A pure cold northerly wind still blows, & we all keep Fires—Peaches & Fruit are omitted at Dinners, & Soup or Broth is brought in; Milk and Hominy at Breakfast too are laid by & Coffee & Sage Tea brought in; Our Suppers are Coffee & Bred & butter—Neatness variety & Plenty are reigning Characters in our worthy oconomist Mrs Carter. I read to Day, & am charm'd with a —— of Lord Chesterfield. Letters to his natural Son, which I propose to purchase—After School, with Ben, I took a walk to Mr Turberville's—He has received a line from Colonel Lee at Philadelphia that the Congress is going on—That the account concerning Boston is false—Evening Lancelot Lee came in, & staid the night—He gave Ben & myself an Invitation to dine with him tomorrow, I took out of the Library & began to read Watts's Logic—
Fryday 23.
I spent some time in reviewing Geography & Logic—Mr Lee left us about twelve, & Ben rode out with him—Evening from Mr Turberville's I saw some Barberry's, Sloes, & Pomegranates, neither of which I had seen before—
Saturday 24.
Together with my Cold I have to Day a most disagreeable gathering on my middle Finger—I keep myself at home reading Logic—Evening the Colonel invited me to walk with him; he took me to his Mill, Coopers, House, Channel, Meadows &c., and was vastly particular in describing to me their particular uses—I begin to look with eager Sollicitude to the time of my revisiting my friends & Relations—It is, happily near—
Sunday 25.
The morning clear cool & very dry—I rode to Ucomico-Church, I was surprised when the Psalm begun, to hear a large Collection of voices singing at the same time, from a Gallery, entirely contrary to what I have seen befor in the Colony, for it is seldom in the fullest Congregation's, that more sing than the Clerk, & about two others!—I am told that a singing Master of good abilities has been among this society lately & put them on the respectable Method which they, at present pursue—I dined at Mr Fishers, among others I saw there, Dr Steptoe, & Mr Hamilton who have lately been to Philadelphia—They give various Reports concerning political affairs, & as to the Congress nothing certain, so that I say nothing on that Score—Their Remarks on the City & Inhabitants; The Country &c. are curious—They allow the City to be fine, neat, & large; they complain a little of the small Rooms, Uniformity of the Buildings, & several other like faults—They call the Inhabitants grave & reserved; & the Women remarkably homely, hard favour'd & sour!—One Colonel Harrison[204] from a lower County in this Colony, offer'd to give a Guinea for every handsome Face that could be found in the City, if any one would put a Copper on every Face that did not come up to that Character!—This is an impeachment of the Ladies which I have never heard before, I do not give my opinion either for or against it—The face of the Country, & the method of farming that way delights them: but at this I dont wonder.
Monday 26.
Yesterday the Inspector, whom I have named & described before, desired the Parson to wait on them in his family and christen his Child—Is the child sick? No Sir—Why then today? it is the Mothers Desire Sir—Why was it not brought to Church? The Mother is unwell, Sir—The Parson excused himself, & promised to come some Days hence, but the long winded officer, inured to Stubbornness, hung on, &, without moderation or Apology demanded his presence!—And prevail'd.—Something in our palace this Evening, very merry happened—Mrs Carter made a dish of Tea. At Coffee, she sent me a dish—& the Colonel both ignorant—He smelt, sipt—look'd—At last with great gravity he asks what's this?—Do you ask Sir—Poh!—And out he throws it splash a sacrifice to Vulcan—
