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This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in
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may not reproduce this digitized copy ofthe book for
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JOURNAL

OF

WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH
1790 — 1 79 1
EDITED BY
ALBERT MATTHEWS

CAMBRIDGE
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1917

From the
Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society
for October, 191 7

JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH
1790— 1 791

JOURNAL OF
WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH
1790-1791

The author of this Journal, now made accessible for the
first time,1 was William Smith of Charleston, South Carolina.
His father, Benjamin Smith (1718-1770), was a noted man in
his day, having filled many offices in his native province.
William was his third son and fifth child by his first wife, Anne
Loughton, who died February 29, 1760.2 Late in life — ap
parently in or about 18043 — Mr. Smith added his mother's
1 See p. 35, note 3, infra.
2 For a sketch of the Smith family, see "William Smith and some of his
Descendants," by A. S. SaUey, Jr., in the South Carolina Historical and Genea
logical Magazine for July, 1903, iv. 239-257, 313.
3 A letter dated August 18, 1800, is signed "W. S.:" Life of John Pickering,

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IQI7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1 790-1 791. 21
surname, and thereafter called himself William Loughton
Smith.1 Early in 1770, at the age of twelve, young Smith was sent
by his father, who had himself been educated in England, to
Europe for his education, and did not return to this country
until November, 1783.2 Almost immediately he plunged into
public Hfe, and in November, 1788, was elected to Congress
from Charleston district, South Carolina. On the ground of
eligibility, his election was contested by Dr. David Ramsay,3
177. In a letter dated December 8, 1803, Timothy Pickering refers to "William
Smith, Esq." (see p. 27, infra). In a letter dated October 18, 1804, Mr. Smith
for the first time, so far as I have noted, signed himself "Wm. Loughton Smith."
Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, iv. 427.
1 Mr. Salley says that Mr. Smith had two book-plates, some bearing "the
name 'William Smith. L.L.D. Charleston S. Carolina' and some [having] 'Wm
Loughton Smith. L.L.D. Charleston S. Carolina.'" The former is here repro
duced from a copy on the inside of the cover of Journal ofthe House of Representa
tives of the United States, Anno M. DCC, LXXXIX, . . New- York, owned by
the Connecticut Historical Society. A number of Mr. Smith's letters are in the
Pickering Papers, in this Society.
Three portraits of Mr. Smith are in existence. Mr. Salley says that " Gilbert
Stuart painted a portrait of him, and Sartain is said to have made an engraving
from it." Sartain's engraving is from Stuart's portrait of the Rev. Dr. William
Smith, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, painted in 1800, and engraved
in 1880 for the second volume of H. W. Smith's Life and Correspondence of Wil
liam Smith, D.D. Col. John Trumbull painted two portraits of our Mr. Smith:
one, painted in 1792, is owned by Yale University; the other was in 1892 owned
by Dr. G. E. Manigault of Charleston. The third portrait, though not listed in
G. C. Mason's Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart, was painted by Stuart in or before
1796 and is now owned by the Carolina Art Association of Charleston. All three
portraits are reproduced in History of the Centennial Celebration of the Inaugura
tion of George Washington as First President of ihe United States (Bowen, 1892), ro2.
Stuart's portrait was engraved by Edward Savage, fhe legend reading: "G.
Stuart Pinx' — E: Savage Sculp' William Smith of South Carolina, L.L.D.
Member of the Congress of the United States. Pub: March 11T? r7g6 by E Sav
age Philad*" Mr. C. H. Hart, from whose article (2 Proceedings , xix. 16) I
quote, says that "A state of this plate is without 'L.L.D.,' and address." Obvi
ously the "L.L.D." could not have been added until after September 28, 1796.
It is perhaps worth adding that in 1792 the city of Charleston instructed Mr.
Smith to employ Trumbull to paint a portrait of Washington: see Trumbull's
Autobiography, 166-167.
2 In r774 he went from London to Geneva, and is several times mentioned by
Henry Laurens in letters to his son John, who was also at Geneva. South Caro
lina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, in. 215; iv. 30, 32, 100, 216.
8 Dr. Ramsay published two pamphlets. One, evidently published in the
spring of 1789, is entitled: A Dissertation on the Manner of acquiring the
Character and Privileges of a Citizen of the United States. Printed in the Year
MDCCLXXXIX. It contains no allusion to himself, to Mr. Smith, or to the
election. The other, the prefatory note to which is dated "New- York, Sept. 17,

22 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Od.
and to this fact is due the following interesting autobiographi
cal sketch, extracted from a speech made in the House of
Representatives on May 22, 1789:
As the House are inclined to hear the observations I have to make
I shall begin with admitting the facts stated in the memorial of
Doctor Ramsay, hoping the House will excuse the egotism into
which I am unavoidably drawn. I was born in Charleston, South
Carolina, of a family whose ancestors were among the first settlers
of that colony, and was sent to England for my education when I
was but twelve years of age. In 1774, I was sent to Geneva, to
pursue my studies, where I resided till 1778. In November, that
year, I went to Paris, where I resided upwards of two months in
the character of an American gentleman. Immediately on my
arrival there, I waited on Doctor Franklin, Mr. Adams, and Mr.
A. Lee, the commissioners from Congress to the Court of France,
as a citizen of America, and was received as such by them. In
January, 1779, I left Paris for London, whither I went to procure
the means of embarking for America, from the gentleman who had
been appointed my guardian by my father when I was first sent to
Europe in 1770, and from whom alone I had any hope of obtaining
such means. But in this endeavor, I was disappointed, and remained
some time in England, with the hope of receiving remittances from
Charleston. Here again my expectation was defeated. The rapid
depreciation of the Continental money rendered the negotiation of
money transactions extremely difficult, and thus I remained till the
fall of Charleston. I took this opportunity of studying the law,1
but could not be called to the bar, because I had not taken the oath
of allegiance to Great Britain, which is a necessary qualification.
After the surrender of Charleston, the whole State of South Caro
lina, fell into the hands of the enemy, and it was impossible at that
1789," is entitled: Observations on the Decision of the House of Representatives of
the United Slates, on the 22d Day of May, 1789; Respecting the Eligibility of the
Hon. William Smith, of South-Carolina, to a Seat in that House. By David Ram
say, M.D. New- York: Printed by Hodge, Allen, and Campbell. M. DCC.
LXXXIX. This contains many references to Mr. Smith. Allusions to this con
tested election will be found in Jefferson's Writings (Ford), ix. 53 »., in
Madison's Writings (Hunt), v. 366, and in Hildreth's History ofthe United States,
iv. 45. In a letter (owned by this Society) to the Rev. John Eliot, dated Decem
ber 27, 1790, Dr. Ramsay stated that he had sent Eliot copies of his two pamph
lets, and said: "I still think Congress, or rather the house of representatives,
violated the constitution in admitting Mr. Smith's claim to citizenship while he
was in Europe."
1 In the list of admissions to the Inner Temple occurs the name of "William
Smith, South Carolina, 1774." C. Meriwether, History of Higher Education in
South Carolina (1889), 26.

191 7-1 JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 23
time to return. No sooner, however, did I acquire the means, and
an opportunity offered, than I prepared myself to go back to America.
I quitted London for that purpose in October or November, 1782,
not in a vessel bound to Charleston, then a British garrison, and
which I certainly should have done, had I considered myself a
British subject, and which would have been most convenient, as
there were vessels constantly going from London to Charleston;
but I travelled to Ostend, and there embarked in a neutral vessel
bound to St. Kitt's, from whence it was my intention to proceed to
a Danish island, and thence to some American port in North Caro
lina or Georgia, from whence I could reach the American camp. In
the beginning of January, 1783, I sailed from Ostend, but was de
tained a considerable time by contrary winds, and in the middle of
the month of February, was shipwrecked on the coast of England,
and was obliged to return to London in order to procure another
passage. These chcumstances unavoidably prevented my return
to Charleston, until some time in November, 1783.
On my arrival at Charleston, I was received by my countrymen
as a citizen of the State of South Carolina, and elected by their free
suffrage a member of the Legislature in November, 1784. In the
August following, I was chosen, by the Governor and Council, a
member of the Privy Council, and this election was confirmed by
the Legislature in the October following. In September, the same
year, I was elected one of the Wardens of the City of Charleston.
In November, 1786, I was again elected into the Legislature; again
in November, 1788; I was elected at the same time that I was elected
to the House of Representatives of the United States, the September
preceding having been chosen again a Warden of the city.1
From the beginning Mr. Smith took an active part in the
debates and soon became one of the leading Federalists. In
1 Mr. Smith took his seat April 13, ^89. On April 15 Dr. Ramsay's peti
tion was presented, on April 18 Mr. Clymer's report was read, the report was
considered on April 18, 29, May 12, 21, and 22, when Mr. Smith was seated by
a vote of 36 to r. Annals of Congress under the above dates, pp. i2r, 143,
168, 231, 329, 397-408. On May 12 Mr. Clymer reported, "That Mr. Smith
appeared before them, and admitted that he had subscribed, and had caused to
be printed in the State Gazette of South Carolina, of the twenty-fourth of No
vember last, the publication which accompanies this report, and to which the
petitioner doth refer as proof of the facts stated in his petition; that Mr. Smith
also admitted that his father departed this life in the year one thousand seven
hundred and seventy, about five months after he sent him to Great Britain;
that his mother departed this life about the year one thousand seven hundred and
sixty; and that he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court in South Caro
lina in the month of January, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four."
Mr. Smith's father died at Newport, R. I., July 28, 1770.

24 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
1792 his first pamphlet, an attack on Jefferson, appeared, and
during the next four years he pubhshed half a dozen other
pamphlets, after which only one (in 1806) came from his pen.1
Though he represented Charleston district continuously from
1789 to July, 1797, there was at least one time when he thought
of withdrawing. Writing to Madison July 3, 1792, Jefferson
said: Smith of S. C. declines [offering himself at the next election] also.
He has bought a fine house in Charleston for £5000 and had de
termined not even to come to the next session. But his friends it is
said have made him promise to come. One gentleman from S.
Carolina says he could not be re-elected. Another says there could
be no doubt of his re-election. Commodore Gillon is talked of as
his successor. Izard2 gives it out that it is all false that Mr. Smith
is so rich as has been represented, that he is in fact poor, cannot
afford to live here, & therefore has retired to Charleston. Some add
that he has entered again at the bar. The truth seems to be that
they are alarmed, & he driven out of the field, by the story of the
more modern Colchis. His furniture is gone off from hence [Phila
delphia].3 On October 10, in a different strain, Hamilton wrote to C. C.
Pinckney :
Some valuable characters are about to be lost to the House of
Representatives. I feared once that this would be the case with
Mr. Smith, of your State, but I believe his present intention is
rather to continue to serve. I trust there can be no doubt of his
success, and I wish means to be used to determine his acquiescence.
He is truly an excellent member — a ready, clear speaker, of a
sound analytic head, and the justest views. I know of no man whose
loss would be more severely felt by the good cause.4
Two years later, Mr. Smith and Fisher Ames suffered the
good old punishment of being burned in effigy. " It is reported,"
wrote Ames on March 5, 1794, "that William Smith and your
humble servant have been burned in effigy in Charleston, South
Carolina. The fire, you know, is pleasant, when it is not too
near; and I am willing to have it believed, that, as I come out
1 See the bibliography, pp. 76-88, infra.
2 Ralph Izard, Mr. Smith's father-in-law.
3 Writings (Ford), vi. 97-98. ' Works (Lodge), viii. 287.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 25
of the fire undiminished in weight, I am now all gold. I laugh,
as you will suppose, at the rage of the burners." x And in a
letter to Jefferson on March 26, Madison said: "The people of
Charleston are taking a high tone. Their memorial, which is
signed by Ramsay, the Gadzdens, Young Rutledge and a very
great number of respectable Citizens, marks the deliberate
sense of her people. The more violent has been expressed by
hanging and burning the effigies of Smith Ames Arnold, Du-
mouriez & the Devil, en groupe."2 On November 16 Madison
again wrote: "In S. C, Smith has been carried by the British
merchants in Charleston, and their debtors in the country, in
spite of the Rutledges and Pinckney, who set up against him
John Rutledge, Jr. Tucker was also a candidate. Smith had a
majority of all the votes." 3
When Washington was reorganizing his Cabinet in 1795, he
wrote (October 29) to Hamilton: "Mr. Smith of South Caro
hna, some time ago, would have had no objection to filling a
respectable office under the General Government, but what his
views might lead to, or his abilities particularly fit him for, I
am an incompetent judge; and besides, on the ground of popu
larity, his pretensions would, I fear, be small."4 On November
5, Hamilton replied as follows:
But for a Secretary of State, I know not what to say. Smith,
though not of full size, is very respectable for talents, and has pretty
various information. I think he has more real talent than the last
incumbent of the office.6 But there are strong objections to his
appointment. I fear he is of an uncomfortable temperament. He
is popular with no description of men, from a certain hardness of
character; and he, more than most other men, is considered as
tinctured with prejudices towards the British. In this particular
his ground is somewhat peculiar. It may suit party views to say of
other men, but more in this respect is believed with regard to Smith.
I speak merely as to bias and prejudice. There are things, and im
portant things, for which I would recommend Smith — thinking
well of his abilities, information, industry, and integrity; but, at
the present juncture, I believe his appointment to the office in
question would be unadvisable. Besides, it is very important that
he should not now be removed from the House of Representatives.6
1 Works (S. Ames), 1. r38. 2 Writings (Hunt), vi. 211.
3 Letters and other Writings (1865), II. 19. * Writings (Ford), xiii. 131.
6 Edmund Randolph. 6 Works, (Lodge), viii. 368.

