) Vol [ T R A I N V NORTH-AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1780, 1781, AND 1782. MARQUIS DE CHASTELLUX, ONE OF THE FORTY MEMBERS OF THE FRENCH ACApEMY, AND MAJOR GENERAL IN THE FRENCH ARMY, SERYING UNDER THE COUNT DE ROCHAMBEAU. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN, WHO RESIDED IN AMERICA AT THAT PERIOD. WITH NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR. rioT^wv o'avlfu7ruv »5ev dgrsa xcu voov eyvu, Odyfley. B. I. Multorumque hominum vidit urbes, & more** cognovit. BY THE VOLUME I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR C. G. J. AND J. ROBIN SON, PATER'NOSTER ROW. M DCC LXXXV II. ADVERTISEMENT FROM THE FRENCH PRINTER. TH E Public have been long informed that the Marquis de Chaftellux had written Journals of his Travels in North America, and they feem to have wiflied to fee thofe Journals more generally diffufed. The Author, who had arranged them folely for himfelf and for his friends, has conftantly refufed to make them public until this moment. The firft and moft Gonfiderable, in fact, were printed in America ; but only twenty-four impreilions were ftruck off, and this with no other view than to avoid the multiplying of copies, which were become indifpenfibly neceflary, in a country and at a time when there was very little hope of any packets reaching Europe, but by the means of duplicates. Betides that, he thought proper to avail himfelf of the fmall printing prefs on board the fquadron at Rhode Ifland. Of thefe twenty-four impreffions, not above ten or A 2 twelve iv ADVERTISEMENT FROM twelve reached Europe, and the Author had addrefied them all to perfons on whom he could rely, and whom he had requefl-ed not to fufTer any copies to be taken. The curioilty, however, which every thing refpecting America at that time infpired, excited much anxiety to read them. They pafTed fucceffively through a great many hands, and there is reafon to believe that the readers have not all been equally fcru-pulous; nor can it even be doubted that there exifT fome manufcript copies, which being haftily executed, may be prefumed to be in correct. In the fpring of 1732, the Marquis de Chaftellux made a journey into upper Virginia ; and, in the autumn of the fame year, another into the States of MafTachuf-fets, and New Hampfhire, and the back part of Penfylvania. According to cuftom, he wrote journals of thefe expeditions ; but, being on his return to Europe, he referved them to himfelf. Thefe therefore are known only to a few friends, to whom he lent them ; for he invariably denied the re-queil of many perfons, and particularly our own, THE FRENCH PRINTER. v own, to empower us to lay them before the Public. One of his friends however, who has a very extenfive correfpondence in foreign countries, having prefled him much to furnifh him with at leaft a few detached extracts from thefe journals, for the purpofe of inferting them in a periodical work printed at Gotha, the object of which is to collect fuch works as have not been made public, he confented; and, during a whole year, there appeared in each number of this Journal a few pages taken here and there from thofe of the Marquis de Chaltellux. Thefe extracts were not in a regular feries, and were indifferently taken from the nrfr, and fecond parts of the Travels. The Author had ufed this precaution, to prevent the foreign bookfellers from collecting them, and impofing them on the public as a compleat work. Experience has proved the infufficiency of this precaution. A printer of CarTel, without any fcruple, has collected thefe detached extracts, and without announcing that they had no coherency, has printed them under the title of Vyages de Monfieur le Chevalier de Chajlellux, the name the author bore two years ago. The vi ADVERTISEMENT, 8cc. The publication of a work fo mutilated and unmethodical, and which the Marquis de Chaftellux by no means expected, fo far from flattering, could not but be difpleafing to him. We deemed this a proper opportunity for renewing our inftances to him, and have, in confequence, obtained his original manufcript, to which he has been pleafed to annex the charts and plans we have made ufe of. We have loft no time in giving it to the public, and have exerted the utmoft pains to render it, from the execution, worthy of the importance of the fubject, and of the name and reputation of the Author. The two geographical charts point out, with the greater! accuracy, not only the country which the Author has travelled through, but all the places at which he flopped, and which he has mentioned in his Journals. For the two charts, we are in great meafure indebted to M. Dezoteux, Captain of Dragoons, and joint Quarter-Mailer, who has corrected and reduced them. This officer having ferved in America, had. himfelf vifited the greateft part of the country pointed out in the charts. CONTENTS TO THE FIRST VOLUME. Page THE Author leaves Newport the nth of November - - 4 His arrival at Providence : defcription of that town - - 6, 7 He is obliged to remain at Voluntown 9 Defcription of the inn where he alights ibid. The perfons whom he met with - 10 His departure from Voluntown - 20 Defcription of the country betwixt Voluntown and Windham - - 21 & feq, Mrs. Hill's tavern, her charity to a lick foldier - - 25 The Author flops at Eaft Hartford - 26 Particulars of the ftate of Vermont - 27 The origin of the name which this ftate has aiiumed - - 28 His arrival at Hartford - 29 Lodges at Colonel Wadfworth's - ibid. Portrait of the Colonel - 30 & feq# Viiit to Governor Trumbull - 33 The Governor's memoirs on the American war - - 34 Communicated to the Author - ibid. An interefting fa£l contained in them - 35 Departure from Hartford - 36 Defcription of the country betwixt Hartford and Farmington - 37 Manufacture Manufadure of cloth, &c. - 38% feq. . The Author lodges with Mr. Lewis, to whom he was addreffed - 40 He fets out for Litchfield - 41 Defcription of a blue Jay which he killed ibid. Obfervations on the nomenclature of the Americans 42 They fcarcely employ other but defcrip-tive terms, as blue bird, black bird, inftead of Jay, Starling, &c. - 43 The Author fees fome ground cleared, and a new fettlement - 44 How they proceed to clear the ground - 45 & feq. His arrival at Litchfield - 48 Park of artillery which he meets with near the high road - 49 & feq. The route from Litchfield to Moorhoufe's tavern, and the townfhip of Wafhington 53 Beautiful landfcapes formed by a fall of water, and by the forges of Mr. Bull 56 Arrival at the tavern kept by Colonel Moor - -. 57 The Author finds there farmers from New Hampfhire conducting oxen to the army - - "58 Converfation with them - - 590: feq. He arrives at Fifhkill 63 Defcription of the barracks conftru&ed there, as a magazine for the army - 64&feq. Departure from Fifhkill - 69 Little camp, or barracks for the invalids, and what we are to underftand by invalids - - - 7° The Author flops and alights to enjoy the beautiful profpe&s which the North River, and the Forts of Weft Point offered - - 71 A little further he finds General Heath at the head of 2500 men in battle array 72 He croffes North River in General Heath's barge, and lands at Weft Point - 73 The The General (hews him the difpofition which he has made for a manoeuvre combined with the great army, and communicates to him the orders given to General Stark - - 758cfeq. Particulars of General Heath - 788c feq. The Author goes on horfeback to fee the different fortifications of Weft Point 81 Defcription of them - - 82 & feq. He leaves Weft Point - -? 87 Breakfafts before he fets out according to the falhion of the country, with beef-fteaks, and milk coffee for drink - 82 which accordingly is very confiderabie in times of peace. Merchant fhins may load and unload their car- B 4 goes goes in the town itfelf, and fhipa of war cannot approach the harbour. Their commerce is the fame with that of Rhode Ifland and Bofton ; they export ftaves, and fait provisions, and bring back fait, and a great quantity of melaffes, fugar and other articles from the Weft Indies: they fit out veffels alfo for the cod and whale fifhery. The latter is carried on fuccefs-fully between Cape Cod and Long Ifland; but they go often as far as Baffin's Streights, and Falkland's Ifland. The inhabitants of Providence, like thofe of Newport, alfo carry on the Guinea trade; they buy Haves there and carry them to the Weft-Indies, where they take bills of exchange on Old England, for which they receive woollens, fluffs, and other merchandize *. On * Here are feveral places of public worfhip, an xiniverfity, and other public buildings ; and a very brilk trade was carried on even at the worft period of the war for American commerce, viz. in 1782. — Mr. Welcome Jrncld> a great plumber, and Delegate to Congrefs from this ftate, has changed his name by act ofAfTembly, fince the defection of Benedift Jrnold. Translator. On quitting Colonel Peck, I mounted my horfe for Voluntown* where 1 propofed fleeping I flopped at Seituate, in a very indifferent inn, called the Angels Tavern ; it is about halfway to Voluntown: I baited my horfes there, and fet out in an hour, without feeing my cart arrive. From this place to Voluntown the road is.execrable; one is perpetually mounting and defending, and always on the moft rugged roads. It was fix o'clock, and the night clofed in* when I reached Dorr anus. Tavern,, which, is only five and twenty miles from Providence. I d if mounted with the more plea-fure as the weather was extremely bad. I was-well accommodated, and kindly received at Mr. Dorrance's. He is an old gentleman of feventy-three years of age, tall, and ftill vigorous ; he is a native of Ireland, flrfl: fettled in Maflachuflets, and afterwards in Connecticut. His wife, who is younger than him, is active, handy, and obliging; but her family is charming. It confifts of two young men, one twenty-eight,, and the other twenty-one years old; a child of twelve, and two girls from eighteen teen to twenty, as hand fome as angels. The eldeft of thefe young women was' nek, kept her chamber, and did not mew herfelf. I learnt afterwards that me was big with child, and almoft ready toiye-in : Ihe was deceived by a young man, who after promifing to marry her, abfented himfelf and did not return.* Chagrin and the rfotCIl ZiL ' \y>1 * On the arrival of feven or eight copies of this Journal, fent to Europe by the author, the curiofity then excited by every thing relative to the affairs of America, procured them many readers. Though the author had addrefled them only to his molt intimate friends, and had taken the precaution to apprize them that it was not his intention they fhould be generally public, they paffed rapidly from one hand to another; and as they could only be lent for a fhort time they were read with as much precipitation, as avidity. This anxiety could only proceed from the general defire of forming fome idea of the mariners of the Americans, of which this Journal gave feveral details which became interesting from the circumflanccs of novelty and diflance. From an inconfiflency, however, more ufual in France than in any other country, fome perfons made no fcruple to judge the author on points of propriety, of which he alone was capable of giving them an idea: he was taxed with wanton-nefs and indifcretion, for having concealed neither N O RT H-AMER IC A. n the CQnfequences of her titration had thrown her into a ftate of languor ; fhe never came down to the ground-floor on which names nor places in relating the adventure of a girl deceived by her lover. A very fimple, and very, natural reflection, might have convinced them, that it was by no means probable that a General Officer, a man of forty five years of age, particularly connected with the' Americans, and who has every where exprefled fentiments of gratitude and attachment for thofe from, whom he experienced kindnefs, fhould allow himfelf, not only to offend, but to afflict an honcft family, who had ftiewn him every , attention, and of whom he cannot fpeak but in. terms of commendation. Befides that the fimple and even ferious manner in which this article is r' written affords not the leaft appearance of levity ; a fufficient reafon for preventing the too free obfer-vations of certain readers. Another reflection might occur naturally enough, but which demanded a little more combination. The author wifhes, it might have been faid, to give us an idea of American manners, which he is certainly very far from fatirizing : may it not be pofhble that amongft a people fo remote from us in every refpedt, a girl who fhould refign herfelf too haftily to the man fhe was engaged to, with the confent even of her parents, a girl without dift.ruft, in a country where fuch an idea is never taught them, where morals are fo far in their infancy, as that the commerce ti tUvels in which her parent's lived; but great care was taken of her, and fhe had always fome-bbdy to keep her company. Whilfl: a good between two free perfons is deemed Iefs cenfurable, than the. infidelities, the caprices, and even the coquetries which deitroy the peace of fo many European families ? May it not be poftible that this young Woman,, as' interesting as" flie Was unhappy, fhbuld be lamented rather than condemned, that fhe fhould' Hill retain all her rights in fociety, and become a legitimate fpoufe and mother, though her ftory was neither unknown, nor attempted to be concealed ? In fact., how could the author learn this hifiory? Was it by the fcandalous chronicles in a hamlet where he was a flranger to every perfon but his holts? I have fince learnt (fays he in fpeak-irig'of this girl) that Jfie was with child, and near her time of lying-in. How did he learn this ? From her own parents, who had not at firft made a myftery of it, and then a matter of confidence. But had thefe auflere judges, when they had fmifhed their reading, happened to recollect what they faw at the beginning, they might have obferved that the author being at Voluntown a fecond time, two months after, faw Mil's Dorrance fuckling an infant, .which was continually palling from her knees to thofe of her mother; that fhe was then cherifhed, and taken care of by all the family. This affecting fight was defcribedwith fenfibiiity, and notwith malignity. But it is time to give over tiring the patience, not N O R T H »• A M E R I C A. \?> good fupper was preparing for me, I went into the room where the family was af-fembled, where I obferved a ihelf with forty of the critics only, but of all fenfible minds, thofe minds alone whofe approbation is of any value. Oil another journey to Voluntown, the author had the fa-tisfaction to fee Mifs Dorrance perfectly happy : her lover was returned, and had married her ; he had ex* piated all his wrongs, nor had they been fuch as they at firft appeared; he had unfortunate circumftances to plead in his excufe, if there can indeed be any for a man who for afingle day can leave in fuch agonies, the interesting and weak victim who was unable to refill him. The Tranflator, who has been at Voluntown, and enjoyed the fociety and witnefTed the happinefs of this amiable family, is likewife acquainted with the whole of this ltory. He is fo well fatisfied with the juftnefs of the liberal minded author's reafoning on American manners in this particular, that he has not fcru-pled to give the name of this worthy family at length, not apprehending that their characters would fuffer the fmalleft injury, where alone the imputation is of any confequence; nor does he fear oppofing the virtue of this family, and of thefe manners, to European chaftity, prudery, and refinement. The circumftances of this ftory were related to the Tranilator forty or fifty volumes on it; on opening them I found that they were all clauical authors, Greek, Latin, or Englifh. They belonged to Mr. Dorrance's eldest fon. This young man had received a regular education, and was tutor at Providence college, until the war interrupted his fludies. I converfed with him on various point3 of literature, and particularly on the manner in which the dead languages mould be pro- by Mr. and Mrs. Dorrance, with the fame fenfibility, and the fame innocence, with which they appear to have told them to the Marquis de Chaftelleux. They are a kind, hofpitable, and amiable couple, and the hufband is very far from being ill informed; he entertained the Tranflator with many anecdotes of the war, and with fome laughable ones respecting General Prefcot, who was brought to his houfe, after being carried off without his breeches from Rhode Ifland ; but never without expressing a becoming degree of fenfibility for his fituation, which was peculiarly mortifying, from his gout, his naturally peevifh difpofition, the humiliating mode of his capture, and the circum-ftance of its being the fecond time of his falling into the hands of an enemy, whom he was weak enough to defpife and to infult. Translator. pronounced. I found him well informed, and pollened of much fimplicity and modefty.* We were waited on at fupper by a moft beautiful girl, called Mifs Pearce. She was a neighbour of Mrs. Dorrance, and had come on a vifit, and to ainfl her in the ab-fence of her youngeft daughter. This young perfon had, like all the American women, a very decent, nay even ferious carriage ; fhe had no objection to be looked at, nor to have her beauty commended, nor even to receive a few careiTes, provided it was done without an air of familiarity or libertinifm. Licentious manners, in fact, are fo foreign in America, that the communication with young women leads to nothing bad, and that freedom itfelf there bears * The Tranflator had a great deal of converfation with this young man, and found him fuch as the Marquis reprefents him ; but he muft likewife add, that he met with a great number of excellent claflical fcholars, in different parts of the continent, educated at Williamfburgh, Philadelphia, Yale College, New-haven, Cambridge, and Providence, and very few deficient, efpecially to the northward. The, war did infinite mifchief to the riling generation of America, by interrupting education. Translator. bears a character of modefty far beyond our affected baflifulnefs and falfe referve. But neither my excellent fupper, nor the books of Mr. Dorrance, nor even the fine eyes of Mifs Pearce, made my cart arrive, and I was obliged to go to reft without hearing any news of it. As I defired a chamber with a fire in it, Mifs Pearce prepared me one, informing me at the fame time, that it communicated with that of the lick lady with whom Ihe flept, and enquired of me very politely, whether it would incommode me if fhe fhould pafs through my chamber after I was in bed. I allured her, that if fhe difturbed my fleep, it would not be as a frightful dream. And, in fact, fhe came a quarter of an hour after I was in bed. I pretended to fleep, in order to examine her countenance ; fhe palTed very gently, turning her head the other way, and hiding the light for fear of awakening me. I do not know whether I fhall pronounce my praife or condemnation, by faying, that I foon after fell into a profound fleep. On my riling I found Mifs Pearce, but. not my cart, which it feemed more than probable NORT H* A ME RICA. 17 probable was broke into a thousand pieces. I was determined to give up that mode of conveying my little baggage, which flill it was neceiTary to have. I refolved, therefore, to wait for them, and take my breakfast, a refolution much easier adopted. At length, about eleven o'clock, my centinels announced its appearance. It was matter of great joy to the whole crew to fee it arrive, although crippled, and towed by a hired horfe, which they had been obliged to put before mine. It is proper to obferve, that my attendants, proud of poffelTing ample means of tranfporting my effects, had loaded it with many ufelefs articles j that being apprifed myfelf that wine was not always to be met with in the inns,* I had thought proper to furnifh myfelf . * The tranflator, when he travelled in America during the war, always carried wine with him when practicable, for at Baltimore and Philadelphia, thofe great fea-ports, very indifferent wine, called elaret, was fold at two dollars, upwards of 9 {hillings a bottle, hard money. Nor was it an uncommon thing to tranfport wine from Bolton to Philadelphia by land, when the arrivals were more fortunate in that quarter. Translator. Vol. L C myfelf with cantines which held twelve bottles, and having taken the precaution to alk for two or three white loaves of bread from the commiifary of provifions at Providence, he had packed up twenty, vvhkh alone weighed upwards of eighty pounds, fo that my poor cart was laden 'till on the point of finking. Its greatefl misfortune* however, arofe from linking on the rocks, which had broke one wheel and greatly damaged the other. I foon determined ta leave it with Mr. Dorrance, who undertook to get it repaired, and it was refolved that my wine mould be divided into three parts, one of which mould be drank the fame day, the other left with the landlord, with a requefl to keep it till my return, and that the third fhould be offered him, with a requefl to drink it; which met with no difficulty. The remainder of the day, however, being dedicated to make new dif-pofitions, I determined on remaining at Voluntown. I made a general infpedtion of my baggage every thing unneceffary was packed up and left with Mr. Dorrance ; the reft put into portmanteaus, and by a pro* N O RTH-AMER I C A. 19 a promotion a la PruJJienne, on the field of battle, mycart-horfe was elevated to the faddle. The reading of fome Engliih poets, and the converfation with Meflrs. Lynch and Montefquieu, and the good people of the houfe, made me pafs the day very agreeably. Towards the evening, two travellers came into the room I was in, feated themfelves by the fire, and began to yawn and whittle, without paying the leaft attention to me. The converfation, however, gradually enlivened, and became very in-terefting and agreeable. One of them was a colonel of militia, who had ferved in Canada, and had been in feveral engagements, wherein he was wounded. I fhall obferve once for all, that among the men I have met with, above twrenty years of age, of whatfoever condition, I have not found two who have not bore arms, heard the whittling of balls, and even received fome wounds; fo that it may be aflerted, that North-America is entirely military, and inured to war, and that new levies may continually be made without making new fol-diers. [The tranllator confirms this afler- C 2 tion, tion, except with regard to the pacific religious feels, in the whole extent of his obferva-tions from Virginia to New Hampfhire.] The 15th, I fet out from Voluntown at eight in the morning. I travelled five miles in the mountains, after which I faw the horizon expand itfelf, and my eye very foon had its full fcope. On defcending the hills, and before we reach the valley, is the town or hamlet of Plainfeld; for what is called in America, a town or town-fhip, is only a certain number of houfes, difperfed over a great fpace, but which belong to the fame incorporation, and fend deputies to the general affembly of the ftate. The centre or head quarters of thefe towns, is the meeting-houfe or church. This church ftands fometimes fingle, and is fometimes furrounded by four or five houfes only \ whence it happens, that when a traveller afks the queftion : How far is it to fuch a town ? He is anfwered, Tou are there already ; but when he fpecifies the place he wifhes to be at, whether it be the meeting, or fuch a tavern, he not unfrequently is told, Tou are feven or eight miles from it. Plainfield Plainfield is a fmall town, but a large diflricTb, for there are full thirty houfes within reach of the meeting.* Its iituation is agreeable; but it prefents, befides, a military afpect: this was the firft I had remarked. An army might encamp there on little heights, behind which the hills rife in an amphitheatre, thus prefenting fucceflive pofitions as far as the great woods, which would ferve as the laft retreat. The foot of the heights of Plainfield is fortified by mo-rafTes, only palTable by one caufeway, which would oblige the enemy to file off to attack you. (-f) The right and left are fupported by efcarpments. On the right alfo is a marfh, which renders it more difficult of accefs. This camp is fit for fix, eight, or even ten thoufand men ; it might ferve to cover Providence and Maf-C 3 fachuflet's * There is an academy or college here, with four Latin and Englifh mailers, and when the tranflator was there, he was prefent at fome, not contemptible, public exhibitions of oratory in thofe two languages. Translator. (f) In fummer thefe moraffes are dry. This I have fince learnt, and which it is proper to remark, that an erroneous.idea may not be formed of this pofition. fuchuffet's ftate, againft troops who had paffed the Connecticut river. At two miles from Plainfield the road turns towards the north, and after travelling two or three miles farther, is the river of Quenebaugh, along the edge of which we travel about a mile to pafs it at Canterbury, over a pretty long, and tolerably constructed wooden bridge. This river is neither navigable, norfordable, but flows amidft ftones, which renders its bed very uneven. The inha > bitants of the neighbourhood, form dams here in the fhape of a projecting angle to catch the eels: the fummit of the angle is in the middle of the river; there they place nets in the fhape of a purfe, where the fifh which follow the current of water feldom efcape being caught. The bridge at Canterbury is built in rather a deep and narrow valley. The meeting-houfe of the town is on the right bank, as well as the greateft part of the houfes, but there are fome alfo on the eminences towards the eaft, which appeared to me well built and agreeably filiated. Thefe heights being of the fame elevation with thefe to the weft, N ORT H-AMERICA. 23 weft % Canterbury offers two pofitions, equally advantageous for two armies, .which might difpute the palfage of the Quene-baugh. After paf.fing Canterbury, we enter the woods, and a chain of hills, which mufl be palled by very rugged and difficult reads. Six or feven miles farther, the country begins to open, and we defcend agreeably to Windham. It is a very hand-fome little town, or rather it is the flock from which a handfome town will fpring. There are forty or fifty houfes pretty near each other, and fo fituated as.to prefent the appearance of a large public fquare, and three large flreets. The Seunganick, or Windham river, runs near this town, but is of no great ufe to its trade, for it is no C 4 more * The tranflator reached Canterbury on a Sunday, a day on which travelling is forbid in the New England ftates. The family at Buckhoufcs Tavern were all at meeting, and it colt him innumerable entreaties, beiides the moft unequivocal proofs of whiggifm, to procure a morfel of the moft wretched fare, and to obtain which he was obliged to wait 'till the meeting was at an end. Both this town and Windham are moft beautifully fituated, particularly the latter, which is extremely pi&urefque. more navigable than the Quenebaugh, with which it joins its waters to form the river Thames. It may be obferved in reading this journal, and ftill more by the in-fpedtton of the Charts, that the rivers in general, and many towns, have retained their Indian names : this nomenclature has fomething interesting in it, as it confirms the ftill recent origin of thefe multiplied fettlements, and is perpetually prefenting to the mind a very ftri-king contraft between the former, and prefent ftate of this vaft country. Windham is fifteen miles from Voluntown. I there found Lauzun's hulTars, who were ftationed in it for a week, until their quarters were prepared at Lehanon. I dined with the Duke de Lauzun, and being unable to get away before half after three, the night, which foon came on, obliged me to flop at fix miles from Windham, at a little folitary tavern *, kept by Mrs, Hill. As * This tavern is called Lebanon Crank, and the tranflator has made fimilar remarks in his journal on the external appearance of, and the kindnefs that reigns within this little hut; where, a very uncommon cir- As the houfe had an indifferent appearance, I afked if we could have beds, the only want we had; for the Duke de Lauzun's dinner had left us in no uneaiinefs about flipper. Mrs. Hill told me, after the manner of the country, that fhe could only /pare one bed, as fhe had a lick traveller in the houfe whom fhe would not difturb. This traveller was a poor foldier of the continental army, who was going home on a furlough for the benefit of his health. He had his furlough in his pocket in regular form, as well as the exact account of what was due to him, but he had not a farthing either in paper or in hard money. Mrs. Hill, notwithstanding, had given him a good bed, and as he was too ill to continue his journey, ihe had kept him, and taken care of him for four days. We arranged matters in the beft way we could : the foldier kept his bed. 1 gave him fome money to help him on his journey, and Mrs. Hill appeared to me circumstance at that time, he found excellent green tea, and fine loaf fugar. He faw Mrs. Hill too feed, and relieve a travelling foldier. Translator. me much more affected with this charity, than with the good ha? d money I gave her to pay her bill. The 16th, at eight in the morning, T took leave of my kind landlady, and followed the road to Hartford, beginning my journey on foot, on account of the extreme coldnefs of the morning. After defcending by a gentle declivity for about two miles, I got into a pretty narrow, but agreeable and well cultivated vajley: it is watered by a rivulet which falls into the Seunganich, and which is decorated with the name of Hope river, we follow this valley to Bolton town, or Tciv-fhip, which has nothing remarkable. There we traverfe a chain of pretty lofty mountains, which extend from north to fouth like all the hills in Connecticut. On quitting thefe mountains, we come to the firft houfes of Ea/i Hartford. Though we were but five miles from Hartford Court Houje, we wifhed to reft our horfes, which had travelled twenty-three miles on a ftretch. The inn we flopped at was kept by Mr. Marfh: he is, according to the Englifh phrafe, a good farmer; that is, a good. good cultivator. He told me that he had begun a fettlement in the ftate of Vermont, where he had purchafed two hundred acres of land for forty dollars, about two hundred livres of our money, or fomething more than eight pounds Englifh. The ftate of Vermont is a vaft country, fituated to the eaftward of New Hampibire and Mafia-chuii'ets, and to the north of Connecticut, between the river of that name, and Hud-fon's river. As it is lately peopled, and has always been an object: of contention between the ftates of New York, and New Hampfhire, there is properly fpeaking no eftablifiied government. Ethan Allen, celebrated for the expedition he undertook in 1775 again ft Ticonderago, of his own accord, and without any other aid than that of the volunteers who followed him, has made himfelf the chief of that country. He has formed there,an aftembly of repre-fentatives ; this aflembly grants lands, and the country is governed by its own laws, without having any connection with con-grefs. The inhabitants however are net the lefs enemies of the Englifh ; but under the the pretext that they form the frontier a-gainft Canada, and are obliged to guard it, they furnifh no contingent to the ex-pences of the war. They had long no o-ther name than that of Green Mountainboys, but thinking this too ignoble an appellation for their new defliny, they tranflated Green Mountain into French ; which made Verd Mont, and by corruption Vermont. It remains to be feen whether it is by corruption alfo that this country has aflumed the title of theJiate of Vermont *« About four in the evening, I arrived at Hartford ferry, after travelling over a very inconvenient road, a great part of which forms a narrow caufeway through a marfhy wood. We pafs this ferry, like all the o- thers * In the years 1780, 1781, and 1782, the inhabitants of Vermont, who were not guided by Ethan Allen, annually fent deputies to congrefs, and were once within one vote of carrying their point, but had not the peace taken place, it is probable from circumltanccs, that in cafe of refufal, they would at leaft have threatened to put themfelves under Britifh protection, an event to which the Marquis fcems to allude. Translator. thers in America *, in a flat boat with oars. I found the inns at Hartford fo full that it was impoflible to procure a lodging. The four eaftern ftates of Maflachuifets, New Hampshire, Rhode Ifland, and Connecticut were then holding their aflemblies in that town, Thefe four ftates have long maintained a particular connection with each other, and they meet together by deputies, fometimes in one ftate, fometimes in another. Each legislature fends deputies. In a circumftance, fo uncommon in America, as room being wanted for men collected together, Colonel Wadfworth's houfe offered me a moft agreeable afylum ; I lodged with him, as well as the Duke de Lauzun, who had paffed me on the road. Mr. Dumas f9 who belonged to the ftaff of the * At the Moravian fettlement of Bethlehem is a ferry paffed by ropes, like that oppofite the invalid hofpital at Paris, and many others in France, and other parts of Europe. Translator. t The tranflator had the pleafure of meeting with this accomplilhed officer, at Baltimore, at Boflon, and in Europe. Nature has been very favourable to his exterior, and he unites to the moft f>erfec"t. good manners, and a thorough knowledge of the world, and books, the moft unexampled activity in his pvofemon, Translator. the army, and was then attached to the Duke de Lauzun, Mr. Lynch and Mr. de Montefquieu were well accommodated in the neighbourhood. Colonel Wadfworth is about two and thirty, very tall and well made, and has a noble as well as agreeable countenance. He lived formerly on Long Hland ; and from his infancy was engaged in commerce and navagation: he had already made feveral voyages to the coaft of Guinea and the Weft Indies, when according to the American exprefiion, the prefent contejiation began. He then ferved in the army, and was in feveral actions; but General Wafhington difcovering that his talents might be ftill more ufsfully employed, made him Commiflary of proviiions. This is a military poft in America, and thofe who fill it, are as much reflected as the firft officer of the line. The Commiflary General is charged with all the purchafes, and the Quarter Mafter with all the conveyances : it is the latter who marks out the ground, eftablifhes the magazines, provides carriages, and diftribut.es the rations : it is alfo alfo on his receipts and orders that the Paymasters make their payments; he is, in ihort, properly fpeaking, a Military In-tendant, while the Commiflary General may be compared to a Munitionnaire with us, who Should undertake to provide forage as well as provisions, i think this arrangement as good as ours, though thefe departments have not been exempt from a-bufes, and even blame in the courfe of the prefent war; but it muft be obferved, that whenever the government wants political force, and the treafury is without money, the administration of affairs is always ruinous, and often culpable. This reflection alone will afford fufflcient fubject for the eu-logiumofCol.Wadfworth, when it is known that throughout all America, there is not one voice againft him, and that his name is never pronounced without the homage due to his talents and his probity. The particular confidence of General Washington puts the feal upon his merit *. The Marquis de la Fayette * The tranflator cannot forbear adding his tedimony to this brilliant but exaggerated culo. gium. Translator. Fayette judged extremely well therefore ift getting Mr. de Corny to employ him, in furnifhing the provisions neceflary for the French troops which were then expected. As foon as they were difembarked at Rhode Ifland, he again propofed him as the moft proper man in the world to afiift them in all their wants, but thofe who had the direction of the army did not at that time think proper to employ him. They even conceived fome fufpicions of him, from falfe ideas, and eagerly fubftituted for a Commiffary of understanding and reputation, undertakers, without fortune, and without character; who promifed every thing, performed nothing, and foon threw our affairs into con-fufion: firft by augmenting the price of articles by purchafes haftily made, and frequently in oppofition one to another, and finally by throwing into circulation, and offering at a great difcount, the bills of exchange they had engaged to receive for two-thirds of all their payments. Thefe bargains, and contracts fucceeded eventually fo ill, that we were obliged, but too late, to have recourfe to Mr. Wadfworth, who who refumed the affairs with as much noblenefs as he had quitted them; always as fuperior to injuries by his character, as he is by his talents to the innumerable obftacles that furround him. Another interesting perfonage was then at Hartford, and 1 went to pay him a vifit: this was Governor Trumbull; Governor, by excellence, for he has been fo thefe fifteen years, having been always rechofen at the end of every two years, and equally pof-fefving the public eiteem under the Englifh government, and under that of the Con-grefs. He is feventy years old ; his whole life is confecrated to bufinefs, which he paflioni.tely loves, whether important or not; or rather, with refpect to him, there is none of the latter defcription. He has all the funplicity in his drefs, all the importance, and even pedantry becoming the great magistrate of a fmall republic. He brought to my mind the burgomafters of Holland in the time of the Heinfiufes and the Barnevelts. I had been informed that he was employed in a hiilory of the pre-fent revolution, and I was curious to read Vol. I. D this this work; I told him that I hoped to fee him on my return at Lebanon, (his place of abode) and that I mould then requefl: per-miflion to look over his manufcript; but he allured me that he had only written the introduction, which he had addrefled to the Chavalier de la Luzerne, our ambafla-dor. I procured it during my flay at Philadelphia, but it is only an hiftorical recapitulation, rather fuperficial, and by no means free from partiality in the manner of reprefenting the events of the war. The only interefling fact I found in it, was in the journal of a Governor Winthrop, in the year 1670, where he fays, that the members of the council of Maflachuflets, being advifed by their friends in London to ad-drefs themfelves to the parliament, to whom the King then left a great deal of authority, as the befl: means of obtaining the redrefs of fome grievances, the council, after mature deliberation, thought proper to decline the propofal, reflecting, that if they put themfelves once under the protection of parliament, they fhould be o-bliged to fubmit to all the laws that aflem- bly bly might impofe, whether on the nation in general, or on the colonies in particular. Now, nothing can more ftrongly prove, that thefe colonies, even in the very origin, never acknowledged the authority of parliament, nor imagined they could be bound by laws of their making. The 17th, in the morning, I parted with regret from my hofl and the Duke de Lauzun; but it was not till after break-faft, for it is a thing unheard of in America to fet off without breakfaft. By this in-difpenfible delay I had an opportunity of making acquaintance with General Parjbns. He appeared to me a fenlible man, and he is fo efteemed in his country; but he has had little opportunity of difplaying great military talents; he was, in fact, what one muft never be, in war, or in any thing, unfortunate. His outfet was on Long Ifland, where he was taken, and he has iince been in all the bad affairs, fo that he is better known for his capacity in bufinefs, than for the fhare he has had in the events of the war. D 2 The 3 though it is a real jay; but the Americans are far from being fuccefsful in enriching their native language. On every thing which wanted an Englifh name, they have beftowed only a fimple defcriptive one: the jay is the blue bird, the cardinal, the red bird ; every water bird is a duck, from the teal to -the canard de dois, and to the large large black duck which we have not in Europe. They call them, red ducks, black ducks, wood ducks. It is the fame with re-:fpecl to their trees; the pine, the cypreffes, the firs, are all comprehended under the general name of fine-trees; and if the people characterize any particular tree, it is from the ufe to which it is applied, as the wall-nut * from its ferving to the con-itruction of wooden houfes, I could cite many other examples, but it is fufficient to obferve, that this poverty of language proves how much men's attention has been employed in objects of utility, and how much at the fame time it has been cir-cumfcribed by the only prevailing interelt, the defire of augmenting wealth, rather by dint of labour, than byinduftry. But to return to my jay; I refolved to make a trophy of it, in the manner of the favages, by fcalping it of its fkin and feathers; and, content * Here the Author is a little inaccurate refpecling the Englifh language, as the fame word ivall-nut, is applied to the fame tree in Englifh, and with no reference whatever to any fuch ufe. Translator. content with my victory, I piirfued my journey, which foon brought me amidft the fteepeft and moft difficult mountains i had yet feen. They are covered with woods as old as the creation, but which do not differ from ours. Thefe hills, heaped confufedly one upon another, oblige you to be continually mounting and defending, without your being able to diftinguifh, in this wild region, the fummit, which rifing above the reft, announces to you a conclufion to your labours. This diforder of Nature reminded me of the leftbns of him whom fhe has chofen for her confident and interpreter. The vifion of Mr. de Buffon appeared to me in thefe ancient deferts. He feemed to be in his proper element, and to point out to me, under a flight cruft formed by the deftrudtion of vegetables, the inequality of a globe of glafs, which has cooled after a long fufion. The waters, laid he, have done nothing here ; look around you, you will not find a Angle calcareous ftone ; every thing is quartz, granite, or flint. I made experiments on the ftones with aquafortis, and I could I could not help concluding, what has not obtained fuffieient credit in Europe, not only that he fpeaks well, but that he is always in the right. While I was meditating on the great procels of Nature, which employs fifty thoufand years in rendering the earth habitable, a new fpectacle, well calculated as a contrail to thofe which I had been contemplating, fixed my attention, and excited my curiofity: this was the work of a fingle man, who in the fpace of a year had cut down feveral arpents of wood, and had built himfelf a houfe in the middle of a pretty cxtenfive territory he had already cleared. 1 faw, for the firll time, what I have finee obferved a hundred times; for, in fact, whatever mountains I have climbed, whatever forefts I have traverfed, whatever bye-paths I have followed, 1 have never travelled three miles without meeting with a new fcttlement, either beginning to take form, or already in cultivation. The following is the manner of proceeding in thefe improvements, or new fettlements. Any man who is able to procure a. capital of five . . or N O RT H-AME RICA. 45 or fix hundred livres of our money, or about twenty-five pounds fterling, and who has ftrength and inclination to work, may go into the woods and purchafe a portion'of one hundred and fifty or two hundred acres of land, which feldom cofts him more than adollar or four fhilHngs and fix-pence an acre, a fmall part of which only he pays in ready money. There he conducts a cow, lome pigs, or a full fow, and two indifferent horfes which do not coft him more than four guineas each. To thefe precautions he adds that of having a provifion of flour and cyder. Provided with this firfl capital, he begins by felling all the fmaller trees, and fome ftrong branches of the large ones : thefe he makes ufe of as fences to the firfl: field he wifhes to clear; he next boldly attacks thofe im-menfe oaks, or pines, which one would take for the ancient lords of the territory he is ufurping; he frrips them of their barkj or lays them open all round with his axe. Thefe trees mortally wounded, are the next fpring robbed of their honors ; their leaves no longer fpring, their branches fall, fall, and their trunk becomes a hideous fkeleton. This trunk flill feems to brave the efforts of the new colonift j but where there are the fmallett chinks or crevices, it is furrounded by fire, and the flames con-fume what the iron was unable to deftroy. But it is enough for the fmall trees to be felled, and the great ones to lofe their fap» This object compleated, the ground is cleared ; the air and the fun begin to o-perate upon that earth which is wholly formed of rotten vegetables, and teems with the latent principles of production. The grafs grows rapidly; there is pafturage for the cattle the very firfl year; after which they are left to increafe, or frefh ones are brought, and they are employed in tilling a piece of ground which yields the enormous increafe of twenty or thirty fold. The next year the fame courfe is repeated; when, at the end of two years, the planter has wherewithal to fubfifl, and even to fend fome articles to market: at the end of four or five years, he completes the payment of his land, and finds himfelf a comfortable planter. Then his dwelling> which which at firft was no better than a large hut formed by a fquare of the trunks of trees, placed one upon another, with the intervals filled by mud, changes into a handfome wooden houfe, where he contrives more convenient, and certainly much cleaner apartments than thofe in the greateit part of our fmall towns. This is the work of three weeks or a month. His firft habitation, that of eight and forty hours. I fhall be afked, perhaps, how one man, or one family can be fo quickly lodged ? i anfwer, that in America a man is never alone, never an ifolated being. The neighbours, for they are every where to be found, make it a point of hofpitality to aid the new farmer. A cafk of cyder drank in common, and with gaiety, or a gallon of rum, are the only recompence for thefe fervices. Such are the means by which North America, which one hundred years ago was nothing but a vaft foreft, is peopled with three millions of inhabitants; and fuch is the immenfe, and certain benefit of agriculture, that notwithstanding the war, it not only maintains it&lf where- ever ever it has been ettablifhed, but it extends to places which feems the lead: favourable to its introduction. Four year ago one might have travelled ten miles in the woods I traverfed, without feeing a fingle habitation. Harrington is the firft townfiip I met with on my road. This place is iixteen miles from Farmington, and eight from Litchfield. Four miles before we come to this lafl town, we pafs a wooden bridge over the river of IVaierbury; this river is pretty large, but not navigable. Litchfield, or the Meeting-houfe of Litchfield, is fituated on a large plain more elevated than the fur-rounding heights; about fifty houfes pretty near each other, with a large fquare, or rather area, in the middle, announces the progrefs of this town, which is already the county town; for America is divided into diitricts, called Counties, in fome Provinces, as in England. It is in the capital of thefe counties that the court of fefiions is held, where the Sheriff prefides, and where the Chief Judges come every four months to decide civil and criminal affairs. Half a mile mile on this fide of Litchfield, i remarked, on the right, a barrack, furrounded by palifades, which appeared to me like a guard-houfe ; i approached it, and faw in this fmall inclofure ten pieces of brafs cannon, a mortar, and a fwivel. This i learnt was a part of Burgoyne's artillery, which fell to the mare of the ftate of Connecticut, and was kept in this place as the moft conveniently fituated for the army, and at the fame time the leaft expofed to the incurfions of the Englifh. It was four o'clock, and the weather very bad, when I came near the houfe of a Mr.. Seymour, to whom Mr. Lewis had given me a letter, alluring me that I mould find better accommodation than at the taverns ; but Mr. Lynch, who had gone on a little before to make enquiries, informed me, that Mr. Seymour was from home, and that from all appearance his wife would be much embarraifed to receive us. The American women, in fact, are very little accuftomed to give themfelves trouble, either of mind or body; the care of their children, that of making tea, and Vol. I. E feeing feeing the houfe kept clean, constitutes the whole of their domettic province. i determined therefore to go flraight to the tavern, where I was Hill unlucky enough not to find Mr. Philips the landlord: fo that I was received, at leaft, with indifference, which often happens in the inns in America, when they are not in much frequented fituations : travellers are there conlidered as giving them more trouble than money. The reafon of this is, that the inn-keepers are all of them cultivators, at their eafe, who do not Stand in need of this flight profit: the greatest number of thofe who follow this profefiion are even compelled to it by the laws of the country, which have wifely provided, that on all the great roads there mail be a public houfe at the end of every fix miles, for the accommodation of travellers. A Still greater difficulty I had at Mrs. Philips's, was, to find room for nine horfes i had with me. The Quarter-Matter at length made them place fome of them in the Stable of a private perfon, and every thing was arranged to my fatisfaction, and that that of my hoftefs. 1 cannot help remarking, that nothing can be more ufeful than fuch an officer, as well for the fervice of the ftate, as for that of any traveller of distinction. I have already fpoken of the functions of the Quarter-Mafter-General, but I did not mention that he names a DeputyQuarter-Mafter-General'in each ftate, and that the latter, in his turn, names an alTiftant in each district to act in his room. My horfes and baggage were fcarcely under cover, when a dreadful ftorm came on, which however was in my favour, as it brought home Mr. Philips: every thing now aifumed a new face in the houfe, the pantry flew open, the negroes redoubled their activity, and we foon faw a fupper preparing with the moft favourable au-fpices. Mr. Philips is an Irifliman, tranf-lated to America, where he has already made a fortune ; he appears to be cunning and adroit; and is cautious in talking to ftrangers: in other refpects, he is more gay than the Americans, and even given to irony; a turn of mind but little known in America, and for which they have no E 2 fpecific fpecific name, any more than for the different fpecies of trees and birds. Mrs. Philips, now feconded by her hufband, and more miftrefs of her work, foon re-fumed her natural ferenity. She is of American birth, and a true Yankee,'* as her humand told us; her face is gentle and a-greeable, and her manners correipond entirely with her features. The * This is a name given by way of derifion, and even fimple pleafantry, to the inhabitants of the four eaftern ftates. It is thought to come from a favagc people who formerly occupied this country, and dwelt between the Connecticut river, and the ftate of MafTachufiets. The name of Buck-Jkin is given in the fame manner to the inhabitants of Virginia, becaufe their anceflors were hunters, and fold buck, or rather deer Ikins, for we fhall fee in the fecond volume that there are no roebucks in Virginia......■ The Englifh army ferving in America, and England herfelf, will long have reafon to remember the contemptuous ufe they made of this term in the late unhappy war, and the fevere retort they met with on the occafion.—The Englijh army, at Bunkers-Hill, marched to theinfulting tune of " Yankee doodle," but from that period it became the air of triumph, the Io Pocan of America. It was cuckoo to the Britifh ear. Translator. The 19th I left Litehfield between nine and ten in the morning, and purfued my journey through the mountains, partly on foot and partly on horfeback ; for having got into the habit of travelling from morning 'till night without flopping, i from time to time took pity on my horfes, and fpared them in thofe deferts which feemed formed for the roebuck rather than for carriages and laden horfes. The name of the firft town I came to, proclaims it to be of recent origin; it is called IVaflrington. A new county being formed in the woods of Connecticut, the ftate has beftowed on it this refpectable name, the memory of which will indifputably exift much longer than the town intended to perpetuate it. There is another county of Wamington in Virginia, belonging to the Protector of America; but its great diftance from this new city prevents all poffible inconvenience arifing from the identity of name.* This capital of a riling county has aMeeting- E 3 houfe, * Other ftates have likewife commemorated the virtues of this great man in the fame manner. Translator. 54 TRAVELSIN houfe, andfeven or eight houfes collected; it is in a beautiful fituation, and the cultivation appears rich and well managed ; a rivulet, which runs at the bottom of the valley, renders the meadows more fruitful than they generally are in mountainous countries.* From hence to Litchfield, they reckon, * Two years after, the Author returned by this place, where he had only fcen a few houfes, and a fingle inn. The number was almoft doubled, and there were three very good and well accommodated inns. He has remarked the fame progrefs through almoft all the interior parts of the country, from the bay of Chefapeak to Pifcataqua, that is, through a fpacc of fix hundred miles. This progrefs is owing, in great meafure, even to the misfortunes of the war. The Englifh being mailers of the fea, made, or had it in their power to make, what they called depredatory expeditions. Marks of thefe horrid expeditions were everywhere to be met with in travelling within fifty miles of the coafts or rivers. In one of them it was agitated by the Generals Garth, 7yr dcr and conflagrations were perpetually the incidents reckon, feventeen miles : i had ten miles to go to reach Moor houfe s tavern, where i intended fleeping, but not taking the fhorteft. road, i travelled at leaft twelve, and always among the mountains. That E 4 which which occurred. Hence it happened that the citizens who were the moft eafy in their circumftances, that is to fay, thofe who, uniting commerce with agriculture, had their plantations near the coalls, or the mouths of rivers, abandoned them for more tranquil habitations in tjie interior part of the country. -The little capital they tranfported with them was employed in clearing out new fettlements, which foon became profperous. On the other hand, communications by fea becoming impracticable, it was neceffary to make ufe of conveyances through the country : the roads in confequence were made better, and were more frequented; inns multiplied, as well as the eftablifhment of all workmen ufeful for travellers, fuch as wheelwrights, blackfmiths, &c. So that, befides liberty and independence, the United States will derive this advantage from the war, that commerce and population will be greatly increafed, and that lands, which had long remained barren, have been fo fuccefsfully cultivated, as to prevent them from being again abandoned.