_Thursday 11._
Dined with us two Gentlemen Names unknown--They informed us that a Flux is in a neighbouring County, of which many die!--The Ague too is growing frequent _f.a.n.n.y_ has a fit this afternoon--I begin to be a little alarmed at the early approach of these Disorders, which I fear will be distressful here!--Through the kindness of heaven I am yet in perfect health--Mr _Carter_ & Mr _Stadley_ performed both on the _harmonica_ I am charm"d with the Sounds! The melody is swelling, grave & grand! The weather vastly hot--
_Fryday 12._
Very hot--_Sam_ our Barber is Seized with the Ague & Fever--f.a.n.n.y is confined to her chamber with a Fever occasioned, I am apt to believe, by the inflamed bites of the Seed-Ticks, which cover her like a distinct Small Pox.--Dined with us by particular invitation, Mr _Turberville"s_ Family, and Miss _Betsy Lee_--The conversation at Table was on the Disorders which seem growing to be epidemical, _Fevers_, _Agues_, _Fluxes_--A gloomy train!--Fearing these, I keep myself at home; make my diet sparing & uniform; Use constant moderate Exercise; Drink as little Wine as possible, & when I must drink Toasts I never fail to dilute them with well with Water; I omit almost every kind of fruit; & make my time for _Sleeping_ from Night to Night the same, Viz to Bed by ten, & rise by six invariably--I never lived so much by Rule as I do this Summer; & I am taught the Art, & have a Steady Example in Mr & Mrs _Carter_--Mr _Stadley_ played on the Harpsichord & harmonica several Church Tunes & Anthems, with great propriety--
[LETTER OF PHILIP V. FITHIAN TO JOHN PECK]
Nomini Hall August 12th 1774.
"Si bene moneo[Maneo], attende."--
SIR.
I never reflect, but with secret, and peculiar pleasure, on the time when I studied in _Deerfield_ with you, & several other pleasant Companions, under our common, & much respected instructor, Mr _Green_.
And I acknowledge now, with a thankful heart, the many favours, which I received from your family while I was a member of it. This sense of obligation to your Family. And personal friendship for you, have excited me, when it was in my power, to introduce you to the business which I now occupy; into a family, where, if you be prudent and industrious, I am confident you will speedily acquire to yourself both Honour & Profit--But inasmuch as you are wholly a stranger to this Province; & have had little or no Experience in the business which you ar[e] shortly to enter upon; & lest, from common Fame, which is often erroneous, you shall have entertained other notions of the manners of the People here, & of your business as a Tutor, than you will find, when you come, to be actually true; I hope you will not think it _vain_ or _untimely_, if I venture to lay before you some Rules for your direction which I have collected from a year"s observation. I shall cla.s.s what I have to say in the following order. First. I shall attempt to give you some direction for the plan of your Conduct among your neighbours, & the People in General here, so long as you sustain the character of a Tutor. Then I shall advise you concerning the rules which I think will be most profitable & convenient in the management of your little lovely charge, the School. Last of all. I shall mention several Rules for your personal conduct. I choose to proceed in the order I have laid down, as well that you may more fully & speedily recieve my mind, as that you may also the more readily select out and apply what you shall find to be most necessary.
