuty. — He was (he youngest son of the Reverend Dr. Auehmuty, Rcetor of Trinity Church, New York ; was born June 2'2d, 1758, and received his education at King's (now Columbia) College. He joined the Royal army under Sir Wm. Howe, as an ensign in the 45th regiment, in 1776. Mr. Graydon in a note, says, "He was, I remember, ra- ther a serious young man, modest and unassuming in his manners, though I should have supposed him one or two and twenty, instead of nineteen, which the date of his birth made him at the time referred to." — Ed. GENERAL WASHINGTON — COLONEL HAMILTON. 275 pointment, on his return, Colonel Miles, Major West and myself waited upon him at his marquee in the evening. In the course of conversation, he asked what we conceived to be the objects of General Howe, provided the question did not, in our opinion, interfere with our parole. Colonel Miles taking the word, re- plied, that in his opinion, he meditated a co-operation with the northern army by means of the Hudson. The General heard him out, and then observed, that indications and probabilities both tended to that conclusion ; but, that nevertheless, he had little doubt, that his object was Philadelphia. I mention this, as it is stated by Mr. Marshall, that he was a good deal embarrassed on this occasion, and rather inclined to believe, that the move- ments of General Howe would be up the Hudson. Whatever might have happened afterwards to alter or unsettle his opinion, it was certainly at this time, as I have mentioned ; and he spoke as if his conviction was strong. He had unquestionably good intelligence ; and a person who had communicated with him, had, not long before, been executed as a spy at Brunswick. This man, who generally resided at New York, under the dis- guise of a zealous royalist, had been indiscreet enough to unbo- som himself to Major Williams, who, in the spring of this year, on the prospect of an exchange, which however proved abortive, had been summoned to that city. He gave him much informa- tion as to what was passing there ; and among other things which regarded us, told him, that interest had been made for my going out on parole, but I was considered not sufficiently well disposed, (the fashionable phrase for yielding whiggism,) to be entitled to the indulgence. It was but a few weeks after this interview with WiUiams, that, in attempting to induce two Bri- tish soldiers to desert to our army with intelligence, he was de- tected and suffered. The day of our arrival and the succeeding one, we spent at Morristown; and here, for the first time, I had the pleasure of knowing Colonel Hamilton. He presided at the General's table, where we dined ; and in a large company in which there were several ladies, among whom I recollect one or two of the Miss Livingstons and a Miss Brown, he acquitted himself with an ease, propriety and vivacity, which gave me the most favourable im- 276 COLONEL HAMILTON. pression of his talents and accomplishments— talents, it is true, which did not indicate the solid abilities his subsequent career has unfolded, but which announced a brilUancy which might adorn the most polished circles of society, and have fitted him for the part of an Algarotti at the court of a Frederick. " Vous, que Ics graces et les ris Formcrcnt pour flatter ct plaire," to borrow the words of the king, in an address to this favourite : Or in reference to his later conduct and matured capacity, where shall we find one to whom the language of Tibullus to Messala, would better apply ! "Nam quis te majora gerit castrisvc, forove ?" "Who tlic state's tluinder, better form'd to wield, And shake alike the senate and the field !"* * Sullivan, in his " Familiar Letters," already quoted, says, " The eloquence of Hamilton was persuasive and commanding; the more so as he had no guide but the impulse of a great and rich mind, he having had little opportunity to be trained at the bar, or in popular assemblies. Those who could speak of his man- ner from tlie best opportunities to observe him, in public and private, concurred in pronouncing him to be a frank, amiable, high-minded, open-hearted gentleman. He was capable of inspiring the most affectionate attachment; but he could make those, whom he opposed, fear and hate him cordially." Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston, delivered there an eulogy upon Hamilton, and the following is a concluding paragraph of his eloquent performance : " The universal sorrow, manifested in every part of the Union upon tiie melancholy exit of this great man, is an unequivocal testimonial of his public worth. The place of his residence is overspread with a gloom which bespeaks the pressure of a public calamity ; and the prejudices of party are absorbed in the overflowing tide of national grief." The man, thus honoured and lamented, and whose reputation grows still brighter with the lapse of time, was one of those towards whom Mr. Jefferson, as wc learn from his own "Correspondence," cherished a degree of " envy, hatred and malice," which it is dilHcult to believe even party rage and malevolence, however violent and bitter, could have prompted and sustained. Yet this active, energetic enmity, could not long operate injuriously to the character of such a man as Hamilton, while the "great Apostle of Democracy," in his own carefully preserved and ostentatiously published " Writings," has greatly aided Posterity in finding for Mm an appropriate niche in the temple of flimc. " In that remarkable chronicle of slander and second-hand abuse, the Ana of Jcflerson, Hamilton," says tiie New York Review, "is assailed no less than seventeen times; just one-fourth of all Mr. Jefferson's on dits are levelled against the man whom he felt to be, of all others, his most dangerous competitor for tiie highest honours of his country." — Ed, COLONEL TILGHMAN CONDITION OF THE AEMY. 277 With Colonel Tilghman,* another of the General's aids, I was well acquainted, as he was a Philadelphian, and had been a Lieutenant of the light infantry company of Greens, already men- tioned. By him and Colonel Hamilton, I was taken in the even- ing to drink tea with some of the ladies of the village, where were also those with whom we had dined. I had been extremely anxious to see our army. Here it was, but I could see nothing which deserved the name. I was told, indeed, that it was much weakened by detachments ; and I was glad to find, there was some cause for the present paucity of sol- diers. I could not doubt, however, that things were going well. The Commander-in-chief and all about him, were in excellent spirits; and as to General Wayne, whom I waited upon at his quarters, he entertained the most sovereign contempt for the enemy. In his confident way, he affirmed, that the two armies had interchanged their original modes of warfare. That for our parts, we had thrown away the shovel, and the British had taken it up, as they dared not face us without the cover of an intrench- ment. I made some allowance for the fervid manner of the General,! who, though unquestionably as brave a man as any in * Colonel Tench Tilghman. — General Washington thus writes to General Sullivan in Congress, May, 17S1: "This gentleman came out a captain of one of the light infantry companies of Pliiladelphia, and served in tiic flying camp in 1776. In August of the same year he joined my family, and has been in every action in which the main army was concerned. He has been a zealous servant and slave to the public, and a faithful assistant to me for nearly five years, a great part of which time he refused pay. Honour and gratitude interest me in his favour and make me solicitous to obtain his commission. His modesty and love of concord place the date of his expected commission at the 1st of April, 1777, because he would not take rank of Hamilton and Meade, who were de- clared Aids in order (which he did not choose to be) before that period, although he had joined my family and done all the duties of one, from the 1st of September preceding." Tilghman was despatched by Washington to Congress with intel- ligence of the surrender of Cornwallis, and "ahorse properly caparisoned, and an elegant sword, were given to him." Colonel Tilghman died in Bahimore in April, 1786, in his 43d year. His death was deeply regretted by General Wash- ington, and Robert Morris, in a letter to the General, said : " You have lost in him a most faithful and valuable friend. He was to me the same. I esteemed him very, very much, and I lamented his loss exceedingly." — Ed. t In bravery, in heroic achievement, and in devotion to the cause of his coun- try in all its phases, he was unsurpassed, and his abilities as a commander were 24 278 GENERAL WAYNE. the army, was nevertheless, somewhat addicted to the vaunting style of Marshal Villars, a man who, like himself, could fight as well as brag. By the bye, I do not know whether this talent might not have been of use in our army : it certainly is, or at least is considered to be so, in a French one, since, of all the gas- conaders in the world, the Gallic commanders must confessedly take the jms. It had been humourously stated in the English prints, that upon a gentleman, who had been in America and seen our troops, being asked, what was their uniform, he replied: "in general, it is blue and buff", but by this time it must be all bufl!" The period for this unity of colour, however, had not yet arrived; though from the motley, shabby cover- ing of the men, it was to be inferred that it was rapidly approaching. Even in General Wayne himself, there was in this particular, a considerable falling off". His quondam regimental, as Colonel of the 4th battalion, was, I think, blue and white, in which he had been accustomed to appear with ex- emplary neatness ; whereas he was now dressed in character for M'Heath or Captain Gibbet, in a dingy red coat, with a black, rusty cravat, and tarnished laced hat. In short, from all I could see, I was by no means warranted in supposing that our affairs were in a very prosperous train, notwithstanding the cheerful appearance at Head Quarters : but I endeavoured to suspend my opinion until I should have longer and better means of forming a conclusion. We hired a wagon at this place, to carry us to Mr. Vanhorne's at Bound-brook, where my mother expected to find her horse and chair, agreeably to the arrangement made with Major Pauli. This was a subject of much raillery on the road, particularly with Colonel Miles, who could not persuade himself that a Hessian could forego so fine a chance of plunder ; and he took it for granted, that the Major had not only appropriated the equipage to himself, but sold it long since, and put the proceeds in his pocket. But, on the contrary, in the strutting phraseology of Burgoyne, he had been " conscious of the honour of soldiership," of a very higli order. His life is a history of the war. He was at Ticondcroga, Brunswick, Urandywinc, Gcrmantown, White Marsii, Monmoutli, Stony Point, and in several otiier engagements ; — always eflieient, and always distinguished. He died in Deceiubcr, 171)6, in the ^'2d year of liis age. — Ed. COLONEL BLAND — GENERAL HENRY LEE. 279 and with good faith performed what he had promised. We had, in fact, met the poor beast in question, on the road to Morristown, but quantum mutatus ah illo ! how changed from the sleek, well- fed animal, that had, about six weeks before, entered the town of Brunswick! A constant padding of the hoof for this space of time, first on the royal and then on the rebel side, with such casual supplies of forage as campaigning affords, had reduced him to the continental standard ; and although it had been sug- gested to my mother as he passed with the chair, that they might be hers, she was unable to recognise either : the chair she could not claim, and as to the horse, she was sure he was not hers. Whether there were any arrangements with Mr. Vanhorne, I do not know ; but his hospitality ought certainly to have been recompensed, by an unlimited credit on the public stores.* His house, used as a hotel, seemed constantly full. It was at this time occupied by Colonel Bland,! of the Virginia cavalry, and the officers of his corps, to whom we were introduced; and among others, if my memory does not mislead me, to Captain Lee, after- wards so distinguished as a partisan, and now known as General Harry Lee.| Notwithstanding the number of guests that were to * This Mr. Vanhorne, however, appears to have been a suspicious character, if it is of him that General Washington thus speaks in his letters to General Reed. In the first, dated January 12th, 1777, he says: — "I w^ish you had brought Vanliorne off with you, for, from his noted character, tliere is no dependence to be placed on his parole." In the otlier, of 19th January, of the same year, he says : " Would it not be best to order P. Vanhorne to Bruns- wick ? These people, in my opinion, can do us less injury there than any where else." He kept his post notvvitlistanding, at Bound-Brook, wliere he alternately entertained the officers of both armies, being visited sometimes by the one, and sometimes by the other. 1 Colonel Theodoric BLANn--of the first regiment of liglit dragoons, was appointed to superintend the maich of the Convention troops to Charlottesville, Virginia, and was directed by Washington to take command there. He was the author of a Treatise on Military Tactics, which was approved and strongly re- commended by the Commander-in-chief. General H. Lee speaks of him in his Memoirs, as "noble, sensible, honourable and amiable." — En. t This gallant and celebrated officer was a graduate of Princeton College, and during tlic whole war was actively and usefully employed. He commenced his brilliant public career as "a Captain of one of the six companies of cavalry, raised in Virginia, and in 1777, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bland, he joined the main Provincial army." By his discipline and care of his men and horses, he 280 GENERAL HENRY LEE. be provided for, there appeared no deficiency in accommodation ; and we supped and lodged well. As the horse and chair were not expected back for a day or two, Major West, who was in no hurry, undertook to wait for it, and bring it on to Philadelphia ; while the rest of us, who had objects, more or less attracting in view, pursued our way the next morning. No other incident on the road occurred, interesting enough to have left any trace in my memory, except the meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Coxe, at Nesha- miny Ferry. Matters had been arranged for this interview with my mother on her way to New York ; and they now met her in consequence of a notice from her, that she would be there at an appointed time. Their object was, to learn what she might know of their son, as well as son-in-law, Mr. Andrew Allen. They were deeply affected at the dispersed situation of their family, and feelingly alive to the unhappy effects of civil dissension. The old gentleman, I recollect, blamed the step which had been taken by Mr. Allen, and his son; alleging, that they had been precipi- early attracted the attention of Washington, "who, at the battle of Germantown, selected him, witii his company, to attend as his bod}' guard." In consequence of his cool and determined bravery in several exploits, wliicli, for want of room, cannot be narrated here, he was promoted by Congress to the rank of Major, with the command of a separate corps of cavalry, consisting of three companies. In 1780 he was sent with his legion to the army of the South, under Gen. Greene, having been previously raised to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He served with great distinction throughout the war, and has left a well written, manly and authentic " History of the War in the Southern Department of the United States." In 1786 he was elected to Congress from Virginia, his native State. He was a member of the Convention of Virginia that ratified the present Federal Consti- tution, of which he was a strenuous advocate. He was three years Governor of the State. In 17!)9 he was again chosen a member of Congress, and was selected, while there, to pronounce a funeral eulogium upon Washington. He prepared the celebrated resolutions, moved by the late Chief Justice Marshall in the House of Representatives, from which General Lee was accidentally absent at the time, expressive of the grief of Congress upon receiving intelligence of the decease of Washington, the last of which resolutions was as follows: — " Resolved, that a Committee, in conjunction with one from the Senate, be appointed to consider on the most suitable manner of paying honour to the memory of the MAN, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his iiillow- citizens." Before the accession of Mr. .Iei person. General Lee, like many of the other Fathers of the Revolution, retired to private life. He died on the 25th of March, 1818, in his G3d year. — Ed. AUTHOR ARRIVES AT PHILADELPHIA. 281 tated into it by Christian Huck, who had assured them, that mea- sures were in agitation for their immediate arrest and confine- ment. We reached Philadelphia in the evening, where, it will be enough for me to say, that ray fondest anticipations were realized in a meeting with the object, which had caused the deepest sighs of my captivity. Were I dealing in fiction, or speaking of another, a more particular representation might be required, of so auspicious a winding up, of a more than twelve months' absence, incessantly galled by sickly hope and feverish uncertainty. But, in situations of tender interest, the fastidious delicacy, or, as the French might call it, the inauvaise honte of English manners, for- bids a man to place himself. It is observable, that this highest seasoning of French memoir w^'iting, is wholly omitted by Mr. Cumberland, who must have known the nation's taste. He gives us to understand, indeed, that he was married ; and more than once, marshals his children before us ; but he never ventures to disclose a single circumstance of his love, or to descant upon what ought to be considered, as the sine qua non of his two con- ditions of a husband and a father. Mr. Gibbon, it is true, touches upon his attachment to Mademoiselle Curchod, afterwards Madame Necker; but, evidently with a mortal fear of being laughed at, for only glancing at his "early love.'^ Perhaps nothing is more characteristic of the manners of the two nations, than this very circumstance, which serves also among others, to justify Sterne, in his singular declaration, that the French are too serious.* An * The Edinburg-h Review, in descimting on Ihe correspondence of Baron Grimm, observes, tlmt it chronicles the deatlis of half the Author's acquaintance, and makes jests upon them all ; and is much more serious in discussing the merits of an opera-singer, than in considering the evidence for the being of a God, or the first foundations of morality. Grimm, though a German, was tho- roughly Frenchified by his long residence in France. He was among Rousseau's most early acquaintances on his first going to Paris, and with some others, was once engaged with him to traverse all Italy on foot; but the project, of which the parties were at first highly enamoured, came to nothing. The pedestrian exploit lost its charms, as the time for undertaking it approached. Tiic review of the " Correspondence, Littiraire, Philosopliique et Critique. Par le Baron de Grimm, et par Diderot,^'' is by Lord Jeffrey, and is included in the Philadelphia edition of Jeffrey's '■'■Contributions to the Edinburgh Review. — Ed. 24* 282 AUTHOR ARRIVES AT PHILADELPHIA. amour in their hands, be it their own or another's, is always an extremely grave affair ; and thence derives an interest, which an English writer in his own case, would be sure to spoil, by a levity assumed from the apprehension of ridicule. But, to what- ever cause this diversity of sentiment may be owing, it shows the superior decorum of English literature, as formed in the school of Addison, Steel, Johnson, &c. to that of the French, under the guidance of Voltaire, Rousseau, Raynal, &c. ; the one, by its circumspection, cherishing religion, morals, and government ; the other, by its licentiousness, undermining them all. Having now brought myself back to Philadelphia, from whence I marched the preceding summer, it naturally puts an end to the narrative of my campaign and captivity ; as, though yet a prisoner, I was at home. What t have farther to say, therefore, will have less the air of adventure ; and I shall, consequently, be relieved, I hope, from so minute an attention to my own concerns. ' One of the first things which struck us, on getting within our own territory, was the high price of wune and other liquors. ,' We attributed this to their growing scarcity, though equally owing, probably, to the incipient depreciation of tlie paper currency, of w'hich we had then no idea. We saw, to our great surprise, no military parade upon our journey, nor any indication of martial vigour on the part of the country. General Washington, with the little remnant of his army at Morristown, seemed left to scuffle for liberty, like another Cato at Utica.* Here and there, we saw a militia man with his contrasted coloured cape and facings ; and we found besides, that Captains, Majors and Colonels had * The wisdom of Washington's proceedings was acknowledged and appre- ciated by those especially who were merely spectators of the great drama in which he was performing the most conspicuous part. Walpole, a cool and saga- cious observer,, writirig to Horace Mann, in December, 177G, says, "Washington has retired with his whole army to other heights about five miles oft', seeming to intend to jnotract the war, as mas always thought would be their icisest way" Again March 5th, 1777, he writes : "The campaign in America has lost a great deal of its florid complexion, and General Washington is allowed by both sides not to be the worst General in the field." And again he writes, April 3, 1777: "Washington, the Dictator, has sliown himself both a Fabius and a Camillas. His march through our lines is allowed to have been a prodigy of generalship." Walpole here alludes to the passage of the Delaware, and the surprise and capture of the Hessians at Trenton. — Ed. PROCEEDS TO READING. 283 become "good cheap" in the land. But, unfortunately, these war-functionaries were not found at the head of their men : They, more generally, figured as bar-keepers, condescendingly serving out small measures of liquor, to their less dignified customers. Still were they brimfull of patriotism, the prevailing feature of which was, to be no less ardent in their pursuit, than fervent in their hatred of Tories.* Daring a stay of a few days in Philadelphia, my mother and myself, I recollect, dined at President Hancock's. He had been one of the opposers of her scheme of going into New York, but was sufficiently a man of the world, to put on an appearance of being pleased with its success. Yet, as he was among the most conspicuous on the American side, and deeply staked in the issue of the contest, it is not uncharitable to suppose, that he was not very cordially gratified by an event which might give to the adverse cause any colour of clemency. But I have no right to attribute his advice upon the occasion, to other than the most friendly motives ; since mine, had I been consulted, would have been the same. My mother, as already mentioned, having removed her resi- dence to Reading, thither, in company with the lady so often adverted to, whose family was also established there, we pro- ceeded in high spirits. Many other Philadelphians had recourse to this town, as a place of safety from a sudden incursion of the enemy ; and, among a score or more of fugitive families, were those of General Mifilin and my uncle, as I have called Mr. Bid- die, though only standing in that relation by marriage. It was also the station assigned to a number of prisoners, both British and German, as well as of the principal Scotch royalists, that had been subdued and taken in North Carolina. I soon discovered that a material change had taken place during my absence from Pennsylvania; and that the pulses of many, that at the time of my leaving it, had beaten high in the cause of Whigisra and Liberty, were considerably lowered. Power, to use a language which had already ceased to be orthodox, and could, therefore, * The generous exertions of the Philadelphia troop of cavalry, and other por- tions of the militia, in the preceding winter, are honourable exceptions to the general supineness. 284 POLITICAL FEELINGS. only be whispered, had fallen into low hands: The better sort were disgusted and weary of the war. Congress, indeed, had given out that they had counted the cost of the contest : but it was but too apparent, that very many of their adherents, had made false calculations on the subject, having neither allowed enough for disasters in the field, nor domestic chagrins, the in- evitable consequence of a dissolution of old power and the as- sumption of new.* It was, in fact, just beginning to be per- ceived, that the aidour of the inflamed multitude is not to be tempered ; and that the instigators of revolutions are rarely those who are destined to conclude them, or profit by them. The great cause of schism among the Whigs, had been the Declaration of Independence. Its adoption liad, of course, rendered numbers malcontent; and thence, by a very natural transition, consigned them to the Tory ranks. Unfortunately for me, this was the pre- dicament in which I found my nearest and best friend, whose ex- ample had, no doubt, contributed to the formation of my political opinions, and whose advice, concurring with ray own sense of duty, had placed me in the army. I now discovered, that we no longer thought or felt alike ; and though no rupture took place, some coldness ensued, and I have to regret a few words of asperity which passed between us, on occasion of the French alliance. But this was but a momentary blast ; as neither of us was infected with that hateful bigotry, which too generally aetuated Whigs and Tories, and led to mutual persecution, as one or other had the ascendency. As to the Whigs, the very cause for which they contended was essentially that of freedom, and yet all the freedom it granted, was, at the peril of tar and feathers, to think and act like themselves, the extent, indeed, of all toleration pro- ceeding from the multitude, whether advocating the divine right of a king ; the divine sovereignty of the people ; or of the idol it may be pleased to constitute its unerring plenipotentiary. Toleration is only to be looked for upon points in which men are indifferent ; or where they are duly checked and restrained by a salutary autliority. * For some justifications of tlicsc remarks, which,. I know, have been thought heterodox — see Wilkinson's Memoirs, vol. 1, pp. 20i-2 — particularly a cited letter from General Sciiuyleiv to General Heath, dated Saratoga, July 28th, 1777. POLITICAL FEELINGS. 285 Mr. Edward Biddle, then in a declining state of health, and no longer in Congress, ap^iarently entertained sentiments not accord- ant with the measures piu'suing ; and in the fervid style of elocu- tion, for which he was distinguished, he often exclaimed, that he really knew not what to wish for. "The subjugation of my country," he would say, " I deprecate as a most grievous calamity, and yet sicken at the idea of thirteen, unconnected, petty demo- cracies : if we are to be independent, let us, in the name of God, at once have an empire, and place Washington at the head of it."* Fortunately for our existence as a nation, a great proportion of those, whose early exertions tended to that issue, were not aware of the price by which it was to be acquired ; otherwise, my knowledge of the general feeling at this time, so far as my means of information extended, obliges me to say, that it would not have been achieved. Not that disgust and despondence were universal among the leading and best informed Whigs, but an equal propor- tion of disaffection to independence, in the early part of the year 1776, must have defeated the enterprize. Still, it may be ob- served, that as Whigism declined among the higher classes, it in- creased in the inferior : because they who composed them, thereby, obtained power and consequence. Uniforms and epaulets, with militia titles and paper money, making numbers of persons gen- tlemen who had never been so before, kept up every where throughout the country, the spirit of opposition ; and if these were not real patriotism, they were very good substitutes for it. Could there, in fact, be any comparison between the condition of a daily drudge in agricultural or mechanic labour, and that of a spruce, militia-man, living without work, and, at the same time, having plenty of continental dollars in his pocket ! How could he be otherwise than well affected to such a cause! Shortly after the Declaration of Independence by Congress, a Constitution had been formed for the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- vania. This was understood to have been principally the work * I have presumed to put in tlie wrong, those who were adverse to the Decla- ration of Independence; and the liigh ground on which we have since stood, fully justified me : but i)rcscnt appearances seem again to unsettle the question, in the minds of those at least who are heterodox enough to doubt the eligibility of a dependence on France. 286 DR. FRANKLIN. of Mr. George Bryan, in conjunction with a Mr. Canon, a school- master ; and it was severely reprobated by those, who thought checks and balances necessary to a legitimate distribution of the powers of government. Doctor Franklin was also implicated in the production ; and either his participation in it, or approbation of it, was roundly asserted by its fautors. The Doctor, perhaps a sceptic in relation to forms of goverment, and ever cautious of committing himself, had thrown out an equivoque about a wagon, with horses, drawing in opposite directions ; as, upon the adoption of the federal constitution he told a pleasant story of a self-com- placent French lady who always found herself in the right. But whether he meant by his rustic allusion, to show his approbation of checks or otherwise, is an enigma that has never been solved ; nor is it worth the trouble of solution. The constitutionalists, however, claimed him ; and whether he thought with them or not, he was too prudent to disoblige them. It is rather probable the phi- losopher was of opinion, that the ferment of the revolution should be left to work itself off;. that the effect could not be produced by the exhibition of paper sedatives ; and that, therefore, the form of a constitution was scarcely worth quarrelling about. His ob- servations embraced moral, no less than natural subjects : and as he had discovered that oil would smooth the ruffled surface of the sea, so had he found it most effectual in assuaging the troubled minds of his fellow men. Hence, his demeanour to both parties was so truly oily and accommodating, that it always remained doubtful to which he really belonged ; and while president of the Executive Council, to which office he had been elected on his re- turn from France, he sedulously avoided voting on questions, which partook of the spirit of party. No man had scanned the world more critically than the Doctor ; few have profited more by a knowledge of it, or managed it more to their own advantage. Old, and without an object to intrigue for, he seemed wholly de- voted to his ease and amusement ; and I have been told by a gentleman who acted with him as Vice-President, that he not only devolved upon him the whole business of the department, but even declined the trouble of thinking. As to the Constitution, whose provisions it was sometimes necessary to consider, it did not appear to him, that he had ever read it; or if he had, that he DR. FRANKLIN MR. BRYAN. 287 deemed it worthy of remembering. In short, as to the political concerns of the State, he was apathy itself; and like King Lear it was obviously his "fast intent, to shake all cares and business from his age."* With respect to Mr. Bryan, so conspicuous at this era in the home department, he was one of those, whose memory treasures up small things, with even more care than great ones. He was said to be a very diligent reader, and was certainly a never weary monotonous talker, who, in the discourses he held seldom failed to give evidence of an acquaintance with the most minute, recon- dite, and out of the way facts ; insomuch, that a bet was once offered, that he could name the town-cryer of Bergen-op-Zoom.| As Ireland had given him birth, he was probably like the bulk of his emigrating countrymen, in the antipodes at all points, to whatever was English ; and a staunch patriot, of course. It was, moreover, his passion or his policy, to identify himself with the people, in opposition to those, who were termed the well born, a designation conceived in the genuine spirit of democracy, and which, as it * Dr. FiiANKLiN was chosen President of the Convention to form a Constitution for the State of Pennsylvania, and wliile a member of this Convention, he was, also, a member of Congress where important duties required his occasional attend- ance. " He is reported," says Sparks, " to have been the author of the most re- rnarkable feature in this Constitution, that is, a single Legislative Assembly, instead of two branches, v.'hich other Statesmen have considered preferable, and which have since been adopted by all the States of the Union, as well as in other countries where the experiment of popular forms has been tried. He disapproved of the distinctions of rank incident to two Assemblies, one being called the Upper and tiie other the Lower House, as having an aristocratical tendency, unfavoura- ble to the liberty and equality, wliich are the essence of republican institutions." These distinctions, borrowed, as are too many other opinions and practices, from England, however significant and expressive there, are utterly meaningless here, yet are obstinately persevered in. It is time that this absurd imitation of Lords and Commons should be discontinued, and the common-sense of the country is appealed to in this behalf. At the period of the adoption of tiiis Constitution, Franklin was in his 71st year ; but he was, nevertheless, according to Sparks, actively attentive to his two-fold duties, the assertion of our author's informant, to the contrary notwitlistanding. — Ed. t This place was probably suggested to the mind of the bettor from the circum- stance of its having been taken in the year 1747, by Marshal Count Lowendahl though deemed impregnable, and being, on that account, a common theme in conversation and newspapers. 288 MR. BRYAN MR. CANON. maybe supposed, did "yeoman's service" to her cause, now dispensing with its use from a just deference to its well born ad- vocates from Virginia and her dependencies. In other respects Mr. Bryan was well enough: let us say, a well meaning man, and even one, who, in the main, felt he w^as acting the patriot : for this part, it is well known, is played in very different styles. Should any reader require a proof of this, I might refer him to the modes of Washington and Jefferson. Some only see danger, bless their optics! on the side of aristocracy ; and, therefore, rivet themselves with all their might, in an anti-patrician spirit of per- verseness to every thing candid, or noble, or honourable. Nothing is republican with them, but as it is crawling, and mean, and can- died over with a fulsome and hypocritical love for the people. I do not say that Mr. Bryan was actuated by such motives, but merely, that his patriotism was of the humble character they are calculated to inspire. Of his colleague Mr. Canon, it may not be uncharitable to presume, that having the little knowledge of man, and scholastic predilection for tlie antique in liberty, which gene- rally falls to the lot of a pedagogue, he acted accordingly.* But death quickly snatched him away ; osfendent terris hunc tantum fata. These constituted the duumvirate, which had the credit of framing the Constitution and thence laying, in Pennsylvania, the corner stone of that edifice, which, however retarded in its pro- gress by aristocratical interferences, towers, like another Babel, to the skies, and will continue to tower, until finally arrested and dilapidated by an irremediable confusion of tongues : for anarchy ever closes the career of democracy. * As to myself, who always find it impossible to separate from my idea of a good government, somewhat of ignoble fireside comfort and tranquillity, I must say, that I have but a poor opinion of old Roman felicity, notwithstanding the im- mense amor patrice that attended it. PHILADELPHIA THREATENED. 