"dren. Woe to Rachel when he died. Oh! "how I clap my hands and cry! but he's gone to the great Jehovah. I shall never forget it; 'twas at the pulling of corn-time. The "" poor creature was a little out of his head. "He asked me if the corn was in tassel. In "tassel, says I! God help you, you had some "yesterday for dinner. But he changed the "discourse, and he talked of the hymn-book, "and Parson Wems, and Poheek church. It was as good as any sarment! Dear sweet "honey! He was a friend to the gospel; he loved the Church of England, and nobody I can say they ever saw him go to the Quaker"meeting. Alack! Alack! My poor husband "died the next morning; I knew his time was come; the Whip-poor-will cried all night "by the house, and I could not drive him away. God help us. Die come in every part of the world; Virginia, Maryland: "black man! white man! all one day or an"other get their mouth full of yellow clay!" Occoquan scarcely supplied more literature than Ovid's place of banishment on the Black Sea. But at Clearmount, near Fauquier Court-house, lived a French gentleman of the name of Gerardine,* whose reputation for the [* Cf. Isaac Weld, Travels through the States of North America Vol. I. pp. 175-176.—“ Among the inhabitants [of Norfolk, Virginia,] are great numbers of Scotch and French. The latter are almost entirely from the West Indies, and prin Belles Lettres, induced me to write to him from my solitude. I chose the French language for the vehicle of my thoughts, and enclosed in the letter the little book of poems I had published at New-York. The answer of Mr. Gerardine discovers an elegant mind. "Monsieur, "Dans cette Solitude ou les Muses se font "si rarement entendre, vous conceverez aisément que l'envoi de vos jolis Poemes a du "exciter à la fois la surprize et le plaisir. Je compare votre present inattendu à un joli parterre dans un Desert inculte et sauvage, "dont l'email se seroit offert continuellement "à ma vue. "Continuez, Monsieur, à caresser les Muses avec Horace and Anacreon; le tems repren"dra ses âiles, vos heures en couleront plus doucement, et vous ajouterez de nouvelles "fleurs á la Guirlande Poetique dont vous etes deja couronneé. Ovide chantoit encore sur les bords lontaines où la tyrannie d'Auguste l'avoit enchainé, et vous avez "celebré Coosohatchie. 'Je me suis fait un devoir de repondre à "votre Lettre obligeante dans une langue que "vous ecrivez si bien, et que sans l'envoi de ce cipally from St. Domingo. Between two and three thousand were in Norfolk at one time; most of them, however, afterwards dispersed themselves throughout different parts of the country."] que vous appellez trop modestement vos Bagatelles, je vous eusse assurément pris pour un de mes Compatriotes. "J'ai l'honneur d'être, Monsieur, "C. GERARDINE." It was now I felt the bliss of having an enlightened friend to whom I could pour out my soul on paper, and enjoy the intercourse of spirit without the mediation of an earthly frame. My friendship with Mr. George was still unimpaired, and I consider it no small felicity that I have been able to preserve so many of his letters amidst the casualties to which the life of a Wanderer is subject. The gloom of my solitude at Occoquan, was cheered by the sincerity of his friendship, and the sprightliness of his wit. "An epistle from Ovid among the Geta to "his friend at Rome, could not have imparted "half the delight that your letter from Occo(( quan has given the companion of your adversity at New-York. I had long expected a missive from the City in the Woods,' * and could only ascribe your silence to the "distraction of business in your new office of "Secretary's Secretary; when suddenly is (( brought me a letter dated at a place, which, * " 'Washington." however acute my researches into the Geography of America, I never heard men"tioned before. I thank you for the ode you did me the favour to enclose, it is an happy imitation of Cunningham's manner; but the images are more pleasing from having the grace of novelty to recommend them. Nor "should I neglect to observe, how much you "have shewn your skill in making the word Occoquan the burden of your exordial and "concluding stanzas; a practice never to be "dispensed with in local poetry, as, without "it, the poem would have no particular appli"cation, were the title to be lost. "But it is useless to write anything for "Americans. Taste has not so diffused its "influence through this hemisphere as to cause the Poet to be cherished; and though an Orpheus might have power to charm the woods, yet the inhabitants would be insen"sible to the harmony of his lyre. In this region the minuteness of the politician takes place of the elevation of the poet. Occoquan, from your description of it, must be a delightful spot, and in prophetic language I would declare, that your abode 66 on the banks of the river will make the stream classical in the annals of literary history. "Let us continue, without failure, to write to each other. It will give life to our friend แ 'ship, and soften the rigours of existence. Whatever we write must partake much of "the spirit of the places in which we live; but sentiments may arise from solitary reflection, "which the multitudinous (a word you taught me) uproar of a city would rather suppress " than excite. "Is it possible that you live in a family of "Quakers, or that a Quaker should have "selected you from the crowd to bring up his "children in the way they should go? Alas! "you will be writing wicked rhyme when you "should be expounding to them scripture; and set before them the vanity of compliments "when they should utter yea and nay!" It was my custom every Saturday to ride to Alexandria, where I read the northern papers at the Coffee-room, and at Thomas' "Book Store," regaled myself with the new publications imported from Philadelphia.* But I sought in vain for the advertisement that was to announce the diffusion of the Wanderings of William, and looked forward with solicitude for the moment that was to reward my labour with emolument, and satisfy my vanity with praise. In this state of suspense I wrote my friend Dufief an elaborate epistle in [*"The catalogue of books for sale in this city, [Philadelphia], contains upwards of 300 sets of Philadelphia editions, besides a greater variety of maps and charts than is to be found any where else in America." Dr. Morse's American Gazetteer, 2nd Ed. 1804.] |