26 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.
On July 2, 1796, the Cabinet advised sending a new Minister
to France, and among those suggested for the office was Mr.
Smith; but with respect to him, Washington wrote to Picker
ing on July 8 that, "although it would be a very agreeable
choice to me, I am sure it would not concenter those opinions,
which policy would require."1
A year later, however, on July 6, 1797, President Adams
nominated "William Smith, of Charleston, South Carohna, to
be Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court
of Portugal, vice John Quincy Adams, removed to the Court of
Berhn;" the nomination was confirmed by the Senate on the
ioth.2 Mr. Smith of course resigned his seat, and a week later
issued the following address to his constituents:
To the Electors of Charleston District.
Philadelphia, July 18, 1797.
Fellow Citizens:
After having for upwards of eight years, had the honor of serving
you in Congress, I cannot announce to you the vacancy of my seat,
by the acceptance of an executive office, without expressing at the
same time, my warmest thanks for the repeated proofs I have ex
perienced of your kindness and partiality. When my conduct was
misrepresented or misunderstood, you more than once generously
interposed your candor to shield me from political degradation,
and by your indulgent forbearance, afforded me the opportunity of
establishing the rectitude of my conduct.
For these marked testimonies of your attachment, and for the
very distinguished honor of being five times elected your represent
ative in the national councils, I feel the most hvely emotion of
gratitude and affection.
In whatever clime my duty may call me, in whatever station my
service may be required, I shall not cease to preserve those senti
ments unimpaired, nor to pray for your happiness and the pros
perity of a district, to Mich I shall ever continue strongly
attached by the powerful ties of birth and gratitude.
I am, my fellow citizens, very respectfully your obedient Servant,
William Smith.3
1 Writings, xni. 236.
1 Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate (1828), 1. 248, 249. The
appointment was noted in the City Gazette (Charleston) of July 26, 1797. In his
Anas, Jefferson wrote : " July, 1 797. Murray is rewarded for his services by an ap
pointment to Amsterdam; W. Smith of Charleston, to Lisbon" {Writings, 1. 273).
3 City Gazette (Charleston), August 3, 1797. For this extract I am indebted
to Miss Mabel L. Webber of the South Carohna Historical Society.

I9I7-1 JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 27
On the day when that address was issued1 Mr. Smith
sailed from Philadelphia accompanied as his secretary by Tim
othy Pickering's son John, then a youth who had graduated
from Harvard College only the year before.2 On February 8,
1799, President Adams nominated "Wilham Smith, our Min
ister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Portugal, to be Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Sublime
Ottoman Porte, with full powers to negotiate a treaty of amity
and commerce between the United States of America and the
dominions and dependencies of the Sublime Porte;" the nomi
nation was confirmed by the Senate on the nth,3 but the
mission was never sent.4 Mr. Smith remained in Portugal
from 1797 to 1801, though from March 2 to June 18, 1798, he
was absent on a visit to Spain.6 On September 9, 1801, he
was superseded as Minister to Portugal;6 early in October of
that year he reached England;7 for another two years he ap
pears to have remained in Europe; and our last glimpse of him
is in a letter from Timothy Pickering to his son John dated
Washington, December 8, 1803:
Yesterday your friend William Smith, Esq., was to set off for
Philadelphia, where he will embark for Charleston. He has visited
Holland, France (I believe some parts of Germany and Switzerland),
and Italy. He was present at Tangier when our Httle squadron
was drawn up before it, and peace restored with the Emperor, whom
he saw. He returned to the United States in the frigate which
brought the news and the act of the Emperor declaring the Treaty
1 In a letter dated Philadelphia, July 8, 1797, John Pickering said: "In about
two weeks I embark for Europe. I go with Mr. William Smith, of Charleston,
S. C, who is' to be Minister Plenipotentiary at Lisbon." Life of John Pickering,
94. The Minerva (New York) of Monday, July 24, r797, said: "Philadelphia,
July 22. Tuesday last sailed for Lisbon, the ship Dominick Terry, capt. Dehart,
in which went passenger Wm. Smith, Esq. minister plenipotentiary of the United
States of America to the court of Portugal." In the Philadelphia Gazette of July 18
is noted, "Cleared, Ship Dominick Terry, De Hart. Lisbon."
2 There is much about Mr. Smith in Mary O. Pickering's Life of John Picker
ing (1887), especially between pp. 94-219.
3 Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate (1828), I. 311, 312.
4 See Life of John Pickering, 138-139, 143, 14s, r46, 156, 160.
6 Ibid., no, 121.
6 Register of the Department of State (1871), 68. My reason for being so
precise in regard to these appointments is because erroneous statements have
been made about them. He was Minister to Portugal, not Charge d'affaires,
and he was never Minister to Spain.
7 Life of John Pickering, 205.

28 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
made by the United States with his father in" 1786. He desired me
to present to you his very affectionate remembrance. He inquired
with much interest of your situation and prospects at the Bar. He
told me that he believed he should himself resume the practice of
the law.1
Mr. Smith did not again enter pubhc hfe, and died at
Charleston in December, 181 2. He was twice married: first,
on May 1, 1786, to Charlotte Izard, daughter of Ralph Izard
(1742-1804) and Alice (DeLancey) Izard, who died January 8,
1792; 2 and second, on December 19, 1805, to Charlotte Wragg.
By his first wife he had Thomas Loughton Smith (who gradu
ated at Princeton in 1807) and Anne Caroline Smith (who
married May 22, 1820, Peter Pederson, Danish Minister to the
United States) ; and by his second wife he had William Wragg
Smith, who died unmarried, and Ehzabeth Smith, who married
Major Thomas Osborn Lowndes.3
Mr. Smith's career presents two puzzling problems — one
biographical, the other bibliographical. They are due partly
to the fact that late in life he changed his name, and partly to
the fact that there was another Wilham Smith who, though
born in North Carohna in 1762, early removed to South Caro
hna, and who, by a singular coincidence, was in November,
1796, elected to Congress from Pinckney district in the latter
State. This William Smith wrote httle, and apparently noth
ing until about 1830, did not become prominent in politics
until after our Mr. Smith had retired from pubhc hfe, and did
1 Life of J ohn Pickering, 2rg.
2 For an account of the Izard family, see the South Carolina Historical and
Genealogical Magazine, 11. 205-240. In 1844 Mrs. Anne Izard Deas, who was a
younger daughter of Ralph Izard, published the Correspondence of Mr. Ralph
Izard. In a prefatory note she said (p. x) that "The last volume is chiefly com
posed of letters from his son-in-law — Mr. William Smith;" but only one
volume was ever published, and I do not know where Mr. Smith's letters are.
3 Mr. Smith was a correspondent of several of his more distinguished con
temporaries, and is occasionally mentioned by them in their writings. Letters
by him are printed in Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 11. 65-66, 164-
167, iv. 427; Hamilton's Works (J. C. Hamilton), vi. 241-243; Life of John
Pickering, ir7-ii9, 155-156, 159, 176-177. Letters to him are printed in Hamil
ton's Works (Lodge), viii. 382, 439, 442, 459, 461, 544. The more important
references to him are given in the text or footnotes of this paper. Allusions to
him will also be found in Hildreth's History of the United States, and in J. S.
Bassett's Federalist System.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 29
not die until 1840. Nevertheless the two William Smiths have
been hopelessly confused alike by biographers1 and by bibli
ographers;2 and by a singular fatahty the honorary degree of
LL.D. conferred on our Mr. Smith by the College of New
Jersey in 1796 has for sixty years been attributed to the other
William Smith in the catalogues of Princeton University.3
1 Two examples will suffice. The 1876 edition of C. Lanman's Biographical
Annals of the Civil Government of the United Stales contains two notices of our
Mr. Smith — one (p. 394) under William Smith, the other (p. 395) under Wil
liam Loughton Smith. In the 1913 edition of the Biographical Congressional
Directory it is stated (p. 45) that "WiUiam Smith, Pinckney district," "Re
signed July 10, 1797, having been appointed Minister to Portugal" — whereas
it was the other William Smith who resigned and received the appointment. It
may well be doubted whether a notice of either William Smith has yet appeared
which is wholly free from mistakes. In his sketch of Judge William Smith (1762-
1840) O'Neal] says that "In the Roll of Attorneys admitted at Charleston, Wm.
Smith is put down as admitted 6th January, 1784 " {Biographical Sketches of the
Bench and Bar of South Carolina,!. 106-120), but this was our Mr. Smith, not
Judge Smith.
2 For a bibliography of Mr. Smith's writings, see pp. 76-88, infra.
* In the latest General Catalogue of Princeton University (1908, p. 404), the
entry reads as follows:
"1796 William Smith, LL.D. *!84o
" Member South Carolina Assembly r823-r826; Member South Carolina
Senate 1806-08; President South Carolina Senate 1808; Judge South
Carolina Circuit Court 1808; U. S. Representative from South Carolina
1797-99; U. S. Senator from South Carolina 1815-23, 1826-31; Member
Alabama Assembly 1835-39; A. B. Mt. Zion 1780."
This is an admirable summary of the positions held by Judge William Smith
(1762-1840), except only in the matter of thehonorary degree. It will be worth
while to trace the origin of this error. That our William Smith received the hono
rary degree of LL.D. is made certain by his book-plates (see p. 21, note 1, supra),
but Mr. Salley remarks that "We are not informed as to what institution con
ferred the degree of LL.D. upon him." The title-page of his Oration on July
4, r796, states that it was "By William Smith, a. member of the Revolution
Society, and Representative in the Congress of the United States." The title-
page of his Comparative View, the dedication to which is dated October 2, 1796,
states that it was "By William Smith, of South-Carolina, L.L.D. and Member
of the Congress of the United States" (see pp. 80, 81, infra). Hence the de
gree was conferred at some time between July 4 and October 2, r796. To Pro
fessor V. Lansing CoUins I am indebted for the foUowing transcript of the record
in the Manuscript Minutes of the Board of Trustees of the CoUege of New Jersey
for September 28, 1796:
"Resolved that the degree of Doctor of Laws be conferred on the HonbIe
William Smith of South CaroUna and the Honb1 Fisher Ames of Massachusetts."
This, it will be observed, is ambiguous, since it might apply to either of the two
WilUam Smiths. Not so, however, with the next extract, taken from the Minerva
(New York) of October 1, r796:

30 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
Finally, it is necessary to remove another misapprehension,
though this relates not to Mr. Smith but to Washington. That
"Princeton, September 28
"This day being the anniversary of the commencement in the college of New
Jersey, the board of trustees and the faculty of the coUege met, the senior class
at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, in the public haU, from whence they went in pro
cession to the church. . . .
"The degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on the Hon. WiUiam Smith,
member of congress for South Carolina, and on the Hon. Fisher Ames, member
of congress from the state of Massachusetts."
As our William Smith was the only one of the name who was then a Member of
Congress from South Carolina, it foUows that the degree was conferred upon
him. The entry has stood as foUows in the successive editions of the Catalogus
Collegii Neo-Ccesariensis, etc., the entry being given only when it differs from the
entry in the previous edition:
1800 GuUelmus Smith, Arm. e Cong. Leg. ap. Lis. LL.D.
1804 Gulielmus Smith, Arm. Leg. ap. Lis. LL.D.
1815 Gulielmus Smith, Leg. ap. Lis. LL.D.
1821 Gulielmus Smith, LL.D.
1824 *GuUelmus Smith, LL.D.
1857 *Gulielmus Smith, LL.D., in Cong. Rerumpub. Feed. Sen. "1840.
1896 *WiUiam Smith, LL.D., U. S. Sen. '1840.
It will be observed that in aU the catalogues from 1800 to i8r8, both included,
Mr. Smith is unmistakably identified as the William Smith who was Minister at
Lisbon, and that news of his death did not reach the Princeton authorities until
1824. Dates of death were first given in the edition of 1854, edited by G. Mus
grave Giger, but no date was attached to the name of Mr. Smith. " In Professor
Giger's interleaved copy of the 1854 edition," Professor CoUins writes me, "con
taining his autograph notes, he has entered opposite WilUam Smith: 'Wm.
Smith, U. S. Sen. So. Ca., 1816-23, 1826-31. * HuntsviUe, Ala., July 26, 1840-?'
Giger evidently satisfied his doubts, for the 1857 edition contains the full errone
ous entry with date; and so it has remained, somewhat ampUfied however in the
1906 edition." Professor CoUins assures me that the mistake wiU be rectified
in the next edition.
The City Gazette (Charleston) of June 24, 1797, contained this notice: "Wil
liam Smith, the representative of Charleston district in Congress, is now in some
of the minutes of that body styled Dr. Smith, in consequence we beheve, of his
having sometime since received the diploma of doctor of laws, and in order to
distinguish him from WiUiam Smith of Pinckney district." The same paper of
July 12 spoke of "Dr Smith's resolution," etc. Miss Webber has furnished me
with these extracts. A satirical epigram of the period contains the line, "Hear
learned Dr. Smith, how he splutters:" see McMaster, History of the People of
the United States, 11. 330 n.
Pinckney district comprised the then counties of Union, Spartan, York, and
Chester: see Letters on the Questions of the Justice and Expediency of going into
Alterations of the Representation in the Legislature of South-Carolina, as fixed by
the Constitution. Published, originally, in Numbers, in the City Gazette. By
Phocion. Charleston : Printed by Markland & MTver, No. 47, Bay. MDCCXCV,
p. 33. Miss Webber teUs me that the copy of this pamphlet owned by Mr. Smith
has written in his hand under " Phocion " the name " Hemy "'illiam De Saussure."
See also D. W. Ar. Schaper's "Sectionalism and Representation in South Caro-

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 31
Washington accompanied Mr. Smith to Vermont and that
the visit was of great pohtical importance, has recently been
asserted. In her Hoo sac Valley, pubhshed in 191 2, Miss Grace
Greylock Niles says that "President Washington and Congress
man Wilham Smith on August 30, 1790, visited Gov. Moses
Robinson and Isaac Tichenor at Bennington Centre, in order
to hasten Vermont's admittance to the Union. At that time
Washington was aware of the influence of Ethan and Ira Allen's
diplomacy in bringing about the cessation of hostilities of the
British on the Vermont-Canadian borders. On January 6,
1791, following Washington's Bennington visit, the vote of
Vermont's officers proved to be 105 yeas to 3 nays for a final
application for the State's admittance to the Union." And
again: President George Washington and Congressman Smith, on August
30, 1790, mounted on horseback, rode from New Lebanon Springs,
N. Y., to Bennington Centre to consult with Gov. Moses Robinson
about Vermont's final admittance to the Federal Union. . . . Con
gressman Smith in a letter published a century later in the New
York Evening Post described theh romantic ride beneath the "Weep
ing Rocks," overhanging the Hoosac River in the Pownal intervale
of Vermont. . . . The President's party was welcomed at Councillor
Isaac Tichenor 's mansion at Bennington Centre on Mount Anthony
Road, west of the Walloomsac Inn, and theh host later conducted
them to Governor Robinson's home. ... On September 7th, the
Presidential party left New Lebanon Springs in a springless wagon,
bound for Albany by way of Kinderhook Road, . . . and on Thurs
day, September 9th, set sail on an Albany sloop for New York,
although, owing to contrary winds and tides, they did not reach
that City until six days later.1
Una," in the Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1900, I.
374, 417, 46r, where Pinckney district is shown on a map between pp. 378-379.
Mr. Salley writes me as foUows:
"I notice that you refer to 'the Pinckney district,' the home of the other Wil
liam Smith, who was in Congress at the same time as our WiUiam Smith. At
that time the judicial and executive unit of the State was the district and so re
mained until 1868, when the name was changed to county and the legislative unit
made to conform. Pinckney District was one of the nine districts of the State.
We did not have nine members of the House of Congress, so that in about two
cases congressional districts were composed of two of the local units. When the
State was redistricted in 1798 Pinckney District was dismembered. Union Dis
trict, carved therefrom, was the home of William Smith."
1 Hoosac Valley, 37&-377, 432-434- An iUustration on p. 439 is labeUed:
" Pownal ViUage in the Hoosac Pass of the Taconac Mountains. The picturesque