289 CHAPTER XII. Philadelpliia Threatened. — Washington Marches to meet the Enemy. — Review of the Army. — Action at Brandywine. — Reflections on National Strength. — Measures of Washington. — Character of his Operations. — Defeat of Burgoyne. — Society at Reading. — Generals Mifflin, Gates, Conway, Lee. — Captain Speke. — Prisoners. — British Officers on Parole. — Author Exchanged. — Married. — Re- flections. — Occurrence of the War. — Charles Thomson. General Howe had remained inactive during the summer, and it was not until the latter part of August, that it became manifest that Philadelphia was his object. This rendered it ex- pedient in the opinion of the active Whigs of that city, to put out of the way of mischief, the most influential and zealous of the disaffected ; several of whom were accordingly, on authority of Congress, apprehended, and deported to the western parts of Virginia. On their way thither, they passed through Reading; and it being proposed by some of their old fellow citizens there resident, to show them some attention in their misfortune, the pro- position was generally approved, and I was among the number of those who called on them, at the inri at which they stopped. Here, we found some of the piincipal and most respectable Quakers, Mr. James Pemberton, Mr. Myers Fisher, and several others, whom I do not, with certainty, recollect. Mr. Fisher was the only one of this society, with whom I was personally acquainted ; and he, I remember, took occasion significantly to observe, that " I did not look as if I had been starved by those sad people the British." But J found among them another ac- quaintance of a wholly different order. This was no other than my old friend Pike, the fencing master, who, although he had dissembled so well at the outset of the business, as to render it dubious whether he was for or against us, had, in the sequel it 25 290 ^VASHINGTON MARCHES TO MEET THE ENEMY. seems, evinced himself a (rue-hearted Briton, to which circum- stance, he owed the honour of his being in his present very good comparnj^ as he termed it. The red coat and laced hat of Pike, were, to be sure, very strikingly in contrast with the flat brims and plain drab-coloured garments of the rest of the assemblage: nevertheless, from an internal similarity, this seemingly discord- ant ingredient incorporated perfectly well with the mass; and friend Pike, as he was called, officiating in the capacity of a major domo or caterer at tlie inns they put up at, was a person, I found, of no small consideration with his party. The prisoners were not much dejected, probably looking upon themselves as martyrs to the cause of their country; and, in fact, though ap- parently well pleased with the civility we showed them, their manner rather indicated, that they considered us, as more ob- jects of pity than themselves. How much is it to be lamented, that the public good should not always be so manifest as not to be mistaken ! If this were the case, how many of the fantastic tricks we play ofi' against each other, in its name, might be spared ! But then, we should no longer be the self-important, "forked-animals," "the quintescence of dust," called man. Having drawn together his forces. General Washington marclied to meet the enemy, who, from the head of Elk, w-as directing his course to Philadelphia. As it had been given out by the disafTected, that we were much weaker than in truth we were, the General thought it best to show both Whigs and Tories the real strength he possessed; and in this view, took his route through the city, the bcllorum maxima nierces, or at least, the great object of the campaign, and the point, which if gained, would, in the opinion of Mr. Galloway, be decisive of the con- test. I happened to be there at the time, and from the coffee- house corner, saw our army with the Commander-in-chief at its head, pass down Front street. The sight was highly interesting to persons of all descriptions; and among the many who, perhaps, equally disclaimed the epithet of Whig or of Tory, Mr. Chew, from an upper window in the house of Mr. Turner, appeared a very anxious spectator. By the bye, it might savour of bigotry, to impute guilt to this want of decision. In civil commotions, there is generally so much to disapprove on both siiles, and the REVIEW OF THE ARMY. 291 issue is so little answerable to the designs of the well-meaning men embarked in them, that neutrality, if it could be maintained, might often be the most eligible part. Atticus was perhaps as good, and probably a wiser man than either Cicero, or Pompey, or Csesar. There are certainly times in which inaction becomes virtue, notwithstanding that active ardour may be more conge- nial to upright intention ; and that it is in the glowing tempera- ment of a Cato, disdaining that " his house should stand secure and nourish in a civil war," that the noblest feelings of an honest heart are to be looked for. And yet, this very Cato, under the guidance of the same poet, who puts this heroic sentiment into his mouth, is made to counsel his son to "live retired, and to content himself with being obscurely good." The impression made by this review of the American army, it is to be presumed, was rather favourable than otherwise from the propensity of persons unaccustomed to the sight of large bodies of men, to augment them. But it was very disproportioned to the zeal for liberty, which had been manifested the year before. It amounted to but about eight or nine thousand men, according to Chief Justice Marshall ; but these, though indifferently dressed, held well burnished arms, and carried them like soldiers, and looked, in short, as if they might have faced an equal number with a reasonable prospect of success. The action which ensued at Brandywine, on the eleventh of September, is an instance, among many others furnished by his- tory, both of the temptation to dispute the passage of a river by fronting the enemy on the opposite side, and of the inefficiency of such attempts. The difficulty and ineligibility of these under- takings, are noticed by most of the writers on the art of war, and particularly by the Marquis De Feuquiere.* To a person of any * He says : " It is impossible to guard the shores of a river when the ground to be guarded is of a great extent, because tlie assailant, pointing his efforts to several places, for the purpose of separating the forces of his adversary, and to draw his attention to spots very distant from each other, at length determining to make his effort at the point where he finds the least ability to resist, always prevails over the labours and vigilance of his enemy ; more especially when he employs the night for the execution of his enterprize, that being most favourable for concealing, the place of his principal effort." 292 BRANDYWINE. military experience, who reflects how easy it must be, to distract the opposing army by fallacious demonstrations, in a situation at once concealed from observation, and exempted from the peril which results from movements in the face of an adversary, in a state of profit by them, the little chance of succeeding in the effort, on a merely defensive plan, must be apparent. Where, indeed, the defending General shall permit himself to become the assailant, if occasion should offer, he, in some degree, balances advantages; and the conception of General Washington, as mentioned by Judge Marshall, of crossing at the lower ford to attack the enemy's right under Knyphausen, was masterly ; and might, if rapidly put in execution, have handsomely turned the tables. It can hardly be doubted, however, that a position on the enemy's flank to the westward, would have been more eligible than that taken in front; and that the means of annoying and possibly crippling him on his march, which was all that could reasonably be looked for from an army so inferior as ours, might have offered at this river or at Schuylkill. This was probably, at one tijne contemplated, under the recommendation, as it was said, of General Greene. But the public clamour demanded that a battle should be risked for the city ; and I well remember, that it was given out at Reading, on the suggestion of General Mifflin, that Greene, of whom he was no friend, was jealous of Southern influence, and, therefore, indifferent to the fate of Philadelphia. But if Greene really advised the measure attributed to him, thereby securing the open country to our army in case of disaster, in pre- ference to the plan adopted, and which, in addition to its other faults, tended to place us in the nook formed by the course of the Delaware, I cannot but say, that, whatever were his motives, and we have no ground to presume them bad, he was right. Yet, if Congress required that the enemy should be fought, and we have good authority that they did require it, the opportunity of bringing him to action, in any other mode than that of placing ourselves directly in his way, might have been lost.* * "The expediency of fightings tliis battle," says Sparks, in his Life of Wash- ington, "with a force so much inferior, and under many disadvantag'es, has been questioned by foreign writers. If the subject be viewed in a military ligiit only, there may, perhaps, be just grounds for criticism. But it should be differently REFLECTIONS ON NATIONAL STRENGTH. 293 But why so much caution, it may be asked, against a foe in the very heart of the country? Why not rather turn out en masse, surround, and make a breakfast of Mr. Howe and his mercena- ries? Coukl not a population of two miUions of souls, have fur- nished fighting Whigs enough for the purpose ? Where were the multitudes which used to appear in arms, in the commons of Philadelphia? W^here the legions of New-England men that hemmed in Gage at Boston? Where, in short, the hundred and fifty thousand men in arms throughout the continent, spoken of by General Lee* and others, at the beginning of the contest? Where were the Pennsylvania riflemen, those formidable, un- erring marksmen, each of whom, could venture to put a ball in a target, held by his brother? How came it, that that excellent jest of a British dragoon pursuing one of them round a tree, was not exemplified on this occasion? These things promised well ; they were flattering in the extreme, and admirably calculated to buoy us up in a confidence of the martial superiority of freemen to slaves. Yet, on the day of trial, from whatever cause it pro- ceeded, the fate of the country and its liberties, was always committed to a handful of mercenaries, the very things, which were the eternal theme of our scorn and derision. The fact must either be, that the effective strength of a nation does, after all, reside in regular, disciplined forces, or that appearances were lamentably deceitful; that all the patriotic ardour we had at first displayed, had already evaporated ; and that the gallant affair of Bunker's hill, and others, were but the efTects of mo- rcgarded. General Wasiiingtox knew the expectation of the countr}' and ot Congress; and he was persuaded, that a defeat would be less injurious in its effects on the public mind, than the permitting of the enemy to march to Phila- delphia without opposition. He doubtless hoped to make a better resistance ; which he would have done, if he iiad not been deceived by contradictory intelli- gence in the time of battle, against which no foresight could guard. Although some of his troops behaved ill, yet otiiers, and the larger part, fought with signal bravery, and inspired him and themselves with a confidence, which could have been produced only by the trial." See Appendix K. — Ed. * Not less than a hundred and fifty thousand gentlemen, yeomcii and farmers are in arms, determined to preserve tlieir liberties or perish. — Letter from Gene- ral Lee to General Burgoyne. *25 -294 REFLECTIONS ON NATIONAL STRENGTH. mentary excitement. America does not seem to be a soil for enthusiasm ; and I am not at all disposed to dispute the assertion contained in a letter of General Du Portail, in the time of the %var, that there was more of it in a single coflee-house in Paris, than on our whole continent put together. From these facts, and facts they assuredly are, let our theoretical men calculate the probable result of a formidable invasion of our country in our present state of preparation; and, if in the heroic epoch alluded to, when there had been really a promise of great things, so little was done, how much less, is rationally to be expected from the empty vapouring of demagogue valour. Would it have been credited in the year 1775, that a British army of eighteen thou- sand men could have marched in perfect security from the Chesapeake to Philadelphia ? that a much smaller force could have penetrated through the Jerseys to the Delaware ? and that mere partizan-bodies, could have traversed the southern states in utter contempt of the long knife of Virginia! All these things were done; and yet our babbling statesmen will talk, "Ye Gods! how they will talk," of the irresistable prowess of a nation of freemen ! From the perseverance of Spain, when com- pared with the short-lived exertions of Austria and Prussia, some argue the superiority of a determined people to regular armies. But it is not certainly like Spain, that we would wish to have our country defended to be first over-run and destroyed! Neither can the glory we aspire to, be merely that of the boxer, who bears a great deal of beating, and solely depends on out- winding his adversary. I have lately seen sneers at what are called technical armies ; but what are we to call those with which Napoleon has achieved his victories and attained his present fearful ascendancy! We can hardly say, they are not technical, because, in part, composed of conscripts; and, if by the term, is meant disciplined^ who will deny them that qualification ? Previously to Sir William Howe's getting possession of Phila- delphia, measures were taken by General Washington to give him battle a second time. The two armies were on the point of engaging, and the encounter was only prevented by a heavy fall ef rain. The weather continued wet for a day or two ; and by MEASURES OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. 295 damaging our ammunition, rendered it inexpedient to seek the enemy.* While our army had been preparing foi action,! have been informed by several discerning officers, that the General discovered unusual impetuosity ; and that as he rode along the line exhorting his men to do their duty, his manner evinced an extreme impatience of ill-fortune, and a determination to retrieve it, or perish in the attempt. Although defeat had been the consequence of his unequal conflicts with the foe, and his country seemed lost to the gene- rous ardour which had once inspired it, his manly mind was not subdued. Of this he gave an illustrious instance in his assault of the post at Germantown. That the British army was not de- stroyed on this occasion, and Philadelphia recovered, has been represented by certain malcontents, as a shameful dereliction of a victory already gained ; and General C. Lee, sneeringly de- nominates it a stroke of the bathos. But what would he that we should have done? He would hardly have had us press on hap-hazard, without redressing the disorder which had taken place in our line ; a disorder which might have ensued, had even General Lee himself commanded. Besides, the step would * "After allowing' liis men one day for rest and refreshment, Wasmington re- turned across the Schuylkill, and took the Lancaster road, leading to the left of the British army, fully determined to offer battle. This bold step, taken before the enemy had left the field of action at the Brandyvvine, was a proof that the late repulse had in no degree unsettled his own resolution, or damped the ardour of iiis troops. The two armies met twenty-three miles from Philadelphia, and an engagement was actually begun between the advanced parties, when a heavy rain came on and rendered both armies totally unfit to pursue the contest. Wash- ington retired to the Yellow Springs, but was not followed by the British; and he finally passed over the Schuylkill at Parker's Ford." Washington gives the following account of his movements on this occasion : "When I last re-crossed the Schuylkill, it was with a firm intent of givino- the enemy battle wherever I should meet ihem; and accordingly I advanced as far as the Warren Tavern upon the Lancaster road, near which place the two armies were upon the point of coming to a general engagement, but were prevented by a most violent flood of rain, which continued all the day and following night. When it held up, we had the mortification to find our ammunition, which had been completed to forty rounds a man, was entirely ruined ; and in that situation we had nothing left for if, but to find out a strong piece of ground, which we could easily maintain, till we could get the arms put in order, and a recruit of am- munition." — Sparks^ Life of Washington. — Ed. 296 CHARACTER OF HIS OPERATIONS. have been b}' no means congenial with his own conduct at Monmouth ; which was sufficiently circumspect and respectful of an enemy, he here seems to consider as nothing.* But the reputation of a commander ought not to depend upon a sarcasm ; and in order to have shown, wherein General Washington's conduct had been defective, Mr. Lee should have fairly set be- fore us, what Duke Ferdinand, whom he is pleased to bring into contrast, would have done. Possibly, the Duke might have duly respected the British grenadiers, and made comparisons not altogether animating, between the respective numbers, equip- ments and discipline, of his own army, and that of his adversary. But this, as a prudent General, he would, doubtless, have kept to himself; since to proclaim the bravery of an enemy, to our own men, on the field of action, is at best, but a doubtful mode of encouraging them. It would, however, be no just disparage- ment of General Washington, to admit his inferiority to Prince Ferdinand, in matters wherein the desultory Indian warfare, had furnished no experience. We had no right to count upon him. as consummate in the science of tactics; or to hold him fully competent to the nice arrangements required in the movements of an army, should it even be disciplined. Indeed, it was ob- • servable, and confirmed by every instance which came under my notice, that little benefit, with respect to the discipline of parade, so essential to the effect of operations on the large scale, was derived from any of the gentlemen who had been in the provincial service. The fortitude which is acquired from a familiarity with the perils and privations of war, was conspicuous in many; but being too for advanced in life, readily to acquire new habits, they were far from excelling in the business of manoeuvring, or in an aptitude of imparting to their men the air * A partial advantage over the enemy, was, probably, all t'.iat was contem- plated on tliis occasion, and it was certainly as much as we had a right to calcu- late upon with our very inferior army. Tliis may account for the delay at Chew's house, which has been so mucii censured by those, vvlio have rashly asserted that a complete victory was in our power. I presume this is tlie first defence that has been made of tiie failure at Ger- manlown, and I must confess my satisfaction to find tliat it agrees with Genera!, Wilkinson's and General Henry Lee's opinion& of tliat ojfair. DEFEAT OF GENERAL BURGOYNE. 297 and adroitness of regular soldiers. In the situation of our army, necessarily deficient in discipline, something of that attention to minutioe ; that acquaintance with the duties of the adjutant and drill sergeant ^^■ith the occasional exercise of them, which have been ascribed to the King of Prussia ; that searching eye, which runs along the line, detecting at a glance, the remissness of every lounger, might have been desirable in its commander, possessing, in other respects, exterior qualifications for the station, in a de- gree not to be surpassed : a manner which at once inspired con- fidence and attachment ; a figure pre-eminently gentlemanly, dignified, commanding, equally removed from heaviness and flip- pancy, and blending the gravity of the sage, with the animation of the soldier. Had it belonged to Alexander, Hephsestion would have lost his compliment, as it must infallibly have prevented the mistake of the mother of Darius. The success of General Howe ; the loss of Philadelphia ; as well as the ground given in the northern quarter by the retreat of General St. Clair ; were amply counterbalanced by the utter ex- tinction of Burgoyne's army on the fifteenth of October.* As Reading lay in the route from Saratoga to York where Congress was now assembled, we received before that body, the particu- lars of this glorious event, from Major Wilkinson,! who was * Oil the return of General Burgoyne to England, on his parole, the King- re- fused to see him, and he in vain solicited a Court-martial. Under these circum- stances, he threw himself upon Parliament, and a motion was made in the House of Commons, for an inquiry into the Convention at Saratoga; wiiich was got rid of by the previous question." Note hythe Editor of Walpole's Letters. — Ed. t Afterwards General James Wilkinson. He was more distingiiislicd for his ponderous "Memoirs" of doubtful authority, than for any very effective service in war at any period of his career, although, like anotlier celebrated ciiieftain, he was a '•'■hero of two toars^'' the Revolutionary and Madisonian, that is to say, he belonged to the army at both periods. He was no doubt a brave man. He was sent by Gates to Congress to communicate intelligence of Burgoyne's surrender. He was also charged with being concerned in the famous Conway cabal. In return for the magnanimity of our author in his reference to tliis gentleman, it is but proper that the General's very favourable, but no doubt very just, impressions in regard to him should appear. In Vol. I. at p. 339, of the Memoirs of Wilkin- son, we read as follows : " Besides Mr. Biddle, I had anotlier acquaintance, a contemporary whose independence of sentiment and manly deportment, had at- tracted my attention and engaged my esteem during my residence in Piiiladel- phia; but exclusive of his personal merits, a congeniality of feeling and parity of 298 AMERICAN GENERALS. charged with the despatches of General Gates. But without loading my Memoirs with obvious and trite reflections on this memorable occurrence, I turn a moment to myself, to observe: That were I a prey to the vulture of ill-starr'd ambition, the men- tion of a gentleman, with whom I commenced in the same rank, my military career, and who is now in the chief command of the American forces, might suggest somewhat unpleasantly, the im- measurable distance he has left me behind ; but the recollections his name awakens with infinitely more interest, are of a nature wholly different. They relate to pursuits and occupations of a character more congenial to that season of life, when, as a stu- dent of physic, he attended medical lectures in Philadeliihia, be- fore either of us wore a uniform, and before a foundation was laid for the many strifes which have since ensued. Thus much without connecting him with any of them, I freely pay to the remembrance of an early friendship, ever renewed wdien casual- ties have brought us together, maugre the estranging influence of difTerent party-associations. The ensuing winter, at Reading, was gay and agreeable, not- withstanding that the enemy was in possession of the metropolis. The society w^as sufficiently large and select; and a sense of com- mon suffering in being driven from their homes, had the effect ot more closely uniting its members. Disasters of this kind, if duly weighed, are not grievously to be deplored. The variety and bustle they bring along with them, give a spring to the mind ; and when illumined by hope, as was now the case, they are, when present, not painful, and when past, they are among the incidents most pleasing in retrospection. Besides the families established in this place, it was seldom without a number of v'i- siters, gentlemen of the army and others. Hence the dissipation- of cards, sleighing-parties, balls, »Scc., was freely indulged. predicament, as it regarded a passion wliich above all olliers most inloicsts the youthful iicart, had produced a confidential intimacy, the recollection of which at this distant day, awakens the sweetest sensibilities of my bosom ; and I know not whether I compliment the living or the dead, when I declare that I have rarely met with a man of more refined honour, a more feeling heart, or more polished manners, than Alkxander Graydon, Esq." The Memoirs of Wilkinson were printed in 1816. — Ed. GENERAL MIFFLIN. 299 General Mifflin, at this era, was at home, a chief out of war, complaining, though not ill, considerably malcontent, and appa- rently, not in high favour at Head Quarters. According to him, the ear of the Commander-in-chief, was exclusively possessed by Greene, who was represented to be neither the most wise, the most brave, nor most patriotic of counsellers.* In short, the campaign in this quarter, was stigmatized as a series of blunders ; and the incapacity of those who had conducted it, unsparingly reprobated. The better fortune of the northern army, was ascribed to the superior talents of its leader ; and it began to be whispered, that Gates was the man who should, of right, have the station so incompetently sustained by Washington. There was, to all appearance, a cabal forming for his deposition, in which, it is not improbable, that Gates, Mifflin and Conway were already engaged; and, in which, the congenial spirit of Lee, on his exchange, immediately took a share. The well known apostrophe of Conway to America, iraporiing "that Heaven had passed a decree in her favour or her ruin, must long before have ensued, from the imbecility of her military counsels," was, at this time, familiar at Reading; and I heard him myself, when he was afterwards on a visit to that place, express himself to the * A far abler, more sincere, and more " earnest man," as Carlyle would ex- press it, than General Mifflin, namely, General Henry Lee, entertained and ex- pressed a very different opinion. " No man," he says, " was more familiarized to dispassionate and minute research than General Greene. He was patient in hear- ing every tiling' offered, never interrupting or slighting what was said ; and, having possessed himself of the subject fully, he would enter into a critical comparison of the opposite arguments, convincing his hearers, as he proceeded, of the pro- priety of the decision he was about to pronounce." "His vivid plastic genius operated on the latent elements of martial capacity in his army, invigorated its weakness, turned its confusion into order, and its despondency into ardour. A wide sphere of intellectual resource enabled him to inspire confidence, to re- kindle courage, to decide hesitation, and infuse a spirit of exalted patriotism in the citizens of the State. By his own example, he showed the incalculable value of obedience, of patience, of vigilance and temperance. Dispensing justice, with an even hand, to the citizen and soldier; benign in heart, and happy in manners; he acquired tlie durable attachment and esteem of all. He collected around his person, able and respectable officers; and selected, for the several departments, those who were best qualified to fill them. His operations were then commenced with a boldness of design, well calculated to raise the drooping hopes of his coun- try, and to excite the respect of the enemy." — Ed. 300 MIFFLIN GATES — LEE — CONWAY. effect : " That no man was more a gentleman than GeneralWASH- iNGTON, or appeared to more advantage at his table, or in the usual intercourse of life ; but as to his talents for the command of an army, (with a French shrug) they were miserable indeed." Ob- servations of this kind, continually repeated, could not fail to make an impression within the sphere of their circulation ; and it may be said, that the popularity of the Commander-in-chief, was a good deal impaired at Reading. As to myself, however, I can confidently aver, that I never was proselyted ; or gave into the opinion for a moment, that any man in America, was worthy to supplant the exalted character, that presided in her array. I might have been disposed, perhaps, to believe, that such talents as were possessed by Lee, could they be brought to act subordi- nately, might often be useful to him; but I ever thought it would be a fatal error, to put any other in his place. Nor was I the only one, who forbore to become a partizan of Gates.* Several others thought they saw symptoms of selfishness in the business; nor could the great eclat of the northern campaign, convince them, that its hero was superior to Washington. The duel which af- terwards took place between Generals Conwayf and Cadwalader, * General Horatio Gates was an Englishman, and had served in America during the war of 1755. Little is known of his early career. He is said to have been born in 1728, " and rose to the rank of major by the force of merit alone." Horace Walpole, in v/riling to Horace Mann, speaks of the god-son of the lat- ter, Horatio Gates, and of his capture of Burgoyne, at Saratoga. He settled in Virginia, where, at tlie commencement of the war of the Revolu- tion, he received from Congress the appointment of Adjutant-General, with the rank of Brigadier to the army assembled before Boston in the first campaign. After the capture of Burgoyne, when the popularity of Gates, in consequence of this good fortune, was at its height, " intrigues were commenced for elevating him to the station occupied by Washington, which were as shameful as tiicy were un- successful." How far he was engaged in them it is not now possible to determine. In June, 1730, Gates received the Chief command of the Southern army, and when about to leave Virginia for the south, "his old acquaintance, General Charles Lke, waited on him to take leave, and pressing his hand, bade him bear in mind, that the laurels of the North must not be exchanged for the v\illow of the South." He was defeated by Cornwallis, at the battle of Camden, on the IGth of August. He died on the 10th of April, 1806, in the 78th year of his age." — El). t General Thomas Conway was born in Ireland. He received a military edu- cation in France, where, at the age six years, he accompanied his parents. He SOCIETY AT READING. 301 though immediately proceeding from an unfavourable opinion expressed by the latter of the conduct of the former at German- town, had perhaps a deeper origin, and some reference to this intrigue :* as I had the means of knowing, that General Cad- walader, suspecting Mifflin had instigated Conway to fight him, was extremely earnest to obtain data from a gentleman who lived in Reading, whereon to ground a serious explanation with Mifflin, So much for the manoeuvring, which my location at one of its principal seats, brought me acquainted with ; and which, its authors were soon after desirous of burying in oblivion. Among the persons, who, this w-inter, spent much time in came to this country with strong recommendations, and, in 1777, received from Congress the appointment of Brigadier-General. He was, however, distinguished only by his ridiculous hostility to Washington, and by his absurd endeavour to place his friend General Gates, in the Chief command of the army. " In this he was supported by several members of Congress. He was appointed by that body Inspector-General of the Army, with the rank of Major-General, but, was soon obliged to resign his commission, on account of his unpopularity with the officers. In consequence of his calumnies against Washington, he was chal- lenged by General Cadwalader, and wounded in the head. Supposing that he was mortally injured, he wrote a satisfactory letter of apology to Washington, for the injury he had endeavoured to inflict upon his character," He returned to France at the close of the year 1778. The absurd aspirations of the Englisli General, Gates, the weak and mi- serable intriiiues of his countryman and partisan, Conway, the vanity and in- subordination of their able but eccentric countryman, General Charles Lee, caused far more annoyance to the Commander-in-chief, than the inexperience of all the other officers together, who, suddenly summoned to the field from the ordinary avocations of life, were compelled to learn the art of war, amidst its perils and responsibilities. — Ed. * Not that General Cadwalader was induced from the intrigue to speak un- favourably of General Conway's behaviour at Germantown. That of itself, was a sufficient ground of censure. Conway, it seems, during the action, was found in a farm-house by Generals Reed and Cadwalader. Upon their inquiring the cause, he replied, in great agitation, that his horse was wounded in the neck. Being urged to get anotiier horse, and at any rate to join his brigade which was engaged, he declined it, repeating tliat his horse was wounded in the neck. Upon Conway's applying to Congress, some time after to be made a Major-General, and earnestly urging his suit, Cadwalader made known this conduct of his at German- town ; and it was for so doing, that Conway gave the challenge, the issue of which was, his being dangerously wounded in the face from the pistol of General Cadwalader. He recovered, however, and some time time after went to France. 26 302 MR. DUER CAPTAIN SPEKE. Reading, was one Luttiloe,* a foreigner, who was afterwards arrested in London on suspicion of hostile designs ; also Mr. William Duer, who either was, or lately had been, a member of Congress. His character is well known. He was of the dash- ing cast, a man of the world, confident and animated, with a promptitude in displaying the wit and talents he possessed, with very little regard to the decorum, which either time or place imposed. Of this he gave an instance, one day, at Mr. Edward Biddle's, which, had it been on a theatre, where the royal cause was predominant, I should have relished : as it was, it was unpleasant to me. Captain Spekef of the British army, a prisoner, was present, with his eye on a newspaper, several of which had lately come out of Philadelphia, when Duer, taking up another began to read aloud, commenting with much sarcasm on the paragraphs as he went along. Speke bore it a good while, but at length Duer's remarks became so pinching that he was roused to reply. To this he received a ready re- joinder, and a warm altercation was on the point of taking place, when Captain Speke prudently took the resolution of re- linquishing the field ; and taking up his hat, abruptly retired. * Henry Lutterloh, Esq., a German. He is so called in the account, under the head of Britain, in Dobson's Encyclopedia, and was concerned witli De la Motte who was executed for treason, whom, on being arrested, he informed against. Henry Emanuel Lutterloh.— On the 14th of April, 1790,, at the second session of the first Congress, after the organization of the Government, a petition was presented by this gentleman praying to be allowed the pay and emoluments of a colonel, in consideration of military services rendered to the United States during the war. This petition was referred to the Secretary of War, who reported on the 20th May. His report was referred to a committee, and their report was taken up on the 2d of August, and disagreed to, and the petitioner had leave granted him to withdraw his petition. At the third session of tliis Congress, he presented another petition praying that his memorial might be reconsidered — and he was again rejected. At the first session of tlie secoxid Congress, he again petitioned. A committee reported, but there was no action on the report; but at the next session, the House resolved — that the account of "Colonel Henry Ema- nuel Lutterloh, for his travelling and passage expenses incurred in coming to America, and joining the army of the United States, in 1777, being seven hun- dred and forty-six dollars, be settled, and the amount thereof to be paid out of the treasury of the United States." History of Congress during first term of Wash- ington. — Ed. t Captain Speke was taken prisoner at tlic battle of Germantown. CAPTAIN SPEKE. 303 AsSpeke, although a thorough Englishman, was a well-bred man, with whom I had become acquainted, and had exchanged some civilities, I was not a little hurt at this circumstance, as the com- pany in general seemed to be. Duer for his part triumphed in his success, displaying a heart, which however bold on the safe side of the lines, might nevertheless have been sufficiently meek on the other ; at least, such a conduct would but conform to the result of my observations on persons who play the bashaw in prosperity; and I believe it is pretty generally agreed, to be no mark of game to crow upon a dunghill. While upon the subject of Captain Speke, I will finish the little I have to say of him. He belonged, if my recollection does not fail me, to the same re- giment with Mr. Becket ; at least, he was well acquainted with him, and told me he had heard him speak of me. He was young and lively, with an addiction to that sly significance of remark, characteristic both of his profession and his nation; and which may be pardoned, when accompanied with good humour. Taking up my hat, one day, when at his quarters, to take coffee with him and one or two others of his fellow prisoners, he observed, that it was a very decent one, which is more, said he, than I can say of those generally worn by the officers of your army: they have precisely what we call in England, the damn my eyes cock. At another time, having called upon me at my mother's, I was led by some circumstance, to advert to the awkward form and low ceiling of the room ; but " faith," said he, looking round, " you have made the most of it with furniture ;" which was true enough, as it was unmercifully overloaded with chairs, tables and family pictures. Such freedoms may fully justify me in scanning Mr. Speke, who, to say the truth, was, in point of information, far above the level' which is allowed to the gentlemen of the British army, by Swift and other writers of their nation. As to " your JYoveds and Blutarks, and Omurs and stuff'," I know not if he was of the noble Captain's opinion, in Hannah's animated plea for turning Hamilton's bawn into a barrack; but he had read some of the English poets;, and speaking of Prior and Pope, I remember his saying, that the former was much preferred to the latter, by people of taste in England. But grant what we may to the sprightliness and easy gaiety of Prior, this can hardly be 304 BRITISH OFFICERS ON PAROLE. the award of sound criticism. Being heartily tired of the condi- tion of a captive, Mr. Speke was extremely anxious to get rid of it, and to this effect suggested, that by mutual exertion, we might be exchanged for each other. He said, that if I could obtain permission for him to go into Philadelphia on parole, he had no doubt of having suflicient interest to effect it. I accordingly took the liberty to write to General Washington on the subject, but was a long time in suspense as to the success of my ap- plication. An additional inducement to the step, was, that both Colonel Miles and Major Wqst, had by requisition of General Howe, repaired to Philadelphia ; and I every day expected a similar summons. It had been given out that these gentlemen had not observed all the passiveness which had been enjoined upon them by their parole ; and I well knew that I was charged with a like transgression. I had spoken freely, it is true, of the treatment of prisoners; and this was considered by the Tories and some of the British officers in our hands, as very unpardonable in one who had been favoured as I had been ; and I was aware that I was threatened with a retraction of the indulgence. I re- mained, however, unmoleste(|. The .situation of Miles and West in the neighbourhood of the army at White Marsh, was, perhaps, the circumstance which gave colour to the accusation against them ; but they were not long detained. Besides, that it would have ill comported with the indulgence I enjoyed, it was abhorrent to my feelings, to behave haughtily to a prisoner. There were two puppies, however, in that predica- ment, in whom I immediately recognised the insolent manner of a genuine scoundrel in red; and these, I cautiously avoided. They were subaltern? ; one of whom, of the name of Wilson, was base enough, under the false pretence of being related to the Cap- tain Wilson, who he had some how learned had treated me with civility, to borrow a few guineas of my mother, which it unluckily slipped his memory to repay. ■ Had I been aware of the applica- tion, the loan would have been prevented ; but I never knew of the circumstance until after his exchange. With the exception of these fellows, who, I had the mortification to hear, had found their way to General Washington's table, at the time of their being BRITISH OFFICERS ON PAROLE. 