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

BECOMING AMERICA
REVOLUTIONARY AND EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD LITERATURE
the soul I wish for in a wife. In truth, Charles, I know of no other way to mend my
circumstances. But lisp not a word of my embarrassments for your life. Show and
equipage are my hobby horse; and if any female wishes to share them with me,
and will furnish me with the means of supporting them, I have no objection. Could
I conform to the sober rules of wedded life, and renounce those dear enjoyments
of dissipation in which I have so long indulged, I know not the lady in the world
with whom I would sooner form a connection of this sort than with Eliza Wharton.
But it will never do. If my fortune or hers were better, I would risk a union; but as
they are, no idea of the kind can be admitted. I shall endeavor, notwithstanding, to
enjoy her company as long as possible. Though I cannot possess her wholly myself,
I will not tamely see her the property of another.
I am now going to call at General Richman’s, in hopes of an opportunity to
profess my devotion to her. I know I am not a welcome visitor to the family; but I
am independent of their censure or esteem, and mean to act accordingly.
PETER SANFORD.
Letter LXV
TO MR. CHARLES DEIGHTON.
HARTFORD.
Good news, Charles, good news! I have arrived to the utmost bounds of my
wishes—the full possession of my adorable Eliza. I have heard a quotation from a
certain book, but what book it was I have forgotten, if I ever knew. No matter for
that; the quotation is, that “stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is
pleasant.” If it has reference to the pleasures which I have enjoyed with Eliza, I like
it hugely, as Tristram Shandy’s father said of Yorick’s sermon; and I think it fully
veried.
I had a long and tedious siege. Every method which love could suggest, or art
invent, was adopted. I was sometimes ready to despair, under an idea that her
resolution was unconquerable, her virtue impregnable. Indeed, I should have
given over the pursuit long ago, but for the hopes of success I entertained from her
parleying with me, and, in reliance upon her own strength, endeavoring to combat
and counteract my designs. Whenever this has been the case, Charles, I have never
yet been defeated in my plan. If a lady will consent to enter the lists against the
antagonist of her honor, she may be sure of losing the prize. Besides, were her
delicacy genuine, she would banish the man at once who presumed to doubt, which
he certainly does who attempts to vanquish it. But far be it from me to criticize the
pretensions of the sex. If I gain the rich reward of my dissimulation and gallantry,
that, you know, is all I want.
To return, then, to the point. An unlucky, but not a miraculous accident has
taken place which must soon expose our amour. What can be done? At the rst
discovery, absolute distraction seized the soul of Eliza, which has since terminated
in a xed melancholy. Her health, too, is much impaired. She thinks herself rapidly
declining, and I tremble when I see her emaciated form.
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