—r-r-The Tranflator had the opportunity of making the fame remarks, not only in a journey from Virginia to New Hampflnre, but in many of the interior parts of the continent. Translator. which I took brought me to a pretty considerable hamlet, called New Milford-Bor-dering Skirt, or the confines of Milford county, and from thence into fo deep and wild a valley, that I thought myfelf com-pleatly loft, until an opening in the wood made me perceive, firft a meadow Surrounded by fences, then a houfe, and foon after another, and at length a charming valley, with feveral confiderable farms, covered with cattle. I foon crofted this fpot which belongs to the county of Kent, as well as the rivulet which flows through the middle of it, and after travelling three miles farther in the mountains, 1 reached the banks of the Houfatonick', or the river of Stratford. It is unneceflary to remark that the firft is the genuine name, that is, the name given it by the favages, the ancient inhabitants of the country. This river is not navigable, and is ealily forded near BulVs iron works. We then turn to the left and pafs along its banks j but if one is feniible to the beauties of Nature, if on feeing the paintings of Fernet and Robert, one has learnt to admire its models, it is impoffi- ble not to be loft in admiration at the view of the charming landfcape, formed by the combination of the forges, of the fall of water which feems to work them, and of the variegated profpecl: of trees and rocks, with which this pi&urefque fcene is em-bellifhed. At the diftance of a mile we a-gain pafs the fame river on a wooden bridge; we foon meet with another called Ten-mile river, which falls into this, and which we follow for two or three miles, and then Come in fight of feveral handfome houfes, forming a part of the diftrict called The Oblong. It is a long narrow flip of land, ceded by Connecticut to the ftate of New York, in exchange for fome other territory. The inn 1 was going to is in Ihe Oblong, but two miles farther on. It is kept by Colonel Moorhouje; for nothing is more common in America than to fee an innkeeper a Colonel: they are in general militia Colonels, chofen by the militia themfelves, who feldom fail to entruft the command to the moft efteemed, and moft creditable citizens*. I prefled * At Leefburgh in Virginia, in my way to vifit General Gates, 1 {laid three days at the houfe of i prefled forward my horfes, and hurried on to get the ftart of a traveller on horfe-back, who had joined me on the road, and who would have had the fame right with myfelf to the lodgings, had we arrived together. I had the fatisfacfion, however, to fee him purfue his journey-, bat foon learnt, with concern, that the little inn where I propofed to pafs that night, was occupied by thirteen farmers, and two hundred and fifty oxen coming from New Hampfhire. The oxen were the leaft inconvenient part of the company, as they were left to graze in a meadow hard by, without even a dog to guard them; but the farmers, their horfes, and dogs, were in pofleflion of the inn. They were conveying to the army a part of the contingent of provisions furniflied by New Hampfhire. This contingent is a fort of tax divided amongft, all the inhabitants, on fome of whom the impofition amounts to an Englishman, a native of Briftol, a man of five foot high, who united, in his own perfon, the offices of Colonel, Jujllce of the Peace, Parlfo-Ckrk, and Inkccpcr, nor was he deficient in any of thefe functions. Translator, to one hundred and fifty, on others to one hundred, or eighty pounds of meat, according to their abilities; fo that they agree amongft themfelves to furnifti a larger, or fmaller fized ox, no matter which, as each animal is weighed. Their conveyance to the army is then entrufted to fome farmers, and drovers. The farmers are allowed about a dollar a day, and their expences, as well as thofe of the cattle, are paid them on their return, according to the receipts they are obliged to produce from the inn-keepers where they have halted. The ufual price is from three-pence to five-pence Englifh per night fpr each ox, and in proportion at noon. I informed myfelf of thefe particulars whilft my people were endeavouring to find me lodgings; but all the rooms, and all the beds were occupied by thefe farmers, and I was in the greateft diftrefs, when a tall, fat man, the principal perfon amongft them, being informed who I was, came to me, and affured me, that neither he, nor his companions would ever iuffer a Fiench General Officer to want a bed, and that they would would rather fleep on the floor; adding, that they were accuflomed to it, and that it would be attended with no inconvenience. In replv, I told them I was a military man, and as much accuflomed as themfelves to make the earth my bed. We had long debates on this point of politeffe ; theirs was ruftic, but more cordial and affecting than the befl turned compliments. The refult was, that I had a two-bedded room for myfelf and my Aides de Camp. But our acquaintance did not terminate there : after parting from each other, I to take fome re-pofe, they to continue drinking their grog and cyder, they came into my room. I was then employed in tracing my route by the map of the country ; this map excited their curiofity. They faw there with furprize and fatisfacfion the places they had paffed through. They afked me if they were known in Europe, and if it wras there I had bought my maps. On my afluring them that we knew America as well as the countries adjoining to us, they feemed much pleafed ; but their joy was without bounds, when they faw New Hampfhire, their their country, on the map. They called their companions who were in the next room ; and mine was foon filled with the ftrongeft and moft robuft men i had hitherto feen in America. On my appearing ftruck with their fize and ftature, they told me that the inhabitants of New Hampshire were ftrong and vigorous, for which there were many reafons ; that the air was excellent, their fole occupation was agriculture, and above all that their blood was unmixed : this country being inhabited by ancient families who had emigrated from England. We parted good friends, touching, or rather fhaking hands in the Engliih fafhion, and they allured me that they were very happy to have an opportunity, to Jhake hands with a French General *. The * The Tranilator, who as a difinterefted, and determined friend to the rights of mankind, and to the principles of the Engliih Conftitution, could not but willi fuccefs to America in her glorious ftruggle ; as a native of England had many limilar occafions for intcrefting reflections on the viciffitude of human affairs, and of the wickednefs of thofe who too frequently direct them. But.in no inftance was this more linking than in Virginia, where he faw th© The horfe which carried my portman> teau, not travelling fo faft as me, did not come French army encamped on the very fpot, from whence Braddock fet out on his unfortunate expedition againft the French, five and twenty years before. The traces of his encampment were ftill evident. In this expedition he was not only well feconded by the Provincials, but had their advice been followed, his fuccefs would have been very different. It is worth observing too, that no lefs than four of the moftdif-tinguilhed of the American Generals, were with him on the expedition. General Wafhington was his Aide de Camp, and after dilTuading him as much as poffible from forming his army in the European manner, (the miflake which proved fatal to him) received him when mortally wounded in his arms ; General Lee, was in a detached party from the main body of the army ; General Gates ferved in the army, and General Stephens was fhot through the body in the engagement: Lee artd Gates were Englifhmen, and Stephens a Scotchman ; all the four were now become inhabitants of Virginia. On the anniverfary of that unfortunate day, the Tranflator dined in the back part of the country at General Gates's, with General Stephens, from whom he had many curious particulars ; nor was the wonderful revolution in the affairs and minds of men, the fubjedt of lefs anxious difcuflion with them, than with the Tranflator. At the time he is fpeaking of; indeed, during their whole Hay, nothing could be more cordial and fincere than the kind reception given to the French by the Virginians. Translator. come up till the next morning, fo that it was ten o'clock on the 20th of December, before I could fet out. Three miles from Moorhoufe's is a very high hill; we then defcend, but not quite fo much as we af-cended; the road here is over elevated ground, leaving large mountains on the left. The country is well cultivated; affording the profpecl: of feveral pretty farms, with fome mills ; and notwithstanding the war, Hobe/ townfhip is building, inhabited chiefly by Dutch people, as well as the greateft part of the ftate of New York, which formerly belonged to the republic of Holland, who exchanged it for Surinam. My intention was to fleep five miles on this fide of Fifhkill, at Colonel Griffin's tavern. I found him cutting and preparing wood for fences : he affured me his houfe was full, which was eafy to be believed, for it was very fmall. I continued my journey therefore, and reached Fifh-kill about four o'clock. This town, in which there are not more than fifty houfes in the fpace of two miles, has been long the principal depot of the American army. It is there they have placed their magazines, their hofpitals, their workfhops, Sec. but but all thefe form a town of themfelves, compofed of handfome large barracks, built in the wood at the foot of the mountains % for the Americans, like the Romans in many refpects, have hardly any other winter quarters, than wooden towns, or barricaded camps, which may be compared to the hiemalia of the Romans. As for the pofition of Fifh-kill, that it was a poft of great importance is evident from the campaign of 1777. It is clear that the plan of the Engliih was to render themfelves mafters of the whole courfe of the North River, and thus to feparate the Eastern and Weftcrn States. It was ne-ceffary therefore to fecure a poft on that river ; Weft Point was made choice of as the moft important to fortify, and Fifhkill as the place the belt adapted to the eftab-lifhment of the principal depot of provifions, ammunition, &c. thefe two pofitions are connected together. I fhall foon fpeak of Welt Point, but I (hall remark here, that Fifh-kill has all the qualities neceflary for a place of depot, for it is fituated on the high road from Connecticut, and near the North River, and is protected at the fame time by a chain a chain of inaccessible mountains, which occupy a fpace of more than twenty miles between the Croien river and that of Fifhkill. The approach of winter quarters, and the movement of the troops occasioned by this circumftance, made lodgings very fcarce : it was with difficulty I found any, but I got at laft into a middling inn, next by an old Mrs. Egremont. The houfe was not fo clean as they ufually are in America ; but the moft difagreeable circumftance was the want of feveral panes of glafs. In fact, of all repairs, that of windows is the moft difficult, in a country where, from the fcattered situation and diftance of the houfes from each other, it is fometimes necelTary to fend twenty miles for a glazier. We made ufe of every thing that came to hand to patch up the windows in the beft way we could, and we made an excellent fire. Soon after, the Doctor of the hofpital, who had feen me pafs, and knew me to be a French General-Officer, came with great politenefs to fee if I wanted any thing, and to offer me every fervice in his power. I Vol. I. F make make ufe of the Englifh word Doctor, be-caufe the diltlnction of Surgeon and Phyfi-cian is as little known in the army of Wafhington, as in in that of Agamemnon. We read in Homer, that the Phyfician Macaon himfelf drefTed the wounds ; but our Phy-ficians, who are no Greeks, will not follow that example. The Americans conform to the ancient cuflom, and it anfwers very well; they are well pleafed with their Doctors, whom they hold in the highest consideration. Doctor Craig, whom i knew at Newport, is the intimate friend of General Wafhington; and the Marquis de la Fayette had very lately an Aide de Camp, Colonel Mac-Henry, who the year before performed the functions of Doctor in the fame army *. 7 he * My old friend Rumncy, whom I had the hap-pinefs to meet with after an abfence of twenty years, during which time he has been fettled at Alexandria in Virginia, (whofe refpectable father has been forty years mailer of the Latin fchool at Alnwick, in Northumberland, and his uncle Clergyman of Berwick,) had fervcd more than one campaign as Colonel, Doctor, and Surgeon in the army ; he is held in the higheft efteem, and is on terms of the The 21ft, at nine in the morning, the Quarter-Mailer of Fim-kill, who had come the night before with the utmoft politenefs to offer me his fervices, and to place two centir.els at the door, an honour i refufed in fpight of every thing he could fay, called upon me; and after drinking tea according to cuflom, he conducted me to fee the barracks, the magazines, and work-houfes of the different workmen employed in the fervice of the army. Thefe barracks are wooden houfes, well built, and well covered, having garrets, and even cellars, F 2 fo greateft friendfhip with General Wafhington, at whofe houfe I fpent fome days with him. feut it is tmpoflible to conceive the eftimation in which alt the medical men, attached to the army, were held during the war, by the people in general, as well as the military. I travelled from Philadelphia to the American camp on the North river, with Mr. Craig'u of that department, a moft refpectable young man, and was witnefs to the grateful acknowledgments his countrymen feemed every where to bellow on him, for the fervice he was rendering their fuffeiing fellow citizens, nor indeed could any thing exceed the zeal, perfevcrance, and attention of this department under the moft difcouraging circum-flances.. Translator. fo that we fhould form a falfe idea, were we judge of them by what we fee in our armies, when our troops are barraques. The Americans fometimes make them like ours, but this is merely to cover the foldiers when they are more within reach of the , enemy. They call thefe huts, and they are very expert in constructing one and the other. They require only three days to build the former, reckoning from the moment they begin to cut down the trees j the others are iinifhed in four and twenty hours. They consist of little walls made of ftones heaped up, the intervals of which are filled with earth kneaded with water, or fimply with mud; a* few planks form the roof, but what renders them very warm is that the chimney occupies the outerfide, and that you can only enter by a fmall door, at the fide of the chimney. The army has pafTed whole winters under fuch huts, without fullering, and without fick-nefs. As for the barracks, or rather the little military town of Fifh-kill, fuch ample provision is made for every tiling which the fervice and difcipline of the army may require, require, that a prevote and a prifon are built there, furrounded by pallifades. One gate only affords accefs to the incloiure of the prevote; and before it is placed a guard-houfe. Through the window-bars of the prifon, i diftinguifhed fome prifoners, with the Englifh uniform; they were about thirty foldiers, or regimented Tories. Thefe wretches had accompanied the favages in the incurfion they had made by LakeOntario and the Mohawk river. They had burnt upwards of two hundred houfes, killed the horfes and cows, and deftroyed above one hundred thoufand bufhels of corn. The gallows mould have been the reward of thefe exploits, but the enemy having alfo made fome prifoners, reprifals were dreaded, and thefe robbers were only confined in rigorous and clofe imprifonment. After palling fome time in vifiting thefe different fettlements, I got on horfeback, and under the conduct of a guard which the Quarter-Mafter gave me, I entered the wood and followed the road to Weft Point, where I wifhed to arrive for dinner. Four cr five miles from Fifh-kill, i faw fome F 3 felled felled trees, and an opening in the wood, which on coming nearer i difcovered to be a camp, or rather huts inhabited by fome hundred invalid foldiers. Thefe invalids were all in very good health ; but it is neceffary to obferve, that in the American armies, every foldier is called an invalid, who is unfit for fervice: now thefe had been fent here becaufe their cloaths where truly invalids. Thefe honeft fellows, for i will not fay creatures, (they know too well how to fuffer, and are fuifering in too noble a caufe) were not covered, even with rags ; but their fteady countenances, and their arms in good order, feemed to fup-ply the defect of cloaths, and to difplay nothing but their courage and their patience. Near this camp i met with Major Jjiman Aid de Camp to General Heath, with whom i was particularly intimate at Newport, and Mr. de Ville Franche, a French officer, ferving as an Engineer at Weft-Point. General Heath had been informed of my arrival by an exprefs, fent without my knowledge, by the Quarter-Mafter of Filh-kill, and he had difnatched thefe two officers officers to meet me. I continued my journey in the woods, in a road hemmed in on both fides by very fteep hills, which feemed admirably adapted for the dwelling of bears, and where in fact they often make their appearance in winter. We availed ourfelves at length of a lefs difficult part of thefe mountains to turn to the Westward and approach the river, but which is ftili invisible. Defoending them {lowly, at the turning of the road, my eyes were ftruck with the moft magnificent picture i had ever beheld. It was a view of the North-river, running in a deep channel formed by the mountains, through which in former ages it had forced its patfage. The fort of Weft-Point and the formidable batteries which defend it fix the at teuton on the Weftern bank, but on lifting your eyes you behold on every fide lofty fummits, thick fet with redoubts, and batteries. I leaped off my horfe, and viewed them a long time with my fpying glafs, the only method of acquiring a knowledge of the whole of the fortifications with which this important poft is furrounded. Two lofty F 4 heights, heights, on each of which a large redoubt is constructed, protect the Eastern bank. Thefe two^works have no other name than the Northern, and the Southern Redoubts; but from the fort of West-Point properly fo called, which is on the edge of the river, to the very top of the mountain at the foot of which it ttands, are iix different forts, all in the form of an amphitheatre, and protecting each other. They compelled me to leave this place, where i fhould willingly have fpent the whole day, but I had not travelled a mile before I faw the reafon of their hurrying me. I perceived a corps of infantry of about two thoufand five hundred men, ranged in a line of battle on the bank of the river. They had just paffed it to proceed by Kingsbridge, and cover a grand foraging party which it was propofed to fend towards the White-Plains, and to the gates of New York. General Stark, who beat the Engliih at Bennington, had the command of thefe troops, and General Heath was at their head ; he was defirous of letting me fee them before they marched. I paffed before the ranks, being faluted faluted with the efpontoon by all the officers, and the drums beating a march, an honour paid in America to Major-Generals, who are the firfl: in rank, though it only correfponds with our MarechaldcCamp* The troops were ill cloathed, but made a good appearance; as for the officers they were every thing that could be wifhed, as well for their countenance, as for their manner of marching, and giving the command. After palling the front of the line, they broke it, filed off before me, and continued their route. General Heath conducted me to the river, where his barge was waiting to carry me to the other fide. A new fcene now opend to my view, not lefs fublime than the former. We descended with our faces towards the north: on that fide is an ifland covered with rocks, which feem to clofe the channel of the river, but you foon perceive, through a fort of embrasure formed by its bed in feparat-ing immenfe mountains, that it comes obliquely from the westward, and that it has made a fudden turn round Weft-Point to open itfelf a paffage, and to endeavour to gain gain the lea, without making hereafter the fmalleft bend. The eye carrying itfelf towards the North-Bay and Conjtitution IJland, (the ille i have been fpeaking of) again perceives the river, diftinguifhes New Wind/or on its left bank, and is then attracted by different amphitheatres formed by the Apa-lachian Mountains, the neareft fummits of which, that terminate the fcene, are diftant upwards of thirty miles. We embarked in the barge, and pafled the river, which is about a mile wide. As we approached the oppolite fhore, the fort of Weft-Point, which, feen from the eaftern bank, feemed humbly fituated at the foot of the mountains, elevated itfelf to our view, and appeared like the fummit of a fteep rock; this rock however was only the bank of the river. Had i not remarked that the chinks on it, in feveral places, were embra-fures for cannon, and formidable batteries, i fhould foon have been apprifed of it by thirteen 24-pounders, which were fired fucceiiively. This was a military falute, with which General Heath was pleafed to honour me in the name of the Thirteen States, - States. Never was honour more commanding, nor more majeftic; every gun, was, after a long interval, echoed back from the opposite bank, with a noife nearly equal to that of the difcharge itfelf. When we recollect that two years ago Weft-Point was a defert, almoft inacceflible, that this defert has been covered with fortrelTes and artillery, by a people, who fix years before had fcarcely ever feen cannon; when we reflect that the fate of the United States depended in great meafure on this important poft; and that a horfe dealer *, transformed into a General, or rather become a hero, always intrepid, always victorious, but always purchasing victory at the price of his blood; that this extraordinary man, at once the honour, and the opprobrium of his country, actually fold, and expected to deliver th:s Palladium of American liberty to the Englifh ; when fo many extraordinary circumftances are brought together in the physical and moral order of things, it may easily be imagined that I had fufficient exercife for reflection, and that I did not tire on the road. * Benedict Arnold. Translator. On landing, or rather on climbing the rocks on the banks of the river, we were received by Colonel Lamb, and Major Bowman, both officers of artillery; by Major Fifh, a handfome young man, witty and well formed; and Major Franks, for-, merly Aid de Camp to Arnold. The latter had been tried and honourably acquitted by a council of war, demanded by himfelf after the efcape and treafon of his General. He fpeaks good French, as well as Colonel Lamb, which they both learnt in Canada, where they were fettled.* The latter received a mufquet fhot in his jaw at the attack of Quebec, fighting by the fide of Arnold, and having early penetrated into the upper town. Preifed by dinner time we went immediately to General Heath's barrack. The fort, which was begun on much too extenfive a plan, has been fince curtailed by Mr. du Portail, fo that this barrack is no longer within its precincts. Around it are fome magazines, and farther to the north-weft, barracks for three or four * Mr. franks is the fon of a Canadian Jew. Translator. four battalions; they are built of wood, and fimilar to thofe of Fiih-kill. Whilft dinner was preparing, General Heath took me into a little clofet, which ferved him as a bedchamber, and (hewed me the inductions he had given General Stark for the grand foraging party he commanded. This expedition required a movement of troops in a fpace of more than fifty miles 5 and i can affirm, that they were as well conceived as any inftructions of that kind 1 have ever feen, either in print, or manu-icript. He fliewed me alfo a letter in which General Washington only ordered him to fend this detachment, and pointed out its object, without communicating to him, however, another operation connected with it, which was to take place on the right bank of the North-River. From various intelligence, by indirect ways, General Heath was perfuaded, that in cafe the enemy collected his force to interrupt the forage, Mr. de la Fayette would attack Staten IJland, and he was not deceived ; but Mr. Wafhington contented himfelf with announcing generally fome movements on his fide, adding, that he waited for a more fafe method of communicating the nature of them to General Heath. Secrecy is strictly obferved in the American »army; very few perfons are in the confidence of the Commander, and in general there is lefs faid of the operations of war, of what we call news, than in the French army. General Heath is fo well known in our little army, that I ihould difpenfe with entering into particulars reflecting him, if this Journal, in which 1 endeavour to recollect what little I have feen in this country, were not deftined at the fame time to fatisfy the curiofity of others who have not croifed the fea, and to whofe a-mufement I am defirous of contributing. This General was one of the firfl who took up arms, at the blockade of Boston, and having at firft. joined the army in the quality of Colonel, he was immediately raifed to the rank of Major-General. He was at that time a fubftantial farmer or rich gentleman ; for we mutt not lofe fight of the distinction, that in America, farmer means cultivator, in opposition to merchant, which every every man is called who is employed in commerce. Here, as in England, by gentleman, is underftood a perfon poSfeiTing a considerable freehold, or land of his own. General Heath, then, was a farmer or gentleman, and reared, on his eftate, a great number of cattle, which he fold for Ships provisions. But his natural taite led him to the Study of war; to which he has principally applied himfelf lince the period in which his duty has concurred with his inclination ; he has read our belt authors on tactics, and efpecially the Tactics of Mr. Guibert, which he holds in particular estimation. His fortune enabling him to continue in the fervice, notwithstanding the want of pay, which has compelled the lets rich to quit it, he has ferved the whole war ; but accident has prevented him from being prefent on the moft important occasions. His countenance is noble and open ; and his bald head, as well as his corpulence, give him a Striking refem-blance to the late Lord Granby. He writes well and with eafe ; has great fenfibility of mind, and a frank and amiable character ; in TARVELS IN in Short, if he has not been in the way of difplaying his talents in a&ion, it may be at lean: afTerted, that he is well adapted to the bufinefs of the cabinet. His eftate is near Bolton, and he commanded there when Burgoyne's army were brought prifoners thither. It was he who put the Englifh General Philips in arreft,* for want of * It may now be mentioned, without any invidious imputation, that the conduit of too many of the Britifh officers, when prifoners in America, was as injurious to the honour and intcrefl of their country, as deftitute of good fenfe and common policy ; of this the Translator faw many examples which made him blufli for England. At Lancafter in Pennfylvania, in particular, he was prcfent at a court of enquiry, inftituted into the conduct of fome Britifh officers who had broken their parole more than once, and infulted and beat tile inhabitants of the country; nothing could be clearer or more decifive than the evidence, nor more polite and indulgent than the behaviour of the American officers who conflituted the court, yet were they openly infulted and contemptuoufly treated by thefe magnanimous gentleman officers. Their names are with-held by the Tranilator, on account of their families; they were a part of the army taken at York-Town, with Cornwallis. Captain Grenville of the Guards, and others who conducted themfelves really like genlemen, can fay how well they were treated. Translator. of refpect to the Congrefs; his conduct on this occafion was firm and noble. On our arrival at Rhode Ifland, he was fent there 5 and foon after, when Clinton was preparing to attack us, he affembled and commanded the militia, who came to our affiflance. During his (lay at Newport, he lived honourably, and in great friend-fhip with all the French officers. In the month of September, General Wafhington, on difcovering the treafon of Arnold, fent for him, and gave him the command of Weft-Point; a mark of confidence the more honourable, as none but the honefteft of men was proper to fucceed, in this command, the bafeft of all traitors. After giving this advantageous but juft idea of General Heath, I cannot but congratulate myfelf on the friendfhip, and thorough good understanding which fub-fifted between us during his ftay at Newport, where my knowledge of the Englifh language rendered me the medium in all affairs we had to tranfact with him. It was with real fatisfaction he received me at Weft-Point; he gave me a plain but very Vol. I. G good good dinner. It is true there was not a drop of wine; but I find that with excellent cyder, and toddy, one may very well difpenfe with it. As foon as we rofe from table, we hurried to avail ourfelves of the remaining daylight to examine the fortifications. The firft fort we met with above Weft-Point, on the declivity of the mountain, is called Fort-Putnam, from the General of that name. It is placed on a rock very fteep on every fide; the ramparts were at firft conftrucled with trunks of trees % they are rebuilt with ftone, and are not quite finifhed. There is a powder magazine bomb-proof, a large ciftern, and fouterrains for the garrifon. Above this fort, and when we reach the loftieft fum-mit, there are three ftrong redoubts lined with cannon, at three different eminences, each of which would require a formal fiege. The day being nearly fpent, I contented myfelf with judging by the eye of the very intelligent manner in which they are calculated for mutual protection. Fort Wallis, whither General Heath conducted me, was nearer and more accefiible. Though it be placed placed lower than fort Putnam, it ftill commands the river to the fouth. It is a large pentagonal redoubt, built of huge trunks of trees ; it is picketed, and lined with artillery. Under the fire of this redoubt, and lower down, is a battery of cannon, to range more obliquely the courfe of the river. This battery is not clofed at the gorge, fo that the enemy may take, but can never keep it; which leads me to remark that this is the bell: method in all field fortifications. Batteries placed in works, have two inconveniences: the firft is, that if thefe works be ever fo little elevated, they do not graze fufficiently; and the fecond, that the enemy may at once attack the redoubt and the battery: whereas the latter being exterior and protected by the redoubt, mult be firft attacked; in which cafe it is fupported by troops who have nothing to fear for themfelves, and whofe fire is commonly better directed, and does more execution. A battery yet lower, and nearer to the river, compleats the fecurity of the fouthern part. G 2 In In returning to Weft-Point, we faw a redoubt that is fuffered to go to ruin, as being ufelefs, which in fact it is. It was night when we got home, but what I had to obferve did not require daylight. It is a vaft fouterrain, formed within the fort of Weft-Point, where not only the powder and ammunition neceffary for this poft are kept in referve, but the depofit of the whole army. Thefe magazines compleatly filled, the numerous artillery one fees in thefe different fortreffes, the prodigious labour neceffary to tranfport, and pile up on fteep rocks, huge trunks of trees, and enormous hewn ftones, imprefs the mind with an idea of the Americans very different from that which the Englifh miniftry have laboured to give to Parliament. A Frenchman would be furprized that a nation, juft rifing into notice, fhould have expended in two years upwards of twelve millions (half a million fterling) in this defert. He would be ftill more fo on learning that thefe fortifications cojl nothing to the flats, being built by the foldiers, who received not the the /mailed gratification, and who did not even receive theirJlatedpay; * but he would doubtlefs feel fome fatisfa&ion, in hearing G 3 that * The zeal, perfeverance, and, I may fay, honour, which fhone forth in the American army, in the moft arduous and extraordinary circumftances, almoft furpafs credibility. They were in general moft wretchedly cloathed, feldom received any pay, were frequently in want of every thing, from the public fcarcity of money, and the confequent indifference of the contractors, and had daily temptations thrown out to them of the moft alluring nature. This army was compofed of all nations, yet they feemed to be pervaded but by one fpirit, and fought, and a&ed with as much enthufiaftic ardor, as the moft en« lightened and determined of their leaders.^ We all remember, when their intolerable diftrefles drove part of them to revolt in 1780, when Clinton fent emiflaries among them, with the moft advantageous offers, and made a movement of his army to favour their defertion, that they difdainfully refufed his offers, appealing to their honour, and delivered up, with indignation, the Britifh emifTaries, who were executed at Trentin. Mr. Hugh Shield, and Mr. John Maxwell Nejbett, two Irifh gentlemen fettled a tPhiladelphia, who were entrufted with the care of them, informed the Tranflator, that one of them was an officer of fome note in the Britifh army^ On the morning of their execution, this gentleman defired Mr. Shield to accompany him to the neceffary, wherein he ftaid fome time, apparently with that thefe beautiful and well contrived works, were planned and executed by two French Engineers, Mr. du Portail, and Mr. du Gouvion, who received no more pay than their workmen. But in this wild and warlike abode, where one feems tranfported to the bottom of Thrace and the dominions of the god Mars, we found, on our return in the evening, fome pretty women, and an excellent di(h of tea. Mrs. Boman, wife of the Major of that name, and a young filter who the hopes of effecting his efcapc, but this failing, he addrelfed that gentleman as follows. " I fee, Sir, *' that you are faithful to the trull repofed in you, '* and that my die is call; but as you are a gentle-M man, I hope you will not fail to let General *' Clinton know, that my fidelity is unfhaken, that " 1 die a loyal fubjedt to George the Third, and that u I hope he will not forget my family." He then made a hearty breakfaft of cold beef, and was executed with his companion on a tree near the river Delaware, full of courage, and making the fame declarations. To account for the fubordinate fituation in which MefTrs. Ncfbitt and Shield appear to have actxd on this occafion, it is neceflary to obferve, that on all emergencies the merchants of Philadelphia flew to arms and acted as common foldiers. Translator, who had accompanied her to Weft-Point, were waiting for us. They lodged in a little barrack neatly arranged. The room they received us in, was hung with hand-fome paper, furnifhed with mahogany tables, and even ornamented with feveral prints. After ftaying a little time, it was neceffary to return to General Heath's quarters, and to difpofe matters for pafiing the night, which was not an eafy affair; for the company were much increafed in the courfe of the evening, by the arrival of the Vicomte de Noailles, the Comte de Damas, and the Chevalier Duplefiis. Mauduit had reached Weft-Point, which poft they had intended to examine minutely ; but the motions of the American army determined them to fet out with me, in order to join Mr. de la Fayette, the next evening, or early the following morning. Though General Heath had a great deal of company to provide for, his'Marecbal de Logis, had not much to do: there were only three rooms in the barracks; the General's chamber, that of his Aid de Camp, who refigiied it to me; and the dining-room, G 4 in *n which fome blankets were fpread before a large fire, where the other gentlemen paffed as comfortable a night as could be expected. The morning gun foon fum-moned them from their beds; the blankets were removed, and the dining-room, re-fuming its rights, was quickly furnifhed with a large table covered with beef-fleaks, which we eat with a very good appetite, fwilling down from time to time a cup of tea. Europeans would not find this food and drink, taken together, to their tafte i but I can affure you that it made a very comfortable breakfatt. There now fell a very heavy rain, which had begun in the night, and ftill continued, with a dreadful .wind, which rendered the paffage of the ferry very dangerous for our horfes, and prevented us from making ufe of the fail, in the barge General Heath had given ns, to carry us to KingVFerry. In fpight of all thefe obftacles we embarked under the firing of thirteen guns, notwithstanding our reprefentations to the contrary, -Another circumftance, however, gave additional value to thefe honours, for the pieces NORTH- AM % RICA. 8$ pieces they difchar.ged had belonged to Burgoyne's army. Thus did the artillery fent from Woolwich to Canada in 1777* now ferve to defend America, and do .homage to her allies, until it was to be employed in the fiege of New York, General Heath, who was detained by bulinefs at Weft-Point, fent Major Liman to accompany me to Ferplank*s- Point, where we did not arrive till between twelve and one, after a continued journey amidft the immenfe hills which cover this country, and leave no other interval than the hefl of the river. The higheft of them is called Anthony s IS!ofe, it projects into the river, and compels it to make a little change in its courfe. Before we arrive at this point, we fee the ruins of fort Clinton : this fort, which was named after the Governor of the ftates of New York, was attacked and taken in 1777 ^e Englifh General Clinton, as he was remounting the river to Albany to give his hand to Burgoyne.* It was then the * A poor fellow who was fent with a letter from Burgoyne to Clinton inclofed in a filver bullet, mifcarricd in .his raefiage, and loft his life by the the principal fort on the river, and built on a rock, at the foot of a mountain, thought to be inacceffible, and was farther defended by a little creek which falls into the main river. Sir Henry Clinton fcaled the top of the mountain, himfelf carrying the Britifh colours, which he always held aloft, until his troops defcended the fleep rock, paffed the creek, and carried the poft. The garrifon, confuting of 700 men, ■were almoft all taken. Since the defeat of Burgoyne, and the alliance with France has changed the face of affairs in America, General Wafhington has not thought proper to repair fort Clinton ; he preferred placing his communication and concentring his forces at Weft-Point, becaufe the Hud- Jon famcnefs of names of the American and Britifh. commanders. Falling in, in the woods, with a party of Americans cloathed in Britifh uniform, which they had taken, he enquired eagerly for General Clinton, to whom he was inflantly conduced, but on difcovering that it was not the Clinton he was in fearch of, in the face of a number of fpeftators, he fwallowed the bullet. Emetics and purgatives were inflantly adminiftered, which made him dif-gorge, and the unfortunate fellow was hanged on the next tree. Translator* Jon there makes a circuit which prevents veffels from remounting with the wind a-baft, or with the tide; and Constitution Ifle, which is precifely at the turn of the river, in a direction north and fouth, is perfectly well fituated to protect the chain which clofes the paffage for fhips of war. The Englifh, however, had preferved a very important poft at King's Ferry, where they were fufficiently well fortified j fo that by the aid of their fhips, they were matters of the courfe of the river for the fpace of more than fifty miles, and were thus able to repel to the northward the very important communication between the Jerfeys and Connecticut. Such was the ftate of things, when, in the month of June, 1779, General Wayne, who commanded in the Clove a corps of 1500 men, formed the project of furprizing Stoncy Point. This fort was in an entrenchment, furrounded with abattis, which crowned a fleep rock, and formed a well picketed redoubt. General Wayne marched, in the night, in three columns, the principal of which was led on by Monfieur de Fleury, who, without 92 T & A v E L $ IN out firing a mufquet, forced the abattis, and entrenchments, and entered the redoubt with the fugitives.* The attack was fo hrifk on the part of the Americans, and loch the terror of the Englifh, that Mr. $ie Fleury, who was the firft that entered, foupd himfelf in an inftant loaded with eleven fwords which were delivered to him by thofe who afked for quarter. It muft be added to the honour of our allies, that from that moment not a drop of blood was fpilt. -f The Americans, once mafters of one * This officer had already diftinguifhed himfelf on many occafions, particularly at the retreat of General Sullivan from Rhode liland, and at the defence of Mud Ifland. He went to America in 1777. He has flnce been Major of the regiment of Saint Onge, and ferved as Major of brigade in the army of the Count de Rochambeau. On his return to France, he was made Colonel of the regiment of Pondicherry, and is now in India. f I cannot here refill a pang of forrow for the dreadful confequences of the late defperate and fatal war. Captain Jew of the 17th regiment, as brave an officer, and as amiable a man as ever lived, whom I had long known and eflecmed, when ferving with our common friend Montgomery in that Vegiment, here loft his life, rcfufing to take quarter. This one of the banks of the river, loft no time in getting pofleftion of the other. Mr. de Gouvion constructed a redoubt at Verplank's Point, (nearly oppofue) where we landed, and where, by a lucky accident, we found our horfes, arrived as foon as us. This redoubt is of a peculiar form, hardly ever ufed but in America: the ditch is within the gallant man was already perforated with wounds received in Canada and the Weft Indies, fighting under his Colonel, General Monckton, in the preceding war, and was fuch a fpedtacle of a wounded body ftill in life, as to be particularly pointed outto the King his matter's notice at a review of the regiment near London in 1770 or 1771 ; the King afked him many queftions, feemed much affe£led with his fltua- tion, expreffed his pity, and-he was left to pine a fubaltern, and to follow his regiment once more to fcenes of war and a diftant climate. He deeply felt this ever after, and chagrin, no doubt, added to his defpair, had made him wifh for death. The fate of my moft intimate and lamented friend, Montgomery, who fell, as he thought in a better caufe, and on the very fpot where he had attended Wolfe to viftory and glory, affords ample food for melancholy reflection, not eafy to be effaced from fufcep-tible minds, and who have felt a double lofs of friends, in the horrors of this dcteftable war. Translator. 94 TRAVELS Iff the parapet, which is made fleep on both Udes, and picketed at the height of the cordon ; lodgings for the foldiers are formed below. The middle of the work is a fpace conflru&ed with wood, and in the form of a fquare tower. There are battlements every where, and it commands the rampart. An abattis formed of the tops of trees interwoven, furrounds the whole, and is a fubflitute for a covered way. We may eafdy perceive that fuch a work cannot be infulted, nor taken without cannon. Now as this is backed by the mountains, of which the Americans are always mailers, it is almofl impoffible that the Englifh fhould befiege it. A creek which falls into Hudfon's river, and runs to the fouth-ward of this redoubt, renders its pofition flill more advantageous. Colonel Livingston, who commands at King's Ferry, has efla-blifhed himfelf there in preference toStoney Point, to be nearer the White Plains, where the Englifh frequently make incurfions. This is a very amiable and well informed young man. Previous to the war he married in Canada, where he has acquired the French French language: in 1775, he was one of the firft who took arms ; he fought under the orders of Montgomeryy and took fort Chambly, whilft the former was befieging St. John's. He received us in his little citadel with great politenefs; but to leave it with the honours of war, the. American laws required that we fhould breakfaft : It was the fecond we had taken that day, and confifted of beef-fteaks, and tea, accompanied with a few bowls of grog ; for the commander's cellar was no better ftored than the foldiers wardrobe. The latter had been fent into this garrifon as being the worft clothed of the whole American army, fo that one may form fome idea of their drefs. About two o'clock we croffed the river, and flopped to examine the fortifications of Stoney Point. The Americans finding them too extenfive, had reduced them to a redoubt, nearly fimilarto that ofVerplanks, but not quite fo good. There I took leave of Mr. Livingfton, who gave me a guide to conduct me to the army, and I fet off, preceded by Meftieurs de Noailles, de Damas, and and dc Mauduit, who wifhed to join Mr. de la Fayette that night, tho' they had thirty miles to go, through very bad roads. This impatience was well fuited to their age; but the intelligence i collected proving to me that the army could not move before the the next day, i determined to ftop on the road, content to profit by the little daylight that remained to travel ten or twelve miles. On leaving the river, i frequently turned round to enjoy the magnificent fpeclacle it prefents in this place, where its bed becomes fo large, that in viewing it to the fouthward, it has the appearance of an immenfe lake, whilft the northern afpect is that of a majeftic river. i was defired to obferve a fort of promontory, from whence Colonel Livingfton had formed the project of taking the Vulture floop of war, which brought Andre, and was waiting for Arnold* This veflel having come too near the more, grounded at low water; the Colonel acquainted Arnold with it, and afked him for two pieces of heavy cannon, alluring him that he would place them fo as to fink her. Arnold eluded the propofal on frivolous pretences, pretences, fo that the Colonel could only bring one four-pounder, which was at Ver-plank's to bear on her. This piece raked the veflel fore and aft, and did her fo much damage, that if fhe had not got off with the flood, fhe muff have flruck. The next day, Colonel Livingfton being on the more, faw Arnold pafs in his barge, as he was going down the river to get on board the frigate. He declares that he had fuch a fufpicion of him, that had his guard boats been near, he would have gone after him inflantly, and afked him where he was going. This quef-tion probably would have embarraffed the traitor, and Colonel Livingfton's fufpicions being thence confirmed, he would have arreted him *. Vol. I. H My * There is every reafon to believe that Arnold's treachery took its date from his connection with Lieutenant Hek, killed afterwards on board the Formidable in the Weft Indies, and who was undoubtedly a very active and induftrious fpy at Philadelphia in the winter of 1778, whither he was fent for that purpofe in a pretended flag of truce, which being wrecked in the Delaware, he was made prifoner by Congrefs, a fubjedt ofmuchdifcuflion between them, and the commander at New York. That the in- My thoughts were occupied with Arnold and his treafon, when my road brought me to Smith's famous houfe where he had his interview with Andre, and formed his horrid plot. It was in this houfe they paffed the night together, and where Andre changed his cloaths. It was there that the liberty of America was bargained for and fold; and it was there that chance, which is always the arbiter of great events, difcon-certed this horrible project, and that fatif-fied with facrincing the imprudent Andre, fhe prevented the crime, only by the efcape of the criminal. Andre was repafling the river quietly, to gain New York by the White Plains, had not the cannon fired at the tended plot was known In England, and great hopes built upon it, long before it was to take place, is certain. General Matthews and other officers who returned in the autumn of 1780, being often heard to declare, " that it was all over with the rebels; that they were about to receive an irreparable blow, the news of which would foon arrive, &c. &c." Their filence from the moment in which they received an account of the failure of the plot, and the difcovery of the traitor, evidently pointed out the objeft of their allutions. Translator. N ORTH-AMERIGA. 99 the frigate, made him apprehend the falling in with the American troops. He imagined, that favoured by his difguife, he mould be fafer on the right bank : a few miles from thence he was flopped, and a few miles farther he found the gibbet. Smith, who was more than fufpected, but not convicted of being a party in the plot, is ftill in prifon, where the law protects him again ft juftice. But his houfe feems to have experienced the only chaftifement of which it was fufceptible; it is punifhed by folitude? and is in fact fo deferted, that there is not a fingle perfon to take care of it, although it is the manlion of a large farm. * I purfued my route, but without being able to give fo much attention as to recollecVit; I only remember that it was as gloomy as my reflections ; it brought me into a deep vale, covered with cypreffes; a torrent rolled over the rocks, which I paffed, and foon after night came on. I had ftill fome H 2 miles * Smith's is a very handfome houfe and beautifully fituated, but was in the fame defolate flate when the Tianflator was there in 1780. Translator. miles to an inn, where I got tolerably well accommodated. It is fituated in Haver-Jfraw, and is kept by another Smith, but who in no way refembles the former; he allured me he was a good whig, and as he gave me a good fupper, I readily believed him. The 23d I fet out at eight o'clock, with the intention of arriving in good time at the Marquis de la Fayette's camp; for I had learnt that the army was not to move that day, and I was delirous of being pre-fented by him to General Wajlnngton, Th* morteft road was by Paramus; but my guide infifted on my turning to the northward, arTuring me that the other road was not fafe, that it was infefted by tories, and that he always avoided it, when he had letters to carry. 9 I took the road to the right therefore, * The guide gave the Marquis very true information, for the Tranflator who took the Paramus road, had feveral well founded alarms, in palling through that intricate country. At Hopper s Mill, near Paramus, where he flept amongft myriads of rats in a milk houfe, the family affured him, that their quarters were conftantly beat up, and horfes, men, &c. therefore, and followed for fome time the rivulet of Romopog', I then turned to the left, and foon got into the townmip of Pompton, and into the Totohaw road ; but being informed that it led me ftraight to the main body of the army, without palling by the van commanded by M. de la Fayette, I enquired for fome crofs road to his quarter, and one was pointed out to me, by which, palling near a fort of lake which forms a very agreeable point of view, and then crof-fing fome very beautiful woods, I arrived at a ftream which falls into Second River, ex-■ actly at the fpot where M. de la Fayette was encamped. His pofts lined the rivulet; they were well difpofed, and in good order. At length I arrived at the camp ; but the Marquis was not there; apprized of my H 3 coming parried off. At this place there was no lock to the liable door, which they faid was here a fuperfluous article, as thefe banditti were guilty of every act. of violence. He received fimilar information from his friend Dbclor Brown of Bridport in Dorfetfhire, but who has been long fettled in America, and was attached to the continental army, with whom he breakfafled, at his beautiful little refidencc, next motnicg. Translator, coming by the Vicomte de Noailles, he had gone to wait for me at fcven miles diflance, at head quarters, where he thought I mould direct my courfe. He had fent, however, Major Gimat, and one of his Aides de Camp to meet me, but they had taken the two roads to Paramus; fo that by his precautions, and thofe of my guide, I was, as they fay in Englifh, compleatly difappointed, for it was two o'clock, and I had already travelled thirty miles without flopping, I was in the utmolt impatience to embrace M. de la Fayette, and to fee General Wafhington, but I could not make my horfes partake of it. It was propofed to me to proceed directly to head quarters, becaufe, faid they, I might perhaps arrive in time for dinner. But feeing the impoflibility of that, and being in a country where I was known, Idefir-ed fome oats for my horfes. Whilfl they were making this flight repaft, I went to fee the camp of the Marquis, * it Is thus they * It is impoffible to pa:nt the eileem and affection with which this French nobleman is regarded in America. It is to be furpancd only by the love of their illuftrious chief. Jie has found the fecretpf they call Mr. de la Fayette ; the Engliih language being fond of abridgments, and titles uncommon in America. I found this camp placed in an excellent pofition ; it occupied two heights feparated by a fmall bottom, but with an eafy communication between them. The river Totohaw or Second River, protects its right, and it is here that it makes a considerable elbow, and turning towards the fouth, falls at length into the bay of Newark. The principal part of the front, and all the left flank, to a great dif-tance,are covered by the rivulet which comes H 4 from winning all their hearts ; nor to thofe who know him is it matter of any wonder. In the gentleft, and moft courteous manner, he unites a franknefs, which is fuppofed to be not the general chacteriftic of his countrymen ; his deportment is dignified without pride; and his zeal, activity, and enthufiafm in the caufe of America, diftinft from all the political views of co-operation with the wifhes of his court, added to a flncere and uniform admiration of the gteateft and beft character of the age, completely endeared this excellent young man to grateful America. The Marquis was never fpokenofin the hearing of the Translator, without manifeft tokens of attachment and affection. Translator. 104 I TRAVELS IN from Paramus, and falls into the fame river. This poiition is only twenty miles from New York ifland ; and was accordingly oc-cupied by the van guard, confining of light infantry, that is to fay, by the picked corps of the American army : the regiments, in fact, which compofe it have no grenadiers, but only a company of light infantry, anfwering to our Cbaffeurs, and of whom battalions are formed at the beginning of the campaign. This troop made a good appearance, were better cloathed than the reft of the army; the uniforms- both of the officers and foldiers were fmart and military, and each foldier wore a helmet made of hard leather, with a crefl of horfe hair. The officers are armed with efpontoons, or rather with half pikes, and the fubalterns with fufils : but both were provided with fhort and light fabres, brought from France, and made a prefent of to them by M. de la Fayette. The tents agreeably to the American cuflom, formed only two ranks; they were in regular lines, as well as thofe of the officers; and as the feafon was advanced, they had good chimneys, bqt placed differently entlyfrom ours; for they are all built on the outfide, and conceal the entrance of the tents, which produce the double effect of keeping off the wind, and of preferring heat night and day. I fawT no piles of arms, and was informed that the Americans made no uie of them. When the weather is good, each company places its fulils on a wooden horfe; but when it rains, they muff, be removed into the tents, which is undoubtedly a great inconvenience : this will be •remedied when the means of doing it are more abundant, but I fear much, that this will not happen the next year. As I was walking in the front of the camp, I was joind by an officer, who fpoke very good French ; which was not aftoniihing, as he turned out to be as much a Frenchman as myfelf; this was Major Qalvan. This officer came to America on commercial affairs, on which fubject he has even had a fort of trial with the Congrefs; but he was patronized by many perfons, and particularly by the Chevalier de la Luzerne, our Ambaffador : defiring to enter into the fervice, he obtained the rank rank of Major, and the command of a battalion of light infantry. He is a man of abilities, and they are very well fatisfied with him in the American army.* He led * Major Galvan, with whom I was well ac-. quainted in Philadelphia, was a French Weft, Indian, who came, as the Marquis de Chaftellux mentions, to America on commercial affairs. He was allowed to be an active good officer. During his refidence at Philadelphia in 1782, he became enamoured of a beautiful and accomplifhed widow of the firft dift.indt.ion in the country. Having conceived the moft flattering hopes of fuccefs to his paflion, he was fo fhocked at finding himfelf deceived, that he formed the moft defperate refolution. After writing apathetic, but reproachful letter to the object, of his love, and another to her female friend, filler to Mrs. Arnold, and arranging all his affairs, he fpent the day chearfully in company with fome brother officers at the inn where he lodged, but with fome ferious intervals. As foon as the tea was over, retiring to his room, he locked the door, placed himfelf oppofite the looking glafs, and with, two piftols, one in each hand, put an end to his exiftence. On my arival at Bourdeaux, at the end of the war, I fell in company with a gentleman, who for feveral days was particularly inquifitivc a-bout the Major's conduct, what the general opinion of him was, &c. Fortunately his conduct was irreproachable ; had it been other wife, this gentleman led me to his tent, where I found a table neatly fpread : he propofed to me to dine, but 1 did not accept it, imagining I fhould lofe nothing by waiting for that which General Wafhington would give me. After all we have heard in Europe of the diftreffed ftate of the American army, it will appear extraordinary, perhaps, that fuch a thing as a dinner was to be found at the tent of a Major. Doubtlefs it is impolTible to live without money, when every thing one eats is to be paid for; a privilege the Americans poffefs no more than others. But it muff be understood, that they receive rations of provisions, rum, and flour; that they have in each regiment a Baker to bake their bread, and foldiers to ferve them ; fo that an officer who takes the field with a tent, and a fufficiency of cloathing, may do very well till winter without fpending any thing. The misfortune is, that provisions fometimes fail, or do not arrive in time; in was imprudently fearching for pain to himfelf and me, as he, to my no fmall furprize and mortification, declared himfelf to be fris brother. Translator. in which cafe they really fufTer; but thefe are critical moments, which do not often occur, and may be prevented in future, if the ftates perform their engagements, and the Quarter-Mafler-General, and Com-miffaries do their duty.* I left Mr. Gal-van fitting down to dinner, and went to prepare my horfes, that I might get to head quarters before the day was fpent. Colonel Mac Henry, whom I have before mentioned, took upon himfelf to conduct me. We kept along the river, which was on our left. After riding two miles we came in light of the left of the army. It was * On the univerfal Stoppage of paper money, from its enormous depreciation, the worn: of ipecic, notwithstanding the abilities and activity of Mr. Morris, the financier, occafioned great wants in the army, and a total indifference on the part of the contractors; infomuch, that in the end of 1782, the army was in danger of difbanding from abfolutc neceflity. It was on this critical occafion that Colonel Wadfwortby whofe merit has been fo well ap_ preciatcd by the author, ftept in, took the contract on himfelf, and by his name and influence reflorcd affairs, and kept the army together. America cannot be too grateful to this gentleman. Translator, NORTH-AM E R I C;A. 109 was encamped on two heights, and in one line, in an extended but very good portion, having a wood in the rear, and in the front the river, which is very difficult ©f paffage every where except at Totobaw-Bridge. But the fituation would be quite in favour of an army defending the left bank, the heights on that fide every where commanding thofe of the right. Two miles beyond the bridge is a meeting-houfe of an hexagonal form, which is given to their places of worfhip by the Dutch Prefbyterians, who are very numerous in the Jerfeys. I was purfuing my journey, converting with Mr. Mac Henry, when I was apprized by a considerable noife, that 1 could not be far from the great cataract, called Totobaw-Fall. I was divided between my impatience to view this curiofity, and that of approaching General Wafhington ; but Mr. Mac Henry informing me that it would not take me two hundred paces out of my way to fee the cataract, I determined to avail myfelf of the remainder of a fine day, and I had not in fact gone a ftone's throw before ltQ T R:A V ELS IN before I had the aftonifhing fpectacle before me of a large river, which precipitates itfelf from a height of feventy feet, and fo ingulphed in the hollow of a rock, which feems to fwallow it up, but from whence it efcapes by turning fbort to the right. It feems to me impoflible to give an idea of this water-fall, but by a drawing. Let us however attempt the picture, leaving the finifhing to the imagination : fhe is the rival of Nature, and fometimes alfo her rival and interpreter. Let the reader figure to himfelf, then, a river running between mountains covered with firs, the dark green of which is in contact with the colour of its waters, and renders its courfe more majeftic; let him reprefent to himfelf an immenfe rock, which would totally clofe up the paffage, had it not by an earthquake, or fome other fubterraneous revolution, been rent in feveral pieces, from its fummit to its bafe, by this means forming long crevices perfectly vertical. One of thefe crevices, the depth of which is unknown, may be twenty-five or thirty feet wide. It is in this cavern that the river river having cleared a part of the rock, precipitates itfelf with violence; but as this rock croffes its whole bed, it can only efcape by that extremity of the two, which offers it an outlet. There a frefh obstacle prefents itfelf: another rock oppofes its flight, and it is obliged to form a right angle, and turn fhort to the left. But it is extraordinary, that after this dreadful fall, it neither froths, nor boils up, nor forms whirlpools, but goes off quietly by its channel, and gains, in filence, a profound valley, where it purfues its courfe to the fea. This perfect calm, after a movement fo rapid, can only proceed from the enormous depth of the cavern, into which it is plunged. I did not examine the rock with aquafortis but as there feems to be no calcareous ftones in this country, I take it to be hard rock, and of the nature of quartz : but it prefents a peculiarity worthy of attention, which is, that its whole furface is hollowed into little fquares. Was it in a ftate of fufion when raifed from the bowels of the earth, and it blocked up the paffage of the river ? Thefe vertical crevices^ vices, thefe flaws on the furface, are they the effects of its cooling ? Thefe are quef-tions I leave to the difcuflion of the learned : I fhall only obferve, that there is no volcanic appearence; nor through this whole country are there the fmalleft traces of a volcano, of fuch at lean: as are pofterior to the laft epochas of Nature. Though Doctor Mac Henry began by being a Doctor, before he was an officer, and is well informed, I did not find him much verfed in natural history, and I preferred questioning him on the fubject of the army along the front of which 1 rode, meeting perpetually with potts, who took arms, the drum beating, and the officers faluting with the efpontoon. All thefe ports were not for the fafety of the army; many of them were ltationed to guard houfes and barns, which ferved as magazines. At length, after riding two miles along the right flank of the army, and after pairing thick woods on the right, I found myfelf in a fmall plain, where I faw a handfome farm ; a fmall camp which feem-«d to cover it, a large tent extended in the the court, and feveral waggons round it, convinced me that this was his Excellency's quarter; for it is thus Mr. Wafhington is called in the army, and throughout America. M. de la Fayette was in converfation with a tall man, five foot nine inches high, (about five foot ten inches and a half Englifh) of a noble and mild countenance. It was the General himfelf. I was foon off horfeback, and near him. The compliments were fhort; the fentiments with which I was animated, and the good wifhes he teflified for me were not equivocal. He conducted me to his houfe, where I found the company ftill at table, although the dinner had been long over. He prefented me to the Generals Knox, Waine, Howe, &c. and to his family, then com-pofed of Colonels Hamilton and Tilgman, his Secretaries and his Aides de Camp, and of Major Gibbs, commander of his guards; for in England and America, the Aides de Camp, Adjutants and other officers attached to the General, form what is called his family. A frefli dinner was prepared for me, and mine j and the prefent was pro-Vol. I. I longed 1*4 .TRAVELS IN longed to keep me company. A few glaiTes of claret and madeira accelerated the acquaintances 1 had to make, and I foon felt myfelf at my eafe near the greateft and the beft of men. The goodnefs and benevolence which characterize him, are evident from every thing about him; but the confidence he gives birth to, never occasions improper familiarity ; for the fentiment he in-fpires has the fame origin in every individual, a profound efteem for his virtues, and a high opinion of his talents.