305 taken, all the prisoners in Reading behaved with much decency. Among them, were a number of German officers, who had really the appearance of being, what we call, down-right men. There w^as a Major Stine, a Captain Sobbe and a Captain Wetherholt of the Hessians, wdiom I sometimes fell in with. There were several others, with whom I was not acquainted, and wdiose names I do not remember. One old gentleman, a colonel, was a great pro- fessional reader, whom, on his application, I accommodated with such books of the kind, as I had. Another of them, a very portly personage, apparently replete with national phlegm, was, never- theless, enthusiastically devoted to music, in which, he was so absorbed, as seldom to go abroad. I did not know this musical gentleman, except by siglit ; but I have understood from those who did, that call upon him at what time they would, and, like another Achilles in retirement, Amus'd at ease, the godlike man they found. Pleas'd with the solemn harp's liarmoiiious sound : for this was the obsolete instrument, from which he extracted the sounds that so much delighted him. But of all the prisoners, one. Graff, a Brunswick officer taken by General Gates's army, w^as admitted to the greatest privileges. Under the patronage of Doc- tor Potts, who had been principal surgeon in the Northern Depart- ment, he had been introduced to our dancing parties ; and being alwa^'S afterwards invited, he never failed to attend. He was a young man of mild and pleasing manners, with urbanity enough to witness the little triumphs of party without being incited to ill humour by them. Over-hearing a dance called for, one evening, ^'hich we had named Burgoyjie's surrender, he observed to his partner, that it was a very pretty dance^ notwithstanding the name ; and that General Burgoyne himself would be happy to dance it in such good company. There was also a Mr. Stutzoe, of the Brunswick dragoons, than whose, I have seldom seen a figure more martial ; or a manner more indicative of that manly open- ness, which is supposed to belong to the character of a soldier. I had a slight acquaintance with him ; and recollect with satisfac- 26* 306 EXCLUSIVE PATRIOTISM. tion, his calling on me at the time of his exchange, to make me his acknowledgments, as he was pleased to say, for my civilities to the prisoners. Perhaps I may be excused for these trifling details, when it is considered, that they serve to mark the temper of the times, and to show, that they were not all fire and fury, as certain modern pretenders to the spirit of Seventy-Six^ have almost persuaded us they w^ere. It ought to be granted, indeed, that an equal degree of toleration was not every where to be met wath. It w^ould scarcely have been found in that description of persons, which soon arrogated, and have since voted themselves the exclusive possession of all the patriotism in the nation. Even that small portion of the monopolists which resided at Reading, revolted at a moderation they did not understand ; and all who were less vio- lent and bigoted than themselves, were branded as Tories. All the families which had removed from Philadelphia were involved in this reproach ; and, in their avoidance of the enemy to the manifest injury of their affairs, they were supposed to exhibit proofs of disaffection. Nor was I much better off": my having risked myself in the field was nothing: I should have staid at home, talked big, been a militia-man and hunted Tories. In confirmation of my remark, that toleration was not among the virtues affected by those who were emphatically styled the PEOPLE, I will instance the case of a young Scotch oflftcer of the name of Dunlap, who was one day beset in the street by certain persons overflowing with Whigism ; and, for presuming to resent the insults he received from them, was not only severely cudgeled, but afterwards put to jail. This treatment might have fairly squared with that of our officers from the royal side, in relation to the fish sellers ; though I will undertake to aver, that, generally speaking, the prisoners in our hands, were treated both with lenity and generosity. Some time after this affray, happening, at a table in Philadelphia, to be placed by the side of Doctor Witherspoon, then a member of Congress, I took occasion to mention it to him ; and to intercede for his good offices in regard to the liberation of Dunlap, who was still in jail. I counted something upon the national spirit, supposed to be so prevalent among North Britons ; DR. WITHERSPOON. 307 and yet more, upon the circumstance of knowing from Dunlap and two other young Scotchmen, his fellow prisoners, that Doctor Witherspoon had been well acquainted with their families. I did not find, however, that the Doctor was much melted to compassion for the mishap of his countryman, as he contented himself with coldly observing, that if I could suggest any substantial ground for him to proceed upon, he would do what he could for the young man. It appeared to me, that enough had been suggested, by my simple relation of the facts ; and I had nothing more to offer. But whether or not my application was of any benefit to its object, my presentation of the laddies to the recollection of the Doctor, seemed to have something of national interest in it ; and had the effect, to incite him to a shrewd remark, according to his manner. He told me he had seen the young men soon after they had been taken, and was suprised to find one of them, whose name I forget, so much of a cub. His father, said he, was a very sprightly fel- low, when I knew him. This lad is the fruit of a second marriage ; and I immediately concluded, when I saw him, said the Doctor, that Jemmey, or Sawney something, mentioning the father's name, had taken some clumsy girl to wife for the sake of a fortune.* * John Witiif.rspoon, D. D., L. L. P. He was born in Scotland, and was dis- lingnislied among- the Scotch Clcrg-y for talent and influence. He was twice in- vited to the Presidency of Princeton College, and finally arrived in New Jersey with his family, in 1 768. The War of the Revolution dispersed the students, and President Witherspoon almost immediately entered upon political life. He was a member of the Convention which formed the Constitution of New Jersey, and in 1776 was tip])oiuted a member of Congress, and retained his seat during the War. His nime is atlixed to the Declaration of Independence, and the articles of Confederation. After the War,, he returned to his duties at the College. He died in 1794, in the 7.3d year of his age. — Ency. Amer. "On the morning of our national birth. day, the fourth of July, 1776, when the Declaration of American Independence was made — when the Committee, pre- viously appointed to draft that instrument, made their report through their Chair- man, Thomas Jefferson — and by whom it was read, the House paused — hesi- tated. That instrument, they saw, cut them off even from the merry of Great Britain. They saw with prophetic vision all the horrors of a sanguinary war — carnage and desolation passed in swift review before them. Tlicv saw the prospect of having riveted still more closely upon their already chafed and bleed- ing limbs the chains of slavery. The House seemed to waver — silence, deep and solemn silence, reigned throughout the hall of the spacious Capitol. Every 308 SELFISHNESS OF COMMUNITIES. On looking back here, and adverting to the free observations I have from time to time made, both on revolutionary men and measures, I am aware, that I have no forgiveness to expect from many, for attempting to rub off the fine varnish which adheres to them. But I set out with the avowed desi. THE AUTHOR EXCHANGED AND MARRIED. 309 into action, they had a temporary predominance over those, which were selfish and base. But these, in their turn, having acquired the ascendency, we may sadly recognise with the poet, that " An empty form Is the weak virtue that amid the shade Lamenting lies, with future schemes amus'd, While wickedness and folly, kindred powers, Confound the world." The liberty I have taken, in making the reader the confidant of the attachment I carried with me into the army, and brought home whh me, unimpaired, on the extension of my parole, im- poses it upon me as a sort of duty in point of poetical justice, to announce my marriage, which took place in the spring of 1778. But this was not until my exchange had been notified to me by Colonel Boudinot, the Commissary of prisoners ; and having now little before me, but the vapid occurrences of retired life, I shall here hold myself absolved from farther attention to any matters merely of a personal or private nature. Captain Speke had gone into Philadelphia, some time before ; and it is not improbable, that we had been exchanged for each other ; but, of this, I was not informed. I was now at liberty to act, and w'as also liable to be called into Service ; but, however willing I might have been to consider myself a soldier, or to obey orders, I had no regiment to join, or men to command. The third battalion still existed in name, but with scarce a particle of its original mate- rials. It was entirely changed as to officers and men, with the exception, perhaps, of one or two of the former, that had escaped captivity by absence on account of sickness or otherwise. The affair of Fort Washington, had an effect not unlike that of enter- ing into a monastery in England, in days of yore: as, in the one case, a man was said to be civilly dead, so in the other he was militarily so ; and although as much alive as ever to corporeal wants and necessities, yet was he dead as an antediluvian, as to all purposes of worldly advantage. Nor was it the garrison alone, but the very event itself, that was offensive to remembrance ; and it has grown into a sort of fashion among our annalists, to pass lightly over this inauspicious transaction, somewhat in the 310 HISTORICAL TRUTH. same spirit, that Rome, according to Liican, was willing to forget the disastrous day of Pharsalia. " Tcmpora sigiiavit leviorum Roma malorum Hunc voluit uescirc diem." The comj)iler of the article "America," in Mr. Dobson's En- cyclopedia, does indeed inform us, that there was such a fortress, which, some how or other, fell into the hands of the British, who by the bye, did not catch a man of the garrison. Other chro- niclers, of an humbler class, are equally concise upon the occa- sion ; and even the very fanciful biographer, who gives to the boy- hood of General Washington, certain prettinesses we should have little suspected it of, and to General Wayne, the manners of a rustic booby with the blundering facilities of a true Hiber- nian, finds, in it, no attractions for the strokes of his very popular pencil. These are but summaries, it is true, in which we ought not to look for full details ; yet, as they are more generally read tlian ampler histories, and thence tend to fix the colours of the time, it is of consequence that they should exhibit some resem- blance of the facts and characters they profess to treat of.*"- * There is no allusion in these remarks to The Life of Watiiington, by Dr. Ramsay, which, in fact, I did not see mitil after they were written. Though brief on the transaction, as the nature of his worlv required, he touches it with a due regard to truth and the reputation of those concerned. The false in manners and character is as reprehensible as the false in fact, but when the former is built upon the latter it is truly odious. Nor can the making of a good book, in the language of the Trade, justify the transferring a story from the infancy of Doctor Bf.attie to that of General Washington, nor from the cups of an old army contractor in the war of 1756, to those of General Wayne in the war of the Revolution. In the one case, General Washington is represented as a pert jackanapes of a much later date, as the hon repos of General Wayne sets him before our eyes as a man wliolly unacquainted with tlie forms of good society. On the contrary. General Wayne was a fashionable and dressy man, familiar with city manners, and the tone of good breeding in his day. How unwortliy, then, of the biographer, and still more of the clerical character, to vamp up and misapply old stories by way of seasoning to his kickshaws !* * Tiie present generation is more fortunate, if not wiser than tlie past. The press literally groans with elementary books, adapted to every capacity, and the business of education is becoming comparatively easy over the "royal road" unknown to our plodding predecessors. In regard to Histories and Biographies, CHAELES THOMSON. 311 But whatever may have been the common rekictance to advert to the unkicky occurrences of the war, and the propensity to dwell only on pleasmg ones, nothing can be more fair, and free from misrepresentation, than were the official statements both of Congress and General Washington. Even the British officers, from an experience of their veracity, came to consider the name of Charles Thomson,* as a voucher, not to questioned ; nor was there is no end to them, and the silly and once popuhir inventions of Weems, who is above referred to, are seldom seen in the hands of judicious and well informed people. The streams of knowledge have been explored to their various sources and the result is a flood of authentic and healthful information, invigorating and fertilizing every section of this broad land. Foremost among the ablest of these explorers is Ma. Jared Sparks, whose many and important contributions to his- torical and biographical lore entitle him to the gratitude of his country. The industry and research displayed, especially in his noble editions of the Life and Writings of Washington, and of Franklin, can scarcely be conceived by the mere reader of History. The Student only can properly appreciate the ability and labour of this indefatigable investigator and Author. These, with his " Ame- rican Biographies," the work of various hands, and the numerous similar and equally authentic publications which every where abound, leave no excuse for ignorance in regard, especially, to the history of our country, and the lives and services of its distinguished men. — Ed. * Charles Thomson — the " Rlan of Truth," as he was styled by tlie Indians. He was Secretary to the Congress of the Revolution — was a native of Ireland — and came to this country, indigent and friendless, at the age of eleven years. His " quiet memory" attracts but little notice in this bustling age, indifferent to every thing but gain, yet the simple story of his useful and virtuous life would be rich in impressive teachings. Thomson was furnished by one of his brothers with the means to enter the school of Dr. Allison, before mentioned, at Thunder Hill, in Maryland. It is related, — so great was his thirst for knowledge, at a time when " books were so rare that a single lexicon served the whole school, — that one of the boys having brought from Philadelphia a volume of the Spectator, Thomson was so delighted with it, that upon his school-fellows' telling him that a whole set of the work was for sale at a Book-Store in that place, he set off the next day, without asking leave, walked the whole distance, and having pos- sessed himself of the treasure, returned to school without farther delay." At this Seminary he made such proficiency in the Greek and Latin languages and Mathematics, as to enable him, while still very young, to keep the Friends' Academy in Philadelphia. He subsequently married and entered into business there. He was a strict republican in his principles, and has had the credit of having been first in opposition to the Stamp Act in Pennsylvania. He discharged the duties of the office of Secretary to Congress, from the period of its first assem- bling to the close of the war, with credit to himself and advantage to the public. His integrity was unimpeachable, and " procured implicit credit for every thing 312 CHARLES THOMSON. less respect due to the communications of the Commander-in- chief, from which the annunciations of Congress were generally derived. Such was the spirit and the policy oi Seventy-Six ; and they were successful as they were honourable. Why then, they should have been so lamentably departed from, and a suppressio veri, have become the primary maxim of our government, it is for the republicans of the Gallic school to explain. published in his name." He assisted in the organization of the new government, after the adoption of the Constitution, and was deputed to inform Wasuington of his nomination to the Presidency. He soon after retired to private life, and em- ployed himself upon a Translation of the Bible and a Synopsis of the New Tes- taraent. He died in 1824, aged 95 years. — Ed, AFFECTATION IN TITLES. 313 CHAPTER XIII. Affectation in Titles. — Escape of Prisoners. — Major Williams. — Mr. Forrest. — General Exchange of Prisoners. — Supernumerary Officers. — Generals Wash- ington and Charles Lee. — Character of Lee. — Drayton. — Laurens. — Military Anecdotes. — Author enrolled in the Militia. — Wanton Oppression. — Mr. Parvin. — Quaker Opinions of War. — Dr. Franklin. — Visiters at Reading. — Mrs. Macaulay. — Popular Feeling. — Milton. — Constitutionalists and Republicans. — Author obtains an appointment. — John Dickinson. — Political Consistency. — Charles James Fox. My hankerings after the business of the tented field, which, dog's life as it is, I had become fond of, had led me to visit the camps both of White Marsh and Valley Forge, at each of which I spent a day or two. At the first, we had a better army than I had yet seen. The post too, I thought a good one ; and it soon after appeared to be sufficiently respected by General Howe, to induce him to decline attacking it, although he had apparently drawn out his army for the purpose. At Valley Forge, the aspect of affairs was different, the army being re- duced and in a wretched state. Baron de Steuben was, how- ever, here ; and just beginning to infuse into it, that discipline and regularity, in which it was still too deficient. On reaching the camp, I shaped my course for the tent of Colonel Stewart, who, I was informed, was at a barbecue on the banks of the Schuylkill ; and being directed to the place, I found him there, together with the greater part of the principal officers of the army. It is scarcely necessary to say, that the Commander in Chief was not there, nor any of those more immediately attached to his person. Neither was General Lee of the company. He had been invited, but had drily replied, that "he did not like barbecues." In fact, they are seldom a very attic entertain- ment ; and it is probable that Lee's mind was not disposed to 27 314 ESCAPE OF PRISONERS. hilarity. He had but lately been exchanged ; and it is not un- charitable to suppose, that he was beginning to discover, that, much as he hated the British court, he was not, as he had once supposed, Ainericanior vpsis Amerlcanis, more American than the Americans themselves. It being late in the afternoon, the party was joyous and pretty full of liquor ; and I had the chagrin to observe, that the drummer and fifer who made music for them, and were deserters from the enemy, were sneering at some of the gentlemen, who did not entirely preserve the dignity of their stations ; and were by much too liberal in the reciprocal use of the term General, for that oblivion to self-consequence, which is the most graceful attendant of condition, and so much appreciated in the British army, as to introduce a species of affectation in the other extreme, substituting Mr. for the title of rank. Lee, for instance, says Mr. Howe and Mr. Wolf; and it was not always a disrespect, when a British officer said Mr. Washington. I am sensible, that it is against the laws of good fellowship, for a sober man to make reticctions upon a mellow company into which he may chance to be introduced ; but I mention no names, and indeed my memory would hardly serve me were I disposed to do it. Still, I have a perfect recollec- tion of the circumstance ; and cannot but recognise, that there was no time, at which the question sometimes peevishly asked by Conway, Did Congress see you before they appointed you? might not have been applicable to some of the officers of our army in every grade. On the first day of December, 1777, my fellow-prisoners on Long Island were, on account of a suspected descent upon that place, put on board of a prison-ship, and there detained two weeks. Their treatment, it seems, was not to be complained of. It could hardly have been otherwise, says the officer from whose information I give the statement, since, it would not have been safe for any man or dozen of men to have treated us ill. During their confinement. Major Jack Stewart, before noticed in these memoirs, and one or two others, whom I do not re- member, found means to make their escape. A boat, one eve- ning, happened to be fastened to the vessel's side. The chance MAJOR WILLIAMS MR. FORREST. 315 of escaping in her was immediately suggested by Lieutenants Forrest and Woodside, the latter also of Slice's regiment, and they resolved to make the attempt : but, previously to engaging in it, they stepped between decks, either for some papers or articles of clothing that were in their trunks. In the mean time, Stewart and the others availed themselves of the oppor- tunity, quietly let themselves down into the boat, cast her off, and let her drift astern of the ship. They were lucky enough to get clear of her unperceived ; and at length to reach the Jersey shore in safety, notwithstanding that their elopement was soon discovered. But it being dark, pursuit was unavailing, as were also some random shots fired upon the occasion. The disappointment to Forrest and Woodside, when they found themselves supplanted, was extreme ; and still more cruel when it appeared, that the adventurers had been successful. Early in the Spring, I think, of 1778, I got a letter from Major Williams, acquainting me with his release, by exchange, if I am not mistaken.* It breathed the most extravagant joy ; and the excessive friskiness he describes on touching our actual territory, put me in mind of that of Francis the First, upon find- ing himself once more at liberty, after his long detention at Madrid. Williams, it is true, was not restored to a throne ; but he was restored to his country, to the right of proclaiming his sentiments and wishes, to the right of locomotion and action, and, above all, to the right of avenging his wrongs, and particu- larly a cruel confinement in the provost prison, from which his exchange had immediately delivered him. His motives, there- fore, for exultation, were not less than those of the King of France. In the summer following, I had also notice of the liberation of Mr. Forrest, which, from the singularity of its circumstances, requires some detail. It had been a settled opinion among us at Flatbush, that if the place, or we who were stationed there, by a military operation, should fall into the hands of our people, for * He was exchanged for Major Ackland of Burgoyne's army, of whose kind- ness and liberal treatment of Williams, see an interestingr account in Wilkinson's Memoirs, v. i. pp. 376 — 77. — Ed 316 ESCAPE OF PKISONERS. ever so short a time, we were ipso facto released from the obhgation of remaining with the enemy, notwithstanding our parole ; and it was under this idea, combined with a lucky and unexpected adventure, that Forrest found himself a freeman. I know not how far this opinion of ours may be conformable to the jus belli as established among nations, but it was our deduc- tion from principles, which we held to be correct, and of general and equal application. I think it is also recognised in the old play of prison-base, from which, if the idea was not original, it is more probable we derived it, than either from Grotius, Puffendorf, or Vattel. One Mariner, a New Yorker, in revenge for some real or supposed ill treatment from Matthews, the mayor of that city, made a descent, with a small party, upon the island, with the view of getting Matthews into his clutches, who, as I have already mentioned, had a house at Flatbush, and generally slept there. He had it also in view, to obtain the release of a Captain Flahaven, who had been billetted in my place, on Jacob Suydam. Disappointed in both objects, he liberated Forrest by means of his magical power, and made prisoners of Mr. Bache and Major Moncrief, the latter of whom spent much of his time at Flatbush, where he had a daughter. But I will give the relation in the words of Mr. Forrest, who, on my application for the particulars of the event, has thus communicated them in answer to certain queries proposed. " Mariner was the man who took me from Long Island. He was a shoemaker, and had been long confined and cruelly used, as I understood, by Matthews, who, it seems, knew him person- ally. The name of the officer who lodged with me was Flahaven, a captain, who had been in the provost with Mariner, and whom he particularly wished to release ; but, having changed his quarters, he could not be got at. Mariner crossed from the Jersey shore, and retreated to, and landed at the place of his departure, or near it, a distance of two miles across. His party consisted originally of twenty militia men, in two flat- bottomed boats. At his landing on Long Island, he left his two boats under the guard of five men, while he visited the interior; but these five, hearing a firing, which was kept up upon us by ESCAPE OF PRISONERS. 317 the Flatbush guard, while we were taking our prisoners, con- cluded that Mariner was defeated and taken ; so, without further ceremony, they took one of the boats and made their escape. The other boat, as we reached the shore, was just going adrift: we were much crowded in her, but it fortunately was very calm, otherwise we could not have weathered it. Matthews was on the top of his house, at the time of the search for him. We got, from our place of landing, in wagons, to Princeton. Mr. Bache and Moncrief lodged there in the same house with me for two or three days. How they were disposed of afterwards, I do not know, as I was sent on with an explanatory letter from Governor Livingston to General Washington ; but Bache I think was sent home shortly, and Moncrief also, (who was a good prize,) as a prisoner on parole. Mariner's party must have stayed at Flatbush nearly two hours, for they were there some time before the alarm was taken, and there was afterwards time to despatch an express to Brooklyn for assistance, and the rein- forcement which came in consequence, was pretty close upon us, as we could see them on the shore, when we had left it about a quarter of an hour. This happened on the 15th of June, 1778, the very day two years, I had marched from Phila- delphia." From this episode it appears, that the moral of iEsop's fable, respecting the eagle at the top of the tree, that, by the law of power, had made free with the fox's whelps below, was very near being brought home to Mr. Matthews. Mr. Bache, as Forrest has told me, was overwhelmed with his disaster; and interceded with him, as, from his civility to us, he had a right to do, for his good offices with Governor Livingston, which, I have no doubt, were duly exerted for him. Major Moncrief, like an old soldier, submitted with a more equal mind to the fortune of war, reminding Bache, that he had often told him, they were not safe at Flatbush. Bat Bache had peculiar cause for dejection, on account of the consternation, into which his wife and children had been thrown by the attack of his house, and his being forcibly seized and borne away in the dead of the night. Upon delivering Governor Livingston's letter to General 27* 318 ESCAPE OF PRISONERS GENERAL EXCHANGE. Washington, Forrest stated the circumstances under which he had come out, and had conceived himself hberated, but added, that if the act did not meet his Excellency's entire approbation, he begged to be permitted to return immediately to New York. The General observed, that it was a nice case, on which, much might be said on both sides, but that, at any rate, a return to confinement was unnecessary ; that he was at liberty to go home, and that, if upon consideration, he should be of opinion, that the mode of his release was not warranted by the rules and usages of war, a prisoner of equal rank should be exchanged for him. Not long after this enterprise of Mariner, a general exchange of prisoners took place, and all were put upon an equal footing. To beguile the tedious hours of captivity. Colonel Magaw had taken to himself a wife, as had one or two others. A policy had arisen from the pressure of our affairs, to give every man a commission who was likely to pick up a few re- cruits. This, at least, was the case in Pennsylvania ; hence, as to officers, all the regiments were not only complete, but overflowing ; and upon the reorganization of the army, there were a great many supernumerary. Of this description, those who had been taken at Fort Washington, emphatically were. They were considered as extinct ; and their places had been supplied by others. A show, indeed, was made in the fall of 1778, of doing justice to their claims, so far as it might be prac- ticable. But it was evident, that a reinstatement in the rank to which they were entitled by the rule of seniority, was not to be effected without extreme embarrassment, and injury to the Ser- vice. A very few, who had been willing to engage in the scramble, had been retained ; but none without the chagrin of seeing new men, and numbers who had originally ranked below them, now above them. Captain Tudor contrived to squeeze in, as did also Captain Biles ; and I do not recollect another of our regiment, except Bitting, who was provided for. He was a second Lieutenant with us, and lost his life in the rank of a Captain, at the time of the mutiny in the Pennsylvania line. In Marshall's Life of Washington, he is erroneously called Billing. But on consideration, I rather think, that Bitting had not been SUPERNUMERARY OFFICERS. 319 a prisoner ; and if so, he is no exception to the general exclu- sion, and his advance in rank is naturally accounted for. He was at liberty to attend to his interests. I never applied for reinstatement ; but, had nay country really wanted my services, and there had been an opening, in which I could have been pro- vided for, without too much degradation, I do not hesitate to say, that I should have laid aside all private considerations, and em- braced it. To show, that I do not exaggerate the difficulties which opposed a continuance in the army, I shall content my- self with referring to two letters of General Washington upon the subject. In the first, dated the 10th of November, 1777, addressed to Congress, he says : " Among the various difficulties attending the army, the adjustment of rank is not the least. This, owing to the several modes, the several principles that have prevailed in granting commissions, is involved in great perplexity. The officers of the Pennsylvania troops are in much confusion about it : in many instances, those who were junior in rank, from local and other circumstances, have ob- tained commissions older in date than those which were granted afterwards to officers their superiors before. This, with many other irregularities, has been, and is, the cause of great uneasi- ness ; and though precedency of rank, so claimed, should not be supported in justice, or upon any principle, we find all, having the least pretence for the title, strenuous to support it, and wil- ling to hold a superiority." In the second letter, dated August 21st, 1778, relating to the restoration of Colonel Rawlings, who had presented a memorial in behalf of himself and the officers of his corps, after doing ample justice to their bravery at Fort Washington, he says : " It seems hard that officers of their merit should be overlooked; and a loss to the service, that they should remain unemployed : but, the consequences that would attend their incorporation with any of the corps now existing, appear too disagreeable to try the experiment." A conviction of the existence of these obstacles, concurring with motives of a private nature, induced me to renounce the soldier's trade ; but not without poignantly regretting my " occupation gone," as often as "the spirit-stirring drum," or other " circutnstance of glorious war," reminded me of the deprivation. 320 GENERALS WASHINGTON AND CHARLES LEE. The bitter animosity of General Lee* to the Commander in Chief after the affair of Monmouth, is well known. There were not wanting a good number, who thought he had been hardly dealt with ; and, with these, added to many that had real or imaginary grounds for discontent, and the still greater number, who already saw in Washington a character and influence, which might give a check to the democratic career they had in contem))lation, he was in hopes of being able to form a party. About this time, being in Philadelphia, I had the pleasure, one day, of meeting my old friend Edwards in the street. He was now the aide-de-camp of General Lee, with the rank of Major. He was lavish in the praise of his General, whom he spoke of as one with whose conversation, abounding with wit and in- struction, I could not but be delighted ; and proposed taking me to dine with him that very day. While we were yet upon his * General Charles Lee was born in England, was a soldier of fortune, and a citizen of the world. He was the third major-general appointed by Congress. He was a man of ardent temperament, independent in thought and action, and very ambitious. He so far imposed upon the credulity of Mr. Thomas Rodney, of Delaware, as to induce him to believe that he was the author of the " Letters of Junius." Twenty years after the death of Lee, Mr. Rodney tlms communicated this important confession to the public : " General Lee said there was not a man in the world, no, not even Woodfall, the publisher, that knew wlio the author was; that the secret rested wholly with himself, and for ever would remain with him. Feeling in some degree surprised at this unexpected declaration, after pausing a little, I replied, ' No, General Lee, if you certainly know what you have af&rmed, it can no longer remain solely with him ; for certainly no one could know what you have affirmed but the author him- self.' Recollecting himself, he replied, ' I have unguardedly committed myselfj and it would be but folly to deny to )'ou that I am the autlior; but I must request you will not reveal it during my life ; for it never was, nor ever will be, revealed by me to any other.' He then proceeded to mention several circumstances to verify his being the author, and, among them, that of his going over to the Continent, and absenting himself from England the most of the time in which these letters were published in London. This he thought necessary, lest by some accident the author should become known, or at least suspected, which might have been his ruin." He died in Philadelpliia, on the 2d of October, 1782, at the age of fifty, one. In his delirium, the last words he was heard to utter were, " Stand by mc, my brave grenadiers !" He had previously expressed a wish " not to be buried within a mile of Presbyterian ground — as he would, otherwise, be too near very bad company !" He was buried in Cln-ist Church Cemetery, in Second Street on the south side of the Church. See Appendix (L). — Ed. GENERALS WASHINGTON AND CHARLES LEE. 321 subject, the General appeared on the other side of tbe street, and, crossing over to us, I had the honour of being presented to him. He soon, however, marred Edwards's proposal of dining at his quarters, by asking where he dined, and giving him to understand, that he, the General, did not ,dine at home; Whether he was now in one of his saving moods, to which he was said to be occasionally addicted, and only meant this as a ruse de guerre to keep the war from his own territories, I know not, but certain it is, that Edwards had calculated upon a dilTerent arrangement, and fully expected to have owed his dinner of the day to the cook of his General. After a few minutes' conversa- tion, I left him, but not before agreeing with Edwards upon a time and place of meeting next day. The life of General Lee, as presented in the volume pub- lished by one of his friends, under the title of Memoirs, holds out very salutary instruction to factious and discontented spi- rits.