First. When you have thought of removing, for a Time, out of the Colony in which you was born, & in which you have hitherto constantly resided, I make no doubt but you have at the same time expected to find a very considerable alteration of manners, among your new acquaintances, & some peculiarities toto Caelo different, from any you have before been accustomed to. Such a thought is natural; And you will if you come into Virginia, in much shorter time than a year, be convinced that it is just. In New-Jersey Government throughout, but especially in the Counties where you have any personal acquaintance, Gentlemen in the first rank of Dignity & Quality, of the Council, general a.s.sembly, inferior Magistrates, Clergy-men, or independent Gentlemen, without the smallest fear of bringing any manner of reproach either on their office, or their high-born, long recorded Families a.s.sociate freely & commonly with Farmers & Mechanicks tho"
they be poor & industrious. Ingenuity & industry are the Strongest, & most approved recommendations to a Man in that Colony. The manners of the People seem to me, (probably I am overborn by the force of prejudice in favour of my native Soil), to bear some considerable resemblance of the manners in the ancient Spartan Common-Wealth--The Valour of its Inhabitants--was the best, & only security of that State against the enemy; & the wise laws of its renowned Legislator were the powerful Cement which kept them firm & invincible--In our Government, the laborious part of Men, who are commonly ranked in the midling or lower Cla.s.s, are accounted the strenth & Honour of the Colony; & the encouragement they receive from Gentlemen in the highest stations is the spring of Industry, next to their private advantage. The Levil which is admired in New-Jersey Government, among People of every rank, arises, no doubt, from the very great division of the lands in that Province, & consequently from the near approach to an equality of Wealth amongst the Inhabitants, since it is not famous for trade. You know very well that the Lands in a small township are divided, & then again subdivided into two & three Hundred Separate, proper, creditable estates; for example _Deerfield_ & _Fairfield_ two Townships, or Precincts, in which you & I are tolerably well acquainted, in the former of which, are the Seats of two Judges of the Sessions; & in the latter resides one of the representatives in General a.s.sembly for the County; But if 16000 would purchase the whole landed estates of these three Gentlemen, who are supposed to be the most wealthy in the County, if we rate their Land at the Low Consideration of 4 per acre, with all conveniences, each would have 4000 Acres. Now you may suppose how small a quant.i.ty many must have when two or three hundred Landholders reside in each of these small Precincts; Hence we see Gentlemen, when they are not actually engaged in the publick Service, on their farms, setting a laborious example to their Domesticks, & on the other hand we see labourers at the Tables & in the Parlours of their Betters enjoying the advantage, & honour of their society and Conversation--I do not call it an objection to this, that some few, who have no substance but work like Slaves as nec[e]ssity drives them for a few Months in the year; with the price of this Labour they visit Philadelphia; & having there acquired a fashionable Coat, & a Stock of Impudence, return home to spend the remainder of the year, in idleness & disgrace!--But you will find the tables turned the moment you enter this Colony. The very Slaves, in some families here, could not be bought under 30000. Such amazing property, no matter how deep it is involved, blows up the owners to an imagination, which is visible in all, but in various degrees according to their respective virtue, that they are exalted as much above other Men in worth & precedency, as blind stupid fortune has made a difference in their property; excepting always the value they put upon posts of honour, & mental acquirements--For example, if you should travel through this Colony, with a well-confirmed testimonial of your having finished with Credit a Course of studies at Na.s.sau-Hall; you would be rated, without any more questions asked, either about your family, your Estate, your business, or your intention, at 10,000; and you might come, & go, & converse, & keep company, according to this value; & you would be dispised & slighted if yo[u] rated yourself a farthing cheaper. But when I am giving directions to you, from an expectation that you will be shortly a resident here, altho you have gone through a College Course, & for any thing I know, have never written a Libel, nor stolen a Turkey, yet I think myself in duty bound to advise you, lest some powdered c.o.xcomb should reproach your education, to cheapen your price about 5000; because any young Gentleman travelling through the Colony, as I said before, is presum"d to be acquainted with Dancing, Boxing, playing the Fiddle, & Small-Sword, & Cards. Several of which you was only entering upon, when I left New-Jersey; towards the Close of last year; and if you stay here any time your Barrenness in these must be detected. I will however allow, that in the Family where you act as tutor you place yourself, according to your most accute Calculation, at a perfect equidistance between the father & the eldest Son. Or let the same distance be observed in every article of behaviour between you & the eldest Son, as there ought to be, by the latest & most approved precepts of Moral-Philosophy, between the eldest Son, & his next youngest Brother. But whenever you go from Home, where you are to act on your own footing, either to a Ball; or to a _Horse-Race_, or to a _c.o.c.k-Fight_, or to a _Fish-Feast_, I advise that you rate yourself very low, & if you bett at all, remember that 10,000 in Reputation & learning does not amount to a handfull of Shillings in ready Cash!