The male youth generally of this, and other cities, are remarkably polished, sprightly and prepossessing in their exterior; being of tall and slender figures, and looking free and easy, without any thing like levity, for each puts on all the airs, manners, actions, and opinions of men, with his first pair of breeches, and expects to be treated as a man. But ringlets decorate the faces of both sexes, and in other respects all are dandies, male and female! The young ladies generally are not so handsome as the males; though beauty is not rare amongst them. A woman's duties and province are, I think, yet undiscovered. She is here, that is, in all sections south of the Delaware, a little divinity, to whom all must bend, give place, and pay idle homage; her tyranny is great, her influence unbounded. Her lover, or husband, is outwardly her slave; but as a wife, mother, mistress, she must yield to my unequalled countrywomen. Youth here, is of very short duration; all soon look old; and "all the days of the years of this vain life," soon come to an end. Religion and duty seem but little understood, [417] and less regarded, except it be to ascertain how little of either may suffice. Paley's Moral Philosophy has been, perhaps, the text book of the educated, who are very numerous; yet but few live and die practical philosophers. Death is little dreaded, and often, as in duelling, voluntarily embraced. Two selfish gods, Pleasure and Gain, enslave the Americans. The scum of all the earth is drifted here.
As this is sent off about a month after my other, and will be my last letter from this country, I wish you to inform my good father, if living, and Mr. Ingle, of my present refuge and intended return, and assure them of my best regards. My beloved child, who, by-the-bye, would become in part your ward if I returned no more, is very precious in my sight; if you knew her, I should beg you to pronounce a father's blessing on her; but it comes to her on every western breeze. When I can, I will teach her to esteem you, and perpetuate, what is of little value, the disinterested and most sincere friendship of,
Dear Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
W. Faux.
11th.—Mistrust and suspicion are general in Philadelphia. The cause is a general disregard or violation of duty. Two respectable quakers would not suffer Mr. —— to owe them eight [418] dollars for a day or two, though guaranteed by a second person, who, for any thing they knew, might be respectable; so they took out two pieces of muslin to reduce the bill down to the funds in hand. "Notwithstanding this guarantee," said the quaker, "I will, and must have the thing squared." The representative of my friend then paid the complete balance. I was present at this transaction, and feeling both pained and amused, began to speculate upon it, and to consider what could have generated this general suspicion and distrust. It is the common effect of some cause. What cause? A general violation or neglect of some prominent duties, not directly guarded by the laws, but the observance of which is indispensable to the good of mankind every where. Culpability of this kind, in not doing to others as we would be done by, does more injury to the world than all the thieves and incendiaries put together; because the consequence in one case is particular, in the other illimitable. If I act justly towards my neighbour, I confer both temporal and moral good on him and on myself. But it stops not here: he learns thereby its value, and acts in like manner towards others. On the other hand, if I violate my duty to him, he retaliates not only on me, but on others indiscriminately. He thinks he has been honest and unsuspicious long enough, and bids adieu to rectitude perhaps for ever.
Last month at Dover, Delaware, Squire Loper [419] received sentence of the court for passing forged notes, knowing them to be so. He had been in the commission of the peace for 20 years, and received the forged notes from a gang convicted before him of forgery. The notes had remained in his hands ever since. A month ago, he desired a gentleman, a neighbour of his going to Philadelphia, to buy him some iron, and meeting the gentleman privately, gave him fifty dollars, saying, "Take notice it is a fifty dollar note," and gave it him carefully wrapped in paper. When the bearer offered it for the iron, it was discovered to be one of the forged notes, well known to have been offered by the gang before. The gentleman had some difficulty in keeping out of the Penitentiary. On proving himself not to be a party concerned, and promising to bring the Squire forward, he was released. The Squire admitted the note to be forged, and said, he gave it to his friend only in joke. On being arrested, he was treated with great liberality, but he acted haughtily and foolishly. On his trial he would not employ counsel nor set up any defence; but in a cool, sneering manner said, that the note was given in joke, and the court might do as they would. He was sentenced to six months' solitary confinement, thirty-nine lashes, and never after to pass out of his own house in Dover without the letter F, a foot long in scarlet, on his back, on pain of another six months' confinement and thirty-nine stripes. But so great was the [420] public pity for him, in court and out, both with judge and jury, that the prison door was left open for him in hope that he would escape and quit the neighbourhood for ever. He did escape into the town only, and came back to prison voluntarily, where no such chance is again to be afforded him.
At night, I went to the black church, where the black minister shewed much uncultivated talent. After sermon they began singing merrily, and continued, without stopping, one hour, till they became exhausted and breathless. "Oh! come to Zion, come!" "Hallelujah, &c." And then, "O won't you have my lovely bleeding Jasus," a thousand times repeated in full thundering chorus to the tune of "Fol de rol." While all the time they were clapping hands, shouting, and jumping, and exclaiming, "Ah Lord! Good Lord! Give me Jasus! Amen." At half-past ten this meeting broke up. For an hour it seemed like Bedlam let loose. At the close, one female said, striking the breasts of two male friends, "We had a happy time of it."
16th.—Last week, in the state of Delaware, the High Sheriff had to perform the duty of Jack Ketch, and hang his own nephew, for the murder of his own mother, the Sheriff's sister. The youth killed her by striking her with a club on the temple. In the same neighbourhood and the same week another youth was sent to gaol for poisoning his uncle, a rich old gentleman, who being childless, had [421] taken this nephew into the house and made him heir to all; but the youth being impatient, went to a druggist for arsenic, which he said was to kill the rats, that every night kept his uncle from sleeping. He mixed a portion of it in a glass of apple-toddy and gave it to his uncle, but in so large a portion that it began to operate immediately, on which the old man said, "You have given me something to do me harm." The youth denied it, but the old man grew rapidly sick, and feeling conscious that he was poisoned and should die before the distant doctor could arrive, got out the will in favor of the ungrateful youth, and having burnt it, died soon after.
A short time ago, the friends of a murderer, under sentence of death in Pennsylvania, conspired together to procure a pardon from the governor, by threats and intimidation. Their plan was to get the governor into a room to themselves, and offer him his own life for the pardon of Lieut. Smith, the convict, who had cohabited with Mrs. Carson, and taken possession of her house and property, during the absence of her husband, Captain Carson. When the latter returned and demanded his wife and property, he was shot dead in his own house by Smith. The governor had intelligence of the plot, and seized the conspirators before they could carry their design into effect.
Sunday, 21st.—Quitted Philadelphia on board the steam-boat. A gentleman, Lieut. Skinner, of [422] the United States' navy, from the Franklin, just arrived from Gibraltar, states, that the sailors, on settling accounts, will go on shore and spend the balance, several hundred dollars, in two or three days, lavishing from 100 to 200 dollars a-day, until all is gone, when they re-enter. So indifferent are they to the use and value of money, that they give it away, and suffer any person to plunder them with impunity. The cause, says he, of this indifference and insane extravagance, is to be found in the strictness and severity of the discipline on board, where money is of no use to them.
Duelling.—So frequent were these meetings between the officers of the United States' navy and the British garrison, that the governor felt compelled to interfere, in order to save life, as one or two duels occurred daily, originating in the most foolish disputes.