52 VISIT OF IWANALEXIOWITZ 



weary of its inhabitants ; they must come here to flee from the 

 tyranny of the great. But doth not thee imagine that the great 

 will, in the course of years, come over here also ? for it is the 

 misfortune of all societies everywhere to hear of great men, great 

 rulers, and of great tyrants." " My dear sir," I replied, " tyranny 

 never can take a strong hold in this country, the land is too wisely 

 distributed ; it is poverty in Europe that makes slaves." " Friend 

 Iwan, as I make no doubt thee understandest the Latin tongue, 

 read this kind epistle which the good Queen of Sweden, Ulrica, 

 sent me a few years ago. Good woman ! that she should think, in 

 her palace at Stockholm, of poor John Bertram on the banks of 

 the Schuylkill, appeareth to me very strange." " Not in the least, 

 dear sir ; you are the first man whose name as a botanist hath done 

 honour to America ; it is very natural at the same time to imagine 

 that so extensive a continent must contain many curious plants and 

 trees ; is it then surprising to see a princess, fond of useful know- 

 ledge, descend sometimes from the throne, to walk in the gardens 

 of Linnaeus ?" " 'Tis to the directions of that learned man (said 

 Mr. Bertram) that I am indebted for the method which has led 

 me to the knowledge I now possess ; the science of botany is so 

 diffusive, that a proper thread is absolutely wanted to conduct the 

 beginner." "Pray, Mr. Bertram, when did you imbibe the first 

 wish to cultivate the science of botany ? Was you regularly bred to 

 it in Philadelphia?" "I have never received any other education 

 than barely reading and writing ; this small farm was all the patri- 

 mony my father left me ; certain debts, and the want of meadows, 

 kept me rather low in the beginning of my life ; my wife brought me 

 nothing in money, all her riches consisted in her good temper and 

 great knowledge of housewifery. I scarcely know how to trace my 

 steps in the botanical career ; they appear to me, now, like unto a 

 dream ; but thee mayest rely on what I shall relate, though I know 

 that some of our friends have laughed at it." "I am not one of 

 those people, Mr. Bertram, who aim at finding out the ridiculous, 

 in what is sincerely and honestly averred." "Well, then, I'll tell 

 thee. One day I was very busy in holding my plough (for thee 

 seest I am but a ploughman), and being weary, I ran under the 

 shade of a tree to repose myself. I cast my eyes on a daisy ; I 

 plucked it mechanically, and viewed it with more curiosity than 

 common country farmers are wont to do, and observed therein very 

 many distinct parts, some perpendicular some horizontal. What 