32 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.
Some scepticism having been aroused as to this alleged
visit to Vermont by Washington, two years later, in an article
headed "President Washington's journey through Hoosac
Valley described — in a letter written by Congressman Smith
in 1790," Miss Niles wrote:
Nearly every colonial tavern of Revolutionary fame, that re
ceived man or beast, claims the honor of having entertained Gen.
George Washington. Little if anything, however, is known today
of President Washington's ride from Columbian Hall, New Lebanon
Springs, N. Y., to Dewey's Tavern, Bennington Centre, during
August 1790. He was accompanied by Congressman William Smith,
of South Carolina. As to why the journey should have remained a
secret — now nearly one hundred and twenty-five years, perhaps
none of this generation will ever satisfactorily know.
The only record, which exists relating to President Washington's
ride to Bennington was discovered in a note attached to a letter of
Congressman Smith's, addressed to his friends at home, in 1790.
The letter was found among Mr. Smith's papers after his death and
published a century after it was penned, in the New York Evening
Post. The letter was subsequently re-printed in the semi-weekly
edition of The Troy Times, April n, 1905.
It is evident that President Washington's and Congressman
Smith's ride to Bennington, related to some advice rendered to
Gov. Moses Robinson, about the final measures required for Ver
mont's admittance to the Union. Certainly the visit to Benning
ton was not made purely for pleasure. The presidential party
arrived at Councillor Isaac Tichenor's old mansion, on Mount
Anthony road, west of the Walloomsac Inn, during the afternoon,
Monday, Angust 30, 1790; Mr. Smith says, that he was conducted
to Gov. Robinson's home, and later his party drank tea with Mr.
Tichenor. They remained over night, either at Mr. Tichenor's
home, or at Col. Dewey's Tavern — a large and good tavern, at
that time. Tuesday morning they arose before sunrise, and re
turned to Lebanon Springs for dinner. Had the ride to Benning
ton been taken for pleasure, it is evident that they would have
visited the site of the famous battlefield of the Benningtonians.
Lastly, under the heading "Reason for Trip," Miss Niles says:
It is safe to say, that the Presidential party's ride to Bennington,
in 1790, was made in order to hasten Vermont's admittance to the
intervale was beheld by President George Washington and Congressman WilUam
Smith during their horseback ride to Bennington Centre, August 30, 1790."

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 33
Union. At that time it proved unwise to publish the President's
and Congressman's visit, with Councillor Tichenor and Gov. Robin
son. It might have involved objections of the leading officials of
Congress from New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and
Vermont officers. Mr. Smith appears to have been the spokesman
of the President's party, and headed the official visit on Gov. Robin
son. In truth, the President's party departed before sunrise the
following morning, and to this day, President Washington's and
Congressman Smith's visit to Bennington is questioned by older
residents of the town.1
On my writing to Miss Niles asking her authority for the
statement that Washington accompanied Mr. Smith, she
courteously rephed (March 13, 1917) as follows:
In answer to your inquiry about President Washington's visit
to Bennington, I refer you to an article published by myself, in the
North Adams Transcript, North Adams, Mass., Saturday, March
28, 1914, in which I cited extracts from Congressman William
Smith's Notes. These Notes were found, according to a postscript,
published on the original script Notes a century later about 1890,
and printed later in The Evening Post. On the original Notes, as I
understand it, in Mr. Smith's handwriting, he had penned the fact,
that his journey to Lebanon Springs, over the Williamstown hill,
to Bennington was made with President Washington, and a Mr.
Izzard, and others. . . . The letter first published in The Evening
Post, was later reprinted in The Troy Semi-weekly Times. I have
this copy, but it is in storage, and I cannot now refer to it. I have
had several inquiries about this visit to Bennington and can only
refer you to Mr. William Smith's postscript added to his Notes kept
on that journey in 1790. For this reason, in answer to inquirers, I
prepared a short paper, citing the Notes of Mr. Smith, in the North
Adams Transcript, to which I refer you. It was undoubtedly a
secret journey on the part of Gen. Washington, made for the purpose
of promoting Vermont's admittance to the Union. He was un
doubtedly disguised.
It is evident from each of her accounts that Miss Niles had
never seen Mr. Smith's Journal as printed in the New York
1 North Adams Transcript, March 28, rgi4, p. 2. For these extracts I am
indebted to Miss Mabel Temple, librarian of the North Adams Public Library,
which owns a file of the paper. Miss Temple writes that "Miss Niles prints
quotations from Mr. Smith's letter, but the greater part is taken up with a de
scription of his visit to the Shakers ... It is difficult, without having Mr. Smith's
account, to teU where his remarks leave off and her remarks begin."

34 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
Evening Post in 1888, but had relied on that portion of the
Journal which was reprinted in The Troy Times, semi-weekly
edition, of April n, 1905. An examination of that issue shows
that that portion was the third instalment of Mr. Smith's
Journal,1 which was reprinted (according to one of the present
editors of the paper) "because of its local interest." The
article is headed "A Hundred Years Ago," and appended is
the following note, printed in small type:
(From a letter written by William Smith, Congressman from
South Carolina, in August 1790, and describing a journey with
President George Washington. The letter was found in Mr. Smith's
papers a century later and was published in the New York Evening
Post.)2 Here, then, is the origin of Miss Niles' error in regard to
Washington. The above note, which she mistakenly thought
was written by Mr. Smith, was of course compiled in the office
of The Troy Times.
The facts about Washington's movements in August-Sep
tember, 1790, are as follows. On August 15 he left New York;
reached Newport August 17, leaving there August 18; reached
Providence August 18, leaving there August 19; reached New
York August 21,3 presumably remaining there until August
30; left New York August 304 — the very day when, according
to Miss Niles, he was riding from New Lebanon to Bennington;
reached Philadelphia September 2,5 leaving there September
6;6 reached Baltimore September 8, leaving there September
io;7 reached Bladensburg September 10, leaving there Sep-
1 See pp. 48-57, infra.
2 The Troy Times, Semi-weekly edition, April n, 1905, p. 2. For this ex
tract and for information about the article in The Troy Times I am indebted to
Miss Mary L. Davis, Ubrarian of the Troy Public Library, who kindly consulted
a file of the paper at the pubhcation office.
3 See pp. 36-39, infra.
4 "Yesterday morning the President of the United States, and his family,
left this city." New York Daily Gazette, August 3T, 1790.
6 " Philadelphia, September 2. This day about 2 o'clock arrived in town from
New- York, the President of the United States — his Lady, and their suite."
New York Daily Gazette, September 6.
6 "Philadelphia, September 6. This morning the President proceeded on
his journey to his Seat in Virginia." New York Daily Gazette, September 9.
7 "Baltimore, September 10. On Wednesday last [September 8], at 6 o'clock
in the afternoon, the President of the United States, and his Lady, attended by
their suite, arrived here from Philadelphia, on their way to Mount- Vernon. . . .

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 35
tember n; reached Georgetown September n,1 and Mount
Vernon the same day.2 JOURNAL3 I
New England, August-September, 1790 August, 1790.4
Being at New York, as a member of the House of Representa
tives in Congress, which adjourned on the 12th of August and hav
ing some leisure, I resolved to make a tour into the back parts of
the State of New York, and into some parts of Massachusetts and
Connecticut. The day after we adjourned, viz., Friday, the 13th,
the President of the United States, General Washington, who had
on that morning resolved to pay a visit to the State of Rhode Is
land in consequence of its accession to the Union,5 did me the honor
to invite me to be of his party; I could not decline so acceptable an
This morning, at 6 o'clock, the President, his Lady and suite, set out on their
journey." New York Daily Gazette, September 17.
1 " George-Town, Sept. 15. Last Saturday [September 1 1] about eight o'clock
in the morning, arrived here from Bladensburg, where they lodged the preceding
night, the President of the United States." New York Daily Gazette, September 22.
2 See W. S. Baker, Washington after the Revolution, 1784-1799 (1898), 190-197.
3 The Journal has twice been printed : first in the New York Evening Post of
April 14, 21, 28, May 5, June 2, 1888; and again in the semi-weekly edition of
the Post of April 20, 24, May r, 11, June 5, 1888.
4 This instalment, under the heading "One Hundred Years Ago. First
Paper," was printed in the New York Evening Post of April r4, 1888, where it is
preceded by the following statement: "During the years from 1790 to 1797
WiUiam Smith of South Carolina was a member of the Congresses of the United
States from the First to the Fifth, resigning in 1797 to accept the post of Minister
to Portugal. He was a man of exceUent education, and a close observer of the
manners and customs of the people. In his travels to and from Congress he was
accustomed to keep a record of the events of the day, and the foUowing was found
among his papers some time ago, and is here published for the first time. The
original orthography is foUowed closely." The original manuscript is not owned
by either the New York Historical Society or the South Carohna Historical
Society; Mr. John P. Gavit, managing editor of the Post, kindly informs me that
"there is nothing in our office records to indicate the source of the papers from
the diary of William Smith, published in the Evening Post in r888;" and I have
been unable to locate the original.
As for the "original orthography" which, we are told, has been "closely
followed," either Mr. Smith made quite natural mistakes in the names of certain
persons and places, or else the copyist was unable to decipher correctly Mr.
Smith's writing. In a few cases, changes have silently been made.
6 When Washington made his tour of New England in the autumn of 1789,
he purposely avoided Rhode Island, which did not ratify the Constitution until
May 29, 179°-

36 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.
invitation, and accordingly sat off with his company on Sunday
morning, the 15th, on board a Rhode Island packet.1 We arrived
at Newport Tuesday morning, after an agreeable passage. As we
entered the harbour, a salute was fired from the fort and some
pieces on the wharves; at our landing we were received by the prin
cipal inhabitants of the town, and the clergy, who, forming a pro
cession, escorted us through a considerable concourse of citizens to
the lodgings which had been prepared for us; the most respectable
inhabitants were there severally presented to the President by Mr.
Merchant,2 Judge of the District Court.
The President then took a walk around the town and the heights
above it, accompanied by the gentlemen of the party and a large
number of gentlemen of Newport. We returned to our lodgings,
and at four o'clock the gentlemen waited again on the President,
and we all marched in procession to the Town Hall or State House,
where, while dinner was serving up, a number of gentlemen were
presented. The dinner was weU dished, and conducted with great
regularity and decency; the company consisted of about eighty
persons; after dinner some good toasts were drank; among others,
following: "May the last be first," in allusion to Rhode Island being
the last State which ratified the Constitution. The President gave
the "Town of Newport," and as soon as he withdrew, Judge Mer
chant gave "The man we love," which the company drank standing.
The company then followed the President in another walk which
he took around the Town : He passed by Judge Merchant's and drank
a glass of wine, and then went to his lodgings, which closed the
business of the day. I slept in the room with Governor Clinton.
1 From contemporary newspapers it appears that this was the packet Han
cock, Capt. Brown.
2 Henry Marchant (174^1796): see G. C. Mason, Annals of Trinity Church,
Newport (1890), 132 n.
In the itinerary prefixed to the fifth volume (p. xxv) of Mr. Paul Leicester
Ford's edition of Jefferson's Writings, August 13, is given as the date of Jeffer
son's departure from New York. The Independent Chronicle of August 26
(p. 3/2) said that "On Saturday, r4th inst. the President of the United States
sailed from New- York." The date (August rs) given by Mr. Smith is confirmed
by this item in the New York Daily Gazette of August 18: "On Sunday embarked
on board one of the Packets, on a visit to Rhode Island, his ExceUency the
President of the United States," etc. An item dated New York, August 12,
printed in the Columbian Centinel of August 18, stated that "The President
proposes a visit to the State of Rhode-Island." Washington's party consisted
of Jefferson, Governor George CUnton (1 739-181 2) of New York, Judge John
Blair ^732-1800) of the United States Supreme Court, Senator Theodore Foster
(1752-1828) of Rhode Island, Congressman Nicholas Gilman (1755-1814) of
New Hampshire, Col. David Humphreys (1752-1818), Maj. William Jackson
(1759-1812), Thomas Nelson (his secretary), and Mr. Smith: see Columbian
Centinel, August 25.

I9I7-1 JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 37
Wednesday, iSth. Immediately after breakfast addresses were
presented by the Clergy and the Town of Newport. That of the
latter, by a committee, the chairman of which, Judge Merchant,
began to read the address, hut before he had proceeded far, he was
so agitated he had to resign it to CoL Sherbet,1 who read it very
composedly. We then formed another long procession down to the
wharf, and embarked for Providence. On our way throiigh the
main street in Newport, the President desired Mr. Nelson,2 one of
the gentlemen of his family (a relation of Mrs. Washington's) to
step into a store and buy a pair of gloves for him. Mr. Nelson in
vain applied to the mistress of the store who would not stir from the
window where she stood with her eyes rivetted on the President,
after having first hastily thrown a bundle of gloves <m the counter;
the delay occasioned by the lady's refusal to assist in finding a
proper pair of gloves, induced the President to enter the shop, where
he provided himself with gloves to the great gratification of the
above lady, who had little idea that the gloves were wanted for him.
We had a tedious passage to Providence, being seven hours in per
forming it The same salute took place as at Newport, but the
procession up to the Tavern was more solemn and conducted with
much greater formality, having troops and music. The Governor 5
of the State was so zealous in his respects that fae jumped aboard
the packet as soon as she got to the wharf to welcome the President
to Providence. The President with the Governor of the State on
his right hand and Mr. Forster, a Senator in Congress, from Rhode
Island, on his left moved in the front ranks; then foUowed Governor
Clinton, Mr. Jefferson (the Secretary of State for the United States),
Mr. Blair (a judge of the Supreme Federal Courts), myself, and the
three gentlemen of the President's family, viz., CoL Humphreys,
Maj. Jackson, and Mr. Nelson — who formed the party — after
wards foUowed the principal inhabitants of Providence and some
from Newport, and other citizens making a long file, preceded by
some troops and music; the doors and windows for the length of a
mile, were all crowded with ladies and spectators. When we arrived
at the tavern (Dagget's) 4 the President stood at the door, and the
troops and the procession passed and saluted. In the procession
were three negro scrapers making a horrible noise. We then sat
1 Unquestionably this was CoL Henry Sherburne {1747-^824): G.C.Mason,
Annals of Trinity Church, Newport, 172 note.
2 Thomas Nelson, son of Thomas Nelson (1738-1789). See Writings of
Washington (Ford), xi. 413.
3 Arthur Fenner (1745-1805).
4 This tavern, better known as the Golden Ball Inn, was kept by Abner
Daggett and stood in Benefit Street, near the old State House.

