MR W . MR F . 21 



the state of affairs all of a sudden ; but I withdrew to the 

 house of my friend in the country. The great man did not 

 make his appearance that evening ; yet the mere expectation 

 of his arrival deprived us of food and shelter. What a mise 

 rable state of society ! 



The tavern-keepers of Ireland, and those of Newton and 

 Holmsburg, seem to have been actuated by very different 

 motives. Both were culpably unaccommodating ; but those 

 of America, probably, acted from saucy independence those 

 of Ireland, from greedy and needy dependence. Paddy wish 

 ed to fawn on the rich man, and enjoy the crumbs which fell 

 from his establishment ; while Jonathan indulged his own 

 humour, and disregarded crumbs of every kind. 



Just as we approached Mr W s, rain began to fall, and 

 prevented our examination of his farm, which I much regret- 

 ted. Our stay, however, was prolonged till after dinner, 

 having been fascinated by the sentiments of his powerful and 

 original mind. Besides acquiring much useful information 

 regarding the United States generally, I learned the advan 

 tages of introductory letters, which* I too lightly esteemed, 

 from the circumstance of having, when a young man, travelled 

 over a considerable portion of England without such creden 

 tials, and obtained access to whatever interested me, by sta 

 ting, either verbally or in writing, the object of my visit. Mrs 



W asked me if I had a friend named Flanagan, and on 



being answered in the negative, added, that a person, passing 

 by that name, introduced himself to her husband as my bosom 

 friend, and in consequence received considerable attention for 

 seven or eight months, at the end of which he decamped, with 

 out paying his debts. On reflection, I recollected having 

 received and answered two letters from a person of that name 

 in the north of Ireland, which formed the extent of our inter 

 course. Introductory letters have become so common of late 

 years, that in many quarters they are treated with neglect. 

 They are perhaps unnecessary to liberal-minded men, and 

 only useful to guard against imposition. 



Returning to Philadelphia in the afternoon, I delivered an 

 introductory letter to an eminent individual, who had beea 

 described to me as the Sir John Sinclair of America, which 