* About nine * Rochefaucauk has laid, " That no man is a hero to his Valet de Chambrc." Without combating the general juftice of the remark, this excellent man is moft certainly an exception. Thofe who are the neareit to his pcrfon love him the moft, but this is never feparated from a marked degree of refpcft and admiration. This is not only the uni-verfal teftimony, but I had myfelf the high gratification of obferving it. Before the war, there was not a gentleman within the circle of his neighbourhood, who, having important concerns, or a family to leave behind him, did not clofe his eyes in peace, could he be fo fortunate as to get Mr. Wafhington for an executor : an unequivocal proof of his integrity. I -have likewife the ftrongeft teftimony to-. refute .thofe injurious insinuations which have been NOR;TH-AMERIC A. n$ nine o'clock the general officers withdrew to their quarters, which were all at a considerable distance; but as the General I 2 wifhed propagated by envy, ignorance, or party malevolence, with the view of depreciating his talents. I had particular bufmefs to tranfact with him in 1782, refpecting the cftates of an old friend to whom he was executor, but which from peculiar circumstances had been totally neglected by the noble heirs in England, from the year 1771, indeed I may fay, from the year 1767. I found his Excellency in winter quarters at Philadelphia ; on entering into converfation on the Subject, which was of a mojl complicated nature, the General mcdeftly apprized me, that from the a&ive and turbulent Situation in which he had long been placed, never having been at his own houfe in Virginia Since the year 1775, but one night on his return from York Town, he was ignorant of his own affairs, and was confe-quently afraid he could afford me but little information refpe£ting thofe in queftion : but what was my aftonifhment, when, after this prelude, he entered into an accurate detail of every thing refpecting them, fcarcely omitting, as 1 afterwards found upon the fpot, the moft minute particular ! On my arrival in Virginia, I had an opportunity of peruSing, amongft the papers, many of his letters written whilft in the active management of the affairs, which furnifhed me with unquestionable proofs of the clcarnefs of his head, the honour and dif- n6 TRAVELS iV ' wished me to ftay in his own houfe, I remained fome time with him, after which he conducted me to the chamber prepared for my Aides de Camp and me. This chamber occupied the fourth part of his lodgings; intereftednefs of his heart, and the uncommon per-fpicuity and elegance of his Style ; fo as to convince me of the identity of the pen that produced thole admirable epistolary performances, which did him fo much honour during the war, and will ever mark the energy of his mind, and the excellence of his understanding.. I have dwelt with the more fatisfa&ion on this particular, as Envy, unable to detract, from their merit, has made frequent attempts to rob his fame of the honour of having ever produced them; and what relates to the public opinion concerning himfelf he always leaves to the determination of others. This heartfelt, but faithful tribute to tranfeendent virtue and abilities, is the effuSion of a mind unaccuftomed to flattery, and in an inStance where flattery neither has, nor can have any objecJ. I had long revered his character before I Saw him, and we all know that too much prepoSTeSfion is generally unfavourable on a nearer view; but to know him, establishes and heightens the moft favourable ideas ; and I faw, and knew this truly great man, only to root in my mind the moft Sincere attachment, affection and veneration for his perfon and character. Translator* lodgings; he apologized to me for the little room he had in his difpofal, but al* ways with a noble politenefs, which was neither complimentary nor troublefome. At nine the next morning they informed me that his Excellency wras come down into the parlour. This room ferved at once as audience chamber, and dining-room. I immediately went to wait on him, and found breakfast prepared. Lord Stirling had come to breakfast with us. He is one of the oldefl Major-Generals in the army; his birth, his titles and pretty extensive property have given him more importance in America, than his talents could ever have acquired him. The title of Lord, which was refufed him in England, is not here contested with him : he claimed this title from inheritance, and went to Europe to fupport his pretenfions, but without fuccefs. A part of his estate has been dislipated by the war, and by his taste for expence ; he is accufed of liking the table and the bottle, full as much as becomes a Lord, but more than becomes a General. He is brave, but without capa- city, and has not been fortunate in the different commands with which he has been entrusted. He was made prifoner at the affair of Long Ifland. In June, 1777, he got into afcrape at Elizabeth Town, whilst General Wafhington made head against 20,000 Englifh on the heights of Middle-brook ; he there lost two or three hundred men, and three pieces of cannon : at Brandy wine he commanded the right of the army, or rather the body of troops defeated by Cornwallis; but on all thefe occasions he difplayed great perfonal courage and firmnefs. I converfed a long time with him, and found him to be a fenfible man, not ill informed of the affairs of his country. He is old and rather dull ; but with all this, he will continue to ferve, becaufe the employment, though not lucrative, helps to repair a little the diforder in his affairs ; and not having quitted the fervice fince the beginning of the war, he has, at least, zeal and feniority in his favour ; thus he will retain the command of the first line, to which his rank entitles him ; but care will will be taken not to employ him on particular expeditions.1" Whilft we were at breakfaft, horfes were brought, and General Washington gave orders for the army to get under arms at the head of the camp. The weather was very bad, and it had already began raining ; we waited half an hour; but the General feeing that it was more likely to increafe than to diminifh, determined to get on horfe-back. Two horfes were brought him, which were a prefent from the State of Virginia ; he mounted one himfelf, and gave me the other. Mr. Lynch and Mr. de Mon-tefquieu, had each of them, alfo, a very handfome blood horfe, fuch as we could not find at Newport for any money. We repaired to the artillery camp, where General Knox received us : the artillery was numerous, and the gunners, in very fine order, were formed in parade, in the foreign manner, that is, each gunner at his battery, and ready to fire. The General was fo good as to apologize to me for the can-I 4 non J Lord Stirling died before the end of the war. non not firing to falute me ; he faid, that having put all the troops on the other fide of the river in motion, and apprized them that he might himfelf march along the right bank, he was afraid of giving the alarm, and of deceiving the detachments that were out. We gained, at length, the right of the army, where we faw the Pen-• fylvania line; it was compofed of two brigades, each forming three battalions, without reckoning the light infantry, which were detached with the Marquis de la Fayette. General Waine, who commanded it, was on horfeback, as well as the Brigadiers and Colonels. They were all well mounted : the officers alfo had a very military air ; they were well ranged, and faluted very gracefully. Each brigade had a band of mulic ; the march they were then playing was the Huron. I knew that this line, though in want of many things, was the bell: cloathed in the army ; fo that his Excellency afking me whether I would proceed, and fee the whole army, or go by the fhortefl road to the camp of the Mar. quis% I accepted the latter propofal. The troops troops ought to thank me for it, for the * *' rain was falling with redoubled force ; they were difmhTed, therefore, and we arrived heartily wet at the Marquis de la Fayette's quarters, where I warmed myfelf with great pleafure, partaking, from time to time, of a large bowl of grog, which is ftationary on his table, and is prefented to every officer who enters. The rain appearing to ceafe, or inclined to ceafe for a moment, we availed ourfelves of the opportunity to follow his Excellency to the camp of the Marquis : we found all his troops in order of battle on the heights to the left, and himfelf at their head ; expremng, by his air and countenance, that he was happier in receiving me there, than at his eftate in Auvergne. The confidence and attachment of the troops, are for him invaluable pofTeffions, well acquired riches, of which no body can deprive him; but what, in my opinion, is ftill more flattering for a young tnan of his age, is the influence, the confideration he has acquired amongft the political, as well as the military order : I do not fear contradiction when I fay, that private letters lers from him have frequently produced more effect on fome ftates than the ftrongeft exhortations of the Congrefs. On feeing him, one is at a lofs which moft to admire, that fo young a man as he fhould have given fuch eminent proofs of talents, or that a man fo fried, mould give hopes of fo long a career of glory. Fortunate his country, if fhe knows how to avail herfelf of them j more fortunate frill fhould fhe ftand in no need of calling them.into exertion ! I diftinguifhed, with pleafure, among the colonels, who were extremely well mounted, and who faluted with great grace, M. de Gimat, a French officer, over whom I claim the rights of a fort of military paternity, having brought him up in my regiment from his earlieft youth.* This whole vanguard * M. de Gimat made the following campaign at the head of a battalion of light infantry, always tinder the command of M. de la Fayette. At the fiege of York, he attacked and carried jointly with Colonel Hamilton, the enemy's redoubt on their left. This attack was made at the fame time with that of the Baron de Viomenil, on the right redoubt, and with the fame fuccefs. Mr. Gimat was wounded in the foot: on his return to Europe, he was mads Colonel of the regiment of Martinico. guard confifted of fix battalions, forming two brigades ; but there was only one piquet of dragoons or light cavalry, the remainder having marched to the fouth-ward with Colonel Lee. Thefe dragoons are perfectly well mounted, and do not fear meeting the Englifh dragoons, over whom they have gained feveral advantages ;* but they have never been numerous enough to form a folid and permanent body. The piquet that was kept with th» army, fcrved then as an efcort to the Provoft Marfhal, and performed the functions of the Mare-chaujfee, until the eftablifhment of a regular one, which wras intended. The rain fpared us no more at the camp of the Marquis, than at that of the main army ; fo that our review being finifhed, I faw with pleafure General Wafhington fet off in a gallop to regain his quarters. We reached * The heroic Tarleton has experienced that there is fome difference between thefe dragoons and a fur-prifed party of ill-armed infantry and pcafants. This gentleman's forte was in the latter fpecies of war ; a forced march, a furprize, and a bloody gazette, are the records of his glory. Translator. reached them as foon as the badnefs of the roads would permit us. At our return we found a good dinner ready, and about twenty guefts, among whom were Generals Howe and Sinclair. The repaft was in the Engliih famion, confirming of eight or ten large dimes of butcher's meat, and poultry, with vegetables of feveral forts, followed by a fecond courfe of paltry, comprized under the two denominations of pies and puddings. After this the cloth was taken off, and apples and a great quantity of nuts were ferved, which General Wafhington ufually continues eating for two hours, toajiing and converting all the time. Thefe nuts are fmall and dry, and have fo hard a lhell, (hickory nuts) that they can only be broken by the hammer; they are ferved half open, and the company are never done picking and eating them. The converfation was calm and agreeable ; his Excellency was pleafed to enter with me into the particulars of fome of the principal operations of the war, but always with a modefty and concifenefs, which proved that it was from pure complaifance he mentioned td it. About half paft feven we rofe from table, and immediately the fervants came to ihorten it, and convert it into a round one ; for at dinner it was placed diagonally to give more room. I was furprifed at this manoeuvre, and afked the rcafon of it 3 I was told they were going to lay the cloth for'fupper. In half an hour I retired to my chamber, fearing left the General might have buiinefs, and that he remained in company only on my account; but at the end of another half hour, I was informed that his Excellency expected me at fupper. I returned to the dining-room, protesting againft this fupper 5 but the General told me he was accustomed to take fomething in the evening 5 that if I would be feated, I fhould only eat fome fruit, and assist in the converfation. I defired nothing better, for there were then no strangers, and nobody remained but the General's family. The fupper was compofed of three or four light difhes, fome fruit, and above all, a great abundance of nuts, which were as well received in the evening as at dinner. The cloth being foon removed, a few bottles of good good claret and madeira were placed on the table.* Every feniible man will be of my opinion, that being a French officer, under * On my return from the fouthward in 1782, I fpent a day or two at the American camp at Verplanks Point on the North River, and had the honour of dining with General Wafhington. I had Suffered Severely from an ague, which I could not get quit of, though I had taken the exercife of a hard trotting horfe, and got thus far to the northward in the month of October. The General obferving it, told me he was fure I had not met with a good glafs of wine for fome time, an? article then very rare, but that my diforder mult be frightened away ; he made me drink' three or four of his filver camp cups of excellent madeira at noon, and recommended to me to take a gencro us glafs of claret after dinner, a pre-fcription by no means repugnant to my feelings, and which I mofl rcligioufly followed. I mounted my horfe next morning, and continued my journey to Mafrachuffetsi without ever experiencing the Slightest return of my diforder. The American camp here, prefented the moft beautiful and pic-turefque appearance : it extended along the plain, on the neck of land formed by the winding of the Hud-fbn, and had a view of this river to the fouth ; behind it, the lofty mountains, covered with wood, formed the moft fublime back-ground thatpaintingcart exprefsw In the front of the tents was a regular continued portico, formed by the boughs of trees in verdure, decorated with much tafte and fancy • and under the orders of General Wafhington, and what is more, a good whig, I could not refufe a glafs of wine offered me by him 5 but, I confefs, that I had little merit in this complaifance, and that, lefs accuflomed to drink than any body, I accommodate myfelf very well to the Englifh mode of toafilng: you have very fmall glafles, you pour out yourfelf the quantity of wine you chufe, without being preffed to take more, and the toad is only a fort of check in the converfation, to remind each individual that he forms part of the company, and that the whole form only one fociety* I obferved that there was more folemnity in the toafts at dinner : there were feveral Cere-each officer's tent was diflinguifhed by Superior ornaments. Oppofite the camp, and on diflinft emU nences, flood the tents of fome of the general officers, over which towered, predominant, that of Gene* ral Wafhington. I had feen all the camps in England, from many of which, drawings and engravings have been taken ; but this was truly a fubject worthy the pencil of the firfl artift. The French camp, during their flay at Baltimore, was decorated in the fame flyle. At the camp at Verplanks, we difljnctly heard the morning and evening gun of the Britifh at Kingfbridgc. Translator. ceremonious ones ; the others were fug* gefted by the General, and given out by his Aides de Camp, who performed the honours of the table at dinner; for one of them is every day feated at the bottom of the table, near the General, to ferve the company, and distribute the bottles. The toasts in the evening were given by Colonel Hamilton, without order or ceremony. After fupper the guests are generally defired to give a fentiment ; that is to fay, a lady to whom they are attached by fome fentiment, either of love, or friendfhip, or perhaps from preference only.* This fupper, or converfation, commonly lasted from nine to eleven, always free, and always agreeable. The weather was fo bad on the 25 th, that it was impossible for me to stir, even to wait on the Generals, to whom M. de la Fayette was to conduct me. I eafily con-foled myfelf for this, finding it a great luxury to pafs a whole day with General Warn- * The Englifh reader will fee that the Author makes a fmall miftake here ; it being the cuftom in America, as in England, to give a lady, or a fentiment, or both. Translator. Wafhington, as if he Were at his houfe in the country, and had nothing to do. The Generals Glover, Huntingdon, and fome others, dined with us, and the Colonels Stewart and Butler, two officers diftinguifh-ed in the army. The intelligence received this day occasioned the propofed attack on Staten Ifland to be laid alide. The foraging party under General Starke had met with the moft complete fuccefs ; the enemy not having thought proper to disturb them, fo that they had not stripped the posts in the quarter where it was intended to attack them : besides, that this expedition conld only have been a coup de main, rendered very difficult by the badnefs of the roads from the exceflive rains. It was determined therefore that the army fhould march the next day to winter quarters, and that I mould continue my route to Philadelphia. The weather being fair, on the 26th, I got on horfeback, after breakfasting with the General. He was fo attentive as to give me the horfe he rode on, the day of my arrival, which I had greatly commended : 1 found Vol. I. K him him as good as he is handfome ; but above all, perfectly well broke, and well trained, having a good mouth, eafy in hand, and Stopping fhort in a gallop without bearing the bit. I mention thefe minute particulars, becaufe it is the General himfelf who breaks all his own horfes; and he is a very excellent and bold horfeman, leaping the higheft fences, and going extremely quick, without standing upon his Stirrups, bearing on the bridle, or letting his horfe run wild ; circumstances which our young men look upon as fo effential a part of English horfe-manfhip, that they would rather break a leg or an arm than renounce them. My first vifit was to General Waine, where Mr. de la Fayette was waiting to conduct me to the other general officers of the line. We were received by General Huntingdon, who appeared rather young for the rank of Brigadier-General, which he has held two years: his carriage is cold and referved, but one is not long in perceiving him to be a man of fenfe and information ; by General Glover, about five and forty, a little man, but active and a good foldier^ by General Howe, who is one of the oldeft Majors General, and who enjoys the consideration due to his rank, though, from unfavourable circumstances, he has not been fortunate in war, particularly in Georgia, where he commanded with a very fmall force, at the time General Prevoft took pof-feflion of it : he is fond of mulic, the arts, and pleafure, and has a cultivated mind. I remained a considerable time with him, and faw a very curious lufus natures, but as hideous as possible. It was a young man of a Dutch family, whofe head was become fo enormous, that it took the whole nourishment from his body ; and his hands and arms were fo weak that he was unable to make ufe of them. He lies constantly in bed, with his monftrous head fupported by a pillow; and as he has long been ac-cuilomed to lie on his right fide, his right arm is in a State of atrophy : he is not quite an idcot, but he could never learn any thing, and has no more reaibn than a child of five or fix years old, though he is feven and twenty. This extraordinary derangement of the animal ceconomy proceeds from a K 2 dropfy, dropfy, with which he was attacked in his infancy, and which difplaced the bones that form the cranium. We know that thefe bones arc joined together ,by futures, which are foft in the firft period of life, and harden and offify with age. Such an exuberance, fo great an afflux of humour in that, which of all the vifcera feems to require the moft exact proportion, as well in what relates to the life as to the underftanding of man, afford Stronger proof of the necefiity of an equilibrium between the folids and fluids, than the existence of the final caufes. General Knox, whom we had met, and who accompanied us, brought us back to head quarters, through a wood, as the fhorteft way, and to fall into a road leading to his houfe, where we wifhed to pay our compliments to Mrs. Knox. We found her fettled in a little farm, where fhe had paffed part of the campaign j for fhe never quits her hufband. A child of Six months, and a little girl of three years old, formed a real family for the General. As for himfelf, he is between thirty and forty, very fat, fat, but very active, and of a gay and amiable character. Previous to the war he was a bookfeller at Bolton, and ufed to amufe himfelf in reading fome military books in his fhop. Such was the origin and the firft knowledge he acquired of the art of war, and of thetafte he has had ever fince for the profeflion of arms. From the very firft campaign, he was entrusted with the command of the artillery, and it has turned out that it could not have been placed in better hands. It was he whom M. du Coudray. endeavoured to fupplant, and who had no difficulty in removing him. It was fortunate for Mr. du Coudray, perhaps, that he was drowned in the Schuylkill, rather than to be fwallowed up in the intrigues he was engaged in, and which might have been productive of much mifchief.* K3 On * General Knox who retained until the peace the fame fituation in the American army, commanded their artillery at the fiege of York, One cannot too much admire the intelligence and activity with which he collected from all quarters, tranfported, difem-barked and conveyed to the batteries the train dc-flined for the fiege, and which confiUcd of more than thirty pieces of cannon and mortars of a large bore : On our return to head quarters, we found feveral General Officers and Colonels, with whom we dined. I had an opportunity of converfing this artillery was always extremely well ferved, General Knox never caring to direct it, and frequently taking the trouble himfelf of pointing the mortars. He fcarcely ever quitted the batteries; and, when the town furrendered, he Stood in need of the fame activity and the fame refources to remove and tranfport the enemy's artillery, which confided of upwards of two hundred bouches a feuy with all the ammunition belonging to them. The rank of Major General was the recompence of his fervices. It may be obferved, that if on this occafion the Englifh. were aStonifhed at the juftnefs of the firing, and terrible execution of the French artillery, we were not lefs fo at the extraordinary progrefs of the A-merican artillery, as well as the capacity and knowledge of a great number of the officers employed in it. As for General Knox, to praife his military talents only, would be to deprive him of half of the eulogium which he merits : A man of understanding, a well formed man, gay, Sincere, and honelt; it is impoflible to know without eftecming him, or to fee without loving him. In the text, it is faid that he was a bookfeller at BoSton before the war ; this is not perfectly the truth. He carried on trade in various articles, and according to the American cuftom, he fold .them wholefale and retail. Books, but particularly French books, made part of this commerce conversing more particularly with General, IVaine; he has ferved more than any officer of the American army, and his fervices have been more difiinguifhed, * though he is yet but young. He is feniible, and his converfation is agreeable and animated.— The affair of Stoney Point has gained him much honour in the army ; however, he is only a Brigadier General! This arifes from the nomination to the fuperior ranks being vefted in the ftates to whom the troops be--long, and that the ftate of Penfylvania has not thought proper to make any promotion, K 4 apparently but he employed himfelf more in reading than felling them. Before the revolution lie was one of the principal citizens of Bolton ; atprefent, he belongs to the whole world by his reputation and his fuccefs. Thus have the Englifh, contrary to their intention^ added to the ornament of the human fpecies, by awakening talents and virtues where they thought to find nothing but ignorance and weaknefsi * This might in fome refpect be true at the time the Marquis fpeaks of, but let the fouthern cam* paigns be attended to, and juftice will be done, to the active zeal, the wonderful exertions, the unabat-ing courage of that great officer General Green ; other exceptions might be made, but this ftands confpicu-ous. Translator, 136 TRAVELS I ft apparently from principles of ceconomy. The remainder of the day I dedicated to the enjoyment of General Wafhington's company, whom I was to quit the next day. He was fo good as to point out to me himfelf my journey, to fend on before to prepare me lodgings, and to give me a Colonel to conduct: me as far as Trenton. The next morning all the General's baggage was packed up, which did not hinder us from breakfaiting, before we parted, he for his winter quarters, and 1 for my journey to Philadelphia. Here would be the proper place to give the portrait of General Wafhington : but what can my teftimony add to the idea already formed of him ? The continent of North America, from Bolton to Charles Town, is a great volume, every page of which prefents his eulogium. I know, that having had the opportunity of a near inflection, and of clofely obferving him, fome more particular details may be expected from me j but the ltrongelt characteristic of this refpectable man is the perfect union, which reigns between the physical and mo. k ral qualities which compofe the individual, ' one alone will enable you to judge of all the reft. If you are prefented with medals of Casfar, of Trajan, or Alexander, on examining their features, you will ftill be led to afk what was their ftature, and the form of their perfons; but if you difcover, in a heap of ruins, the head or the limb of an antique Apollo, be not curious about the other parts, but reft aifnred that they all were conformable to thofe of a God. Let not this com-parifon be attributed to enthufiafm! It is not my intention to exaggerate, I wifh only to exprefs the impreffion General Wafhington has left on my mind ; the idea of a perfect whole, that cannot be the produce of enthufiafm, which rather would reject it, fince the effect of proportion is to diminifh the idea of greatnefs. Brave without temerity, laborious without ambition, generous without prodigality, noble without pride, virtuous without feverity ; he feems always to have confined himfelf within thofe limits, where the virtues, by cloath-ing themfelves in more lively, but more phangeable and doubtful colours, may be mistaken, mistaken for faults. This is the feventhyear that he has commanded the army, and that he has obeyed the Congrefs ; more need not be /aid, cfpecially in America, where they know how to appreciate all the merit contained in this Jimple JdcJ. Let it be repeated that Conde was intrepid, Turenne prudent, Eugene adroit, Catinat difinterelted. It is not thus that Wafhington will be characterifed. It will be faid of him, at the end of a long civil war, he had nothing with which he could reproach himself. If any thing can be more marvellous than fuch a character, it is the unanimity of the public fuffrages in his favour. Soldier, magistrate, people, all love and admire himi all fpeakof him in terms of tendcrnefs and veneration. Does there then exist a virtue capable of retraining the injustice of mankind ; or are glory and happinefs too recently eltablifhed in America, for Envy to have deigned to pafs the feas ? In fpeaking of this perfect whole of which General Wafhington furnifhes the idea, I have- not excluded exterior form His stature is noble and lofty, he is well made, made, and exactly proportioned ; his physiognomy mild and agreeable, but fuch as to render it impomble to fpeak particularly of any of his features, fo that in quitting him, you have only the recollection of a fine face. He has neither a grave nor a familiar air, his brow is fometimes marked with thought, but never with inquietude 5 in infpiring refbeet, he infpires confidence, and his fmile is always the fmile of benevolence. * But above all, it is in the midft of his General Officers, that it is intereitingto behold him. General in a republic, he has not * It is impossible for any man who has had the happinefs to approach the General, not to admire the accuracy of this defcription, and the juftnefs and happinefs with which it is developed, or to read it without the Strongest emotion. It is here above all, the Tranflator mull: apologize for his author ; it is not pollible to do juStice to the original, to feel all its elegance it mud be read in the language in which it was written. Posterity, future historians, will be grateful to the Marquis de Chaflellux for this cx-quifite portrait; every feature, and every tint of which will Hand the teSt of the fevcrelt Scrutiny, and be handed down to distant ages in never fading colours. Translator, not the impoiing ftatelinefs of a Marechal de France who gives the order i a heroin a republic, he excites another fort of refpecf, which feems to fpring from the fole idea, that the fafety of each individual is attached to his perfon. As for the reft, I muft ob-ferve on this occafion, that the General Officers of the American army have a very military and a very becoming carriage; that even all the officers, whofe characters were brought into public view, unite much politenefs to a great deal of capacity; that the head quarters of this army, in fhort, neither pre-fent the image of want, nor inexperience. When one fees the battalion of the General's guards encamped within the precincts of his houfe ; nine waggons, deftined to carry his baggage, ranged in his court; a great number of grooms taking care of very fine horfes belonging to the General Officers and their Aides de Camp; when one ob-ferves the perfect order that reigns within thefe precincts, where the guards are exactly Stationed, and where the drums beat an alarm, and a particular retreat, one is tempted to apply to the Americans what Pyrrhus. NO R T H - A M £ R I C A. i4t faid of the Romans: Truly thefe people hav ntohing barbarous in their difcipline! The reader will perceive that it is difficult for me to quit General Wafhington : let us take our refolution brifkly then, and fuppofe ourfelves on the road. Behold me travelling with Colonel Moyland, whom his Excellency had given me, in fpight of myfelf, as a companion, and whom I mould have been glad to have feen at a distance, for one cannot be too much at one's eafe in travelling. In fuch Situations, however, we muff do the best we can. I began to quef-tion him, he to anfwer me, and the converfation gradually becoming more interesting, I found I had to do with a very gallant and intelligent man, who had lived long in Europe, and who has travelled through the greatest part of America. I found him perfectly polite ; for his politenefs was not troublefome, and I foon conceived a great friendship for him. Mr. Moyland is an IriSh Catholic ; one of his brothers is Catholic BiShop of Cork, he has four others, two of whom are merchants, one at Cadiz, the other at L'Orient; the third is in Ireland with with his family ; and the fourth is intended for the priesthood. * As for himfelf, he came to fettle in America fome years ago, where * I was acquainted with four brothers of this family ; they were all amiable, fentible and lively men» and remarkably active and ufeful in the revolution. The Colonel, in the military line ; another brother, whom I fuppofe to have been the merchant at Cadiz, was afterwards in America, and clothier general to the army ; another is a lawyer at Philadelphia, and Mr. Moyland, who is lately dead at L'Orient, was Singularly ufeful in the year 1777, by managing a treaty between the American Commissioners and the Farmers General of France, for an annual fupply of tobacco from America, which he concluded, during Lord Stormonfs rejidence at the Court of France, and many months previous to the open rupture with that Court. I fpeak of this with perfonal knowledge of the fact, nor was it fo Secret as to have eScaped the EngliSh Ambalfador, or the vigilant Air. Forth. There could not be a more direct attack on England, and Engliih claims, than this tranfaction, which muft have had the Sanction of the French Government, yet England was lulled to Sleep by her Ministers, or rather was fo infatuated as to Shut her ears againSl the moSt interesting truths. I could fay much more on this Subject, but why enter into dif-^ufTions which have long ceafed to be either fcafon-able or ufeful ? England was, literally, in the cafe of the ghxa s Dcus vult pcrdere. Translator. where he was at firft engaged in commerce ; he then ferved in the army as Aide de Camp to the General, and has merited the command of the light cavalry. During the war he married the. daughter of a rich merchant in the Jerfeys, who lived formerly at New York, and who now refides on an eftate -at a little diftance from the road we were to pafs the next day. He propofed to me to go and fleep there, or at leaft to take a dinner ; I begged to be excufed, from the fear of being obliged to pay compliments, of straightening others, or of being myfelf straightened; he did not insist, fo that I purfued my journey, fometimes through sine woods, at others through well cultivated lands, and villages inhabited by Dutch families. One of thefe villages, which forms a little townfhip, bears the beautiful name of Troy. Here the country is more open and continues fo to Morris-Town. This town, celebrated by the winter quarters of 1779, is about three and twenty miles from Prake?iefs, the name of the head quarters from whence I came : It is fituated on a height, at the foot of which runs the rivulet rivulet called Vipenny River; the houfes are handfome and well built, there are about 60 or 80 round the Meeting-houfe. I intended flopping at Morris-Town only to bate my horfes, for it was but half part two, but on entering the inn of Mr. Arnold, I faw a dining-room adorned with looking glaffes and handfome mahogany furniture, and a table fpread for twelve perfons. I learnt that all this preparation was for mej and what affected me more nearly, was to fee a dinner, cor-refponding with thefe appearances, ready to ferve up. I was indebted for this to the goodnefs of General Wamington, and the precautions of Colonel Moyland, who had fent before to acquaint them with my arrival. It would have been very ungracious to have accepted this dinner at the expenceof Mr. Arnold, who is an honeft man and a good whig, and who has not a particle in common with Benedict Arnold; it would have been ftill more aukward to have paid for s the banquet without eating it. I therefore inftantly determined to dine and fleep in this comfortable inn. The Vicomte de Noailles, the Comte de Damas, &c. were expected expected to make up the dozen ; but thefe young travellers, who had reckoned during their flay with the army, on being witnefTes to fome encounters, were defirous of indemnifying themfelves by riding along the bank of the river, to take a look at York Ifland, and try if they could not tempt the enemy to favour them with a few fhot. M. de la Fayette himfelf conducted them, with an efcort of twenty dragoons. They deferred for a day therefore their journey to Philadelphia, and I had no other guefls but a Secretary and Aide de Camp of M. de la Fayette, who arrived as I was at table, well difpofed to fupply the deficiency of the abfent. After dinner I had a vifit from General St. Clair, whom I had already feen at the army, which he had left the preceding evening to fieep at Morris-Town. It was he who commanded on Lake Champlain, at the evacuation of Ticonderoga : a terrible clamour was raifed againft him on that occa-fion, and he was tried by a council of war, but honourably acquitted* not only becaufe Voi^. I. L his * The terms of his acquittal are—ivith the higheji honour. Translator. his retreat was attended with the heft con-fequences ; Burgoyne having been forced to capitulate ; but becaufe it was proved that he had been left in want of every thing neceffary for the defence of the poft en-trufted to him. He was born in Scotland, where he has ftill a family and property; he is efteemed a good officer, and, if the war continues, will certainly act a principal part in the army.* < I fet out from Morris-Town the 28th, at eight in the morning, with very lowering weather, which did not hinder me, however, from obferving, to the right of the road, the huts occupied by the troops in the winter of 1779,—80. Some miles from thence, we met a man on horfeback, who came to meet Colonel Moyland with a letter from his wife. After reading it, he faid to me, with a truly European politenefs, that we muft always obey the women ; * General Sinclair's defence on this trial, which was lent me by Mr. Arthur Middleton, one of the Delegates inCongrefs for South Carolina, is an ad-mirable piece of reafoning and eloquence. Translator men ; that his wife would accept of no ex-cufe, and expected me to dinner; but he affured me that he would take me by a road which fhould not be a mile out of my way, whilft my people purfued their journey, and went to wait for me at Somerfet Court-houfe. I was now too well acquainted with my Colonel, and too much pleafed with him, to refufe this invitation ; I followed him, therefore, and after crofling a wood, found myfelf on a height, the portion of which lfruck me at firfl fight. I remarked to Colonel Moyland, that I was much miftaken if this ground was not well calculated for an advantageous camp : he replied, that it was preciiely that of Mid-dlebrook, where General Wafhington had flopped the Englifh in June, 1777, when Sir William Howe was endeavouring to tra-verfe the Jerfeys to pafs the Delaware, and take Philadelphia. Continuing my journey, and looking about me as far as my view would reach, the fhape alone of the ground made me imagine, that the right could not be very good ; 1 then learnt with pleafure that General Wafhington had built L z two 148 .TRAVELS IN. two strong redoubts there. The reader will permit me the following lhort reflexion, that the bell method for military men, in following on the ground, the campaigns of great Generals, is not to have the different positions pointed out and explained to them : it is much better, before they are made acquainted with thefe details, to vilit the places, to look well about on every fide, and to propofe to themfelves fome problems on the nature of the ground, and on the advantages to be derived from it i then to compare ideas with facts, by which means they will be enabled to rectify one, and to appreciate the other. On defcending from the heights, we turned a little to the left, and found our. felves on the fide of a rivulet, which brought us into a deep vale. The various cafcades formed by this stream, in precipitating itfelf over the rocks ; the ancient fir-trees with which it is furrounded, a part of which have fallen from age, and lie acrofs its courfe ; the furnaces belonging to fome copper mines, half deftroyed by the Eng~ lifh } thefe ruins of nature, and thefe ra- . i vages vages of war, compofed the moft poetic, or according to the Englifti expreilion, the moft romantic picture; for it is precifely what is called in England a romantic prof* peft. It is here that Colonel Moyland's father-in-law has fitted up a little rural afylum, where his family go to avoid the heats of the fummer, and where they fomeT times pafs whole nights in liftenjng to the fong of the mocking bird, for the nightin^ gale does not ling in America. We know that great mulicians are oftener to , be met with in the courts of defpots, than in republics. Here the fongfter of the night is neither the graceful Me/ico, nor the pathe-; tic Tenducci ; he is the Bouffon Caribajdl; he has. no fong, and confequently no fenr timent peculiar to himfelf: he counter* feits in the evening what he has heard in, the day. Has he heard the lark or the thrum, it is the lark or the thrufti you, hear. Have fome workmen been employed in the woods, or has he been near their houfe, he will fing precifely as they do. If they are Scotchmen, he will repeat you the air of fbme gentle and plaintive L 3 tale; tale ; if they are Germans, you will dif-cover the clumfy gaiety of a Swabian, or Alfatian. Sometimes he cries like a child, at others he laughs like a young girl : nothing, in Short, is more entertaining than this comic bird ; but he performs only in fummer, and fo it happened that I never had the good fortune to hear him.* After travelling two miles in this fort of gorge, the woods begin to open, and we foon found ourfelves beyond the mountains. On the brow of thefe mountains, to the fouth, were the huts occupied by a part of the army in 1779* after the battle of Monmouth. We foon arrived at Colonel Moyland's, or rather at Colonel Vanhorn's, his father-in-law. This manor is in a beautiful Situation ; it is furround-cd by fome trees, the approach is decorated with a grafs plot, and if it was better taken care of, one would think ones-felf in the neighbourhood of London, rather than in that of New York, Mr. Vanhorn came to * The Translator, as well as rooSl travellers in America, particularly in the middle Slates, can teSlify the accuracy of this account. Translator. to meet me : he is a tall, lufty man, near fixty years of age, but vigorous, hearty, and good humoured ; he is called Colonel from the station he held in the militia, under the Englifh government. He resigned fome time before the war : he was then a merchant and cultivator, pairing the winter at New York, and the fummer in the country ; but Since the war he has quitted that town, and retired to his manor, always faithful to his country, without rendering himfelf odious to the Engliih, with whom he has left two of his fons in the Jamaica trade, but who, if the war continues, are to fell their property and come and live with their father. Nothing can prove more Strongly the integrity of his conduct, than the elteem in which he is held by both parties. Situated at ten miles from Staten Ifland, near to Rariton, Amboy, and Brunfwitk, he has frequently found himfelf in the midlt of the theatre of war; fo that he has fometimes had the Americans with him, fometimes the Englifh. It even happened to him once in the fame day, to give a breakfast to Lord Cornwallis L 4 and and a dinner to General Lincoln. Lord Cornwallis, informed that the latter had Slept at Mr. Vanhorn's, came to take him by furprife; but Lincoln, getting intelligence of his delign, retired into the woods. Lord Cornwallis, aftonifhed not to find him, afked if the American General was not concealed in his houfe : " No," replied Mr. Vanhorn, bluntly. " On your honour ?" fays Cornwallis. " On my honour, and if you doubt it, here are the keys, you may fearch every where." « I fhall take your word for it," faid Lord Cornwallis, and afked for fome breakfaff.; an hour afterwards he returned to the army. Lincoln, who was concealed at no great diffance, immediately returned, and dined quietly with his holts. The acquaintance I made with Mr. Van-horn being very prompt and cordial, he conducted me to the parlour, where I found his wife, his three daughters, a young lady of the neighbourhood, and two young officers. Mrs. Vanhorn is an old lady, who, from her countenance, her drefs, and her de-* deportment, perfectly refembled a picture of Vandyke. She does the honours of the tabje with exactnefs, helps every body without faying a word, and the reft of the time is like a family portrait. Her three daughters are not amifs: Mrs. Moyland, the eld-eft, is fix months advanced in her pregnancy; the youngeft only twelve years old, but the fecond is marriageable. She appeared to be on terms of great familiarity with one of the young officers, who was in a very elegant undrefs, forming a good representation of an agreeable country fquire; at table he picked her nuts for her, and often took her hands. I imagined that he was an intended hulband ; but the other officer, with whom I had the opportunity of converting as he accompanied us in the evening, told me that he did not believe there was any idea of marriage between them. I mention thefe trifles only to (hew the extreme liberty that prevails between the two fexes, as long as they are unmarried. It is no crime for a girl to embrace a young man ; it would be a very heinous one for a married woman even to mew fhew a defire of pleafing.* Mrs. Carter,f a handfome young woman, whofe hufband is * Though this freedom prevails amongft all ranks, jt is particularly linking amongft the middling claries and common people. Not to Speak of the New-England bundling, a practice which has been fo of. ten mentioned, the Tranilator has feen a grave Qua. ker and his wife fitting on their bench at their door, as is the cuftom at Philadelphia in the fummer even, ings, and along fide of them the 'prentice boy of Sixteen, and the fervant girl, or perhaps one of the daughters of the family, not oaly killing and embracing each other, but proceeding to fuch familiarities as would mock modefty, and draw down the vengeance of the virtuous citizen of London; and all this, not only without reprehenfion, but even with marks of complacency on the part of the good old folks. Even the loft flip, is no eSIential blemilh in the character of the frail fair one. Both fexes arrive early at puberty, their constitutions are warm, there are few reftraints, and they lofe no time in compleat-ing the great object., the population of the country. Translator. •J- Mrs. Carter is the daughter of General Schuyler■, and is now called Church ; her hulband, Mr. John barker Church, having re-aflumed his real name on his return to England Since the peace. He is an English gentleman of a very refpeftable family and con-ncflions ; but having been unfortunate in buSinefs in London, in the outfet of life, retired to America, where, from his known principles, he was re- is concerned in furniming our army with provisions, and lives at prefent at Newport, told me, that going down one morning into her huihand's office, not much decked out, but in a rather elegant French undrefs, a farmer of the Maffachuffet's State, who was there on bufinefs, Seemed furpriled at feeing her, and aiked who that young lady was. On being told, Mrs. Carter—" Ayel" faid he} loud enough for her to hear him, *' A wife and a mother, truly, has no bufinefs to be fo well drej/ed.'" At three o'clock I got on horfeback, with Colonel Moyland, and Captain Heme, one of the young officers 1 had dined with. He is in the light cavalry, and confer fequently cejved as a good whig. He took the name of Carter, that his friends might hear nothing of him, until by his industry he had retrieved his affairs. His activity in the revolution, brought him acquainted with General Schuyler, whole daughter he foon after married ; and on the arrival of the French troops, got a principal lhare of the contract for fupplying, them, in conjun&ion with Col. Wadfworth. Since the war he has returned to Europe, with a very considerable fortune, fettled all his afFairs, and is happily and honourably reitored to his friends and family. Translator. quently in Colonel Moyland's regiment. His iize and figure, which I had already remarked, appeared to ftill more advantage on horfeback. I obferved that he was feated in a very noble and eafy manner, and in perfect conformity to our principles of horfemanfhip. I afked him where he had ftudied horfemanfbip, he told me at his own regiment; that his defire to teach the foldiers induced him to learn it; and that he made it his bufinefs to render them as expert in the exercife as himfelf. Though but one and twenty, he had already acquired great experience, and distinguished himfelf the preceding year, in an affair, where a fmall body of American light horfe beat a much more considerable one of Englifh dragoons. I had a long converfation with him, and he always fpoke to me with a modefty, and a grace which would be favourably received by all the military in Europe, and which, to all appearance, would be as fuccefsful at Paris as in camps. We had fcarcely proceeded three miles, before we found ourfelves in the Prince-Town Town road, and on the banks of the Rari-ton, which may be eafily paffed by fording, or over a wooden bridge. Two miles farther we croffed the Mill/tone, the left bank of which we followed to Somerfet Court-houfe. Of all the parts of America I had hitherto paffed through, this is the moft open ; we meet with handfome little plains here, where from fifteen to twenty thoufand men might be encamped. General Howe had not lefs when he paffed the Rariton in 1777. His right was fupported by a wood, beyond which runs the Mill-ftone ; his left alfo extended towards other woods. General Wafhington at that time occupied the camp at Middlebrook, and General Sullivan, at the head of only 1500 men, was fix miles from the army, and three miles from the left of the . enemy. m In this pofition he was near enough to ha-rafs them, without committing himfelf, as he had in his rear the mountains of Saourland. They who, in the laft war, have paffed through Saourland, will eafily conceive that the country to which the German emigrants have given this name, is is not very eafy of accefs. I found my fuite at Somcrfet CoUrt-houfe, where they were waiting for me in a pretty good inn, but as there was ltill fome daylight, and 1 had calculated my next day's journey, which required that I fhould gain fomething in the prefent, I determined to proceed further. The night, which foon came on* prevented me from making any more ob-fervations on the country. After once more palling the Millftone, and getting well out of a horrible flough, we halted at Gregg-Town, where we flept at Skil-man's tavern, an indifferent inn, but kept by very obliging people. Captain Herne continued his route. Our next day's ride prefented us With very interesting objects : we were to fee two places which will be for ever dear to the Americans, fince it was there the firft rays of hope brightened upon them, or, to exprefs it more properly, that the fafety of the country was effected. Thefe celebrated places are Prince-Town, and Trenton. I fhall not fay I went to fee them, for they lay precifely in the road. Let the reader judge then how much 1 was out out of humour, on feeing fo thick a fog riling, as to prevent me from diftinguifhirig objects at fifty paces from me; but I was in a country where one muft defpair of nothing. The fortune of the day was like that of America; the fog fuddenly dif-perfed, and I found myfelf travelling on the right bank of the Millftone, in a narrow valley. Two miles from Gregg-Town we quit this valley, and mount the higheft of Rockey-Hill, where are a few houfes. King s-Town is a mile farther, but ftill on the Millftone; the Maidenhead road ends here, and its communication is facilitated by a bridge built over the rivulet. It is here that General Wafhington halted after the affair of Prince Town. After marching from midnight until two o'clock in the afternoon, almoft continually fighting: hewifhed to colledf the troops, and give them fome reft ; he knew, however, that Lord Cornwallis was following him on the Maidenhead road ; but he contented himfelf with taking up fome planks of the bridge, and as foon as he faw the vanguard of the Englifh appear, he continued his march quietly towards Middlebrook. Beyond King's- JCing's-Town, the country begins to open, and continues fo to Prince-Town. This town is fituated on a fort of platform not much elevated, but which commands on all (ides : it has only one itreet formed by the high road; there are about fixty or eighty houfes, all tolerably well built, but little attention is paid them, for that is immediately attracted by an immenfe building, which is visible at a considerable dif-tance. It is a college built by the ftate of Jerfey fome years before the war ; as this building is only remarkable from its fize, it is unneceffary to defcribe it; the reader will only recollect, when I come to fpeak of the engagement, that it is on the left of the road in going to Philadelphia, that it is situated towards the middle of the town, on a distinct fpot of ground, and that the entrance to it is by a large fquare court furrounded with lofty palifades. The object which excited my curiofity, though very foreign from letters at that moment, brought me to the very gate of the college. I difmounted for a moment to visit this vast edifice, and was foon joined by Dr. Wither/poem, President of the university* He He is a man of at lead uxty, is a member of Congrefs, and much refpecled in this country. In accofting me he fpoke French, but I eafily perceived that he had acquired his knowledge of that language, from reading, rather than converfation; which did not prevent me, however, from anfwer-ing him, and continuing to converfe with him in French, for I faw that he was well pleafed to difplay what he knew of it. This is an attention which cofts little, and is too much neglected in a foreign country. To reply in Englim to a perfon who fpeaks French to you, is to tell him you do not know my language fo well as I do yours : in this, too, one is not unfrequently mistaken. As for me, I always like better to have the advantage on my fide, and to fight on my own ground. I converfed in French, therefore, with the Prefident, and from him I learnt that this college is a complete univerfity ; that it can contain two hundred itudents, and more, including the out boarders : that the diftribution of the ftudies is formed fo as to make only one clafs for the humanities -3 which cor-Vol. I. M refponds refponds with our firft: four clafTes; that two others are deffined to the perfecting the youth in the ftudy of Latin and Greek; a fourth to natural Philofophy, Mathematics, Aftronomy, &C. and a fifth to moral Philofophy. Parents may fupport their children at this college at the annual expence of forty guineas. Half of this fum is appropriated to lodgings and matters ; the reft is fufficient for living, either in the college, or at board in private houfes in the town. This ufeful eftablifhment has fallen into decay fince the war j there were ^nly forty ftudents when I faw it. A handfome collection of books had been made ; the greatest part of which has been embezzled. The Englifh even carried off from the chapel the portrait of the King of England, alofs for which the Americans eafily confoled themfelves, declaring they would have no King amongft them, not even a painted one. There ftill remains a very beautiful aftronomical machine; but as it was then out of order, and differs in no refpect from that I faw afterwards in Philadelphia, I fhall take no notice tice of it.