CATHOLIC AND QUAKER 
129 
soil covered with a forest of pines. His house is 
simple, his garden is well kept, he has a good library, 
and his situation seems destined for the retreat of a 
philosopher.” In August he went “with Mr. Shoe¬ 
maker to the house of his father-in-law Mr. Richard¬ 
son, a farmer who lives near Middleton, twenty miles 
from Philadelphia. . . . The garden furnished 
vegetables of all kinds and fruits.” The next month 
found him at Springmill, eight miles up from Phila¬ 
delphia on the Schuylkill, where the best house was 
occupied by a Frenchman whose name he does not 
give, but to whom he refers as “M. L.” 
This residence was on a hill, with the river flowing 
past on the southeast—“the most sublime prospect that 
you can imagine,” says he. “From the two gardens, 
formed like an amphitheatre, you enjoy that fine pros¬ 
pect above mentioned. These gardens”—they were 
three acres in extent—“are well cultivated and contain 
a great many bee-hives. ... M. L. has . 
planted a vineyard near his house on the south-east 
exposure, and it succeeds very well. ... I have 
already mentioned that the pastures and fields in 
America are enclosed with barriers of wood or fences. 
M. L. thinks it best to replace them by ditches six 
feet deep, of which he throws the earth upon his 
meadows, and borders the sides with hedges; and thus 
renders the passage impracticable to the cattle.” This 