--One considerable advantage which you promise yourself by coming to this Colony is to extend the Limits of your acquaintance; this is laudable, & if you have enough of prudence & firmness, it will be of singular advantage--Yet attempt slowly & with the most Jealous Circ.u.mspection--If you fix your familiarity wrong in a single instance, you are in danger of total, if not immediate ruin--You come here, it is true, with an intention to teach, but you ought likewise to have an inclination to learn. At any rate I solemnly injoin it upon you, that you never suffer the spirit of a Pedagogue to attend you without the walls of your little Seminary. In all promiscuous Company be as silent & attentive as Decency will allow you, for you have nothing to communicate, which such company, will hear with pleasure, but you may learn many things which, in after life, will do you singular service.--In regard to Company in general, if you think it worth the while to attend to my example, I can easily instruct you in the manner of my Conduct in this respect. I commonly attend Church; and often, at the request of Gentlemen, after Service according to the custom, dine abroad on Sunday--I seldom fail, when invited by Mr or Mrs _Carter_, of going out with them; but I make it a point, however strongly solicited to the contrary, to return home with them too--Except in one of these cases, I seldom go out, but with a valuable variety of books I live according to Horace"s direction, & love "Secretum Iter et fallentis Semita Vitae." Close retirement and a life by Stealth. The last direction I shall venture to mention on this head, is, that you abstain totally from Women. What I would have you understand from this, is, that by a train of faultless conduct in the whole course of your tutorship, you make every Lady within the Sphere of your acquaintance, who is between twelve & forty years of age, so much pleased with your person, & so fully satisfied as to your abilities in the capacity of--a Teacher; & in short, fully convinced, that, from a principle of Duty, you have, both by night & by day endeavoured to acquit yourself honourably, in the Character of a Tutor; & that, on this account, you have their free & hearty consent, without making any manner of demand upon you, either to stay longer in the County with them, which they would choose, or whenever your business calls you away, that they may not have it in their Power either by charms or Justice to detain you, & when you must leave them, have their sincere wishes & constant prayrs for Length of days & much prosperity, I therefore beg that you will attend litterally to this advice, & abstain totally from Women. But this last precaution, which I have been at some pains to dress in the plainest language, I am much inclined to think, will be wholly useless in regard to you, notwithstanding it is founded in that _Honour_ and _Equity_ which is on all hands allow"d to be due from one s.e.x to the other, & to many of your _age_, & _Standing_ no doubt would be entirely salutary. Because the necessary connections which you have had with the Fair, from your p.u.b.erty upwards have been so unfavourable & ill-fated, that instead of apprehending any danger on the score of over fondness, I am fearful your rancour has grown so inveterate at length, as, not only to preserve you, in thought & practice, pure of every Fleshly foible, but has carried you so far towards the other extream, as that you will need many persuasions, when your circ.u.mstances shall seem to require it, to bring you back to a rational & manly habit of thinking & acting with respect to the s.e.x; which yet, after all (& eternally will continue to be, tho it is so much courted & whined after) if considered in the fullest manner, & set forth to the best advantage, never rises above its divine definition viz "The weaker Vessel." But without detaining you any longer with a matter merely depending on accident or Circ.u.mstance I pa.s.s on to the second General Head; in which "Ludis atque Jocis amotis [amatis]" I shall offer to your consideration & recommend for your practice several Rules concerning the managment of the School.
2. You will act wisely, if, from the begining, you convince all your Scholars which you may easily do, of your abilities in the several branches, which you shall profess to teach; you are not to tell them, totidem Verbis, "that you understand, perhaps as well as any man on the Continent both the Latin & Greek Cla.s.sicks;" "& have gone through the usual Course in the noted College of New-Jersey, under Dr Witherspoon, so universally known & admired, where you have studied Criticism, Oratory, History, not to mention Mathematical & philosophical Studies, & dipt a good way into the French-Language, & that you have learn"d a smattering of Dancing, Cards &c. &c. &c." For Dun-p or Hack---n or the most profound dunce in your College or School would have too much sense to pa.s.s such impudence by, & not despise and reproach it; but you may speedily & certainly make them think you a "Clever Fellow" (which is a phrase in use here for a good Scholar) if you never mention any thing before them, only what you seem to be wholly master of--This will teach them never to dispute your determination, & always to rely upon your Judgment; two things which are most essential for your peace, & their advantage. That you may avoid yourself of this with certainty I shall recommend for your practice the following method, as useful at least, if not intirely necessary. Read over carefully, the lessons in Latin & Greek, in your leisure hours, that the story & Language be fresh in your memory, when you are hearing the respective lessons; for your memory is treacherous, & I am pretty certain it would confound you if you should be accosted by a pert School-Boy, in the midst of a blunder, with "Physician heal thyself"!