* i confefs alfo that i was rather anxious to examine the traces of General Wafhington, in a country where every object reminded me of his fucceffes. i paffed rapidly therefore from Parnaffus to the field of Mars, and from the hands of Prefident Witherfpoon f into thofe of M 2 Colonel * This is the celebrated Orrery of Rittcnhoufe, the fuppofed deft.nict.ion of which made fo much noife at the beginning of the civil war, and fullied the Englilli name in the eyes of all enlightened Europe. Juftice, however, requires from the Translator to declare, that from his enquiries, and examination on the fpot, the report had no other foundation than, that they intended to remove, and fend it as a prefent to the King. It may pofliblybe faid, and would to God that fuch a conjecture were not too well warranted by the whole conduct of the war, that to this motive only may be attributed its pre-fervation ; however that may be, their fuclden dif-lodgement from Prince-Town preferved the Orrery, and, as far as that goes, the national character. Translator. t This gentleman is fo well known in Europe as to render it unnecefTary to enter into any particulars refpecting him. He certainly played a much more important part on the theatre of this grand revolution, than by heading the low church party, as it is called in Scotland, and difplaying.his eloquence, as I have feen him, at prelbyteries and fynods.. Translator. Colonel Moyland. They were both equally upon their own ground ; fo that while one was pulling me by the right arm, telling me, Here is the philofophy clafs; the other was plucking me by the left, to (hew me where one hundred and eighty Englifh laid down their arms. Every perfon who, fince the commencement of the war, has only given himfelf the trouble of reading the Gazettes, may recollect that General Wafhington fur-prized the town of Trenton the 25th of December, 1776; that, immediately after this expedition, he retired to the other fide of the Delaware, but that having received a fmall addition to his force, he repaifed the river a fecond time, and encamped at Trenton. Lord Cornwallis had now collected his troops, before difperfed, in winter quarters. He marched again ft Wafhington, who was obliged to place the AJfampik, or river of Trenton, between the enemy and him. By this means the town was divided between the two armies; the Americans occupying the left bank of the creek, and the Englifh the right. NO"R TH-AMERICA. 165* right. Lord Cornwallis's army was receiving hourly reinforcements $ two briagdes from Brunfwick were expected to join him, and he only waited their arrival to make the attack.* General Wafhington, on the other hand, was deftitute of pro* vifions, and cut off from all communication with the fertile country of the Jerfeys, and the four eaftern flates. Such was his pofition, when, on the fecond of January, at one o'clock in the morning, he ordered the fires to be well kept up, and fome foldiers to be left to take care of them, whilft the remainder of the army fhould march by the right, to fall back afterwards on the left, pafs the rear of the Englifh army, and enter the Jerfeys. It was necef- M 3 fary * Lord Cornwallis made one or two attempts to force the fmall ftone bridge over the creek at Trenton, but was fo galled by a fmall battery which commanded it, and a body of chofen men, placed by General Wafhington in the Mill-houfe, that he gave up the attempt, from a contempt of his enemy; looking upon them, as his certain prey, their retreat over the Delaware, then full of ice, being impracticable j for the fame reafon, probably, he made no attempt to crofs the creek in any other part. Translator. fary to throw themfelves considerably to the right, in order to reach Aliens-Town, and the fources of the Afiampik, and then to fall on Prince-Town. About a mile from this town, General Wafhington's vanguard, on entering the main road, fell in with Colonel Mawbood, who was marching quietly at the head of his regiment in his way to Maidenhead, and thence to Trenton. General Mercer immediately attacked him, but was repulfed by the enemy's fire ; he then attempted to charge with the bayonet, but unfortunately, in leaping a ditch, was furrounded and put to the fword by the Englifh. The troops, who were in general militia, difcouraged by the lofs of their commander, retreated into the woods, to wait for the remainder of the army, which arrived foon after : but Colonel Mawhood had continued his route to Maidenhead, fo that General Wafhington had only to do with the forty-eighth regiment, part of which had appeared upon the main road on the firft alarm of the attack. He pufhed thefe troops vigour-pufly, difperfed them, and made fifty or fixty prifoners. General Sullivan, bow-ever, was advancing rapidly, leaving on his left the Prince-Town road, with the defign of turning that town, and of cutting off the retreat of the troops, who occupied it, to Brunfwick. Two hundred Engliih had thrown themfelves into a wood by which he was to pafs, but they did not long hold it, and returned in diforder to Naffau-ball, the name of the college I have been fpeaking of. This they ought to have taken pofieflion of, and have there made a vigourous defence. To all appearance their officers were bewildered, for instead of entering the houfe, or even the court, they remained in a fort of wide street, where they were furrounded and obliged to lay down their arms, to the number of one hundred and eighty, not including fourteen officers. As for General Wafhington, after taking or difperfing every thing before him, he collected his troops, marched on to King's-Town, where he halted, as I have already mentioned, and continued his route towards Middlebrook ; having thus marched near thirty miles in M 4 one one day, but ftill regretting that his trooops were too much fatigued to proceed to Brunfwick, which he could have taken without any difficulty. Lord Cornwallis had now nothing left but to haften thither as faft as pomble with his whole army. From this moment, Pennfylvania was in fafety, the Jerfeys were evacuated, and the Englifh reduced to the towns of Brunfwick and Amboy, where they were obliged to act always on the defenfive, not being able to ftir, nor even to forage, without being driven back, and roughly handled by the militia of the country. Thus we fee that the great events of war are not always great battles, and humanity may receive fome confolation from this fole reflexion, that the art of war is not neceffarily a fan-guinary art, that the talents of the commanders fj/are the lives of the foldiers, and «»nat ignorance alone is prodigal of tfiood. The affair of Trenton, whence this originated, coft no dearer, and was perhaps more glorious, without being more ufeful. Addifon faid, in vifiting the different monuments ments of Italy, that he imagined himfelf treading on clajfic ground ; all my fteps were on martial ground, and I was in the fame, morning to fee two fields of battle. I arrived early at Trenton, having remarked nothing interefting on the road, unlefs it be the beauty of the country, which every where correfponds with the reputation of the Jerfeys, called the garden of America. On approaching Trenton, the road defcends a little, and permits one to fee at the eaft end of the town the orchard where the Heffians haftily collected, and furrendered prifoners. This is almoft ail that can be faid of this affair, which has been amplified by the Gazettes on one fide and the other. We know that General Waftiing-ton, at the head only of three thoufand men, paffed the Delaware in dreadful weather, on the night of the 24th and 25th of December that he divided his troops into two columns, one of which made a circuit to gain a road upon the left leading to the Maidenhead-road, whilft the other marched along the river, ftraight to Trenton ; that the main guard of the Heffians was furprif- ed, ed, and that the brigade had fcarcely time to get under arms. The park of artillery was near a church, they were attempting to harnefs the horfes, when the American vanguard, which had forced the piquet, fired on, and killed almoft all of them. General Wafhington arrived with the right column; the Heffians were furrounded, and fired a few random fhot, without order. General Wafhington fuffered them to do fo, but he availed himfelf of the firft moment of the ftackening of their fire, to fend an officer who fpoke French to them, for our language fupplies the want of all others. The Heffians hearkened very willingly to his propo-fal. The General promifed that the effects they had left in their houfes fhould not be pillaged, and they foon laid down their arms, which they had fcarcely had time to take up. Their pofition was certainly not a good one; nor can I conceive it pofiible that this could be a field of battle fixed upon in cafe of an alarm. They would have had a fure retreat by paffing the bridge over the creek at the fouth end of the town, but the vanguard of the right column had got poffeflion poffemon of it. Such, in a few words, was this event, which is neither honourable nor diflionourable for the Heffians; but which proves that no troops exifting can be reckoned on, when they fuffer themfelves to be furprized. After viewing fo many battles, it was bu$ right to think of dinner. I found my head quarters well eftablifhed in a good inn kept by Mr. Williams. The iign of this inn is a philofophical, or, if you will, a political emblem. It reprefents a beaver at work, with his little teeth, to bring down a large tree, and underneath is written, perje-verando. I had fcarce alighted from my horfe, before I received a vifit from Mr. Living/ion, f Governor of the Jerfeys. He is an old man much refpected, and who paffes for a very fenfible man. He was pleafed * This gentleman was fo active and ufeful in the revolution, that he was long the marked object, of tory vengeance, he was obliged, for many months, to fhift his quarters every day, and under the necef-fity of lleeping every night in a different place ; but nothing could abate his zeal, he never quitted his government, and was indefatigable in his exertions to animate the people. Translator, pleafed to accompany me in a little walk I took before dinner, to examine the environs of the town, and fee the camp occupied by the Americans before the affair of Prince-Town. I returned to dinner with Colonel Moyland, Mr. de Gimat, and two Aides de Camp of M. de la Fayette, who arrived fome time before me. We were all acquainted, very happy to meet together and to dine at our eafe, when a Juftice of the Peace, who was at Trenton on bufinefs, and a Captain of the American artillery, came and fat down to table with us, without any ceremony; it being the cuftom of the country for travellers, when they meetat the hour of dinner, to dine together. The dinner, of which I did the honours, was excellent; but they did not feem to know that it was I who had ordered it. There was wine at table, a very rare and dear article in America ; they drank moderately of it, and rofe from table before us. I had given orders that the dinner fhould be charged to me; they learnt this on going out, but fet off without faying a word to me on the fubject. I haye often had occafion to obferve, that there there is more of ceremony than compliment in America. All their politenefs is mere form, fuch as drinking healths to the company, obferving ranks, giving up the right hand, &c. But they do nothing of this but what has been taught them, not a particle of it is the refult of fentiment; in a word, politenefs here is like religion in Italy, every thing in practice, but without any principle. At four o'clock I fet out, after feparating, but not without regret, from the good Colonel Moyland. I took the road to Briflol, eroding the river three miles below Trenton. Six miles from thence you pafs a wood ; and then approach the Delaware, which you do not quit till you arrive at Brif-tol. It was night when I got to this town. The inn I alighted at is kept by a Mr. Benezet, of French extraction, and of a very refpectable Quaker family ; but he is a deferter from their communion. He is of the church of England, and has retained hone of the acknowledged principles of his brethren, except that of making you pay dearer than other people: in other refpeds his inn is handfome, handfome, the windows look upon the Delaware, and the view from them is fu-perb ; for this river is nearly a mile broad, and flows through a very delightful country. * I left Briftol the 50th of November, be* tween nine and ten in the morning, and arrived at Philadelphia at two. The road leading to this city is very wide and handfome ; one paffes through feveral fmall towns or villages, nor can one go five hundred paces without feeing beautiful country houfes. As you advance you find a richer and better cultivated country, with a great number of orchards and paflures ; every thing, in fhort, anfwers the neighbourhood of a large town, and this road is not unlike thofe round London. Four miles * This landlord, like his brethren at Richmond and Shooter's-hill, makes his guefts pay for theprof-pect, and he has the fame temptations ; the ride from Philadelphia here on parties of pleafure being very common in fummer, and the fituation of his houfe on the great road to the Jerfeys, and the north-Ward, always enfuring him a number of travellers. Translator, miles from Briftol you pafs the creek of Nejhaminy over a ferry. It is pretty large^ and runs in fuch a direction as to form a fort of peninfula of the country between it and the Delaware. It had ftruck me from the view of the country, and from in-fpecting the chart, that on the retreat of Clinton, General Wafhington might have paffed the fources of this river, and marched along it towards the Delaware. It would have covered his right flank, and, by this precaution, he would have been at liberty to have approached the Delaware, and to have croffed it as foon as Clinton. Mr. de Gimat, to whom I made this obfervation, anfwered me, that General Wafhington never being fure of the moment when the Englifh would evacuate Philadelphia, was afraid of quitting Lancafter, where he had all his magazines. The town of Frankfort, which is about fifteen miles from Briflol, and five from Philadelphia, is pretty confiderable. A creek runs in the front of this town, over which are two ftone bridges; for it divides itfelf into two branches, one of which appeared to me to be artificial^ artificial, and deftinedto turn a great number of mills, that furniifi Philadelphia with flour. Thefe mills, fo neceffary for the fubfiflence of the two armies, made the town pf Frankfort for a long time an object of contention, which brought on feveral fldrmifhes; but the pofition is fuch as to be advantageous to neither party, for the river runs in a bottom, and the ground is of an equal elevation on both fides. The nearer you approach to Philadelphia, the more you difcover the traces of the war. The ruins of houfes deftroyed, or burnt, are the monuments the Englifh have left behind them ; but thefe ruins prefent only the image of a tranfient misfortune, and not that of long adverfity. By the fide of thefe ruined edifices, thofe which ftill exiff proclaim profperity and abundance. You imagine you fee the country after a ftorm, fome trees are overthrown^ but the others are ftill cloathed with flowers and verdure. Before you enter Philadelphia, you traverfe the lines thrown up by the Englifh in the winter of 1777—8 ; they are ftill difcoverable in many place. The The part of the lines T now faw, is that of the right, the flank of which is fupported by a large redoubt, or fquare battery, which commands alfo the river. Some parts of the parapet have been conftructed with an elegance which encreafes labour, more than it fortifies the work : they are made in the form of a faw, that is to fay, compofed of a feries of fmall redans, each of which is capable only of containing three men. As foon as I had paffed thefe lines, my eye was ftruck with feveral large buildings; the two principal were a range of barracks conftructed by the Engliih, and a large hofpital lately built at the expence of the Quakers. Infenfibly I found myfelf in the town, and after following three or four very wide ftreets, perfectly ftraight, I arrived at the gate of M. le Chevalier de la Luzerne. It was juft twenty days fince i left Newport, during which time I had only flayed one at Voluntown, and three at the American army. I was not forry therefore to get into quarters of refrefhment, and could not defire any more agreeable than the houfe of the Chevalier de la Luzerne. I Vol. I. N had had a great deal of time to converfe with him before dinner $ for at Philadelphia, as in London, it is the cuflom to dine at five, and frequently at fix. I mould have liked it as well had the company been not fo numerous, as to oblige me to make acquaintance with a part of the town; but our minifter maintains a confiderable If ate, and gives frequently great dinners, fo that it is difficult not to fall into this fort of ambufcade. The guefts, whofe names I recollect, were Mr. Governour Morris, * a young man full of wit and vivacity, but unfortunately maimed, having loft a leg by accident* His friends congratulated him on this event, faying that, now he would wholly dedicate himfelf to public bufinefs. Mr. Powell a man °f confiderable fortune, without * This gentleman loft his leg by a fall from a phaeton. He is a man of exquifite wit, and an excellent underflanding. An admirable companion at the table, and the toilet, he was in univerfal requefl; he was in all the fecrets of his namefake the financier, and refined in the dark hiftory of political intrigue. Notwithftanding his misfortune, Nature did not form him for inactivity. Translator* without taking any part in the government, his attachment to the common caufe, having appeared hitherto rather equivocal. Mr. Pendleton, Chief Juflice of South Carolina, a remarkably tall man, with a very -diftinguifhed countenance 5 he had the courage to hang three tories at Charles-Town, a few days before the furrender of the town, and was accordingly in great danger of lofing his life, had he not efcap-ed out of the hands of the Englifh, though comprized in the capitulation. Colonel Laurens, fon of Mr. Laurens, late Pre-fident of Congrefs, and now a prifoner in the Tower of London; he fpeaks very good French, which is not furprizing as he was educated at Geneva; but it is to his honour, that being married in London, he fhould quit England to ferve America ; he has diftinguimed himfelf on feveral oc-cafions, particularly at German-Town where he was wounded.* Mr. White,^ Chap-N 2 Jain * Among the numerous traits that might be cited to do honour to this illuftrious young man, Fo prematurely, and unfortunately loft to his family lain to Congrcfs, a handfome man, and of a mild and tolerant character. General and bis country, the Tranfiator has fclectcd the following ; extracted from the Journals of Congrcfs__. Thurfday November, 5, 1778. Refolved, " That John Laurens, Efq, Aide de Camp to General Wafhington, be prefented with a continental commiflion of Lieutenant ColoneJ, in tefti, mony of the fen fe which Co ngrefs entertain of his patriotic and fpirited ferviccs as a volunteer in the American army, and of his brave conduct in feveral aftions, particularly in that of Rhode Ifland on the 29th of Auguft laft; and that General Wafhington be directed, whenever an opportunity fhall offer, to give Lieutenant Colonel Laurens command agreeable to his rank." Friday, November 6, 1778. " A letter of this day from Lieutenant Colonel '* John Laurens was read," cxprefling " his grati-*' tude for the unexpected honour which Congrefs " were pleafed to confer on him by the refolutions " paffed yefterday, and the high fatisfadtion it *' would have afforded him, coxild he have accepted " it without injuring the rights of the officers in the line of the army, and doing an evident in-*' juftice to his colleagues in the family of the " commander in chief: that having been a fpec-* " tator of the convulfions occafioned in the army " by difputcs of rank, he holds the tranquillity of it Mifflin,% whole talents have {hone alike in war and politics ; he has been Quarterly 3 Mafter " too dear to be inftrumcntal in difturbing it; and *J therefore entreating Congrefs to fupprefs the M Refolve of yefterday, ordering him aCommiflion " of Lieutenant Colonel; and to accept his lincere " thanks for the intended honour." Whereupon Refolved, That Congrefs highly approve the difinterefted and patriotic principles upon which Lieutenant Colonel Laurens has declined to accept yhe promotion conferred on him by Congrefs. Translator. t Mr. White is the Clergyman of St. Peter's church, and brother to Mrs. Morris, the financier's lady. Translator. % I had the happinefs of enjoying the particular acquaintance of the General. He js afmart, fenfible, active and agreeable little man. I never faw him without thinking of Garricf? ; he is about the fame lize and figure, and his countenance fparkles with significance and expreffion. To him and his brother I am indebted for the moft hofpitable reception, and continued civilities and attention; and the General, befides fhewing me on the fpot, the whole manoeuvres of German-Town, and the proceedings on the Marquis de la Fayette's expedition over the Schuylkill, furnilhed me with many interefting particulars refpedting the conduct of the war. 1 knew there was a difguft, and the caufe of it, but all his narratives feemed to be thofe of a man pf honour, unmixed with perfonal considerations. Matter-General of the army; but quitted that piece on account of fome preference fhewn to General Green. Don Francefco Charge des Affaires of Spain : and I believe that is all that can be faid of him: M. de Tertian, a French officer in the fervice of America; he had been employed in fome commifiions in America, and after executing them, he took to the profeffion of arms; he is a young man of great wit and talents ; he draws well, and fpeaks Englifh like his own language ; he was made pri- foner On signifying my intention of making a tour into, the interior parts of Penfylvania, he was fo good; as to give me the following letter of introduction, to his friend Colonel Patton, in cafe I palled by his neighbourhood. I have preferved it as charac-teriflic at once of his own franknefs, and American/ hofpitality. Dear Patton, Mr.--my particularfriend, will favour yo% with a vifit at the Spring.-—I have affured him that hf will meet a hearty welcome. Philadelphia, Tours, ZdMoy, 1782. ' THO. MIFFIN. Translator. foner at Charles-Town: * the laft whofe name i recollect is Colonel Armand, that is, M. de la Rouerie, nephew of M. de la Belinage. He was as celebrated in France for his pailion for Mademoifelle B----, as he is in America for his courage and capacity.-)- His family having compelled N 4 him * He is at prefent a Colonel in the fervice of Holland, in the legion of Maillebois. f M. k Marquis de la Rouerie was then very young : his fubfecjuent conduct has proved, that Nature, in giving a fufceptible and impaflioned mind, has not made him a prefent likely to be always fatal to him, glory and honour have employed all its activity ; and it is an obfervation which merits to be configncd in hiltory, as well as in this Journal, that carrying with him, as he did to America, all the heroic courage, and romantic notions of chivalry of the ancient French noblefle, he could fo well conform to Republican manners, that far from availing himfelf of his birth, be would only make himfelf known by his Christian name: hence he was always called Colonel Armand. He commanded a legion which was destroyed in Carolina, at the battle of Camden, and in the remainder of that unfortunate campaign. In 1781, he went to France, purchafcd there every thing necesTary for arming and equipping a new legion, and, on his return to America, he advanced the colt of them to Congrefs. Before the peace he was advanced to. the rank of Brigadier General. him to abandon an attachment the conr fequences of which they dreaded, he buried himfelf in a celebrated and profound retirement, (the monefiery of LaTrappe.T.) but he foon quitted it for America, when he devoted himfelf to a more glorious abstinence, and to more meritorious mortifications, His character is gay, his wit agreeable, and nobody would wifh to fee him make the vow of filence. Such were the guefts with whom I got acquainted; for 1 do not fpeak of M. de PannemourSjCQnful of Frapce, atBaltimore, M. de Marbojs, Secretary of the embaffy, nor of the family of M. de la Luzerne, which is pretty confiderable. The dinner was ferved in the American, or if you will, in the Englifh fafhion ; confiffing of two courfes, one comprehending the entrees, the roalf. meat, and the warm fide difhes j the other, the fweet pafiry, and confectionary. When this is removed, the cloth is taken off, and aples, nuts and chefnuts are ferved: it is then that healths are drank; the coffee which comes afterwards ferves as a fignal to rife from table. Thefe healths or Or toafts, as I have already obferved, have no inconvenience, and only ferve to prolong the converfation, which is always more animated at the end of the repaft; they oblige you to commit no -excefs, wherein they greatly differ from the Gei> man healths, and from thofe we ftill give jn our garrifons and provinces. But I find it an abfurd, and truly barbarous pract ice* the firft time you drink, and at the beginning of dinner, to call out fuccefiively ta each individual, to let him know you drink his health. The adfor in this ridiculous comedy is fometimes ready to die with thirfl, whilif. he is obliged Jo enquire the names, or catch the eyes of five and twenty pr thirty perfons, and the unhappy perfons to whom he addreffes himfelf, with impatience, for it is certainly not poffible for jhem to beftow a very great attention to what they are eating, and what is faid to them, being inceffantly called to on the right and left, or pulled by the {leeve by charitable neighbours, who are fo kind as to acquaint them with the politenefs they are receiving. The moft civil of the Americans ricans are not content with this general call 5 every time they drink they make partial ones, for example, four or five perfons at a time. Another cuftom compleats the defpair of poor foreigners, if they be ever fo little abfent, or have good appetites : thefe general and partial attacks terminate in downright duels. They call to you from one end of the table to the other ; Sir, will you permit me to drink a glafs of wine with you ? This propofal always is accepted, and does not admit the excufe of the Great-Coufin, one does not drink without being acquainted. The bottle is then pa(fed to you, and you muft look your enemy in the face, for I can give no other name to the man who exercifes fuch an empire over my will: you wait till he likewife has poured out his wine, and taken his glafs; you then drink mournfully with him, as a recruit imitates the corporal in his exercife. But to do jutfice to the Americans, they themfelves feel the ridicule of thefe cuftoms borrowed from Old England, and fince laid afide by her. They purpofed to the Chevalier de la Luzerne to difpenfe with, With them, knowing that his example would have great weight; but he thought proper to conform, and he did right. The more the French are known to be in pof-feflion of giving their cuftorns to other nations, the more mould they avoid the appearance of changing thofe of the Americans. Happy our nation if her Am-baffadors, and her travellers, had always fo correct an underftanding, and if they never loft light of this obfervation, that of all men, the dancing matter fhould have the moft negligent air! After this dinner, which I may have pof* fibly fpun out too long, according to the cuftom of the country, the Chevalier de la JL,uzerne took me to make vifits with him.* The * The conduct of the Chevalier de la Luzerne in America juftified every idea that has been formed of the fuperior lkill and addrefs of the French nation on embaffies, and in the cabinet. He not only conformed to the manners, and cultoms of the country, but he ftudied the character of every individual of the leaft importance. He rofe early in the morning, and watched the hour that belt fuited their convenience, to wait on the Members of Congrefs, and the leading men of ftate ; at dinner he received company The firft was to Mr. Reed, Prefident of the State. This poll: correfponds with that of Governor in the other provinces, but without of all* political complexions, except offenfive tories ; his afternoons were chiefly employed in vifTting the ladies, and in palling from one houfe to another ; in thefe vifits he made no political exceptions, but on the contrary, paid his court particularly to the ladies in the fufpected families, an evidently wife policy ; in this clafs, he was fuppofed to have a very agreea-ablc, as well as ufeful acquaintance, in the two Mifs C-*s, who put no reftraint upon their tongues, but were well informed of all the tranfacf ions of their party. Wherever he could not himfelf be prefent, Mr. Marbois, and Mr. Ottaw7 the Secretaries were diitributed, fo that you could not rnajce an afternoon's vifit to a whig or tery family in the city, without being fure to meet with this political General or one of his Aides de Camp. When he made a public entertainment, and the prefence of the tory ladies gave offence tp thofe of the patriotic party, he always pleaded ignorance, contrived tofhift thehlame from himfelf, and throw it on the Secretaries, who were left to fight the battle in the belt way they could over the tea table ; but all this was carried on with undefcribable addrefs, and fo managed as to keep all parties in good humour with him. He indulged every man's peculiarities, and bellowed the petites attentions on all. It is thus the French maintain their afcen-dancy in the cabinet, which is worth a thousand out the fame authority ; for the Government of Penfylvania is purely democratic, confining victories, and theirfuperiorityin the Courts of Europe, under every varied form of Government, from Holland to Constantinople. I cannot help contrafling with this policy, an inilance of Englifh diplomatic conduct.—Avery refpectable fenator of Sweden, previous to the revolution in that country, told me, that in a very hard struggle, between the Engliih and French parties in the fenate, on fome leading question, the Engliih Miniiler applied to him in his turn, for his fuffrage ; on his starting fome objection, the Minister turned angry, assumed a haughty tone, and obferved that the Swedes did not know their true interest, that they might do as" they thought proper, that England was the only country that could fupport them, and left him much out of humour ; the fame language he held to all the fenators. The French AmbafTador, on the contrary, was paying his court to each fenator, in his family, distributing favours, and making entertainments, and carried his point with barely infinuating, what would be agreeable to his Court. Compare this anecdote with the well known conduct in Holland, of a Minister mightily extolled for his wifdom and experience, Sir Jofeph Torke, and his memorials, before the late fatal breach with that country, and the fuccefs of the Duke de la Vauguyon, which nothing but fuch haughty, ill-timed language could have fo rapidly produced^ and judge whether Sir William Temple would have-done the fajne. Translator. i96 Travels in confining only of a General Affembly, or Houfe of Commons, who name an executive Council, compofed of twelve members poffeffing very limited powers, of the exer-cife of which they are obliged to give an account to the Affembly, in which they have ho voice. Mr. Reed has been a General Officer in the American army, and has given proofs of courage, having had a horfe killed under him in thefkirmifh near White* marjh. It is he, whom Governor Johnjlonv attempted to corrupt in 1778, when Eng^ land fent Commiffioners to treat with Congrefs ; but this attempt was confined to fome insinuations, entrufted to Mrs. Fer-gufon. Mr. Reed, who is a fenfible man, rather of an intriguing characf er, and above all eager of popular favour, made a great clamour, and published, and exaggerated the offers that were made him. The complaints of Mrs. Fergufon, who found herfelf committed in this affair, a public declaration of Governor Joh.nft.one, whofe object was to deny the facts, but which ferved only to confirm them; various charges, ahd refutations, printed and made public, produced produced no other effect, than to fecond the views of Mr. Reed, and to make him attain his end, of playing a leading part in the country. Unfortunately his pretentions, or his intereft led him to declare himfelf the enemy of Dr. Franklin. * When i was at Philadelphia* it was no lefs than matter of queftion to recall that refpectable man; * I make no doubt that the' M. de Chaitellux is correct in this afTerlion* but thus much I can fay from peribnal knowledge, that Mr. Reed is one of warmest and moll strenuous fupporters of the prefent democratic constitution of Penfylvania, the work of Dr. Franklin, and to fubvert which almoft all the perfonal enemies of Mr. Reed have been labouring for fome years pafl. In Philadelphia, in 1782, the parties of conftitutionalilts* and anti-con-llitutionalifts ran fo high, as to occafion frequent perfonal quarrels. Another fact is wrell known to many perfons in Europe, and to every body in America, that the attack on Dr. Franklin came from a much more powerful and intriguing quarter than that of Mr. Reed, who never was of any weight in Congrefs. Mr. Reed too was much attached to General Wafhington, whom the oppofers of Dr. Franklin's constitution of Penfylvania, affeclcd to hold in no very high refpect. I never exchanged a word with Mr. Reed, my only wilh is to afcertain the truth. Translator. man ; but the French party, or that of Ge-* neral Wathington, or to exprefs it ftill better the really patriotic party prevailed, and the matter finiihed by fending an officer to France to reprefent the wretched ftate of the army, and to alk for an aid of cloaths., tents, and money, of which it ftood in much need. The choice fell on Colonel Laurens. * Mr. * Colonel Laurens obtained fix millions of livres from the French Court, the greater! part of which was expended in cloathing and necefTaries for the American army, on his arrival in Europe in the fpring of 1781. Mr. Gillon, who had the commif-fion of Commodore from the State of Carolina, and had been fent over to purchafe three frigates for that ftate, came immediately from Holland to Paris, and prevailed on Colonel Laurens, who was of the fame ftate, to purchafe a large quantity of the cloathing at Amfterdam, a meafure highly offenfive to the French Court, to be (hipped on board his frigate the South Carolina, which was to fail immediately, and befides her great force, carrying twenty-eight forty-two pounders, and twelve eighteens, had the legion of Luxembourg on board. The purchafe was made accordingly at Amfterdam, the goods fhipped on board the frigate, by which many private purpofes were anfwered to Mr. Gillon, who, on fome pretext however, after many months delay, and the Colo- Mr. Reed has a handfome houfe arranged, and furnifhed in the Englifh flyle. nels return, removed the goods from the frigate, and ihipped them on board two Dutch veffels to be taken under his convoy ; but to thefe he foon gave the flip, leaving them in September in the Texel, without faying a word of his intention ; finding he did not return, they were conveyed back in October to Am-fterdam, and relanded at an enormous expence to America, and to the great Iofs of the army, for whom they were intended as a fupply that winter ; yet, on his return, he had addrefs enough to elude every inquiry into this very extraordinary tranfac-tion, to which efcape, the univerfal efleem in which Mrs. Gillon, his wife, was held, by every perfon in Carolina, contributed not a little. It may here be proper to correct an error which has flipped into all the Engliih public prints of the day, and particulary into Dodjleys Annual Rcgi/rcr, on the fubiect of the frigate, the South Carolina. This frigate is men -tioned in the lift of Admiral Zoutmaris fleet in the engagement off the Dogger's Bank in Auguft, 1781. The Tranflator was then at the Texel, faw the Dutch fleet fail, and return after the engagement; during that interval had the frigate lying at anchor before his eyes, and was clofe to her, on board another vefTel off the' end of the Haaks, a great fhoal at the mouth of the Texel, when the Dutch fleet entered in the moft mattered condition. Mr. Gillon is himfelf a native of Rotterdam, but was on very bad terms with all the officers of the Dutch fleet, and indeed with almoft all his countrymen. Translator. Vol. I. O I found I found there Mrs. Wafhington, who had juft arrived from Virginia, and was going to flay with her hufband, as Ihe does at the end of every campaign. She is about forty, or five and forty, rather plump, but frefh, and with an agreeable face. * After pafiing a quarter * I had the plcafure of pafTing a day or two with Mrs. Wafhingtori, at the General's houfe in Virginia, where me appeared to me to be one of the bell women in the world, and beloved by all about her. She has no family by the General, but was furround-ed by her grand children, and Mrs. CuJIis, her fon's widow. The family were then in mourning for Mr. Cuftis, her fon by a former marriage, whofe premature death was fubject of public and private regret. He was brought up by the General as his own fon, and formed himfelf fuccefsfully on his model. He fucceeded him as reprefentative for Fairfax county, and promifed to be a very diftinguifhed member of fociety, but having gone down to York-Town, after the capture of Cornwallis, to view the works, he caught a malignant fever at one of the hofpitals, and was rapidly carried off. The General was uncom* monly affected at his death, infomuch that many of his friends imagined they perceived fome change in his equanimity of temper, fubfequent to that event It is certain that they were upon terms of the molt affectionate and manly friendlhip. Translator. Quarter of an hour at Mr. Reed's, we Waited on Mr. Huntingdon, Prefident of Congrefs: We found him in his cabinet, lighted by a fingle candle. This fimplicity reminded me of that of the Fabricius's and the Phi-lopemens. Mr. Huntingdon is an upright man, who efpoufes no party, and may be relied on. He is a native of Connecticut, and was Delegate for that if ate, when chofen Prefident. My day having been fufficiently taken up, the Chavalier de la Luzerne, conducted me to the houfe where he had ordered lodgings to be prepared for me. It was at the Spanim Minifter's were there were feveral vacant apartments; for M. Mirati, who had occupied it, died a year before at Morris-Town. His Secretary has remained charge des affaires, mafter of the * houfe, and well contented to enjoy the incarico, which includes in it, befides the correfpondence, a table maintained at the expence of the King of Spain. The Chevalier de la Luzerne, though very well, and agreeably lodged, had no apartments to O 2 fpare; fpare ; f he made them, however, contrive me one the next day, which contributed greatly to my happinefs during my ifay at Philadelphia, for I was fituated exactly be-between M. de Marbois, and him, and able to * The French AmbafTador's was a very handfome houfe, hired of Mr. John Dickinfon, and very near the feat of Congrefs. In one of thofe dreadful florms of thunder with which America is fo frequently vifit-cd in the fummer months, this houfe, though lower than the State-houfe, and that ofhis neighbour, Mrs. Allen, was ftruck by lightning, and a French officer, fitting alone in one of the rooms, burnt to death ; thelightning had fet fire to his cloaths, and thrown him into a fainting fit, during which, part ofhis body was miferably fcorched, and his private parts reduced to allies, fo that he furvivedbuta few hours ; but the principal ravage was in a chamber containing an iron bed/lead, in which the Ambaflador himfelf flept, by way of fecurity from the bugs; in that room, large blocks of marble were rent in pieces, and torn from the chimney piece, its effects, in Ihort, were fo lingular in many refpects, and in fome fo contrary to received opinions, that Mr. Arthur Lee, and Dr. Rujb, thought proper to publifh a very long and curious account of it; and indeed, as far as I am able to judge, this ltroke prefented many new phoenomena of electricity. It may be proper to add, that thfs was the only houfe in the neighbourhood unprovided with an eleclricalapparatus. Translator. to converfe with them every moment of the day. That of the 22d commenced, like every other day in America, by a great breakfaft. As the dinners are very late at the Minifter's, a few loins of veal, fome legs of mutton, and other trifles of that kind are always introduced among the tea-cups, and are fure of meeting a hearty welcome. After this flight repaft, which only lafted an hour and a half, we went to vifit the ladies, agreeable to the Philadelphia cuftom, where the morning is the molt proper hour for paying vifits. We began by Mrs. Bache-, fhe merited all the anxiety we had to fee her, for fhe is the daughter of Mr. Franklin. Simple in her manners, like her refpectable father, fhe poifefies his benevolence. She conducted us into a room filled with work, lately finifhed by the ladies of Philadelphia. This work confifted neither of embroidered tambour waiftcoats, nor net work edging, nor of gold and filver brocade—it was a quantity of fhirts for the foldiers of Penfylvania. The ladies bought the linen from $heir own private purfes, and took a plea-O 3 fure fure in cutting them out, and fewing them themfelves. On each ihirt was the name of the married, or unmarried lady who made it, and they amounted to 2200. Here is the place, no doubt, to make a very moral, but very trivial reflection on the difference between our manners and thofe of America; but as for myfelf, I am of opinion that, on a fimilar occafion, our French women would do as much, and I even venture to believe that fuch works would infpire as agreeable verfes as thofe which accompany the annual prefents of cradles, coaches, koufes, caftles, &c. labo-rioufly and aukwardly brocaded. It muff be allowed that this cuftom is an abundant fource of moft ingenious ideas ; but their harveft is paft, and they begin to be exhausted. But fhould any rigid French philofopher be difpofed to cenfure French manners, I would not advife him to addrefs himfelf to Mrs, P--, whom 1 waited upon on quitting Mrs. Bache. This is the agreeable woman of Philadelphia 5 her tafte is as delicate as her health : an enthufiaft to excefs for all the French faihions, me only waits waits for the termination of this little revolution, to effect a ftill greater one in the manners of her country. After paying due homage to this admirable female patriot, I hurried to make acquaintance with Mr. Morris. He is a very rich merchant, and confequently a man of every country, for commerce bears every where the fame character. Under monarchies it is free; it is an egotift in republics ; a ftranger, or if you will, a citizen of the univerfe, it excludes alike the virtues and the prejudices that ftand in the way of its intereft. It is fcarcely to be credited, that amid ft the difafters of America, Mr. Morris, the inhabitant of a town juft emancipated from the hands of the Englim, fhould poffeffs a fortune of eight millions, (between 3 and 400,000k fter-ling) It is, however, in the moft critical times that great fortunes are acquired. The fortunate return of feveral fhips, the ftill more fuccefsful cruizes of his privateers, have encreafed his riches beyond his expectations, if not beyond his wifhes. He is, in fact, fo accuflomed to the fuccefs of O 4 hi% his privateers, that when he is obferved on a Sunday to' be more ferious than ufual, the conclufion is, that no prize has arrived in the preceding week.* This flouriming ftate * Mr. Morris has certainly enriched himfelf greatly by the war, but the houfe of Willing and Morris did a great deal of bufinefs, and was well known in all the confiderable trading towns of Europe, previous to that period. Mr. Morris had various other means of acquiring wealth befides privateering ; amongft others, by his own interefl, and his connections with Mr. Holker, then Conful-General of France at Philadelphia, he frequently obtained exclufive permifTions to fhip cargoes of flour, &c. in the time of general embargoes, by which he gained immenfe profits. His iituation gave him many fimilar opportunities, of which his capital, his credit, and abilities always enabled him to take advantage—On the ttrength of his office, as Financier-General, he circulated his own notes of Robert Morris, as ca^h, throughout the continent, and even had the addrefs to get fome affemblies, that of Virginia in particular, to pafs acts to make them current in payment of taxes. What purchafes of tobacco, what profits of every kind might not a man of Mr. Morris's abilities make with fuch powerful advantages ? The houfe the Marquis fpeaks of, in which Mr. Morris lives, belonged formerly to Mr. Richard Pcnn; the Financier has mad© -great additions to it,,and is the firft: who has in- ftate of commerce, at Philadelphia, as well as in Maflachuflets bay, is entirely owing to the arrival of the French fquadron.-j* The troduced the luxury of hot-houfes, and ice-houfes on the continent. He has likewife purchafed the elegant country houfe formerly occupied by the traitor, Arnold, nor is his luxury to be outdone by any commercial voluptuary of London. This gentleman is a native of Manchelter in England, js at the head of the ariflocratical party in Penfylvania, and has eventually been inftrumental in the revolution ; in private life he is much efceemed, by a very numerous acquaintance. Translator. f Very large fortunes where made from nothing during this period, but this ftate of profperity was not of long duration ; in 1781 and 1782, fo numerous were the King's cruizers, and privateers, that frequently not one vellel out of feven that left the Delaware efcaped their vigilance. The profits on fuccefsful voyages were enormous, but it was no uncommon thing to fee a man one day worth forty or fifty thoufand pounds, and the next reduced to nothing; indeed thefe rapid tranfitions were fo frequent, that they almoft ceafed to affect cither the comfort or the credit of the individual.-Flour flapped on board at Philadelphia, coft five dollars, and produced from twenty-eight to thirty-four dollars a barrel in fpecic at the Havannah, which is generally but a Ihort run, and the arrival of one The Engliih have abandoned all their cruizes, to block it up at Newport, and in that they have fucceeded ill, for tney have not taken a fingle Hoop coming to Rhode Ifland, or Providence. Mr, Morris is a large man, very fimple in his manners ; but his mind is fubtle and acute, his head perfectly well organized, and he is as well verfed in public affairs as in his own. He was a member of Congrefs in 1776, and ought to be reckoned among thofe perfonages who have had the greateft influence in the revolution of America. Hq is the friend of Dr. Franklin, and the decided enemy of Mr. Read. His houfe is handfome, refembling perfectly the houfes European cargo, out of three, amply repaid the merchant, fo that notwithftanding the numerous captures, the flocks were continually full of new vefTels to fupply fuch as were loft or taken. In fhort,' without having been upon the fpot at that period, it is impoffible to conceive the activity and perfeverance of the Americans. There was Icarcely a captain, or even common failor, who had not been taken fix or feven times during the war, nor a merchant who had been, more than once, rich and ruined. Translator. houfes in London; he lives there without oftentation, but not without expence, for he fpares nothing which can contribute to his happinefs, and that of Mrs. Morris, to whom he is much attached. A zealous republican, and an Epicuerean philofopher, he has always played a diftingufhed part at table and in bufinefs.* i have already • mentioned Mr. Powel, at prefent i muff fpeak of his wife ; and indeed it would be difficult to feparate from each other, two perfons, who for twenty years have lived together in the ftricteft union : i fhall not fay as man and wife, which would not convey the idea of perfect equality in America, but as two friends, happily matched in point of underftanding, tafte, and information. * Mr. Morris has iince filled for three years the poll of Financier, or Comptroller-General, which was created for him. He had for his colleague Mr. Governor Morris, whom I have already mentioned, and who has amply juftified the opinion entertained ofhis talents. It may fafely be alfcrted, that Europe affords few examples of a perfpicuity, and a facility of underftanding equal to his, which adapts itfelf with the fame fuccefs to bufinefs, to letters, and to fciences. formation. Mr. Powel, as I have before faid, has travelled in Europe, and returned with a tafte for the fine arts; his houfe is adorned with the moft valuable prints, and good copies of feveral of the Italian matters. Mrs. Powel has not travelled, but fhe has read a great deal, and profitably : it would be unjuft perhaps, to fay, that in this fhe differs from the greateft part of the American ladies; but what diftinguifhes her the rnoft is, her tafte for converfation, and the truly European ufe fhe knows how to make of her understanding and information. I fear my readers (if ever I have any) may make this natural reflection, that vifits are very tirefome pieces of bufinefs every where, and as it is impoffible to efcape the epigrammatic turn of the French, without making great hafte, I am determined to get the ftart. I apprize them however, that I acquit them of a long dinner, which the Chevalier de la Luzerne gave that day to the fouthern Delegates. I {hall have occafion to fpeak elfewhere of fome of thefe Delegates, and as for thofe who will not not give me that opportunity, they deferve to be paffed over in fiience. Fearful left the pleafures of Capua mould make me forget the campaigns of Hannibal, and of Fabius, i determined to get on horfeback, on the fecond of December, to vifit the field of battle of German-Town. Many recollect, that after the defeat of Brandy wine, in 1777, the American army, not thinking proper to defend Philadelphia, retired to the upper Schuylkill, whilft the Englifh took poffeflion, without refiftance,, of the capital of Penfylvania. Elated with their fuccefs, and full of that confidence which has invariably deceived them, they had divided and difperfed their forces : the greateft part of their troops encamped upon the Schuylkill, four miles from Philadelphia; another divifion occupied German-Town, eight miles to the northward of that place, and they fent a confiderable detachment to Billingsport, to favour the paffage of their fleet, which was making fruitlefs endeavours to get up the Delaware. Thus circumftanced, General Wafhington thought it was time to remind mind the Engliih, that there ftill exifted an American army. One is at a lofs whether moft to extol the fage intrepidity of the chief, or the refolution difplayed by his army in making an attack on the fame troops, whofe fhock they were unable to fuftain a month before. German-Town is a long town, or village, confifting of a fingle ftreet, not unlike LaVHlitre, or Vau-gmard, near Paris. From the firft houfe, at the fouth, to the laft, at the north end of the town, it is near two miles and a half. The Englifh corps which occupied, or rather covered it, was encamped near the laft houfes to the northward, and fo fituated as that the ftreet, or main road interfered the camp at right angles. This body might amount to three or four thoufand men. General Wafhington, who occupied a pofition at ten miles diftance,* on * There are many finking differences between this account, and that given by General Howe in his public difpatches, in his own narrative to the houfe of commons, and in the examination of his witneiTcs.-The Englifh General reports, that Wafhington's camp near Skippack Creek, from on Skippack Creek, left his camp towards midnight, marching in two columns, one of which was to turn German-Town on the eaftward, the other on the left; two brigades of the right column were ordered to form the corps de referve, to feparate themfelves, from that column, at the infant whence he moved, was Jixtccn miles from German-Town—The Marquis fays, only ten. The Engliih General ftrongly aflerts, that this affair was no fur-prize, (fee his narrative, arid his examination of Sir George Ofbornc) the Marquis feems to be well Authorized to call it a complete furprize. The General affirms he was prepared for it.-The Marquis proves, nay, the Engliih General's letters and narrative demonllrate how narrowly, and by what means his army, and the Britifh affairs efcaped total ruin. The General fays, " The enemy retired near twenty miles to Perkyoming Creek, and are now encamped near Shippack Creek, about eighteen miles diftance from hence." The Marquis aflerts, that " The retreat was executed in good order, that General Wafhington took an excellent pofition within four miles of German-Town, fo that on the evening of the battle, he was fix miles nearer the enemy than before." How fhall we reconcile thefe effential contradictions, which ought unquestionably to be difculTcd, for the intereft of truth, and the benefit of hiifory ? Translator, ftant of the attack, and follow the main ftreet of German-Town. A very thick fog came on, favourable to the march of the enemy, but which rendered the attack more difficult, as it became impoftible to concert the movements, and extend the troops. The mijitia marched on the right and left, without the two columns, not being committed in the affair, and always fkirting the woods, on the Frankfort fide, as well as on that of the Schuylkill. General Wafhington halted a moment before daylight, at a crofs road, diftant only half a mile from the picket, or advanced poft of the enemy. Thefe he learnt from an Englifh dragoon, who was intoxicated, and had loft his way, that the Billingfport detachment was returned. This unexpected intelligence did not change the General's project; he continued his march at the head of the right column, and fell upon the Englifh picket who were furprized, put to rout, and driven to the camp, where they brought the firft news of the arrival of the Americans. The troops flew to arms, and precipitately fell back, leaving their NORTH-AM E RT C A. '209 their tents {landing, and abandoning all their baggage. This was a moment not to be loft, and French troops would certainly have availed themfelves of it, nay it would have been difficult to prevent them either from purfuing the enemy too far, or from difperfing to plunder the camp. It is here we may form a judgment of the American character. Perhaps this army, notwithftanding the flownefs of its manoeuvres, and its inexperience in war, may merit the praifes of Europeans. General Sullivan who commanded the column on the right, calmly and flowly formed the three brigades a head ; and after ranging them in order of battle, he traverfed the Englifh camp, without a fingle foldier flopping for plunder: he advanced in this manner, leaving the houfes on the left, and driving before him all reftftance from the gardens and inclofures ; he penetrated into the town itfelf, and was fome time engaged with the troops who defended a fmall fquare near the market. Whilft every thing thus fucceeded on the right, General Washington, at the head Vol. I. P of of the referve, was expecting to fee his left column arrive, and puriued his march by the main ftreet. But a fire of mufquetry, which proceeded from a large houfe within \ifto\ (hot of the ftreet, fuddenly checked the van of his troops. It was refolved to attack this houfe; but cannon were neceffary, for it was known to be of ftone, and could not therefore be fet fire to. Unfortunately they had only fix pounders : the Chevalier Duplefliis-Mauduit, brought two pieces near another houfe, two hundred pacesfrom the former. This cannonade produced no effect, it penetrated the walls, but did not beat them down. The Chevalier de Mau-duit, full of that ardour, which at the age of fixteen, made him undertake a journey into Greece,, to view the fields of Platea and Thermopylae, and at twenty go in fearch of laurels in America, refolved to attack by main force this houfe, which he was unable to reduce by cannon. * He propofed : _____. od '.' t I ■ , to * In 1782 I vifited and paffed a very agreeable day at this celebrated Stone-houfe, fo bravely, and judicioufly defended by Colonel Mufgrove, and faw many marks of cannon and mufquct ihot in the ro Colonel Laurens to take with him fome determined men, and get fome ftraw and hay from a barn, to fet fire to the principal door. One may conceive fuch an idea pfe-* fenting itfelf to two fpirited young men ; but it is fcarcely credible, that of thefe two P 2 noble walls, doors, and window mutters, betides two or three mutilated Itatues which flood in front of it. It is a plain gentleman's country-houfe, with four windows in front, and two ftories high, calculated for a fmall family, and fiands fingle, and detached from every other building, fo that defended as it was by fix companies, commanded by fo gallant an officer, it was calculated to make a long refinance againfl every thing but heavy cannon. I here faw, what tx> me was perfectly new, but in this perhaps I betray my ignorance; a cock, though furrounded by hens, in frequent copulation with a duck. Being in company with ladies, I had no opportunity of enquiring Whether there was any, and what fort of produce. From the different fize of their bodies, the difference of their organization, and the mode of union, I could not help confidering it as not much lefs extraordinary than the Bruflels fable of the Hen and Rabbit; but in this, perhaps, every peafantcan fet me right. This houfe formerly belonged to Mr. Chew, a loyal i ft, and was purchafed by Mr. Blair Mac Clenaghan\ who, fronra very fmall beginning, has, by his in-duflry, fairly and honourably acquired a very con«» fiderable fortune. Translator. noble adventurous youths, one mould be at prefent on his way to France, and the other in good health at Newport.