* Though he commences his career among us, as an American and a democrat, he at length subsides in the Eng- lishman and aristocrat. He finds out that he has kept very bad company in America ; and that her independence, which he has been among the most ardent to promote, will be a curse rather than a blessing to her. Washington, to him, becomes another George the Third; and his 'earwigs,' courtiers as cor- rupt as those of any sceptred calf, wolf, hog, or ass ; to use the language of his letter to Dr. Rush. It must be confessed, however, that if he acted to the best of his judgment at Mon- mouth, his treatment is to be lamented, as a hard and ungener- ous return for the zeal he once manifested in our cause. But his conduct in this atfair, to say the least of it, betrays a total want of American feeling. Having, in the latter part of his captivity, been treated with attention by the British officers, his old discontents appear to have been effaced by the greater poignancy of new ones ; and if, as has been asserted, he ex- * The Life of Lee, by Mr. Sparks, in the 8th volume of the new series of "The Library of American Biography," published in 1846, may also be strongly recom- mended. It is the most satisfactory account of this erratic genius that has yet appeared, and is exceedingly interesting and well written. — Ed. 322 CHARACTER OF LEE. claimed in the hearing of his troops, that " the British grena- diers never run," it would almost seem a suflicient ground to convict him of disaffection, if not treachery. I shall not, how- ever, impute them to him ; neither am I prepared to say, that his conduct was unmilitary. I would rather suppose, if he committed a fault, it was because he was too respectful of the enemy ; and that he was too scientific, too much of a rcasoncr for a merely executive officer ; " for action too refined," as Pope says, or as Voltaire expresses it : Mais souvcnt il sc trompo Ji force dc prudence, II est irresolu par trop dc prcvoyancc, Moius agissant qu'liabile. — * As to his early republicanism, and fancied attachment to liberty and the rights of man, there is no reason to think him insincere. That he cordially detested, at least, the courtly arts, for which he had not temper ; and in whose career, if he ever tried it, he had been far outstripped by more pliant competitors, I have not the smallest doubt ; but, if he supposed, by an ex- change of the sovereign one for the sovereign 7ninuj, he was to restore the reign of manly candour and blunt honesty, how much, how very much, alas, was he deceived ! With all his abilities and acquaintance with the polite world, the General was certainly a very indiscreet man, with little dignity of character : witness the frequent scrapes he got into, and particularly the ridiculous one with Miss Franks, in which, the most complete success of the jeu cVesprit could have added nothing to the fame of the major-general.f In my interview with Edwards the next day, he gave me a number of military anecdotes, and let me into the state of par- ties in the army. As might be supposed, he was a warm par- tisan of Lee, though at the same time, expressing great respect for the virtues of the Commander-in-chief Among other things, he gave me the details of Lee's quarrel with Mr. William Henry * Sec Appendix M. — En. t Sec Appendix N. for tlie particulars of this atfair. — Ed. CHARACTER OF LEE DRAYTON. 323 Drayton,* repeating the words of the letter of defiance, of which he was the bearer, and in which Mr. Drayton is sarcas- tically represented as a mere Malvolio, &c. — also, of the duel with Colonel Laurens, in which he acted as the second or friend of Lee. Colonel Laurens and his attendant, Colonel Hamilton, were, it seems, rather late in coming to the ground. During the delay produced by this circumstance, Edwards took occasion to amuse his Principal, if amusement it might be called, with some metaphysical subtilties on predestination, free will, &c., a little in the style of the disquisition of the Brissotines on a future state, when on their way to the guillo- tine. From want of punctuality in the adversaries, he also suggested, that they might not come at all ; but Lee replied, there was no danger of that, as Colonel Laurens was a man of unquestionable bravery ; and the observation was imme- diately verified by his appearance.f The manner of fighting was somewhat new; and, if I am not mistaken, it was on Lee's suggestion it was adopted. Taking their ground and facing each other, it was agreed, that either should fire when he * This eminent citizen was cut off in the midst of his useful and brilliant career, at an early stage of tlic Revolution. He died in Philadelphia, September, 1779, in his thirty-seventh year. William Henry Drayton, of South Carolina, was one of the earliest and most active defenders of the liberties of his country, in the first stages of the revolutionary movements. His writings contributed equally to enlighten the public mind, and enforce the claims of justice. A charge to the Grand Jury of Charleston, delivered by him as Chief Justice of South Caro- lina, on the 23d of April, 1776, is one of the most important historical documents of that period, whether considered in regard to the facts it contains, or the force of its arguments. He was an efficient member of Congress, and was conspicuous for the part he took in counteracting the objects of tlie British Commissioners, by several spirited and well-written essays in the newspapers. — See Draytoii's Me. moirs, and Sparks' Writings of Washington, vol. v. p. 439. Mr. Jefferson was indebted almost as much to Judge Drayton's celebrated "Charge," as he was to the patriotic and spirited citizens of Mecklenhurgh, for the sentiments and much of the language of the " Declaration of Independence," that enduring monument at once of patriotism, and of genius and skill in the art of appropriation ! — Ed. + For another purpose the Editor has been kindly furnished by Mr. George W. P. CusTis, with some interesting particulars in relation to this gallant officer, which, as they will bear repetition, he has placed in the Appendix, to which the reader is referred. See Appendix O. — Ed. / 324 MILITARY ANECDOTES LAURENS. thought proper. Accordingly they both advanced, and the effect was, that at the same instant, each presented and drew the trigger. Colonel Laurens' ball grazed the side of General Lee, carrying away some flesh and producing a considerable effusion of blood. The Principals proposed another shot, but the Seconds agreed that enough had been done; and so the afiair ended, without the smallest bearing, however, on the point in controversy, to wit, whether General Lee was right or wrong in speaking reproachfully of the Commander-in-chief; and only establishing the fact, that the combatants could risk their lives with the gallantry and self-possession of soldiers and men of honour.* Major Edwards further gave me the particulars of a similar affair, in which he himself had been concerned as principal in Ca- rolina; and, in which, the small knowledge he had derived from me, in the noble science of fencing, had enabled him to triumph over an adversary, who thought to obtain an advantage of him by commuting the pistol, with which it had been at first agreed to fight, for the small sword. His skill in the weapon was not, indeed, brought to the test ; but the readiness he evinced to put it to issue, induced his prevaricating opponent to succumb and make him concessions. From his aptitude to take the tone of good company, and his * Had not this "fact" been well "established" before? History informs us that it had; and if it were untrue, the hostile meeting here referred to, cannot fairly be cited in verification. Although brave men, as in this instance particularly, have resorted to this mode of adjusting tiieir difficulties, many a poltroon has been forced, sadly against his own volition, into this position of " honour." There can be nothing more insanely absurd than the condescension of men, especially those of unquestionable re[)utation for courage, to this savage and senseless mode of "esaniing to themselves. But, that we have been latterly a good deal wanting to ourselves, I must be per- mitted to believe ; and also to think with Mr. Hillhouse, that in the present corrupted state of our morals, what has been absurdly termed a strong executive, and thought our best security, has be- come our greatest bane — that the splendour of chief-magistracy we must not look to have; but, in its stead, an unostentatious, ephemeral head, begotten by chance, and dying while yet in in- fancy — literally coming up and cut. down like a flower. The attributes of royalty, neither become us, nor are good for us. * It may thus be translated : Love the state to which you belong, such as you find it to be: if, of the royal kind, love and be loyal to it: if, on the contrary, it be a commonwealth, equally love and be faithful to it, since Heaven has made it the place of your nativity. t This remark anticipated the great question, since made, between legitimacy and usurpation. A shape imparted to politics about the time of the battle of Waterloo, in 1815, and not adverted to in discussion, until after that event. Re- publicanism having been fairly renounced by the French Revolutionists, tlie only ground left for them, was the vindication of new monarchy in opposition to the old, of upstarts supported by human slaughter, termed glory, in opposition to the civil arts, of industry and commerce, fostered by tlic influences of religion and peace. A state of things vainly stigmatized as indicative of imbecility and na- tional degradation. 406 REFLECTIONS. They sink our great men into very little ones, or only, " agcjran- dize them into baseness." To give any chance therefore for the operations of patriotism, we must smother that obtrusive thing called self ; and by taking away, or rendering power uncertain and fugitive, we must, with pious humility, endeavour to de- liver ourselves from temptation, I am aware of the ollence which may be given by these ob- servations; but I will not now begin to cajole, when I have foregone beyond redemption, what might once have been gained by it. Having spoken truth so long, I will persevere to the end ; nor, though fully admitting that by a virtuous use of the govern- ment we possess, we may become the most happy people upon earth, am I at all disposed to conceal, that by the nefarious po- licy in fashion, we are in a fair way of rendering ourselves the most miserable. One of its fundamental maxims, and, to all appearance, its most favourite one, is, that Britian must be de- stroyed, A power which is evidently the world's last hope against the desolating scene of universal slavery,* A country too, which in the language of a native American, who tells us, he had entertained the common prejudices against her, presents " the most beautiful and perfect model of public and private prosperity, the most magnificent and at the same time, most solid fabric of social happiness and national grandeur. And yet all this is to be demolished, because some thirty years ago,f we were engaged with her in a contest, which, so far as indepen- dence is implicated, appears now to have been a truly ' unpro- fitable one.' But God forbid that the long-lived malice of Mr. Jefferson, should be gratified ! And the deprecation is equally extended to his successor, should he unhappily harbour the same pitiable rancour. If these gentlemen, during the war, have had their nerves too rudely shocked by the invader, to be able to recover their propriety, or to adhere to the assurance given in * If there is any thing degrading in tliis sentiment, wc may tliank ourselves for affording ground for it. For it is absurd to talk of fighting, where empty trea- suries are preferred to full ones, where cowardice has been inculcated both by maxims, and devices, and where the people have been taught to believe, that taxa- tion is op])ression, + It will be recollected that these Memoirs were first printed in the year 1811.— Ed, REFLECTIONS. 407 the Declaration of Independence, of considering the English as "friends in peace, and only enemies in war," they ought to re- flect, that it is not strictly patriotic, to risk the ruin of their country, to obtain revenge. Or, if they are only unluckily com- mitted, through a prodigality of stipulation, for the sake of dear Louisiana — God send them a good deliverance, or at least their country a happy riddance, both of the vender and vendees. That England has long been, and still is fighting the battle of the civilized world, I hold it to be an incontrovertible truth.* The observation I know to be trite, but I am not a servile fol- lower in the use of it. So long ago as the year 1797, I was the author of the following sentiment in Mr. Fenno's Gazette. "As to Great Britian, with all her errors and vices, and little perhaps as America may owe her, considering the situation in which she has been fortuitously placed by the dreadful convulsions of Eu- rope, so far from wishing her downfall, I consider her preserva- tion as of real importance to mankind ; and have long looked upon her as the barrier betwixt the world and anarchy." f The * The reader must still bear in mind the period at which this was written. Napoleon, " the Conquercr of Nations," occupied the throne of France, and was waging his yet successful war against the dynasties of "out-worn Europe." England was not fighting the "battle of the civilized world;" she was fighting for its mastery. During all the early part of that contest down, at least, to the treaty of tilsit, she was upholding the cause of despotism; and if she afterwards became involved in a struggle for self-preservation, it was owing in no inconsi- derable degree to her own ambition. She has carried her encroachments into every quarter of the world; and, magnificent as is her now culminating power, and imposing the reputation and achievements of her statesmen, literati and war. riors, the spectacle is marred by the consideration that injustice and outrage have contributed to place her on the lofty eminence which she occupies. Arrogance and oppression have every where marked Iier course. No barrier that force or genius could overthrow, has been permitted to stand between her interests, real or imaginary, and the rights and liberties of nations. In the East, province after province has been annexed to her possessions, and even the Celestial Empire has lately yielded to her aggressions. In her passion for aggrandizement and domi- nion, she has reared an empire upon wliich the sun never sets ; and an American may be pardoned some complacency in the reflection, that this nation, haughty, rapacious, and powerful as she is, received her first material check from the hands of the Fathers of this Republic. — Ed. t This passage is in an article in the Gazette of tlie United States of November 10th, 1797, signed "A Country Subscriber," and is the conclusion of a slight spar- ring with Mr. Cobbett, which gentleman, by the bye, has given a notable in- 408 REFLECTIONS. sentiment was then in me an original conception, I had never heard it before, if ever it had been uttered. It has unceasingly been among my strongest convictions, with the modification, that she is now our protection from despotism ; and it is there- fore natural, that I should be gratified by the very able and valuable pamphlet which Mr. Walsh has presented to his coun- try.* It is to be wished it may be read as well as the other writings he is submitting to us, with candour and a proper feel- ing for the general interest, not merely of this nation, but of mankind. In contemplating the enormities of the time, it is re- markable, that we can only find matter for illustration, in the poets who flourished amid the confusions which prevailed in the decline of the Roman empire. Thus, Mr. Walsh has frequent recourse to Claudian, whose poem in Rufinum very forcibly de- stance of his candour in his Selections from Porcvpine^s Gazette, publishing herein my attack and his answer to it, but wholly suppressing this rejoinder. * " A Letter on the Genius and Dispositions of the French Government,' published in 1810. Jeffrey, in his review of Mr. Walsh's " Appeal from the Judgments of Great Britain respecting the United States of America,''^ mentions this pamphlet in cordial terms of praise, — he styles it " a work of great merit, which attracted much notice, both in Great Britain and America." * * * " The author, in a strain of great eloquence and powerful reasoning, exhorts his country to make common cause with England in the great struggle in which slie was then en- gaged with the giant power of Bonaparte, and points out the many circumstances in the character and condition of the two countries that invited them to a cordial alliance." Witliin two years, however, after the publication of this eloquent exhortation to an "alliance," the overweening insolence, and wanton outrngcs of England upon tlie rights of American citizens, forced the country, all unprepared as she was, into the Madisonian War ! Tiiat struggle taught our haughty and hereditary foe, that she could not always expect to be invincible, and tlic recollec- tion of its early disasters and subsequent triumphs will nerve the American heart for future trials, if, unhappily, they should become necessary for the preservation of the national integrity and honour; and for tlie advancement of the principles which are identified with the American name. Tiie question concerning Oregon — prematurely agitated by tlie party President of the day, may yet, perchance, afford cause for rapture, leaving still unsettled this absorbing question of the times, and serving to revive tlie slumbering animosity which mutual interests have al- layed but not eradicated. For tlie honour of human nature, and in deference to the peaceful spirit and tendencies of tlie age, it is to be hoped that a resort to bar- barous usage in tiic settlement of tiiis great dispute, may be avoided ; but the pretensions of England arc put forth with characteristic disregard of justice ; and tiicsc prctcnsionr it concerns the national honour strenuously to resist. — En. REFLECTIONS. 409 picts the dark atrocities of a ferocious and despotic usurpation, which, though acted on an infinitely smaller theatre than that of the present day, had those dismaying appearances which so over- power and confound the mind, as to perplex it, even with doubts of an overruling Providence.* I have dipped deeper into politics than I intended, or conceived would be necessary at my outset: but without an obvious de- parture from the declared design of my work, and a dereliction of the sacred duty which every annalist owes to the world, the sub- ject, however trite and unpleasant, could not be avoided ; and much as I dwell upon it, it yet forms but a very imperfect sketch of our public transactions. It has relieved me, however, from a detail of my own personal concerns, which being made up of the common occurrences of still life, chequered as usual with good and with evil, it would be highly arrogant in me to suppose could be in any degree worthy of the public attention. I shall only advert to them, therefore, for the single purpose of mentioning, that my mother, who has acted no inconsiderable part in my nar- rative, finished, under my roof, a long and well spent life, pro- tracted to her seventy-eighth year, on the 23d of January, 1807. Her excellent constitution sunk under the republican havoc on her family : her first symptom of decay followed close upon it ; and she fell a martyr, in all probability, to the ever memorable triumph of what has been impiously called. The triumph of good princi- ples. Perhaps, however, she had lived long enough. Of the part I have acted in this turbulent scene, the reader is truly informed. Whether it was wise or unwise, I will take upon me to say, it was conscientious and disinterested. Yet it certainly makes but a very sorry figure at an era so distinguished for rapid acquisitions of fortune and dignity. T^o have commanded a com- pany in the Continental army at the age of three and twenty, and not to have advanced an inch in the glorious career of personal aggrandizement, makes good, I think, my promise of negative instruction ; and I must he as very a wretch in the eyes of the * Thus expressed in the opening of the poem ; Soepe niihi dubiam traxit sententia mentem Curarent Superi terras, an nullus inesset Rector, et incerto fluerent mortalia casui 35 410 REFLECTIONS. aspiring, as was the unambitious Richard Cromwell in those of the Prince of Conti — Why even the imperial Napoleon himself had scarcely a fairer prospect, when making his debut as an artillerist before the walls of Toulon. Then, " what a rogue and pleasant slave am I !" Nevertheless, with respect to the glory acquired by what may be termed civic accomplishments^ I have some ragged pride in making it known, that my insignificance, is not so much owing to an ab- solute ignorance of the game, as to a want of the nerve that is necessary for playing it to advantage. Though unambitious of philosophic fame, I have no desire to pass for a simpleton ; and therefore wish it to be understood, that I am not to learn, that this revolution business and republicanism, with whatever purity begun, has nearly issued in a scramble, in which all morality and even decency being thrown aside, he is the cleverest fellow, that, by trick or violence can emerge the fullest handed. I regret that I am obliged to say so. I would much rather be the encomiast th^n the satirist of my country, which I have no doubt contains so ample a portion of manly sentiment, as, under better auspices, to entitle it to a lofty strain of panegyric. But it will be said I am a party-man; and as all party-men are prejudiced, these censures must go for nothing. I am indeed a party-man, as I conceive there is a right and wrong in politics as in other things : I freely admit it too that I am prejudiced, to a great degree ; but all my prejudices, I trust, are in favour of honesty and fair dealing, and where these appear, no one has more toleration for error. This is an indulgence I may have need of myself; but I reflect with satisfaction, that among my faults, I have no act of deceit, injustice or oppression, (for I have some- times had a little power) to reproach myself with ; and this I say without fear of contradiction. I have some reliance too that those who know me, even of the opposite political party, will give me credit for general good intention, and openness of character; and this granted, I ask no quarter for my sentiments. If they are erroneous and unfounded, let them be scouted and exposed ; I REFLECTIONS. 411 shall be among the first to condemn them if persuaded of their falsity. And I here recognise with suitable feelings, the liberal and un- sought patronage to this undertaking, from many of my neigh- bours and townsmen, with whose political conduct and opinions, mine have generally been in collision. If I have been less ac- commodating to their sentiments, than I could have wished, they will read my apology in the tenor of my performance, which does not merely purport to speak wdth plainness, but manifests, I pre- sume, that it has done so in reality, without respect to parties or to persons. I have occasionally, I am sensible, expressed myself with some asperity ; with more, perhaps, than may be thought congenial to the nature of my work ; but this must be attributed to my awful impression of the dangers which surround us, and a solemn apprehension, that all the advantages of our situation are about to be sacrificed to a profligate rage for place and party supremacy. 412 CONCLUSION. CONCLUSION. Thus, uncalled for, have I ventured upon a pretty full account, both of my life, and my opinions. Of the value of either, it is not for me to judge ; but as it was my lot to enter upon manhood just at the commencement of the Revolution, and to be a witness of its progress, its consummation, and its consequences, it ap- peared to me, that the period, if justly delineated, could not be altogether destitute of instruction: I have endeavoured to depict it truly; and, I trust, I have done so, in regard at least to the phases presented to my vision. The facts I have related, I have either witnessed myself, or received on such authority, as leaves with me little doubt of their correctness; and my inferences, though sometimes harsh, are always the result of the most deliberate and candid reflection : Whatever therefore, may be the errors of my book, they are not those of wilful misrepre- sentation. Ample* matter has occurred, since the publication of these Memoirs, not only to justify the free remarks therein made on the conduct and character of our democratic leaders, but to war- rant shafts of moral indignation against their subsequent acts, keen as were ever hurled from the pen of a Juvenal. But, politics are at no time a pleasant topic, and their discussion must necessarily embrace newspaper common-places a hundred * The observations that follow were found in the handwriting of the author upon the last page of his private copy of the " Memoirs." It is proper that they should be added here, as they arc explanatory of his motives, and, were no doubt, iutended for tjie position in which they are now placed. — Ed. CONCLUSION-. 413 times repeated. For these reasons, and the additional one, that the registry of recent facts, is not the object of the writer, he spares himself the disagreeable task of tracing the undignified, pettifogging, mischievous course of the Madisonian policy. He cannot but felicitate himself, however, upon his good fortune in meetinsj with the letters of General Washington* servinsf as they' do, to confirm many of his statements which were received with more than distrust,! perhaps, and thought to proceed either from a misanthropic temper, too hasty observation, or specu- lative notions of human virtue, graduated on too high a scale, and thence engendering a disposition to censure unnecessarily. As to his political opinions and remarks, he will only say in an- ticipation of comments, which may probably be made, that how- ever shocking they may be to many honest, well-meaning, re- publicans, and however they may tinge with diabolical gall, the pancreatic juices of that other description of patriots, wliich no term can aptly designate but that of Jacobins, he feels pride no less than confidence in avowing them. Whatever may be their reception at the present day, he has not the smallest doubt of their entire orthodoxy in time to come, when the general in- terests of mankind, not those of a party, when history, not fac- tion, shall decide. " With respect to the freedom taken with private characters, it was at one time my intention, from knowing it to be the de- sire of some of my best friends, to expunge such passages as might, in any degree, give pain to the descendants or connexions of the persons mentioned. But, on reflecting that each of these friends would be as tenacious in retaining some, as in suppress- ing others of the passages; that by suppressing them all, I should reduce the work to a miserable piece of baldness and stupidity, and that by diminishing, I should, in regard to those who were suffered to remain, evince a premeditation that would afford new cause of offence, — that, moreover, as I have not presumed to meddle with what constitutes the real value of character, but, have merely glanced, at singularities and deficiencies of the * Since included in the Writings of WASHivGTo>f, edited by Mr. Sparks. — Ed. t In 1811, upon the first publication of the Memoirs. — Ed. 35* 414 CONCLUSION. lighter kind, neither inconsistent with uprightness nor benevo- lence, and that in these respects, I have made as free with my own family as that of others, I have, at length, come to the conclusion, that it will be best and most discreet, to abide by my first indiscretion. " It is unnecessary to pursue the topic ; but a curious discus- sion of it may be found in a discourse of M. Boileau prefixed to his satires, in which he undertakes to justify his own freedom by the examples of the ancients, particularly of Horace and of Persius; from whom, to be sure, he gives instances, that would, by no means, comport with the correctness of modern manners. It would appear, however, that somewhat of this questionable license is essential to the relish of that description of composi- tion, termed Memoirs. ' To entertain readers,' says Dr. Zim- merman, 'is, in my opinion, only to deliver freely in writing, that which in the general intercourse of society, it is impossible to say either with safety or politeness.' May it not be this, which renders so agreeable, the apparently unimportant garru- lity of Montaigne ? Upon the whole, if he has sometimes been querulous, it has been through the fear of trusting himself to the vehemence of his feelings, which is apt to hurry him beyond bounds, when he sees turpitude triumphant. He is not formed for a miserable, passive, victim of injustice, however gilded by high authority ; and no man, however exalted his station, has yet presumed, or ever shall presume, to treat him as such, without :fceling his resistance, and the keenest shafts of his resentment." APPENDIX. APPENDIX. 417 APPENDIX. A. PAGE 23. — Note. ALEXANDER GRAYDON, ESQ. The following is copied from papers filed in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania : Alexander Graydon recommended to be a field-officer on A LIST OF recommendations. ALEXANDER GRAYDON TO RICHARD PETERS. April 30th, 1758. Dear Sir — I yesterday received a letter from Richard Walker, Esq.* dated, the 27th inst. in which he informs me, that he has been prevailed on to enter his name in the list of officers, to command the new corps for this province, and that he has ventured to set my name down also, conjuring me at the same time, in a very friendly and affectionate manner, not to decline the service at this time. He farther desires I would communicate my answer to you without delay. I have a very great esteem for Mr. Walker, and believe he ■will make an excellent officer. I am sure, that he will act upon principles that few soldiers do. I sincerely wish I could ac- company him. I have employed the few hours between the receipt of his letter, and my present writing, in balancing the matter within my breast, and considering the position in which I find myself as to my affairs here, and the occasion so pressing, * This Mr. Walker is marked on the list as having been recommended by Mr. Allen and Mr. Growdon. 418 APPENDIX. it would be impossible to put my affairs in order, to accept such an employment. I have come, therefore, to the result, not to stand in the way of better men. I was surprised never to have had the least intimation, from any of my friends, before Mr. Walker's letter, of there being any thoughts entertained of me. I have never been able to learn what officers are intended to be made; into what order the troops are to be disposed ; or in short, any measures about this whole matter. Perhaps there was reason for keeping all secret. But I am of opinion, that had all the measures relative to raising these troops, been properly planned and published, as in some of our neigh- bouring provinces has been the case, the service would have been greatly forwarded. But I write to you as a friend, not a secretary. In short, there is little encouragement for any to enter into the service of this province, unless they can support themselves with the reflection, that virtue is its own reward. I am, dear sir, your affectionate friend, and « humble servant ALEXANDER GRAYDON. B. PAGE 42. DR. LAUCHLAN MACLEANE, A name, which, from its subsequent association with the ques- tion of the authorship of Junius, has acquired considerable pos- thumous, celebrity. Prior, in his excellent Life of Goldsmith, published in 1837, thus writes in reference to Dr. Macleane : " A fellow student named Kennedy, under the plea of great distress and a pledge of the speedy arrival of his own remit- tances, persuaded Goldsmith to become answerable for a portion of his debts, which, however, failed to be discharged at the APPENDIX. 419 specified time promised by the debtor. Goldsmith was, in con- sequence, called upon for payment, but being unable to raise the amount, was, in turn, obliged to have recourse to the assist- ance of two fellow-students to escape a dilemma that threatened his personrd liberty. These were rnen of considerable attain- ments, and not undistinguished in their respective spheres of life. One was Dr. Joseph I'enn Sleigh, an amiable and intelligent Quaker, the school-fellow of Burke, at Ballitoro, the first friend of Barry the painter, and who died prematurely in 1771, an eminent physician in Cork. The other was Dr. Lauchlan Macleane, a former associate in Trinity College, whose career seems to have embraced many changes of scene, and who afterwards by the public situations he held, the pamphlets he WTOte, a challenge sent to Wilkes and not accepted, and the party with which he was connected, drew considerable notice in the political circles of London between the years 17G.5 and 1776. "The son of a gentleman of small fortune in the North of Ire- land, and born about the year 1728, he was transferred, at the age of eighteen, from a school near Belfast, to Trinity College, Dublin. Here he became known to Burke and Goldsmith, and proceeding to Edinburgh to study physic, his name appears in the list of the Medical Society, .January 4th, 1754, a year after that of Goldsmith, by whom he was introduced. He afterwards visited America — whether at first as a private practiiioner, or medical officer in the army, does not appear; probably, as was then not unusual, officiating in both capacities. While in this country he acquired great medical rcputaiion; followed by its common attendant, envy, from the less fortunate of his brethren; and an anecdote is told of him at this time, which Alrnon quotes in one of his publications, as an jnstance of what he terms 'true magnanimity.' A rival practitioner, extremely jealous of bis success, and who had adopted every means, not exceptino^ the most unfair, of injuring his credit, was, at length, afflicted by the dangerous illness of an only son; and as possessing the first cha- racter for professional skill, Dr. Macleane was solicited to attend. His zeal proved unremitting; he sat up with the patient many nights, and chiefly by his sagacity and indefatigable efforts suc- ceeded beyond expectation in restoring the young man to health ; 420 APPENDIX. refusing all consideration for his labours, and saying to his friends, * Now am I amply revenged.' *'In 1761, while surgeon of Otway's regiment, quartered at Philadelphia, a quarrel took place with the Governor, against whom Macleane, who was a man of superior talents, wrote a paper distinguished for ability and severity, which drew general attention. Colonel Barre, subsequently so well known in poli- tical life, then serving there with his regiment and who was pro- bably involved in the quarrel, is said to have formed a regard for him in consequence of the part he took; but it is more likely that a previous acquaintance existed, as the Colonel had been likewise a member of Trinity College. Under the patronage of this officer he returned to England, renewed his acquaintance with Burke, and procured an office under government. While travelling on the continent, in 1766, he proved useful to Barry, then on his way to Italy, who became known to him through the introduction of his first patrons, Burke and Dr. Sleigh. Soon afterwards he became successively private Secretary to Lord Shelburne, and under Secretary of State for the Southern Depart- ment, retiring from office with his patron on the dissolution of the ministry drawn together by the Duke of Grafton. In May, 1771, Lord North gave him the situation of superintendent of lazarettos, with, as the newspapers of the day state, 'a salary of jGlOOO a year, and — two pounds per diem travelling expenses.' In January following, he received the collectorship of Philadel- phia; this was soon exchanged for an appointment in India, where he subsequently became a kind of agent to Mr. Hastings. In that capacity he brought home the Governor General's condi- tional resignation of office; yet the latter, with that singularity which often influenced his proceedings in the government of India, took a speedy opportunity of disavowing both his agent and his act, although communicated to the Court of Directors in his own handwriting. In proceeding again to India, intending, it is said, to take strong m.easures for an explanation of beha- viour that seemed to throw censure upon his honesty or honour, the ship, in which he embarked, foundered, and all on board perished, with papers seriously criminatory, according to report, of the administration of Mr. Hastings. Dr. Macleane enjoyed APPENDIX. 421 the credit of being quick, clear-headed, and well informed ; and by some was considered as possessing ' wonderful powers ;' an impediment in speech precluded him from being useful in Par- liament, or shining in conversation. His private character for benevolence and several good qualities stood high in the opinion of his friends." His claim to the credit of the authorship of Junius is not treated with much respect by Mr. Prior, who proves, to his own satisfaction at least, that they have no real foundation ; but his reasoning is far from conclusive. It is difficult, in this age of free and bold discussion, to appreciate either the depth of the excitement caused by the publication of these celebrated " Let- ters," 'or the danger to which discovery would have exposed their author, who was seldom free from apprehension. Every artifice, therefore, that would serve to divert attention from their real author would, naturally, be adopted by him, and the simple expedient of including himself in a general censure, or even the employment of the language of praise — would have been per- fectly justifiable in view of the peculiar circumstances under which he wrote. Recent alleged discoveries have again con- nected Dr. Macleane's name with the authorship of Junius — a secret too long and mysteriously kept to admit a hope of its revelation. — Ed. C. PAGE 75. WARREN. Battle of Bunker's Hill. The author, in a MS. note, says, " Hand it should be. I ■wrote from recollection not having the print before me. He has a sword, indeed, in one hand, but not in that employed in the humane act. But, if General Heath is correct, the whole per- 36 422 APPENDIX. haps, is but a fiction of the painter. Healh says that Warren was killed merely as a spectator, at some distance from the com- batants." The scene, as represented by the picture of Trumbull, is un- doubtedly a poetical license. No such occurrence as is there described really occurred. Neither is Heath correct in his state- ment of the circumstances of Warren's death. General Henry Lee, in his Memoirs, has also fallen into several errors in regard to the same event, although with a nearer approximation to truth than Heath or several others who have written upon the subject. He gives, it is true, just credit to the gallant Prescott. He says, " Warren who fell nobly supporting the action, was the favourite of the day, and has engrossed the fame due to Prescott. Bunker's Hill too has been considered as the field of battle, when it is well known that it was fought upon Breed's Hill, the nearest of the two hills to Boston." " No man," he continues, "reveres the character of Warren more than the writer; and he considers himself not only doing justice to Colonel Prescott, but perform- ing an acceptable service to the memory of Warren, who, being a really great man, would disdain to wear laurels not his own." The editor of this volume is fortunate in having in his posses- sion, authentic and interesting data in relation to the " Battle of Bunker's Hill," and though the information may, by some, be deemed misplaced here, he will, nevertheless, risk the censure of the critics. The text affords an opportunity for its introduc- tion — and Truth, wherever she may alight, should be welcomed and cherished. To a MS. of his friend, the late estimable and Reverend Ed- ward G. Prescott, a grandson of Colonel Prescott of Pepperell, Massachusetts, commander of the American forces, on the occa- sion of the memorable battle, the editor is indebted for the fol- lowing particulars which he has abridged to the limits prescribed to a note, the interesting facts set forth rendering an apology for its length unnecessary. On the 16th of June, 1775, Colonel William Prescott, of Pep- perell, at his own especial request, received orders to march to Charlestown in the evening, having under his command his own regiment, that of Colonels Bridge and Frye, and one hundred and APPENDIX. 