--You ought likewise to do this with those who are working Figures; probably you may think that because the highest Cypherer is only in decimal arithmetic, it is not there fore worth your critical attention to be looking previously into the several Sums. But you are to consider that a sum in the Square-Root, or even in the Single Rule of three direct, is to your Pupils of as great importance, as the most abstruse problem in the Mathematicks to an able artist; & you may lay this down for a Maxim, that they will reckon upon your abilities, according as they find you acquainted & expert in what they themselves are studying. If therefore you have resolution (as I do not question your ability) to carry this plan which I have laid down into execution; you will thereby convince them of the propriety of their Subordination to you, & obedience to your instructions, so that you may lead them, without any resistance, and fix them to the Study of whatever Science you think proper, in which they will rise according to their respective Capacities. I have said that you ought to strive "from the beginning" in fixing this very material article in the minds of your Scholars, Viz a Sense of your authority; for one error of Judgment, or false determination will diminish your Ability with them more than doing forty things with truth would increase your authority--They act in this case as you would do in the company of a number of Strangers--A whole evenings conversation, if it was tolerable good Sense, would perhaps make little or no impression on you; But if through hast[e] in speaking, or inattention, any one should let fall a sentence either remarkably foolish, or grossly wicked, it would be difficult if not impossible to persuade you presently that the author was not either a _thick-Scull_, or a _Villain_!--The education of children requires constant unremitting attention. The meanest qualification you can mention in a useful teacher is _diligence_ And without diligence no possible abilities or qualifications can bring children on either with speed or profit. There must be a Combination of qualifications which must all operate strongly & uniformly. In short, give this said Pedagogizing the softest name you will, it is still a "difficult Task." You will meet with numberless difficulties, in your new imployment, which you never dreamt had yet existence. All these you must endeavour to resist & Subdue. This I have seen compared to a Man swimming against a current of Water. But I am mistaken if you will agree, after having six months practice, that the comparison be strong as the truth: You will add to the figure, I am certain, & throw into the Current sharp fragments of _Ice_, & _Blocks_, which would make swimming not only difficult but dangerous! I am not urging these things to discourage you; they are hints for your direction, which, if you will attend to, tho" at first the practice seem rough & unpleasant, shall yet make the remainder of your task pleasing, & the whole of it useful, I will mention several of these Obstacles that you may the more easily guard against them. You will, in the first place, be often solicited, probably oftner than you would wish, to ride abroad; this, however, if you do it moderately, & in seasonable time, & go to proper company, I recommend as conducive to health to one in your sedentary manner of living. But if you go much into company, you will find it extremely difficulty to break away with any manner of credit till very late at night or in most cases for several days, & if you are wanting to your School, you do manifest injury to your Imployer. In this case, I advise you to copy Mr _Carter_. Whenever he invites you, ride. You may _stay_, and talk, & drink, & ride to as great excess as he; & may with safety a.s.sociate yourself with those whom you find to be his intimates. In all other Cases, except when you ride to Church, at least till you are very intimate in the Colony, you had better ride to a certain Stump, or to some noted plantation, or pretty landscape; you will have in this every advantage of exercise, the additional advantage of undisturbed Meditation, & you will be under no Jealous apprehension in point of behaviour, nor any restraint as to the time of your return.
Another current difficulty will be pet.i.tions for holidays. You must have good deal of steadiness if you are able to evade cleverly this practice which has grown so habitual to your little charge from a false method in their early education that they absolutely claim it as a necessary right.
You must also as much as you can, avoid visible partiality. At least you must never suffer your fondness for one Scholar to grow so manifest, as that all your School shall see you look over a fault in him or her which same fault, if commited by another, you severely chastise. This will certainly produce in the others hatred & contempt.