38 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
down to a famUy dinner. After tea, just as the President was tak
ing leave to go to bed, he was informed by Col. Peck (Marshal of
the District, who had saUed with us from New York) that the stu
dents of the CoUege1 had illuminated it, and would be highly
flattered at the President's going to see it, which he pohtely agreed
to do, though he never goes out at night and it then rained a httle,
and was a disagreeable night. We now made a nocturnal procession
to the CoUege, which indeed was worth seeing, being very splendidly
illuminated. I slept that night at Mr. Clarke's,2 a merchant who
has lately built a handsome house and is a man of property. His
house was struck with lightning a few weeks ago, but is repaired: he
treated me with much civUity, having offered me a bed immediately
on my arrival, though I had never seen him before.
Thursday morning began with heavy rain and cold easterly wind.
It cleared at nine o'clock, and then the President, accompanied as
before, began a walk which continued until one o'clock and which
completely fatigued the company which formed his escort. We
walked aU around the Town, visited aU the apartments of the Col
lege, went on the roof to view the beautiful and extensive prospect,
walked to a place where a large Indiaman of 900 tons was on the
stocks, went o* board her, returned to town, stopped and drank
wine and pi; ich at Mr. Clarke's, Mr. Brown's,3 Gov. Turner's,4
and Gov. Bowen's,6 and then returned home. As soon as the Presi
dent was rested, he received the addresses of the Cincinnati, the
Rhode Island CoUege, and the Town of Providence,6 and then went
immediately to dinner to the Town HaU. The dinner consisted of
200 persons, and an immense crowd surrounded the haU. After
dinner several toasts were drank; the second was "The President
of the United States," at which the whole company within and
without gave three huzzas and a long clapping of hands. The Pres-
1 Rhode Island CoUege, now Brown University, was chartered in February,
1764. 2 John Innes Clarke.
3 John Brown, whose house in Power Street is now owned by Mr. Marsden,
J. Perry. I am indebted to Mr. Howard M. Chapin of Providence for identify
ing Messrs. Daggett, Clarke, and Brown.
4 Mr. Smith no doubt wrote "Fenner:" see p. 37, note 3, supra.
6 Jabez Bowen, who had been Deputy-Governor in 1778-1780, 1781-1786.
6 The addresses presented to Washington at Newport by the town and the
clergy, and at Providence by the inhabitants, the Corporation of Rhode Island
CoUege, and the Society of the Cincinnati, together with Washington's replies,
were printed in the Boston Gazette of August 30 and September 6. The address
of the Hebrew Congregation at Newport was printed in the New York Daily
Gazette of September T4. The Boston Athenaeum owns the original address pre
sented by the Lodge of St. David at Newport, signed by Moses Seixas and
Henry Sherburne, and Washington's reply, signed by himself.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 39
ident then rose and drank the health of all the company; he after
ward gave "The Town of Providence." Among other toasts, there
were given "The King and National Assembly of France." Several
French gentlemen who sat together then rose and bowed. " Faith
fulness in the collection and economy in the expenditure of the
public revenue," and "The establishment of public credit and pri
vate faith." Cannon was fired at each toast; at the conclusion of
the toasts, the President rose, and the whole company, with a con
siderable crowd of citizens, walked down to the wharf, where he
and his suite embarked for New York.1 I took chaise at the same
moment for Norwich and reached Manchester's tavern that night,
about twelve miles, over a stony, rugged, and disagreeable road.
This part of the State of Rhode Island is the most barren and un
peopled, the country very rocky, and the people as uncultivated as
the country; they are generally anti-Federal, and ignorant, and dis
like any government which calls on them for taxes, in fact, they
seem to care very little what government prevails or whether there
is any at all, and would prefer that which required the least taxes.
It is here remarkable that much use is made of wooden fences,
though the country abounds with stones very convenient for stone
walls, which as I advanced into a better country were more in use,
though the country was much less stony; this is owing to the poverty
of the former, where they are unable to bestow the labor necessary
for stone walls. Notwithstanding the roads were extremely dis
agreeable and fatiguing, yet the prospects were pleasant; distant
hills and woods, and occasionally a rapid stream, and now and then
some well-cultivated fields enlivened the scene; to this was added
some very fine weather, so that my journey to Hartford was a pleas
ant one. I left Manchester's tavern early on Friday morning, on
my way to Norwich. My landlord complained bitterly of taxes.
He said he paid about fifteen pounds lawful money a year; that his
farm consisted of 200 acres, one-half of which was improved, and that
he could barely make a living. The land certainly required great
labor, as it appeared nearly covered with stones, and the road to
Providence is so bad as to render the transportation of produce very
inconvenient and expensive.
I breakfasted at Nixon's tavern at Valenton,2 thirteen miles.
My landlord here, has two smart daughters, whose heads were
ornamented with wigs, which are much worn by the lower class of
1 The New York Daily Gazette of Monday, August 23, stated that "on Satur
day afternoon arrived the President of the United States, and his suit, from Rhode
Island." 1 Voluntown, Connecticut.

40 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.
females in New England: these wigs are convenient and give con
siderable smartness to the appearance when well-frizzed and pow
dered, and are always handy; they are hung up in the room and
when any company appears they are fixed on the head in a moment.
From Valenton I passed through Plainfield, a pretty country town.
From a high hill which I ascended there is a very magnificent pros
pect of an extensive range of country, some miles around Plainfield
— a highly cultivated plain interspersed with woods and surrounded
by beautiful hills, illuminated by a bright sun, opened a channing
view just as I reached the brow of the hill, and struck me with an
agreeable surprise. A similar view appeared just as I arrived within
a mile or two of Norwich, which is a very neat town with several
handsome houses. I dined at Norwich, and after dinner paid a
visit to Mr. B. Huntingdon,1 a member of the House of Represent
atives in Congress. He has a large family, and his eldest son is a
coachmaker. He accompanied me in a walk; we ascended a high
rocky hill, which divided Norwich into two parts, called Up-town
and Down-town, which distinctions have created distinctions among
the inhabitants. The Up-town part is caUed sometimes "Bean
Hill," arising from a report which the inhabitants had spread by
way of derision, that the Up-town people had a way of eating beans
and bacon every Saturday for supper. This report introduced the
custom in both parts of the Town, and the inhabitants now regu
larly sup on Saturday on beans and bacon.2 From the hUl (where
the Meeting house formerly stood) is a charming prospect: the
Town is extensive and spread before the traveler surrounded by a
well-cultivated and thickly settled country; Norwich landing is
about two miles distant. After I had paid a visit to the Governor,
Samuel Huntingdon,3 formerly President of Congress, I hired a
chaise and rode ten imles that evening, to Mr. Jona. TrumbuU's4
1 Benjamin Huntington (i 736-1800).
2 Frances M. Caulkins, History of Norwich (1866), 78, 510-514.
3 Samuel Huntington (1731-1796).
4 Printed "John" Trumbull, but Mr. Smith doubtless wrote "Jon*" Trum
bull — that is, the second Governor Jonathan TrumbuU (1740-1809). On No
vember n, 1804, Jonathan Mason (1756-1831) wrote: "Tarried the Sunday at
New Haven. . . . Invited Jonathan TrumbuU and William Smith of South Caro
lina to dine with me at Mr. Butler's, and the company of each of them was desirable
from their polite and easy deportment." 2 Proceedings, 11. 7. The editors say in
a footnote: "These were probably students in Yale CoUege." There were no such
students at that time at Yale, and the persons who dined with Mason were doubt
less Governor Trumbull and our Mr. Smith, the former of whom must have been
in New Haven from October 1 1 to November 2, as the fall session of the Assembly
began and ended on those dates, and the latter of whom had returned from Europe
in 1803: see p. 27, supra.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 41
at Lebanon; the road was rather rough but the country was pic
turesque. About Norwich there are several romantic scenes, a
river, woods, and high hills diversify the prospect every moment.
Lebanon is a valuable township, the lands fertile and well-cultivated:
they export their produce to Norwich landing, from whence there
is good navigation fourteen miles to New London. Mr. B. Hun
tingdon, the member of Congress, attended me at the inn till I sat
off from Norwich. I had directed the landlord (Mr. Brown,1 a
very civil man who keeps a good house) to hke me a one horse chaise;
it was brought to the door while Mr. Huntingdon was with me, who
knew that I had hired it from my landlord. A little boy accompanied
me as agreed, to bring the chaise back; on the road I asked him
whose horse and chaise it was, and was greatly surprised to find that
it belonged to my friend Mr. B. Huntingdon, of whom my landlord
had hired them; he has a large family and this is one of his resources
to get money.
I past the night at my acquaintance Trumbull's; he has a farm
of 200 acres, reckoned a very considerable one, and lives comfort
ably on it. The next morning the stage called on me and we reached
Hartford at four o'clock in the afternoon. The road from Norwich
to Hartford is less stony and disagreeable than that from Provi
dence to Norwich, but is far from being smooth or pleasant to travel
over in a carriage; one is, however, indemnified by a succession of
pleasing views. The whole way from Norwich the country is thickly
settled, farm houses in sight constantly, the country weU-culti-
vated, meadows, lulls, and distant woods rising one above the other.
We passed through several towns. I stopped at one about nineteen
miles from Norwich, and took a view of the church-yard; from the
age of many of the deceased the climate must be very healthy. The
inhabitants did not, however, shine in the poetical line, to judge at
least from the versification on the tomb-stones, a specimen of which
is in these words: Behold as you pass by
As you are now, so once was I;
As I am now, so you must be,
Prepare for death and follow me.
On the tomb-stone of Deborah House, a great name in this Town,
was written "She lived deshable, and died lamented." I dined at
Woodbridge's tavern, nine miles from Hartford. The road from
this place, which is called East Hartford, is smooth and good; a
few nules before I arrived at the river, I had from an eminence as I
1 Jesse Brown. Frances M. Caulkins, History of Norwich (1866), 512-513-

42 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
crossed the Bolton hUls, an extensive view of a fine country, and
caught a distant glimpse of Connecticut Towns. There is also a
most charming view a mile or two after leaving the tavern, of a
rich plain containing meadows and woods.
At1 Hartford I crossed the ferry over the Connecticut River,
which is navigable up to this place for large sloops. About sixty
sea vessels belong to Hartford, which carries on much business and
is a flourishing town. The river frequently changes its bed, and by
its deviations occasions much alteration of property, and gives
rise to many law suits, a circumstance not disagreeable to the people
of Connecticut, who are acknowledged by themselves to be very
litigious; this spirit they account for from theh being soweU-informed,
theh knowledge of theh rights and theh equality makes them ex
tremely jealous of any encroachment or invasion and they are de
termined rather to incur the expense of law (which is cheap enough)
than to risk any violation of their just rights. At Hartford I saw a
remarkable old oak in which the Charter of Connecticut was con
cealed in the year 1684 by a Mr. Wadsworth, an ancestor of the
present Jeremiah Wadsworth,2 a member of Congress from this
State. The Charter of Massachusetts had been taken away and
the Governor of Connecticut was instructed to take away that of
Connecticut; as it lay on the table Wadsworth blew out the candle
and ran and hid this charter in a hollow part of this oak, where the
Governor was unable to find it; the revolution soon after took place,
and the Charter was out of danger.3 There is in this town an old
gentleman of the name of Willis;4 he is upwards of eighty years of
age, is the Secretary of the State, and has held that office upwards
of sixty years; he is still in the full possession of his faculties and of
the esteem of his countrymen, he owns a very considerable landed
estate about Hartford. I had seen at Providence a Mr. Ward,6
upwards of sixty years old, who had been Secretary of State upwards
of forty years, which was thought a very remarkable instance of
continuance in office, but that of Mr. Willis is the most extraordi
nary ever known. These instances and many others, are proofs of
1 Here begins the second instalment of the Journal, printed in the New York
Evening Post of April 21, 1888, under the heading "One Hundred Years Ago.
Second Paper."
2 Jeremiah Wadsworth (1743-1804).
3 The year should be 1687, not 1684. As the tradition is usuaUy related, the
credit of having hidden the Connecticut charter is given to Capt. Joseph Wads
worth, but Mr. Smith's account assigns it to John Wadsworth, a brother of
Joseph and the ancestor of Col. Jeremiah.
4 George Wyllys (1710-1796).
s Henry Ward (1732-1797).

191 7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 43
good sense in the East. Inhabitants who continue theh old servants
in office, as long as they behave well.
The country around Hartford is well-cultivated and the soil
fertile; this is the oldest settlement in Connecticut and is perhaps
the most thickly peopled part of the United States. In the towns
of Connecticut I was struck with the calm and tranquility which
prevails; though they are full of inhabitants, yet none are scarce
seen in the streets, no carriages are moving about, and a stranger
would suppose that he had entered a deserted village. Here is no
idleness, no lounging and chattering in the streets; every one is at
work either in the field or in his house; no vagrants, no beggars to
be seen; on the week-days all are at work, and on Sundays all are
at home, reading the Bible. It is reckoned improper to walk about
the streets and visit on Sundays; after services they all go home.
Sunday forenoon I went with Col. Jeremiah Wadsworth's family to
church, where I heard very good singing in parts by men and women,
who stand in opposite galleries while they sing : I also heard a pretty
good preacher, Mr. Strong.1 There are in Hartford two Meeting
houses for Congregationalists and none for Episcopalians, who are
very few in number. Monday morning I rode to Middletown, fifteen
mUes, and dined at Bigelow's tavern, and returned in the afternoon
to Hartford. This was the most delightful ride I ever remembered
to have taken, more beautiful scenery in that distance than in any
part of my travels; the whole a most romantic country, thickly
settled, highly cultivated, and adorned both by nature and art.
Weathersfield about four miles from Hartford is a pretty town on
the road to Middletown. After I had dined at Middletown, I rode
up a hill back of the Town from which I had a most enchanting scene;
looking down I saw a pretty town on the borders of a fine navigable
river, a country richly cultivated, intermixed with houses and woods,
the opposite banks of the river equally cultivated and bounded by
rising hills, some covered with woods, others with meadows and corn
fields. Returning to Hartford I enjoyed the whole way a succession
of delightful prospects; first, the road for a few miles was close along
the river, on one side meadows ornamented with hay-stacks and
distant high hills, on the other a river ornamented with vessels sail
ing about and the other side romantic. Then ascending a steep hill
the prospect as you turn back is extremely grand; the distant view
of Middletown, a long range of the river, various hills, woods, fields,
meadows, numberless settlements, and the whole bounded by lofty
hills rising in masses and presenting variegated shapes. Approach
ing Weathersfield, another very fine scene suddenly opened from the
1 Rev. Nathan Strong (1748-1816).