* M. de Mau-duit making no doubt that they were following him with all the draw in the barn, went ftraight to a window on the ground floor, which he forced, and on which he mounted. He was received, in truth, like the lover who mounting a ladder to fee his miflrefs found the hufband waiting for him on the balcony : i do not know whether, like him too, on be-*ng afked what he was doing there, he an-fwered, I am only taking a wall?; but this I know* that whilfl a gallaut man, piftol in hand, delired him to furrender, another lefs polite entering brifkly into the chamber, fired a mufquet (hot, which killed, notM. deMau-duit, but the officer who wi-fhed to take him. After thefe flight miftakes, and this little quarrel, the difficulty was for him to retire. On one hand he muft be expofed to a fmart . * Mr. Laurens has fince fallen a victim to his top inconsiderate valour : he was killed in Carolina, in a ikirmilh of little importance, a Ihort time before the iigning of the peace. a fmart fire from the firft and fecond floor; on the other, a part of the American army were fpectators, and it wculd have been ri* diculous to return running Mr. deMau-duit, like a true Frenchman, chofie rather to expofe himfelf to death than ridicule j but the balls refpecfed our prejudices; he returned fafe and found, and Mr. Laurens, who was in no greater hafte than he, efcaped with a flight wound in his fhourder. I muft not here omit a circumftance which proves the precaiious tenure of a military exift-ence. General Wafhington thought that on fummoning the commander of this poft, he would readily furrender: it was propofed to M.deMauduit to take adrum with him, and make this propofd ; but on his obferving that he fpoke bad Englifh, and might not, perhaps, be underftood, an American officer was lent, who being preceded by a drum, and difplaying a white handkerchief, it was imagined, would not incur the fmalleft rifque; but the Englifh anfwered this officer only by mufquet (hot, and killed him on the fpot. ■ By By this time the enemy began to rally j the Engliih army had marched from their camp near Schuylkill to fuccour German-Town, and Cornwallis was coming with all expedition from Philadelphia, with the grenadiers and chaifeurs, whilft the corps de referve of the American army were loling their time at the Stone-houfe, and the left column was fcarcely ready for the attack. The contelf was now become too unequal, and it became neceffary to think of a retreat, which •was executed in good order, and General Wafhington took an excellent pofition four jniles from German-Town ; fo that on the evening of the battle, he was iix miles nearer the enemy than before. The capacity he had juif difplayed on this occasion, the confidence he had infpired into an army they thought difheartened, and which, like the Hydra of the fable, re-appeared with a more threatening head, afto-nifhed the Englifh, and kept them in awe, till the defeat of Burgoyne changed the afpecf of affairs. This is the mofl favourable light in which we can view this day, unfortunately too bloody for any advantages derived from, from it. Military men who mail view the ground, or have before them an accurate plan, will, i imagine, be of opinion, that the extenfivenefs of the objecf occafioned ihe failure of this enterprize. The project of firft beating the advanced corps, then the army, and afterwards of becoming raafters of Philadelphia was abfolutely chimerical : for the village of German-Town being upwards of two miles in length, pre fen ted too many obftacles for the affailants, and too many points of rallying for the Englifh ; befides that it is not in interfered countries, and without cavalry, that great battles are gained, which deftroy or difperfe armies. Had general Wafhington contented himfelf with proceeding to Whitemarfh, and covering his march with a large body of troops, which might have advanced to German-Town, he would have lurprized the Englifh van-guard, and forced them to retire with lofs; and if fatisfied with this fort of leftbn given to a victorious army, he had fallen back on the new poiition he wifhed to occupy, he would have compleately fulfilled his object, and the whole honour of p 4 the the day been his. But, fuppofing the pro-jecl: of attack to he, fuch as was adopted, it appears to me that two faults, rather ex-cufable 'tis true, were committed ; one, thelofing time in ranging in line of battle General Sullivan's column, inftead of marching dirfcf ly to the camp of the enemy ; the other, the amufing themfelves in attacking t^he Stone houfe. The firft fiult will appear very pardonable to thofe who have feen the American troops fuch as they then were ; they had no inftrudtion, and were fo ill-difciplined, that they could neither prcferve good order in matching in a column, nor fpread themfelves when it be-rcame neceffary ; for experience, which is always differing with M. de Mcnil Durarid, teaches us, that profound order is the moft fu eject to diforder and confufion, and which coniequently demands the moft phlegm and difcipline. The fecond error may be juftified by the hope they always had of getting poffeflion of the Stone-houfe, the importance of which was meafured by theob-ftinacy of the enemy in defending it. 1$ is certain, that two better meafures might have have been adopted: the firft to purfue their march without regarding the fire of muf-qnetry, which could always have been fuf-ficiently ftackened by detaching a few men to fire at the windows; and the fecond, that of leaving the village on the left, to enter it again three hundred paces further on, where it would then have been fuffici-ent to take pofieflion of another houfe op-polite to thofe occupied by the enemy ; though this houfe be not quite fo high as the former, the fire from it would have checked the Englifh, and fecured a retreat in cafe of neeeflity". * In allowing myfelf this fort of cenfure, I feel how much I ought to miftruft my own judgment, efpecially as I was not prefent at the action ; but 1 made the fame obfervations to M. Laurens, M. de Mauduit, and M. de Gimat, who feemed to be unable to refute them. We have feen the fhare the two former * Pofllbly the Marquis does not know that there were fix companies of the 40th regiment in this houfe; no defpicable enemy to leave in the rear of fuch an army as General Walhington's was compofed of. Translator, mer had in the engagement; the third has feveral times viewed the field of battle with General Wafhington, who explained to him the motions of the two armies, and nobody is better calculated to hear well, and to give a good account of what he has heard. After fufficiently examining the pofition of German-Town, i returned to Philadelphia by the fhortefi: road, and quicker than i came, for the cold was very piercing, and i had only time to drefs myfelf to accompany the Chevalier de la Luzerne to dine with the Northern Delegates. It mufl be un-derfiood, that the Delegates, or if you will, the Members of Congrefs, have a tavern to themfelves, where they give frequent entertainments ; but that the company may not be too numerous at a time, they divide themfelves into two fets, and as we fee, very geographically; the line of demarka-tion being from eaft to weft. * The dinner was * There is a great probability of feeing this line of demarkation more diftincf ly marked, by a feparation of the foederal union into two parts, at no very djf-tant day; but not on hoftile, or unfriendly terms. This was matter of frequent difcuffion during my NORTH-AM El I C A. 219 Was plain and good, and our reception .polite and cordial, but not ceremonious. Two Delegates, placed at each end, did the honours of the table. Mr. Duane, Deputy from the State of New York, occupied the fide I was on. He is of a gay and open character, has no objection to talk, and drinks without repugnance. i eon-? verfed fome time, but leis than i could have wifhed £tay at Philadelphia, and feemed to be an opinion which was daily gaining ground. Indeed it feems to be a mcafurc which fooner or later muft take place, from the obvious difficulties attending the management, and operations of a confederacy extending from Florida to Nova Scotia, a country, every day incrcafing in population, and branching out into new fates. Such a divifion muft, in my opinion, give new force and energy to each part of it, and produce more union and activity in their councils : nor do I fee any bad confequences arifing from fuch an amir cable feparation, except in the cafe of a war exactly fimilar to the laft, a cafe which I believe every man will agree is fcarcely within the line of poflibility. Local obftacles to a long continuance of the prefent ftate of things, muft alone infallibly produce it. They who are acquainted with America will add many reafons, which it is unnecelfary for me to enumerate. Tr an$latqr. wifhed with Mr. Chvles Thompfon* Secrc. tary of Congrefs He pafles, with reafon, for one of the bed informed men in the country, and though he he a man of the cabinet, and mixing little with fockty, his manneis are polite and amiable. Mr. Samu I Aaamsy Deputy for MaiTacljuifets Bay, was not at this dinner, but on riling from table I went to lee him. When 1 entered his room, 1 found him tete d-tete with a young girl of fifteen who was preparing his tea, but we mall not be fcandalized at this, on confidering that he is at lealf uxty, Every body in Europe knows that he was one of the prime movers of the prefent revolution. I experienced in his company the fatisfacf ion one rarely has in the world, nay even on the theatre, of finding the per-fon of the actor correfponding with the character he performs. In him, I faw a man wrapt up in his object, who never fpoke but to give a good opinion of his caufe, and a high idea ofhis country. His fimple * Mr. Thompfon is an Irilhman, his nephew, Mr. Sinclair, is a barrifter at York in England. Translator, fimple and frugal exterior, feemed intended as a contrail with the energy and extent ofhisideas, which were wholly turned towards the republic, and loft nothing of their warmth by being exprelTed with method and precifion; as an army, marching towards the enemy, has not a lefs determined airfor obferving the laws of tactics. Amongft many facts he cited in honour of his country, I fhall relate one which merits to be tranfmitted to pofterity. Two young fol-diers had deferted from the army, and returned to their father's houfe. Their father, incenfed at this action, loaded them with irons, and conducted them himfelf to their General, Lord Stirling. He did what every other officer would have done* in his place, he pardoned them. The father, as patriotic, but lefs auftere than a Roman, was happy to preferve his children; neverthelefs he feemed aftonilhed, and approaching the General, my Lord, fays he, with tears in his eyes, *%& pi ore than I hoped for.—I quitted Mr. Adams with regret, but with a full intention of feeing him again, and my evening terminated by a vifit to to Colonel Bland, one of the Delegates f6f Carolina. He is a tall handfome man, who has been in the Weft-Indies, where he acquired French. He is faid to be a good foldier, but at prefent ferves his country, and ferves it well in Congrefs. The Southern Delegates, in fact, have great credit, they are inceiTantly labouring to draw the attention of the Government towards them, and to avert every idea of purchasing peace on their account. The weather was fo bad the third that it was impoflible to ilir out. I had no reafon to complain however of the employment of this day, which I palled either in converfation with M. de la Luzerne, and M. de Mar-bois, or in reading fuch interesting papers as they were pleafed to communicate. Mr. Huntington having informed me, that the next day he would fhew me the hall in which the Congrefs affembles, I went there at ten o'clock, and found him waiting for me accompanied by feveral Delegates. This hall is fpacious, without magnificence ; its handfomeft ornament is the portrait .of General Wafhington, larger than life : He is is reprefented on foot, in that noble and eafy attitude which is natural to him; cannon, colours, and all the attributes of war form the acceflories of the picture. I was then conducted into the Secretary's hall, which has nothing remarkable but the manner in which it is furnifhed; the colours taken from the enemy ferve by way of tapeltry. From thence you pafs to the library, which is pretty large, but far from being filled; the few books it is compofed of, appear to be well chofen. It is in the town-houfe that Congrefs hold their meetings: this building is rather handfome ; the ftaircafe in particular is wide and noble: as to external ornaments, they confiff only in the decoration of the gate, and in feveral tablets of marble placed above the windows. I remarked a peculiarity in the roof, which appeared new to me: the chimneys are bound to the two extremities of the building, which is a long fquare, and are fo con-itructed, as to be fattened together in the form of an arch, thus forming a fort of portico. After After taking leave of the Prefident and Delegates, i returned to the Chevalier de la Luzerne's, and as tlie streets were covered with ice, i ilaid at home, where i received a vifit from Mr. Wilfon, * a celebrated lawyer and author of feveral pamphlets on the prefent affairs. He has in his library all our beft. authors on public law and jurifprudence ; the works of Prefident Montefquieu, and of the Chancellor d'AqueffaUj hold the firft rank among them, and he makes them his daily fludy. After dinner, which was private and a la Fran-coife, i went to fee Mrs. Bingham, a young and handfome woman, only feventeen : her hufband, who was there, according to the American cuflom, is only five and twenty :-f- hc * Mr. Wilfon is a Scotchman, and is making a fortune rapidly in the profefllon of the law at Philadelphia. He is about four and forty, a man of real abilities, and Mr. Morris's intimate friend and coadjutor in his aristocratic plans. Translator. t Mr. Bingham, even at this age, returned from Martinico with a very handfome fortune. In the year 1782, he gained a very confiderable Sum by opening policies on the capture of the Count de he was Agent of Congrefs at Martimco, from whence he is returned with a tolerable knowledge of French, and with much de Graffein the Villede Paris ; an event, of which there is little doubt he had fecretand fure intelligence from his connection with the illands. They firft opened at 10, and afterwards were done at 25 and 30 per cent. Very large fums were underwritten, chiefly by the wbigs, who Were unwilling, and could not be brought to credit this piece of news.- Cir-cumftances were peculiarly favourable to this fpecu-lation, for* notwithstanding the great intercourfe between the Weft-Indies and the Continent, only two accounts of this affair arrived for fix weeks after the engagement ; the event of which was fooner known, with certainty, in England. The orte was in Rivington's New York paper, copied from the Antigua Gazette, and lamely given ; befides, that his paper was defervedly in univerfal difcredit; the other was brought to Philadelphia by the Holksr privateer, Captain Keane, who faw part of the engagement, but whofe account contradicted the principal facts in Rivington's. The two fleets having gone to leeward after the battle, no frefh intelligence was received from the leeward, or more properly fpeaking here* in the windward iflands, fo that this gambling was carried to fo high a pitch, as to induce the French AmbafTador to go in perfon to the coffee-houfe to communicate a letter he had received from Martinique, fubfequent to the battle; from which Vol. I. Q. fair ■: .... j attachment to the Marquis de Bouille'. I paffed the remainder of the evening with Mrs. Powell, where I expefted to have art agreeable converfation; in which I was not deceived, and forgot myfelf there 'till pretty late. I went again to the Town-Houfe, on the 5th, but it was to be prefent at the Arfem-bly of the State of Penfylvania ; for the hall, where this fort of parliament meets,, is under the fame roof with the Congrefs* I was with M. de la Fayette, the Vicomte de Noailles, the Comte de Damas, M. de Gimat, and all the French, or Gallo-Americans, fair conclufions might be drawn againjl the capture ; but this, inftead of putting a flop to the gambling, by encouraging the whigs, increafed it :--Mr. Bingham and his friends in the fecret, indulged them to the utmoft extent of their enthufiafm ; and if the policies were all paid, a matter which began to be a fubject of difcuflion when I left Philadelphia, muft have gained prodigious funis, for no lefs than from £. 80,000 to £. 100,000 fterling were calculated to have been written. It is a lingular circum-ftance, that the firft authentic account of this great battle, which appeared in America, was copied from the London Gazette. Whereas we had at Bofton the account of the lofs of the Royal George, at Spithead, the \ (>th day after the accident, by way of Newfoundland. Translator. ricansy at Philadelphia. We feated oui> felves on a bench oppofite the Speaker's chair : on his right way the Prefident of the State, the Cierks were placed at a long table before the Speaker. The debates turned on fome mifconduc"t, imputed to the Commiffioners of the Treafury. The exe« cutive council were fent for and heard. General Mifflin was almoft the only fpeak-er; he delivered himfelf with grace and fpirit, but with a marked intention of op-pofing the Prefident of the State, who is not one ofhis friends. His manner ofex-prefling himfelf, his geftures, his deportment, the air and eafe of fuperiority he invariably affumed, perfectly reminded me of thofe members of the Houfe of Commons who are accuflomed to give the tone to others, and to make every thing bend to their opinion. The affair not being terminated in the morning, the Speaker left the chair; the houfe went into a committee, and adjourned. The morning was not far fpent, and I had enough to employ it ; 1 was expected in three places; by a lover of natural Qjj hi ftory, hiftory, by an anatomift, and at the college, or rather univerfity of Philadelphia. I began by the cabinet of natural hiftory. This fmall and fcanty collection, is greatly celebrated in America, where it is unrivalled ; it was formed by a painter of Geneva, called Cimetiere, a name better fuited to a phyfician, than a painter. This worthy man came to Philadelphia twenty years ago, to take portraits, and has continued there ever fince ; he lives there ftill as a batchelor, andaforeigner, a very uncommon inftance in America, where men do not long remain without acquiring the titles of huf-band and citizen. What I faw moft curious, in this cabinet, was a large quantity of the vice, or fcrew, a fort of fhell pretty common, within which a very hard ftone, l.ike^W*?,* is exactly moulded. It appears clear to me, that thefe petrefactions are formed by the fucceftive accumulation of lapidific molecules conveyed by the waters, and alfimilated by the afliftance of fixed air. * See Chambers's Encyclopedia—a green fort of precious ftone, called in France la pierre divine, from its fuppofed myftic qualities. air. After fatiguing my legs, and fatisfy-ing my eyes, which is always the cafe in cabinets of natural hiftory, I thought proper to quit the earth for heaven 5 or, in the vulgar ftyle, I went to the library of the univerfity, to fee a very ingenious machine (an Orrery) reprefenting all the celeftial motions. i lofe no time in declaring that I fhall not give a defcription of it: for nothing is fo tirefome as the defcription of any machine; it is enough for me to fay, that one part of it gives a perfect view, on the vertical point, of all the motions of the planets in their orbits; and that the other, which is designed only to re-prefent that of the moon, difplays, in the clearest manner, her phafes, her nodes, and her different altitudes. The Prefident of the college,* and Mr. Rittenhoufe, the in- CL3 ventor * The Prefident is Dr. Ewlng. I had the gratification of being prefent at a public exhibition at the college, at which the Congrefs, the Prefident and executive council of the ftate, General Wafhington, the French Minifter, and all theftrangers of diftinc-tion, &c. aflifted. Some excellent declamations were made in Latin, and in Englifh, by the young men who were about to leave college, and obtain ventor and maker of this machine, took the pains of explaining to me every parti* v cular: degrees ; by no means inferior to thofe I have heard at Oxford and Cambridge. Their compositions in general were elegant, and their elocution eafy, dignified and manly, but whatever was the fubjecf, the great caufe of liberty and their country never was loft light of, nor their abhorrence of the tyranny of Britain. This language in the mouths of fome of thefe young men, who were the fons of torics, illuftrated the remark of the fhrewd and fenlible author of Common Senfc, that whilft the war was depending, the old prejudiced friends of Britain were dropping off, and the rifing generation, in the courfe of feven years, knew nothing of that country but as an enemy, nor faw, or heard of any thing but her cruelties and devaluation. To them the independence of America appeared as much the natural and eftablifhed government of the country, as that of England does to an Englifhman, " Time and Death, fays he, hard ** enemies to contend with, fight constantly against " the interests of Britain ; and the bills of mortality, «' in every part of America are the thermometers of her " decline. The children in the Streets are from their " cradle bred toconfider her as their only foe. They " hear of her cruelties: of their fathers, uncles, and " kindred killed; they fee the remains of burnt and " deflroyed houfes, and the common tradition of " the fchool they go to, tells them thofe things were «« done by the Britijb." cular : they feemed very happy that I knew Englifh, and aftronomy enough to under-itand them; on which I muff obferve, that the latter article is more to the lhame of the Americans than to my praife ; the almanack being almoft the only book of Aftronomy ftudied at Philadelphia. Mr. Rittenhoufe is of a German family, as his name announces ; but he is a native of Philadelphia, and a watch maker by profeflion. £1 e is a man of great fimplicity and modefty, and though not a mathematician of the clafs of the Eulers, and the D'Alemberts, knows enough of that fcience to be perfectly acquainted with the motions of the heavenly bodies. As for his mechanical talents, it is unneceffary to affign a reafon for them ; we know that of all others, they are lefs the refult of ftudy, and moft generally the gift of nature ; and it is a fact worthy of obfervation, that, notwithstanding the little connection to be perceived between that particular difpofition and the delicacy of our fenfes, or the perfection of our organs, men are more frequently born mechanics, than painters and muficians. Edu-Q 4 cation, cation, nay, even the rigour of education, frequently makes great artifts in the two latter ; but there is no example of its making a mechancal genius. This morning feemed devoted to the fciences, and my walks were a fort of encyclopedia, for, on quitting the univerfity library, I went to call upon a celebrated anatomift, called Dr. Sbowell. The following, in a few words, is his hiftory : he was born in England upwards of feventy years ago. After ftudying medicine and furgery there, he went to France to improve himfelf under M. Winflow. In 1734, he went to the Weft Indies, where he fince pracfifed medicine, fometimes at Barbadoes, fometimes at Jamaica; but is invariably a man of application, and laborious. In the war of 1744, a prize being brought into Barbadoes, with a great deal of wax on board, Mr. Showell took this opportunity to make different anatomical experiments in wax, and he fucceeded fo well as to carry this art to the higheft degree of perfection. On feeing him, one can with difficulty conceive how fo much patience and perfeve- rance ranee could confift with his natural vivacity; for it feems as if the fun of the tropic had preferved in him all the heat of youth $ he fpeaks with fire, and exprelfes himfelf as well in French as if he were ftill in our fchools of furgery. In other refpects, he isapeifecf original : his reigning tafte is difputation ; when the Englifh were at Philadelphia he was a whig, and has become a tory fince they left it 5 he is always fighing after Europe, without re-folving to return, and declaiming conftant-ly againft the Americans, he ftill remains amongft them. His defign in coming to the continent, was to recover his health, fo as to enable him to crofs the feas : this ^vas about the commencement of the war ; and, fince that time, he imagines he is not at liberty to go, though no body prevents him. He was to me a greater curiofity than his anatomical preparations, which, however, appeared fuperior to thofe of Bologna, but inferior to the preparations of Mademoifelle Bieron; the wax having always a certain luftre which makes them lefs }ike nature, At At the end of this morning's walk i was like a bee, fo laden with honey that he can hardly regain his hive. i returned to the Chevalier de la Luzerne's, with my memory well ftored, and after taking food for the body as well as mind, I dedicated my evening to fociety. i was invited to drink tea at Colonel Bland's, that is to fay, to attend a fort of affembly pretty much like the converfazzioni of Italy; for tea here, is the fubftitute for the rinfrefco. Mr. How-ley, Governor of Georgia, Mr. Izard, Mr. Arthur Lee, (the two laft lately arrived from Europe) M. de la Fayette, M. de Noailles, M. de Damas, &c. were of the party. The fcene was decorated by feveral married and unmarried ladies, among whom, Mifs Ship" pen, daughter of Dr. Shippen, and cou-lin of Mrs. Arnold, claimed particular dif-tinction. Thus we fee that in America the crimes of individuals are not reflected on their family ; not only had Dr. Ship-pen's brother given his daughter to the traitor Arnold, a fhort time before his defer-tion, but it is generally believed, that being himfelf a tory, he had infpired his daughter ter with the fame fentiments, and that the charms of this handfome woman contributed not a little to haften to criminality a mind corrupted by avarice, before it felt the power of love.": On our return to the Chevalier de la Luzerne's, we aflembled all the French and Gallo-American military, and laid our plan for a very agreeable jaunt we took next day. The 6th, in the morning, M. de la Fayette, the Vicomte de Noailles, the Comte de Damas, the Chevalier du Pleflis Mau-duit, Meifieurs de Gimat and De Neville, Aides de Camp of M. de la Fayette, M. de Montefquieu, Mr. Lynch, and myfelf, fet out to vifit the field of battle of Brandywiney thirty * Mrs. Arnold is laid to be very handfome ; but ' this I know, that her two fillers are charming women, and mull: have been very dangerous companions for a wavering mind, in the leaft fufceptible of the moft powerful of all pafTions. But an apology for Arnold, on this fuppoiition, is too generous for a mind fo thoroughly bafe and unprincipled as his. With what delicacy could be beloved a woman by that mifcreant, who made the myfteries of the nuptial bed the fubjedf of his coarfe ribaldry to his companions, the day after his marriage ! Translator. thirty miles from Philadelphia. M. de la Fayette had not feen it, fince, at the age of twenty, feparating from his wife, his friends, the pleafures of the world, and thofe of youth, at the diftance of three thou-fand miles, he there fhed the firff drop of blood he offered to glory, or rather to that noble caufe he has invariably fupported with the fame zeal, but with better fortune. We paffed the Schuylkill at the fame ferry where Mr. Du Coudray was drowned in 1777. We there difcovered the traces of fome entrenchments thrown up by the Englifh, after they became matters of Philadelphia ; then turning to the left, we rode on fourteen miles to the little town of Chefler. It is built at the junction of the creek of that name, with the Delaware, and is a fort of port where veffels coming up the river fometimes anchor. The houfes, to the number of forty or fifty, are handfome and built of ftone or brick.* On leaving Chefter, and on the road to Brandy-wine, we pafs the fione bridge where M. de * Not far from this town, is found an aftonifh, ingquantity of aficjhu Translator., de la Fayette, wounded as he was, flopped the fugitives, and made the firft difpofitions for rallying them behind the creek. The country beyond it has nothing particular, but refembles the reft of Penfylvania, that is to fay, is interfperfed with woods and cultivated lands. It was tod late when we came within reach of the field of battle, and as we could fee nothing till next morning, and were too numerous to remain together, it was neceffary to feparate into two divifions. Meffieurs de Gimat, De Mauduit, and my two Aides de Camp, ftaid with me at an inn, three miles on this fide Brandywine; and M. de la Fayette, attended by the other travellers, went further on to afk for quarters at a Quaker's, called Benjamin Ring, at whofe houfe he lodged with General Wafhington the night before the battle. I joined him early .the next morning, and found him in great friendfhip with his hoft, who, Quaker as he was, feemed delighted to entertain the Marquis. We got on horfeback at nine, provided with a plan, executed under the direction of General Howe, and engraved in England but we. we got more information from an American Major, with whom M. de la Fayette had appointed a place of meeting. This officer was prefent at the engagement, and his houfe being on the field of battle, he knew it better than any body. We muff recollect, that in 1777, the Englifh having in vain attempted to crofa the Jerfeys to get to Philadelphia by land, were obliged to embark, and doubled the capes to reach the bay of Chefapeak, and the mouth of the river Elk. They arrived there the 25th of Auguft, after a paffage dceadful by fea, but fortunate in the bay* which they remounted with much lefs difficulty than they expected. Whilft the fea, the winds, and three hundred veffels were afiilting the manoeuvres of the enemy's army, Mr. Wafhington remained fome days at Middlebrook, in one. of, the moft embarraffing pofitions in which the General of an army can be placed. To the north, the troops of Burgoyne, after taking Ticon-deroga, were advancing towards Albany; to the fouth, an Englifh army of fifteen thoufand men were embarked, and might either either proceed to Chefapeak bay, as they did, penetrate by the Delaware, or go up Hudfon's river as far as Creft Point, to form a junction with Burgoyne, and cut off the American army, which from that moment would have been for ever feparated from the eaftern and northern ftates. Of all the chances, this was certainly the moft to be dreaded; accordingly General Wafhington did not abandon his pofition at Middle-brook, till he received certain intelligence that- the enemy had doubled Cape May. Let us figure to ourfelves the fitua-tion-in which a General muft find himfelf, when obliged to comprehend in his plan of defence, an immenfe country, and a vaft extent of coaft, he is at a lofs to know, within one hundred and fifty miles, where the enemy is likely to appear; and having no longer any intelligence of them, either by patroles, or detachments, or even by couriers, is reduced to the neceffity of ob-ferving the compafs, and of confulting the winds, before he can form any refolution. As foon as the movement of the enemy was decided, General Wafhington loft no time time in marching his army; I mould ra»-ther fay his foldiers, for a number of foldiers, however confiderable, does not always form an army. His was compofed of at moft 12,000 men. It was at the head of thefe troops, the greateft part of them new levies, that he traverfed in filence the city of Philadelphia, whilft the Congrefs were giving him orders to fight, yet removing their archives and public papers into the interior parts of the country; a finifter prefage of the fuccefs which muft: follow their council. The army paffed the Schuylkill, and occupied a firft camp near Wilmington, on the banks of the Delaware. This pofition had a double object, for the fhips of war, after convoying General Howe to the river Elk, had fallen down the bay of the Chefapeak, remounted the Delaware, and feconded by fome troops landed from the fleet, appeared inclined to force the paf-fages of that river. General Wafhington, however, foon perceived that the pofition he had taken became every day more dangerous. The Englifh, having finifhed their debarkation, debarkation, were ready to advance into the country; his flank Was expofed, and he left uncoveredj at once, Philadelphia and the whole County of Lancalter. It was * determined therefore that the army fhould repafs the Creek of Brandywine, and encamp on the left bank of that river. The pofition made choice of, was certainly the belt that could be taken to difpute the paffage. The left was very good, and fup-ported by thick woods extending as far as the junction of the creek with the Delaware. As it approaches its conflux, this creek becomes more and more embanked, and difficult to ford : the heights are equal on the two banks; but for this reafon the^ advantage was in favour of him who defended the paffage. A battery of cannon with a good parapet, was pointed towards Chaddsjbrd, and every thing appeared in fafety on that fide; but to the right the ground was fo covered, that it was im-poffible to judge of the motions of the enemy, and to keep in a line with them, in cafe they fhould attempt, as they did, to detach a corps by their left, to pafs the river higher up. The only precaution Vol. I# R that that could be taken was to place five or Jix brigades* in fteps from each other, to watch that manoeuvre. General Sullivan had the command of them ; he received orders to keep in a line with the enemy, mould they march by their left; and on the fuppofition that they would unite their foftes on the fide of Chaddsford, he was himfelf to pafs the river, and make a powerful diverfion on their flank. When a general has forefeen every thing, when he has made the ben: poffible dif-pofitions, and his activity, his judgment, and his courage in the action correfpond with the wifdom of his meafures, has he not already triumphed in the eyes of every impartial judge ? and if by any unforefeen accidents, the laurels he has merited drop from his hands, is it not the hiftorian's duty carefully to collect, and replace them on his brow? Let us hope that hiflory will acquit herfelf of this duty better than us, and let us fee how fuch wife difpofitions were difconcerted by the miltakes of fome officers, and the inexperience of the troops. The * General Howe calls them 10,000 men. Translator. The 11 th of September, General Howe occupied the heights on the right of the creek; he there formed part of his troops in line of battle, and prepared fome batteries oppolite Chaddsford, whilft his light troops were attacking and driving before them a corps of riflemen, who had paffa^ ' over to the right bank more clofely to obferve his motions. General Wafhington feeing the cannonade continue, without any difpofition of the enemy to pafs the river, concluded they had another object. He was informed that a great part of their army had marched higher up the creek, and were threatening his right; he felt the importance of keeping an attentive eye on all the movements of this corps; but the country was fo covered with thickets, that the patroles could difcover nothing. It muft be obferved that General Wafhington had a very fmall number of horfe, and thofe he had fent to the right, towards Dilwortb, to make difcoveries On that fide. He ordered an officer of whom he had a good opinion, to pafs the river, and inform himfelf accurately of the route Lord Corn-R 2 wallisS wallis was taking; for it was he who commanded this feparate corps. The officer returned, and affured him that Cornwallis was marching by his right to join Knyphaufen, on the fide of Chaddsford. According to this report, the attack feemed to be determined on the left. Another officer was then fent, who reported that Cornwallis had changed his direction, and that he was rapidly advancing by the road leading to Jefferies Ford, two miles higher than Birmingham Church, General Sullivan was immediately ordered to march thither with all the troops of the right. Unfortunately the roads were badly reconnoitred, and not at all open: with great difficulty General Sullivan got through the woods, and when he came out of them to gain a fmall eminence near Birmingham Church, he found the Englifh columns mounting it on the oppofte fde. It was no eafy matter to range into order of battle fuch troops as his; he had neither the time to chufe his pofition, nor to form his line. The Englifh gained the eminence, drove the Americans back on the woods, to the edge of which they pur- fued, fued them, and they were totally dif-perfed.* During the fhort time this action laited, Lord Stirling and General Conway, had time to form their brigade on pretty advantageous ground: it was a gentle riling, partly covered by the woods which bounded it, their left was protected by the fame woods, and on the right of this riling ground, but a little in the rear, was the Virginia line, who were ranged in line of battle, on a high fpot of ground, and on the edge of an open wood. The left column of the enemy, who had not been engaged with Sullivan, formed rapidly, and marched againfl thefe troops with as much order as vivacity and courage. The Americans made a very fmart fire, which did not check the Englifh, and it was not till the R 3 * latter * General Howe's account fays, " General *' Wafhington detached General Sullivan to his right with 10,000 men, who took a Jirong pojition " on the commanding ground above Birmingham ** Church," and then relates the manoeuvres to dijlodge them. There is a material difference in thefe accounts. Translator. latter were within twenty yards of them** that they gave way, and threw themfelves into the woods. Lord Stirling, M. de la Fayette, and General Sullivan himfelf, after the defeat of his divifion fought with this body of troops, whofe poll was the moft important, and made the longeft re-, filfance. It was here that M. de la Fayette was wounded in his left leg, in rallying the troops who were beginning to ftagger. On the right, the Virginia line made fome retiftance; but the Englifh had gained a height, from whence their artillery took them en echarpe: this fire muff have been very fevere, for molt of the trees, bear 1 the mark of bullets or cannon llapt. The Virginians in their turn gave way, and the right was then entirely uncovered- Though this was three miles from Chaddsford, General Knyphaufen heard the firing of the artillery, and mufquetry, and judging that the aftair was ferious, the confidence he had in the Englifh and Hefiian {roops, made him conclude they were victorious. Towards five in the evening, he defcended from the heights ia two columns*, one at Johns Ford, which turned the battery of the Americans, and the other lower down at Chaddsford. The latter marched ftraight to the battery and took it. General Wayne, whofe brigade was in line of battle, the left on an eminence, and the right drawing towards the battery, then made that right fall back, and ftrengthened the heights, thus forming a fort of change of front. In a country where there are neither open columns, nor fucceflive pofitions to take, in cafe of accident, it is difficult to make any difpofition for retreat. The different corps who had been beaten, all precipitated themfelves into the Chefter Road, where they formed but one column ; artillery, baggage and troops being confufedly mixed together. At the beginning of the night General Wafhington alfo took this road, and the Eng- R4 lift * Seyeral perfons, amongft others fome Englifh officers who were prifoners, whom 1 have queflioned, affured me that Knyphaufen's corps paffed the river only in one cokmn at Chaddsford ; and then fepa-rated into two, one of which turned the battery, and the other attacked it in front. lifh, content with their victory, did notdif-turb their retreat. Such is the idea I have formed of the battle of Brandywine, from what I have heard from General Wafhington himfelf, from M. de la Fayette, Meffieurs de Gimat, and de Manduit, and from the Generals Wayne and Sullivan. T muft obferve, however, that there is a difagreement in fome particulars; feveral perfons, for example, pretend that Knyphaufen, after parting the river, continued his march in one column to the battery, and it is thus marked in the Englifh plan, which gives a falfe direction to that column ; befides that General Wafhington, and General Wayne affured me there were two, and that the left column turned the battery, which otherwife would not have been carried.* It is equally difficult to trace out on the plan, all the ground on which Cornwallis fought. The relations on both fides throw hardly * Howe's account fays, there were two divifions, one under Grant, the other under Knyphaufen, the fourth and fifth regiments turned the battery. Translator, hardly any light upon it; i was obliged therefore to draw my conclufions from the different narratives, and to follow none of them implicitly. Whilft we were examining the field of battle with the greateft minutenefs, our fervants went on to Chefter to prepare dinner and apartments, but we foon followed them, and got there at four o'clock. The road did not appear long to me; for chance having feparated M. de la Fayette, M. de Noailles, and myfelf from the reft of the company, we entered into a very agreeable converfation, which continued till we got to Chefter. i could not help obferving to them that after talking of nothing but war for three hours, we had fuddenly changed the fubject, and got on that of Paris, and all forts of difcuflions relative to our private focieties. This transition was truly French, but it does not prove that we are lefs fond of war, than other nations, only that we like our friends better. We were fcarcely arrived at Chefter, before we faw fome ftate barges or boats coming down the river, which the the Prefident had fent to conduct us back to Philadelphia, it being our plan to remount the Delaware next day, in order to examine the Fort of Redbank, and Fort Miffling, as well as the cukt ports which had ferved for the d^fcnc^ of the river. Antifficerof the American navy who was come with thefe barges, to conduct us, informed us that two veffels were arrived at Philadelphia in thirty-five days from L'Orrent. The hopes of receiving letters., or news from Europe, almoft tempted us *to relinquifh our projecf s, and fet out immediately for Philadelphia; but as the weather was fine, and we fhould have the tide in our favour next day, which rendered our voyage more eafy, we determined to remain at Chefter, and M. de b Fayette t fent 6if a man and a horfe to Philadelphia, to bring back news, and letters, if there were any. This courier returned before nine ; and only brought us a line from the Chevalier de la Luzerne, by which v/e learnt that thefe fhips had no letters; but that the captains allured him, that Mon-> fieuc fieur de Caitries was made minifter of the marine. Whilff the Courier was going and coming, we had got to the inn, where dinner and lodgings were prepared.* The exterior of this houfe is not very tempting, and feveral of the company were preparing to look out elfewhere, but after a minute examination, we found room enough for a dozen matters, as many fervants, and nineteen horfes. In addition to our company we tnd che Major who met us on the field of bi ttle of Brandywine, and the officer who had brought us the barges. We had an excellent dinner, and very good wine. The tea which followed pretty clole on dinner fucceeded as well; fo that all my fellow travellers, were in the befl humour, and fo gay as never to ceafe laughing, finging, and dancing during the whole evening. The people of the houfe, who faw nothing in this company but two General ufiicers, one French, the other American, accom- * Mrs, fVlthys inn at Chefter, is one of the befl on the Continent, and a favourite houfe for parties of pleafuie from Philadelphia. Translator. accompanied by their families, and not a fociety of friends joyous to meet together in another hemifphere, could not conceive how it was poflible to be fo gay without being drunk, and looked upon us as people defcended from the moon. This evening which was lengthened to eleven o'clock, terminated well, for we had excellent beds, fuch as one might expect to find in a well furnifbed country houfe. We rofe at fix in the morning, and affembled in the dining-room, where a good breakfaft was prepared for us by candle light. At feven we embarked, and crofling the Delaware, obliquely a little higher up, we landed at Biilingfport* This is a fort conftructed in 1776, to fupport the left of the firlt barrier of the Chevaux de Frife, deltined to block the paffage of the river. This poft was of no ufe, for the fortifications having been commenced on too extenfive a plan for the number of troops which could be fpared, it was thought proper to abandon it. They have fince been reduced, which is the better, as they are now removed from fome points which commanded the the fort. The prefent fituation of affairs, not drawing the attention of Government to this quarter, the fortifications are rather neglected* All the battery there was, con-fifted of one pretty good brafs mortar, and five eighteen pounders, (Englifh twenty-fours) which Major Armjirong, who commands on the river, and came to receive me, fired on my arrival. When America-has more money, and leifure, fhe will da well not to neglect this poft, as well as all thofe for the defence of the river. For this war once terminated, fhe will fee no more European armies on the Continent, and all fhe can have to fear from England, in cafe of a rupture with her, will be a few maritime expeditions, the fole object of which can be to deflroy fhipping, to ravage the country, and even to burn the towns within reach of the fea. Unfortunately Billingfport belongs to the ftate of Jerfey, which can reap no advantage from it; and that of Penfylvania, whofe. fafety it would conftitute, has no other means to employ towards fortifying it than its own requefl, and the recommendations of of Congrefs, which are not always attended to. However this may be, Philadelphia took other precautions for her defence, which depended only on the ftate of Penfylvania, and to this advantage is united that of an excellent pofition, which will foon be made impregnable j I mean Fort MifHing, whither we went on leaving Bil-lingfport, ftill afcending the river. The ifle on which it is built, and that called Mud I/land, fupport the right of a fecond barrier of Chevaux de Frife, the left of which is defended by the Fort of Red Bank-/- but it muft be obferved that the barrier only blocked the main channel of the river, the only paffage by which it was thought that veffels could pafs.-f- Near * This fort too, is liable to the fame difficulties with Billingfport, being on the Jerfey fide. Translator. f The perfon principally employed in finking the chevaux de frife, and in fecuring the paffage of the river, was one JVhite, who is fuppofed to have left this channel open defignedly, as he afterwards turned out a decided traitor, went over to the enemy, and diftinguifhed himfelf by every a& of hoflile virulence againfl his country. Translator. Near the right bank is Hog Ifland, about two miles long, the furfaceof which, like that of moif of the iflands in the Delaware is fo low, that at high water, nothing is to be Teen but the tops of the reeds with which it is covered. Between this ifland, and the main land, a fmall paffage remained open, but the Americans were perfuaded that there was not water enough for any {hip with guns to pafs it. At the extre. mity of this channel, and in remounting it, we leav-e on the left a marfhy ground, fo furrounded by Creeks, and inlets, as to form a real ifland, called Province IjlandJ* This poft was in the poffeffion of the enemy; who eftablifhed batteries there, which incommoded thofe of Fort Mifflin, but not fufhciently to make the Americans abandon it. The Engliih army were at that time in a Angular fltuation: they had purchafed and maintained poffeffion of Philadelphia at * This is one of the richeft fpots of land ia America, and being part of the proprietary eftate, was parcelled out, and fold in lots by the Aflimbly of the State. at the price of two bloody battles J but they were If ill fhut up between the Schuylkill and the Delaware, having in their front Wafhington's army, which kept them in awe, and behind them feveral forts occupied by the Americans, which fhut the paffage of the Delaware. A large city, however, and a whole army muff have fub-fiflence; it became neceffary therefore to open the communication by fea, and to fecure the navigation of the river. When one recollects the innumerable oblf acles the Englifh had to furmount in the prefent war, it is difficult to alfign the caufe of their fucceffes ; but if we turn our eyes on all the unforefeen events which have deceived the expectation of the Americans, and fruftrated their bett concerted meafures, one cannot but be perfuaded that they were devoted to deft ruction, and that the alliance with France alone proved the means of their prefervation. In this voyage, in particular, I faw frefh proofs of it every in-flant. When the place was pointed out to me where the Augufta, of fixty-four guns, took fire, and blew up in attempting to to force the chevaux de frife, and further, on the remains" of the Merlin, of two and twenty, which ran afhore in the fame action, and was burnt by the Englifh themfelves, whilft the Heffians were vainlv facrificing five or fix hundred men before the Fort of Redbank, 1 figured to myfelf the Englifh army ftarved in Philadelphia, retreating with difgrace and difficulty through the Jerfeys, and my imagination already enjoyed the triumph of America. But of a fudden the fcene changed, and I faw nothing but the fatality which collected towards the channel of Hog Ifland the waters long confined by the Chevaux de Frife, and recollected with pain, that on the 15th of November, three weeks after the fruitlefs attempts I have mentioned, the Englifh fucceeded in pafiing over the bar of this channel, the Vigilant, and another fmall fhip of war,- that they thus got up the river, and turned Fort Mifflin, the batteries of which they took from behind, and left the Americans no other refource but to abandon the defence of the chevaux de frife in all parts, and Vol. I. S make make a precipitate retreat by the left more of the Delaware. Taught by fad experience, the Americans have provided in future againft the misfortunes which cofl them fo dear. J faw them with pleafure extending the fortifications of Miffling's Ifland, fo as to en-clofe the fort on every fide, which will be furrounded alfo by the Delaware in place of a ditch ; and as the garrifon will have a fafe afylum in fouterrains, bomb-proof, this fort may henceforth be deemed impregnable. The plan of thefe works was given by M. du Portail; Major Armftrong mewed me them upon the fpot, and I found them correfpond perfectly with the juft reputation of their author. We now had to vifit Redbank; for which purpofe we had again to crofs the Delaware, which in this place is a mile wide. The gentleman, who was to do the honour there, was impatient to arrive. We had amufed ourfelves by telling him that the morning being far fpent, and the tide about to turn, we fhould be obliged to omit Redbank, and return .directly to 4 Philadelphia* NOR TH-A MERICA. 259 Philadelphia. This conductor, whom we diverted ourfelves in tormenting, was M. du Plefiis Mauduit, who in the double capacity of engineer, and officer of artillery, had the charge of arranging and defending this poft, under the orders of Colonel Green. On landing from our boat, he propofed conducting us to a Quaker's, whofe houfe is half. a mufquet (hot from the fort, or rather the ruins of the fort; for it is now deftroyed, and there are fcarcely any reliefs of it remaining. " This man, faid M. de Mauduit, is a little of a tory; I was obliged to knock down his barn, and fell his fruit trees; but he will be glad to fee M. de la Fayette, and will receive us well." We took him at his word, but never was expectation more compleatly deceived. We found our Quaker feated in the chimney corner, bufied in cleaning herbs: he recollected M. de Mauduit, who named M. de la Fayette, and me, to him ; but he did not deign to lift his eyes, nor to anfwer any of our introducer's difcourfe, which at firft was complimentary, and at length S a jocofe. jocofe. Except Dido's filence, i know nothing more fevere, but we had no difficulty in accommodating ourfelves to this bad reception, and made our way to the fort. We had not gone a hundred yards-before we came to a. fmall elevation, on which a ftone was vertically placed, with this ihort epitaph : here lies buried Colonel Donop. M. de Mauduit could not refrain from exprefling his regret for this brave man, who died in his arms two days after the action; he allured us that we could not make a ftep without treading on the remains of fome Heffians; for near three hundred were buried in the front of the ditch. The Fort of Redbank was defigned, as I have faid. above, to fupport the left of the chevaux de frife. The bank of the Delaware at this place is fteep; but even this fteepnefs allowed the enemy to approach the fort, under cover, and without being expofed to the fire of the batteries. To remedy this inconvenience, feveral gallies armed with cannon, and deftined to defend the chevaux de frife, were pofted the N O R T rf-AME RICA. 261 the whole length of the efcarpement, and took it in reverfe. The Americans, little praclifed in the art of fortifications, and always difpofed to take works beyond their frxength, had made thofe of Redbank too extenfive. When M. de Mauduit obtained permiffion to be fent thither with Colonel Green, he immediately fet about reducing the fortifications, by interfering them from eaif to weft, which transformed them into a fort of large redoubt nearly of a pentagonal form. A good earthen rampart, raifed to the height of the cordon, a folle, and an abattis in front of the fofle, con-ftituted the whole ftrength of this poft, in which were placed three hundred men* and fourteen pieces of cannon. The 22d of October, in the morning, they received intelligence that a detachment of two thou-fand five hundred Heffians were advancing j who were foon after perceived on the edge of a wood to the north of Redbank, nearly within cannon fiiot. Preparations were S 3 making * General Howe calls them about 800 men.» Translator. making for the defence, when aHeffian officer advanced, preceded by a drum; he was fufFered to approach, but his harangue was fo infolent that it only ferved to irritate the garrifon, and infpire them with more refolution. " The King of England, faid " he, orders his rebellious JubjecJs to lay down " their arms, and they are warned, that if " they fand the battle, no quarters whatever f* will be given." The anfwer was, that they accepted the challenge, and that there fhould be no quarter on either fide. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the Heffians made a very brifk fire from a battery of cannon, and foon after they opened, and marched to the firfl entrenchment, from which, finding it abandoned, but not deflroyed, they imagined they had driven the Americans. They then (\\outed vicJoria, waved their hats in the air, and advanced towards the redoubt. The fame drummer, who a few hours before had come to fummon the garrifon, and had appeared as infolent as his officer, was at their head beating the march ; both he, and that officer were knocked on the head by the firfl fire. The Heffians, however, ever, ftill kept advancing within the firfl entrenchment, leaving the river on their right: they had already reached the abattis, and were endeavouring to tear up, or cut away the branches, when they were overwhelmed with a fhower of mufquet fhot, which took them in front, and in flank; for as chance would have it, a part of the courtine of the old entrenchment, which had not been deffroyd, formed a projection at this very part of the interfection. M. de Mauduit had contrived to form it into a fort of caponiere, (or trench with loop-holes) into which he threw fome men, who flanked the enemy's left, and fired on them at clofe fhot. Officers were feen every moment rallying their men, marching back to the abattis, and falling amidfl the branches they were endeavouring to cut. Colonel Donop was particularly diftinguifhed by the marks of the order he wore, by his handfome figure, and by his courage; he was alfo feen to fall like the refl. The Heffians, repulfed by the fire of the redoubt, attempted to fecure themfelves from it by attacking on the fide of the efcarpement, but the fire S 4 from from the gallies fent them back with a great lofs of men. At length they re-linquifhed the attack, and regained the wood in diforder. Whilft this was paffing on the north fide, another column made an attack on the fouth, and, more fortunate than the other, paffed the abattis, traverfed the fofle, and mounted the berm; but they were flopped by the fraifes, and M. de Mauduit running to this poll as foon as he faw the firfl affailants give way, the others were obliged to follow their example. They flill did not dare however to flir out of the fort, fearing a furprize; but M. de Mauduit wifhing to replace fome pali-fades which had been torn up ; he fallied out with a few men, and was furprized to find about twenty Heffians flanding on the berm, and fluck up againfl the fhelving of the parapet. Thefe foldiers who had been bold enough to advance thus far, fen-fible that there was more rifque in returning, and not thinking proper to expofe themfelves, were taken and brought into the fort. M. de Mauduit, after fixing the the palifades, employed himfelf in repairing the abattis; he again fallied out with a detachment, and it was then he beheld the deplorable fpecfacle of the dead, and dying, heaped one upon another. A voice arofe from amidft thefe carcafes, and faid in Englifh; whoever you are, draw me hence. It was the voice of Colonel Donop: M. de Mauduit made the foldiers lift him up, and carry him into the fort, where he was foon known. He had his hip broken; but whether they did not conlider his wound as mortal, or that they were heated by the battle, and ft ill irritated at the menaces thrown out againit them a few hours before, the Americans could not help faying, aloud : Well! is it determined to give no quarter ? I am in your hands, replied the Colonel, you may revengeyourfehes. M. de Mauduit had no difficulty in impohng filence, and employed himfelf only in taking care of the wounded officer. The latter, perceiving he fpoke bad Englifh, faid to him: you appear to me a foreigner, Sir, who are you ?—A French officer, replied the other.