423 twenty men from the Connecticut regiment, together with Cap- tain Gridley's company of artillery, and two field pieces. The object of this expedition which was to possess and fortify Bun- ker's Hill, was to be kept profoundly secret — one day's provision was distributed among the troops, and sufficient supplies, both of refreshments and men, were promised him, to be sent in the morning. The whole number of men under his command, amounted to about one thousand. Early on the evening of the memorable 16th of June, these few forces under the command of Prescott, assembled on the common at Cambridge, where a blessing upon their expedition was devoutly asked by the Re- verend President Langdon, of Harvard College. At the con- clusion of these services, Colonel Prescott led the way towards Charlestown neck, preceded by two sergeants having dark lan- terns open only at the rear. He was accompanied by Colonel Gridley, the Chief Engineer, who was to lay out the ground — by the late Governor Brooks, who was, at that time, a Major in Bridge's regiment, and by Mr. Winthrop. Upon their arrival, great doubt arose as to which part of the heights it was expedient to fortify. It has often been asserted that Breed's Hill was se- lected through mistake — such was not the case. Both that and Bunker's Hill form a continuous chain, but, at that time, the name of Bunker was the only one given to any part of the height. The remainder of it might, therefore, properly enough, have been considered as included in the orders under that general title. At all events, according to the statements of Colonel Prescott, and of Governor Brooks, a council was called of the officers, and the subject discussed until very late in the night. It was by them determined, that the hill now known as Breed's^ but then having no separate name, was the most suitable for the purpose, and came within the orders given to Colonel Prescott. The reasons for this opinion, were sufficiently evident. Bunker's height was too far from the enemy to annoy their shipping, or to give our forces any advantage over their army, while the point selected, was admirably adapted for both purposes. Colonel Prescott, accompanied by Major Brooks twice went down to the sea shore to reconnoitre. They could not believe that they were at the very gates of the enemy's stronghold, and had not been 424 APPENDIX. perceived. It was, however, so. God had darkened their eyes, and they heard the British sentry on his rounds, uttering the de- ceitful hail, " all's well !" Morning, however, drew near. The English rnan of war, called the Lively^ first discovered our little band, and opened upon them volley after volley. The enemy were taken by surprise. High above them, they saw our forti- fications, commanding them in all their positions, and could scarcely credit their own senses, that so daring an exploit had been undertaken. General Gage summoned his officers to a council of war. All was commotion. The frigates, floating batteries, — the cannon and mortars on Copp's hill, were each aiming at our gallant countrymen — still they toiled on. There was but one moment of doubt, during the time they occu- pied that proud position. This was when the first man was killed. A private of the name of Pollard from Billerica was the^r^^ martyr ; he had ventured in front of the works, and was struck down by a cannon-shot. Our countrymen, unused to the sight of violent deaths, then hesitated. Colonel Prescotl ordered his burial at once. The men, headed by the chaplain, demanded that prayers should be said over him. They were ordered by the Colonel to disperse to their work, and to bury him immedi- ately — it was done, but some of the men left the hill, and did not again return to it. This circumstance depressed them at a time when all their energies were most needed. Their commander perceiving it, mounted the breast-works, and continued there in defiance of the shot of the enemy, giving the necessary directions, until again their usual spirits had returned to them. Meanwhile the British were not idle. Gage, with his officers and others in whom he had confidence, went up to Beacon Hill to reconnoitre; after having looked through his telescope for some time, he handed it to a Mr. Willard, a mandamus coun- sellor, and describing the leader of the American troops as head and shoulders above the works, asked him who it was, and if the rebels would fight. Willard told him, that it was his brother- in-law, Prescott; " as to his men," said he, " I cannot answer for them ; hut Colonel Prescott will fight you to the gates of HelW The regiments were intrusted to Colonel Prescott, and the orders were transmitted to him alone. Upon him rested the responsi- APPENDIX. 425 bility ; and that he had the chief command, was acknowledged on the field by General Warren, the President of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts; who took a gun and cartouch box, and told him that he had " come to learn service under a soldier of experience." Alas! that the lesson should have been so short! Gallant, eloquent, patriotic Warren stepped but on the field of battle, to be gathered into the harvest of Death ! Not obliged to be in the way of danger, he volunteered for the good of his country — and that country will never cease to repay him by a cherished recollection of his virtues, and an honest pride at the mention of his name! — Ed. D. PAGE 77. JOHN HANCOCK. A few years later than the period referred to by our author, Hancock is thus described by Sullivan, in his interesting and instructive " Familiar Letters on Public Characters :" " He will be considered in the history of our country, as one of the greatest men of his age. How true this may be, distant generations are not likely to know. He was the son of^ a clergyman in Braintree, and was educated at Harvard Col- lege, and inherited a very ample fortune fx'om his childless uncle. Hancock left no child. He had a son who died at an early age from an unfortunate accident. Hancock was sent as a delegate to Congress in 1774 ; and in consequence of his per- sonal deportment, and his fame as a patriot, he was elevated, in an assembly of eminent men, to the dignity of President, which office he held when the Declaration of Independence was signed, at which time he was only thirty-nine years of age. " In June, 1782, Hancock had the appearance of advanced age, though only forty-five. He had been repeatedly and se- 36* 426 APPENDIX. verely afflicted with the gout, a disease much more common in those days than it now is, while dyspepsia, if it existed at all, was not known by that name. As recollected, at this time, Mr. Hancock was nearly six feet in stature, and of slender person, stooping a little, and apparently enfeebled by disease. His manners were very gracious, of the old style of dignified complaisance. His face had been very handsome. Dress was adapted quite as much to be ornamental as useful. Gentlemen wore wigs when abroad, and, commonly, caps, when at home. At this time, (June, 1782,) about noon, Hancock was dressed in a red velvet cap, within which was one of fine linen. The latter was turned up over the lower edge of the velvet one, two or three inches. He wore a blue damask gow^n, lined with silk ; a white stock, a white satin embroidered waistcoat, black satin small-clothes, white silk stockings, and red morocco slippers. It was a general practice in genteel families, to have a tankard of punch made in the morning, and placed in a cooler when the season required it. Visiters were invited to partake of it. At this visit, Hancock took from the cooler, standing on the hearth, a full tankard, and drank first himself, and then ofl^ered it to those present. Hancock was hospitable. There might have been seen at his table, all classes, from grave and dignified clergymen, down to the gifted in song, narration, anecdote, and wit, with whom ' noiseless falls the foot of Time, that only treads on flowers.' There are more books, more reading, more thinking, and more interchange of thoughts de- . rived from books and conversation at present, than there were fifty years ago. It is to be hoped that society is wiser and happier than it was, from being better instructed. Some per- sons may be of opinion, that if social intercourse is on a better footing now, than formerly, it is less interesting, less cordial than heretofore. It is not improbable that increase of numbers and of wealth, tend to make the members of society more sel- fish ; and to stifle expansive and generous feelings. Modes of life run into matters of show and ornament ; and it becomes a serious occupation, to be able to compare condition on advan- tageous terms. " Though Hancock was very wealthy, he was too much oc- APPENDIX. 427 cupied with public affairs to be advantageously attentive to his private. The times in which he lived, and the distinguished agency which fell to his lot, from his sincere and ardent devotion to the patriot cause, engendered a strong self-regard. He was said to be somewhat sensitive, easily offended, and very uneasy in the absence of the high consideration which he claimed, rather as a right, than a courtesy. He had strong personal friends, and equally strong personal enemies. From such causes arose some irritating difficulties. He had not only a commanding deportment, which he could qualify with a most attractive amenity, but a fine voice, and a highly graceful manner. These were traits which distinguished him from most men, and quali- fied him to preside in popular assemblies, with great dignity. He was not supposed to be a man of great intellectual force by nature ; and his early engagements in political life, and as the scenes in which he was conversant, called for the exercise of his powers only in the public service, he was so placed as not to have had occasion to display the force of his mind, in that service, so as to enable those of the present day to judge of it, excepting in his communications, as Governor of Massachusetts, to the Legislature. " If history has any proper concern with the individual qualities of Hancock, it may be doubtful whether, in these re- spects, distant generations will know exactly what manner of man he was. But, as a public man, his country is greatly in- debted to him. He was most faithfully devoted to her cause, and it is a high eulogy on his patriotism, that when the British Government offered pardon to all the rebels, for all their offences, Hancock and Samuel Adams were the only persons to whom this grace was denied." — Ed. 428 APPENDIX. E. PAGE 99. REVEREND JACOB DUCHE. Extract from a letter from General Washington to the Presi- dent of Congress, dated 16th October, 1777: — " I yesterday, through the hands of Mrs. Ferguson, of Graham Park, received a letter of a very curious and extraor- dinary nature from Mr. Duche, w^hich I have thought proper to transmit to Congress. To this ridiculous, illiberal performance, I made a short reply, by desiring the bearer of it, if she should, hereafter, by any accident, meet w^ith Mr. Duche, to tell him I should have returned it unopened, if I had had any idea of the contents ; observing at the same time, that I highly disapproved the intercourse she seemed to have been carrying on, and expected it would be discontinued. Notwithstanding the author's assertion, I cannot but suspect that the measure did not originate with him ; and that he was induced to it by the hope of establishing his interest and peace more effectually with the enemy." " Mr. Duche had married a sister of Mr. Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who, when Duche's letter was written, was at Bordentown, as a member of the Continental Navy Board. A copy was for- warded to Mr. Hopkinson, and he wrote a letter to Mr. Duche on the subject, which he enclosed to General Washington, that it might be transmitted to him in Philadelphia through the regular conveyance of a flag."* * Sparks' Life and Writings of Washington. — Ed. APPENDIX. 429 The Editor of these Memoirs is indebted to a friend for a MS. copy of the celebrated letter of the Reverend Mr. Duche to General Washington, with corrections to conform to the copy revised and published by Mr. Duche himself, in the Penn- sylvania Ledger of the nth December, 1777. It is as follows: MR. DUCHE TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. "Philadelphia, October 8, 1777. " Sir, " If this letter should find you in council or in the field, before you read another sentence, I beg you to take the first oppor- tunity of retiring, and weighing well its important contents. " You are perfectly acquainted with the part I have taken in the present unhappy contest. I was indeed among the first to bear my public testimony against having any recourse to threats, or even indulging a thought of an armed opposition. The torrent soon became too strong for my feeble efforts to resist. I wished to follow my countrymen, as far only, as virtue and the righteousness of their cause would permit me. I was, however, prevailed upon, among the rest of my clerical brethren, to gratify the pressing desire of my fellow-citizens, by preaching a sermon to one of the city battalions. I was pressed to publish this ser- mon, and reluctantly consented. From a personal attachment of near twenty years' standing, and a high respect for your character, in private as well as in public life, I took the liberty of dedicating it to you. I had your affectionate thanks for my performance, in a letter wherein you express, in the most deli- cate and obliging terms, your regard for me, and your wishes of a continuance of my friendship and approbation of your conduct. "Farther than this I intended not to proceed. My sermon speaks for itself, and utterly disclaims the idea of independency. My sentiments were well known to my friends. I communicated them without reserve, to many respectable members of Con- gress, who expressed a warm approbation of them. I persisted to the very last moment in using the Prayers for my Sovereign 430 APPENDIX. and Royal Family, though threatened with insult from the vio- lence of a party. " Upon the Declaration of Independency I called my vestry and solemnly put the question to them, whether they thought it best, for the peace and welfare of the congregations, to shut up the churches, or to continue the service without using the prayers for the royal family. This was the sad alternative. I concluded to abide by their decision, as I could not have time to consult my spiritual superiors in England. They determined it most expedient, under such critical circumstances, to keep open the churches, that the congregations might not be dis- persed, which we had great reason to apprehend. " A very few days after the fatal Declaration of Independence, I received a letter from Mr. Hancock, sent by express to Ger- mantown, where my family were for the summer season, ac- quainting me that I was appointed Chaplain to the Congress, and desired to attend them at nine o'clock the next morning. Surprised and distressed by an event I was not prepared to ex- pect — obliged to give an immediate answer, without the oppor- tunity of consulting my friends, I rashly accepted the appoint- ment. I could have but one motive for taking this step. I thought the churches in danger, and hoped by these means to have been instrumental in preventing those ills I had so much reason to apprehend. I can, however, with truth declare, that I then looked upon independency rather as an expedient, and a hazardous one indeed, thrown out in terrorem, in order to pro- cure some favourable terms, than a measure that was to be seriously persisted in at all events. My sudden change of con- duct will clearly evince this to have been my idea of the matter. " Upon the return of the Committee of Congress, appointed to confer with Lord Howe, I soon discovered their real intentions. The different accounts which each member of the committee gave of this conference, the time they took to make up the matter for public view, and the amazing disagreement betwixt the newspaper accounts and the relation I myself had from the mouth of 6ne of the committee, convinced me that there must have been some unfair and ungenerous procedure. Their de- termination to treat on no other ground than that of indepen- APPENDIX. 431 dency, which put it out of his lordship's power to mention any terms at all, was a sufficient proof to me that independency was the idol they had long wished to set up, and that rather than sacrifice this, they would deluge this country in blood. " From this moment I determined upon my resignation, and in the beginning of October, 1776, sent it in form to Mr. Han- cock, after having officiated only two months and three weeks ; and from that time, as far as my safety would permit, I have been opposed to all their measures. This circumstantial account of my conduct, I think due to the friendship you were so oblig- ing as to express for me, and I hope will be sufficient to justify any seeming inconsistencies in the part I have acted. " And now, dear Sir, suffer me in the language of truth and real affection to address myself to you. All the world must be convinced that you are engaged in the service of your country from motives perfectly disinterested. You risked every thing that was dear to you. You abandoned all those sweets of do- mestic life of which your affluent fortune gave you the uninter- rupted enjoyment. But had you ? could you have had the least idea of matters being carried to such a dangerous extremity as they are now 1 Your most intimate friends at that time shud- dered at the thoughts of a separation from the mother country; and I took it for granted that your sentiments coincided with theirs. What have been the consequences of this rash and violent measure 1 A degeneracy of representation — confusion of counsels — blunders without number. The most respectable characters have withdrawn themselves, and are succeeded by a great majority of illiberal and violent men. " Take an impartial view of the present Congress, and what can you expect from them ? Your feelings must be greatly hurt by the representation from your native province. You have no longer a Randolph, a Bland, or a Braxton ; men whose names will ever be revered, whose demands never arose above the first ground on vi'hich they set out, and whose truly generous and virtuous sentiments I have frequently heard with rapture from their own lips. O my dear Sir, what a sad contrast ! Characters now present themselves whose minds can never mingle with your own. Your Harrison alone remains, and he 432 APPENDIX. disgusted with his unworthy associates. As to those of my own province, some of them are so obscure that their very names never met my ears before, and others have only been dis- tinguished for the weakness of their understandings and the vio- lence of their tempers. One alone I except from the general charge. A man of virtue dragged reluctantly into their mea- sures, and restrained by some false ideas of honour from re- tracting, after having gone too far. You cannot be at a loss to discover whose name answers to this character. " From the New England Provinces can you find one that as a gentleman you could wish to associate with? unless the soft and mild address of Mr. Hancock can atone for his want of every other qualification necessary for the station he fills. Bankrupts, attorneys, and men of desperate fortunes are his colleagues. "Maryland no longer sends a Tilghman and a Protestant Carroll. Carolina has lost its Lynch, and the elder Middleton has retired. •' Are the dregs of a Congress then still to influence a mind like yours? These are not the men you engaged to serve. These are not the men that America has chosen to represent her now\ Most of them were elected by a little low faction, and the few gentlemen that are among them, now well known to be upon the balance, and looking up to your hand alone to move the beam. 'Tis you, Sir, and you alone that supports the present Congress. Of this you must be fully sensible. Long before they left Philadelphia, their dignity and consequence was gone. What must it be now, since their precipitate re- treat? I write with freedom, but without invective. I know these things to be true. I write to one whose own observation must have convinced him that they are so. *' After this view of Congress, turn to your army. The whole world knows that its very existence depends upon you, that your death or captivity disperses it in a moment, and that there is not a man on that side of the question in America, capable of succeeding you. As to the army itself, what have you to expect from them ? Have they not frequently abandoned even yourself in the hour of extremity ? Have you, can you have, APPENDIX. 433 the least confidence in a set of undisciplined men and officers, many of whom have been taken from the lowest of the people, without principle and without courage. Take away those that surround your person, how few are there that you can ask to sit at your table 1 " Turn to your little navy — of that little, what is left ? Of the Delaware fleet, part are taken, the rest must soon surrender. Of those in the other Provinces, some taken, one or two at sea^ and others lying unmanned and unrigged in their harbours. "And now where are your resources? O, my dear Sir! how sadly have you been abused by a faction void of truth and void of tenderness to you and your country ! They have amused you with hopes of a declaration of war on the part of France. Be- lieve me from the best authority, it was a fiction from the first. Early in the year 1776, a French gentleman was introduced to me, with whom I became intimately acquainted. His business, to all appearance, was to speculate in the mercantile way. But I believe it will be known that in his own country he moved in a higher sphere. He saw your camp. He became acquainted with all your military preparations. He was introduced to Congress, and engaged with them in a mercantile contract. In the course of our intimacy he has frequently told me he hoped the Americans never would think of independency. He gave me his reasons : ' Independency,' said he, ' can never be supported unless France should declare war against England. I well know the state of her finances; years to come will not put them in a situation to venture upon a breach with England. At this moment there are two parties in the Court of Versailles, one enlisted under the Due de Choiseul, the other under Count Maurepas. Choiseul has no chance of succeeding. He is violent for war. Maurepas must get the better. He is for economy and peace.' This was his information which I men- tioned to several members of Congress. They treated it as a fable, depending entirely on Dr. Franklin's intelligence. The truth of the matter is this : Dr. Franklin built upon the success of Choiseul. Upon his arrival in France, he found him out of place, his counsels reprobated, and his party dwindled to an insignificant faction. This you may depend upon to be the 37 434 APPENDIX. true state of the Court of France. And further, by vast numbers of letters found on board prizes taken by the King's ships, it appears that all commerce with the merchants of France, through whom alone your supplies have been con- veyed, will soon be at an end, the letters being full of complaints of no remittances from America, and many individuals having greatly suffered. " From your friends in England, you have nothing to expect. Their numbers are diminished to a cipher. The spirit of the whole nation is in full activit}^ against you. A few sounding names among the nobility, though perpetually rung in your ears, are said to be without character, without influence. Disappointed ambition, I am told, has made them desperate, and they only wish to make the deluded Americans instruments of their revenge. All orders and ranks of men in Great Britain, are now unani- mous, and determined to risk their all on the contest. Trade and manufactures are found to flourish ; and new channels are continually opening, that will, perhaps, more than supply the old. In a word, your harbours are blocked up, your cities fall one after another, fortress after fortress, battle after battle is lost. A British armv, after having passed almost unmolested through a vast extent of country, have possessed themselves with ease of the Capital of America. How unequal the contest now ! How fruitless the expense of blood ! "Under so many discouraging circumstances, can virtue, can honour, can the love of your country prompt you to persevere. Humanity itself (and sure I am humanity is no stranger to your breast) calls upon you to desist. Your army must perish for want of common necessaries, or thousands of innocent families must perish to support them. Wherever they encamp the country must be impoverished. Wherever they march the troops of Britain will pursue, and must complete the devastation which America herself has begun. "Perhaps it may be said that 'it is better to die than to be slaves.' This, indeed, is a splendid maxim in theory ; and, perhaps, in some instances, may be found experimentally true. But where there is the least probability of an happy accommo- dation, surely wisdom and humanity call for some sacrifices to APPENDIX. 435 be made to prevent inevitable destruction. You well know that there is but one invincible bar to such an accommodation; could this be removed other obstacles might readily be over- come. 'Tis to you, and you alone, your bleeding country looks, and calls aloud for this sacrifice. Your arm alone has strength sufficient to remove this bar. May Heaven inspire you with the glorious resolution of exerting this strength at so interesting a crisis, and thus immortalizing yourself as friend and guardian of your country. " Your penetrating eye needs not more explicit language to discern mv meaning. With that prudence and delicacy, there- fore, of which I know you to be possessed, represent to Con- gress the indispensable necessity of rescinding the hasty and ill-advised Declaration of Independency. Recommend, and you have an undoubted right to recommend, an immediate cessation of hostilities. Let the controversy be taken up where that Declaration left it, and where Lord Howe certainly ex- pected to find it. Let men of clear and impartial characters, in or out of Congress, liberal in their sentiments, heretofore independent in their fortunes (and some such may surely be found in America), be appointed to confer with His Majesty's Commissioners. Let them, if they please, prepare some well- digested constitutional plan, to lay before them as the com- mencement of a negotiation. When they have gone thus far, I am confident that the most happy consequences will ensue. L^nanimity will immediately take place through the different Provinces. Thousands who are now ardently wishing and praying for such a measure, will step forth and declare them- selves the zealous advocates of constitutional liberty, and mil- lions will bless the Hero that left the field of war to decide this most important contest with the weapons of wisdom and humanity. "O! Sir, let no false ideas of worldly honour deter you from engaging in so glorious a task. Whatever censures may be thrown out by mean and illiberal minds, your character will rise in the estimation of the virtuous and noble; it will appear with lustre in the annals of History, and form a glorious con- trast to that of those who have sought to obtain conquests and 43G APPENDIX. gratify their own ambition by the destruction of their species and the ruin of their country. " Be assured, Sir, that I write not this under the eye of any British officer, or person connected with the British army or ministry. The sentiments I express are the real sentiments of my own heart ; such as I have long held, and which I should have made known to you by letter before, had I not fully ex- pected an opportunity of a private conference. When you passed through Philadelphia on your way to Wilmington, I w^as confined by a severe fit of the gravel to my chamber. I have since continued so much indisposed, and times have been so very distressing, that I had neither spirit to write a letter, nor oppor- tunity to convey it when written. Nor do I yet know by what means I shall get these sheets to your hand. " I would fain hope that I have said nothing by which your delicacy can be in the least hurt. If I have, I assure you, it has been without the least intention; and, therefore, your can- dour will lead you to forgive me. I have spoken freely of Congress and of the Army. But what I have said, is partly from my own knowledge, and partly from the information of some respectable members of the former, and some of the best officers in the latter. I would not ofiend the meanest person upon earth. What I say to you I say in confidence, and to answer what I cannot but deem a most valuable purpose. I love my country. I love you. But to the love of truth, the love of peace, and the love of God, I hope I should be enabled, if called to the trial, to sacrifice every other inferior love. " If the arguments made use of in this letter, should have so much influence as to engage you in the glorious work which I have so warmly recommended, I shall ever deem my success as the highest temporal favour that Providence could grant me. Your interposition and advice I am confident would meet with a favourable reception from the authority under which you act. If it should not, you have an infallible resource still left. Nego- tiate for AiMEPacA at the head of your Army. "After all it may appear presumption in an individual to ad- dress himself to you on a subject of such magnitude, or to say what measures would best secure the interest and welfare of a APPENDIX. 437 whole continent. The friendly and favourable opinion you have always expressed for me, emboldened me to undertake it, and (which has greatly added to the weight of this motive) I have been strongly impressed with a sense of duty upon the occa- sion, which left my conscience uneasy and my heart afflicted till I had fully discharged it. I am no enthusiast. The case is new and singular to me. But I could not enjoy a moment's peace, till this letter was written. With the most ardent prayers for your spiritual as well as temporal welfare, I am, Your most obedient and Sincere friend and servant, (Signed) Jacob Duche. His Excellency Gen. Washington. GENERAL WASHINGTON TO FRANCIS HOPKINSON.* "Head Quarters, 21 November, 1777. " Sir, "I am favoured with yours of the 14th instant, enclosing a letter for the Reverend Mr. Duche. I will endeavour to for- ward it to him, but I imagine it will never be permitted to reach his hands. I confess to you, that I was not more sur- prised than concerned at receiving so extraordinary a letter from Mr. Duche, of whom I had entertained the most favour- able opinion, and I am still willing to suppose, that it was rather dictated by his fears than by his real sentiments ; but I very- much doubt whether the great numbers of respectable charac- ters, in the State and Army, on whom he has bestowed the most unprovoked and unmerited abuse, will ever attribute it to the same cause, or forgive the man who has artfully endeavoured to engage me to sacrifice them to purchase my own safety. " I never intended to make the letter more public, than by * Sparks' Life and Writings of Washington. — Ed, 37* 438 APPENDIX. laying it before Congress. I thought this a duty, which I owed to myself; for, had any accident happened to the army entrusted to my command, and had it ever afterwards appeared, that such a letter had been written to and received by me, might it not have been said, that I had betrayed my country? And would not such a correspondence, if kept a secret, have given good grounds for the suspicion ? I thank you for the favourable sentiments which you are pleased to express of me, and I hope no act of mine will ever induce you to alter them. I am, &c. " George Washington." FRANCIS HOPKINSON TO JACOB DUCHE.* " Bordentown, 14th November, 1777. " Dear Brother, " A letter signed with your name, dated at Philadelphia, on the 8th of October, and addressed to his Excellency General Washington, is handed about the country. Many copies are taken, and I doubt not but it will soon get into the press, and become public throughout the continent. Words cannot express the grief and consternation that wounded my soul at the sight of this fatal performance. What infatuation could influence you to ofler to his Excellency an address, filled with gross misrepre- sentation, illiberal abuse, and sentiments unworthy of a man of character? You have endeavoured to screen your own weak- nesses by the most artful glosses, and to apologize to the General for the instabihty of your temper, in a manner that I am sure cannot be satisfactory to your own conscience. " I could go through this extraordinary letter, and point out to you truth distorted in every leading part. But the world will doubtless do this with a severity that must be daggers to the sensibilities of your heart. Read that letter over again, and if possible divest yourself of the fears and influence, whatever they were, that induced you to pen it. Consider its contents with an impartial eye, and reflect on the ideas it will naturally * Sparks' Life and Writings of Washington. — Fd. APPENDIX. 439 raise in the minds of the multitude. You will then find, that by a vain and weak effort you have attempted the integrity of one whose virtue is impregnable to the assaults of fear or flattery, whose judgment needed not your information, and who, I am sure, would have resigned his charge the moment he found it likely to lead him out of the paths of virtue and honour. You will find that you have drawn upon you the resentment of Con- gress, the resentment of the army, the resentment of many worthy and noble characters in England, whom you know not, and the resentment of your insulted country. You have ven- tured to assert many things at large of the affairs of England, France, and America, which are far from being true, and which, from your contracted knowledge in these matters, it is impossible for you to be acquainted with. In the whole of your letter, you have never once recommended yourself to those, whose favour you seem desirous of obtaining, by expatiatinor oa the justice or humanity of their conduct, and at the same time have said every thing that can render you odious to those, on whom the happiness of your future life must depend. " You presumptuously advise our worthy General, on whom millions depend with implicit confidence, to abandon their dear- est hopes, and with or without the consent of his constituents to ' negotiate for America at the head of his army.'' Would not the blood of the slain in battle rise against such perfidy? And with whom would you have him negotiate? Are they not those, who, without the sanction of any civil, moral, or religious right, have come three thousand miles to destroy our peace and property, to lay waste ijour native country with fire and sword, and cruelly murder its inhabitants? Look for their justice and honour in their several proclamations, and look for their huma- nity in the jails of New York and Philadelphia, and in your own Potter's Field. The whole force of the reasoning con- tained in your letter tends to this point: that virtue and honour require us to stand by truth, as long as it can be done with safety, but that her cause may be abandoned on the approach of danger; or, in other words, that the justice of the American cause ought to be squared by the success of her arms. " On the whole, I find it impossible to reconcile the matter and 440 APPENDIX. style of this letter with your general conduct, or with the virtues of your heart. I would fain hope, notwithstanding your asser- tion to the contrary, that you wrote it wdth a bayonet held to your breast, by order of the unprincipled usurpers of your native city. But my chief motive for writing to you at this time is to assure you, that I firmly believe that our just defensive war "will be crowned with success, and that we shall ere long return to our habitations in Philadelphia. I would, therefore, most earnestly warn you to evade the dismal consequences of your ill-judged address to our beloved General. Do all you can to wipe off, if possible, its unhappy effects. I tremble for you, for my good sister, and her little family. I tremble for your per- sonal safety. Be assured I write this from true brotherly love. Our intimacy has been of a long duration, even from our early youth ; long and uninterrupted, without even a rub in the way; and so long have the sweetness of your manners, and the inte- grity of your heart, fixed my affections. "I am perfectly disposed to attribute this unfortunate step to the timidity of your temper, the weakness of your nerves, and the undue influence of those about you. But will the world hold you so excused? Will the individuals you have so freely censured and characterized with contempt have this tenderness for you? I fear not. They will only judge of your conduct by its rashness, and proportion their resentment to their sensibility of the wounds you have given. I pray God to inspire you with some means of extricating yourself from this embarrassing diffi- culty. For my own part, I have well considered the principles on which I took part with my country, and am determined to abide by them to the last extremity. I beg my love to my good mother, and my afiectionate sisters. I often think of them with great pain and anxiety, lest they should suffer from the want of those necessary supplies, that are now cut off. May God pre- serve them and you in this time of trial. I am, &c. " Francis Hopkinson." APPENDIX. 441 JACOB DUCHE TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.