44 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
brow of a hhl over which the road runs; an extensive plain, through
which the river is seen meandering, presenting the appearance of a
large garden, and so thickly settled with houses that it appears like
one town, the steeple of Weathersfield rising in the middle of it, the
richness of verdure forms a delicious view.
. Weathersfield is famous for onions, the smell of which salutes the
nose of the traveller on entering the Town. Here I was shown the
son of the celebrated Elizabeth Canning and the house where she
lived. He is a lad about twelve or fourteen. She was brought out
from England by a Mr. Williams, who settled at Weathersfield and
married her to a Mr. Treat by whom she had several chUdren; he
was a respectable citizen and she was also respected by her neighbors;
they are both dead.1 Colonel Wadsworth met me a mUe beyond
the Town and we ascended the steeple of Weathersfield to enjoy the
view, which well rewarded us for our trouble; it is extensive, embraces
Hartford and the country beyond it and surpasses all description.
Tuesday a party was made on my account by Col. Wadsworth to
the mountains west of Hartford. We sat off after breakfast a party
of about a dozen, and rode seven or eight miles to the foot of the
mountain, we ascended some time a rugged, steep road; from the
summit is a commanding view of a level, well-cultivated country
on each side the river, with Hartford, Weathersfield, and Suffield.
From the other side of the mountain, looking west, is a very grand
view. Just under our feet was an immense thick forest, the top of
which resembled the waves of the ocean, and appeared a consider
able distance below us; a very extensive range of country lay before
us to the right and left, the whole highly cultivated and interspersed
with settlements; the town of Farmington is seen at a distance and
the whole is extremely picturesque. At the top of the mountain is
a curious pond surrounded with rocks and woods, in a very roman
tic situation. Upon my observing that the piece of water was dis
graced by calling it a pond, and that it well merited the name of
lake, it was resolved by the company that it should in future be de
nominated a lake, and as I was the first person who had dignified
it with that appellation, it should be termed thereafter Lake Smith.
We sat down to a rustic dinner (which we had carried with us) on
1 For Ehzabeth Canning, see the Dictionary of National Biography and Dr.
H. R. Stiles's History of Wethersfield, I. 689-694; 11. 711-716. Her arrival at
Boston was noted in the Pennsylvania Gazette of November 7, 1754. She lived
for a while in the family of the Rev. Col. Elisha Williams (H. C. 1711, Rector
of Yale College, 1726-1739), and on November 24, 1756, was married to John
Treat. She died in 1773, while he lived until 1796. Either the wrong youth was
pointed out to Mr. Smith or the latter was a poor judge of ages, for the youngest
of their five children was born in 1766.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 45
the verdant moss in a beautiful spot, encircled with rocks and groves,
with the lake just below us. In the afternoon we returned to Hart
ford, and I was made acquainted with Mr. John TrumbuU,1 the
celebrated author of the poem "McFingal," who supped with us at
Col. Wadsworth's.
Wednesday morning we sat off for Springfield; I breakfasted with
Mr. Ellsworth,2 member of the Federal Senate from Connecticut, at
Windsor, ten mUes from Hartford, where he has a comfortable, neat
house on a pleasant little farm. I then passed through Suffield, a
pretty little town situated on an eminence and commanding a pleas
ing and extensive view; the Meeting house is at a little distance a
fine object, being situated on very high ground. Passing on to
Springfield, I crossed the Connecticut River which is wide here, and
then entered the Town, which is a pretty considerable one. Here
are some public stores of arms and accoutrements, and cannon be
longing to the United States: they are kept in very good order. I
think there were 8,000 stands of arms, and a large quantity of gun
powder. In the rebellion in Massachusetts, in 1787, Shays made an
attempt on this place, but though superior in force to the Govern
ment party, was completely routed at the first shot from a piece of
cannon, which killed a few of his men; he fled with great precipita
tion and some of his people did not stop till they had travelled
upwards of forty miles that day. He now resides on his farm in Ar
lington in the State of Vermont, fifteen miles from Bennington.3
I saw two stockade forts which were hastily erected for the protec
tion of the stores, and are stUl standing. The public stores are on
an eminence just above Springfield, which commands a fine view of
Springfield and the adjacent country, which is highly cultivated and
pleasing. I drank tea with the Miss Worthingtons, daughters of
Col. Worthington, one of the most reputable characters of this
part of the country. His eldest daughter, it is said, is about to be
married to Mr. Ames.4
The journey from Hartford to Springfield is a most agreeable one,
through a thickly settled country well-cultivated, and over good
roads; the river makes its appearance now and then, and there are
some distant mountains which terminate the scene agreeably.
Thursday I left Springfield, crossed the river, and intended to take
the road to Northampton, having been informed that it was a very
thriving town, in a beautiful country, but my driver having mistaken
1 John TrumbuU (1750-1831).
2 Oliver EUsworth (1 745-1807).
3 Daniel Shays (1747-1825) was pardoned and died at Sparta, New York.
4 John Worthington (1719-1800), whose third (not eldest) daughter Frances
was married to Fisher Ames, July 15, I792-

46 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
the road and carried me within a few miles of Westfield, to which I
intended to go from Northampton, and being apprehensive from
his ignorance of the roads of encountering similar difficulties in
other places, I resolved to proceed on to Westfield, where I got to
breakfast. The country hereabouts is romantic; a river called the
Westfield River is seen through the woods, and the prospect, which
is limited, is terminated by high mountains. Westfield is divided
by this river, and is a large settlement. It is nearly at the foot of
the mountain, which must be crossed in progressing westward, it is
a continuation of the Green Mountains, which run the whole length
of Vermont from north to south, and then running southerly proceed
on to New Haven; any communication to the east and west of this
long ridge is attended with difficulty, as the crossing this mountain
in any place is bad and troublesome, particularly with a carriage. I
was in a four-wheeled carriage, and unfortunately selected the worst
place, intending to go from Springfield through Stockbridge to New
Lebanon, where I expected to meet my family who had gone there
from New York. Leaving Westfield I coasted along the river through
a very bad, but a very romantic road; it is over rocks and through
a thick forest; on one side high mountains clothed with woods to
theh summit, on the other, the river just below you, running rapidly
over a bed of rocks, and high mountains covered with impenetrable
forests, rising on the opposite shore. I then crossed a large wooden
bridge, and having the river on my right began to ascend the Green
Mountains : now for miles the badness of the road exceeds description.
We ascended for five mUes a steep mountain, which took us four
hours; the prospect consisted of nothing but other mountains rising
one above the other, rocky and bleak, here and there the appear
ance of a new settlement in the woods.
We then got to a place called by some Glasgow, and by others
Blandford Street.1 This is for a few miles a tolerably level country,
1 In his Address delivered before the Literary Association, Blandford, Sep
tember 21, 1850, William H. Gibbs said:
"In 1741 the town was incorporated by the name of Blandford; previous to
that period it had borne the name of Glasgow.
"The inhabitants of the city of Glasgow promised the citizens of this town,
that if they would continue its former name they would present a church-beU
to them. It was the design of the people that it should bear the name of Glasgow.
Therefore they petitioned the General Court for that name. But WiUiam Shirley,
who had been appointed Governor of the province of Massachusetts Bay under
the Crown of Great Britain, had just arrived in a ship bearing the name Bland
ford. In honor of said ship, he chose to have the new town which apphed for an
act of incorporation caUed by its name. Hence the name of Blandford was given
to this town" (p. 17).
The "Act for erecting Suff eild Equivalent Lands, commonly called Glasgow,

191 7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 47
the prospect commanding. From Blandford Street we proceeded
on towards Becket; for a mile or two the road was tolerable and the
prospect fine, on the right an extensive view of a well-cultivated
country, and many waving hills. We then entered a wood and had
for about six mUes the most execrable road that was ever traveled
by a carriage; a narrow track through a forest, the path full of huge
rocks and loose stones, up and down hill the whole way; I trembled
every step of the way lest the carriage should be shattered or the
horses give out: we were obliged to quit the carriage and walk the
whole way. I could only advance at the rate of a mile an hour.
With much difficulty we reached a tavern kept by one Foley, five
miles from Blandford Street, where I put up that night, and contrary
to my expectations from the external appearance of his house, got
a decent supper and a good bed. He was settled in the midst of
the forest, surrounded with rocks and woods, and his habitation
had the most dreary appearance. He however made a subsistence,
raised plenty of grain, and made his own sugar from the maple trees.
This practise I found very common; the forests in this part of the
country abound with the maple and sugar is extracted with great
ease. Early on Friday I proceeded on and had about two mUes of
road, if possible worse; with much care the carriage was got through
without damage, and then quitting the forest we arrived at Becket,
where lives one Perkins, who informed me that is was impossible to
get along to Stockbridge with my carriage in the direct road, and
that my only route was through Pittsfield. I therefore immediately
resolved to alter my route and proceed on to Pittsfield and New
Lebanon, and from thence take a ride to Stockbridge. Becket is a
small town situated on very high ground, being nearly the highest
part of the Green Mountains; the country around it appears well
cleared and settled in comparison with the wilderness I had just left.
In the road from Westfield to Becket httle else is to be seen but
forests and rocks, with here and there a new settlement and others
just forming. The whole has very much the appearance of a country
in its infant state.
I left Connecticut between Windsor and Springfield and con
tinued in the State of Massachusetts till I had left Pittsfield; the
New York line is between that place and New Lebanon, which was
in the County of Hampshire, into a township by the name of Blandford" was
passed and pubhshed April 10, 1741 {Massachusetts Province Laws, 11. 1058-1059).
Shirley was not commissioned Governor until May 25 and not inaugurated until
August 14, 1741, at which time he was at his house in Boston. Publications of
the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, xvn. 74. Obviously, therefore, the above
account is erroneous. But when Belcher came over as Governor in August,
1730, he arrived in the man-of-war Blandford {ib. xvn. 73).

48 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
formerly part of Hancock, being considered in Massachusetts, but
on running the line it is found to be in New York. From the town
of Becket, a well-cultivated country appears at a great distance to
the northward and considerably below Becket, which however is
surrounded by hills which have a black aspect. The road here im
proved a little, though stUl hilly and rugged. We went on seven
miles to Washington, a small town, where we breakfasted at a
Widow MUligan's whose accommodations surpassed the expectations
the exterior of the house had excited. Her husband and herself had
emigrated from Ireland about twenty odd years ago, and first settled
at Hartford; they then purchased a farm in this new country. They
left Ireland because they wished to be independent landholders in
stead of oppressed tenants and because they paid heavy rates, but
she said she began now to find little difference between this country
and Ireland, for what with the state taxes, county rates, poor rates,
church rates, school rates, and road assessments she found taxes
very heavy; her tax amounted to about five pounds lawful money
and her farm was small. They came from the north of Ireland, and
were Protestants: she spoke with a strong Scotch accent. Proceed
ing on to Pittsfield, the road improved so much that we were able
to trot, which was a considerable gratification to me, as for nearly
two days we had only gone at foot's pace. Passing through a wood,
we suddenly arrived at the edge of the mountain on which we had
been since the preceding morning, and had a most enchanting view
of the prodigious extent of country, cultivated throughout and inter
mixed with woods. At a great distance below us Pittsfield appeared
beautiful in this plain and the whole afforded a rich scene, strangely
contrasted with the gloomy forest and uncomfortable rocks we had
left. I dined at Pittsfield, which is a pretty town, and sat off in the
afternoon for the Pool or New Lebanon, where I arrived at dark,
having travelled the whole distance in a heavy rain, which pre
vented my seeing the country, but the following afternoon, I took
a ride towards Pittsfield which is separated from it by a very high
mountain, from the top of which I had a very pleasing view of Pitts
field and the adjacent country which is well settled.
The1 Pool, the Springs, or Lebanon Springs (for it has occasion
ally all these denominations) 2 is renowned for its waters which are
reckoned anti-rheumatick, anti-scorbutick, bracing and serviceable
1 Here begins the third instalment of the Journal, printed in the New York
Evening Post of April 28, 1888, under the heading "One Hundred Years Ago.
Third Paper."
2 In 1790 the villages of New Lebanon and Lebanon Springs were in the
township of Canaan, and the present township of New Lebanon was not set off
from Canaan until 1818.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 49
in a variety of disorders; they are for bathing and drinking; they
are very soft, moderately cool, and have the same effect to the
feelings as the waters of the Matlock in Derbyshire. New Lebanon
is a settlement of about' twenty-five years; it is surrounded with
high hills but the land is fine and the vales highly cultivated; indeed
the cultivation has reached the very summit of the loftiest hiUs;
others are still beautifully clothed with woods. The place has there
fore a romantic appearance, and from the purity of the ah and the
dryness of the soil the hills must be salubrious, which in many in
stances added to the regularity of life, of diet, and of exercise, con
duces more probably to the restoration of health and vigour than the
use of the waters. There are two farms in the Town which are yet
kept in a rude state; a store and a few dwelling-houses compose the
Town, which improves rapidly. In the summer months some persons
reside here weeks, others only dip en passant. The keeper of the
bath is subject to violent convulsion fits; whenever he is attacked
by them, he is thrown instantly into the bath and instantly springs
up saying, "I am well again." He has tried other waters in vain.
Once some persons, suspecting him to be an impostor, pretending
the fits in order to raise the reputation of the baths, threw him into
other water, but they soon found theh mistake and were glad to
plunge him into the right place, where he soon recovered.
Within two or three miles of the Pool is a settlement of shaking
Quakers, l whose mode of worship we went to see on the Sunday
following, viz., the 29th. We arrived there about ten o'clock in
the forenoon and found them at work. In a long, low room of a
very neat building painted white, were about fifty men and from
eighty to one hundred women; the preacher stood in the centre, on
his right hand were the men, arranged in rows, on his left the women
in similar order; two men with theh hands applied to their jaws and
two or three women sung, or rather howled sundry strange tunes
(one of them was "The Black Joke"), to which the men and women
danced in uniform step, occasionally aU turning around. The men
had taken off their coats and waistcoats and hung them up about
1 .Ann Lee (1736-1784) came to this country in 1774, founded in 1776 at
Niskenna (now WatervUet, N. Y.) the first American Shaker society, and died
there in 1784. In 1779 there was a revival at New Lebanon, in 1780 some of the
people there visited Mother Lee at Watervliet, and in 1 787 the Shaker community
was organized at New Lebanon. See the notice of Ann Lee in the Dictionary of
National Biography, and, for early accounts of the Shakers at New Lebanon,
Timothy Dwight, Travels, m, 149-169; B. Silliman, Remarks made on a Short
Tour between Hartford and Quebec (1824), 40-55; Theodore Dwight, Jr., Northern
Traveller (1826), 44-48; S. Y. Wells, Testimonies concerning the Character and
Ministry of Mother Ann Lee (1827); Peculiarities of the Shakers described by a
Visitor (1832); F. W. Evans, Compendium ofthe Origin, etc. (1859).