—Jefuis content, faid Donop, making ufe ufe of our language, je tneurs entre les mains de Vhonneur meme. i am content i die in the hands of honour itfelf. The next day he was removed to the Quaker's houfe, where he lived three days, during which he converfed frequently with M. de Mauduit. He told him that he had been long in friend-fhip with M. de Saint-Germain, that he wifhed in dying to recommend to him his vanquifher, and benefactor. He afked for paper, and wrote a letter, which he delivered to M. de Mauduit, requiring of him, as the laft favour, to acquaint him when he was about to die: the latter was foon under the necefiity of acquitting himfelf of this fad duty: it is finijhing a noble career early, faid the Colonel; but I die the victim of my ambition, and of the avarice of my fbvereign. Fifteen wounded officers were found, like him, upon the field of battle; M. de Mauduit had the fatisfaction to conduct them himfelf to Philadelphia, where he was very well received by General Howe. By fingular accident, it happened that the Englifh that very day received indirect intelligence of the capitulation of Burgoyne, of of which he knew more than they. They pretended to give no credit to it: you who9 are a Frenchman, faid they, /peak freely, do you think it pqffiblef I know, replied he, that the faft is fo; explain it as you think proper. Perhaps I have dwelt too long on this event; but I (hall not have to apologize to thofe who will partake of the plealing fatisfacfion I experience, in fixing my eyes upon the triumphs of America, and in difcovering my countrymen amongft thofe who have reaped her laurels. At prefent I haften my return to Philadelphia, where, on my arrival, I had only time to drefs myfelf to attend the Chevalier de la Luzerne, and the companions of my journey, to dinner at Mr. Huntington's, the Prefident of Congrefs. Mrs. Huntington, a good looking, lufty woman, but not young, did the honours of the table, that is to fay, helped every body without faying a word. I did not remain long after dinner, having a little fnug rendezvous, which I was not inclined to mifs. The reader will think it time for me to throw fome variety into this 268 T R A V E L S ■ IN this journal; but I am obliged to confefs that this rendezvous was with Mr. Samuel Adams. We had promiied ourfelves at our laft interview to fet an evening apart for a tranquil tete-a-tete, and this was the day appointed. Our converlation commenced with a topic of which he might have fpared himfelf the difcufiion; the juftice of the caufe he was engaged in. I am clearly of opinion that the parliament of England had no right to tax America without her confent, but I am more clearly convinced that when a whole people fay we will be free, it is difficult to demonftrate they are in the wrong. Be that as it may, Mr. Adams very fatisfacforily proved to me, that New England, comprehending the ftates of Maffa-chuflets, New Hampfhire, Connecticut, and Rhode Ifland, were not peopled with any view to commerce and aggrandifement, but wholly by individuals who fled from perfection, and fought an afylum at the extremity of the world, where they might be free to live, and follow their opinions ; that it was of their own accord, that thofe new colonifts put themfelves under the protection N OR TH-AMERIC A. 2£9 tion of England ; that the mutual relation-fhip, fpringing from this connexion, was exprefled in their charters, and that the right of impofing, or exacting a revenue of any kind was not comprized in them. From this fubject we paffed to a more in-terefling one; the form of government which fhould be given to each flate; for it is only on account of the future, that it is neceffary to take a retrofpecf. of the part. The revolution has taken place, and the republic is beginning; it is an infant newly born, the queffion is how to nourifh, and rear it to maturity. i expreffed to Mr. Adams fome anxiety for the foundations on which the new conftitutions are formed, and particularly that of Maflachuffets. Every citizen, faid i, every man who pays taxes, has a right to vote in the election of reprefenta-tives, who form the legiflative body, and who may be called the fovereign power. All this is very well for the prefent moment, becaufe every citizen is pretty equally at his eafe, or may be fo in a fhort time, but the fuccefs of commerce, and even of agriculture, will introduce riches amongft you, and riches riches will produce inequality of fortunes, and of property. Mow, wherever this inequality exifts, the real force will invariably be on the fide of property; fo that if the influence in government be not proportioned to that property, there will always be a contrariety, a combat between the form of go* vernment, and its natural tendency, the right will be on one fide, and the power on the Other; the balance then only can exifl between the two equally dangerous extremes, of ariftocracy and anarchy. Belides, the ideal worth of men muff ever be comparative: an individual without property is a difcon-tented citizen, when the ftate is poor; place a rich man near him, he dwindles into a clown. What will refult then, one day, from vetting the right of election in this clafs of citizens ? The fource of civil broils, or corruption, perhaps both at the fame time. The following was pretty nearly the anfwer of Mr. Adams. I am very fenfibleof the force of your objections; we are not what we fhould be, we mould labour rather for the future, than for the prefent moment. I build a country houfe, and have have infant children ; I ought doubtlefs to conftruct their apartments with an eye to the time in which they fhall be grown up and married: but we have not neglected this precaution. In the firft place, I muft inform you, that this new conftitution was propofed and agreed to in the moft legitimate manner of which there is any example fince the days ofLycurgus. A committee chofenfrom the members of the legiflative body, then ex-ifting, and which might be conlidered as a provifional government, was named to prepare a new code of laws. As foon as it was prepared, each county or diftric"fc was required to name a committee to examine this plan : it was recommended to them to fend it back at the expiration of a certain time, with their obfervations. Thefe obferva-tions having been difculfed by the committee, and the neceffary alterations made, the plan was fent back to each particular committee. When they had all approved it, they received orders to communicate it to the people at large, and to demand their fuffrages. If two-thirds of the voters approved it, it was to have the force of law, and 272 T RAV ELS IN and be regarded as the work of the people themfelves; of two and twenty thoufand fuffrages, a much greater proportion than two-thirds was in favour of the new con-ftitution. Now thefe were the principles on which it was eftablifhed : a ftate is never free but when each citizen is bound by no law whatever that he has not approved of, either by himfelf, or by his reprefentatives; but to reprefent another man, it is neceffary to have been elected by him; every citizen therefore fhould have a part in elections. On the other hand, it would be in vain for the people to poifefs the right of electing reprefentatives, were they reftrain-ed in the choice of them to a particular clafs; it is neceffary therefore not to require too much property as a qualification for the repreferitaiive of the people. Accordingly the houfe of reprefentatives which form the legiflative body, and the true fo-veretgn9.&re the people themfelves represented by their delegates. Thus far the government is purely democratical; but it is the permanent and enlightened will of the people which fhould conftitute law, and not not the paffions and Tallies to which they are too fubject. It is neceffary to moderate their firft emotions, and bring them to the left of enquiry and reflection. This is the important bufinefs entrufted with the Governor arid Senate, who reprefent with us the negative power, veited in England in the upper-houfe, and even in the crown^ with this difference only, that in our new conff itution the fenate has a right to reject a law, and the governor to fufpend the promulgation, and return it for a reconfidera-tion; but thefe forms complied with, if, after this frefh examination, the people per-fift in their refolution, and there is then, not as before, a mere majority, but two-thirds of the fuffrages in favour of the law, the governor and fenate are compelled to give it their fanction. Thus this power moderates, without deftroying the authority of the people, and fuch is the organization of ourrepublic* as to prevent the fprings from breaking by too rapid a movement, without ever flopping them entirely. Now, it is here we have given all its weight to property. A man muft have a pretty confider-Vol. I. T able able property to vote for a member of the Senate; he muff have a more confiderable one to be himfelf eligible. Thus the democracy is pure and entire in the alfembly, which reprefents the jbvereign ; and theari-ilocracy, or, if you will, the optimacy, is to be found only in the moderating power, where it is the more neceffary, as men never watch more carefully over the ftate than when they have a great intereft in its delfiny. As to the power of commanding armies, it ought neither to be veiled in a great, nor even in a fmall number of men : the Governor alone can employ the forces by fea and land according to the neceffity; but the land forces will confiff only in the militia, which, as it is compofed of the people themfelves, can never act againfl the people.* Such * As there appears to be fome little inaccuracy in this account of the converfation, the reader is referred to the Confiitution of the Majfacbujfets, as republished in England with thofe of the other ftates, where he will fee the refpective privileges and powers of" the Senate and Governor and Council clearly difcri-minatcd, which are here confounded. The Tranfla-tor has endeavoured to free the original from its ob- Such was the idea Mr. Adams gave me ofhis own work, * for it is he who had the greatefl part in the formation of the [new laws. It is faid, however, that before his credit was employed to get them accepted, it was neceffary to combat his private opinion, and to make him abandon fyftems in which he loved to ftray, for lefs fublime, but more practicable projects. This citizen, otherwife fo refpectable, has been frequently reproached with confulting his library, rather than the prefent circumfiances, and of always beginning by the Greeks and Romans, to get at the whigs and tories ; if this be true, I mail only fay that fludy has alfo its inconveniences, but not fuch as are important, fince Mr. Samuel Adams, heretofore the enemy of regular troops, and the T 2 mofl fcurity, the fenate being there wholly overlooked, and its duties blended with thofe of the Governor and Council; and materially to preferve the drift of Mr. Adams's argument. Translator. * I have fome reafon to think that the admirable form of government for MaflachurTets Bay, is not the ivork of Mr. Samuel Adams, but of Mr. John Adams, the prefent Minifter Plenipotentiary from the United States, in England. Translator, moft extravagant partitan of the democracy", at prefent employs all his influence to maintain an army, and to eftablifh a mixed- government. Be that as it.may, I departed well content with this converfation, which was only interrupted by a glafs of Madeira, a difh of tea, and an old American General, new a member of Congrefs, who lodges with Mr. Adams. I knew that there was a ball at the Chevalier de la Luzerne's, which made me lefs in a hurry to return thither : it was, however, a very agreeable affembly; for it was given to a private fociety, on the occafion of a marriage. There were near twenty women, twelve or fourteen of whom were dancers ; each of them having her partner,, as is the cuftom in America. Dancing is faid to be at once the emblem of gaiety and of love; here it feems to be the emblem of legiflation, and of marriage; of legiflation, inafmuch as places are marked out, the country dances named, and every proceeding provided for, calculated and fubmitted to regulation ; of marriage, as it furnifhes each lady with a partner, with whom fhe dances, dances the whole evening, without being allowed to take another. It is true that every fevere law requires mitigation, and that it often happens, that a young lady after dancing the two or three firft dances with her partner, may make a frefh choice, or accept of the invitation (he has received ; but ftill the comparifon holds good, for it is a marriage in the European Ja-Jhion. Strangers have generally the privilege of being complimented with the hand-fomeft women. The Comte de Darnes had Mrs. Bingham for his partner, and the Vi--comte de Noailles, Mifs Shippen. Both of them, like true philofophers, teftified a great refpedf. for the manners of the country, by not quitting their handfome partners the whole evening; in other refpecfs they were the admiration of all the affembly, from the grace and noblenefs with which they danced; I may even aifert, to the honour of my country, that they furpaffed a Chief Juftice of Carolina (Mr. Pendleton) and two members of Congrefs, one of whom (Mr. Duane) paffed however for being by io per cent, more lively than all the other T 3 dancers. dancers. The ball was fufpended, towards midnight, by a fupper, ferved in the manner of coffee, on feveral different tables. On pafling into the dining-room, the Chevalier de la Luzerne prefented his hand to Mrs. Morris, and gave her the precedence, an honour pretty generally bellowed on her, as fhe is the richeft woman in the city, and all ranks here being equal, men follow their natural bent, by giving the preference to riches. The ball continued till two in the morning, as I learnt the next morning on rifing, for I had feen too many attacks and battles the day before not to have learnt to make a timely retreat. Our young folks flanding in need of re-pofe after their journey and exercife of the evening, did not appear at breakfafl. In their flead, we had an old Quaker of the name of Benezet, whofe diminutive figure, and humble and fcanty phyfiognomy, formed a perfect contrafl to Mr. Pendleton. This Mr. Benezet may rather be regarded as the model, than as a fpecimen of the feet of Quakers: wholly occupied with the welfare of mankind, his charity and gene- rofity rofity made him be held in great confederation in happier times, when the virtues alone fufficed to render the citizen illustrious. At prefent the noife of arms deafens the ears againft, the fighs of charity, and the amor patriae has prevailed over the love of humanity. Benezet, however, if ill exer-cifes his benevolence: he came to get fome information refpecting the new methods invented in France of relforing drowned perfons to life. I promifed not only to fend them to him from Newport, but to tranfmit to him fuch a box, with the ne-ceffaries, as our government has dillributed in the fea-port towns. Confidence being effablifhed between us, we fell on the topic of the miferies of war. " Friend, fays he to me, I know thou art a man of letters, «' and a member of the French Academy : " the men of letters have written a great " many good things of late; they have ** attacked errors and prejudices, and, " above all, intolerance; will they not " endeavour too, to difgufl men with the " horrors of war, and to make them live " together like friends and brethren T 4 "Thou «« Thou art not deceived, Friend, replied « 1, when thou buildeft fome hope on " the progrefs of enlightened philofophy. " Many active hands are labouring at the « grand edifice of public happinefs; but vainly « will they employ themfelves in finifliing ** fome parts of it, as long as there is a " deficiency at the bafe, and that Safe, thou " half faid it, is univerfal peace. Asforinto-« leranceandperfecution, it is true that thefe « two enemies of the human race, are not «« bound by flrong enough chains; but I *c will whifper a word in thy ear, of which ** thou wilt not perhaps feel all the force, ** though thou art well acquainted with ** the French; they are out of fajhion; I " fhould even believe them to be on the <£ point of annihilation, but for fome little «' circumftances thou art not informed of; ** which are, that they who attack them are «' now and then imprifoned, and Abhtes of a €t hundred thoufand livres a year heft owed on trious aft of folly and infatuation j fads truly cha-ra&eriftic of the diffipation, and decline of a great people. Translator.} columns of the enemy, refolved to return to the camp through the woods, as quick as poffible. General Howe's column was not long in reaching the advanced pofls of M. de la Fayette; which gave rife to a laughable enough adventure. The fifty favages he had with him, were placed in an ambufcade, in the woods, after their manner, that is to fay, lying as clofe as rabbits. Fifty Englifh dragoons, who had never feen any Indians, marching at the head of the column, entered the wood where they were hid, who on their part had never feen dragoons. Up they ffart, raifing a horrible cry, throw down their arms, and efcape by fwimming acrofs the Schuylkill. The dragoons, on the other hand, as much terrified as they were, turned about their horfes, and did not recover their panic 'till they got back to Philadelphia. M. de la Fayette, now finding that he was turned, concluded very juftly like a warrior, that the column marched againft him would not be the firfl to make the attack, and that it would wait till the other was in readinefs. He imme-«> 5 d lately diately changed his front, therefore, and took a good pofition oppofite the fecond column, having before him Barrenhill Church, and behind him the opening which ferved as a retreat. But he had fcarcely occupied this pofition, before he learnt that General Grant was on his march to the Schuylkill Ford, and was already nearer to it than himfelf. Nothing remained but to retreat: but the only road he had, made him approach the column of General Grant, and expofed him to be attacked by it in front, whillf Grey and Howe fell upon his rear. The road, 'tis true, foon turning'to the left, became feparated by a fmall valley from that General Grant was on, but this valley itfelf was crolfedby feveral roads, and it mulf, in (hort, be traverfed to reach the Ford. In this fituation, his own greatnefs of mind alone fuggefted to theyoung foldier the proper condu61, as well as confummate experience could poffibly have done. He knew that more honour is loif, than time gained, in converting a retreat- into a flight\ He continued his march, therefore, in fo franc|ujj and regular an order, that he mi- pofed pofed on General Grant, and made him believe, that he was fuftained by Warning-ton's whole army, which was waiting for him at the end of the defile. On the other hand, Howe himfelf, on arriving on the heights of Barrenhill, was deceived by the firft manoeuvre of M. de la Fayette; for feeing the Americans in line of battle, on the very fpot where the fecond column was to appear, he imagined it was General Grey who had got pollefiion of this pofition, and thus loft fome minutes in looking through his glafs, and in fending to reconnoitre. General Grey alfo loft time in waiting for the right and left columns. From all thefe mistakes it followed, that M. de la Fayette had the opportunity of effecting his retreat, as if by enchantment, and he paffed the river with all his artillery without lofing a man. Six alarm guns, which were fired at the army, on the firft news of this attack, ferved, I believe, to keep the enemy in awe, who imagined the whole American army were-in march. The Englifih, after finding the bird flown, returned to Philadelphia, fpent with fatigue, and afhamed of having done done nothing. The ladies did not fee Mi. de la Fayette, and General Howe himfelf arrived too late for fupper. In.reciting this affair, I give at the fame time an account of my ride, for I followed the exacf road of the left column, which leads to Schuylkill Falls, where there is a fort of fcattered village, compofed of feveral beautiful country houfes; amongff others, that of the Chevalier de la Luzerne.* A fmall * The beautiful banks of the Schuylkill are every where covered with elegant country houfes; amongft others thofe of Mr. Penn, the late proprietor, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Peters, late Secretary to the Board of War, are on the moft delightful fituations. The tafty little box of the laft gentleman is on the moft enchanting fpot that Nature can embellifh, and befides the variegated beauties of the rura 1 banks of the Schuylkill, commands the Delaware, and the (hipping, mounting and defcendingit,whereit is joined at right angles by the former. From hence is the moft romantic ride up the river to the Falls, in which the oppofite bank is likewife feen beautifully interfperfed with the country houfes of the opulent citizens of the capital. On your arrival at the Falls, every little knowl or eminence is occupied by one of thefe charming retreats; amongft which General Miffiing% ftands confpicuous, nor is the exterior belied by the neatnefs, the abundance, and hofpitality which reign fmall creek'which falls into the Schuylkill, the height of ten or twelve feet, the mills turned by this creek, the trees which cover its banks, and thofe of the Schuylkill form a moft pleafing landfcape, which would not efcape the pencil of Robert and Le Prince. This within; the eafy ^politenefs, the attention, good fenfe, gaiety, and information of the owner ; the order, arrangement, and elegance of Mrs. Mifflin, who Hill adhering to her feet, which her huiband renounced for " the ear-piercing fife and fpirit-ftirring drum," poffefTes all its excellencies, and is what a moft amiable female Quaker ought to be, render this (and I fpeak from knowledge and gratitude) a moft delicious abode. Below this houfe, and clofe to the Falls, is a building ere£ted by Mr. John Dickinfon, the celebrated author of the Farmer's Letters, for a feleft fociety of friends, who held a weekly meeting there, before the war, during the feafon for eating fhad. Good humour, harmony, a*id good fenfe, are faid to have characlerifed thefe meetings, prefided by this eminent and amiable man, whofe figure, countenance, and manners always reminded me of the urbanity and virtues fo charac-teriftically portrayed in the perfon of the lamented, great, good man, Lord Rockingham. Translator* This expedition not being fb long as that of the other day, left me two hours at my difpofal; and I employed them in vifiting the left of the Englifh lines which I had not yet feen. M. de Gimat was fo gO0d as to feparate from the reft of the company, and inftead of returning to Philadelphia, we kept to the right, to follow the lines, as far as the Schuylkill. I found that from the centre, to the left, their pofition was nothing lefs than advantageous, particularly near a burnt houfe, towards which I mould have directed my attack had I been in the way of making one. From a ridge of ground, where indeed the Englifh had formed a femicircular battery towards the Schuylkill, the glacis is againft the lines ; fo that theaffailant might firft march under cover, and then command the batteries which defend them. To the left, and clofe to the Schuylkill, the ground has fuddenly a very confiderable rife, of which the Englifh did not fail to avail themfelves, by conffrucling a large redoubt, and a battery ; but this fummit itfelf is commanded, and taken in reverfe by the heights on the other other fide of the river; Be this as it may; thefe works were furficient to fecure art army of fifteen thoufand men, againff one of feven or at moft eight thoufand. At every ftep one takes in America, one is aftonifhed at the tfriking contraft between the contempt in which the Englifh affected to hold their enemies, and the extreme precautions they took on every occalion. Nothing can equal the beauties of the coup d'ceil which the banks of the Schuylkill prefent, in defcending towards the fouth to return to Philadelphia. I found a pretty numerous company affembled at dinner at the Chevalier de la Luzerne's, which Was augmented by the arrival of the Comte de Cuftine and the M; de Laval. In the evening we took them to fee the Prefident of the Congrefs, who was not at home, and then to Mr. Peter's the Secretary to the Board of War, to whom it was my firfl vifit. His houfe is not large, nor his office of great importance; for every thing which is not in the power of the General of the*Army, depends on each particular ftate, much more than on Congrefs; but but he poffeffes what is preferable to all the departments in the world, an amiable wife, [the Marquis might have added, very beau-tifuf] excellent health, a good voice, and great gaiety and humour. We converfed fome time together, and he fpoke of the American army with as much freedom as good fenfe. He confelfed that formerly their army knew no difcipline, and he infilled If rcngly on the obligations they owed to the Baron de Soeuben, who performed the duties of Infpector-General. Palling then to the eulogium of Meffieurs de Fleury, du Portal, and all the French officers who had ferved in the late campaigns, he ob-ferved, that thofe who offered their fervice in the beginning, had not given a very advantageous idea of their country. They were almoft all furnifhed, however, with letters of recommendation from the Governors or Commandants of our colonies; in which they feem to me very reprehenfible. The weaknefs which prevents men from refufing a letter of recommendation, or the defire of getting rid of a good for nothing fellow, continually gets the better of juf-Vol. 1. X tiee tice and good faith ; we deceive, we expofe the reputation of our allies, but we ftill more effentially betray the interefts of our country, whofe honour and character are thus fhamefully proftituted. I fhall only fpeak of Mr. Price, with whom we drank tea and fpent the evening, to bear witnefs to the generofity of this gallant man, who, born in Canada and always attached to the French, lent two hundred thoufand livres, hard money, to M. de Corny, whom the court had fent with fifty thoufand livres only, to make provifion for our army. The 13th, I went with the Chevalier de Luzerne, and the French travellers, to dine with the Southern Delegates.* Mef- fieurs * The Marquis de Chaftellux feems unfortunately to have known but little of the Southern Delegates, particularly thofe of South Carolina, whom, without any invidious comparifon, he would have found men of the greateft liberality and underftanding: as firm in their principles, and as ready to hazard their lives in the defence of their liberty, as the moft zealous inhabitant of New England ; they pof-feffed, in general, all the tafte, urbanity, and enlightened knowledge of polifhed Europe. In Mr. fseurs Sharp, Flowy,-\ and Maddifon, were the neareft to me 5 I converfed a great deal with them, and was much Satisfied with X 2 their Ram/ay, he would have found a cultivated under-Handing, a perfevering mind, and an active enthufiafm, founded on a thorough knowledge of the caufe he was engaged in, and the moft perfect conviction of its reaitude. In Mr. Izard, the fire and zeal of a gentleman republican, filled with indignation at the violence and excefTcs he had witnejfid in the Engliih Government. In Mr. Rut/edge, a manly, principled determination to rilk and fuffer everything, rather than again fubmit to the yoke of Britain, with elegant ideas of the enjoyments of life, and all the domeftic virtues. In Mr. Arthur Middle-ton, the plaineft manners, with the moft refined tafte; great reading, and knowledge of the world, concealed under the referve of the mildeft, and moft modeft nature; a compleat philanthropift, but the firmeft patriot; cool, fteady, and unmoved at the general wreck of property and fortune, as far as he was perfonally concerned, but with a heart melting for the fuffcring and woes of others. He would have found him, in fliort, a model of private worth, and public virtue, a good citizen, a good father, and an exemplary hufband, accomplished in the letters, in the fciences, and fine arts, well acquainted with the manners and the courts of Europe, from whence he has tranfplanted to his country nothing but their embellilbmcnts and virtues. I fpeak of him with enthufiafm, for he really excited my admiration. He 3o8 T R A'V ELS IN their converfation. But I was ftill more fo with that I had in the afternoon at Mrs. Meredith's, General Cadwallader\ daughter: this was the firft time I had feen this amiable family, although the Chevalier de la Luzerne was very intimate with them; but they had only juft arrived from the country, where General Cadwallader was ftill detained by bufinefs. It is this gentleman who had a duel with Mr. Chace, formerly a Delegate for Maryland, and feverely wounded him in the jaw with a piftol mot. Mrs. Meredith has three or four fillers, or llfters-in-law. 1 was aftonifhed at the freedom and gaiety whidh reigned in this family, and regretted not having known them fooner. I chattered more, particularly with Mrs, Meredith, who appeared had made a handfome collection of paintings when in Italy, and on his travels, which were mutilated and deltroyed by the ruffian hands of the European favages, who took poffeffion of his houfe in Carolina. Translator. f There mull be an error in this name, but as the Tranflator can find no fimilitude between it, and that of any of the Southern Delegates, he has in-feited it literally. Translator* peared to me very amiable and well informed. In the courfe of an hour we talked of literature, poetry, romances, and above all, hiftory; I found ihe knew that of France very well; the comparifon between Francis I. and Henry IV, between Turenne and Conde, Richelieu and Mazarine, feemed familiar to her, and fhe made them .with much grace, wit and underffanding. Whilft I was talking with Mrs. Meredith, Mr. Lynch had got poffeffion of Mifs Polly Cadwallader, who had likewife made a conqueff of him, infomuch that the Chevalier de la Luzerne was much entertained at the enthufiafm with which this company had infpired us, and the regret we expreffed at not having became fooner acquainted with them. It muff be acknowledged, with regard to the ladies who compofe it, that none of them is what may be called handfome; this mode of expref-fion is, perhaps, a little too circuitous for the American women, but if they have wit enough to comprehend, and good fenfe enough to be flattered with it, their eulogium will be compleat. X ^ I know 3io T.R A V E L S IN I know not how it happened, that fince my arrival in Philadelphia, I had not yet feen Mr. Payne, that author fo celebrated in America, and throughout Europe, by his excellent work, entitled, Common Senfe, and feveral other political pamphlets. Mr. de la Fayette and 1 had alked the permiflion of an interview for the 14th in the morn" ing, and we waited on him accordingly with Colonel Laurens. I difcovered, at his apartments, all the attributes of a man of letters; a room pretty much in diforder, dufty furniture, and a large table covered with books lying open, and manufcripts begun. His perfon was in a correfpondent drefs, nor did his phyfiognomy belie the fpirit that reigns throughout his works. Our converfation was agreeable and animated, and fuch as to forma connexion between us, for he has written to me lince my departure, and feems defirous of maintaining a conftant corref-pondence. His exiftence at Philadelphia is fimilar to that of thofe political writers in England, who have obtained nothing, and have neither credit enough in the ftate, nor « fufficient political weight to obtain a part in the affairs of government. Their works are read with more curiofity than conh> dence, their projects being regarded rather as the play of imagination, than as well concerted plans, and fufficient in credit ever to produce any real effect: theirs is always confidered as the work of an individual, and not that of a party; information may be drawn from them, but not confequences; accordingly we obferve, that the influence of thefe authors is more felt in the fatirical, than in the dogmatical ftyle, as it is eafier for them to decry other men's opinions than to effablifh their own. This is more the cafe with Mr. Payne than any bodyj for having formerly held a poft in government, he has now no connexion with it; and as his patriotifm and his talents are unqueftion-able, it is natural to conclude that the vi^ v vacity of his imagination, and the independence of his character, render him more calculated for reafoning on affairs, than for conducting them *. Another literary man, as * Mr. Payne has fince written a very interesting pamphlet on the finances of America, entitled, th* Crifi; ; an anfwer to the pillory of the American, as much reflected, though lefs celebrated, expected us at dinner; this was Mr. Wilfon, whom Revolution by the Abbe Raynal; and feveral other works, which confirm the reputation he fo juftly acquired by his firft production.—i-[The author 5s inaccurate in this particular, the Crijis was a fort of periodical publication, many numbers of which had appeared previous even to the arrival of the French army in America, and was adapted by Mr. Payne to every great houfe, or crilis of the government, whether favourable, or unfavourable ; either to urge to energy, and as a fpur againft fupinencfs, or to give a countenance to misfortune, and ftimulate to frefh exertions ; the fubject. of finance was only the occalional topic of one 'number of the Crilis, and fo great was the weight of this writer, whofe Situation was very different indeed from that of an Engliih pamphleteer, however ingenious thecomparifon, that on great emergencies, where almoft defpondency might be looked for, the whole continent waited with fufpence for confolation and council from Common Senfe, his general appellation. His productions were inftantly publifhed in every town, of every, ftate, (for every town has a newfpaper) on grey, brown, yellow, and black, but feldom on white paper, a very rare commodity ; the people took frelh courage, and, " have you read the Crijis" was the fpecific againft every political apprehenlion. In fhort, never was a writer better calculated for the meridian under which he wrote, or who knew how to adapt hiinfelf more happily to every circumftance. Con,* whom I have already mentioned : his houfe and library are in the belt order; he gave us an excellent dinner, and received uswirfi a plain and eafy politenefs. Mrs. Wilfon did the honours of the table with all pohlble attention ; but we were particularly fenfible to the mark of it (lie gave us, by retiring after the defert, for then the dinner affum-ed an air of gaiety. Mr. Peters, the mi-nifter at war, gave the iignal of joy and lir berty by favouring us with a fong of his compoiition, fo jolly, and fo free, that I fhall difpenfe with giving either a tranfla-tion, or an extract. This was really a very excellent fong. He then fung another more charte, and more muiical; a very fine fidering the wonderful effect ofhis pamphlet of Corn-^ mon Senfe, known to every man in America, and the univerfal afcendency he had juftly acquired over the minds of the people, it is impoffible, in a general diftribution of cafes, to appreciate the fhare Mr. Payne had in producing this momentous revolution. It were the height of injuftice, and ingratitude, to rob him of that fhare of glory, which if not his puly, is at leafl his uobleft regompence. Translator. J Italian Italian contabtle. fMr. Peters is, unquestionably, the Minifter of the two worlds, who has the beft voice, and who fings the beft, the pathetic and the bouffon. I was told that the preceding year there were fome private concerts at Philadelphia, where he fung, amongft other pieces of comic operas, a burlefque part in a very pleafant trio, by himfelf, which he feafonerl with all the humorous ftrokes ufual on fuch occafions, and afforded the higheft amufement to the company, fo that this was not the time for faying, one cannot lofe a kingdom more gaily ^ but, it is impojjible to be more gay in forming a republic. After this, conclude from particulars to generals, judge of whole nations by one fpecimen, and eftablifti principles without exceptions! The aflembly, or fubfcription ball, of which I muft give an account, may here he properly introduced. At Philadelphia, as at London, Bath, Spa, &c. there arc places + So varied and univerfal are the talents of Mr. Peters, and he is fo excellent a companion, that it is not faying too much, to add, that he would form, the delight of any fociety in Europe. Translator, NORTH-AMERICA. 31$ places appropriated for the young people to dance in, and where thofe whom that amufement does not fuit, play at different games of cards; but at Philadelphia, games of commerce are alone allowed. A manager\ or mafter of ceremonies prefides at thefe methodical amufements; he prefents to the gentlemen and ladies, dancers, billets folded up containing each a number ; thus fate decides the male or female partner for the whole evening. All the dances are previoufly arranged, and the dancers are called in their turns. Thefe dances, like the toajis we drink at table, have fome relation to politics : one is called the fuccefs of the campaign, another, the defeat of Burgoyne, and a third, Clintons retreat. The managers are generally chofen from amongft the moft diftinguifhed officers of the army; this important place is at prefent held by Colonel Wilkinjon, who is alfo clothier general of the army. Colonel Mitchell, a little fat, fquat man, fifty years old, a great judge of horfes, and who was lately contractor for carriages, both for the American and French armies, was formerly the manager ; nager; but when I faw him, he had de-fcended from the magiftracy, and danced like a private citizen. He is faid to have exercifed his office with great feverity, and it is told of him, that a young lady who was figuring in a country dance, having forgot her turn by converting with a friend, he came up to her, and called out aloud, give over, Mifs, take care what you are about; Do you think you come herefor your pleafure ? The alfembly I went to on leaving Mr. Wilfon, was the fecond of the Winter. I was apprized that it would be neither numerous nor brilliant, for at Philadelphia, as at Paris, the beft company feldom go to the balls before Chriftmas. On entering the room however, I found twenty, or five and twenty ladies ready for dancing. It was whifpered me, that having heard a great deal of the Vicomte de Noailles, and the Comte de Damas, they were come with the hopes of having them for partners; but they were compleatly difappointed, thofe gentlemen having fet out that very morning. I fhould have been difappointed alfo, had I expected to fee pretty women. There 1 were were only two paffable, one of whom, called Mifs Footman, was rather contreband, that is to fay, fufpected of not being a very good whig, for the tory ladies are publicly excluded from this affembly. J. was here prefented to a ridiculous enough perfonage, but who plays her part in the town; a Mifs Viny, celebrated for her coquettry, her wit and her farcaftic difpofition : fhe is thirty, and does not feem on the point of marriage. In the mean time fhe applies red, white, blue, and all poffrble colours, affects an extraordinary mode of dfeffing her hair and perfon, and, a flaunch whig in every point, fhe fets no bounds to her liberty* I intended leaving Philadelphia the 15th, but the Prefident of the State, who is alfo Prefident of the Academy, was fo good as to invite me to a meeting of that body to be held that day. It was the more difficult for me to refufe his invitation, as it was propofed to elect me a foreign member. The meetings are held only once a fortnight, and the elections take place but once a year: every candidate mult be prefented and recommended by a member of the acade-4 m7 5 my; after which recommendation his name is placed up during three fucceeding fittings, in the hall of the academy, and the election is at length proceeded to by ballot. I had only heard of mine three days before. It was unanimous, which very rarely happens. M. de la Fayette himfelf, who was elected at the fame time, had one black ball againft him, but it was thought to have been an accident. Out of one and twenty candidates, only feven were chofen, altho' the others had been ftrongly recommended, and there were feveral vacancies. As the fittings of the academy did not begin 'till feven in the evening, I employed my morning in paying vifits, after which I dined at Mr. Hotter*s9 f. with the Chevalier de * Mr. Holker, the fon of the Chevalier Holker, died a few months ago at Rouen, who being condemned to die for acting as an officer in the Manchester regiment, in the rebellion of 1745, made his efcape from prifon, and fled to France, where he was tempted by the government to eftablifh the Manchester manufactory ; this he repeatedly refufed, until, from the wretched policy of Mr. Pelham and other Minifters to whom he reprefented the offers held out to him, with a requefl of his pardon, he NORTH-AM E.R I C A. 3,9 de la Luzerne, M. de la Fayette, and all the French officers : from thence I went to the academy was driven to accept of the propofals of the Frencj^ court. England knows too well, at this hour, the fuccefs with which his endeavours have been crowned. On the arrival of the American commiffioners in France, Mr. Holker was among the firft, and moft zealous in his offers of every afliftance in his power, and entered into the moft intimate connexion with them. In 1777 his fon was fent to Paris to be near Dr. Franklin, and had many opportunities of rendering effential fervices. In 1778 he went out to America with Monfieur Gerard the firft French Ambaffador, in D'Eftaing's fquadron, as Conful General of France. He had not been long in the country before he entered into very advantageous commercial fpeculations, jointly with his father's countryman, Mr. Robert Morris, and by means of his fituation as Conful, had many opportunities of fhipping flour, &c. under permiffions for the French fleet, in the time of a general and ftrict. embargo; he fpeculated largely too in paper money, with which he purchafed, for almoft nothing, a very handfome houfe at Philadelphia, and an elegant country houfe, and eftate a few miles from that city. Mr. Holker difplayed, during the whole war, a tafte and luxury hitherto ftrangers in America ; his houfe was the refort of all the firft people on the Continent, and after the arrival of the French army, of all their officers of diftinaion. The French court however^ on fome reprefentations of the Chevalier de la Lu- 34b T & A ir fc 1 S IN academy accompanied by M. Marbois, a member of that body, as well as M. de la Luzerne, zcrne, thought fit to prohibit their Confuls from all private commerce, a wife regulation univer-fally eflablifhed by them ; and Mr. Holker prefer-jring the advantages of trade, to thofe of his office, refigned the latter, about the beginning of 1781, which for fome time occafioned a coolnefs between the Minifter and him ; he had likewife a difference with Mr. Morris on fettling their accounts to a very large amount, which has detained him in America, fince the peace ; but, if am rightly informed, it is at length terminated. In 1777, I fupped with Mr. Deane, then a flrenuous friend to his country, on his return from Havre de Grace ; where he told me, that on giving the ufual toafts of" the Congrefs," &c. after dinner, the old gentleman could not forbear reflecting on the mutability of human affairs, and that he who was an exile, and had nearly fuffered death for his zealous attachment to the caufe of arbitrary monarchy, fhould now be as ardent in his wifhes for the fuccefs of the molt pure democracy that had ever been propofed to human underflanding. And in fact this is more finking, as the moft ftrenuous fupporters of the American war were found in Scotland, and his native town of Manchefter; • in the very feat, and fources of rebellion againft liberty; in the perfons of the very actors, in the attempt to overthrow the Englifh conftitution, and dethrone the Brunfwick family. Translator. Luzerne, who having other bufinefs, ex-cufed himfelf from attending me, but left me in very good hands. Mr. Marbois, unites to all political and focial qualities, a great deal of literature, and a perfect knowledge of the Englifh language. The aflembly confifted of only fourteen or fifteen perfons ; the Prefident of the college performed the office of Secretary. A memoir Was read on a lingular plant, a native of the country; the Secretary then gave an account of correfpondence and read a letter, the object of which was, for the academy of Philadelphia to affociate with, or rather adopt feveral learned focieties which are forming in. each State. This project tended to make of this academy a fort of literary congrefs, with which the particular legifla-tures fhould keep a correfpondence, but it was not thought proper to adopt this idea; the members feeming to be afraid of the trouble infeparable from all thefe adoptions, and the academy not wifhing to make the following lines of Racine's At balk applicable to them: Vol. I, Y D'Ou lui vienneni de tons cot is Cesenfans quen fon fein elle nJa pas port es! I returned as foon as poflible to the Chevalier de la Luzerne's, to have a If ill further enjoyment of that fociety which had conflicted my happinefs for the laft fortnight: for it is unqueftionably a very great one, to live with a man whofe .amiable and mild character never varies on any occafion; whofe converfation is agreeable and inftruc-tive, and whofe eafy and unaffected politenefs is the genuine expreflion of the beft difpofition. But however allowable it may be to declare one's own fentiments, when dictated by juftice and gratitude, there is always a fort of perfonality in regarding public men only as they refpect their connexions with ourfelves : it is to the King's Minifter, in America 5 it is to a man who moft ably fills a moft important poft, that I owe my teftimony and my praifes. I ihall fay, without fear of contradiction, that the Chevalier de la Luzerne is fo formed for the ltation he occupies, that one would be led to imagine no other could fill it but 5 himfelf; himfelf; noble in his expences, like the minifter of a great monarchy, but as plain in his manners as a republican, he is equally proper to reprefent the King with Congrefs, or the Congrefs with the King. He loves the Americans, and his own inclination attaches him to the duties of his adminilfration ; he has accordingly obtained their confidence, both as a private and a public man; but in both thefe refpects he is equally inacceilible to the ipirit of party, which reigns but too much around him: whence it refults, that he is anxioufly courted by all parties, and that, by efpouf-ing none, he manages them all. It was the 16th of December that I quitted the excellent winter quarters I had with him, and turned my face towards the north, to feek after the traces of General Gates and General Burgoyne, amidlf heaps of fnow. I had fent forward my horfes to Briftol, where I was conveyed in a carriage which the Chevalier de la Luzerne was fo kind as to lend me. By this means I arrived there time enough to reach Prince-Town that night, but not before it was dark, leaving hehind me fome of my fervants and horfes. Y 2 Th* 324 TRAVELS i N The detail of my daily occupations having prevented me from giving a general idea of Philadelphia, 1 muff, on quitting it, take a retrofpecf ive view, and confider at once its prefent ftate and the deftiny which feems to await it. In obferving its geographical fituation, we may readily admit that Penn proceeded upon no erroneous idea, when he conceived his plan of making it one day the capital of America. Two large rivers,* which take their rife in the neighbourhood of Lake G?itario, convey to it the riches of all the interior parts of the country, and at length, by their junction considerably higher up, form a magnificent port at this city. This port is at once far enough from the fea to fhelter it from every infult; and fo near, as to render it as eafy of accefs as if fituated on the fhore of the ocean. The Schuylkill, which runs to the weft of Philadelphia, and * The two branches of the Delaware form two confiderable rivers, the fources of which are dif-tant feveral miles from each other, but they are only difHnguifhed by the names of the Eajlcrn and. Wcjiern Branches. NORTH-.AMERIC A. 325 and nearly parallel with the Delaware, is rather ornamental than ufeful to this city and its commerce. This river, though wide and beautiful near its conflux, is not navigable for boats, on account of its mallow and rocky bed. Philadelphia; placed between thefe two rivers, on a neck of land only three miles broad, ought to fill up this fpace, but commerce has given it another turn. The regular plan of William Penn has been followed, but the buildings are along the Delaware, for the convenience of being near the warehoufes and (hipping. Front-fired, which is parallel with the river, is near three miles long, out of which open upwards of two hundred quays, forming fo many views terminated by veflels of different fizes.* I could eafily Y 3 form * The author has by no means given an adequate ideax>f Philadelphia, which, however, has fo often been defcribed as to render it lefs neceffary; but as he names only one ftreet extending along the river, it may be proper toobferve, that parallel with Front-ftreet, are fecond, third, fourth, fifth and fixth ftrects; thefe are interfered at right angles by Arch ftreet, State ftreet, Market ftreet, See. &c. the latter, which is of a great breadth, and length, and cuts the centre 6 form an idea of the commerce of Philadelphia, from feeing above three hundred veffels in the harbour, though the Englifh had not left a Angle bark in it in 1778. Two years tranquillity, and, above all, the diverfion made by our fquadron at Rhode Ifland, have fufficed to collect this great number of the city, would be one of the fineft ftreets in the world, were it not for the market fituat-r ed in the middle of it; but the upper part is occupied by the houfes of opulent citizens, and will in time become truly noble. It may be added, that fo far from the buildings following the river, they are extended rapidjy towards the common, where many new ftreets were marked out and begun in 1782; and it may fafely be predicted, that if the trade of Philadelphia continue to ilourilh, the plan of William Penn will be accom-r piifhed, judging from the very rapid progrefs of the paft, at no very diftant period, and the ground be covered with, perhaps, the nobleft of modern cities, extending from the Delaware to the Schuylkill, This will be accelerated too, by the fale of the common, which was taken by th.e AlTembly from the proprietor, Mr John Penn, at the beginning of the revolution; with the reft of the proprietary eftate, in conliueration of a certain fum, and dif* pofed qf in lots to the beft bidders. Translator, number of veffels, the fuccefs of which in privateering, as well as in trade, have filled the warehoufes with goods, infomuch that purchafers alone are wanting. The wifdom of the legiflative council, however, has not correfponded with the advantages lavifhed by Nature. Penfylvania is very far from being the belt governed of the United States. Expofed, more than others, to the convullions of credit, and to the manoeuvres of fpeculation, the inffability of the public wealth has operated on the legiflation itfelf. An attempt was made to fix the value of the paper currency, but commodities augmented in price, in proportion as money loft its value; arefolution was then taken to fix the price alfo of commodities which almoft produced a famine. A more recent error of the government, was the law prohibiting the exportation of corn. The object they had in view, was on one hand to fupply the American army at a cheaper rate, and on the other, to put a ftop to the contraband trade between Philadelphia and New York; the ruin of the farmers and the ftate was the refult, y 4 which which could no longer obtain payment of the taxes. This law is juft repealed, fa that I hope agriculture will refume its vigour, and commerce receive an increafe. Corn fent to the army will be fomething dearer, but there will be more money to, pay for it; and mould there be fome fmug-gling with New York, Englifh money will circulate amongft their enemies.* It * The votes of the Houfe of Commons, and the. account of Memeurs Drummond and Harley, will Ihew the immenfc fums, in Portugal and Spanifh, gold alone, fent to America; thefe, as well as Engliih guineas, found their way, towards the middle period of the war, in great abundance into the American part of the continent, wrhere they circulated in a variety of mutilated forms, the moidores, and iix-and-thirties, had all of them holes punched in them, or were otherwife diminilhed at New York, before they were fufFered to pafs the lines ; from ■whence they obtained the name of Robert/on s, in, the rebel country ; but the profits, if any, of that commander, on this new edition of the coin, remain a fecret.—In the country, almoft all the fpecie of every denomination was cut by individuals, and appeared under the forms of half, quarter, and eighth parts, the latter of which received the name of Jharp 'joins; by this arbitrary divifion of the money, which was never weighed, great frauds were inevitable. Translator,. It were greatly to be wilhed that paper might at length obtain an ettaqliihed credit, rio matter what value; for it ugnifies little whether the price of a fheep be reprefented by one hundred and fifty paper dollars, or two dollars in fpecie. This depreciation of the paper is not felt in thofe places where it remains the fame5 but Philadelphia is, fo to fpeak, the great fink, wherein all the fpeculations of America terminate, and are confounded together. Since the capture of Charles Town, many of the inhabitants of Carolina haflily fold their eftates and crops, and having only been paid in paper, they brought this article with them to Philadelphia already o.verflocked with it.* The Quakers * The wonderful refources derived in the commencement from this paper money, its extraordinary depreciation, and total disappearance without producing any great fhock, or convullion in an infant country, ftruggling with a complication of difficulties, will certainly form an epocha in, the gen . hiftory of finances, as well as in that of this gr . revolution. I favy hundreds of millions of paper d<-lars piled up, effaced, in the office of Congrefs . Philadelphia, which, never poffeffing any real had ferved all the purpofes of a difficult, an monly expenfive war, and were now quietl) Quakers and Tories, on the other hand, with which this province abounds, two claries afide, with fcarce a murmur on the part of the public; the variety of the depreciation, at different periods, and in different parts of the Continent, whilft it gave rife to great temporary abufes, had been fo divided, and balanced, by alternate profit and lofs amongft all claffes of citizens, that on calling up the account, fome very unfortunate cafes excepted, it feems to have operated only as a general tax on the public ; and the univerfal joy on its annihilation, with the fatisfaftory reflection on the necef-iity under which it was ifTued in the critical moment of danger, feemed to conciliate all minds, to a total oblivion of its partial mifchief. Here and there great fortunes are to be feen, reared upon its now vifio-nary balls, and families reduced from opulence to mediocrity by means of this deftruftive medium, but thefe inftances are by no means fo frequent as they have been reprefented in Europe, and were often the refult of ill judged, but avaricious fpecu-lations ; but I repeat it, that the continued ufe, the general circulation, the aftonifhing depreciation, and total deftruction of fuch an immenfe imaginary property, will always exhibit a phcenomenon infinitely more ft.rik.ing, than that a few, or even a great number of individuals fhould have fufFered, as muft always be the cafe in every civil commotion. The fact, is unparalleled, and will probably ftand fingle in the annals of the world. Translator, clalfes of men equally dangerous, one from their timidity, and the other from their bad intentions, are incerfantly labouring to fecure their fortune; they lavifh the paper for a little gold or fdver, to enable them to remove wherever they may think themfelves in fafetyj from thefe reafons, the paper money is more and more decried, not only becaufe it is too common, but becaufe gold and filver are extremely fcarce, and difficult to be obtained. In the midff, of thefe convulfions the government is without force, nor can it be otherwife. A popular government can never have any, whilft the people are un-fleady, and fluctuating in their opinions; for then the leaders rather feek to pleafe, than ferve them; obliged to gain their confidence before they merit it, they are more inclined to flatter, than inlfrucf them, and fearing to lofe the favour they have acquired, they finifh by becoming the flaves of the multitude whom they pretended to govern. Mr. Franklin has been blamed for giving too democratical a government to his country, but they who cenfure him do not reflect, that the firit itep was to make her renounce monarchical government, and that it was neceffary to employ a fort of feduction in order to conduct a timid and avaricious people to independence, who were befides fo divided in their opinions, that the republican party was fcarcely ltronr ger than the other. Under thefe circum-fiances he acted like Solon; hp has not given the betf poffible laws to Penfylvania, but the beft of which the country was fuf-ceptible. Time will produce perfection : jn pleading to recover an eitate, the firfl: pbject is to obtain poffeffion, the reft follows, of courfe.* Philadelphia * The author might have added in corroboration pf his argument, that the conftitution of Penfylvania is, for this reafon, only a conflitution of experiment, from feven years to feven years, in which jt is expreflly referved to a Council of Cenfors, to re-vife the pall operations of government, to judge of the efFecTis produced from it as then conftituted, and to call a general convention of the people, -lor the pur-pofe of amending the deficient parts, and of correcting its exuberancies and vices. It is a glorious experiment, worthy the philanthropic heart, and the enlightened underftanding of Doctor Franklin. -—-^uodfelixyfaufumque fit I TranslatqRo ftORTH-AM ERICA. Philadelphia contains about forty thoufand inhabitants. The ftreets are large and regular, and interfedf each other at right angles. There are footways here, as in London, for the paffengers. This city has every ufeful eftablilhment, fuch as hofpitals, workhoufes, honfes of correction, &c. but it is fo deficient in an ehential article of comfort and enjoyment, that there h not a fingle public walk.* The reafon of this is, that hitherto every thing concerning the police, and particular government of the city has been in the hands of the * The city of Philadelphia is not only at prefent deftitute of public walks, but, in fummer, the heat renders walking in the ftreets intolerably inconvenient; the houfes and footpaths being generally of brick, are not even cooled until fome hours after fun-fet. This extreme heat, and the abundance of excellent water, with which Philadelphia is fupplied, ©ccafion many accidents among the lower clafs of people, for it is no uncommon thing to fee a labourer after quenching his thirft at a pump, drop down dead upon the fpot, nor can the numerous examples of this kind evety fummer, prevent them from frequently occurring; but it is to be obferved, that if the heat be intenfe, the water is uncommonly cold. Translator. the Quakers, and thefe fectaries confldef every fpecies of private or public amufe-ment as a tranfgreffion of their law, and as a pomp of Satan. Fortunately, the little zeal, (to fay no more) they have difplayed on the prefent crifis, has made them lofe their credit. This revolution comes very opportunely, at a time when the public has derived every benefit from them they could expect; the walls of the tioufe are finimed, it is time to call in the carpenters and upholfterers. It is time alfo for me to return to Prince Town, to continue my journey to Albany, by*New Windfor, General Wafhington's head quarters. I intended fetting out early on the 17th; it was necerfary, in fact, to be alert, that I might reach Morris Town, but my baggage horfe not being able to pafs the Delaware, at the fame time with myfelf, I left one of my people to wait for, and conduct him. It fo happened that neither the fervant I was waiting for, nor the other arrived. One of the fervants was an Irifhman, the other a German, both newly entered into my fervice. As foon foon as I faw the morning of the 17th approach, without their making their appearance, the neighbourhood of New York began to give me fome uneafinefs. I was apprehenfive they might have taken that road with my little baggage, and I was already making difpoiitions to purfue them, When, to my great fatisfacf ion, I faw the head of my baggage column appear, that is, one of the three horfes which were left behind, the remainder following foon after.