TO JOHN BARTRAM. 49 



any such association in any other parts of the continent ; Pennsyl- 

 vania, hitherto, seems to reign the unrivalled queen of these fair 

 provinces. Pray, sir, what expense are you at, ere these grounds 

 be fit for the scythe ?" " The expenses are very considerable, par- 

 ticularly when we have land, brooks, trees, and brush to clear 

 away ; but such is the excellence of these bottoms, and the good- 

 ness of the grass for fattening of cattle, that the produce of three 

 years pays all advances." Happy the country where nature has 

 bestowed such rich treasures ! Treasures superior to mines ; I 

 said, " If all this fair province is thus cultivated, no wonder it has 

 acquired such reputation for the prosperity and the industry of its 

 inhabitants." By this time the working part of the family had 

 finished their dinner, and had retired with a decency and silence 

 which pleased me much. Soon after I heard, as I thought, a 

 distant concert of instruments. " However simple and pastoral 

 your fare was, Mr. Bertram, this is the dessert of a prince ; pray, 

 what is this I hear ?" " Thee must not be alarmed; it is of a piece 

 with the rest of thy treatment, friend Iwax." Anxious, I followed 

 the sound, and, by ascending the staircase, found that -it was the 

 effect of the wind through the strings of an iEolian harp, an 

 instrument which I had never before seen. After dinner we 

 quaffed an honest bottle of Madeira wine, without the irksome 

 labour of toasts, healths, or sentiments ; and then retired into his 

 study. 



I was no sooner entered, than I observed a coat of arms, in a 

 gilt frame, with the name of Jonx Bertram. The novelty of such 

 a decoration, in such a place, struck me ; I could not avoid asking, 

 "Does the Society of Friends take any pride in those armorial 

 bearings, Avhich sometimes serve as marks of distinction between 

 families, and much oftener as food for pride and ostentation ? 

 "Thee must know (said he) that my father was a Frenchman;* 

 he brought this piece of painting over with him. I keep it as 

 a piece of family furniture, and as a memorial of his removal 

 hither." 



From his study we went into the garden, which contained a 



* This is evidently a misapprehension on the part of the "Russian gentle- 

 man." John Bartram, no doubt, had reference to his remote ancestor, the Norman 

 "Frenchman," who "came with William the Conqueror," and "settled in the 

 north of England." See his letter to Archibald Bartram, anno 1761. 



4 