A fourth difficulty, and the last I shall mention, consists in knowing when, & in what measure to give the Boys Liberty to go from Home. The two younger Boys are wholly under your inspection; so that not only the progress they make in learning, but their moral Conduct (for both of these are critically observed & examined) either justifies or condemns your management to the World. If you keep them much at home, & close to business, they themselves will call you unfeeling and cruel; & refuse to be industrious; if you suffer them to go much abroad they are certainly out of the way of improvement by Study, probably, by discovering their gross Ignorance, they will expose to ridicule both themselves & all their former instructors, & possibly they may commit actual Crimes so as very much to injure themselves; & scandalize their family; but in each of these you will have a large share of blame, perhaps more than the parents, or even the Boys themselves--It will be said that the parents gave them no licence relying wholly on your judgment & prudence, this will in good measure justify them to the world. And as to the Boys they are full of youthful impetuosity & vigour, & these compel them, when they are free of restraint, to commit actions which with proper management they had surely avoided. I say, when you lay these things together, & view them on every side you will find so many perplexities arising in your mind, from a sense of ignorance of your duty, that you will proceed with caution & moderation, & will be carefull to examine with some precision into the circ.u.mstances of _time_, _company_, & _Business_ when you license them to go out entirely at the risk of your Reputation--But the practice of three or four Weeks will give you a more full notion of these & many other incidents than I am able now either to recollect or express; I shall have gained my End if these hints prevent you from setting off wrong, & doing inadvertantly at first what your Scholars will a.s.sert to be precedents for your after conduct. I go on, therefore, in the third place as I proposed,
3. To mention several Rules for your personal conduct. The happy Education which you have had in point of religion, you ought to consider as an important and distinguishing Blessing of Heaven. That train of useful _Instruction_, _Advice_ & _Example_ to which you have been accustomed from your infancy is a more perfect, & will be a safer guide in your future walk, than any directions I am able to give you.
You have taken notice of a method for a.s.sistance in Composition, which Longinus recommends. Place, says he, in imagination, several eminent ancient Authors before your Eyes, & suppose that they inspect your Work, a Sense of inferiority would make you diligent, & your composition accurate. Perhaps the same advice when transferr"d to Morality, would be equally salutary. Unless it be objected that a Belief of G.o.ds presence at all times in every place is the strongest possible restraint against committing Sin. This I constantly admit; but when I consider how easily our minds are put in motion, & how strongly they are sometimes agitated merely by the senses, & that the senses are aff3ected most by things which fall under their immediate notice, I am fully convinced that if some such plan as I have just mentioned should be fallen upon, & practised, it would make a visible and useful change in our behaviour--In this place I think it needful to caution you against hasty & ill founded prejudices. When you enter among a people, & find that their manner of living, their _Eating_, _Drinking_, _Diversions_, _Exercise_ &c, are in many respects different from any thing you have been accustomed to, you will be apt to fix your opinion in an instant, & (as some divines deal with poor Sinners) you will condemn all before you without any meaning or distinction what seems in your Judgment disagreable at first view, when you are smitten with the novelty. You will be making ten thousand Comparisons. The face of the Country, The _Soil_, the _Buildings_, the _Slaves_, the _Tobacco_, the method of spending _Sunday_ among Christians; _Ditto_ among the Negroes; the three grand divisions of time at the Church on Sundays, Viz. before Service giving & receiving letters of business, reading Advertis.e.m.e.nts, consulting about the price of Tobacco, Grain &c. & settling either the lineage, Age, or qualities of favourite Horses 2. In the Church at Service, prayrs read over in haste, a Sermon seldom under & never over twenty minutes, but always made up of sound morality, or deep studied Metaphysicks. 3.
After Service is over three quarters of an hour spent in strolling round the Church among the Crowd, in which time you will be invited by several different Gentlemen home with them to dinner. The b.a.l.l.s, the Fish-Feasts, the Dancing-Schools, the Christnings, the c.o.c.k fights, the Horse-Races, the Chariots, the Ladies Masked, for it is a custom among the Westmorland Ladies whenever they go from home, to m.u.f.fle up their heads, & Necks, leaving only a narrow pa.s.sage for the Eyes, in Cotton or silk handkerchiefs; I was in distress for them when I first came into the Colony, for every Woman that I saw abroad, I looked upon as ill either with the _Mumps_ or Tooth-Ach!--I say, you will be often observing & comparing these things which I have enumerated, & many more that now escape me, with the manner of spending Money time & credit at Cohansie: You are young, &, (you will allow me the Expression) in the morning of Life. But I hope you have plann"d off, and entered upon the work which is necessary to be performed in the course of your Day; if not, I think it my duty to acquaint you, that a combination of the amus.e.m.e.nts which I have just now mentioned, being always before your Eyes, & inviting your Compliance will have a strong tendency to keep you doubtful & unsetled, in your notions of Morality & Religion, or else will fix you in a false & dangerous habit of _thinking_ & _acting_, which must terminate at length in Sorrow & despair. You are therefore, if you count any thing upon the value of my advice, to fix the plan in which you would spend your life; let this be done with deliberation, Candour, & precission, looking to him for direction, by fervent Prayr, who is the "Wonderful Counsellor;" & when you have done this, let no importunity of whatever kind prevail over you, & cause you to transgress your own Limitations. I have already exceeded the usual bounds of an Epistle. But you will easily pardon a little prolixity, when I a.s.sure you it flows from a heart deeply impressed with a sense of the many difficulties which you must encounter, & the dangers which will surround you when you come first out from the peaceful recess of Contemplation, & enter, young and unexperienced, into the tumultuous undiscerning World. I submit these hints to your consideration, & have nothing more than sincere & ardent wishes for your present & perpetual Felicity.
