44 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



Society, of which John Baeteam was one of the original members 

 (his name standing next to that of Dr. Feanklin, who headed the 

 list), that he died on the 22d of September, 1777 ; and conse- 

 quently, that he attained to the age of 78 years and 6 months. 



One of the grand-daughters of the venerable botanist, who re- 

 collects him distinctly, says he was exceedingly annoyed and 

 agitated (and she thinks his days were shortened), by the approach 

 of the royal army, after the battle of Brandywine. As that army 

 had been ravaging various portions of the revolted colonies, he was 

 apprehensive it might also lay waste his darling garden, the 

 cherished nursling of almost half a century. 



The following epistle (of which a copy was politely furnished by 

 Miss Gibson, a descendant of John Baeteam,) is so admirably 

 graphic, and exhibits, withal, such pleasant traits of truthful sim- 

 plicity, that the editor cannot but regard it as an appropriate 

 appendage to the preceding biographical sketch. It was published 

 at London, in the year 1782, in an octavo volume, entitled, Letters 

 from an American Farmer, by J. Hectoe St. John, a Farmer in 

 Pennsylvania.* It appears that Mr. St. John was a French gen- 



" :: ~ Mr. St. John afterwards returned to France, and was there induced to 

 translate his own work into his native language. The French edition, somewhat 

 modified and considerably enlarged, was published at Paris, in 1787 (in three 

 vols. 12mo.), under the title of " Lettres oVun Cultivateur Americain, adressees 

 a Wm. S ox, Esq., depuis Vannee 1770 juxqu'en 1780. Par M. St. John de 

 Creveccetjk. Traduites de V Anglais." It is a curious and entertaining' per- 

 formance ; containing also some affecting narratives, the perusal of which makes 

 one desirous to know more of the man, and of his interesting family. 



The editor has been favoured with the following notice of Mr. St. John, by 

 the honourable and venerable Samuel Breck:, of Philadelphia, through the kind- 

 ness of his friend, Dr. A. L. Elwyn, of the same city. "In the year 1787, (says 

 Mr. Breck,) I arrived at Paris, from the Royal and Military College of Soreze, in 

 the then province of Languedoc, where I had spent more than four years. 

 Thomas Jefferson, who was our plenipotentiary at the court of Louis XVI., was 

 travelling in Italy. A young Virginian, Mr. Short, received me in the Minister's 

 name, being his secretary, and made me acquainted with a very amiable French- 

 man, who had resided in the United States, and written there a work, entitled, 

 ' Letters from an American Farmer,' flattering and favourable to our country. 

 This gentleman was Hector Saint John de Crevecceur. His work was exceed- 

 ingly popular in France, and the fame acquired by it, was a passport to the 

 highest circles. The romantic descriptions in which he had indulged, in reference 

 to the manners and primitive habits of our countrymen, made some of the great 

 lords and ladies of Paris desirous to see a native American ; among others, a 

 Polish princess took a fancy to see me, upon St. John's report to her of his 

 acquaintance with me, and invited me to dine with her. I went there, accom- 

 panied by Mons. Crevecceur. 