* "Asylum, Lambeth, 2 April, 1783. " Sir, — *• Will your Excellency condescend to accept of a few lines from one, who ever was and wishes still to be your sincere friend, who never intentionally sought to give you a moment's pain, who entertains for you the highest personal respect, and would be happy to be assured under your own hand, that he does not labour under your displeasure, but that you freely for- give what a weak judgment, but a very affectionate heart, once presumed to advise? Many circumstances, at present unknown to you, conspired to make me deem it my duty to write to you. Ignorance and simplicity saw not the necessity of your divulg- ing the letter. I am convinced, however, that you could not, in your public station, do otherwise. I cannot say a word in vin- dication of my conduct but this, that I had been for months before distressed with continual apprehensions for you and all my friends wiihout the British lines. I looked upon all as gone; or that nothing could save you, but rescinding the Declaration of Independency. Upon this ground alone I presumed to speak ; not to advise an act of base treachery, my soul would have re- coiled from the thought ; not to surrender your army, or betray the righteous cause of your country, but, at the head of that army, supporting and supported hy them, to negotiate with Britain for our constitutional rights. " Can you then join with my country in pardoning this error of judgment? Will you yet honour me with your great interest and influence, by recommending, at least expressing your appro- bation of the repeal of an act, that keeps me in a state of banish- ment from my native country, from the arms of a dear aged father, and the embraces of a numerous circle of valuable and long-loved friends ? . Your liberal, generous mind, I am per- suaded, will never exclude me wholly from your regard for a mere political error; especially, as you must have heard, that, since the date of that letter, I have led a life of perfect retirement, * Sparks' Life and Writings of Washington. — Ed. 442 APPENDIX. and since my arrival in England have devoted myself wholly to the duties of my profession, and confined my acquaintance to a happy circle of literary and religious friends. " I have written to my father and to many of my friends largely on this subject, requesting them to make such application to the State of Pennsylvania in my behalf, as may be judged necessary and expedient. Should this application be honoured with success, I know of nothing that would more efTectually satisfy my desires in a matter of such importance to myself and my family, as a line or two from your Excellency, expres- sive of your approbation of my return. Temporal emoluments are not wanting to induce me to remain for life on this side of the Atlantic. I have been most hospitably received and kindly treated by all ranks of people,, and I should be ungrateful not to acknowledge in the strongest terms my obligations to those who have placed me in the easy and comfortable situation I now enjoy. It is not necessity, therefore, but unalterable affection to my native country, that urges me to seek a return. With every good wish and prayer for your best felicity, and my most hearty congratulations on the happy event of peace, I have the honour to be your Excellency's most obedient and humble servant, "Jacob Duche." general washington to jacob duche. "Head Quarters, 10 August, 1783. " Sir, " I have received your letter of the 2d of April, and, reflecting on its contents, I cannot but say that I am heartily sorry for the occasion which has produced it. Personal enmity I bear none to any man. So far, therefore, as your return to this country depends on my private voice, it would be given in favour of it with cheerfulness. But, removed as I am from the people and policy of the State in which you formerly resided, and to whose determination your case must be submitted, it is my duty, what- ever may be my inclination, to leave its decision to its constitu- tional judges. Should this be agreeable to your wishes, it can- not fail to meet my entire approbation. I am, &c. " George Washington." APPENDIX. 443 The laws of Pennsylvania, excluding the refugees from that State, were not repealed till after the adoption of the Constitu- tion of the United States. Mr. Duche returned to Philadelphia in the year 1790, much broken in health, having suflered a paralytic affection. He died in 1794, being then about sixty years of age.* — Ed. F. PAGE 117. JOSEPH GALLOWAY. The seventh volume of Sparks' edition of the works of Franklin contains, in a note, the following biographical notice of Mr. Galloway, from the pen of Mr. J. Francis Fisher, of Philadelphia: — " Joseph Galloway, son of Peter Galloway, was born in the neighbourhood of West River, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, about the year 1730. As his family was respectable and of good fortune, his education was probably the best that could be obtained in the middle colonies. He came early in life to Philadelphia, where he commenced the practice of the law, in which he attained eminence. In the year 1757, he was elected to the Assembly for the County of Philadelphia, and immediately took a prominent stand in that body, being a member of most of the committees, and constantly employed in public duties, as we find, in the votes, by his compensation for extra services. The next year he was chairman of the committee on grievances, and managed the prosecution of Dr. Smith and Mr. Moore for a libel on the Assembly. In subsequent years he held the same place; and his Report, in 1764, on the state and grievances of the province, was the occasion of his well-known speech pub- * Sparks' Life and Writings of Washington. — Ed. 444 APPENDIX. lished with Dr. Franklin's Preface, in answer to one of the celebrated John Dickinson. " He sided with Dr. Franklin in opposition to the Proprietary interest, and urged the resumption of the Government by the Crown. And though, on this account in 1764 he lost his elec- tion in the county, he was, the next year, returned a member, and was chosen Speaker of the Assembly, to which office he was successively re-elected till the year 1774. "In 1757 he was one of the agents of Pennsylvania at the treaty with the Indians at Easton. In the next year, as one of the commissioners under the act for granting one hundred thou- sand pounds, he entered into a controversy with the Governor, which maybe seen at length in the votes, a.nd Gordon's History. What were his powers as a speaker tradition does not say, but he led the popular party in all their attacks upon the Proprietary interest ; and was so highly esteemed by them, that they dele- gated him as a member of the General Congress, which met at Philadelphia, in 1774. Whether he took an active part in their proceedings does not appear. His name is signed to the de- clarations and resolutions ; but he seems to have soon abandoned the Revolutionary cause, underthe influence of his loyal princi- ples or his sordid fears. " After the British troops had penetrated into New Jersey, in 1776, on their then intended march to Philadelphia, he was among those who joined tlie army, previous to the capture of the Hessians at Trenton. He afierwards accompanied them on their route by the way of Chesapeake Bay, and with them entered the city of Philadelphia, in the latter end of September, 1777. Here he was an active agent under Sir William Howe, iheCommander-in-chief of the British forces in America. On the evacuation of Philadelphia, in June, 1778, he went to New York, where he remained some months, and thence sailed for England, accompanied by his only daughter, abandoning (according to his own account) an estate of the value of forty thousand pounds, which had been confiscated by the Government of Pennsylvania in pursuance of his proscription and attainder. But the larger part of this estate, which he held by courtesy, being the in- heritance of his wife, the daughter of Lawrence Growdon of APPENDIX. 445 Bucks County, (for a long time Speaker of the Provincial Assembly,) was restored to their daughter. It is called Trevose, and is still owned by his descendants, having continued in the family since the settlement of Pennsylvania. " On his arrival in England, Galloway was examined before the House of Commons on the transactions in America, and his representations, which are in print, did not reflect much credit on the British Commanders. He published, in 1779, a pamphlet, entitled, Letters to a Nobleman on the conduct of the war in the Middle Colonies, in which, notwithstanding his attachments, he discloses and reprehends the conduct of the British troops^ especially in New Jersey. He also published ' A Letter to Lord Howe,' ' A Reply to the Observations of General Howe/ * Cool Thoughts on the Consequences of American Indepen- dence,' ' Candid Examination of the Claims of Great Britain and her Colonies,' ' Reflections on the American Rebellion in 1780,' and some other pamphlets. He was, it is believed, a pensioner of the British Government, and he resided in Eng- land till the time of his decease, in 1803." During the controversy between the friends and opponents of the Proprietary interests, Gafloway and Dickinson took each an active part. " Each published a speech which he had de- livered in the Legislative Assembly; and it was remarkable that the introduction to each (one written by Dr. Franklin, who opposed the Proprietary interest, and the other by Dr. Smith the coadjutor of Dickinson,) were at the time more admired than the original compositions." — Watson. — Ed. G. PAGE 119. JOHN DICKINSON. John Dickinson was a native of Maryland, where he was born in 1732^ His parents soon afterwards removed to Delaware, 38 446 APPENDIX. where they educated their son. He read law in Philadelphia, and, in the farther prosecution of his legal studies, in the Temple at London. Upon his return to Philadelphia, he commenced the successful practice of his profession, and was early elected to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, in which body his aptitude as a speaker and general tact gave him considerable influence. " The election of members of legislature, in the autumn of 1764, Avas," says Sparks, "sharply contested. It turned on the question of a change of government. The proprietary party, having much at stake, redoubled their efforts ; and, in the city of Philadelphia, and some of the counties, they were successful. Franklin, after having been chosen fourteen years successively, now lost his election, there being against him a majority of about twenty-five votes in four thousand. But, after all, it was an empty triumph. When the members convened, there were two to one in favour of the measures of the last Assembly, and they resolved to carry these measures into effect. Being determined to pursue their object with all the force they could bring to bear upon it, they appointed Dr. Franklin as a special agent to pro- ceed to the Court of Great Britain, and there to take charge of the petition for a change of government, and to manage the gene- ral affairs of the province. This appointment was a surprise upon the proprietary party. They had imagined, that, by defeat- ing his election, they had rid themselves of an active and trouble- some opponent in the Assembly, and weakened his influence abroad. When it was proposed, therefore, to raise him to a situa- tion, in which he could more effectually than ever serve the same cause, the agitation of the House, and the clamour out of doors was extreme. His adversaries testified their chagrin by the means they used to prevent his appointment. John Dickinson, while he could not refrain from eulogizing him as a man, inveighed stre- nuously against his political principles and conduct ; at the same time exhibiting symptoms of alarm, that would seem almost lu- dicrous, if it were not known what power there is in the spirit of party to distort truth and pervert the judgment. ' The gentleman proposed,' he says, in a speech to the House, 'has been called here, to-day, a great luminary of the learned world. Far be it from me to detract from the merit I admire. Let him still shine, APPENDIX. 447 but "without wrapping his country in flames. Let him, from a private station, from a smaller sphere, diffuse, as, I think, he may, a beneficial light ; but let him not be made to move and blaze like a comet, to terrify and distress.' When," continues Sparks, "the second Congress assembled, the relations between the Colo- nies and Great Britain had assumed a new character. The blood of American freemen had been shed on their own soil by a wanton exercise of military power. This rash act dissolved the charm, which had hitherto bound the affections of many a conscientious American to the British Crown, under the long revered name of loyalty. The hour of trial had come. After an animated debate, which continued for several days, it was declared that hostilities had commenced, on the part of Great Britain, with the design of enforcing 'the unconstitutional and oppressive acts of Parliament ;' and it was then resolved, with great unanimity, that the Colonies should be immediately put in a state of defence. This was all that the most ardent friends of liberty desired ; the more mode- rate party, at the head of which was Dickinson, urged that they never had anticipated resistance by force, but had always confided so much in the justice of the British government, as to believe that they would come to a reasonable compromise. Another op- portunity ought to be offered, and they were strenuous for sending a petition to the king.' Its most zealous advocate was John Dickinson, by whom it w'as drafted. It has been said, indeed, that this token of humility was yielded mainly to gratify his wishes. The uprightness of his character, his singleness of heart, and the great services he had rendered to his country by his talents and his pen, claimed for him especial consideration. The tone and language of the petition were sufficiently submissive, and it stands in remarkable contrast in the Journals, with other papers, and the resolves for warlike preparations. Mr. Jefferson tells us, that Mr. Dickinson was so much pleased w^hen it was adopted, that he could not forbear to express his satisfaction by saying : ' There is but one word, Mr. President, in the paper, which I disapprove, and that word is Congress.'' Whereupon Mr. Harrison, of Virginia, rose and said : ' There is but one word in the paper, Mr. President, which I approve, and that word is Congress.'' " 448 APPENDIX. Mr. Dickinson's first publication against the English govern- ment appeared in 1765. In this year he was appointed a dele- gate to the Congress held at New York. In 1767, he issued, at Philadelphia, his celebrated "Farmer's Letters," a production "which had great influence in enlightening the minds of the American people, on the subject of their rights." They were written with his distinguished ability, against the revenue laws, and were widely popular with all classes of readers in this coun- try, for their research, vigour and perspicuity of their style. At the time of their publication in the United States, Dr. Franklin, in the discharge of public duties, was in London, where he caused their re-publication, accompanied by a commendatory preface from his own pen. "Besides," says Sparks, "the patriotic motive for this re-publication, it afforded him an opportunity of showing that the extreme warmth with which Mr. Dickinson had opposed his appointment in the Pennsylvania Assembly had not produced, on his part, any diminution of personal regard." These " Letters " were translated into French and published at Paris. At length, the great question of National Independence became the engrossing topic in "newspapers, pamphlets, at pubhc meet- ings, as well as in private circles. It was evident that a large majority of the nation was prepared for that measure. Among the doubters was tlie virtuous, the patriotic, the able, but irresolute John Dickinson." His opposition to the Declaration rendering him unpopular, " he withdrew from the public councils, and did not recover his seat in Congress until about two years afterwards. He then returned eai'nest in the cause of Independence. He was subsequently President (Governor) of Pennsylvania and Dela- ware successively, and died at Wilmington, in February, 1808." Ed. APPENDIX. 449 H. PAGE 144. GENERAL WASHINGTON TO PRESIDENT REED. "Head Quarters, Passaic Falls, 18th October, 1780." "Dear Sir, "By your fayour of the 3d from Bethlehem, I perceive my letter of the 1st has not got to your hands; but I have the pleasure to find, that the business you were upon anticipated the purposes of it, and was in a fair way to answer the end.* "Arnold's conduct is so villanously perfidious, that there are no terms which can describe the baseness of his heart. That overruling Providence, which has so often and so remarkably- interposed in our favour, never manifested itself more conspicu- ously than in the timely discovery of his horrid design of sur- rendering the post and garrison of West Point into the hands of the enemy, t confine my remark to this single act of perfidy ; for I am far from thinking he intended to hazard a defeat of this important object, by combining another with it, although there were circumstances which led to a contrary belief. The confidence and folly, which have marked the subsequent con- duct of this man, are of a piece with his villany; and all three are perfect in their kind. The interest you take in my supposed escape, and the manner in which you speak of it, claim my thanks as much as if he had really intended to involve my fate with that of the garrison, and I consider it as a fresh instance of your affectionate regard for me. "As I do not recollect ever to have had any very particular conversation with General Schuyler respecting Arnold, I should be glad to obtain a copy of the letter in which you say my ' opinion and confidence in him (Arnold) is conveyed in terms of affection and approbation.' Some time before or after Ar- nold's return from Connecticut (the conversation made so little * General Washington had written, requesting President Reed to cause to L& sent forward as expeditiously as possible a supply of flour to the army. 38* 450 APPENDIX. impression on me, that I know not which,) General Schuyler informed me, that he had received a letter from Arnold, inti- mating his intention of joining the army, and rendering such services as his leg would permit, adding that he was incapable of active service, but could discharge the duties of a stationary command without much inconvenience or uneasiness to his leg. I answered, that, as we had a prospect of an active and vigor- ous campaign, I should be glad of General Arnold's aid and as- sistance, but saw little prospect of his obtaining such a command as appeared to be the object of his wishes, because it was my intention to draw my whole force into the field, when we were in circumstances to commence our operations against New York, leaving even West Point to the care of invalids, and a small garrison of militia ; but if, after this previous declaration, the command of the post, for the reasons he assigned, would be more convenient and agreeable to him than a command in the field, I should readily indulge him, having had it hinted to me, by a very respectable character, a member of Congress* (not General Schuyler,) that a measure of this kind would not be unacceptable to the State most immediately interested in the welfare and safety of the post. " This, to the best of my knowledge and recollection, is every syllable that ever passed between General Schuyler and me re- specting Arnold, or any of his concerns. The manner and the matter appeared perfectly uninteresting to both of us at the time. He seemed to have no other view in communicating the thing, than because he was requested to do it, and my answer, dictated by circumstances, you already have; but how it was communi- cated, the letter will show. " That General Schuyler possesses a share of my regard and confidence, I shall readily acknowledge. A pretty long ac- quaintance with him, an opinion of his abilities, his intimate knowledge of our circumstances, his candour as far as I have had opportunities of forming a judgment of it, added to personal civilities and proofs of a warm friendship, which 1 never had a doubt of, would leave me without excuse, were I to withhold these from him. What ascendency he may have over the army * Robert R. Livinjjston. APPENDIX. 451 is more than I can tell; but I should not be surprised if he stands in a favourable point of view with respect to their esteem. The mecins he took to acquire a true knowledge of their dis- tress while he was with them, the representations he made to procure relief, and his evident endeavours to promote the object for which he was appointed, seem to have made this a natural consequence. I am, dear Sir, &c." — Ed. PAGE 232. CAPTURE OF GENERAL CHARLES LEE. The capture of this eccentric officer occurred on the 13th of September, 1776, at Baskingridge, New Jersey. It was effected by a party of British cavalry under Colonel Harcourt. General Wilkinson in his "Memoirs" gives the following interesting ac- count of the event : — " General Lee wasted the morning in altercation with certain militia corps who were of his command, particularly the Connec- ticut Light Horse, several of whom appeared in large full-bottomed perukes, and were treated very irreverently. The call of the Ad- jutant-General for orders also occupied some of his time, and we did not sit down to breakfast before 10 o'clock. General Lee was engaged in answering a letter from General Gates, and I had risen from the table, and was looking out of an end w^indow, down a lane about one hundred yards in length, which led to the house from the main road, when I discovered a party of British troops turn the corner of the avenue at fidl charge. Startled at this unexpected spectacle, I exclaimed, 'Here, sir, are the British cavalry!' ' WliereV exclaimed the General, who had signed the letter in the instant. ' Around the house ;' for they had opened files and encompassed the building. General Lee ap- peared alanned, yet collected, and his second observation marked his self-possession : 'Where is the guard? — d — n the goiard, why 452 APPENDIX. don't they fire ?' and after a momentary pause, he turned to me and said 'Do, sir, see what has become of the guard!' The women of the house at this moment entered the room, and pro- posed to him to conceal himself in a bed, which he rejected with evident disgust. I caught up the pistols which lay on the table, thrust the letter he had been writing into my pocket, and passed into a room at the opposite end of the house, where I had seen the guard in the morning. Here I discovered their arms, but the men were absent. I stepped out of the door, and perceived the dragoons chasing them in different directions, and receiving a very uncivil salutation, I returned into the house. " Too inexperienced immediately to penetrate the motives of this enterprise, I considered the rencontre accidental, and from the ter- rific tales spread over the country, of the violence and barbarity of tlie enemy, I believed it to be a wanton murdering party, and determined not to die without company. I accordingly sought a position where I could not be approached by more than one per- son at a time, and with a pistol in each hand, I awaited the ex- pected search, resolved to shoot the first and the second person who might appear, and then to appeal to my sword. I did not long remain in this unpleasant situation, but was apprised of the object of the incursion, by the very audible declaration, ' Iftlie General does not surrender in Jive minutes, I loill set fire to the house f which, after a short pause, was repeated with a solemn oath ; and within two minutes, I heard it proclaimed, ' Here is the General, he has surrendered.'' A general shout ensued, the trumpet sounded the assembly, and the unfortunate Lee, mounted- on ray horse, which stood ready at the door, was hurried off in triumph, bareheaded, in his slippers and blanket-coat, his collar open, and his shirt very much soiled from several day's use. " What a lesson of caution is to be derived from this event, and how important the admonition furnished by it ! What an evidence of the caprice of fortune, of the fallibility of human projects, and the inscrutable ways of Heaven ! The capture of General Lee, was felt as a public calamity ; it cast a gloom over the country, and excited general sorrow. This sympathy was honourable to the people, and due to the stranger who had embarked his for- tune with them, and determined to share their fate, under cir- APPENDIX. 453 cumstances of more than common peril. Although this misfor- tune deprived the country of its most experienced chief, I have ever considered the deprivation a public blessing, ministered by the hand of Providence; for if General Lee had not abandoned caution for convenience, and taken quarters two miles from his army, on his exposed flank, he would have been safe ; if a do- mestic traitor, who passed his quarters the same morning on private business, had not casually fallen in with Colonel Har- court, on a reconnoitring party, the General's quarters would not have been discovered ; if my visit, and the controversy with the Connecticut Light Horse, had not spun out the morning un- seasonably, the General would have been at his camp ; if Colonel Harcourt, had arrived one hour sooner, he would have found the guard under arms, and would have been repulsed, or resisted until succour could have arrived ; if he had arrived half an hour later the General would have been with his corps; if the guard had paid ordinary attention to their duty, and had not abandoned their arms, the General's quarters would have been defended ; or if he had obeyed the peremptory and reiterated orders of General Washinc-toiv, he would have been beyond the reach of the enemy. And shall we impute to blind chance, such a chain of rare incidents? I conscientiously answer in the negative ; be- cause the combination was too intricate and perplexed, for acci- dental causes, or the agencies of man. It must have been designed. So soon as Lieutenant Colonel Harcourt retreated with his prize, I repaired to the stable, mounted the first horse I could find, and rode fall speed to General Sullivan, whom I found under march, towards Pluckamin." — Ed. 454 APPENDIX. J. PAGE 238. LETTER TO COLONEL REED, OR COLONEL JOHN CADWALADER, AT BRISTOL. Camp above Trenton Falls, 23d December, 1776. Dear Sir, The bearer is sent down to know whether your plan was attempted last night, and if not to inform you, that Christmas- day at night, one hour before day, is the tune fixed upon for our attempt on Trenton. For Heaven's sake, keep this to yourself, as the discovery of it may prove fjital to us ; our nurhbers, sorry am I to say, being less than I had any con- ception of; but necessity, dire necessity, will, nay must, justify an attack. Prepare, and, in concert with Griffin, attack as many of their posts as you possibly can with a prospect of success ; the more we can attack at the same instant, the more confusion we shall spread, and the greater good will result from it. If I had not been fully convinced before of the enemy's designs, I have now ample testimony of their inten- tions to attack Philadelphia, so soon as the ice will aftbrd the means of conveyance. As the colonels of the continental regiments might kick up some dust about command, unless Cadwallader is considered by them in the light of a brigadier, which I wish him to be, I desired General Gates, who is unwell, and apjilied for leave to go to Philadelphia, to endeavour, if his health would permit him, to call and stay two or three days at Bristol in his way. I shall not be particular; we could not ripen matters for an attack, before the time mentioned in the first part of this letter; so much out of sorts, and so much in want of every thing, are the troops under Sullivan. The letter herewith sent, forward APPENDIX. 455 on to Philadelphia; I could wish it to be in time for the southern post's departure, which will be, I believe, by eleven o'clock to-morrow\ I am, dear Sir, &c. GO. WASHINGTON. P. S. I have ordered our men to be provided with three days provisions ready cooked, with which, and their blankets, they are to march ; for if we are successful, which Heaven grant, and the circumstances favour, we may push on. I shall direct every ferry and ford to be well guarded, and not a soul suffered to pass without an officer's going down with the per- mit. Do the same with you. — Ed. K. PAGE 293. WASHINGTON AT BRANDYWINE. Bisset, in his continuation of Hume and Sraollet, in his ac- count of the battle of Brandywine, subjoins the following note of a private letter from Major Ferguson — son of the historian of Rome — to his father, from which, it is inferred, that the life of General Washington was, on that day, in imminent danger, and absolutely in the power of Major Ferguson. While this officer lay with a party of his riflemen on a skirt of a wood in front of General Knyphausen's division, the circum- stance happened of which the letter in question gives the follow- ing account: — " We had not lain long when a rebel officer remarkable by a Hussar dress, passed towards our army within a hundred yards of my right flank, not perceiving us. He was followed by an- other dressed in dark green and blue, mounted on a good bay horse, with a remarkable large hish cocked hat. I ordered three 456 APPENDIX. good shots to steal near them and fire at them; but the idea dis- gusted me and I recalled the order." The letter, after some farther particulars not necessary to repeat, states, that it was afterwards collected " from some wounded rebel officers, that General Washington was all that morning with the light troops, and only attended by a French officer in a Hussar dress, he himself dressed and mounted in every respect as above de- sciibed." In commenting on the above, Mr. Graydon, in a note ap- pended to it, observes, " Whatever truth there may be in this relation, and whoever might have been the person in dark green and blue with the remarkable large high cocked hat, no one ac- quainted with the style of General Washington's costume during the war, or any other time, can suppose it to have been him, who was so generously dealt with by the Major. The General's uni- form or military dress was blue and bufT, which, it may be very safely averred he never varied, at least to an entire change of colours : neither was he ever seen in a hat of the description given in the letter. It is true, he wore a cocked hat, but, of a moderate size. It might, indeed, have been somewhat larger than those in fashion in America at the beginning of the war, but, it could by no means have answered to the colossal dimen- sions given by the Major. The General had too correct a taste in dress, to figure in the bully-like garb of a Bobadil or a Pistol; and there was no inducement to such a disguise, being as much in danger in green and blue with a large hat, as in blue and buff" with a small one. Major Ferguson, therefore, might have spared himself the self-gratulation of 'not knowing at the time who it was,' since, if justly described, most assuredly it was not General Washington . ' ' — Ed. APPENDIX. 457 PAGE 320. THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. The Editor is indebted to Mr. Sparks' edition of the " Life and Writings of Washington," for the following interesting par- ticulars concerning General Charles Lee, and the Battle of Monmouth : — " Soon after General Lee rejoined the army at Valley Forge, a curious incident occurred. By an order of Congress, General Washington was required to administer the oath of allegiance to the general officers. The Major-Generals stood around Washington, and took hold of a Bible together, according to the usual custom; but, just as he began to administer the oath, Lee deliberately withdrew his hand twice. This movement was so singular, and was performed in so odd a manner, that the offi- cers smiled, and Washington inquired the meaning of his hesi- tancy. Lee replied, ' As to King George, I am ready enougli to absolve myself from all allegiance to him, but I have some scruples about the Prince of Wales.' The strangeness of this reply was such, that the officers burst into a broad laugh, and even Washington could not refrain from a smile. The ceremony was of course interrupted. It was renewed as soon as a composure was restored proper for the solemnity of the occasion, and Lee took the oath with the other officers. Con- nected with the subsequent conduct of General Lee, this incident was thought by some, who were acquainted with it, to have a deeper meaning than at first appeared, and to indicate a less ardent and fixed patriotism towards the United States, than was consistent with the rank and professions of the second officer in command of the American forces. " The army having crossed the Delaware in pursuit of the 39 458 APPENDIX. British retreating from Philadelphia, a council of war was held at Hopewell, June 24th, in which, after stating the relative strength and position of the two armies, the Commander-in- chief proposed the following questions. "'Will it be advisable fur us, of choice, to hazard a general action 1 If it is, should we do it by immediately making a general attack upon the enemy, by attempting a partial one, or by taking such a position, if it can be done, as may oblige them to attack us ? If it is not, what measures can be taken, with safety to this army, to annoy the enemy in their march ? In fine, what precise line of conduct will it be advisable for us to pursue V " Lee was strenuously opposed to a general action. Being the highest in rank, and an officer of great experience, the younger officers were much influenced by his arguments and opinions. The council finally decided that a general action was not advisable, but that ' a detachment of fifteen hundred men be immediately sent to act, as occasion may serve, on the enetny's left flank and rear, in conjunction with the other Con- tinental troops and militia, who are already hanging about them, and that the main body preserve a relative position, so as to be able to act as circumstances may require.' This decision was signed by all the officers except Wayne. It appeared, however, that there was a wide diflerence of opinion as to the number of men, that ought to be sent against the enemy, although the council ultimately agreed on fifteen hundred. Lee, Stirling, Woodford, Scott, Knox, and Poor, were for this num- ber ; but Steuben, Duportail, Wayne, Patterson, Greene, and Lafayette were for twenty-five hundred, or at least two thousand. It was the idea of some of the oflicers, also, that the detachment ought to attack the enemy, though not to bring on a general action ; while others believed, that nothing more should be done, than to skirmish with the out-guards, and thus harass the re- treating enemy as circumstances would permit. " After the council was dissolved, Greene, Lafayette, and Wayne, wrote separately to the Commander-in-chief, explaining more fully their views. They were not for pushing the enemy to a general action at all events; but they were decidedly of APPENDIX. 459 opinion, that a large detachment should be sent forward to attack their rear, and that the main army should be drawn into such a position as to commence an engagement, should the prospects be favourable. These views accorded with those of the Commander-in-chief, and he promptly determined to act in conformity with them. From General Lee's rank the advanced detachment fell under his command, although he was totally opposed to the measure adopted. Lafayette went to Washington, reminded him of this embarrassment, and oilered to take command of the attacking division. Washington said, that such an arrangement would be entirely agreeable to him, but that it could not be effected without the previous consent of General Lee. When Lafayette applied to Lee, he very readily assented, saying that he disap- proved of the plans of the Commander-in-chief, that he was sure they would fail, and that he was willing to be relieved from any responsibility in carrying them into execution. La- fayette immediately took command of his division and marched towards the enemy. After reflecting upon the matter, Lee wrote to General Washington as follows. GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. "Camp at Kingston, 25th June, 1778. " Dear General, "When I first assented to the Marquis de Lafayette's taking the command of the present detachment, I confess I viewed it in a very different light from that in which I view it at present. I considered it as a more proper business of a young, volun- teering general, than of the second in command in the army ; but I find it is considered in a difl'erent manner. They say that a corps consisting of six thousand men, the greater part chosen, is undoubtedly the most honourable command next to the Com- mander-in-chief; that my ceding it would of course have an odd appearance. I must entreat, therefore, after making a thousand apologies for the trouble my rash assent has occa- sioned you, that, if this detachment does march, I may have 460 APPENDIX. the command of it. So far personally; but, to speak as an officer, I do not think that this detachment ought to march at all, until at least the head of the enemy's right column has passed Cranberry ; then, if it is necessary to march the whole army, 1 cannot see any impropriety in the Marquis's command- ing this detachment, or a greater, as an advanced guard of the army ; but if this detachment, with Maxwell's corps, Scott's, Morgan's, and Jackson's, is to be considered as a separate, chosen, active corps, and put under the Marquis's command until the enemy leave the Jerseys, both myself and Lord Stirling will be disgraced. I am, dear General, yours, &c. " Charles Lee." As Washington had already given the command to the Marquis, it could not with propriety be withdrawn without his consent. Lee applied to him for the purpose, but the Marquis said he could not without great reluctance give up the com- mand ; that it had been yielded to him freely, and he was par- ticularly desirous of retaining it. This was on the second day before the battle, and there was a prospect that the enemy would be overtaken during the day. After Lee had urged the point, and appealed to the generosity and magnanimity of the Marquis, the latter at length agreed that if he did not come up with the enemy so as to make an attack that day, he would then resign the command. Lee had already been detached with a smaller division, but was instructed not to interfere with the Marquis, if he had concerted any definite plan of attacking the enemy. The day passed over without coming to an action, and late at night Lafayette wrote a note to Lee resigning the command. The result, in regard to General Lee, is well known. The battle took place the next day, in the midst of which Lee retreated, contrary to the expectations of the Commander-in- chief, and in such a manner as to threaten the most serious consequences to the army. lie was met by Washington while retreating, and was addressed by him in a tone of reprimand and censure, which wounded the pride of Lee, and gave rise to the following correspondence. APPENDIX. 