I am, Sir, yours.
PHILIP. V FITHIAN.
TO MR JOHN PECK.
On going to Virginia in Character of a Tutor.
[JOURNAL]
_Sat.u.r.day 13._
_Prissy_ took the Ague last Night. She had an easy Fit--This Morning is quite cold, & will, I fear hasten on or at least provoke the present disorders--The good Mr _Stadley_ left us this Morning Breakfasted with us a Gentleman from _Maryland_. At Dinner he was join"d by another from the same Province they are both unknown--I rode out with Miss _Prissy_ to the Cornfield for Exercise--We gathered & brought home some good Roasting-Ears of Corn--Evening came in Colonel _Henry Lee_[195] He is chosen to be one of the seven who represent this Colony in the general Congress to be held next Month in Philadelphia--He sets out next Sunday Sennight--
[195] Richard Henry Lee of "Chantilly."
_Sunday 14._
Colonel Lee stays Breakfast (to Speak in the phrase of Ladies)--The morning fine--Sermon is to Day at Ucomico so that I am to stay in my Room; _Ben_, however, & _Bob_, & _Harry_, & Mr _Randolph_ all go--_f.a.n.n.y_ is yet confin"d to her Chamber--
_Monday 15._
Began a Letter to Jack Peck, giving him advice in Respect to his coming into this Colony--The People are better, only Miss _f.a.n.n.y_ with her Sores continues in her Chamber; I bought & sent her however this evening a present a large _Musk Melon_--Dined with us Squire _Lee_, he talks of going to Philadelphia to the Congress; He informs us that in Maryland is a Tea-Ship, from the India Company--
_Teusday 16._
The Colonel is summoned to a Meeting of Vestry-Men, at the Glebe--Nothing very extraordinary occurs, unless I mention that _Bob_ in the former part of this Day kept pretty quiet in his Seat, and worked out three Sums in Reduction compound, without much direction!--About five from the South East came on suddenly a Gust of Rain & Wind, Evening the Colonel returned but a good deal vexed--One of the Members were absent so that the Remainder could do no Business--
[Ill.u.s.tration: graveyard scene]
_Wednesday 17._
This Day is the annual Examination at Na.s.sau-Hall--I wish the Candidates Success & Honour. Last year I had the Pleasure to be present & hear the Examination--I saw _Laura_ too; & the Vixen abused me! She shall repent of that insult; Indeed She must feel, tho" I wound myself in the experiment, the Consequence of Slighting good-humour & Civility--There likewise I saw _Belinda_ my late agreeable Correspondent. She had left town this unlovely Month, for the benefit of Princeton"s pure salubrious Air--She laboured in a Consumption There too I took my last fare-well!--For soon after her return to Town the disorder fixed, & in a few Months destroy"d a _wise_, _useful_, _religious_ Girl--Her death surely was untimely, since she took with her all her virtues, which, with great pleasure & Sincerity She used to diffuse among her giddy Equals!--I am at a Loss to express my feeling for the Death of a young Lady, with whom I had only a short, yet a benificial Intimacy--The Circ.u.mstance of my first Acquaintance with her was wholly Accidental, yet I soon believed & accounted it advantageous--I thought her capable of improving me with Sentiment, & I speedily found that my expectation was true--We commenced a Litterary Correspondence, of which I only say that She always express"d herself with so much Truth, Ease & Humour as to make me read her Letters with eagerness and satisfaction--If I would record a Motto for her, it Should be--"Virtue without Melancholy."
