8 INTRODUCTION. 



merchant and yet have so much land : the 

 Colonel replied, that if Mr. Young had the 

 same land to cultivate, it would make a great 

 fool of him. The Colonel did me the honour 

 to say I was the only man he ever knew to 

 treat General Washington with frankness. 

 The General's cattle at that time were 

 all in poor condition : except his mules 

 (bred from American mares), which were 

 very fine, and the Spanish ass sent to him 

 as a present by the king of Spain. I felt 

 myself much vexed at an expression used 

 at dinner by Mrs, Washington. When the 

 General and the company at table were 

 talking about the fine horses and cattle I 

 had brought from England, Mrs. Washing- 

 ton said, " I am afraid, Mr. Parkinson, you 

 have brought your fine horses and cattle to 

 a bad market ; I am of opinion that our 

 horses and cattle are good enough for our 