461 GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. "Camp, English Town, 1 July [29 June?], 1778. " Sir, " From the knowledge I have of your Excellency's character, I must conclude that nothing but the misinformation of some very stupid, or misrepresentation of some very wicked person, could have occasioned your making use of so very singular ex- pressions as you did on my coming up to the ground where you had taken post. They implied that I was guilty either of dis- obedience of orders, want of conduct, or want of courage. Your Excellency will therefore infinitely oblige me, by letting me know on which of these three articles you ground your charge, that I may prepare for my justification, which 1 have the happiness to be confident I can do to the army, to the Con- gress, to x\merica, and to the world in general. Your Excel- lency must give me leave to observe, that neither yourself, nor those about your person, could from your situation be in the least judges of the merits or demerits of our manceuvres; and, to speak with a becoming pride, I can assert that to these manceuvres the success of the day was entirely owing. I can boldly say, that had we remained on the first ground, or had we advanced, or had the retreat been conducted in a manner different from what it was, this whole army and the interests of America would have risked being sacrificed. I ever had, and hope ever shall have, the greatest respect and veneration for General Washington. I think him endowed with many great and good qualities ; but in this instance I must pronounce, that he has been guilty of an act of cruel injustice towards a man, who certainly has some pretensions to the regard of every servant of this country. And I think, Sir, I have a right to demand some reparation for the injury committed; and, unless I can obtain it, I must, in justice to myself, when this campaign is closed, which I believe will close the war, retire from a ser- vice at the head of which is placed a man capable of oiTering such injuries. But at the same time, in justice to you, I must 39* 462 APPENDIX. repeat that I from my soul believe, that it was not a motion of your own breast, but instigated by some of those dirty earv;igs, who will for ever insinuate themselves near persons in high office ; for I really am convinced, that when General Washing- ton acts from himself, no man in his army will have reason to complain of injustice or indecorum. I am, Sir, and hope I ever shall have reason to continue, your most sincerely devoted humble servant. " Charles Lee." GENERAL WASHINGTON XO GENERAL LEE. " Head-Quartcrs, English Town, 30 June, 1778. " Sir, "I received your letter (dated through mistake the 1st of July), expressed as I conceive in terms highly improper. I am not conscious of having made use of any very singular expres- sions at the time of meeting you, as you intimate. What I re- collect to have said was dictated by duty, and warranted by the occasion. As soon as circumstances will permit, you shall have an opportunity of justifying yourself to the army, to Con- gress, to America, and to the world in general, or of convincing them that you were guilty of a breach of orders, and of misbe- haviour before the enemy, on the 28th instant, in not attacking them as you had been directed, and in making an unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retreat. I am. Sir, your most obedient servant. " George Washington." GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. "Camp 28 [30?] June, 1778* " Sir, " I beg your Excellency's pardon for the inaccuracy in mis- * This Icttor in tlic original is d.itcd June 28th, which is evidently a mistake, because that was the day of the battle; and moreover it must have been written after the preceding one from General Washington to which it is an answer. Hence both of General Lee's offensive letters were erroneously dated. APPENDIX. 463 dating my letter. You cannot afford me greater pleasure, than in giving me the opportunity of showing to America the suffi- ciency of her respective servants. I trust that temporary power of office, and the tinsel dignity attending it, will not be able, by all the mists they can raise, to offuscate the bright rays of truth. In the mean time your Excellency can have no objection to my retiring from the army. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant. " Charles Lee". GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. "Camp, 30 June, 1778. " Sir, " Since I had the honour of addressing my letter by Colonel Fitzgerald to your Excellency, I have reflected on both your situation and mine, and beg leave to observe, that it will be for our mutual convenience that a court of inquiry should be imme- diately ordered ; but I could wish that it might be a court- martial; for, if the affair is drawn into length, it may be diffi- cult to collect the necessary evidences, and perhaps might bring on a paper war betwixt the adherents to both parties, which may occasion some disagreeable feuds on the continent ; for all are not my friends, nor all your admirers. I must entreat there- fore, from your love of justice, that you will immediately ex- hibit your charge, and that on the first halt I may be brought to a trial ; and am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant. " Charles Lee." GENERAL WASHINGTON TO GENERAL LEE. " Head-Quarters, English Town, 30 June, 1778, " Sir, " Your letter by Colonel Fitzgerald and also one of this date have been duly received. I have sent Colonel Scammell, the Adjutant-General, to put you in arrest, who will deliver you a 464 APPENDIX. copy of the charges on which you will be tried. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant. " George Washington." CHARGES AGAINST GENERAL LEE. " First ; Disobedience of orders in not attacking the enemy on the 28th of June, agreeably to repeated instructions. " Secondly ; Misbehaviour before the enemy on the same day, by making an unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retreat. " Thirdly; Disrespect to the Commander-in-chief, in two letters dated the 1st of July and the 28th of June." The court-martial was convened on the 4th of July, consist- ing of one major-general, four brigadiers, and eight colonels. Lord Stirling was president. The court sat from time to time till the 12th of August, when they declared their opinion, that General Lee was guilty of all the charges, and sentenced him to be suspended from any command in the armies of the United States for the term of twelve months. The testimony of the trial was extremely full, and it exhibits a minute detail of the operations in the battle of Monmouth. Congress approved the sentence of the court-martial, by a vote of thirteen in the affirmative and seven in the negative, and ordered the Proceed- ivgs of the court to be published. — Ed. M. PAGE 322. WASHINGTON AND LEE. The following letters and notes respecting the publications of General Lee, are taken from the 6th vol. of the " Life and Writings of Washington," edited by Mr. Sparks: — APPENDIX. 465 " General Lee's publication in Dunlap's Gazette of the 3d, and I have seen no other, puts me in a disagreeable situation.* I have neither the leisure nor inclination to enter the lists with him in a newspaper; and so far as his production points to personality, I can and do from my inmost soul despise it ; but, when he has most barefacedly misrepresented facts in some places, and thrown out insinuations in others, that have not the smallest foundations in truth, not to attempt a refutation is a tacit acknowledgment of the justice of the assertions ; for, though there are thousands who know how unsupported his piece is, there are yet tens of thousands that knov\- nothing of the matter, and will be led naturally to believe, that bold and confident assertions uncontradicted must be founded in truth. "It became a part of General Lee's plan, from the moment of his arrest, though it was an event solicited by himself, to have the world believe that he was a persecuted man, and party was at the bottom of it. But however convenient it may have been for his purposes to establish this belief, I defy him, or his most zealous partisans, to adduce a single instance in proof of it, unless bringing him to trial, at his own request, is consi- dered in this light. I can do more; I will defy any person out of my own family, to say that I have ever mentioned his name, if it was to be avoided ; and, when not, that I have not stu- diously declined expressing any sentiment of him or his beha- vour. How far this conduct accords with his, let his own breast decide. If he conceives that I was opposed to him, because he found himself disposed to enter into a party against me; if he thought I stood in his road to preferment, and that it was therefore convenient to lessen me in the esteem of my countrymen, in order to pave the way for his own ad- vancement, I have only to observe, that, as I never entertained any jealousy of him, so neither did I ever do more, than common civility and proper respect to his rank required, to conciliate his good opinion. His temper and plans were too versatile * This was a long and elaborate article, signed by General Lee, and containing a free discussion of the affair at Monmouth, and of some points relating to his trial. Boastful and egotistic, it met with little favour from any party. It was reprinted in Rivingtori's Gazette. 466 APPENDIX. and violent to attract my admiration; and that I have escaped the venom of his tongue and pen so long, is more to be won- dered at than applauded ; as it is a favour of which no officer, under whose immediate command he ever served, has the hap- piness, if happiness can thus be denominated, of boasting." TO PRESIDENT REED. " West Point, 29th July, 1 779. " Dear Sir, " I have a pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of your obliging favour of the 15th instant, and in finding by it, that the author of the Queries Political and Military* has had no * These Queries were written by General Charles Lke, and printed anony- mously in the Maryland Journal, a paper published by William Goddard, a friend of General Lee. The Queries were penned in a very malignant spirit, and were desig-ned to injure General Washington, as far as it could be done by such an effusion of spleen and ill-temper. Tiie following are specimens : "Whether it is salutary or dangerous, consistent with or abhorrent from the spirit and principles of liberty and republicanism, to inculcate and encourage in the people an idea, that their welfare, safety, and glory depend on one man? Whether they really do depend on one man ? " Whether amongst tlie late warm, or rather loyal addresses of this city (Phila- delphia) to his Excellency General Washington, there was a single mortal, one gentleman only excepted, who could possibly be acquainted with his merits? "Whether the gentleman excepted does really think his Excellency a great man, or whether evidences could not be produced of his thinking quite the reverse? "Whether the armies under Gates and Arnold, and the detachment under Stark to the northward, or that immediately under his Excellency in Pcnnsyl- vania, gave the decisive turn to the fortune of war ?" There were twenty-five queries of a similar tenor and bearing. The " gentle- man" here referred to was President Reed, who wrote to Washington, when he forwarded to him a copy of the Queries : " I should not have troubled you with the enclosed paper, if I did not know that you can look down with contempt on these feeble efforts of malevolence and resentment, and that I am introduced into it to bear false witness. I have addressed a piece to the printer, wherein I have made such remarks and taken such a notice of this attempt, as I thought a respect to my own character required. I have also the pleasure of assuring you, that the performance has met witli the most general detestation and resentment, involving the printer and all concerned in a most disagreeable dilemma. This is so true a criterion of the sense of the public, that I cannot help congratulating you on this genuine mark of public affection." — MS. Letter, July I5th. Much indignation was expressed against Goddard when the Queries appeared APPENDIX. 467 great cause to exult in the favourable reception of them by the public. Without a clue, I should have been at no great loss to trace the malevolent writer; but I have seen a history of the transaction, and felt a pleasure mingled with pain at the narra- tion. To stand well in the estimation of one's country is a happiness that no rational creature can be insensible of. To be pursued, first under the mask of friendship, and, when dis- guise would suit no longer, as an open calumniator, with gross misrepresentation and self-known falsehoods, carries an alloy, which no mind can bear with perfect composure. " The motives which actuated this gentleman, can better be accounted for by himself than by me. If he can produce a single instance, in which I have mentioned his name, after his trial commenced, where it was in my power to avoid it, and, when it was not, where I have done it with the smallest degree of acrimony or disrespect, I will consent that the world shall view my character in as disreputable a light, as he wishes to place it. What cause there is, then, for such a profusion of venom, as he is emitting upon all occasions, unless by an act of public duty, in bringing him to trial at his own solicitation, I have disappointed him and raised his ire ; or he conceives that, in proportion as he can darken the shades of my charac- ter, he illuminates his own ; whether these, I say, or motives still more hidden and dark, govern him, I shall not undertake to decide ; nor have I time to inquire into them at present. " If I had ever assumed the character of a military genius and an officer of experience ; if, under these false colours, I had solicited the command I was honoured with; or if, after my appointment, I had presumptuously driven on, under the sole guidance of my own judgment and self-will, and misfor- tunes, the result of obstinacy and misconduct, not of necessity, had followed, I should have thought myself a proper subject in his paper. A large number of the most respectable citizens of Baltimore with- drew their patronage from the Maryland Journal, publicly avowing as a reason, that they considered it subservient to the interests of the enemy. Mr. Goddard published a recantation, in which he acknowledged, that " he had transgressed against truth, justice, and his duty as a good citizen," in giving currency to the Queries, and at the same time declared the author of them to be General Lee. 468 APPENDIX. for the lash, not only of his, but of the pen of every other writer, and a fit object for public resentment. But when it is well known, that the command was in a manner forced upon me, that I accepted it with the utmost diffidence, from a consciousness that it required greater abilities and more experience than I possessed, to conduct a great military ma- chine, embarrassed as I knew ours must be by a variety of complex circumstances, being as it were but little more than a mere chaos ; and when nothing more was promised on my part, than has been most inviolably performed; it is rather grating to pass over in silence charges, which may impress the uninformed, though others know, that these charges have neither reason nor truth to support them, and that a plain and simple narrative of facts would defeat all his assertions, not- withstanding they are made with an effrontery, which few men do, and, for the honour of human nature, none ought to possess. " If this gentleman is envious of my station, and thinks I stand in his way to preferment, I can assure him, in most solemn terms, that the first wish of my soul is to return to that peaceful retirement, and domestic ease and happiness, from whence I came. To this end all my labours have been directed, and for this purpose have I been more than four years a perfect slave, endeavouring under as many embarrassing circumstances as ever fell to one man's lot to encounter, and with as pure mo- tives as ever man was influenced by, to promote the cause and service I had embarked in." — Ed. N. PAGE 322. MISS FRANKS AND GENERAL C. LEE. Miss Franks, in throwing the pointed shafts of her wit, spared neither friend nor foe. At the Mischeanza, given at Philadel- APPENDIX. 469 phia by the officers of the British army to Sir William Howe, previously to his relinquishment of command, Miss Franks appeared as one of the Princesses, in supporting whose claims to superior beauty and accomplishment, the assembled Knights were to contend at a tournament exhibited. The evacuation of the city immediately following. Miss Franks remained behind. Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Steward of Maryland, whose previous intimacy with her could alone justify the familiarity of his con- duct, dressed out in a handsome suit of scarlet, taking an early occasion to pay his compliments, said to her in the true spirit of gallantry, " I have adopted your colours, my Princess, the better to secure a courteous reception — deign to smile on a true Knight." To this speech Miss Franks made no reply ; but turning to the company who surrounded her, exclaimed — '• How the ass glories in the lion's skin." Nor was this the only rub experienced by the Lieutenant- Colonek While the company were enjoying themselves in lively conversation, their mirth was interrupted by loud clamours from the street, which occasioned them to hasten to the win- dows, the better to ascertain the cause. High head-dresses were then the reigning fashion among the British belles. A female appeared on the street, surrounded by a crowd of idlers, ragged in her apparel, and barefoot, but adorned with a tower- ing head-dress in the extreme of the mode. Miss Franks readily perceived the intent of this tumultuous visit ; and on the Lieutenant-Colonel's observing, that the lady was equipped alto- gether in the English fashion, replied, " A'ot altogether, Colonel; for though the style of her head is British, her shoes and stock- ings are in the genuine Continental fashion." During an interval of dancing, at a splendid ball given by the officers of the army, to the ladies of New York, Sir Henry Clinton, having previously engaged in conversation with Miss Franks, called out to the musicians, " Give us, ' Britons strike home.'" " The Commander-in-Chief has made a mistake," ex- claimed Miss Franks, " he meant to say, Britons — go home." There were very few men qualified to enter the lists with this intelligent lady-— for her intbrmation was extensive, and she had wit at will. She did, however, On one occasion, meet a supe- 40 470 APPENDIX. rior, and appeared bereft of her brilliancy of talent, by receiving with anger, what was only intended as a sally to excite merri- ment. I allude to her correspondence with General Charles Lee, whose letter is but little known, and certainly possesses a stamp of humour that renders it worthy to be preserved. general lee s lettep*. to miss franks. '• Madam, " When an officer of the respectable rank I bear, is grossly traduced and calumniated, it is incumbent on him to clear up the affair to the world, with as little delay as possible. The spirit of defamation and calumny (I am sorry to say it) is grown to a prodigious and intolerable height on this Continent. If you had accused me of a design to procrastinate the war, or of holding treasonable coiTespondencc with the enemy, I could have borne it : this I am used to ; and this happened to the great Fabius Maximus. If ybu had accused me of getting drunk, as often as I could get liquor, as two Alexanders the Great have been charged with the vice, I should perhaps have sat patient under the imputation ; or even if you had given the plainest hints, that I had stolen the soldier's shirts, this I could have put up with, as the great Duke of Marlborough would have been an example : or if you had contented yourself with asserting that I was so abominable a sloven, as never to part with my shirt, until my shirt parted with me, the anecdotes of my illus- trious namesake of Sweden* would have administered some comfort to me. But the calumny you have, in the fertility of your malicious wit, chosen to invent, is of so new, so unprece- dented, and so hellish a kind, as would make Job himself swear like a Virginia Colonel. " Is it possible that the celebrated Miss FRANKs,t a lady who has had every liuman and divine advantage, who has read, (or at least might have read) in the originals, the New and Old * Chark's XII, f The young lady was a Jewess, APPENDIX. 471 Testaments, (though I am afraid she too seldom looks even into the translations) I say, is it possible that Miss Fp.anks, with every human and Divine advantage, who might, and ought to have read these two good books, which (an old Welsh nurse, whose uncle was reckoned the best preacher in Merionethshire, assured me) enjoin charity, and denounce vengeance against slander and evil-speaking; is it possible, I again repeat it, that Miss Franks should, in the face of day, carry her malignity so far, in the presence of three most respectable personages ; (one of the oldest religion in the world, one of the newest, for he is a New-Light Man, and the other, most probably, of no religion at all, as he is an English sailor) but I demand it again and again, is it possible that Miss Franks should assert it, in the presence of these respectable personages, ' that I wore green breeches patched vv'ith leather? To convict you, therefore, of the falsehood of this most diabolical slander, to put you to eternal silence, (if you are not past all grace) and to cover you with a much larger patch of infamy than you have wantonly endea- voured lo fix on my breeches, I have thought proper, by the advice of three very grave friends, (lawyers and members of Congress, of course excellent judges of delicate points of honour) to send you the said breeches, and with the consciousness of truth on my side, to submit them to the most severe inspection and scrutiny of you, and all those who may have entered into this wicked cabal, against my honour and reputation. I say I dare you, and your whole junto, to your worst : turn them, examine them inside and outside, and if you find thcni to be green breeches patched with leather, and not actually legitimate Sherry Vallies,* such as his Majesty of Poland wears, (who, let me tell you, is a man who has made more fashions than all your knights of the Mischeanza-|- put together, notwithstanding their beauties) I repeat it, (ihough I am almost out of breatli with repetitions and parentheses) that if those are proved to bo * A kind of long breeches, reacliing- to tlic ankle, with a broad stripe of leather on the inside of the thigh, for the couvenicncy of riding. t An entertainment given to General Howe, just before his departure for Europe, at which were introduced tilts and tournaments in honour of the ladies, of whom M'lss Franks was one. 472 APPENDIX. patched green breeches, and not legitimate Sherry Vallies (which a man of the first hon ton might be proud of) I will sub- mit in silence to all the scurrility which I have no doubt you and your abettors are prepared to pour out against me, in the public papers, on this important and interesting occasion. But Madam ! Madam ! reputation, (as ' Common Sense' very sensi- bly, though not very uncommonly, observes) is a very serious thing. You have already injured me in the tenderest part, and I demand satisfaction ; and as you cannot be ignorant of the laws of duelling, having conversed with so many Irish officers, whose favourite topic it is, particularly in the company of ladies, I insist on the privilege of the injured party, which is to name his hour and weapons ; and, as I intend it to be a very serious affair, will not admit of any seconds ; as you may depend upon it. Miss Franks, that whatever may be your spirit on the occasion, the world shall never accuse General Lee of having turned his back upon you. In the mean time, I am yours, C. L. •' P. S. I have communicated the aflair only to my confiden- tial friend, who has mentioned it to no more than seven mem- bers of Congress, and nineteen women, six of whom were old maids, so that there is no danger of its taking wind on my side, and I hope you will be equally guarded on your part." Garden. — Ed. 0. PAGE 323. Arlington House, February^ 14, 1846. Near Alexandria, D. C. Mv Dear Sir, I send you a few sketches of Laurens. He was, indeed, the Bayard of his age, "m/i chevalier, sans peur et sans reprocJte.''^ Lieutenant-Colonel John Laurens was the son of Henry Lau- APPENDIX. 473 3?ens, President of the Revolutionary Congress, and called Tower Henry, from the circumstance of his being confined in the Tower, (of which Earl Cornwallis was constable,) at the time that his gallant son, Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens, was negotiating at York Town, for the surrender of said constable, and his whole army. Colonel Laurens was educated in England, as were most of the young Carolinians of fortune and family in the olden time, and had married a Miss Manning, the daughter of the Lieu- tenant Governor of the Bank of England, when the troubles between the Mother Country, and the Colonies, commenced. Knowing the ardour of young Laurens in the cause of liberty and his native land, his English friends and connexions were very desirous of preventing his return to America, well knowing the part that he would take in the approaching contest. His father- in-law offered him a check for 10,000 guineas, if he would give his word of honour, not to leave the British shores. Laurens rejected the offer with disdain, and though closely watched, suc- ceeded in concealing himself among the ballast of a ship bound to America, and safely reached his native land. He immediatey took a decided and zealous part in behalf of his country, and though a very young soldier, soon acquired such distinction, that in the campaign of 1777, he was attached to the military family of the Commander-in-chief as Aid-de-camp, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Associated with Hamil- ton, the two youthful brothers in arms, and Aids-de-camp, were considered as the very elite of the Head Quarters. In the cam- paigns of 1777 and 1778, Laurens greatly distinguished himself. At the battle of Germantown, he rushed up to the door of Chew's House, which he forced partly open, and fighting with his sword with one hand, with the other he applied to the wood work a flaming brand, and what is very remarkable, retired from under the tremendous fire of the house, with but a very slight wound. At the battle of Monmouth, Laurens was again in the very thickest of the fight. Leading repeated charges on the enemy, rallying the broken, and every where displaying that chivalric courage, that extorted admiration from all, even from his ene- mies. In 1781, he was sent on a special mission to France, to expe- 40* 474 APPENDIX. dite the aid in money, stores, naval and military forces which had been delayed, till the cause of American Independence began to suffer grievously. Laurens, upon his arrival in France, pro- ceeded directly in the object of his mission. He would not listen to the arguments, apologies, &c., of ministers and cour- tiers ; his demand was, " Show me the King," and would only, in full court at Versailles, consent to deliver his despatches into the king's own hand. His promptness, energy, and lofty bear- ing, brought the French court and ministry to their senses, his demands were complied with, and Laurens sailed in triumph on his return to America, laden with those essential aids that soon after brought the War of the Revolution to a happy and glorious end. The assistance obtained by the genius and force of cha- racter of Colonel Laurens, moved the armies to York Town, and to the consummation of the contest. At York Town, Colonel Laurens again assumed his station, as Aid-de-camp to the Com- mander-in-chief. The 14th of October, 1781, when his beloved associate and brother in arms, Hamilton, was about to lead the assault on the redoubts, Laurens obtained a command of about eighty men, and in the very height of the storming, the Lieutenant-Colonel was seen gallantly leading his men, and the flank of the American troops and leaping into the enemy's works, he made Major Campbell, the British commanding officer, a prisoner with his own hand. In 1782, Colonel Laurens had the command of a body of troops in his native State, and while operating on the Combahee, he encountered a British force sent out from Charles- ton. Laurens was at a lady's house, ill from fever, when in- formed that the enemy were approaching. He sprung from his bed, and prepared for the combat, though scarcely able to sit on his horse. As he moved from the house, he told the lady that if she would look out from her portico, she would see a battle — poor fellow it was his last. As the British troops landed from their barges a spirited attack ensued, and Laurens was mortally wounded at nearly (he first fire. As he fell into the arms of Cap- tain Beall, the Captain endeavoured to console him by express- ing a hope that the wound would not prove mortal. Laurens ifeplied : ' " No, no my dear fellow, this is as it should be. I die APPENDIX. 475 JDut you know I have often wished to die in battle ; my country is free, and no longer needs my services. Farewell. I die con- tent." Such was the admiration felt for the personal character of Laurens in the British army, that Major B. who commanded the British detachment, on his return home after the war, was ac- tually " sent to Coventry " by his brother officers, who said, " How could you kill that noble fellow. Colonel Laurens, and the war so nearly at an end," to which B. in justification, replied: " I went up the river rather on a trading, than a fighting expe- dition. We wanted bread, and proposed to give clothes and groceries in exchange, but to all our overtures, Laurens sternly answered: 'Blood for bread, with the enemies of my country.' He attacked us on our landing, and I regret his fall, gentlemen, as much as you do." Colonel Laurens lies buried in the garden of the house from ^Yhich he marched to his last battle. The ancients would have erected an altar to "such a Roman;" the Americans are content that the rank grass should alone wave over the ashes of Him who was the pride of their chivalry. The purest of Patriots. The bravest of the brave of warriors. The most energetic and successful of diplomatists. "Do you remember Laurens?" said the author to the venerable General Philip Stuart, " who led the forlorn hope of Colonel William Washington's horse at the bat- tle of Eutaws, and was desperately wounded." The gallant ve- teran replied, *' After the action, our Hospital was in the most wretched state imaginable; the wounded were dressed with a kind of coarse osnaburgs, that rather irritated and increased, than assuaged the anguish of our wounds. At this time Laurens ar- rived. On beholding our destitute and suffering condition, he called to his servant, 'open my portmanteau, sir, take out the dozen cambric ruffled shirts that 1 brought from France, tear them up into bandages for the gentlemen's wounds.' It was done. Now, my dear sir," continued the maimed soldier of the Revolution, "you may well suppose that I remember Laurens?'' I send you, my dear sir, these few sketches of the Life and Character of Colonel Laurens, from The Recollections. It is part of the plan of that work, to introduce brief Memoirs of those 476 APPENDIX. whom Washington loved, who were attached to his person, or employed by him in important services, during the War of Inde- pendence. I remain, dear sir, Your obedient and humble servant, GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS. John S, Littell, Esq. P. S. The author of the "Recollections," knowing that La Fayette was the associate of Hamihon and Laurens, at the Head Quarters, in 1777, asked the good General as to the respective degrees of attachment felt toward the Chief, by the distinguished young iVids-de-camp. La Fayette replied: "The attachment of Hamilton was pure, generous, enthusiastic; that of Laurens — devotional.''^ Page 336. CHARLES JAMES FOX. The Philadelphia edition, published in 1846, of " Contribu- tions TO THE Edinburgh Review by Francis Jeffrey;" — a compilation that will find its way into every respectable library, contains an exceedingly able Review of Mr. Fox's "History of the early part of the Reign of James the Second." The glaring faults and the manly virtues, — no less than the transcendent genius and abilities of this illustrious statesman, have alike, ar- rested the attention of mankind ; and Lord Jeffrey, wilhin two years of his decease, and with the full development of his striking character, fresh before the world, has sketched it — its light and shade — with a master's hand ; and while drawing "His frailties from their dread abode," has done noble justice to a name that will ever adorn the period of England's annals, most illustrious for the number, talent and achievements of its statesmen, literati and heroes. APPENDIX. 477 "To those," he says, "who know Mr. Fox only by the great outlines of his public history, — who know merely that he passed from the dissipations of too gay a youth, into the tumults and cabals of a political life, — and that his days were spent in con- tending about public measures, and in guiding or averting the tempests of faction, — the spirit of indulgent and tender feeling which pervades this book, must appear unaccountable. Those who live much in the world, even in a private station, commonly have their hearts a little hardened, and their moral sensibility a little impaired. But, statesmen and practical politicians, are, with justice, suspected of a still greater forgetfulness of mild im- pressions, and honourable scruples. Coming necessarily into contact with great vices and great sufferings, they must gradu- ally lose some of their horror for the first, and much of their compassion for the last. Constantly engaged in contention, they cease pretty generally, to regard any human beings as objects of sympathy or disinterested attachment; and, mixing much with the most corrupt part of mankind, naturally come to regard the species itself with indifference, if not with contempt. All the softer feelings are apt to be worn off", in the rough confficts of factious hostility ; and all the finer moralities to be effaced, by the constant contemplation of expediency, and the necessities of occasional compliance. "Such is the common conception which we form of men, who, have lived the life of Mr. Fox; and such, in spite of the testimony of partial friends, is the impression which most private persons would have retained of him, if this volume had not come to convey a truer, and a more engaging picture to the world at large, and to posterity. " By lar the most remarkable thing, then, in this book, is the tone of indulgence and unfeigned philanthrophy which prevails in every part of it ; — a most amiable sensibility to all the kind and domestic affections, and a sort of soft-heartedness towards the sufferings of individuals, which seem hitherto to have been thought incompatible, with the stern dignity of history. It can- not but strike us with something still more pleasing than sur- prise, to meet with traits of almost feminine tenderness, in the sentiments of this veteran statesman ; and a general character of 478 APPENDIX. charity towards all men, not only remote from the rancour of vulgar hostility, but purified in a great degree from the asperities of party contention. He expresses indeed, throughout, a high- minded contempt for what is base, and a thorough detestation for what is cruel: But yet is constantly led, by a sort of gene- rous prejudice in favour of human nature, to admit all possible palliations for the conduct of the individual delinquent, and never attempts to shut him out from the benefit of those natural sympathies, of which, the bad as well as the good are occasion- ally the objects, from their fortune or situation. He has given a new character, we think, to history, by this soft and conde- scending concern for the feelings of individuals; and not only left a splendid record of the gentleness and afliectionate simpli- city of his own dispositions, but set an example, by which we hope that men of genius may be taught hereafter, to render their instructions more engaging and impressive. Nothing, we are persuaded, can be more gratifying to his friends, than the im- pression of his character, which this work will carry down to posterity; nor is it a matter of indifference to the country, that its most illustrious statesman should be yet more distinguished, for the amiableness of his private aflections." — Ed. Q. ' Page 375. Washington at Harrisburgh. [From the Oracle of Dauphin, of Monday, 6th October, 1794.] " On Friday last, the President of the United States, arrived in this town. The pleasure excited in beholding, for the first time, our beloved chief, in this borough, is not easily described. The following address was delivered to him, by the burgesses, in be- half of the inhabitants of the town : — APPENDIX. 