Breakfasted & dined with us two Gentlemen from Maryland--They come over for the benefit of Mr _Carter"s_ Mill; as Mills are scarce near the Potowmack in Maryland; but the reason I am a stranger to--Read some in Dr Swift--Writing on to Mr Peck--The weather is close & this evening I heard two Musquetoes, only one of which ventured to light upon me--I dare say they are thicker at Cohansie!--Each Wednesday & Sat.u.r.day we dine on Fish all the Summer, always plenty of _Rock_, _Perch_, & _Crabs_, & often Sheeps-Head and Trout!--
_Thursday 18._
Very ill most of last night with a violent Dysentery; I fear a frequency of this disease will at-length fix & ruin me--It continues to Day, & with no less rage, I cannot eat nor drink, am low Spirited Think constantly of Home;--Sometimes repent my having come into this Colony, & blame myself for having been persuaded to turn out of my road to public Business--But when I reflect closely I justify the Conduct, & resign myself _Body_ & _Soul_ & _Employment_ to G.o.d who has the Hearts of all in his hand, & who I am persuaded, if he has any thing for me to do in Life, will preserve, & in a measure fit me for it, if not, I am in his Hand, let him do as seemes good in his Eyes--At Dinner the Colonel invited me to ride with him to a Mill of his which is repairing, about eight miles Distance; I accepted his Invitation, gave the children a few Hours for Play, & went with the Colonel _Ben_ was along--The Face of the earth seems covered with mocking-Birds, but not one of them sing, they seem vastly busy but it is in collecting Food--Not a bird, except now & then _Robbin-Redbreast_ is heard to sing in this Feverish Month--Nature seems cheerless and gloomy! The Evening is hot, but the Ride was agreeable, it was useful too; for I grow much better; The Jolting of the Horse seemed salutary, my Pain subsided, I returned almost wholly relieved in the evening, drank my Coffee, went soon to my Room, gave thanks to my divine _restorer_ & laid me down to rest--
_Fryday 19._
I slept through the night in _quiet_ and ease, & rose perfectly relieved Mr _Carter_ at Breakfast advised me to take with him Some _Salt-Petre_, as a useful Dieuretick but I declin"d--Mr _Grubb_ came in about twelve o-Clock from _Sabine-Hall_. Colonel _Carter_ gave an Entertainment Yesterday to celebrate his Birth-Day; & had a numerous & gay Company.--This young Gentleman (Mr _Grubb_) appears to be a person of Capacity & Improvement; he was Educated in England, & has been a.s.sistant to a Merchant on _James"s River_ in this Colony for some time past. This Summer he has been totally Idle--He proposes week after week to set out for Williamsburg, & Sail thence home, but he stays. He has much good nature, is an agreeable companion--I pity him.--He seems fond of Miss _Betsy Lee_--But he is too fluctuating in his mind to settle there, or with any Girl whatever Yet--
_Sat.u.r.day 20._
_Ben_ Mr _Taylor_, Mr _Grubb_, & _Harry_ went to the Potowmack to a Fish Feast--Come, Fithian, what do you mean by keeping hived up sweating in your Room--Come out & air yourself--But I choose to stick by the Stuff. The Colonel too, very kindly, offered me a Seat in his Chariot to Nomini Court-House, but I declin"d Mr Lane & Mr Warden came in towards evening--Both in high Spirits. But Mr _Lane_ was (as they say) "Half Seas over"--they sat & chated noisily til nine--Evening clear a full Moon, & very light--Our neighbourhood seems alive with little Negro Boys playing in every part--
_Sunday 21._
Nomini Church--Parson Smith gave us after Prayrs, which he was obliged to read himself, a useful Sermon; poor man he seemed to labour hard--Dined with us Captain _Walker_, Mr _Lane_, Mrs _Lane_, Mr _Wadman_, Mr _Warden_.
Soon after Dinner I left the company & retired to my chamber where I seem commonly most happy--
[LETTER OF PHILIP V. FITHIAN TO PALATIAH WEBSTER]
Nomini-Hall Virginia, augt 21st 1774.