* To * After Sir Guy Carleton's arrival at New-York with the vote of Parliament to difcontinue ofFenlivc war, the Tranflator, who was travelling to the northward, and meant to call on General Walhington then in camp at Verplanks Point, on the North River, thought he might with fafety take the lower road by Brunfwick and Elizabeth-Town, but he had not been an hour in bed, before he and his companion, a furgeon in the American army, were alarmed by a fcattering fire of mufquetry. Before they had time to drefs themfelves, and take their piftols, the landlord entered their apartment, and informed them, that a party from Staten Ifland was marching towards the town, and advifed them to make their efcape ; with much difficulty they got their horfes out of the liable, hid their baggage in the church-yard, and hearing the Engliih officer To pafs the time, however, I entered into converfation with my landlord, Colonel Howard, order bis men to form at the end of the town, they took different roads, leaving their fervants, who were, one a Scotch priloner to the Americans, the other an Englifh deferter, and whofe conduct appeared very fufpicious, to take care of themfelves, and the horfes they rode on. The Translator, who followed the great road to Newark, was mounted on a white horfe, which made him a good object, and had feveral lhot fired at him, but the ground riling, and his horfe going at full gallop, the balls luckily fell ihort. After endeavouring toroufe the country, but without being able to colled a fufficient force, he took lhelter at* an honeft carpenter's, about a mile from the town, where he remained 'till a little before daybreak, when concluding from the general filcncej that the party had retired, he returned, and went to fearch for his baggage in the church-yard, for which however he fought in vain, and his anxiety was not a little increafed on not finding his other horfe in the liable, nor feeing either of the fervants. But from ■which he was foon relieved by his friend, who had watched the firft moment of the enemy's departure, ordered the baggage up into his room, and alfured him that the fervants had conducted themfelves with the greateft fidelity. His alarm was, it feems, much greater than that of the Tranflator, as General Walhington had declared publicly in orders, that any officer, of his airny, taken near the lines, unlcfs Howard, who is a very good man, and with his fon the Captain, a great talker, and a genuine Capitan. He recounted to me with many geftures, oaths and imprecations, all his feats of prowefs in the war ; efpecially at the affair of Prince-Town, where he ferved as a lieutenant of militia in his father's regiment; and indeed the action he boaif ed of would have merited an eulogium, had he related it with fimplicity. We may recollect that after beating the Englifh, Ge-' neral VValhington continued his route toon duty, fhould be the laflt exchanged. The Translator imagines the party to have been Refugees from Staten Ifland, who, from their feparate inflitution, under the direction of a Board, not unfrequently fet at defiance the orders of the Commander in Chief; a remarkable inftance of wjiich occurred in the cafe of Captain Huddy, whom they obtained, under falfe pretences, from the guard-houfe, where he was a prisoner, and murdered without either fcruple or ap-prehenfion. All Europe knows the confequence, in the eminent danger of Captain A/gill; and all America faw with lhame and indignation the Engliih General unable to enforce discipline in his own army, and fhrinking under the apprehenfions of irritating Governor Franklin, and his envenomed board of Ij°yalifts- Translator. Vol. I. Z wards wards Middlebrook. An American officer, who had his leg broke by a mufquet ball, was dragged into a houfe, where the Englifh fooner or later muft have found him :, young Howard, and fome foldiers as well difpofed as himfelf, fet out at night from Middlebrook, took a circuitous road, arrived at the houfe, found the officer, took him on their fhoulders and carried him to their quarters. During the remainder of the winter, the Jerfey militia were conftant-ly under arms to reltrain the Engliih, who occupied Elizabeth-Town and Brunfvick. It was a fort of continual chace, to which Lieutenant Howard one day led his little brother, a boy of fifteen, and who was lucky enough to begin his career by killing a Hefiian grenadier; as thefe ftories were very tedious, I 'fhall drop them here, for fear of not improving on the narration: I muff mention however the manner in which my Capitan entered into the fervice, as it will ferve to difcover the fpirit which reigned in America at the beginning of the prefent revolution. He was apprentice to a hatter at the time of the affair of Lexing-I ton4 Con, and the blockade of Bolton ; three of his companions and himfelf fet out one morning from Philadelphia with four dollars amongft them in their pockets : they travelled four hundred miles on foot to join the army, in which they ferved as volunteers the remainder of the campaign ; from thence they fet out with Arnold on his expedition to Canada, and did not return home till the theatre of war was removed into their own country. Eleven o'clock had ftruck before I could rally the horfes in my train, and begin my march; I abandoned therefore the plan of ileeping at Morris-Town, and determined to ifop at Bajkenridge, eight miles nearer Prince-Town. I firft left the Millftone on the right, then crofted it twice before I reached the Rariton, which I paffed at the fame place; as in my journey to Philadelphia. Three miles from thence 1 was told to take a road to the right, which leads into the woods, and over the fummit of the hills; this route was opened for the army, during the winter quarters of 1778,-9; it aPPcars to have been made with care, and is Z z ffl\ ftill paffable; but after fome time, daylight failing me, I loft myfelf, and went a mile or two out of my way. Luckily for me, I found a hut inhabited by fome new fettlers; there I got a guide who conducted me to Bafken ridge, where I arrived at feven o'clock, and alighted at Bullions Tavern, got tolerable lodgings, with the heft people in the world. Our fupper was very good : bread only was .wanting ; but, enquiring of us what fort we liked, in an hour's time we had fuch as we defired. This will appear lefs extraordinary, on being told that in America, little cakes, which are eafily kneaded and baked in half an hour, are often fubftituted for bread. Poftibly one would foon tire of them, but they fuited my tafte extremely well. Mr. Bullion had two white fervants, one a man about fifty, the other a woman, younger, with a tolerable good face: I had the curiofity to enquire what wages he gave them, and was told that the man earned half a crown a day and the woman fix fhillings a week, or ten pence a day. If we pay attention to the cir-cumftance, that thefe fervants are lodged and fed, fed, and have no expences, we may fee that it is eafy for them very fhortly to acquire a piece of ground, and to form fuch a fettle-ment as I have defcribed. The 18th I fet out at eight in the morning, and made only one ffage to Pompton ; which is fix-and-thirty miles, without baiting my horfes or ffopping, except for a quarter of an hour to pay a vifit to-General Wayne, whofe quarters were on the main road. He was potted to cover the Jerfeys, and had under his orders the fame Penfylvania line which revolted a fortnight after. I again faw with pleafure the environs of Morris-Town, which are agreeable and well cultivated ; but after pafling the Rockaway9 and approaching Pompton, I was aftonifh-ed at the degree of perfection to which agriculture is carried, and particularly admired the farms of Meffieurs Mandeville. They are the fons of a Dutchman, who firft cleared the ground from which they now reap fuch rich harvefts. Their domains join each other. In each of them the manor is very fimple and fmall, the barns alone are lofty and fpacious. Always faithful to their Z 2 national national ceconomy, they cultivate, reap, and fell, without augmenting either their houfes or their enjoyments 5 content with living in a corner of their farm, and with being only the fpectators of their owr wealth. By the fide of thefe old farms we fee new fet-tlements forming, and have more and more reafon to be convinced, that if the war has retarded, the progrefs of agriculture and po- • pulation, it has not entirely fufpended them. The night, which furprifed me on my journey, deprived me of the beautiful profpecf this country would have continued to afford. Being very dark, it was not without difficulty I paffed two or three rivulets, on very fmall bridges, and got to Court-heath's Tavern. This Inn is lately eftablifh-ed, and kept by young people without fortune, confequently the belt parts of the furniture are the owner and his family. Mr. Courtheathis a young man of four-and-twen-ty, who was formerly a travelling dealer in fluffs, toys, &c. The depreciation of paper money, or perhaps his own imprudence, fo far ruined him as to oblige him to leave his houfe at Morris-Town, and fet up a tavern Vern in this out of the way place, where nothing but the neighbourhood of the army can procure him a few cuftomers. He has two handfome lifters, well dreffedgirls, who wait on travellers with grace and coquettry. Their brother fays, he will marry them to fome fat clumfy Dutchmen, and that as for himfelf, as foon as he has got a little money, he fhall refume his commerce, and travel about as formerly. On entering the parlour, where thefe young women lit, when there are no ftrangers, I found on a great* table, Milton, Addifon, Richard/on, and feveral other works of that kind. The cellar was not fo well ftored as the library, for there was neither wine, cyder, nor rum; nothing in ihort but fome vile cyder-brandy, with which I muft make grog. The bill they prefented me the next morning amounted neverthelefs to fixteen dollars. * I ob- ferved * Travelling in America was wonderfully expensive during the war, even after the abolition of paper money, and when all payments were made in fpec'ie ; you could not remain at an inn, even the moll indifferent, one night, with a fervant and two horfes, kving in the moft moderate way, under from five to ferved to Mr. Courtheath, that if he made one pay for being waited on by his pretty fillers, it was by much too little; but if only for lodgings and fupper, it was a great deaf. He feemed a little afhamed at having charged eight dollars. At Grants Tavern at Baltimore, where the Translator ftaid fome days, with only one horfe and no fervant, though he either dined or fupped out every day, he never efcaped for lefs than. Jive dollars.—I cannot here avoid relating the plea-fant manner in which one Bell, 3. fhrewd Scotch bookfeller and auctioneer of Philadelphia, paid his bills in travelling through the country. I had given him an Irifh copy of Sheridan's School for Scandal, with the prologue and epilogue taken from Dodfley's annual Regifter, which he reprinted, and fold for a dollar. In travelling through Virginia fome months after, I was furprifed to fee in many of the inns, even in the moft remote parts of the country, this celebrated comedy ; and, upon enquiry, found that Mr. Bell, who travelled with his family in a covered cart, had pafied in his way to the Springs, (the Harrogate, or Matlock of America) and fuccefsfully circulated in payment this new fpecies of paper currency ; for, as he obferved, "Who would not prefer Sheridan's Sterling, to the counterfeit creations of Congrefs, or even of Robert Morris ?" Nor was any depreciation attempted, where the intrinfic value was fo unequivocally flamped with the character of wit and freedom. Translator. charged too high, and offered to make a pretty confiderable abatement, which I re-fufed, content with having fhewn him, that though a foreigner, I was no ftranger to the price of articles, and fatisfied with the ex-cufe he made me, that being himfelf a ilranger and without property in the country, he was obliged to purchafe every thing. I learnt, on this occafion, that he hired the inn he kept, as well as a large barn which ferved for a ftable, and a garden of two or three acres, for eighty-four bufhels of corn a year : in fact, the depreciation of paper has compelled people to this manner of making bargains, which is perhaps the belt of all, but is unquestionably an effectual remedy to the prefent diforder. At eight o'clock I took leave of my landlord and young landladies, to penetrate thro' the woods by a road with which nobody was very well acquainted. The country I was to pafs through, called the Clove, is extremely wild, and was fcarcely known before the war : it is a fort of valley, or gorge, fituated to the weftward of the high mountains between New Windfor and King's Ferry, Ferry* and at the foot of which are Weft-Point and Stoney-Point, and the principal forts which defend the river. In times when the river is not navigable, on account of ice, or contrary winds, it is neceffary to have communication by land between the States of New-York and the Jerfeys, between New Windfor and Morris-Town. This communication traverfing the Clove, when General Green was Quarter Mafter General, he opened a road for the convoys of provifions and the artillery. This was the road I took, leaving on my right the Romopog road, and afcending by that which comes from Ringwood. Ringwood is only a hamlet of feven or eight houfes, formed by Mrs. Erjkines manor' and the forges, which are profitable to her. I had been told that I fhould find there all forts of conveniencies, whether in point of lodgings, if I chofe to flop, or i:i procuring every information I might fland in need of. As it was early in the day, and I had travelled but twelve miles, 1 alighted at Mrs. Erf-kine's, only to defire her to point out to me fome inn where I might fleep, or to recommend mend me to fome hofpitable quarters. I entered a very handfome houfe where every body was in mourning, Mr. Erfkine being dead two months before. Mrs. Erfkine, his widow, is about forty, and did not appear the lefs frefh or tranquil for her mif. fortune. She had with her one of her nephews, and Mr. John Fell a member of Congrefs. They gave me all the neceffary information, and after drinking a glafs of Madeira, according to the cuftom of the country, which will not allow you to leave a houfe without tafting fomething, I got on horfeback, and penetrated afrefh into the woods, mounting and defcending very high mountains, until f found myfelf on the borders of a lake, fo folitary and concealed, that it is only vifible through the trees with which it is furrounded. The declivities which form its banks are fo rfeep, that if a deer made afalfe ftep on the top of the mountain, he would infallibly roll into the lake, without being able to rife up. This lake, which is not marked upon the charts, and is called Duck Sider, is about three miles long and two wide. I was now in the wilder!: wildeft and moft defert country I had yet pafted through ; my imagination was already enjoying this folitude, and my eyes were fearching through the woods for fome extraordinary animals, fuch as elks or caribous (fuppofed to be the fame as the rein deer) when I perceived, in an open fpot, a quadruped which feemed very large. I ftarted with joy, and was advancing flowly, but on a nearer obfervation of the monfter of the defert, to my great regret I difcovered it to be a horfe peaceably browfing the grafs; and the opening, no other than a field belonging to a new fettlement. On advancing a few fteps farther, I met two children of eight or ten years old, returning quietly from fchool, carrying under their arms a little bafket, and a large book. Thus was I obliged to lay afide all the ideas of a poet or a fportfman, to admire this new country, where one cannot travel four miles without finding a dwelling, nor find one which is not within reach of every poflible fuccour, as well in the natural as in the moral order. Thefe reflections, and the fine weather we had all the afternoon, made the end of my day's day's journey very agreeable. At the beginning of the night, i arrived at the houfe of Mr. Smith, who formerly kept an inn, though at prefent he lodges only his friends; but as i had not the honour to be of that number, i was obliged to go a little further, to Hern's Tavern, a very indifferent houfe, where i fupped and flept. 1 left it the 19th, as early as poffiblej having if ill twelve miles to New-Windfor, and intending to flay only one night, i was anxious to pafs at leaff the greateff part of the day with General Wafhington. i met him two miles from New-Windfor; he was in his carriage with Mrs. Wafhington, going on a vifit to Mrs. Knox? whofe quarters were a mile farther on, near the artillery barracks. They wifh-ed to return with me, but i begged them to continue their way. The General gave me one of his Aide de Camp's, (Colonel Humphreys) * to conduct me to his * He is at prefent Secretary of the EmbafTy to the court of France. This brave and excellent foldier is at the fame time a poet of great talents: he is the author of a poem addrelTed to the American army, a work recently known in England, where, in fpight his houfe, affured me that he fhould not ba long in joining me, and he returned accords ingly in half an hour. I faw him again with the fame pleafure, but with a different fentiment from what he had infpired me with at our firfl interview. I felt that internal fatisfaction, in which felf-love has fome fhare, but which we always experience in finding ourfelves in an intimacy already formed, in real fociety with a man we have long admired without being able to approach him. It then feems as if this great man more peculiarly belongs to us than to the refl of mankind ; heretofore we defired to of the national jealoufy, and the affectation of depreciating every thing American, it has had fuch fuc-cefs, as to have been feveral times publicly read in the manner of the antients.-[The Marquis de Chaflellux may be alTured that it is not by that part of the Englifh nation who are "jealous of America, and who affect to depreciate every thing American," that the poem of Colonel Humphreys is admired, it js by that numerous and enlightened clafs of free fpirits, who have always fupported, and wifhed prof, perity to the glorious flruggle of America, who rejoiced at her fuccefs, and who look forward witl\ ftope and pleafure to her riling greatnefs. Translator. J to fee him ; henceforth, fo to fpeak, we exhibit him; we knew him, we are better acquainted with him than others, have the fame advantage over them, that a man having read a book through, has in converfation over him who is only at the beginning. The General infilled on my lodging with him, though his houfe was much lefs than that he had at Praknefs. Several officers, whom I had not feen at the army, came to dine with us. The principal of whom were Colonel Ma/comb, a native of Scotland, but fettled in America, where he has ferved with diftinelion in the continental army$ he has fince retired to his effate, and is now only a militia Colonel; Colonel Smith an f The author having fince been very intimate with Colonel Smith, can take upon himfelf to aiTerr, that this young man is not only a very good foldier, but an excellent fcholar. The manner of his entering into the fervice merits relation : he was de-figned for the profemon of the law, and was fmifhing; his ftudies at New-York, when the American army alfembled there after the unfortunate affair of Long-. Ifland. He immediately refolved to take arms in defence of his country, but his parents difapproving °f this Itep, he enlifted as a common fold;cr, without making himfelf known, or pretending to any an officer, highly fpoken of, and who commanded a battalion of light infantry under M. de la Fayette; Colonel Humphreys, the General's Aide de Camp, and feveral others whofe names I have forgot, but who had all the befl ton, and the eafieit deportment. The dinner was excellent -p tea fucceeded dinner, and converfation fucceeded tea, and lafted till fupper. The war was frequently the fubject: On afking the General which of our profeflional books he read with the moft pleafure; he told me, the King of Pruffia's Inductions fuperior rank. Being one day on duty at the door of a General Officer, he was difcovered by a friend of his family, who fpoke of him to that Geneial Officer. He was immediately invited to dinner ; but he anfwercd that he could not quit his duty; his corporal was fent for to relieve him, and he returned to his poll after dinner. A few days only elapfed before that General Officer, charmed with his zeal, made him his Aide de Camp. In 1780, he commanded a battalion of light infantry, and the year following was made aide de camp to General Walhington, with whom he remained until the peace.--[He is now Secretary to the EmbalTy to the court of Great Britain, and has lately married the daughter of his Excellency John Adams, Miniiter Plenipotentiary to that court. Translator.] Instructions to his Generals, and the Tactics of M. de Guibert; from whence I concluded that he knew as well how to felect his authors as to profit by them. I fhould have been very happy to accept of his preffing invitation to pafs a few days with him, had I not made a folemn pro-mife, at Philadelphia, to the Vicomte de Noailles, and his travelling companions, to arrive four-and-twenty hours after them if they Hopped there, or at Albany if they went rfraight on. We were defirous of feeing Stillwater and Saratoga, and it would have been no eafy matter for us to have acquired a juft knowledge of that country had we not been together, becaufe we reckoned upon General Schuyler, who could not be expected to make two journies to gratify our curiofity. I was thus far faithful to my engagement, for I arrived at New Windfor the fame day that they left Crefs Point I hoped to overtake them at Albany, and General Wafhington finding he could not retain me, was pleafed himfelf to conduct me in his barge to the other fide of the river. We got on more at Fl/h Vol. I. A a Kill 354 . TRAVELS IN Kill Landing Place, to gain the eaftern roacf, preferred by travellers to the weftern. I now quitted the General, but he infifted that Colonel Smith fhould accompany me as far as Poughkenjie. The road to this town paffes pretty near Fifh Kill, which we leave on the right, from thence we travel on the heights, were there is a beautiful and extenfive profpect, and traverfing a townfhip, called Middlebrook, arrive at the creek, and at Wapping Fail. There I halted a few minutes to confider, under different points of view, the charming landfcape formed by this river, as well from its cafcade, which is roaring and pic-turefque, as from the groups of trees and rocks, which, combined with a number of faw mills and furnaces, compofe the moft capricious and romantic profpecf. . ' It was only half paft three when I got to Poughkenfie, where I intended fleeping. but finding that the JeJJions were then holding, and that all the taverns were full, I took advantage of the little remaining day to reach a tavern I was told of at three .miles diftance. Colonel Smith who had bufinefs bufmefs at Poughkenfie remained there, and I was very happy to find myfelf in the evening with nobody but my two Aides de Camp. It was, in fact, a new enjoyment for us to be left to ourfelves, and at perfect liberty to give mutual accounts of the im-preffion left on our minds by fo many different objects. I only regretted not having feen Governor Clinton, for whom 1 had letters of recommendation. He is a man who governs with the utmofl vigour and htmnefs, and is inexorable to the tories, whom he makes tremble, though they are very numerous: he has had the addrefs to maintain in its duty this province, one extremity of which borders on Canada, the other on the city of New York. He was then at Poughkenfie, but taken up with the bufinefs of the feffions: befides, Saratoga, and Burgoyne's different fields of battle, being henceforth the fole object of my journey, I was wifhing to get forward for fear of being hindered by the fnow, and of the roads becoming impaffable. On my arrival at Prides Tavern, I afked a number of queftions of my landlord, refpecting A a 2 the the appearance he thought there was of ft continuance, or a change of weather, and perceiving that he was a good farmer, I interrogated him on the fubject of agriculture, and drew the following details from him. The land is very fertile in Duchefs County, of which Poughkenfie is the capital, as well as in the State of New-York, but it is commonly left fallow one year out of two or three, lefs from neceftity than from there being more land than they can cultivate. A bufhel of wheat at moft J3 fown upon an acre, which renders twenty, and hve-and-twenty for one. Some farmers fow oats on the land that has borne wheat the preceding year, but this grain ir> general is referved for lands newly turned up :* flax is alfo a confiderable object of cultivation: the land is ploughed with horfes, * Flax has become a very great and' profitable article of cultivation in theMiddle and Eaftern States, the principal cultivators are fettlers from the north of Ireland, who know the value of it in their own-country. In Maffachuffets, there is a very confiderable and flourilhing fettlement, called Londonderry, peopled entirely by emigrants from that city, where they apply themfelves particularly to the growth of a,v Translator. horfes, two or three to a plough; fometimes even a greater number when on new land, or that which has' long lain fallow. Mr. Pride, while he was giving me thefe details, always flattered me with the hopes of fine weather the next day. i went to reft, highly fatisfied with him and his prognostics; in the morning, however, when i awakened, i faw the ground already entirely white, and fnow, which continued to fall in abundance, mixed with hail and ice. There was nothing to be done under fuch circumftances, but to continue my journey, as if it was fine weather, only taking a little better breakfaft than i fhould otherwife have done. But i regretted moft that the fnow, or rather fmall hail that drove againft my eyes, prevented me from feeing the country; which, as far as I could judge, is beautiful and well cultivated. After travelling about ten miles, I traverfed the townfhip of Strasbourg, called by the inhabitants of the country Strattjborough. This townfhip is five or fix miles long, yet the houfes are not far from each other. As 1 was remarking one which was rather handfome, the A a 3 owner owner came to the door, doubtlefs from curiofity, and alked me, in French, if I would alight, and ftep in and dine with him. Nothing can be more feducing in bad weather than fuch a propofal; but on the other hand, nothing is more cruel, when one has once got under fhelter, than to quit the fire fide, a fecond time, to ex-pofe onefelf to frofl and fnow. I refufed therefore the dinner offered me by this gallant man, but not the queffions he put to me. I afked him, in my turn, whether he had not feen fome French officers pafs, meaning the Vicomte de Noailles, the Comte de Damos, and the Chevalier de Mauduit, who, as they had three or four fervants, and fix or feven horfes, might have been remarked on the road. My Dutchman, for I have fince learnt that his name is Le Roy,* a Dutch merchant, * The Translator had the pleafure of being well acquainted with one of the fons of Mr. Le Roy, a moft amiable young man, whom he knew at Amsterdam, when refiding with his aunt Madame Chabanely the widow of a rich merchant, who did a great deal of bufinefs with America previous to the N O'R TH- AMERICA. 359 merchant, born in Europe, and acquainted with France, where he lived fome time; my Dutchman, replied like a man who knew France, and who fpeaks French; Sir, it is very true that the Prince de Conti pajfed by here yefterday evening, with two officers, in their way to Albany. I could not difcover whether it was to the Vicomte de Noailles, or the Comte de Damos, that I ought to do homage for his principality; but as they are both my relations, I anfwered with itricf truth, that my coulin having gone on before, 1 was very glad to know at what hour they palled, and when I fhould be able to join them ; fo that \£ Mr. Le Roy, as no doubt he did, confulted his almanack, he will have fet me down for the Duke of Orleans, or the Duke of Chartres; which was the more probable as I had nine horfes with me, whilft the Prince de Conti, being farther war. He faw him afterwards at Philadelphia and Bolton, and has only to regret, that his affairs rendered it impoflible to accept of a kind invitation to pay him a vifit at Strattlborough. Mrs. Chabanel's houfe, at Amflerdam, was open to all the Americans in Holland during the war, Translator. farther removed from the crown, had only feven. You fcarcely get out of Strafbourgh, before you enter the townfhip of Rhynbeck. It is unneccffary to obferve, that all thefe names difcover a German origin. At Rhynbeck, nobody came out to afk. me to dinner. But this fnow mixed with hail was fo cold, and I was fo fatigued with keeping my horfe from flipping, that I fhould have flopped here even without being invited by the handfome appearance of the inn called Thomas's Inn. It was no more, however, than half pafl two; hut as I had already come three-and-twenty miles, the houfe was good, the fire well lighted, my hoff a tall good looking man, a fportfman, a horfe dealer, and difpofed to chat, I determined according, to the Englifh phrafe, to fpend the refl of my day there. The following is all I got interefling from Mr. Thomas. In time of peace, he carried on a great trade of horfes, which he purchafed in Canada, and fent to New York, there to be fhipped for the Wefl-Indies. It is incredible with what facility this trade is carried on in winter 5 winter; he affured me that he once went to Montreal, and brought back with him, in a fortnight feventy-five horfes which he bought there. This is effected by travelling in a right line, traverfing Lake George upon ice and the fnow, the defert between that Lake and Montreal. The Canadian horfes eafily travel eighteen or twenty hours a day, and three or four men, mounted, are fuffi-cient to drive one hundred before them. *t It was I, added Mr. Thomas, who made, *f or rather who repaired the fortune of und him in his faloon with Air. and Mrs* Hamilton. A converfation foon took place between the General, the Vicomte de Noaillcs and me. We had already talked, when we were laft with him, of fome important faults relative to the nothern campaigns, of which we had alked fome explanations* Mr. Schuyler appeared no lefs defirous of giving them. He is pretty communicative, and is well entitled to be fo; his converfation is eafy and agreeable; he knows well what he fays, and expreffes himfelf well on every thing he knows. To give the belt, anfwer to our quelfionSj he propofed to u£ to read his political and military Correfpondence with General Wafhington, which we accepted with great pleafure, and leaving the reft of the company with Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, we retired into another room. room. The General opening his pocket-book, the Vicomte and I divided the different manufcripts, containing upwards of fixty pages of clofe writing on paper a la Tsttere, The firft difpatch I read was a letter written by him to General Wafhington, in November ijjj: it contained a plan of attack on Canada, which originated in the following circumftance: Two Englifh officers after being made prifoners with Burgoyne's army, obtained permiffion to return to Canada on their parole, and on the road flopped at General Schuyler's at Saratoga. The converfation, as we may eafily fuppofe, foon turned on the great event, the imprefTion of which was fo recentr One of thefe officers being attached to General Burgoyne, criminated Governor Sir Guy Carleton, whom he accufed of having retained too many troops in Canada; the States maintained that he had not even re-ferved fufficient for the defence of the country. From affertions they came to proofs, which proofs could only be an exadl detail of ail ihe forces then remaining in Canada, and their dijlribution. General Schuyler was at-Vol. I. C c tentive, tentive, and took advantage of the difpute. He learns by this means, that Canada was in real danger ; and propofed, in confe-quence, to General Wafhington to retake Ticonderoga, in cafe that poft was not a-bandoned, as it actually has been, and to proceed from thence to Montreal. This plan is extremely well conceived, and exhibits a great knowledge of the country; and what ftruck me as the moft worthy of attention, is the immenfity of the refources to be found in this country for a winter expedition, and the extreme facility with which an army may rapidly advance, by the means of fledges to tranfport the pro-vifions and ftores, and even fick and lame foldiers. It is poflible, in a month's time, to collect, between the Connecticut and Hudfon's River, fifteen hundred fledges, two thoufand horfes and as many oxen ; the latter may be fhod for the ice, like horfes, and ferve to draw the fledges with provifions; and as thefe are confumed, or the oxen fatigued, they may be flain for the food of the army. Nor muft it be imagined that thefe expeditions are fo dreadful for the foldiers diers as we are accuftomed to fuppofe them. With the feet and legs well fortified, and proper cloathing, which it was eafy to procure before the finances and refources of the country were exhaufted, they fupport extremely well the fatigue of long marches; and as they pafs all the night in the woods, they eafily find fhelter, and light great fires, by which they fleep better than under tents ; for it is to be obferved, that if the cold be fevere in this country, it is always a dry cold, againff which it is much more eafy to provide than againff rain and moiff ure. General Schuyler never received any an-fwer to this letter, nor does he know with whom the fault lies. M. de la Fayette however came to Albany in January to prepare and command an expedition fimilar to that he had projected: he fhewed his inductions to General Schuyler, who difco-vered it to be his own plan, of which he fuppofes fome other perfon wifhed to claim the honour, but as no orders had come to him, he had made no preparations, nor were there any made on the fide of Connecticut; fo that M. de la Fayette, how agreeable C c 2 foever foever this expedition might be to him, had fo much good fenfe and attachment to the intereft of America as to admit the difficulties, and divert Congrefs from purfuing it. The winter following, after the evacuation of Philadelphia, and the affair of Monmouth, General Wafhington, always more occupied in putting an end to the misfortunes of his country, than in prolonging the duration of the brilliant part he was acting in America, wrote to Mr. Schuyler, to con-fult him on an expedition to Canada, and on the means of executing it with fuccefs. In anfwer to this letter, he fent a memoir perfectly well conceived, and no lefs well written, in which he propofed three different plans. The firft was to collect his forces near the fources of the Connecticut, at a place called Coos; from thence there is only a trifling carrying place to the rivers which fall into the St. Lawrence, below Lake Saint Pierre, near to Quebec. But this plan would be difficult of execution, from the fcarcity of refources on the Connecticut river, and from the great difficulties ties to be encountered in approaching thofe to be provided on the Hudfon and Mohawk rivers, befides that the attack would thus be carried into the heart of the Englifh forces, and too near the fea, from whence they derive their principal aid. The fecond project was to remount the Mohawk river, then to embark on Lake Oneida, and crofling Lake Ontario, proceed weffward to befiege Niagara; then returning by the fame route, to defcend the river, and attack Montreal by the north. In this plan, General Schuyler forefaw two great incon-veniencies; one, from the long circuit it would be neceffary to make, thus giving the Englifh time to collect their troops at the point of attack ; the other from the im-poflibility there was of deceiving the enemy by threatning them on the fide of Lake Champlain, and Sorel, fince the preparations on the Mohawk and Hudfon's River could not fail-of difclofing the whole fyftem of the campaign. It was by Lake Cham-plain therefore, and in the winter, that General Schuyler propofed marching directly to Montreal; leaving. St. Johns on the Cc3 right, right, and poftponing the attack of that poff 'till fpring, which was not to be fecur-ed, before the lfle of Montreal, and all the. upper country fhould be got poffeffion of: on this plan there would be no difficulty in concealing its real object; as the neceffary preparations might be collected on the rivers Hudfon and Connecticut; the fhifting from one to the other being an eafy mea-fure. Thus the enemy would be alarmed at once for Quebec, St. John's, and Montreal. On this fuppofition, it is probable they would prefer iacrificing Montreal. There an advantageous effablifhment might be formed, and meafures taken to. attack Quebec; but in cafe of their being obliged to abandon it, an eafy retreat would always be fecured by the Beaver hunting Place *, and Lake Champlain. Such was the object of this long difpatch which I read with great attention, and much pleafure, and of which I have attempted to give fome * This is the name given in the Englifh charts to the deferts between Lake Ontario, the River St. Lawrence, and the Lakes George and Champlain, and the River of Soree. fome idea, convinced as I am that this article of my journal will not be unintereft-ing to military men ; others may render it amufing, by furveying the chart, and running over the immenfe country embraced by thefe different projects. The next memoir which fell into my hands was the anfwer of General Wafhington. After teififying the greateft confidence in General Schuyler, he enters into difcuflion with him, and offers his reflexions with a modeffy as amiable, as worthy of ef-timation. He is of opinion that the expedition by Lake Ontario is perhaps too highly rejected without fufficient reafon; that it would be eafy for him to favour the attack of Niagara, by adiverfionhe could make on lake Grie, by marching the Virginia troops on the fide of the Ohio and Fort Pitt: he enquires whether it be poffible to build boats on Hud-fon's river, and tranfpcrt them on carriages to the Mohawk ; his object in this was evidently to obviate one of the principal objections I have mentioned ; that the preparations for this expedition revealed too much the real object. All the other points are 1 treated treated with wifdom and precifion ; which renders the reply of General Schuyler if ill more curious and interefting. It is worthy both of the importance of the fubjecf, and of the great man to whom it is addreffed. Mr. Schuyler perfifts in his opinion; and invariably attached to his project of attack by Lake Champlain, he proves that it may be executed in fummer as well as in winter. Every thing depends, according to him, on poffefflng a naval fuperitority *, which he is * From thefe accounts it appears very evident that General Carleton acted with great prudence in retaining the force he did in Canada, for which he has been blamed by fome, when Burgoyne went on his expedition ; in the cataftrophe of which, 1500 or 2000 men more would probably have made little difference, but the want of which would have totally enfeebled the defence of Canada, and thrown that province into the hands of the United States. The American ideas too, on the fubjedt. of an expedition, into Canada, and which may poffibly be carried into execution at fome future period, merit the attention of the Englifh Government, mote particularly as America, fince fhe is put in polfeffion of the Kenebee and the boundary line, cuts the Sorel river below Lake Champlain, can now carry on her operations at her eafe, and unmolefled on the lakes, and by Arnold's route; but, in fact, Canada mufl, on a is of opinion may be eafily obtained by con-ftrucfing larger veffels than thofe of the Englifh, rupture, follow the fortune of the United States ; that province can only be prevented from falling rapidly before fuch a force as the Eaftcrn States can put in motion, by veryJlrong forts built at the head of the Kenncbee, St. Croix, and Connetlicut rivers, by forts on loth fides of the Sore], where cut by the boundary line, on both lides the St. Lawrence where it joins that river, at the head of the carrying place above Niagara, on the Engliih fide, where a new carrying place muft, if pofTible be formed, and oppo-Jite the fort of Detroit and Michilimazance. All mufl be Jirong, regular works, capable of containing Garrifons with ftores fufficient to flop the progrefs of an enemy's army, 'till relief can arrive from the interior of the country, where 6 or Sooo regular forces muft be kept, befides ftrong garrifons at Quebec, and Montreal, the fortifications of which muft be repaired and ftrengthened. Unlefs England be determined to adopt, and rigoroufly to maintain all thefe neceffary defences, perhaps after all inadequate, it is impofTible that Canada fhould long refill an A-merican expedition. On luch a tenure, and at fuch. an enormous expence, will that province be worth holding ? Mr. Payne, in his admirable letter to the Abbe Raynal, makes the fotlowTn'g judicious observations on this fubject:—" Reflecting Canada, one " or other of thefe two events will take place ; viz. if " Canada fhould become populous, it will revolt; and Englifh, and he is perfuaded that two fifty gun fhips would be fufficient to fecure it. People «« if it do not become fo, it will not be worth the ex-*« pence of holding. But Canada never will become '* populous; Britain may put herfelf to greatexpences «« in fendingfettlers to Canada, but the defcendants of " thofe fettlers will be Americans, as other defcend-*' ants have been before them. They will look, round and fee the neighbouring States fovereign and free, " refpedted abroad, and trading at large with the <« world i and the natural love of liberty, the advan-«« tages of commerce, the blelfmgs of independence, *t and of a happier climate and a richer foil will draw " them fouthward, and the effects will be, that Bri-*' tain will fuflain the expence, and America reap " the advantage, and the fame may be faid of Ha-*.' lifax and the country round it. One would think " that the experience Britain has had of America, *' would entirely licken her of all thoughts of conti-" ncntal colonization ; and any part llie may retain, ** will only become to her a field of jealoufy and " thorns, of debate and contention, for ever ftrug-tl glingfor privileges, and meditating revolt. Shemay ** form new fctilcmcnts, but they will be for us ; they " will become part of the United States of America ; and *' that againff all her contrivances to prevent it, or " without any endeavour of ours to promote it. In •« the firft place fhe cannot draw from them a revenue *' until they are able to pay one, and when they " are fo, they will be above fubjection. Men foon " become attached to the foil they live upon, and NORTH-AMERICA. 39S People are wrong, added he, in dreading the navigation of the Lakes, and in not daring to incorporated with the profperity of the place; and it fignifies but little what opinions they come over with, for time, intereft and new connections will render them obfolete, and the next generation. know nothing of them.-Tofpeak explicitly on the matter, 1 would not, were I an European, have Canada, under the conditions that Britain mull retain it, could it be given to me. It is one of thofe kinds of dominion that is, and ever will be, a conflant charge upon any foreign holder.-There are, I doubt not, thoufands of people in England, who fuppofe that Canada and Nova Scotia are a profit to the nation, whereas they arc directly the contrary, and inflead of producing any revenue, a confiderable part of the revenue of England is annually drawn off to fup- port the expence of holding them."-What it colls England to maintain Canada alone, may be known from the following accurate alftracl, verified by the treafury accounts, of the expences of that Province, from the if of June 1776, to the 24th of October 1782, being fx years andfour months. Military—Ordinaries, £ 688,385 : 18 : %\ Extraordinaries, 4,510,790 .-12:7 Civil Kftablifhmcnt 7 . g and Contingencies, S Total, - - £5,299,519: J9; 6i Which for 6 years 7 r 836,766 : 6 : 3 per ann. and 4 months is, J * _ totruft large fhipson them. On all thefe fub-jects, hefpeaksas an enterprifing well informed man; and capable of executing what he propofes. I mall conclude this detail, by giving the project of a campaign againff the favages, different from that adopted by Congrefs in 1779, the execution of which wasentrutf-ed to General Sullivan. According to this, five hundred men only fhould have marched by Wioming and Tioga, whilft the remainder of the army made its appearance by the head of the Mohawk river, and Lake Meida to take the favages in the rear, and cut off their retreat to Lake Ontario; which appeared to me reafonable, becaufe by this means, the double object was fulfilled of deftroying the favages, and of avoiding It is true that the war extraordinaries muft not be taken into the eftimateof a peace eftablifhment, but will not the independence of the United States render a larger force neceffary than during the former peace, befides the garrifons above mentioned, ore ; and is war fo very improbable in that quarter ? Perhaps the moft fortunate event for Britain will be, to receive the news, fome fpring or other, after the opening of the St. Lawrence, that Canada has been taken in the winter, with little or no bloodfhed. Translator. a long and difficult march for the main body of the army, acrofs the Great Swamp of Wioming. To comprehend this, it muft be recollected that in 1779, the Congrefs, feeing their enemies confined to New-York and Rhode Ifland, thought they might fpare a body of troops of three or four thoufand men againff the five nations, of whofe cruelties they had many proofs. The plan was to carry off or deftroy them, and thus relieve the country lying between the Saf-quabannab and the Delaware* General Sullivan, after taking every fort of precaution to fecure the fubfiffence and health of the foldiers, made a very long and well conducted march, drove the favages before him, and burnt their villages and harvefls. But this was the whole fruit ofhis expedition, for he never had it in his power to cut them off; the corps under General Clinton, which had penetrated by the Mohawk river, being found too weak to act of itfelf, was obliged to join the main body of the army. I did I did not finifh my reading before ten o'clock ; and I continued in converfation wi h General Schuyler, whilft the company was at fupper. It cannot be fuppofed that I was able to reafon upon all the fubjedts he had laid before me. I contented myfelf therefore with remarking that every partial expedition againff Canada, and which did not tend to the total conqueft, or rather the deliverance of that country, would be dangerous and ineffectual ; as it would not be ftrengthened by the concurrence of the inhabitants, they having been already deceived in their expectations in Montgomery's expedition, and dreading the refent-ment of the Englifh, fhould they a fecond time fhew themfelves favourable to the A-mericans. It gave me pleafure to find him of the fame opinion. We then feparated well pleafed with each other, and I returned home to await the decifion of the weather, refpecting the next day's journey. The 27th in the morning, underfland-ing that the rivers were not yet frozen, and the weather being fine but very cold, I wifh-ed to take advantage of it to go to Scbenecla- dy. ay* This is a town fituated 14 miles from Albany, on the Mohawk river. It excites fome curiofity, from being built in the very country of the favages; from its being picketed, that is to fay, furrounded with lofty palifkdes, like their villages, and from their ffill retaining fome habitations there, which form a fort of fuburb, to the eaft of the town. It was rather late when I thought of this ride, and it was noon before I got a fledge; but General Schuyler had allured me that 1 mould be there in two hours, on the fuppofition, doubtlefs, that my fledge would be better provided with horfes. I found the roads very bad, and the horfes ftill worfe; for they would not draw, and if M. de Montefquieu had not himfelf taken the reins, and preffed them forward with more vivacity than their merciful conductor, I believe I fhould have remained in the fnow, with which this country is covered fix months in the year. The country which lies between Albany and Schenectady, is nothing but an immenfe foreff of pine-trees, untouched by the hatchet. They are lofty and rebuff, but thin fown ; and as as nothing grows under their made, a line of cavalry might traverfe this wood without breaking their ranks, or defiling. It was three o'clock, and myfelf half dead with cold when I reached Schenectady. This town ftands at the foot of a fmall declivity, on your coming out of the woods ; it is regularly built, and contains five hundred houfes within the palifades, without reckoning fome dwellings which form a fuburb, and the Indian village adjoining to the fuburb. Two families, and eight inhabitants are reckoned to a houfe. Beyond the town, to the weftward, the country is more open, and the land very fertile; it produces a great deal of corn, of which they carry on a great trade. I alighted at Colonel Glens, the Quarter Mafter General of this diftrict, a lively, active man. He received me in the politeft manner; an excellent fire, and two or three glaffes of toddy, warmed me, fo as to enable me to afk him fome queftions, and to return immediately, for night was coming on, and the Vicomte de Noailles expected me at dinner at five o'clock. Colonel Glen lent me horfes to return to Albany, bany, and was fo good as to conduct me himfelf into the Indian village. As we were preparing to fet out, one of thefe favages entered his houfe : he was a meffen-ger difpatched by their hunters, who came to inform him of a party of one hundred and fifty Seneeas, and feveral tories, making their appearance a few miles from Saratoga, and having even carried off one of their young men. This meffenger lpoke very good French, and very bad Englifh; born of a Canadian, or European father, he had mixed with the favages, amongft whom he had lived twenty years, rather from liber-tinifm than any other motive. The news he brought was not very encouraging for the journey I was about to take, but I gave little credit to it, and I was in the right. The Indian village Mr. Glen conducfed me to, is nothing but an affemblage of mi-ferable huts in the wood, along the road to Albany. He took me into that of a favage du Saut Saint Louis, who had long lived at Montreal, and fpoke good French. Thefe huts are like our barracks in time of war, or thofe run up in vineyards, or orchards, Vol. I. D d to to watch the fruit when it is ripe. All the timber confifls in two up-rights and one crofs pole; it is covered with a matted roof, but this is well lined within by a quantity of bark. The inner fpace is rather below the level of the ground, and the entrance by a little fide-door; in the middle of the hut is the fire-place, from which the fmoke af-cends by an open ing i n the roof. On each ride of the fire, are raifed two branches, which run the length of the hut, and ferve to fleep on; thefe are covered with fkins and bark. Befide the favage who fpoke French, in this hut, there was a fquah, the name given to the Indian women, who had taken him as her fecond, and was bringing up a child by her firft hufband; two old men compofed the remainder of the family, which had a melancholy and poor appearance. The fquah was hideous, as they all are, and her hufband almoft ffupid, fo that the charms of this fociety did not make me forget that the day was advancing, and that it was time to fet out. All that I could learn from the Colonel, or from the favages was, that the State gives them rations of meat, and fometimes times of flour; that they poffefs alfo fome land, where they fow Indian corn, and go a hunting for fkins, which they exchange for rum. They are fometimes employed in war, and are commended for their bravery and fidelityo Though in fubjecf ion to the Americans, they have their chiefs, to whom application is made for juftice, when an Indian has committed any crime. Mr. Glen told me, that they fubmitted to the punifhments inflicted on them ; but had no idea that it was right to punifh them with death, even for homicide. Their number at prefent is 350; which is constantly di* minifhing, as well as that of the jive nations. I do not believe that thefe five nations can produce four thoufand men in arms. The favages of themfelves therefore, would not be much to be dreaded, were they not fup-ported by the Englifh, and the American tories. As an advanced guard, they are formidable, as an army they are nothing. But their cruelty feems to augment in proportion as their numbers diminifh ; it is fuch as to render it impoffible for the Americans to confent to have them long for D d 2 neighbours; neighbours; and a neceffary confequence of a peace, if favourable to the Congrefs, muff be their total deftruclion, or their exclu-fion at leafl from all the country within the lakes Thofe who are attached to the Americans, and live in fome manner under their laws, fuch as the Mohawks of the environs of Schenectady, and part of the Oneidas, will ultimately become civilized and be confounded with them. This is what every feeling and Feafonable man fhould wifh, who, preferring the interefls of humanity to thofe of his own celebrity, dif-dains the little artifice fo often and fo fuc- cefsfully * Dr. Franklin, wtiofc amiable and philofophic mind fincerely laments all the evils attendant on humanity, ufed frequently to regret the painful necef-iity under which he forefaw America would Ihortly find herfelf of ufing violence againft the favagesr from the bloody fcenes into which they were led by .the policy of the Englifh Government. The Tranf-lator has often heard him exprefs himfelf with the •utmoft fenfibility on the fubjeft., and fuggeft many expedients to prevent the probability of matters being urged to that horrid extremity, but reafon, philofophy and eloquence were in vain oppofed by good ;md wife men to the headlong career of that mad •svar-. . Translator. cefsfully employed, of extolling ignorance and poverty, to extort praifes in fenatesand academies. I had time enough to make thefe and a great many other reflexions, .whilft, by the fole light of the fnow, I was pafling through thefe majeftic woods, where the filence which reigns in the night is feldom dif-turbed even in the day. I did not arrive at the apartments of the Vicomte de Noailles till near eight o'clock, where fupper, tea, and converfation detained me till midnight. Still nothing was decided refpe&ing our journey, and the news we had received was by no means fitisfacf ory. The next morning I received a letter from General Schuyler, to inform me, that having fent the evening before, he was told that I was gone to Schenectady, and from thence to Sarato-go; but that he was glad to know I was detained at Albany, for that finding himfelf much better ofhis gout, he intended accompanying me the next day. He re-i]uefted me to come and pafs the evening with him, to fettle our route, and our departure. I anfwered his letter, by accept-D d 3 ing ing of all his proportions, and employed part of the morning in walking about Albany, not without taking many precautions, for the ftreets were covered with ice. My firft vifit was to the artillery park, or rather the trophies of the Americans ; for there is no other artillery in this place than eight handfome mortars, and twenty ammunition waggons, which made part of Bur-goyne's artillery *. I entered a large work-fhop where they were employed in making mufquets for the army. The barrels of thefe mufquets, and the bayonets, are forged a few miles from Albany, and polifhed and finifhed here. I enquired the price of them, and found that the weapon compleat cofts about five dollars. The armourers are enlifted, and receive betides their rations, very confiderable falaries, if they were well paid. From thence I went to another barrack fituated towards the weft of the town, which * The principal part of Burgoyne's artillery was conveyed to Philadelphia, where I faw a very fine park, formed of them and the pieces taken from ihe Heffians, in various engagements. Translator. which ferves as a military hofpital. The fick are ferved by women. Each of them has a feparate bed, and they appear in general to be well taken care of, and kept very clean. At dinner all the company who were to be of the Saratoga party collected at my lodgings, and we went afterwards to General Schuyler's to fettle matters for our journey, and, in confequence, fet out the next day at fun rife, in five different Hedges. General Schuyler took me in his own. We paffed the Mohawk river on the ice, a mile above the cataract. It was almoft the firft attempt, and fucceeded with all but Major Popham, whofe two horfes broke through the ice, and funk into the river. This event will appear fatal to Europeans; but let them not be alarmed at the confequences. It is a very common accident, and is remedied in two ways: one by dragging the horfes on the ice by force, and, if poflible, by the help of a lever or plank to raife them up; the other by ftrangling them with their halter, or the reins: as foon as they have loft their refpi-ration, and motion, they float on the water, and and are lifted by their fore-feet on the ice ; the fracture is looffened, they are bled, and in a quarter of an hour are reinftated in the harnefs. As there were a great many of us, the firfl method which is the furett, v/as employed. All this may be eafily conceived, but it will be afked what becomes of the fledge, and how one does to approach the gulph opened by the horfes ? The an-fwer is, that thefe animals being much heavier than the fledge, i and fupported by four flender bafes, break the ice under their feet, without caufing the fledge to fink, which is light of itfelf, and its weight fupported by long pieces of wood which ferve by way of fhafts. The travellers are not lefs fafe, the ice being always thicker than is neceffarv to bear them. As for the horfes, they eafily keep themfelves up on the fur-face of the water, by means of their forelegs, and by refting their heads upon the ice. The accident which happened to Major Popham's fledge, did not detain us above feven or eight minutes; but we went a little ajlray in the woods we had to pafs, to reach reach the high road. We come into it between Half Moon and Stillwater. A mile from thence, I faw on the left, an opening in the wood, and a pretty extenfive plain, below which runs a creek, and obferved to General Schuyler, that there mutt be a good pofition there: he told me I was not deceived, and that it had been reconnoitred for that purpofe in cafe of need. The creek is called Anthony s Rill; the word rill, a-mongfl the Dutch, having the fame figni-cation as creek with the Americans. Three miles farther on, we traverfed a hamlet called Stillwater Landing-place, Tor it is here that boats coming down from Saratoga are obliged to flop to avoid the rapids. From hence there is a portage of eight or ten miles to the place where the river is navigable. I imagine the name of Stillwater is derived from its tranquillity here previous to the commencement of the rapids. Ge* neral Schuyler fhewed me fome redoubts he had conflructed to defend the park, where his boats and provifions were collected, after the avacuation of fort Anne and fort Edr Ward. We flopped there to refrefh our a horfes. horfes. The General had given the rendezvous to a militia officer, called Swang, who lives in this neighbourhood, and ferved in the army'of General Gates j be put me into his hands, and continued his route to Saratoga, to prepare our reception. I prefently got into a fledge with my guide, and, at the end of three miles, we faw two houfes on the bank of the river; it was here that General Gates had his right, and his bridge of boats defended by a redoubt on each bank. We alighted to examine this intereffing pofition, which difiipated all the hopes of Burgoyne, and prepared his ruin. I fhall attempt to give fome idea of it, which though incompleat indeed, may throw fome light on the relations of General Burgoyne, and even ferve to rectify his errors. The eminencies, called Breams Heights, from whence this famous camp is named, are only a part of thofe high grounds which extend along the right bank of the Hudfon, from the river Mohawk to that of Saratoga. At the fpot chofen by General Gates for his pofition, they form, on the fide of the the river, two different Hopes, or terraces. In mounting the firft flope, are three redoubts placed in parallel directions. In front of the laft, on the north fide, is a little hollow, beyond which the ground rifes again, on which are three more redoubts, placed nearly in the fame direction as the former. In front of them is a deep ravine which runs from the weft, in which is a fmall creek. This ravine takes its rife in the woods, and all the ground on the right of it is extremely thick fet with wood. If you will now return upon your fteps, place yourfelf near the firft redoubts you fpoke of, and mount to the fecond flope proceeding to the weftward, you will find, on the moft elevated platform, a large entrenchment which was parallel with the river, and then turns towards the north-weft, where it terminates in fome pretty fteep fum-mits, which were likewife fortified by fmall redoubts. To the left of thefe heights, and at a place where the declivity becomes more gentle, begins another entrenchment which turns towards the weft, and makes two or three angles^ always carried over the tops of the heights to the fouth-wefV Towards the northweff, you come out of the lines to defcend another platform, which prefents a pofition the more favourable, as it commands the furrounding woods, and refiff s every thing which might turn the left flank of the army. It is here that Arnold was encamped with the advanced guard. If you defcend again from this height, proceeding towards the north, you are pre-fently in the midft of the woods near Freeman s Farm, and on the ground where the actions of the 19th of September, and the 7th of October happened. 