479 " To his Excellency George Washington, Esquire, President of the United States of America : " Sir, While we, the Burgesses and Citizens of Harrisburgh, rejoice in the opportunity of presenting our respects, to a cha- racter so justly revered and dear to Americans, we cannot but lament, that we should owe it to an interruption of the peace and prosperity of our country, those constant objects of your public cares. We trust, however, that the just indignation which fires the breasts of all virtuous citizens, at the unprovoked outrages committed by those lawless men, who are in opposition to one of the mildest and most equal governments, of which the condition of man is susceptible, will excite such exertions, as to crush the spirit of disaffection wherever it has appeared ; and that our political horizon will shine brighter than ever, on a dis- persion of the clouds, which now menace and obscure it. " Though our sphere of action is too limited to produce any im- portant effects, yet we beg leave to assure your Excellency, that, so far as it extends, our best endeavours shall not be wanting to support the happy constitution, and wise administration of our government. "Signed in behalf of the Borough. Conrad Bombach, Alexander Berryhill, " Harrisburgli, October 3d, 1794." Bursfesses. To which the President was pleased to return the following answer : — " To the Burgesses, and other Citizens of Harrisburgh: " Gentlemen — In declaring to you, the genuine satisfaction I derive from your very cordial address, I will not mingle any ex- pression of the painful sensations, which I experience from the occasion that has drawn me hither. You will be at no loss to do justice to my feelings. But, relying on that kindness of Pro- vidence towards our country, which every adverse appearance hitherto has served to manifest; and counting upon the tried good sense, and patriotism of the great body of our fellow-citi- zens, I do not hesitate to indulge with you, the expectation of 480 APPENDIX. such an issue, as will serve to confirm the blessings we enjoy, under a constitution, thai; well deserves the confidence, attach- ment, and support of virtuous and enlightened men. " To class the inhabitants of Harrisburgh among this number, is only to bear testimony to the zealous and efficient exertions, which they have made, towards the defence of the laws." " Go; Washington." "October 4th, 1794." R. Page 395. PRESIDENT ADAMS. The address of the inhabitants of the Borough of Harrisburoh, in the State of Pennsylvania, to the President of the United States :* "Sir, at a time when the minds of men are so intoxicated with ideas of reform, and visionary schemes for meliorating the condition of humanity, as to be fatally inattentive to their own security, and regardless of considerations, which have hitherto been deemed the most sacred and obligatory, there may be pro- priety in the declaration of sentiments, which, in more settled times, might, at least, be thought superiluous. From the gene- rality also of the practice of expressing approbation of the measures of government at the present crisis, motives might be attached to the omission of it, less honourable than a disinclina- tion to intrude \ipon the managers of the public concerns, or a reluctance to suppose that, in the resistance of outrage and maintenance of national independence, they would not receive the support of the virtuous part of the community. "Under these impressions, we, the subscribers, inhabitants of the Borough of Harrisburgh, beg leave to declare that we are too highly sensible of the prosperity we enjoy, to be willing to * By Alexander Graydon, Esq. — Ed. APPENDIX. 481 relinquish it without an effort for its preservation ; and that, in our wishes for the happiness of others, we have not lost sight of our country and ourselves. — That in our opinion, the conduct and designs of the French Republic (scarcely aggravated or made more apparent by the profligacy of their avowal), are such as produce alarm and indignation, in every breast that feels for the honour and happiness of America, and to excite the appre- hensions of every man, of whatever nation or country, who may place a sense of justice, morality and piety, among the orna- ments of his nature and the blessings of society. That under this persuasion, w^e hold it wise to be prepared for every event, and shall, therefore, most cheerfully acquiesce in such measures of defence, as may be adopted by you, sir, and the other branches of the administration, at the present most momentous period. And as your past conduct has invariably commanded the respect and approbation of every ingenious mind, so we have the most perfect reliance that, in future, it will continue to be influenced by the purest motives, and clearest perceptions of the public good. We beg you to accept our cordial wishes for your personal welfare and happiness." MR. ADAMs's ANSWER. " To the inhabitants of the Borough of Harrisburgh in the State of Pennsylvania : — "Gentlemen — Your address has been presented to me by Mr. Hartley, Mr. Sitgreaves, and Mr. Hanna, three of your repre- sentatives in Congress. "I know not which to admire most, the conciseness, the energy, the elegance or profound wisdom of this excellent ad- dress. "Ideas of reformation, and schemes for meliorating the con- dition of humanity, should not be discouraged when proposed with reason, and pursued with moderation; but the rage for in- novation, which destroys every thing because it is established, and introduces absurdities the most monstrous, merely, because they are new, was never carried to such a pitch of madness in any age of the world, as in the latter end of the boasted 41 482 APPENDIX. eighteenth century, and never produced effects so horrible upon suffering humanity. " Among all the appearances, portentous of evil, there is none more incomprehensible than the professions of republicanism^ among those who place not a sense of justice, morality, or piety among the ornaments of their nature and the blessings of society. As nothing is more certain or demonstrable, than that free re- publicanism cannot exist without these ornaments and blessings, the tendency of the times is rapid towards a restoration of the petty military despotisms of the feudal anarchy, and by their means a return to the savage state of barbarous life. " How can the press prevent this, when all the presses of a nation, and indeed of many nations at once, are subject to an imprimntur, by a veto upon pain of conflagration, banishment, or confiscation. "That America may have the glory of arresting this torrent of error, vice, and imposture, is my fervent wish ; and if senti- ments as great as those from Harrisburgh, should be found uni- versally to prevail, as I doubt not they will, my hopes will be as sanguine as my wishes." "JOHN ADAMS." " Pliiladelphia, 12th May, 1798." COMMENTS BY MR. GRAYDON. A comparison of this answer of Mr. Adams, with the pre- ceding one of General Washington, tends to illustrate the diffe- rent characters of the men. In the one, we find every sentiment restrained by the most prudent and judicious circumspection ; it says no more " than just the thing it ought."— But, in that of President Adams, the address seems to have been seized on as a text, for a very bold and excursive commentary, in which have been indulged some flights of fancy, and a prophetic dictum, which, however it might be warranted by appearances at the time, has not yet been fulfilled, nor is likely to be. As to the admonitions scattered through the answers, generally to the nu- merous addresses presented, considering the temper of the time, APPENDIX. 483 and authority of Mr. Adams's character in point of political wis- dom and sagacity, they are rather laudable than censurable ; though in minds not duly impressed with the awfulness of the crisis, they might be liable to the imputation of a party spirit, not quite becoming in a chief magistrate. But, what is truly wonderful and deplorable, is, that the man who could utter such sentiments in the year 1798, should, in a very short time after, have fallen into the democratic ranks, and have advocated the pretensions of France, a war wdth England, — and in short, all the measures of that portion of the people, whose views and policy he had so poignantly reprobated. Whatever evasions may be employed to apologize for this change, as that the danger of democratic anarchy w'as removed, and the petty despotisms apprehended, were swallowed up in the grand, overwhelming empire of Napoleon, the character of revolutionary France, in some of its most menacing aspects, was the same. The same imprimaiur on all the presses of one na- tion, and indeed of more nations than were subject to it in 1798, remained, the same torrent of vice and imposture, for the same flagitious purposes of arbitrary rule, and extended dominion. The same eflbrts, but with more alarming efficiency, were in operation for dangerous innovations, for Gallic predominance, and the flood of immorality inseparable from it. Yet lament- able to be reflected on, the patriotism of Mr. Adams, " with all these appearances portentous of evil," did ebb from the full tide of federalism, to the dead low water mark of democracy and jacobinism. But Mr. Adams seems, unfortunately, to have exclusively chosen public life for his profession, as well as that of his sons. What then was to be done ? Democracy was in the ascendant, and to be statesmen out of place, was as abhorrent to the genius of thrift, as to be lawyers without litigation, carpenters without houses to build, or shoemakers without leather. In this unto- ward predicament, the eldest son boldly determines " not to deli- berate, but to act," and is rewarded accordingly. And the old gentleman, either for his own good, or of the rest of his family, seems equally bent on a course of activity. Well did General 484 APPENDIX. Hamilton seem to comprehend his character, when he states him as capable, through the vexation of wounded vanity, of directly- changing his political course. In the clashings of his cabinet, the federalists seemed to prefer the opinions of General Hamil- ton, to his own. Hence, he renounces at once both the party and the creed, and he takes himself to those of the jacobins, thus rendering himself a memorable example of the truth of Solon's aphorism, — that " no man can be pronounced happy, until he dies, — none secure from degeneracy until death has gut its seal on his character." S. PAGE 403. THOMAS JEFFERvSON. HIS ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. " On the 11th of February the ballots were opened. During the performance of this ceremony, a most extraordinary inci- dent occurred. As it is known to but few now living, and never been publicly spoken of, it has been deemed proper to record it here, as a part of Ihe history of that exciting contest. "The Aurora of the 16th of February, 1801, remarks, that ' tlie tellers declared that there w'as some informality in the votes of Georgia; but, believing them to be true votes, reported them as such.' No explanation of the nature of this informality was given ; nor is it known that any has ever been given since. Had it been announced at the time, there can be no doubt it would have proved fatal to the election of Mr. Jeflerson. Whether the interest of our country w^ould or would not have been thereby promoted, is not a question for discussion here. " By the Constitution of the United States at that time it was provided, art. 2, sect. 1, 'The electors shall meet in their re- APPENDIX. 485 spective States, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each, ichich list they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole nnmher of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall im- mediately choose, by ballot, one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then from i\\efive highest on the list the said House shall, in like manner, choose the Presidents But, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.' " From the above extract it will be seen that the Constitution is imperative as to the form and manner in which the electoral returns are to be made. The ceremony of opening was per- formed in the presence of the two Houses. The package of a State having been opened by the Vice-President, it was handed by him to the tellers. Mr. Jefferson was the presiding officer. On opening the package endorsed Georgia votes, it was dis- covered to be totally irregular. The statement now about to be given, is derived from an honourable gentleman, a member of Congress from the State of New York, during the adminis- tration of Mr. Jefferson, and yet living (1837) in this State. He says that Mr. Wells (a teller on the part of the Senate) informed him that the envelope was blank ; that the return of the votes was not authenticated by the signatures of the electors, or any of them, either on the outside or the inside of the envelope, or in any other manner ; that it merely stated in the inside that the votes of Georgia, were, for Thomas Jelferson four, and for 41* 486 APPENDIX. Aaron Burr four, without the signature of any •person whatso- ever. Mr. Wells added, that he was very undecided as to the proper course to be pursued by the tellers. It was, however, suggested by one of them that the paper should be handed to the presiding officer, without any statement from the tellers, except that the return was informal; that he consented to this arrangement under the firm conviction that Mr. Jefferson would announce the nature of the informality from the Chair ; but, to his utmost surprise, he (Mr. Jefferson) rapidly declared that the votes of Georgia were four for Thomas Jefferson, and four for Aaron Burr, without noticing their informality, and in a hurried manner put them aside, and then broke the seals and handed to the tellers the package from the next state. Mr. Wells ob- served, that as soon as Mr. JetTerson looked at the paper pur- porting to contain a statement of the electoral vote of the State of Georgia, his countenance changed, but that the decision and promptitude with which he acted on tliat occasion, convinced him of that which he (a Federalist,) and his party had always doubted, that is to say, Mr. Jefferson's decision of character, at least when his own interest was at hazard. Mr. Wells further stated, that if the votes of Georgia had not been thus counted, as it would have brought all the candidates into the house, Mr. Pinckney among the number, Mr. Jefferson could not have been elected President. "The same honourable member of Congress further stated, that some few years after receiving the above information from Mr. Wells, he became intimately acquainted with John Nicho- las, who was one of the tellers referred to, and who had re- moved from Virginia, into the v.estern part of the State of New York. Mr. Nicholas gave to the honaurable member the same statement in substance, not knowing that it had been previously derived from Mr. Wells. Mr. Nicholas was a warm personal friend of Mr. Jefferson, and declared that he never felt so astounded in his life, as when he discovered the irregularity. He claimed some credit for the adroit manner in which he had managed Mr. Rutledge, so far as to obtain his consent to hand the paper to Mr. Jefferson without public explanation from the APPENDIX. 487 tellers, and which was effected by a conciliatory appeal to the magnanimity of the member from South Carolina. " The whole number of electoral votes given at the election in 1800, was one hundred and ihirty-eiglit : necessary to a choice, seventy. Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Burr had each, accord- ing to the return made, seventij-three. Georgia gave /o?;r votes. If that number had been deducted from Jefferson and Burr, as illegally returned, of which there is no doubt, they would have had only sixty-nine votes each ; consequently they would not have had, in the language of the Constitution, ' a majority of the whole number of electors appointed,' and the candidates out of which a choice of President must be made, would have been Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Burr, Mr. Adams, Mr. Pinckney. The Federal members would then have said to the Republicans, we will unite with you in the choice of either of the gentlemen pre- sented to the House except Mr. Jefferson ; and if the Govern- ment is to be brought to a termination by our failure to elect a President, the responsibility will be on you. And is it to be believed, that in such a case the doubtful members who were sighing for ofiice, if any such there were, would have rejected the suggestion in toto?" — Davis' Life of Burr, vol. ii. pp. 71-74.— Ed. INDEX. Adair, General, Anecdote of, 324. Adams, Mr. John, election of, to the Presidency, 385; administration of, 388; imposition of taxes by, 389; tactics of his opponents, 391; singular fabrication, 392; addresses to, 394; reply of, 481; Mr. Graydon's comments on, 482. Anecdotes, 88, 13L Andrews, Dr. John, 39. Allen, Colonel William, 108, 130, 140; defection of to the British, 131, 161; visit of, to Captain Graydon, 23G. Allen, James, 108, 118. Allen, Andrew, 118, 280, Allen, Colonel Ethan, 241, 243, 260. Atlee, Colonel, 150, 334. American Tactics, 176. Policy, 234. Army, appearance of the, 147, 256; character of the, 148, 150, 156; review of, before the battle of Brandy wine, 291; state of parties in, 322. Generals, 298. Americanisms, 229, 249. Axtle, Mr., 252. Allison, Patrick, 39. Aids-de-camp, advantages of the station of, 159, Addison, Alexander, 352. Arnold, Washington's opinion of, 449. 490 INDEX. Autobiography, motives in writing, 13; qualifications for writing, 95. Auclmiuty, Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel, 274. Badourin, Mr., 65. Bradford, William, 111; character of, 112. Baird, Dr., 141. Baxter, Colonel, 201. Bache, Theophylact, 250; kindness of, 250; capture of, 317. Bache, Richard, 250. Bache, Mrs. Sarah, 250, 327. Bland, Colonel, Theodoric, 279. Brandywine, Battle of, 291; reflections on, 293; incident at, 455. Blancons, M., 380. Beveridge, John, 35; anecdote of, 36; poetical attempts, death of, 37. Beckwith, Lieutenant, humane and generous conduct of, 213; charac- ter of, 219. Bergen-op-Zoom, 287. Benezet, Anthony, 326. Bristol, past and present condition of, 16; inhabitants of, 22. Biddle, Judge, character of, 21. Biddle, Mr. Edward, 285. British, descent of, on Long Island, 162; engagement with the Ameri- can troops, 163; skirmishing between the two armies, 173; capture ofFort Washington by, 176,202; treatment of prisoners by, 207, 232; loss of, in the battle, 216. British soldiers, considerate treatment of, by the Americans, 214; on parole, 304. Bitting, Captain, 318. Bond, Mr. Richard, 81. Boileau, Captain, 380. Bunker's Hill, Battle of, 421. Burke, Edmund, opinions of, 403, 404. Burgess, Miss Ann, 22; anecdote of, 73. Burgoyne, General, opinion of, respecting taxation, 114; capture of, 297. Bryan, George, 287. Burr, Colonel Aaron, 357. Carey, Henry, 32. Caspipina Tamoc, 98. Arbuthnot, Captain, 75. INDEX. 491 Chalmers, Colonel, 108. Clay, Rev. Mr., 109. Camden, Lord, remark of, to Dr. Franklin, 116. Cadwalader, General John, 123, duel of with General Conway, 301. Cadwalader, Colonel Lambert, 181; gallantry of at Haerlem Heights, 196. Carroll, John, 142. Carroll, Charles, 142. Carroll, Mrs., 244. Chase, Samuel, 142. Character, an odd, 154, 231. Camp comforts, 189. Chatham, Lord, remark of, 254. Captivity, 257. Charlton, Dr., 261. Clarkson, Mr., 265. Canon, Mr., 288. Chartres, Colonel, character of, and epitaph on, 370. Chew, Benjamin, 117, 290. Clinton, Sir Henry, 101. Clifton, Colonel, 108. Clotigh, Major, 111. Congress at Philadelphia, 129. Continental Batallions, 129. Commissioners to Canada, 142. Connecticut Light Horse, 155. Council of Safety, 182; injudicious conduct of, 183; remonstrance of officers, 185. Coffee-House Incident, 240. Conyngham, the Provost Marshal, 241. Coxe, Tench, 273. Conway, General, 299; conduct of, at the Battle of Germantown, 301. Communities, selfishness of, 308. Constitutionalists, 331. Confederation, articles of, 339. Constitution of the United Stales, adoption of, 340; opinions of Wash- ington, Hamilton, Henry, Franklin and Madison respect- ing, 341; question of its adoption, 342. Church, Mr., anecdote of, 76. Churchill, quoted, 67, 68. 492 INDEX. Draper, Sir William, 67; visit of, to Philadelphia and New York, 70. Davidson, Lieutenant, 189. Davenport, Captain, 237. Drayton, William Henry, 323. De Kalb, Baron, motives of, in espousing the American cause, 64; gallantry and death of, 65. Debating Society, 90. Dement, Mr., 215. Deserters from the cause of Independence, 238. Democrat, the term, 331. Democracy, the, 364; Burke's definition of, 402. Diffidence, 83. Dickinson, John, 106, 118, 337, 445. Dinner Party, A, 230. Dove, James, 24, anecdote of, 25. Donop, Colonel, 265. Duche, Rev. Jacob, 98; Author of Tamoc Caspipina, 98; Letter of, to General Washington, 99, 429. Duer, William, 302. Dunlap, Mr., harsh treatment of, 306. Duelling, 324. Early Reminiscences, 28, 30. Edwards, Lieutenant, 133, 320. England, political ascendancy of, 407, arrogance and ambition of, 408. Etherington, Major George, 70; kindness of, to Mr. Graydon, 71; talent of, for repartee, 73; knowledge of, of mankind, 74. Etherington, Captain, anecdote of, 72. Elegiac stanzas, 258. Engineer Department, deficiency in the, 151. Elliot, Mr. Andrew, 267. Exclusive patriotism, 306. Franks, Miss, repartees of, 469. Farmer's Letters, 106, 118. Franklin, Dr., conversation of, with Mr. Pratt, 116; anecdote of, 131; views ol', on government, 28G; politic conduct of, 328. Fast Day, 137. Flat Bush, Society at, 246, 253. INDEX. 493 Fanning, Colonel, 255. Flahaven, Colonel, 316. France, National Assembly of, 347 ; Revolution in, 357 ; popular feeling towards, 368, 375, 388, 394, 403. Fell, Major, 75. Female Society, 81. French Language, 89. Fencing, 109, Feuquiere, Marquis de, 291. Federalists, 364, 397. French Travellers, 377. French Settlement in America, 379. French party in America, 388. Fisher, Mr., 263. Findlay, William, 356, 373. Fries's Insurrection, 393. Foot Race, 45. Forrest, Colonel, 132, 246, 315, Fort Washington, 152; inefficiency of, 152; American Army in the vicinity of, 174 ; untenable character of, 186, 192, 210; threatened attack upon, 187; skirmishing, 188; invested by the enemy, 191; considerations relative to its defence, 192 ; battle on the neighbour- ing heights, 193 ; gallantry of the Americans, 197, 253; capture of, 171, 197, 216. Fox, Charles James, remark of, 256 ; character of, 336 ; Jeffrey's Sketch of, 477. Fonquet, General, Defence of Landshut by, 191. Fouchet, M., 375. Fludd, Robert, Treatise of, 65. Frye, General Joseph, 158. Graydon, Alexander, motives of, in writing, 14; ancestry of, 17; family history of, 20; father of, 20, 23; removal of, to Phi- ladelphia, 24 ; early education of, 25; anecdote of, 28; early character of, 29; associates of, 40; retrospective events in the history of, 42; early habits and amusements of, 55; school anecdote of, 56 ; acquaintance of, with Major Ether- inglon, 72; introduction into new society, 81 ; choice of a profession by, 83; begins the study of law, 108; retrospective reflectionsj 114; enters the army as captain, 129; anxiety 42 494 INDEX. respecting his subalterns, 132; success in recruiting, 137; mission to General Schuyler, 138; incidents on the route, 139, 143; return, 145; leaves Philadelphia, to join the army, 145; remarks on the condition of the army, 147; adventures on Long Island, 164 ; skirmishing with the ene- my, 165; impending engagemei:t, 167; retreat, 167; gal- lant conduct of his regiment, 168 ; marches to Fort Wash- ington, 172; remarks on American tactics, 177; garrison duty, 181; ludicrous incident, 189; insecure position of, 190; participation of, in the battle of Haerlem Heights, 195; perilous situation and capture, 204; barbarous treatment of, 20G; reflections on the loss of the fort, 211 ; generous con- duct of a British officer, 213; anxiety on account of his bro- ther, 217 ; marched to New York, 220 ; occurrences on the road, 222 ; disposal of the prisoners, 224 ; baggage restored, 225; stroll through the city, 225 ; letter from his mother, 228: letter to her from Washington, 229 ; treatment of pri- soners, 234; memorial to General Howe, 236; civilities to, 236; letter to the British officers, 239; exchange of prison- ers, 245; removal from New York, 245; situation at Flat Bush, 248; parole, 245; interview with Colonel Fanning, 254; stanzas by, 258; obstacles to an exchange of prisoners, 259; visited by his mother, 261, 264; residence at Flat Bush, 266; application to General Howe by his mother for his release, 268; liberation on parole, 269; arrives at New York, 271; at the American camp, 274; interview with Washington, 275; opinion of Hamilton, 276; occurrences on the road, 279; reaches Philadelphia, 281; proceeds to Reading, 283; political feelings, 284; Wilkinson's opinion of Mr. Graydon, 297; he is exchanged, and marries, 309; unfair treatment of, 325; aversion of, to political dissensions, 332; appointment to the prothonotaryship of Dauphin county, 334, 338; advocates the adoption of the national constitution, 343; election of, to the state convention, 344; views of questions debated in that body, 345; writes the address to President Washington on the occasion of the whiskey insurrection, 375; political principles of, 396; pro- scription of, by the Democracy, 400; reflections, 401; publication of his Memoirs, xi. ; character of the work by the editor of the Port Folio, xv. ; character of Mr. Gray- INDEX. 495 don, xvi.; translation of a Latin epigram by, xviii.; repub- lication of the Memoirs, by Mr. Gait in, Scotland, xix ; death of Mr. Graydon, xvi. Graydon, Alexander, senior, recommended to be a field officer, 417; death and character of, 33. Graydon, William, 379. Galloway, Joseph, 117, 267, 443. Grant, Mrs., Memoirs of, quoted, 249. Gait, John, his tribute to Mr. Graydon, xix. Gates, General, 300. Graff, Mr., 305. Gadsden, Captain, 327. Gallatin, Albert, 353. " Greens, The " 123. George the Third, demolition of the statue of, 161. Greene, General, 169; opinion of the tenability of Fort Washington, 176,202; character of, 180: Hamilton's eulogium on, 212: General Henry Lee's opinion of, 299. Germantown, Battle of, 295. Genet, Citizen, 363, 379, Gibbon, the Historian, remark of, 63. Grimm, Baron, correspondence of, 281. Gordon, Thomas, 22. Glover, General John, 148. Governor, re-eligibility of the, 348. Hanson, Mr., 110, Hamilton, Alexander, 149; personal appearance of, 149; character oU 275; course of, in reference to the Constitution, 341, Harrisburgh, 365; Washington at, 478: Mr. Adams at, 480. Haslet, Colonel John, 150. Hand, Colonel, 147. Haerlem, occupation of the Heights of, by the American army, 178- battle on the heights of, 196, 202. Hancock, President, 283, 425. Hanna, General, 374. Henry, Patrick, influence of, in giving the impulse to the American Revolution, 135; opinion of the Constitution, 341. Heath, General, memoirs of, quoted, 173, 174. Heath, Dan., 135. Hessian, insolence of a, 207. 496 INDEX. Hesketh, Captain, 228. Highlander, generosity of a, 223. Historical truth, 310. Howe, General, 101; Wraxall's opinion of, 101; Lee's ditto, 101, 215: Walpole's ditto, 214; supineness of, 102; cautious ge- neralship of, 170; attack on Fort Washington, 196; Bur- goyne's remark on his dispositions at Bunker's Hill, 214; ob- servation of, respecting Washington, 257; proclamation of, offering pardon to the Americans, 227 ; memorial to, on the part of the prisoners, 236; result of the application, 244 ; in- terview with Mrs. Gray don, 268. Hopkinson, Francis, letter to Mr. Duche, 438 ; letter from General Washington to, 437. Hoops, Major Adam, 378. Hoekley, William, 112. Houssacker, Colonel, 237. Hutchinson, Dr., 91. Hunt, Isaac, treatment of, 127. Huck, Captain, 260. Hutchins, Captain Thomas, 251. Izard, Ralph, 227. Idleness, dangers of, 80. Independence, declaration of, 159; reception of, by Congress, 307, and the country, 160; motives which induced it, 329. Indians, alarm caused by, 23, 46; attempted massacre of, 47. Irish, feeling of, in favour of the Revolution, 122. Introduction, 13; editor's introduction, xi. Jay, John, 357, 376, Treaty of, 376. Jefferson, Mr., opinion respecting commerce, 353 ; abuse of Hamilton by, 276, and of Washington, 359; political views of, 361 ; reward of partizans by, 362; election of, to the Presi- dency, 384 ; character of, 399 ; means employed to secure his election, 403. Johnson, Samuel, 100, 107. Johnstone, Governor, 119. Johnson, Mr., 223. Johnson, Heathcote, 236. INDEX. 497 Junius, style of, 96, 97; claim of General Charles Lee to the author- ship of the Letters of, 320 ; Dr. Macleane's do. 42 L Kearsley, Dr., 78, 126. Keating, Captain, 380. Kinnesly, Mr., attainments of, in Electricity, 27; catastrophe of the son of, 93. Lake George, 142. Laurens, John, Colonel, 323; duel of, with General Charles Lee, 324 ; character of, 472. Lewis, Mr., 344, 348, 352, 354. Lewis, Samuel, 44. Lee, Henry, Memoirs of, quoted, 101; character of, 279; opinion of General Greene, 299. Lee, Richard Henry, opinion of General Mifflin, 154. Lee, General Charles, profane remark of, 138; opinion of, respecting Fort Washington, 177, 193; character of, 320; dislike of Washington, 320; capture of, 451; arrest and trial of, 459, 468; Letter to Miss. Franks, 468; abuse of Washington, 465. Lenox, Captain, 200, 259. Legislature, division of, into two houses, 287. Liberty, professions of attachment to, 139. Livingston, Judge Brockolst, 145. Loxley, Captain, 47. Love, 81,281. Long Island, battle of, 162; skirmishing between the armies, 165; gallantry of the Americans, 168; causes of the loss of the battle of, 169; Lee's opinion of the impolicy of retaining possession of, 177; escape of prisoners from, 314. Loring, Commissary, 245. Ludwig, Christopher, Baker General of the army, 161. Lux, Mr. George, 328, 329. Lyttelton, Lord, opinion of, on taxation, 114. Lutterloh, Henry, 302, Macleane, Dr. Lauchlan, 42, kindness, of, to Dr., Goldsmith, 42, bio-- graphical notice of, 419; reputed author of the Letters of Junius, 418. 42* 498 INDEX. Mauvaise honte, 84. M'Kean, Thomas, character and services of, 120, 121, 394, 395. Martial Exercises, 123, 125. Martial Fame, Elements of, 216. Major, a travelling, 141. Magaw, Colonel Robert, gallant reply of, 151; surrender of Fort Washington by, 176; remarks on the plan of defence adopted by, 191; inadequacy of the garrison, 191; untenableness of the Fort, 186, 192; captivity and marriage of, 318. Mailland, Major, 210. Matthews, Mayor, 252, 272. Matthews, General, 264. Manuel, Captain, 221. Mariner, Mr., descent of, on Long Island, 316. Macauley, Mrs., interview of, with Washington, 359. Maryland Senate, 346. Mazzei, Mr. Jefferson's Letter to, traducing Washington, 329. M^Henry, Dr. James, 244. Menzies, Colonel, anecdote of, 112; escape of, from the enem.y, 183. Mental Derangement, singular case of, 113. Meichior, Colonel, 169. Mercer, General, 200. Miles, Colonel, 149, 257, 269, 275, 304. Mifflin, General, Thomas, 153, 154, 299, 356, 374. Midnight Scene in Camp, 167. Militia, Insubordination of, 192. Militia Captain, a, 209. Miller, Captain, 21G. Military Rank, difficulties in the adjustment of, 319.. Milton, quotation from, 331. Moore, Lady and Daughter, 66. Morality of Ficliiious Heroes, 92. Morrisania, Encampment at, 173. Moncreif, Major, 252; capture of, 317. Monmouth, Battle of, 457. National Strength, Reflections on, 293. New Xork, military preparations in, 140; alarm at, produced by the INDEX. 499 result of the battle on Long Island, 163; evacuation of, by the American army, 172; conflagration at, 178. New-England Officers, 143, 156, 179; vindication of, 157. Noailles, Viscount De, 379. Novels, injurious influence of, 92, 95. Nocturnal Incident, 189.. Ogle and Friend, anecdotes of, 51. O'Brian, the Comedian, 67. Otis, Harrison Grey, Eulogium of, on Hamilton, 376. Osborne, Sir George, heartless bon mot of, 366. Paxton Boys, 46. Party Spirit, 49, 350, 360, 369, 384, 401, xxii. Parson, a Maryland, 103. Parma, Prince of, masterly retreat of, 169. Paine, Thomas, 187. Parole, question respecting, 260. Pauli, Major, 265. Parvin, Mr., oppression of, 325. Paine, Thomas, 358. Prescott, Colonel, 423. Peale, C. W., 61. Pemberton's House and Gardens, 43. Penn, Richard, anecdote of, 131; popularity of, 132. Penn, John, 132. Penn Family, influence of the Revolution upon, 131. Pennsylvania, exeriions of, in the Revolution, 132; foreigners among tlie troops of, 181; constitution for, 286; party spirit in, 331, 350; convention for changing the constitution^ 341; debates on that occasion, 345; State Senators, 316; Executive power, 347; re-eligibility of the Gover- nor, 348; regulation of the Press, 349; threatened in- surrection in, 372, 393. Philadelphia in 1731, 19; academy of, 40; yellow fever in, 1760, 44; taken possession of by General Howe, 287; theatri- cals, 87. Pike, Mr. 289. Prisoners, diflifiiliies in the way of an exchange of, 257 ; miserable conditiDu of, 232, 244,270; exchange of, 245; escape of, from Louij Island, 314 ; general exchange of, 318. Pickering, Colonel Timothy,. 355,. 500 INDEX. Political differences with England, 114. proscription, 401. inconsistency, instance of, 124. feelings, 284. Posts, policy of a war of, 175. Promotion not always the reward of merit, 183. Popular fanaticism, 395. Putnam, Colonel, 147, 151. Putnam, General, 169, 179, 180. Quakers, friendliness of, towards the Indians, 23 ; peaceful principles of, 46, 122, 326. « Quaker Blues," 122. Raynal, Abbe, 61. Rawlings, Colonel, 194; gallantry of, at the battle of Haerlem Heights, 197, 200, 319. Randolph, Edmund, 360. Reily, John, 25. Reid, General John, 75. Reed, General Joseph, character and services of, 119. Revolution, causes of the, 115; opinions of HoraceWalpole respecting, 115; disposition of the people towards, 122; origination of, in the upper classes of society, 134; influence of Pa- trick Henry in producing, 135. Recruiting adventures, 133, 137. Reubell Domine, 253. Reading, society at, 299; British officers on parole at, 304 ; visiters at, 329. Republicans, 331. Richardson, Mr., 68; anecdote of his visit to Sir William Draper, 69. Richardson, Captain, 255. Rivington, the King's Printer, 77. Richardson's novels, 94. Rivers, difficulty of disputing the passage of, 291. Robinson, Mr., 111. Ross, John, 118, 394. Ross, James, 352. Robertson, General, 259. Rochefoucauld, 377. Rousseau, 400. INDEX. 501 "Sally of the Alley," origin of the ballad of, 33. Sailing excursion, 57. Skating, 59. Slate Roof House, The, 62; inmates of, De Kalb, 64; Badourin, 65; Lady Moore, 65; O'Brian, 67; Sir William Draper, 68; Major Etherington, 70; Majors Small and Fell, 75; Captain Wallace, 75; Rivington, 77. Sparks, Mr., quoted, 127, 140, 177; value of the writings of, 311. Smallwood, Colonel William, 150. Slaten Island, occupation of, by the British, 153. Scammell, Colonel, mistake of, 168. St. Clair, retreat of, from Ticonderoga, 297. State Senators, mode of electing, 347. Stiiel, Madame De, opinion of, 355. Stevens, Mr., 41. Sledman, Judge, anecdote of, 105. Stedman,'Mr., unfounded censure of, 192; testimony of, to the gallantry of the Americans, 216. Skene, Major, 127, 208, 228. Shee, Colonel John, 130, 138; retirement of, from the army, 181. Stewart, Colonel Walter, 159, 313. Stewart, Major John, escape of, 314. Stewart, Lieutenant, trial of, 179. Steddiford, Ensign, 207. Speke, Captain, 302. Sedition Law, 349. Swimming and skating, 59. Smith, James, 104; anecdotes of, 105. Skinner, Alexander, 109, 110. Shippen, Edward, 118. "Silk Stocking Company, The," 123, Smith, General, 180. Sitgreaves, Samuel, 352. Smilie, John, 256. Singlir Fabrication, 3 92. School Anecdotes, 56. Soldiers, character of the, 148, 150, 156, privations of, 164, panic of, 174; contrast in the appearance of the British and American, 314. Supernumerary officers, 318. 502 INDEX. Sunday, injudicious treatment of children on, 21. Susquehanna Bridge, 107. Schuyler, General, 143, character of, 144; conversation with Washington respecting Arnold, 449. Sullivan's "Familiar Letters," quoted, 146, 276. Stutzoe, Mr., 305. Suydam, Jacob, 248, 253. Snyder, Governor, 351. Tartar, Privateer, shipwreck of, 19. Taylor, Chevalier, 24. Taxes, direct, imposition of, 389. Taxation without representation, 115, 117. Target-shooting, 125. Talleyrand, an American, 125. Talon, M., 379, 381. Theatre, influence of, 88. Tilghraan, J., 117. Tilghman, Colonel Tench, 277. Tilghman, Edward, anecdote of, 260. Ticonderoga, capture of, by Colonel Allen, 242. Titles, affectation in, 314. Thomson, Charles, anecdote of, 26; character of, 311. "Toper and the Flies," origin of tlie story of, 79. Townshend, Charles, remark of, respecting General Johnstone; 120. Tudor, Mr., private correspondence with, 271. Truxton, Commodore, 395. United States Bank, 44. Vandyke, Colonel, 108. Van Zindcr, Domine, 253. Van Ilorne, Mr., 263, 279. Van Home, Misses, 265. Valley Forge, army at, 313. Virginia, aversion of, to the Infantry Service, 158. Volunteer Companies, 122; Quaker Blues, 123; The Silk Stocking Company, 124. Wharton, Mr., alias Duke, 70. INDEX. 503 Wallace, Captain, insolence and brutality of, 76. Wallace, Mr., 253. Wraxall, quoted, 101. Walpole, Horace, quoted, 128. Wade, Francis, 128. Washington, opinions of, respecting the army, 148, 156; vindication in reference to the Battle of Long Island, 170; chagrin of, at the pusillanimity of his soldiers 171; sacracity of respecting Fort Washington, 176, 194; tactics of, 178.' narrovv escape of, at the Battle of Harlem Heights, 200- interest of, in Mr. Graydon, 229; marches against the' enemy at Brandywine, 290, incident there, 455; result ofthe Battle, 293; subsequent measures of, 295; opera- tions of, at Germantown, 296; cabal against, 299; election of, to the Presidency, 343; prosperity of the country under his administration, 358; neutrality of, in reference to France and England, 368; suppression of the whiskey insurrection by, 373; retires from the Presidency 382. character, 383, and death of, 398; Letter of, to Mr.' Duche', 433; correspondence with General Lee 462- Letters to President Reed, 449, 454, 466; arrival a't Har' ns burgh, 478. Warren, General, 421. Wayne, General, 277. War, reflections on, 269. Ward, General Artemas, 157. Warren, Captain, 221. Walsh, Robert, quoted, 408. West, Major, 230, 269, 304. Western Expedition, 374. Wilson, James, 333, 344, 352. Wilson, Captain, 212, 230. Wilson, Judge, 39. Wirt, William, quoted, 136 WHkinson, General, quoted, 139; character and services of, 297- opinion of Mr. Graydon, 298. White Plains, action at, 187. Williams, Major, Escape of, 315. Williams, General Otho Holland, 242. 504 INDEX. Witherspoon, Dr., 307; anecdote of, on the Declaration of Indepen- dence, 307, Whitemarsh, army at, 313. Whiskey Insurrection, 372. Woodward, The Actor, 67. Wordswortli, tribute of, to Lamb applied to Mr. Graydon, xxiv. Woedtke, Baron, 140. Yarnall, Dr., 155. Yellow Fever, 365; causes of, at Harrisburgh, 365. York, past and present condition of, 100; Society at, 102, 106; Con- gress at, 107. THE END. 68 tHKat-'^j:. « .>^ .• • uo< I* ^ ^ I, BOOKBINDIV; **\ . "^ t ''a^^a.A