50 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.
the room, and tied up theh shirt sleeves; they were most of them in
trowsers. The women in close, white caps, short jackets, and stiff
petticoats: both sexes had thick shoes which made a horrible clatter
and shuffling on the floor : the warmth of the weather and such con
tinuous exercise occasioned a profuse sweating, which appeared all
over the shirts and the trowsers of the men, and through the very
stays of the women, and produced an horrible smell; some of the
men were wringing wet, and the sweat dropped from their faces on
the floor. There were occasional intermissions when they all stopped ;
and the preacher, who is an amazing booby, muttered a few words,
something to this effect: "Avoid carnal lusts. Labor to shake off
sin; sin is hateful; I hate sin. Power of God. Those who come here
must observe our rules and orders; the men come in at the west door,
women at the east. Strangers must observe silence at our worship;
there must be no talking, whispering, or unnecessary goings in and
out. Those who come here and don't observe our rules and orders
are the basest of mankind." Then turning to the men (who were
all arranged in files and held down theh heads with theh hands
clasped before them): "Labour to shake off sin." Then turning to
the women, arranged in the same order: "You also labour to shake
off sin. You have had an intermission: those who wish to serve God
and to labour, prepare again for labour."
Then the men would pull off theh clothes as before, and both
sexes resuming theh places, the howl would commence and with it
the dance. In the intermissions some of the most devout would
shake from head to foot, as if seized with shivering fits of the ague.
At every cessation of labour, the preacher would make the same
address to the spectators, who were very observant of these rules
and requhed no admonition, but he either thought it would rec
ommend him to his congregation or he was at a loss for something
to say. However absurd theh form of worship, it is not the worst
part of theh devotions; they reprobate matrimony; if any married
persons become members of this church, they must immediately
live in a state of separation, and any connection between them is
considered criminal and the parties expeUed; they continue theh
sect by making proselytes. Theh neighbors give them a good rep
utation for their scrupulous observance of farming industry and
attention to agriculture. Theh elders own several farms which have
been made over to them by new members and which are cultivated
for the good of the society. There were two negroes among the
dancers, one of them was the best dancer there; all ages joined in
the dance. Theh settlement is in a romantic situation, in the midst
of a fine country, well-cultivated, and theh buildings are very neat.

1917-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 51
After dancing for three hours they walked home and exposed them
selves without any caution to the open air. Their service lasts from
nine to twelve in the forenoon, and two to five in the afternoon.
Monday morning, August 30, 1 went on horseback to Bennington
and returned on Tuesday ; the ride is a very agreeable one. Quitting
Lebanon, you proceed through a narrow vale to Hancock, having
on your left a distant view of the Meeting-house at Septhenton l
on an eminence.' A well-cultivated country the whole way; in some
places are seen the most beautiful vales, in others variegated hills,
some cultivated to theh summit. Fifteen miles from Lebanon we
breakfasted at Sloane's tavern2 at Williamstown, in Massachusetts.
The principal part of the town is about four mUes further on, where
they are buUding a handsome brick college, seventy feet by fifty
and three stories high, a donation from Mr. Williams,3 from whom
the Town took its name, is applied by his executors to the erection
of this coUege, which will be in a fine, healthy country. Between
Williamstown and Bennington are many pleasing scenes; one is
particularly striking, the road runs on the side of a high and steep
mountain, from which it has been cut out, and just beneath you
runs a river with a rapid course, foaming over a bed of rocks; this
river, which is caUed the Housack, with the steep, lofty mountain
rising almost perpendicular from it, and covered to its summit
with a thick forest, affords a most enchanting scene. You soon
after ascend a mountain, and, looking back on the vale beneath,
another fine view opens to the sight of rich lands watered by the
river. About nine mUes from Bennington you enter Vermont State;
the rest of the road is along the foot of mountains, some very rugged
and rocky, others woody; the vales cultivated; many of the settle
ments just in theh infancy. Bennington is a very pretty town at
the foot of a high Mil in the shape of a cone, which is entirely covered
with maple trees. Around the Town the country has a beautiful
aspect, the lands being rich and well improved. Mr. Tichenor4
one of the principal persons of this new State, waited on me and
conducted me to Mr. Robinson,5 the Governor, who gave me a
1 Stephentown, Rensselaer County, N. Y.
2 The tavern was kept by Gen. Samuel Sloan (1740-1813). A. L. Perry,
Origins of Williamstown (1900), 511.
3 Col. Ephraim WiUiams (1714-1755)- "The house for the Free School" —
Mr. Smith's "handsome brick coUege" — "plain, unpretentious, yet having a
certain quiet dignity withal — has been known for more than a hundred years
as West CoUege" (L. W. Spring, History of Williams College, 1917, 38). The
Free School was opened on October 26, 1791, and chartered as WiUiams CoUege
on June 22, 1793.
4 Isaac Tichenor (1754-1838).
s Moses Robinson (1741-1813).

52 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.
polite reception. We drank tea with Mr. Tichenor, who is a gentle
man of the law. There is a large and good tavern, kept by Col.
Dowie,1 whose son is married to the Governor's daughter. The
next morning we sat out early, and arrived to dinner at Lebanon.
Vermont is settled by New Englanders; it has, consequently, aU
the New England manners and policy. It is 190 miles in length and
40 to 90 in breadth; it contains 20,000 fighting men and about
90,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. The country now caUed Vermont
was formerly part of the New Hampshire Province, and a consider
able part of it was sold to individuals by the Governor of New
Hampshhe. Gov. Colden2 of New York having suggested to the
king and council that it would be convenient to make Connecticut
River the eastern boundary of New York, it was so resolved and
thereupon Gov. Colden and his successors have granted lands to a
considerable amount in Vermont, part of which were previously
granted by New Hampshhe and the remainder unlocated. In 1777
under a pretence that the country of Vermont was not protected by
New York nor Congress, the inhabitants sat up an independent
government,3 which New Hampshhe has recognized, but New York
constantly refused; she was however, unable to recognize any au
thority or jurisdiction within the Territory of Vermont, and has
graduaUy ceased further attempts, but the right to the land still
remains a question between them. The lands which were claimed
under prior grants from New Hampshhe, New York has relinquished,
but claims either the lands which were not covered by a prior grant,
or an indemnification for them. The Vermonters refused, alleging
that Vermont was, prior to its independence, a part of New Hamp
shhe, and that New Hampshhe by relinquishing her claim has estab
lished the right of the present holders by possession. New York
contends that the king and councU had a right to make such bound
aries to the provinces as they pleased in theh wisdom, and that by
throwing Vermont into the province of New York, the Governor
had a right to grant the lands, which were not previously granted
by the Governor of New Hampshhe. Commissioners are appointed
by both States to settle these contending claims to this Territory;
1 Mr. Smith probably wrote "Dewie," and he should have said "whose
daughter is married to the Governor's son." The allusion is to Capt. Elijah
Dewey, whose daughter Ruth married Moses Robinson, Jr. Life of George Dewey
and Dewey Family History (1898), 870-872, 904-905.
2 CadwaUader Colden (1688-1776).
8 At a convention held at Westminster January 15, 1777, a State govern
ment was organized "by the name of New-Connecticut;" but at a convention
held at Windsor June 4, 1777, the name was changed to Vermont. Connecticut
Courant, March 17, and June 30, 1777.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 53
they are to meet in New York the end of the month of September.1
After this point is settled, it is expected Vermont will become a
member of the Union.2 A part of Vermont being bounded by
Canada, they receive part of theh supphes from that province, the
rest from Albany, Hartford, etc.
Saturday, September 4. After dinner, accompanied by Mr. H.
Izard3 and Mr. J. Smith,4 1 rode to Stockbridge on a visit to Mr.
Sedgwick,6 we passed through the Shaker settlement and then
ascended a high hUl, from which the prospect of the settlement and
the distant hiU, highly cultivated, is charming. Passing through a
woody country we soon arrive at Richmond, a town of great extent
and straggling settlements; the lands appear good and the ground is
much cleared, and the prospect of the well-cultivated plain is pleas
ing. Quitting Richmond we arrived at some iron works, and then
traveling through a thick wood, had from an eminence a fine view
of Stockbridge which is a very large settlement, containing some
handsome houses, among which Mr. Sedgwick's is for size and beauty
the most conspicuous. The lands are also good here and well-culti
vated and the extensive plain thickly covered with settlements and
encircled by fine romantic hills presents an agreeable scene. We
supt and slept at Mr. Sedgwick's, and after breakfast the next morn
ing returned to the Pool, having stopt about an hour at the Shakers'
Meeting house to take another view of their ridiculous worship.
Stockbridge is about sixteen mfles from the Pool.
Tuesday, September 7th. Early in the morning we left the Pool
for Albany, the distance about thirty miles. The road for about
fifteen mUes is bad, hUly, and rocky, and traveling in a wagon with
out springs was extremely rough and unpleasant. The first part of
the road is through a wild country, where new settlements are just
forming along the brow of wooded hills or in rich vales; the wildness
of the mountains and the multitude of the stumps yet remaining on
the cleared ground give a gloominess to the prospect of this country,
which in a few years will doubtless be a beautiful one, for the land
is good and it is fast settling. We passed by Schermerhorn's mills
and soon after ascending a high hUl enjoyed from its summit a
prospect of very considerable extent, terminated to the left by the
lofty Kaatskill Mountains. We dined at Tobias' tavern at Phillips-
1 The New York and Vermont Commissioners met September 27-October 7,
1790. 2 At a convention held at Bennington January 6-10, 1791, the Federal Con
stitution was ratified, and on March 4th Vermont was admitted to the Union.
3 Doubtless Henry Izard (1771-1826), oldest brother of Mr. Smith's wife.
4 I have been unable to identify this Mr. Smith.
6 Theodore Sedgwick (1746-1813).

54 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
town,1 kept by an impudent woman, where we were badly enter
tained. Thence to Albany the road is good, the country becomes
more level as you descend towards the river; we passed through
several woods and I observed that the land did not appear so good
and was more thinly settled than I should have expected at so short
a distance from the river. When within a mile of the river, arriving
at the edge of a hiU, a most dehghtful view suddenly presents itself,
consisting of the noble river of the Hudson gliding smoothly along
and carrying on its surface several vessels, the city of Albany in the
midst of a verdant and fertile country, several handsome mansions
on the river side, particularly Gen. Schyler's,2 which makes a noble
appearance and is delightfuUy situated; the sloping hills on each
side of the river highly cultivated, and the scattered farms with
cattle grazing in the meadows, the whole terminated by distant hills
and a fine view of the KaatskiU mountains. We crossed the ferry
and entered Albany early in the afternoon.
Wednesday. Albany is an ugly town when not viewed at a dis
tance. Most of the houses are buUt in the old Dutch style, with the
gable ends to the street; it is said to contain 4,000 inhabitants.
There are several modern, handsome brick houses; from the battery
there is a fine view of the river and adjacent country. I took a
walk to General Schyler's; his house is a large, square brick one,
with a flat roof; it stands on a rising ground above the river, and
enjoys a commanding view. We rode to the Cahoos faUs,3 ten
miles from Albany; the road for six mfles runs through a level
meadow along the river, which in the time of freshets overflows it
and renders it a very rich soU; it belongs to Mr. Stephen Renn-
selaer,4 son-in-law of Gen. Schyler; this gentleman is caUed the
Patroon, which is the Dutch name for the Lord of the Manor, and
he owns an immense estate on the banks of the North river, and
running many mUes back into the country. We past by his house
at the end of the Town, it is an old-fashioned brick house. We were
obliged to pass through several of his gates which shut up the road,
for the road is on his land and he cannot keep up fences for his corn
fields on account of the freshets. He has 3,200 tenants and his
rental is £12,000 per annum, York currency. He makes himself
very useful to his neighbors by his acts of benevolence, and is
adored by his numerous tenants, he is void either of avarice or
1 Not to be confused with the present Phflipstown in Putnam County,
opposite West Point. Tobias' Tavern was in the present Nassau, Rensselaer
County, which was "taken from Petersburg, Stephentown and Schodack, by
the name of Philipstown, 21st March, 1806; name changed 6th April, 1808."
T. F. Gordon, Gazetteer of the State of New York, 1836, 644.
2 Philip Schuyler (1733-1804). 3 Cohoes FaUs.
4 Stephen Van Rensselaer (1765-1839), who married Margaret Schuyler.

