Becoming America - An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution, 2018a

BECOMING AMERICA
REVOLUTIONARY AND EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD LITERATURE
remarkable. Thy rebuke, friend James, is a pretty heavy one; what motive canst
thee have for thus accusing us? Thy kind wife made a mistake last evening, I said;
she put me on a bed of roses, instead of a common one; I am not used to such
delicacies. And is that all, friend James, that thee hast to reproach us with?—Thee
wilt not call it luxury I hope? thee canst but know that it is the produce of our
garden; and friend Pope sayeth, that “to enjoy is to obey.” This is a most learned
excuse indeed, friend B., and must be valued because it is founded upon truth.
James, my wife hath done nothing more to thy bed than what is done all the year
round to all the beds in the family; she sprinkles her linen with rose-water before
she puts it under the press; it is her fancy, and I have nought to say. But thee shalt
not escape so, verily I will send for her; thee and she must settle the matter, whilst
I proceed on my work, before the sun gets too high.—Tom, go thou and call thy
mistress Philadelphia. What. said I, is thy wife called by that name? I did not know
that before. I’ll tell thee, James, how it came to pass: her grandmother was the rst
female child born after William Penn landed with the rest of our brethren; and
in compliment to the city he intended to build, she was called after the name he
intended to give it; and so there is always one of the daughters of her family known
by the name of Philadelphia. She soon came, and after a most friendly altercation,
I gave up the point; breakfasted, departed, and in four days reached the city.
A week after news came that a vessel was arrived with Scotch emigrants. Mr.
C. and I went to the dock to see them disembark. It was a scene which inspired
me with a variety of thoughts; here are, said I to my friend, a number of people,
driven by poverty, and other adverse causes, to a foreign land, in which they know
nobody. The name of a stranger, instead of implying relief, assistance, and kindness,
on the contrary, conveys very dierent ideas. They are now distressed; their minds
are racked by a variety of apprehensions, fears, and hopes. It was this last powerful
sentiment which has brought them here. If they are good people, I pray that heaven
may realise them. Whoever were to see them thus gathered again in ve or six years,
would behold a more pleasing sight, to which this would serve as a very powerful
contrast. By their honesty, the vigour of their arms, and the benignity of government,
their condition will be greatly improved; they will be well clad, fat, possessed of that
manly condence which property confers; they will become useful citizens. Some
of the posterity may act conspicuous parts in our future American transactions.
Most of them appeared pale and emaciated, from the length of the passage, and the
indierent provision on which they had lived. The number of children seemed as
great as that of the people; they had all paid for being conveyed here. The captain
told us they were a quiet, peaceable, and harmless people, who had never dwelt
in cities. This was a valuable cargo; they seemed, a few excepted, to be in the full
vigour of their lives. Several citizens, impelled either by spontaneous attachments,
or motives of humanity, took many of them to their houses; the city, agreeable to
its usual wisdom and humanity, ordered them all to be lodged in the barracks, and
plenty of provisions to be given them. My friend pitched upon one also and led
him to his house, with his wife, and a son about fourteen years of age. The majority
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