1 avoid the word field of battle; for thefe two engagements were in the woods, and on ground fo interfered and covered, that it is impoffible either to conceive or difcover the fmalleft re-femblance between it and the plan given to the public by General Burgoyne. But what appears to me very clear is, that this General who was encamped about four miles from the camp of Breams's Heights, wifhing to approach, and reconnoitre the avenues to it, marched through the woods in four columns, lumns, and that having feveral ravines to pafs, he made General Frazer, with the advanced guard, turn them at their origin ; that two ether columns traverfed the ravines, and the woode, as well as they could, without either communicating or materially waiting for each other; that the left column, chiefly compofed of artillery, followed the courfe of the river, where the ground is more level, and built bridges over the ravines and rivulets, which are deeper on that fide, as they all terminate in the river; that the engagement firfl began with the riflemen and American militia, who were fupported as neceflity required, without any prior difpofition; that the advanced guard, and the right column were the firfl engaged, and that the combat lafled until the columns on the left arrived, that is to fay, till funfet; that the Americans then retired to their camp, where they had taken care to convey their wounded ; that the Englifh advanced guard, and the right column greatly fuffered; both one and the other having been very long engaged in the woods without any fupport. General General Burgoyne purchafed dearly the frivolous honour of fleeping on the field of battle: he now encamped at Freeman's farm, fo near the American camp, that it was impoilible for him to manoeuvre, fo that he found himfelf in the fituation of a chefs-player, who fuffers himfelf to be ftale mated. In this pofition he remained until the 7th of October, when feeing his pro-vifions expended, hearing nothing of Clinton, and being too near the enemy to retreat without danger, he tried a fecond attack, and again made an attempt for his advanced guard to turn their left. The enemy, with whom the woods were filled^ penetrated his defign, themfelves turned the left flank of the corps which threatened theirs, put them to rout, and purfued them fo far as to find themfelves, without knowing it, oppofite the camp of the Germans. This camp was fituated en potence, and a little in the rear of the line. Arnold and Lincoln, animated with fuccefs, attacked and carried the entrenchments: both of them bought the victory at the price of their blood; each of of them had a leg broke * with mufquet (hot. I faw the fpot where Arnold, uniting the hardinefs of a jockey -j- with that of a foldier, leaped his horfe over the entrenchment of the enemy. It was like all thofe of this country, a fort of parapet, formed by the trunks of trees piled one upon another. This action was very brifk, to which the fir trees, which are torn by mufquet and cannon fhot, will long bear teftimony; for the term of their exi(fence feems as remote, as is the period of their origin. I continued reconnoitring here till night; fometimes walking in the fnow, where I funk to the knees, and fometimes travelling frill lefs fuccefsfully in a fledge, my conductor having taken care to overfet me, very gently indeed, in a great heap of fnow. After furveying Burgoyne's lines, I at length got down to the high road, pafiing through a field where he had eftablifhed his hofpi-tal. We then travelled more eafily, and I got to Saratoga at feven in the evening, after * Lincoln was not wounded till the next day. t The name given in America to horfe-dealers, »s well as thole who take care of horfes. ter a feven and thirty miles journey, we found good rooms well warmed, an excellent fupper, and had a gay and agreeable converfation; for General Schuyler, like many European hufbands, is ftill more amiable when he is abfent from his wife. He gave us inftrucfions for our next day's expedition, as well to Fort Edward, as to the great cataract of Hudfon's river, eight miles above that fort, and ten from Lake George. In confequence of thefe arrangements, we fet out the next morning at eight o'clock, with the Majors Grceme and Popham, whom he had requefted to accompany us. We remounted the right bank of the Hudfon for near three miles, before we found a fafe place to pafs the river in our fledges. That we made choice of expofed us to no danger, the ice being as thick as we could wifh it; but, on approaching the oppofite fide, the banks appeared to me fo high and fteep that I could not conceive how we fhould get up them. As it is my principle to form no judgment of any thing I do not understand, and always to conform myfelf in travelling as in navigation, to the perfons who. » who are habituated to the roads, I was fitting quietly in my fledge, waiting the event, when my conductor, a farmer of the country, called his horfes with a ferocious cry, fomething like that of the favages; and in an inftant, without a ftroke of the whip, they fet off with the fledge, and, in three bounds, were at the top of a precipice, of 20 feet high, nearly perpendicular. The road to Fort Edward is almoft always on the fide of the river, but you frequently lofe light of it in the fir-woods you pafs through. From time to time you difcover tolerable handfome houfes on the two banks. That of the unfortunate Mifs Mac Rea, who was killed by the favages, was pointed out to me. If the whigs were fuperftitious, they would attribute this event to the Divine vengeance. The parents of Mifs Mac Rea were whigs, nor did fhe belye the fenti-ments with which they had infpired her* until fhe became acquainted with an Englifh officer at New-York, who triumphed at once over her virtue, and her patriotifm. From that moment me efpoufed- the interests of England, and waited till fhe had Vol .1. JE e an an opportunity of marrying her lover. The war which foon extended to New-York, as well as Bofton, obliged her father to retire to his country-houfe, which he abandoned immediately on the approach of Burgoyne's army. But Mifs Mac Rea's lover was in this army ; (he wifhed to fee him again as a conqueror, to marry him, and then partake of his toils and his fucceffes. Unfortunately the Indians com pofed the vanguard of this army ; thefe favages are not much accuftomed to diftinguilh friends from foes; they pillaged the houfe of Mifs Mac Rea, and carried her off. When they had conducted her to their camp, it was a matter of difpute to whom {he mould belong; they could not agree, and to terminate the quarrel, fome of them killed her with a tomo-hawk. The recital of this fad cataftrophe, whilft it made me deplore the miferies of war, concentrated all my intereft in the per-fon of the Englifh officer, to whom it was allowable to liften at once to his paflion and his duty. I know that a death fo cruel and unforfeen, would furnifh a very pathetic fubjecf for a drama, or an elegy; but nothing fhort of the charms of eloquence and poetry is capable of moving the heart, for fuch a defliny, by exhibiting only the effect, and throwing the caufe into the fhade; for fuch is the true character of love, that all the noble and generous affections feem to be its natural attendants, and if it be that it can fometimes ally itfelf with blameable circumttances, every thing at leaft which tends to humiliate or degrade it, either an-* nihilates or difguifes its genuine features. As you approach Fort Edward the houfes become more rare. This fort is built at fixteen miles from Saratoga, in a little valley near the river, on the only fpot which is not covered with wood, and where you can have a profpect to the diftance of a mufquet-fhot around you. Formerly it confiffed of a fquare, fortified by two baftions on the eaft-fide, and by two demi-baffions on the fide of the river; but this old fortification is abandoned, becaufe it was too much commanded, and a large redoubt, with a fimple parapet and a wretched pallifade, is built on a more elevated fpot: within are fmall barracks for about two hundred foldiers. Such is Fort Edward, fo much fpoken of in Europe, altho' it could in no time have been E e 2 able able to refill: five hundred men, with four pieces of cannon. I flopped here an" hour to refrefh my horfes, and about noon fet off to proceed as far as the cataract, which is eight miles beyond it. On leaving the valley, and purfuing the road to Lake George, is a tolerable military pofition which was occupied in the war before the laft : it is a fort of entrenched camp, adapted to abattis, guarding the paffage from the woods, and commanding the valley. I had fcarcely lofl fight of Fort Edward, before the fpedtacle of devastation prefented itfelf to my eyes, and continued to diflrefs them as far as the place I flopped at. Peace and Induflry had conducted cultivators amidfl thefe antient forefts, men content and happy, before the period of this war. i Thofe who were in Burgoyne's way alone experienced the horrors of his expedition ; but on the laft invafion of the far vages, the defolation has fpread from Fort Schuyler, (or Fort Stanwife) even to Fort Edward ; 1 beheld nothing around me but the remains of conflagrations j a few bricks, proof againff the fire, were the only indica-i .... tions tions of mined houfes; whilft the fences ftill entire, and cleared out lands, announced that thefe deplorable habitations had once been the abode of riches, and of happinefs. Arrived at the height of the cataract it was neceffary to quit our fledges, and walk half a mile to the bank of the river. The fnow was fifteen inches deep, which rendered this walk rather difficult, and obliged us to proceed in Indian files, in order-to make a path. Each of us put ourfelves alternately at the head of this lie tie column, as the wild geefe relieve each other to occupy the fummit of the angle they form in their flight. But had our march been ftill more difficult, the fight of the cataract was an ample recompence. It is not a iheet of water as at Cobos, and at Totohaw: the river confined, and interrupted in its courfe by different rocks, glides through the midft of them, and precipitating itfelf obliquely forms feveral cafcades. That of Cohos is more majeftic, this, more terrible: the Mohawk River feems to fall from its own dead weight; that of Hudfon frets, and becomes enraged, it foams and forms E e 3 whirl- whirlpools, and flies like a ferpent making its efeape, ftill continuing its menaces by horrible hiflings. It was near two when we regained our fledges, having two-and-twenty miles to return to Saratoga, fo that we trod back our fteps as fait as poftible ; but we ftill had to halt at Fort Edward to refrefh our horfes* We employed this time, as we had done in the morning, in warming ourfelves by the fire of the officers who command the garrifon. They are five in number, and have about one hundred and fifty foldiers. They are ftationed in this defert for the whole winter, and I leave the reader to imagine whether this garrifon be much more gay than thofe of Gravelines, or Briancon *. We fet off again in an hour, and night foon overtook us; but before it was dark, I had the fatisfact ion to fee the firft game I had met with in my journey : it was a bevy of quails; by fome called partridges, though they have a much greater refemblance of quails. They were perched to the number of feven, * Two of the moft melancholy garrifons in France. TRANSLATOR. lever), upon a fence. I got out of my (ledge to have a nearer view of them they furfer-ed me to approach within four paces, and to make them rife I was obliged to throw my cane at them; they all went off together, in a flight fimilar to that of partridges, and like them they are fedentary *. Our * This bird can neither be clafTed in the fpecies of quails, nor in that of partridges; it is larger than the former, and fmaller than the latter; the feathers of the wings and body are nearly of the fame colour with the grey partridge, thofe of the belly are mixed with grey and black, like the bartavelle. The neck of the cock is white, that of the hen, yellow, both of them have a handfome black collar. It whittles like a quail, but with more force ; and has four notes, whereas the quail has only three. In other refpecls its manners refembie more thofe of the red partridge than the quail, for it perches, and is always in a flock; it haunts the woods and morafTes. This bird is very common in America, more fo to the fbuthward, than in the northern parts. It is no exaggeration to affert that in one winter only, and in a circle of five or fix leagues, the officers in winter quarters at Williamfburgh and York, killed upwards of fix thoufand, and that they bought as many of the negroes, which they had taken in little fnares, yet it was difficult to perceive any diminution of their numbers the following fpring. Our return was quick and fortunate : we had no accident to fear but at the fecond paffage of the river, and the defcent of the precipice we had mounted. I waited for this frefh trial with as much confidence as the former; but a fledge, which was before mine, flopping at that place, and the dark-nefs of the night preventing me from dif-tinguifhing any thing, I imagined that the company were going to alight, the firft fledge was that of the Vicomte de Noailles, and the Comte de Damas ; but I was fcarcely alighted, before I faw this fledge fet out with all its lading, and flide down the precipice with fuch rapidity that it could not be flopped at thirty yards from the bottom. They make no more ceremony in descending thefe precipices, than in mounting them: the horfes accuflomed to this manoeuvre, precipitate 'themfelves, as'rapidly as thev launch off the carriage, fo that the fledge Aiding like the Ramqffe of mount Cenis, cannot touch their hind legs and make them fall. At half pad fix, we reached General Schuyler's, where we fpent our evening as agreeably as the former. The The 31ft we got on horfeback at eight o'clock, and Mr. Schuyler conducted us himfelf to the camp occupied by the Englifh when General Burgoyne capitulated. We could not have a better guide, but he was abfolutely neceffary for us in every refpect; for befides that this event happened before his eyes, and that he was better able than any body to give us an account of it, no perfon but the proprietor of the ground himfelf was able to conduct us fafely thro' the woods the fences and entrenchments being covered a foot deep with fnow. In throwing your eyes upon the chart, you will fee that Saratoga is fituated on the bank of a fmall river which comes from a lake of that name, and falls into the Hudfon. On the right bank of the Fifi-KM, the name of that little river, flood formerly a handfome country-.houfe belonging to General Schuyler j a large farm depending on it, two or three faw-mills, a meeting-houfe, and three or four middling houfes, compofed all the habitations of this celebrated place, the name of which will be handed down to the latett poflerity. After - the 426. TRAVEL. SIN the affair of the 7th of October, General Burgoyne began his retreat; he marched in the night between the 8th and 9th, but did not pafs the creek till the 13th, fo much difficulty he had in dragging his artillery, which he perfijied in preferving, altho' the greateit part of his horfes were killed, or dead with hunger. He took four days therefore to retire eight miles, which gave the Americans time to follow him on the right bank of the Hudfon, and to get before him on the left bank, where they occupied in force all the paffages. General Burgoyne had fcarcely reached the other fide of the creek, before he fet fire to General Schuyler's houfe, rather from malice', than for the fafety of his army *j fince this houfe, * This is a matter in which General Burgoyne's lionour, and humanity, feem to be directly called in queftion. The General in his examination of wit-nelfes on the enquiry into the failure ofhis expedition before the Houfe of Commons, was particularly anxious to exculpate himfelf on the fubject, and to prove not only that it always was neceffary in amilitary point of view to deftroy this houfe, but that General Schuyler himfelf afterwards admitted that ncccjjity— in oppolition to which we have here the alfertion of houfe, fituated in a bottom, could afford no advantage to the Americans, and he left the farm a man of rank diftinguilhed in the military and literary world, as well as the General, who on the teftimony of General Schuyler, alferts, " £>ue le General Burgoyne fut a peine de l'autre cSte de la creek, qu*it jit mettre lefeu a la maifon du General Schuyler, plutot par humblur, que pour la fur etc de fonarmee ; &c. &c." The Tranllator knows General Burgoyne to be a foldier of honour, who in that capacity never willies to forget the paramount duties of the citizen, and the man ; the Marquis de Cheftellux too, defervediy Hands high in the public eftimation ; it is with infinite concern therefore, that the Tranllator finds himfelf unable to refute the injurious affertion, or reconcile the contradiction. That the matter may be fairly brought to ilfue, he fubjoins an extract from General Burgoyne's fpeech in the Houfe of Commons, in anfwer to " a call upon him by Mr, IVilkes, for explanation refpedting the burning of the country during the progrefs of the army under his command." " I am ignorant, faid the General, of " any fuch circumllance ; I do not recollect more " than one accident by fire ; I pofitively afTert there *' was no fire by order, or countenance of myfelf, " or any other officer, except at Saratoga. That ** diurici: is the property of Major General Schuyler " of the American troops ; there were large barracks built by him, which took fire the day after the ** army arrived on the ground in their retreat; and farm ftanding, which is at prefent the only afylum for the owner. It is here that Mr. Schuyler " I believe, I need not ftate any other proof of that " matter being merely accident, than that the bar-. «' racks were then made ufe of as my hofpital, and 44 full, of lick and wounded foldiers. General 44 Schuyler had likewife a very good dwelling-houfe, 44 exceeding large ftorehoufes, great faw-mills, and " other out-buildings, to the value altogether per-44 haps of ten thoufand pounds : a few days before 44 the negotiation with General Gates, the enemy 44 had formed a plan to attack me : a large column 44 of troops was approaching to pafs the fmall riven 44 preparatory to a general aft ion, and was entirely 44 covered from the firc of my artillery by thofe buildings. 44 Sir, I avow that I gave the order to fet them on 44 fire ; and in a very Ihort time the whole property *4 I have defcribed was confumed. But, to llievv 44 that the perfon moft deeply concerned in that ca-44 lamity did not put the conftrudf ion upon it which 44 it has pleafed the honourable Gentleman to do, I 44 muft inform the Houfe, that one of the firft per-44 fons I faw, after the convention was ligned, was 44 General Schuyler. I exprelTed to him my regret at 44 the event which had happened, and the reafons 44 which occafioned it. He defired me to think no 44 more of it j faid that the occafon jufificd it, accord-44 ing to the principles and rules of war, and he 44 fhould have done the fame, upon the fame occafon, or 44 words to that effect. He did more—he fent an 44 Aide de Camp to conduct me to Albany, in or- N.Ol TH-AM.E R IC A. 4i0 Schuyler lodged us in fome temporary apartments he fitted up, until happier times allow him to build another houfe. The creek runs between two fleep afcents, the fum-mits of which are about the fame height; it then defcends by feveral rapids which turn the mills : there the ground is more open, and continues fo.to the north river; that is to fay, for half a mile. As to General Burgoyne's pofition, it is difficult to defcribe it, becaufe the ground is fo very irregular, and the General finding himfelf furrounded, was obliged to divide his troops into three camps, forming three different fronts ; ^Kf=> It; r/ii*.: i z' . 'Jih.oi r.l.^c. o* S3$ta<>. " der, as he expreffed, to procure me better quarters «' than a ft/ranger might be able to find. This gen- " tleman conduced me to a very elegant houfe, and, " to my great furprize, prefented me to Mrs. Schuy- " ler and her family: and in this General's houfe " I remained during my whole {lay at Albany, with « a table of more than twenty covers for me and my 4 friends, and every other poffible demonftration of f hofpitality ; a fituation painful as1 it is true m ' point of fenfibility at the time, but which. I now ; contemplate with fome Satisfaction, as carrying ' undeniable teftimony how little I deferred the * charges of the honourable gentleman." Translator. fronts; one facing the creek, another Hud-fon's river, and the third the mountains to the weftward. General Burgoyne's plan gives a tolerable juft idea of this pofition, which was not ill taken, and is only defective on the fide of the Germans, where the ground forms a riling, the declivity of which was againff them. All that it is neceffary to obferve is, that the woods continually rife towards the weft ; fo that the General might very well occupy fome advantageous eminences, but never the fummits. Accordingly, General Gates who arrived at Saratoga, almoft as foon as the Englifh paffed two thoufand men over the creek, with orders to begin to fire on the 14th and con-ftderably incommode the Englifh. General Schuyler criticifes this pofition ; he pretends that this corps fo advanced as to be in danger, without being ftrong enough to oppofe the retreat of the enemy. But when we, confider that thefe two thoufand men were pofted in very thick woods ; that they were protected by abattis; had a fecure retreat in the immenfe foreft in their rear, and that they had only to harafs a flying enemy, enemy, whofe courage was broken, every military man will think with me that this was rather the criticifm of a fevere rival, than of a well informed and methodical tactician. Be this as it may, it is very certain that Burgoyne had no other alternative than to let his troops be Slaughtered, or capitulate. His army had only five days provifion, and it was impoflible for him to retain his pofition. It was proposed to him to reflore an old bridge of boats, which had been conftrucfed in the very front of his camp; but a corps of two thoufand men were already polled on the heights on the opposite fide of the river, where they had raifed a battery of two pieces of cannon. Had he undertaken to remount by the right bank, to attain the fords which are near Fort Edward, he had ravines to pafs and bridges to repair; befides that thefe defiles were already occupied by the militia, and the vanguard alone mufl have been engaged with them, whilft he had a whole army on his rear, and on his flanks. He had fcarce time to deliberate, the cannon ihot began to mower into the camp j one 5 <>£ of which fell in the houfe where the council" of war was holding, and obliged them to quit it to take refuge in the.woods. Let us now compare the fituatipn of General Burgoyne, collecting his. trophies, and publishing his infolent manifeflo at Ticon-deroga, with that in which he now-flood, when, vanquifhed, and furrounded as he was by a troop of peafants, not a place was left him even to difcufs the terms of fup-plication. I contefs that when I was conducted to the fpot where the Engliih laid down their arms, and to that where they filed off before Gate's army, I could not but partake of the triumph of the Amerir cans, and at the fame time admire their magnanimity ; for the foldiers and officers beheld their prefumptuous and fanguinary enemies pafs, without offering the fmallefl infult, without fullering an infulting fmile or geilure to efcape them. This majeflic fiience conveyed a very fir iking refutation of the vain declarations of the Englifh General, and feemed to attefl all the rights of our allies to the victory. Chance alone gave rife to an allufion with which General Burgoyne NORTH-AMERICA. 433 Burgoyne was very fenfibly affected. It is the cuftom in England, and in America, on approaching any perfon for the iirlf time, to fay, / am very, happy to fee you ; General Gates chanced to make ufe of this expref-fion in accofting General Burgoyne: I believe yon ate; replied the General,/^fortune of the day is entirely yours. General Gates pretended to give no attention to this anfwer, and conducted Burgoyne to his quarters, where he gave him a good dinner, as well as to the principal part of the Englifh officers. Every body ate and drank heartily, and feemed mutually to forget their misfortunes, or their fucceffes. Before dinner, and at the moment when the Americans were ffriving who fhould entertain the Englifh officers, fomebody came to afk where Madame Reidefel, the wife of the Brunfwick General, was to be conducted. Mr. Schuyler, who had foU lowed the army as a volunteer, fince he had quitted the command, ordered her to be fhewn to his tent, where he went foon after, and found her trembling and fpeech-lefs, expecting to find in every American a Vol. I. F f favage, favage, like thofe who had followed the Englifh army. She had with her two charming little girls, about fix or feven years old. General Schuyler carefTed them greatly ; the fight of this touched Madame de Reidefel and removed her apprehenfion in an inftant; you are tender andfenfible, faid (he, you muft then be generous, and I am happy to have fallen into your hands. In confequence of the capitulation, the Englifh army was conducted to Bofton. During their march the troops encamped, but lodgings were to be procured for the Generals, and there being fome difficulty in procuring near Albany a proper quarter for General Burgoyne and his fuite, Mr. Schuyler offered him his handfome houfe. He was himfelf detained by bufinefs at Saratoga, where he remained to vifit the ruins of his other houfe, which General Burgoyne had juft deftroyed ; but he wrote to his wife to prepare every thing for giving him the beft reception, and his intentions were perfectly fulfilled. Burgoyne was extremely well received by Mrs. Schuyler, and her little family ; he was lodged in the beft apartment apartment in the houfe. An excellent fupper was ferved him in the evening, the honours of which were done with fo much grace, that he was affected even to tears ; and could not help faying, with a deep figh, Indeed this is doing too much Jor the man who has ravaged their lands, and burnt their ajy-lum. The next morning however, he was again reminded of his difgraces by an adventure which would have appeared gay to any one but him. It was always innocently that he was afflicted. His bed was prepared in a large room ; but as he had a numerous fuite, or family, feveral mattref-fes were fpread upon the floor for fome officers to fleep near him. Mr. Sohuyler's fecond fon, a little fpoilt child of about feven years old, very forward and arch, as all the American children are, but very amiable, was running all the morning about the houfe, according to cuftom, and opening the door of the faloon, he burft out a laughing on feeing all the Englifh collected, and, fhut it after him, crying, Te are all my prifoners: this ftroke of nature was F f 2 cruel, cruel,-and.rendered them more melancholy than the preceding evening. I hope I ihall be pardoned thefe little anecdotes, which only appeared interesting to myfelf, perhaps folely from their proceeding from the fource, and being acquired upon the.fpot. Befides, a plain journal merits fome indulgence, and when one does not write hiifory, it is allowable to write little ff ories. Henceforth I have only to take leave of General Schuyler, detained by bufinefs at Saratoga, and to tread back my Ifeps as faff as poffible to Newport. . In repafTing near Breams's Height, and Stillwater, I had again an opportunity of examining the right flank of General Bur-goyne's camp, of which it feemed to me that his plan gives a pretty accurate idea. I was affured that I might return to Albany by the eaffern road, but on arriving at Half Moon, I learnt that the ice was broke in feveral places, fo that after repofing fome time in a handfome inn, kept by Madam People, a Dutchman's widow, I took the road by the Mohawk river, which I paffed without accident, and arrived at Albany about about fix in the evening. We immediately affembled (I fpeak only of the fix French travellers) to concert meafures for our re« turn. Not a moment was to be loft, for the wind having got to the fouthward, the thaw was beginning ; and it might very well happen that we fhould be detained a confiderable time at Albany: for, when you cannot pafs the river on the ice, you are fometimes obliged to wait eight or ten days before it is navigable, and you can pafs the ferry. It was neceffary therefore to fet out immediately; but as we were too many to travel together, it was determined that the Vicomte de Noailles and his two companions fhould fet off the next morning at day-break, and fleep thirty miles from Albany j and that I fhould fet out at noon, and ft ay all night at Kinderhook. The Vicomte de" JSToailles had left his horfes on the other fide of the river, and had already fent over his fledge, nothing therefore flood in the way of his departure, the ice being certainly thick enough for him to pafs on foot. My fituation was very different; I had, at Albany, two fledges, which belonged F f 3 to to the State, and were furnilhed me by the Aid-Quarter Mafter General, an excellent man, called ^uakerbujh. My intention was to pay for them; but he would not allow it, alfuring me that I had only to deliver , them to the Quarter-Mafter of Rhode ifland, who would return them by the firft opportunity. This is a very convenient arrangement for the military on the continent, and for all fuch as are employed in commiflions for the public fervice: each State maintains horfes for travelling, nothing more being requifite than to deliver them to the Quarter-Mafter of the place at which you leave them. In the Northern States, there are fledges alfo for the fame purpofe. As we were deliberating on our journey, Colonel Hughes, Quarter-Mafter of the State of New-York, came to call upon us; he had juft arrived from an expedition towards Fifh-Kill, and teftified great regret at not having been at Albany during our flay. I muft repeat here what I have already faid, that it is impoffible to imagine a more frank, and more noble politenefs, a more courteous behaviour, than I experienced from NORTH - A M E R I e A. 43g from the greateit part of the American officers with whom I had any concern. Mr. Hughes was fo good as undertake to conduct me to the other fide of the river, and promifed to call upon me the next day at eleven o'clock. I had travelled far enough in the day to hope for a quiet deep, but, at four in the morning, I was awakened by a mufquet fired clofe to my windows: I liftened, but heard not the fmalleft noife, or motion in the ftreet, which made me imagine it was fome mufquet difcharged of itfelf without cauf-ing any accident. I again attempted to go to fleep, but a quarter of an hour after a fre/h mufquet or piftol fhot interrupted my repofe; this was followed by feveral others ; fo that I had no longer any doubt that it was fome rejoicing, or feaft, like our village chriflenings. The hour indeed ftruck me as unufual, but at length a number of voices mingled with mufquettry, crying out, new year, reminded me that we were at the firfl of January, and I concluded that it was thus the Americans celebrate that event. Though this manner of proclaiming it was not, not, I muft own, very pleafing to me, there was nothing for it but patience ; but at the end of half an hour, I heard a confufed noife of upwards of a hundred perfons, chiefly children, or young people, affembled under my windows, and I very foon had farther indication of their proximity, for they fired feveral mufquet (hot, knocked rudely at the door, and threw ftones againft my windows. Cold and indolence ftill kept me in bed, but Mr. Lynch got up, and came into my chamber to tell me that thefe people certainly meant to do _me honour and get fome money from me. I deli red him to ftep down, and give them two Louis he found them already mafters of the houfe, and drinking my landlord's rum. In a quarter of an hour, they went off to vifit other ftreets, and continued their noife till day-light. On riling, I learnt from my landlord, that it was the cuftom of the country for the young folks, the fervants, and even the negroes, to go from tavern to. tavern, and to other houfes, to wifti a good new year, and afk for drink, fb that there was no particular compliment to me in this affair, NORTH-AMERICA. 44r affair, and I found that, after the example of the Roman Emperors, I had made alargefs to the people. In the morning, when I went out to take leave of General Clinton, I met nothing but drunken people in the ftreets, but what aftonifhed me the moft was to fee them not only walk, but run upon the ice without falling, or making a falfe ftep, whilft it was with theutmoft difficulty I kept upoa my legs. As foon as my fledges were ready, I took one of them to go and bid adieu to Mrs. Schuyler and her family, whence I returned to Colonel Hughes, who was waiting for me at the entrance of the town. He had learnt, fince he left us, that the Baron de Montefquieu was grandfon of the author of the Spirit oj Laws. Rejoiced at this difcovery, he defired me to introduce him a fecond time to the gentleman who bore fo refpectable a name ; and a few minutes after, as I was exprefting my fenfibility for the fervices he had done us, and my regret at the fame time at not having it in my power to repay them, he faid to me with a fentiment truly amiable, " Well then ! " fince <* fince you wifh to do fomething for me, «f try to procure a French copy of the Spi-" rit of Laws. I do not fpeak your lan-*' guage, but I underfland your books, and «< fhall be happy to read that in the origi-" nal." I propofed to fend him a copy, and have been fo lucky as to be able to fulfill my promife on my return to Newport. After this converfation he took me to the river-fide, at the place he thought the fafeft; but, as I was about to venture myfelf, the firft object I beheld Was a fledge, the horfes of which were finking under the ice, at twenty paces from me. Judge of my confterna-tion ; I muft tread back my fteps, and re^ main perhaps a week at Albany till the thaw was compleat, and the river free from floating ice. Colonel Hughes bid me to return to my inn, and remain there quietly, until he fent a man and horfe along the river to enquire for a place to pafs over. Three fledges, however, with rum for the ftate ftorehoufes appeared on the other fide, aad feemed determined to rifk the paffage, but he fent a man on foot to flop them, after which I left him forrowfully enough. About About one o'clock, as I was reading by my firefide, Mr. Hughes's Secretary entered, and told me that the fledges he had fent to flop, had perfifted in pafling, and fucceeded by avoiding the hole made by the horfes I had feen finking, and which were extricated with great difficulty. As the thaw continued, I had not a moment to lofe, the horfes were initantly put to, and I fet out, under the aufpices of Colonel Hughes, who was waiting for me at the river-fide. As foon as I got over, I parted from him; but had ft ill half a mile to go upon the ice, before 1 could get to a landing place which led me to the high road j all danger was now over, and I reached Kinderhook with eafe towards fix o'clock. I fet out the next morning at nine, and after pafiing the bridge of Kinderhook, left the CJavarack road on the right, to follow that of Nobktowtu I flopped in this township, and alighted at Making/ion r Tavern, a fmall neat inn, in which two travellers roay be conveniently lodged. Having an °pportunity of converting with the coufin and neighbour of Mr. Makingfton, of the Line fame name with himfelf; he told me he had been a Major in the American army, and received a ball through his thigh in Canada. He faid that his nerves, irritated with the wound, became contracted, and he halted for upwards of a year j but that at the affair of Prince-Town, after travelling eighteen miles on foot, he happening to leap over a fence, by this effort the contracted nerves broke or rather lengthened themfelves, fo that he has never fince been lame. As foon as my horfes had reffed a little, I continued my journey, and travelling amongft woods and mountains, it was night before I got to Sheffield. I traverfed this whole town, which is about two miles long, before I got to Mr. Dewys inn. Sheffield is a very pretty place, there are a good many well built houfes, and the high road that feparates them is upwards of a hundred paces wide. My inn gave me pleafure the moment I entered it; the mafter and mif-trefs of the houfe appeared polite and well educated ; but I admired above all a girl of twelve years old, who had all the beauty of her age, and whom Greuzc would have been happy happy to have taken for a model, when he painted his charming picture of the young girl crying for the Iofs of her canary bird. When I was fhewn into my. chamber, I amufed myfelf in looking at fome books fcattered on the tables. The firft I opened was the Abridgment of Newton's Philofophy : this difcovery induced me to put fome queftions to my landlord on phyfics, and geometry, with which I found him well acquainted, and that he was befides very modeft, and very good company. He is a furveyor, a very active employment in a country where there is perpetually land to meafure, and boundaries to fix. The 3d. in the morning, I was lorry to find that the weather, which had been hitherto uncertain, was ended in a thaw. I had to traverfe the green woods, a rugged, difficult, and defert country. The fnow remaining on the ground, end giving me ftill hopes of being able to continue my route in a fledge, I kept mine, and proceeded tolerably well as fir as Canaan, a fmall town fituated on the left bank of the Hcufatom'ck, feven miles from Sheffield Meeting-houfe; there there I turned to the left, and began to climb the mountains; unfortunately the fnow failed me where it was the molt neceffary, and I was obliged to walk almoft always on foot to relieve my horfes, which were fometimes labouring to drag the fledge out of the mud, and at others to pull it over ftones two or three feet high, This road is, in fact, fo rough, that it is hardly poflible to make ufe of fledges, unlefs there be a foot and a half of fnow upon the ground. It was with the utmoft difficulty therefore I travelled fifteen miles to a wretched inn dependent on Norfolk. On leaving this inn, I got into the green woods. This foreft is part of the fame chain of mountains-! had paffed in going to Fifh-Kill by the Litchfield road; but here the trees are fuperb ; they are firs, but fo ftrong, fo ftraight and lofty, that I doubt whether there are any like them in all North America. I regret that Safoator Rofay or Go/1 pard Poujfin, never faw the majeftic and truly grandiofo picture a deep valley here affords, through which runs the fmall river called the Naragontad. This valley appears NORT H • A M E R I C A. 447 pears ftill more narrow from the immenfe firs that fhade it; fome of which, rifing in an oblique direction, fcem to unite their tops purpofely to intercept the rays of the fun. When you have paffed this river, you mount for four or five miles, and then defcend as much; continually bounding from one large flone to another which crofs the road, and give it the refemblance of flairs. Here one of my fledges broke, and night approaching, I was at a lofs how to repair it, imagining myfelf in an uninhabitable defert; I tried to get it forward broken as it was, but difpaired of fucceeding, when two hundred fleps further on, I found a fmall houfe, and oppofite to it a forge, where the fire was lighted, and the blackfmith at work. A pilot who difcovers land in unknown feas, is not more happy than I was at this fight. I politely requefted the honcft man to leave his work and repair my fledge, which he agreed to, and I continued to follow that in good condition, on foot, despairing of ever feeing the other, which arrived however an hour after me. Such are the refources travellers meet with in America, and fuch fuch the excellent police * of this country, that no road is deftitute of what is neceffary for their wants. This day was deftined to be full of contrarieties. It was feven in the evening when * The word police is certainly inapplicable in this cafe, although the faft be, as the Marquis ftates it. The refpettive governments of America, never dreamt of compelling perfons to keep public houfes, or blackfmith's, and wheelwright's fhops, nor could fuch a regulation be enforced without infinite difficulty, even in eftablilned and arbitrary governments. A moment's reflection, but above all, a knowledge of the conflitutions, and the nature of the country, may convince any perfon that this affertion, which is repeated in this work, can only be the refuk of mifin-fcrmation, or mifapprehenfion. I have faid that the exiftence of thefc refources is a fact, having experienced their utility and frequency in all parts of the country, but this ariles from the necetfity of fuch occupations, in the innumerable ricw fettlements which are fpread over great part of the continent, wherein every fettler is obliged more, or Jefs, to be a handicraftfman, and where they are all compelled mutually to adminifter to each other's wants. In them too, the publican, who is fo far from being precluded from other purfuits, that he frequently becomes the firft farmer, the firft magiftrate, the firft military officer of the diftrid, is a neceiTary appendage. Translator.. NORTH-AMERICA. 449 when I arrived at New Hartford, where I expected to find a good inn, called Gilbert's houfe. Three American officers who, having rode on horfeback, had very eafily paffed me, were fo polite as to go further on, in order to leave me the whole houfe; but I was told, and it was evident on entering, that it was impoflible I could be accommodated. The mafons were repairing it, and at work every where: fo that I had now no other hope but at the inn of a Mr. Cafe, two miles further, beyond Farmington-river; but learning that the American officers were there, I enquired whether I could not be lodged elfewhere, and was recommended to an old woman, called Mrs. IVallen, who formerly kept an inn, and I was flattered with hopes of her receiving me. I continued therefore to follow my fledge on foot, and having, with difficulty, reached this houfe, I implored Mrs. Wallen's hofpitality, who confented, but merely to oblige me. I remained here fome time, but finding it a very poor houfe, and the apartments wretched, I fent one of my people to Cafe's, to try if he could find me fome corner to Vol. I. Gg lodge lodge in. They contrived to let me have one, and 1 went thither on foot, leaving my horfes at the other houfe. I was lucky enough to find a good bed, and a fupper, fuch as it was, but which appeared to me excellent, lefs becaufe I had a good appetite, than from being waited on by a tall woman of five-and-twenty, handfome, and of a noble appearance. I enquired of my landlady if fhe was her daughter, but fhe, a good, fat woman, very induftrious and talkative, and who had taken me into favour for giving ready anfwers to the queffions fhe had put, told me fhe had never had any children, although fhe then had one in her arms, which fhe was dandling and carefling. To whom does that belong then, faid I ? To the tall woman you fee, replied fhe—and who is her hufband ?—She has none—She is a widow then ?—No, fhe was never married. It is an unlucky affair, too long to tell vou : the poor girl was in want, I took her to live with me and provide for the mother and child.-Is it advancing a paradox to fay, that fuch conduct proves, more than than any thing, the pure and refpectable manners of the Americans ? With them vice is fo If range, and fo rare, that the danger of example has almoft no effect; fo that a fault of this nature is regarded only as an accidental error, of which the individual, attacked with it, muft be cured, without taking any meafures to efcape the contagion. I muft add too, that the acquifition of a citizen in this country is fo precious, that a girl, by bringing up her child, feems to expiate the weaknefs which brought it into ex -iftence. Thus morality, which can never differ from the real intereft of fociety, appears fometimes to be local and modified by times and circumftances. When an infant without an afylum, and without property, fhall become a burthen to the ftate, a being devoted to misfortune, owing its prefervation to pity alone, and not to the public utility, we fhall then fee the mother humbled, nay perhaps punifhed,and this feverity will then be vindicated here, as well as elfewhere, by all thofe auftere dogmas which at prefent are neglected or forgotten *. G g 2 I * It is to be hoped that it will be long, very long ere the barbarous prejudices and puniihments of po- I propofed making a fhort journey the next day to Hartford, fifteen miles only from the place I flept at, but it feeming to me impoffible to perform it except on horfeback, I left the two State fledges with Mr. Cafe, taking a receipt from him, which I afterwards delivered to Mr. Wadfworth. At firfl I was not fatisfied with the exchange, as I travelled fome time on heights covered with fnow, well calculated for the fledge, but lilhed Europe fhall be introduced into this happy-country. At prefent, the natural commerce between the fexes univerfally takes place, to the exclufion of exotic vices, and without involving the weak and unprotected female in all the horrors of fhamc, mifery and child-murder. Here libertinifm is by no means the confequence of an accidental frailty, nor is the mother, who in following the ftrong impulfe of Nature, has given a member to fociety, thrown an out-caft upon the world, loft to herfelf, and compelled to become vicious. The error of pallion, though condemned, is venial, and fhe is neither driven to defpair by cruelty, nor excluded from the fwect profpedt. of giving birth to future offspring, under the fanttion of every legitimate and facrcd title. Nothing is more common in this country, than fuch flips in the firft violence of an early puberty, nor lefs frequent than a repetition of the fame weaknefs. Translator. but on defcending towards Farmington river, I found the thaw compleat, and mud inffead of fnow. The woods I had juft paffed through, were very different from the Greenwoods; they were full of fmall firs, whofe verdant hue pleafed the eye, and the road was by accident fo prettily laid out, that it is impofiible to imagine a better model for walks in the Englifh ffyle. When I had paffed Farmington river, I mounted a pretty long and ifeep hill, on which I obferved, from time to time, objects intereiting to the lovers of natural hiffory. You fee, amongft other things, large maffes of rocks, or rather vaft blocks of ftone, which have no fort of correfpondence with the reft of the mountain, and appear as if they had been launched there by fome volcano. I remarked one more lingular than the reft, and flopped to meafure it: it is a fort of focle, or long fquare, thirty feet long by twenty high, and as many wide, not unlike the pedeffal of the ffatue of Peter the Great one fees at Peterfburgh. On the eaft iide, it is fplit from top to bottom, the crack is about a foot and a half wide at the top, but much G g 3 lefs lefs at bottom. Some (hrubs vegetate in the little earth there is, and on the very fummit of the rock grows a fmall tree, but I could not tell of what fpecies. The ftone is hard, of the nature of quartz, and is no wife volcanized. I got to Hartford about three, and being informed that Mr. Wadfworth was abfent, I was afraid of incommoding his wife and filler by going to lodge there, and went to a very good inn kept by Mr. Bull, who is accufed of being rather on the other jide of the quefion ; a polite method of defignating a tory. I only made a tranfient vifit therefore to Mrs. Wadfworth, to invite myfelf to breakfaft the next morning. The 5th 1 did not fet out till eleven, although I had thirty miles journey to Lebanon. At the paffage of the Ferry, I met with a detachment of the Rhode Ifland regiment, the fame corps we had with us all the laft fummer, but they have fince been recruited and cloathed. The greateft part of them are negroes or mulattoes; but they are ftrong, robuft men, and thofe I have feen had a very good appearance. We had fine weather ther all day, and got to Lebanon at funfet. Not that I got to Lebanon Meeling-boufe, where the Duke de Lauzun was quartered with his HufTars, that was fix miles farther ftill travelling in Lebanon. Who would not think after this, that I am fpeaking of an immenfe city ? and in fact, this is one of the moft confiderable towns in the country, for it confifls of at leaff one hundred houfes; but it is unneceffary to add, that they are much fcattered, and diflant from each other frequently more than four or five hundred paces. It will be eafily imagined that I was not forry to find myfdfin the French army, of which thefe HufTars formed the advanced guard, although their quarters be feventy-five miles from Newport; but there are no circumfiances in which I mould not be happy with M. de Lauzun. For two months I had been talking,and liflening, with him I converfed ; for it mufl be allowed that converfation is ftill the peculiar forte of the amiable French; a precious appendage for our nation, which it neglects poflibly too much, and may one day chance to foifeit. It It is told of an Engli(hman accuftomed to be filent, that he faid, talkingJpoils converfation. This whimlical expreffion contains great fenfe : every body can talk, but nobody knows how to litten infomuch that the fociety of Paris, fuch as I left it, re-fembles the chorus of an opera, which a few coryphees alone have a right to interrupt; each theatre has its particular coryphaeus; each theatre has its chorus too, which chime in, and its pit which applaud without knowing why. Tranfplant the aclors, or change the theatre, the effect of the piece is loff. Fortunate for the fpectators, when the flock is abundant, and they are not lariated with a repetition of the fame production. But I am got very far from America, where, I mufl return however, if it be only to hunt a few fquirrels. The Duke de Lauzun entertained me with this diverfion, which is much in fafhion in this country. Thefe animals are large, and have a more beautiful fur than thofe in Europe ; like ours, they are very adroit in flipping from tree to tree, and in clinging foclofely to the branches as to become almoft invifible. You frequent- ly wound them, without their falling; but that is a flight inconvenience, for you have only to call or iend for fomebody, who applies the hatchet to the tree, and pre-fently knocks it down. As iquirrels are not rare, you will conclude then, and very juftly, that trees are very common *. On returning from the chace, I dined at the Duke de Lauzun's, with Governor Turnbull and General Huntingdon. The former lives at Lebanon, and the other had come from Norwich. I have already painted Governor Turnbull, * There are alfo a great number offiying fquirrels in Connecticut. They are fmaller than the others, which they greatly referable in their form and ikin. Every body knows that they are called flying fquirrels from the facility with which they fupport themfelves a long time in the air, by means of a long membrane, or fkin, attached to the lower part of their feet: when they are in action this is folded up under their bellies ; but when they want to leap from one tree to another, they fpread their feet, and this ikin forms a kind of fail which fupports them in the air, and aflifls them even in their motion. There is alfo throughout North America another fort of fquirrels* called land fquirrels, becaufe they do not climb the trees, but burrow in the earth like rabbits. Their hair is fhorter, and of a deer colour, ftriped with black. Thefe animals are very pretty, and not wild. Turnbull, at prefent you have only to re-prefent to ycurfelf this little old man, in the antique drefs of the firft fettlers in this colony, approaching a table furrounded by twenty Huffar officers, and without either difconcerting himfelf, or lofing any thing of his formal ftiffnefs, pronouncing, in a loud voice, a long prayer in the form of a benedi-cite. Let it not be imagined that he excites the laughter of his auditors; they are too well trained : you muft, on the contrary, figure to yourfelf twenty amens iffu-ing at once from the midft of forty muf-taches*, and you will have fome idea of this little fcene. But M. de Lauzun is the man to relate, how this good, methodical Governor, didactic in all his actions, invariably fays, that he will confider; that he muft refer to his council; how of little affairs he makes great ones, and how happy a mortal he is when he has any to tranfact. Thus, in the two hemifphercs, Paris alone excepted, ridicule muft not imply inaptitude to * The HufTars of Lauzun's legion, and the Duke himfelf wore muftaches in America. Translator. to govern ; fince it is by the character men govern, and by the character men make themfelves ridiculous. I propofed leaving Lebanon the 7th at ten o'clock, but the weather was fo bad that I fiaid till part one, expecting it to clear up ; I was obliged, however, to fet out at laft in a melting fnow, the molt continued, and the coldeft I ever experienced. The bad weather urged * me on fo fail that I arrived at Voluntown about five o'clock. If the reader recollects what I have faid at the beginning of my journal of Mr. Dor-rance's houfe, he will not be furprifed at my returning to it with pleafure. Mifs Pearce however was no longer there, but fhe was replaced by the youngelt Mifs Dorrance, a charming pretty girl, although not fo regular a beauty as her friend. She has, like her, modeffy, candour, and beauty in all her features; and has befides, a ferenity mixed with gaiety, which render her as amiable as the other is interefting. Her eldeft lifter had laid in fince I was laft at Voluntown ; me was in a great chair, near the fire, around which her family were feated. Her noble and 46o . TRAV-ELSi IN and commanding countenance feemed more changed by misfortune than by fuffering ; yet every body about her was employed in confoling and taking care of her ; her mother, feated by her, held in her arms the infant, fmiling at it, and carefling it ; but as for her, her eyes were forrowfully fixed upon the littleinnocent, eying it with intereft, but without pleafure, as if fhe were faying to it, mifero paragcletto il luo defiin, nap fat*. Never did a more interefting or more moral picture exercife the pencil of a Greuze, or the pen of a tender poet. May that man be banilhed from the bofom of fociety who could be fo barbarous as to leave this amiable girl a prey to a misfortune which it is in his power to repair ; and may every benediction which heaven can beftow be fhower-ed on the being, generous andjuft enough to give her more legitimate titles to the hallowed names of wife and mother, and thus xeftoreher, to all that happinefs, which Nature had defigned her -f. My * Unhappy child ! thou knoweft not the lot that is referved for thee. Mciajlafio. Dcmopboon. 4 See what is faid on this fubject, in a note at the commencement of this Journal. NORT H - A M ERIC A. '461 My journey henceforward affords, nothing worthy of the fmalleft attention. I flept next day at Providence, and arrived the 9th at Newport; fatisfied with having feen many interefting things, without meeting with any accident; but with a forrcwful reflection that the place I arrived at, after travelling fo far, was hull fifteen hundred leagues from that where I had left my friends -y where I fhall enjoy the little knowledge I have acquired, by fharing it with them j where I fhall again be happy, if there ftill be any happinefs in if ore for me; the only place in fhort, dove da longht errori fpero di repofar *. * I wifh to recompence thofe who fhall have the patience to compieat the perufal of this Journal, by laying before them the charming paffage of Metajlafa from whence thefe words are borrowed. L'Onda dal mar divifa JBagna la valla e il monte, Va paffagiera in fiume Va prigioniera in fonte ; Mormora fempre e geme Fin che non torna al mar. Al 4*2 TRAVELS, ore. Al mar dove ella nacque Dove acquifto' gli umori Dove da lunghi errori Spera di repofar. The following is a free translation: The wave once feparated from the fea, ftrays over the mountains, or bathes the vallies : anon it travels with the rivers, &c. now is kept prifoner in the fountains ; but it never ceafes to murmur and complain until it returns unto the fea. To the fea its native abode, to the fea its laft afy-lum, where fatigued after its long wanderings, it hopes at length to find fome repofc. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME, fell. \