APPOINTED PROFESSOR: STUDIES IX PHILADELPHIA. 99 



was liberal almost to a fault, and furnished her table 

 even luxuriously. Our habits were, indeed, in other re 

 spects far from those of teetotalers. No person of that 

 description was in our circle. On the contrary, agreeably 

 to the custom which prevailed in the boarding-houses of 

 our cities half a century ago, every gentleman furnished 

 himself with a decanter of wine, usually a metallic or 

 other label being attached to the neck, and bearing the 

 name of the owner. Healths were drunk, especially if 

 stranger guests were present, and a glass or two was not 

 considered excessive, sometimes two or three, according 

 to circumstances. Porter or other strong beer was used 

 at table as a beverage. As Robert Hare was a brewer of 

 porter and was one of our number, his porter was in high 

 request, and indeed it was of an excellent quality. I do 

 not remember any water-drinker at our table or in the 

 house, for total abstinence was not there thought of except, 

 perhaps, by some wise and far-seeing Franklin. 



Accustomed to a simple diet in New Haven, without 

 wine or porter, and perhaps with only cider at dinner, the 

 new life to which I was now introduced did not agree well 

 with my health. Occasionally, vertigo disturbed my head, 

 and the nervous system was affected. At the end of both 

 seasons in Philadelphia I had made some progress towards 

 incipient gout. On my knuckles, what appeared to be 

 chalky concretions began to form, which however went 

 away after my return to New Haven and to my usual mode 

 of living. In the upper classes of society in Philadelphia, 

 the habits of living were then very luxurious and the spirit 

 worldly. In my case, the effects of luxurious living were 

 to a degree counteracted by vigorous exercise. Often I 

 walked with my friend Charles Chauncey, even in severe 

 weather and before breakfast, to the river Schuylkill, two 

 to two and a half miles, and of course four to five miles 

 out and back ; and Robert Hare's brewery, one and a half 

 mile up town, often gave the occasion of useful exercise : 