1917.] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 55
ambition, the latter is remarkable, as he is a young man of
twenty-five. Nothing can be more pleasant than the ride for six miles, all the
way close to the river's edge, and on a smooth, level road, with rich
meadows or well-cultivated fields on the other side of the road. On
the opposite shore just at the point where we quitted the river, stands
Troy, a new and flourishing town at the head of navigation for sloops;
it enjoys over Albany the advantage of receiving with more conven
ience the produce from Vermont and the eastern shore. It is but a
few years since the first store was built, and now there are forty or
fifty houses. A few miles above Troy is the New City or Lansing-
burg, which only has the water for sloops in freshets, but then has
the advantage of being higher up in the country. At the point
where we left the North river the Mohawk river enters it by several
mouths, all of which are visible from the road; coasting up the
Mohawk river, a view of which is now and then had through the
woods, we proceeded four miles of a bad road tiU, entering into a
woody and rocky spot, we suddenly had a fuU view of the fall of the
Cahoos, which is the fall of the whole Mohawk river over a ledge of
rock thirty feet high and 200 yards wide; in some places the fall
appears sixty feet, when standing just above it. A considerable
spray is occasioned by this prodigious body of water falling with
such violence over the rocks, and a tremendous roaring is heard.
The scenery around, consisting of hiUs, woods, and rocks, is romantic,
and the beauty and grandeur of the falls, with the pleasantness of
the ride, rendered this excursion highly gratifying.
Thursday, September 9. We embarked in the morning on board
an Albany sloop for New York, which place, from contrary winds
and calm, we did not reach till the Tuesday night following. This
tedious detention, however, afforded me ample opportunity of view
ing at my leisure the beautiful banks of the Hudson. For some
miles the river is shallow and narrow and the country around rather
low and level. We came to anchor about eight mUes from Albany,
and went ashore and dined; I ascended a hill and had a fine view of
the river, which here resembled a noble lake. The next day we
anchored off Kinderhook landing, where there are a few houses.
The river now began to deepen and widen considerably; we next
passed by Red-hook, a pretty little landing where there are some
good looking houses, pleasantly situated; some mfles before we
reached Red Hook, we passed the home of the Chancellor1 and that
of his mother, situated in the lower manor of Livingston; the old
1 Robert R. Livingston (1746-1813). His mother, Margaret (Beekman)
Livingston, lived until July, 1800.

56 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.
lady's house is a handsome stone one, well situated, and makes a
good appearance from the river, being placed on a hill in the midst
of the woods, which go on quite down to the water's edge. The
Chancellor's house is a little back andis not so well seen. We passed
by the town of Hudson in the night: this is one of the most thriving
places ever known, having been first settled in 1786 and now con
taining upwards of 200 houses; vessels of any burden can load at
the wharves, an advantage it enjoys over Albany, as the navigation
from this place to Albany is bad and difficult; Hudson is thirty miles
from it.
Sunday morning we made Newborough, New Windsor, and Fish-
kill landing, small places on the river's side, which add much to the
scenery; we now had the Highlands full in view guarded by lofty
mountains. I went ashore at FishkiU landing. In the afternoon we
approached the Highlands, which assumed an aspect more and more
tremendous as we approached them. The two mountains which
form the entrance are of great height, and rise out of the river per
pendicularly; they are clothed with impenetrable woods to the very
summit. As we sailed close under them their appearance was grand
and tremendous. The wind being ahead we felt it rushing with
amazing violence through the aperture formed by these mountains:
and were obliged to work in, which we did with the assistance of the
tide. Having entered the Highlands towards the close of the day,
the wind blowing hard ahead and the sky covered with black clouds,
the gloomy appearance of the high-mountains which enchcled us
rendered the scene tremendous. We came to anchor just within
West Point, that celebrated American fortress, justly styled the
American Gibraltar, which the traitor Arnold attempted to betray
into the hands of the enemy. It was very interesting to take a
survey of this strong place, to behold the spot which Arnold had
begun to dismantle (Fort Putnam) ; the landing where he embarked
in his barge; the place where the Vulture sloop-of-war lay at anchor;
the house of my namesake r where Arnold and Andre met; and the
place where the latter crossed the river. On Monday morning I
arose at break of day to have a view of West Point before we passed
it. There was one battery nearly at the water's edge, another on
the point which is a considerable height, another on Fort Putnam,
a rocky cliff much above the point, and other batteries still higher
on several points of land, forming, as it were, different stages of
fortification; the opposite point was lUtewise fortified and a large
boom-chain was placed across the river; as the river takes a turn
just at this point, no vessel could possibly pass without being torn
1 Joshua Hett Smith (1736-1818).

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 57
to pieces by the cannon. The whole scenery about West Point is
astonishingly grand and sublime, high mountains seem to stop the
passage of the river and give it the appearance of a lake; under some
aspects it reminded me of some of the lakes I had seen in Cumber
land and Westmoreland. We afterwards saw Fort Montgomery, and
a mountain called Anthony's Nose, deemed the highest in the High
lands. These mountains are rocky, but all covered with woods from
the water's edge to their summit.
The Highlands continue about fourteen mUes. Sailing between
two other mountains, but less lofty and tremendous, we quitted the
Highlands and came in sight of Peekskill Landing. We anchored
close to the. western shore, nearly opposite Peekskill. Tuesday
morning we entered Tappan Sea, which is the widest part of the
river, being in some places five miles across. The wind blowing
from the sea raised such a swell as to make some of the passengers
very sick. I should have noticed Stony Point, which we passed
Monday evening, celebrated by the distinguished manner in which
it was taken by Gen. Wayne. Tuesday noon we came to anchor off
Closter landing, under a high, steep hill covered with rocks and
woods. In the afternoon, when within twenty miles of New York,
a fah breeze sprang up and soon carried us home. We passed by
Forts Washington and Lee, and landed at the Albany pier at eight
o'clock.1 1 Here ends the New England trip. As Mr. Smith's movements are some
times hard to follow, an intinerary will prove useful:
Aug. 15. Su. Leaves New York.
17. Tu. Reaches Newport.
18. W. Newport to Providence.
19. Th. Providence to Manchester's tavern.
20. F. - Manchester's tavern to Voluntown, Norwich, Lebanon.
21. Sa. Lebanon to East Hartford and Hartford.
22. Su. Hartford.
23. M. Hartford to Wethersfield, Middletown, and back.
24. Tu. Excursion to mountains west of Hartford.
25. W. Hartford to Windsor and Springfield.
26. Th. Springfield to Westfield, Blandford, Foley's tavern.
27. F. Foley's tavern to Becket, Washington, Pittsfield, New Lebanon.
28. Sa. New Lebanon.
29. Su. New Lebanon. Visits Shakers.
30. M. New Lebanon to Hancock, Williamstown, Bennington.
31. Tu. Bennington to New Lebanon.
Sept. 1-3 New Lebanon: no entries.
4. Sa. New Lebanon to Richmond, Stockbridge.
5. Su. Stockbridge to New Lebanon.
6. M. New Lebanon: no entry.
7. Tu. New Lebanon to Nassau and Albany.
8. W. Albany to Cohoes FaUs and back.
9-14. Th.-Tu. Albany to New York by the Hudson.

58 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
II
Philadelphia to Charleston, April-May, 1791
April 20.1 — I sat out in the stage for Richmond in Virginia, where
I proposed purchasing horses and where I had sent a sulky by sea
from PhUadelphia. I left Philadelphia in the morning, past through
Darby,2 a small town situated near the Delaware, and through
Wilmington in the State of Delaware, a pretty town beautifully
situated on Christine creek which runs into the Delaware near the
Town.3 The Town is situated on an eminence with a gradual
descent toward the creek and commands a fine and extensive pros
pect of the surrounding country and the river Delaware; from a
considerable distance Wilmington is a fine object, and being situated
on a descent, all the houses present themselves to the view. Just
before I entered the Town I passed by the Brandywine mills, about
thhteen in number. They are conveniently placed on the bank of
Christine creek, which is navigable for sloops and has the advantage
of loading and unloading the wheat and flour from the vessels into
the mills by cranes. They are substantially built of stone, and, being
placed contiguous to each other along the banks of the creek have
a handsome appearance. Beyond Wilmington is Newport, a small
place where we dined. The ride this morning was agreeable, having
a view of the Delaware nearly the whole way, and being through a
well-wooded and well-cultivated and thickly settled country. From
Newport we proceeded to a small place called Christine,4 on the
creek of that name and arrived early in the evening at Elktown, a
small town on the Elk river which runs into the Chesapeake. It
carries on a good trade, being conveniently situated in point of
navigation, and is about fifty miles from Philadelphia.
April 21. At three in the morning we proceeded, and arrived at
sunrise at Charlestown,6 a smaU, mean-looking town, but most
delightfully situated on an eminence near the head of the Chesa
peake, (of which it has a noble prospect), on a small river called
Charles river. Thence through a hilly and romantic country to the
river Susquehanna, and breakfasted at the ferry-house at Colonel
1 This instalment, under the heading "A Hundred Years Ago," was printed
in the New York Evening Post of May 5, 1888, where it is preceded by this state
ment: "The interesting papers from the diary of WiUiam Smith of South Carolina,
giving a history of a trip through New England in 1790, are supplemented by
the following account from the same source of a trip from Philadelphia to South
Carolina in the spring of 1791."
2 Derby, Pa. 3 Christiana Creek.
* Christiana, Del. 6 Charlestown, Md.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 59
Rodgers, father-in-law of Mr. Pinkney, one of the new members
in Congress from Maryland.1 The prospect of the river, the bay
into which the Susquehanna opens close by the islands; and the
opposite town of Havre is agreeable and picturesque. Vessels of
burden must anchor at the mouth of the river; vessels of smaller
size can proceed up the river six or nine mUes, where the navigation
is totally interrupted by rocks, which would have rendered the
river a very unfit place for the federal seat of Government, as was
once intended. Next comes Bush Town2 or Abingdon, a pretty
little town with a hilly country around, and about a mile distant a
College called Cokesbury College, situated on a very lofty eminence
and built of brick; the building is a handsome one, and is seen from
a great distance.3 Dined between this place and Baltimore,
where we arrived about four in the afternoon, distance 102 miles
from Philadelphia. Baltimore, the principal city of Maryland,
though not its capital, is a large, handsome place, containing a
number of good brick houses and inhabited by several thriving and
wealthy merchants. It contains several good streets weU paved.
It is situated on Patapsco River, which empties into the bay.
Large vessels cannot approach the Town nearer than Fells' Point,
about a mile off, where goods are loaded and unloaded by lighters,
a great inconvenience to trade; notwithstanding Baltimore has
thriven most astonishing, having been for twenty-five or thirty
years a very considerable place, young men remember some of the
principal streets to have been fields and ponds when they were boys.
The harbour is a very commodious and safe one, being sheltered
from the northwest winds by the Town, and from the southeast by
a promontory. ' WiUiam Pinkney (1764-1822) married Ann Maria Rodgers, daughter of
John Rodgers and sister of Commodore John Rodgers.
2 "Harford, or Bush- town, in Harford county, Maryland, lies at the head
of the tide waters of Bush river, between Binam's and James's runs; the former
separating it from Abingdon." J. Morse, American Gazetteer, 1797.
3 "Cokesbury CoUege, in the town of Abingdon, ... is an institution which
bids fair to promote the improvement of science, and the cultivation of virtue.
It was founded by the Methodists, in 1785, and has its name in honor of Thomas
Coke, and Francis Asbury, the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal church."
Morse, American Gazetteer, 1797. The Boston Athenaeum owns a copy (which
formerly belonged to Washington) of An Address to the Annual Subscribers for
the support of Cokesbury-College, and to the Members of the Methodist Society. To
which are added, the Rides and Regulations of the College. By Thomas Coke,
LL.D. and Francis Asbury, Superintendents of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
New-York: Printed by W. Ross, in Broad-Street. M.DCC.LXXXVII. This
is dated "New- York, May 18, ^87;" and the authors say that "our College is
under cover, and will, we trust, be opened for the Education of Youth, by next
Christmas at farthest" (p. 2).

60 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
The exports of Baltimore increase rapidly and nearly equal
PhUadelphia. Probably the prosperity of this Town may be owing
to the high duties in Vhginia under the old Constitution, which
drove the trade of Vhginia into Maryland where the duties were
low. The exports of Baltimore consist chiefly of wheat and flour.
The main street is a mile in length, has a good wooden bridge over
the river, and ascends gradually to a fine plain above the Town,
which was intended for the seat of Congress had Baltimore been
chosen. This land belongs to Colonel, now Governor Howard,1
who had agreed to present it to Congress. From this eminence is
a noble view of the Town, harbour, shipping, etc. The Town house
has a singular appearance. It was built on a hill which was since
leveled, leaving the building in the ah supported by a stone arch.
From the brow of the eminence back of the Town house is a grand
prospect back of the city, an extensive plain, with distant hills,
and the beautiful Seat of Colonel Howard and Mr. Stephenson,2
with woods, etc. In traveling to Baltimore we passed through
the most barren part of the State; now and then a few
wheat fields; a good many old fields and deserted plantations;
fences in ruins; we past several fine streams on which there are
mills and hon works, there being several mines on this road or near
it. There were also many new settlements; trees recently cut down
and land cleared for planting, with much the appearance of a new
country. The price of a passenger from PhUadelphia to Baltimore
is a guinea. In general the road is very bad, hUly, rough, and cut
up; the soil principally clay, as is the soU about Baltimore, which
when not paved, was impassable in wet weather.
April 22. Left Baltimore before four in the morning, past by a
pretty little town called Elkridge, crossed the Patapsco river, eight
miles from Baltimore in a very convenient ferry-boat with a rope;
breakfasted about sixteen miles distant. The country woody, hilly,
from time to time a pretty scene of verdant wheat fields, with a
farm on the hiU; but the country generally poor on this road. Dined
at a very pretty town called Bladensburgh, eight miles from George
town, situated at the head of eastern branch, by means of which it
carries on some trade, as large flats can come up here from George
town and Alexandria. The country around is romantic; on the hills
above it are some handsome Seats. A pleasant ride to Georgetown,
the hills over which you pass commanding fine prospects, one
above Bladensburgh, and another within a few miles of Georgetown
has a distant view of the Potomac and Alexandria, and a fine and
extensive country weU wooded. Crossed Rock creek and ascending
1 John Eager Howard (1752-1827). 2 Dr. Henry Stevenson.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 61
a steep hill arrived at Georgetown : as soon as you attain the summit
of this hUl, a magnificent view suddenly opens, Georgetown being
placed on a very commanding site. From the Town itself, but
more from the adjoining hills, an enchanting prospect presents it
self. The Town, shipping, river, distant country variegated with
woods, creeks, hUls, and vessels under sail, fine eminences, fields
cultivated combined into as grand a scene as can be found almost
anywhere. Georgetown is said to have risen to some importance in the com
mercial world from the same cause as Baltimore, viz., the impolitic
revenue laws of Vhginia, which carried her produce to Georgetown
and sent the imports from Europe, which otherwise would have
gone to Alexandria. The navigation is certainly not equal to that
of Alexandria, for there are some rocks opposite Georgetown, the
channel is narrow and bad, and no vessel can withstand the ice
which comes down the Potomac, for which reasons insurance can
not be made on vessels tUl they have got to Eastern Branch. The
situation of Georgetown is likewise inconvenient for trade, the land
being very uneven, and full of steep declivities, and hollows, and
lofty eminences, which though beautiful to the eye of the traveler,
and afford delightful prospects, are certainly Ul-calculated for trade.
As soon as I arrived at Georgetown, I rode with Major L'Enfant,1
appointed by the President of the United States to make plans,
surveys, etc., of the Federal city, to survey the land laid out for
that purpose. It covers an area of nearly 6,000 acres, extending
from Rock creek near Georgetown, beginning at the mouth of the
creek and running down the Potomac to the Eastern Branch four
mUes, then along the Eastern Branch to a point caUed Evans Point,
and from thence passing near Bladensburgh to a spot on Rock creek
about a mUe or two from Georgetown. I rode over the greatest
part of the ground; the Major pointed out to me all the eminences,
plains, commanding spots, projects of canals by means of Rock
creek, Eastern Branch, and a fine creek called Goose creek, which
intersects the plan of the city along the Eastern Branch, quays,
1 For a sketch of Pierre Charles L'Enfant (1754-1825), see Jusserand,
With Americans of Past and Present Days, 139-195. The foUowing item, dated
Georgetown, April 2, was printed in the Columbian Centinel of April 23, 1791:
"Previous to the departure of the President from this town, we hear, that he
instructed Lieutenant Colonel L'Enfant, a native of France, who served with
distinguished reputation in the American corps of Engineers in the late war;
and whose tastes and talents are universaUy admired, to plan and lay out the
Federal City." Another item was printed in the same paper of May 7, 1791:
"Alexandria, April 21. On Friday the 15th inst. the Hon. Daniel Carrol, and
Dr. David Stewart, arrived in this town, to superintend the fixing of the first
Corner-Stone of the Federal District."

62 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Oct.
bridges, etc., magnificent public walks, and other projects, but he
never once mentioned a convenient spot for a church, and what is
more surprising I never once thought of asking him where he pro
posed placing them.
The ground pleased me much; the Major is enraptured with it;
"nothing," he says, "can be more admirably adapted for the pur
pose; nature has done much for it, and with the aid of art it will
become the wonder of the world." I proposed calling this new Seat
of Empire, Washingtonople.1 The eastern branch affords a noble
harbour, having twenty-seven feet of water and being perfectly
safe; the country along its banks is beautiful, and the view of the
Eastern Branch, with the Potomac and the view of Alexandria, which
is distinctly seen nearly opposite, with the prospect behind of woods,
farms, etc., is extremely grand and romantic. In short, I was de
lighted with my ride, and returned to my tavern in the dusk of the
evening well satisfied that the place selected unites more advantages
for the place intended than any spot I have seen in America. The
speculations of land in this neighborhood have been great since the
President has fixed on the spot; land in the neighborhood which
before sold for five or seven pounds an acre, has been sold for thirty
and forty pounds. The Major showed me all his plans and surveys,
and so did Mr. Ellicott2 who is appointed to take the heights,
distances, etc.; they are to be all ready for the President on his
return from his tour.3
April 23d. Crossed the Potomac and went to Alexandria. A
noble view of Georgetown from the heights on the Virginia side, and
many pleasing views as you proceed to Alexandria, of Georgetown
and the opposite shore, the Goose creek, Eastern Branch, etc. The
road being chiefly through woods, you have only now and then a
view of the river and opposite coast. Alexandria is a considerable
1 The Commissioners "notified L'Enfant, on the 9th of September, 1791,
that a name had been selected for the district and the city: 'We have agreed that
the federal district shaU be caUed "the Territory of Columbia," and the federal
city "the City of Washington." The title of the map wiU therefore be "A map
of the City of Washingt6n in the District of Columbia"'" (Jusserand, With
Americans, 177). The name Columbia, as a heading for news about Congress,
was in popular use much earlier. Thus the heading of a column devoted to the
proceedings of Congress in the Boston Gazette of April 26, 1790, was "Congress"
(p. 3/1), but in the same paper of May 3, 1790, the heading was "Columbia"
(P- 2/3)- About that time it was suggested that the name of our country should
be changed from the United States of America to the United States of Columbia:
see the New York Nation, March 9, 1916, 282.
2 Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820).
1 On March n, 1791, Washington left Philadelphia on a tour to the South,
and reached Mount Vernon on June 12: see his Diary (Lossing, i860), 154-202.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 63
place of trade, is well situated on the river which is three-fourths of
a mile wide. It suffered, as before mentioned, under the old con
stitution, but is now thriving rapidly; the situation of the Town, a
capital one, a fine eminence, plain level, and bounded by a pretty
range of hiUs an excellent, safe, and commodious harbour, a fine
back country to it, will soon make it a very important post; much
business is done here; there are about 3,200 inhabitants; the houses
principaUy of brick; the streets are not paved and being of clay
after rain they are so slippery it is almost impossible to walk in them.
I went to the top of Colonel Howe'shouse, a very lofty one, the pros
pect a magnificent one. The Town laid out at right angles, the har
bour, river to great distance, with its windings, creeks, and islands,
the extensive plain contiguous to the city, all formed a fine scene.
Dined at Alexandria. With the aid of a borrowed horse and sulky,
and a hack for my man, went to Mount Vernon,' the celebrated Seat
of General Washington, where I now write this journal. Distance
from Alexandria ten miles, road very hilly, but in general very good,
I followed the Colchester road till I crossed Hunting creek, which is
the southern boundary of the ten mile square, then took the left
road and ascended a very high, steep hill, from which is a fine view
of the creek, river, and Alexandria. The road mostly through fine
woods, and little of the river is seen; and much like the road from
Middletown place on Ashley river down to the ferry.
The house at Mount Vernon is most magnificently situated; I
hardly remember to have been so struck with a prospect. It stands
on a small plain near the river, which is 200 feet below; the view
extends up and down the river a considerable distance, the river is
about two mUes wide, and the opposite shore is beautiful, as is the
country along the river; there is a verdant lawn between the house
and the river, and a rapid descent, wooded, down to the river.
From the grand portico which fronts the river, the assemblage of
objects is grand beyond description, embracing the magnificence of .
the river with the vessels sailing about; the verdant fields, woods,
and parks. The mansion is large and commodious, the portico 96
feet long and lofty; the grand salon 32 x 28 and very high ceiling,
handsomely ornamented with a representation of implements of
husbandry. The chimney piece is of marble, richly wrought, and
represents rustic scenes, the hearth inlaid. The stable for forty
horses; two pretty gardens, separated by a gravel serpentine walk,
edged with wfllows and other trees; a chcular lawn back of the house;
the grounds well-cultivated and improved. There is a jackass up
wards of fifteen hands high, sent by the King of Spain;1 another
1 See Washington's Writings (Ford), x. 479; xi. 29, 342.

64 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Od.
from Malta upwards of fourteen, fine animals both. The estate
extends down the river about three mUes, and up the river about
six, and is about three or four miles back from the river, containing
from 9,000 to 10,000 acres, one-half under cultivation, the remainder
woods. A great fishery of herrings is carried on, and it is sold to
the country people, who salt it for provisions. Upwards of 100,000
bricks are made here annuaUy; the fence of the estate where the
mansion is runs nine miles. The General has lately sold his trans-
mountainous lands, 130,000 acres for 65,000 crowns. He has besides
other estates tenanted in Loudon and other counties; he owns 300
slaves, about 150 or 160 workers; no negro houses are seen near the
mansion; they are all at a distance and not visible from the house.
I caught a rock fish whUe I was here, four feet long and sixty-four
pounds weight; they have caught them weighing sixty-nine. From
the portico is a view on the same side of the river of Colonel Fair
fax's Seat;1 the house was burnt some years ago, but the woods
about the ruins have a romantic appearance. Sunday I remained
at Mount Vernon and left on Monday, and proceeded to the Seat of
Colonel Mason,2 about thirteen mUes on the Potomac; the ride a
pleasant one, a hilly country, well-wooded and romantic. Colonel
George Mason is a gentleman of considerable eminence in the po
litical line in this state. I arrived at his house about dinner time,
and staid with him until the next morning. The house is rather an
ancient brick building, with a neat garden, at the end of which is a
high natural terrace which commands the Potomac; the ground
about is rough and unimproved. On Tuesday I got to Colchester,
to breakfast. This httle place is seated on a river, and seems to be
in a declining condition. Dined at Stafford Court House. Passed
through Dumfries before dinner, a small town which has some trade,
though said to be on the decline, owing to the want of navigation,
as the little river on which it is placed is filling up. Passed through
Falmouth, a little town on the Rappahannock, beautifuUy situated
on a hill, which has a fine prospect of the river and the Town of
Fredericksburgh on the opposite bank. Crossed the river and
arrived at Fredericksburgh, a pretty town, consisting of one long
street, containing several good houses. This place is at the head of
navigation, and appears to be thriving and carrying on a large busi
ness; there are a great many stores in it, and the houses are generaUy
neat and in good repair; it contains upwards of 300.
The road to-day extremely woody, and hUly, and fatiguing. The
1 Belvoir, formerly the seat of George WiUiam Fairfax.
2 George Mason (1725-1792). For Gunston HaU, see Edith T. Sale, Manors
of Virginia in Colonial Times, 92-103; Kate M. Rowland, Life of George Mason,
I- 57. 72. 98-no.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1 790-1 791. 65
country well settled, wheat country principally. On Wednesday
breakfasted at Bowling Green. At this place is a neat looking Col
lege.1 Passed this day the Mattapony and Pamunkey rivers, which
form below York river. Dined at a place called the Merry Oaks;
I arrived early in the afternoon, at Richmond, the metropolis of
Vhginia. The road this day level and fine; the country well settled,
a great deal of wood and many wheat fields. Tobacco is declining
fast and the culture of wheat succeeding to it. Richmond is situated
partly on a high eminence and partly on the banks of the James
river, which is navigable for sloops within a mile to Rocket's land
ing; above that the river is fuU of rocks and shoals, but a company
has associated for purposes of navigation by cutting a canal along
the river. Ninety negroes are constantly employed, with four over
seers and a head manager. The canal is brought already within
two miles of the Town, and when finished will open a valuable com
munication with the entire country. I rode as far as the spot to
which the canal ends. The ride along the river is extremely beauti
ful and romantic; the road winds on the brow of a hUl over the river
and commands a fine view of the Town, the river, the little town
of Manchester, on the opposite side, and woods scattered about.
The roaring of the water over the rocks and the noise of the work
men working below, with the explosion made in blowing the rocks
up, render the scene curious and pleasing. On my return I was
struck with the grandeur of the scenery; the different views of Rich
mond, with its immense Capitol, towering above the Town on a
lofty eminence, with its antique appearance, arrested my atten
tion.2 They are extremely fine and picturesque and well worthy
the traveler's notice. The Town contains about 300 houses, some
of them excellent brick and well built. It carries a great deal of
business and will be a flourishing place when the navigation with the
county is entirely opened, which will be in two or three years.
The Capitol, built on the model of the Temple of Nismes, is an
immense pUe of brick work, seated on the edge of a lofty hill, which
overlooks the whole Town, river, and adjoining country. From the
extensiveness of the undertaking it has for some years remained in
complete for want of funds; it has already cost £30,000, and will
requhe 12, or 15,000 more to finish it. Its unfinished state gives it
a heavy, singular appearance, but when complete it will be a mag
nificent buUding. The model, made at Paris in plaster of Paris (by
order of Mr. Jefferson, who was dhected by the State of Virginia
1 Mr. WiUiam G. Stanard of Richmond kindly informs me that this was
perhaps Concord Academy.
2 A good view of Richmond was printed on Bishop James Madison's Map
of Virginia, published in 1807.

66 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
to obtain a model of the Temple of Nismes), is a very beautiful and
elegant thing. It is kept at the Governor's,1 who is a good-tem
pered, genteel man. He was very polite to me and invited me to
dine with him. He is a plain looking man and lives in a plain house.
The Capitol contains a number of apartments aUotted for the dif
ferent public offices; they are mostly on the ground floor, which is
arched with brick and secure from fire. In front of the buUding is
a grand portico, the height of the building and supported by large
pillars. The loftiness of this buUdihg, and its eminent situation
render it a very striking object, and it is the first thing which strikes
the traveler. The principal tavern is a large, handsome building.
AprU 29th.2 Quitted Richmond in my sulky which I had sent
around by sea from Philadelphia, having bought a pah of horses.
Crossed James River on a long wooden bridge, or rather two bridges,
the island separating the bridge into two parts; the river here is
almost a bed of rocks, with a rapid current. Manchester, a smaU
town, is just opposite Richmond on the river; it is a long straggling
place and carries on some business; it has a handsome view of Rich
mond and the Capitol, which continues to attract attention and
excite admiration as you recede from it; the farther distant, the
more you are struck by its grandeur and by its antique appearance,
resembling at a distance a Roman structure amidst rocks and woods.
The road at this season is very fine, and this is a thickly settled
country. I met a great number of wagons carrying down tobacco,
and a number of hogsheads rolling down to Manchester inspection.
At Hopkins,3 twenty miles from Richmond, on the road to Janet's
bridge, I met very good fare, a neat, clean house, and a very. civil
landlord. Here I dined, and proceeded on to Janet's bridge,4 a
wooden bridge over the Appomattox, which afterwards passes by
Petersburgh; the river above and below the bridge offers a romantic
scene, flowing sufcothly between high, verdant, and woody banks.
This afternoon saw several plantations, the country being much
cultivated and affording several pleasant views of wheat fields,
meadows, and woods. The road was excellent, hard clay principaUy,
and quite dry, passing either through handsome woods or along
plantations. Four mUes from Janet's bridge the road forks; the right
1 Beverly Randolph (1755-1797).
2 This instalment, under the heading "One Hundred Years Ago," was
printed in the New York Evening Post of June 2, 1888.
3 Hopkins, though apparently not in modem gazetteers, is one of the few
places given on Bishop Madison's Map of Virginia, 1807. It is (or was) in Powha
tan County. Mr. Stanard thinks that "the name Hopkins has probably dis
appeared." 4 Mr. Stanard tells me that this was Janitoe's Bridge, in AmeUa County.

1 91 7.] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1 790-1 791. 67
takes you to Chinkapin church;1 the left by Colonel Mead's planta
tion, to his mUl, etc. I took the latter meaning to put up at the
Colonel's, being recommended to it by my landlord. Soon after I
passed the fork I was assailed by a violent shower, which fortunately
was of short duration. I then turned from the road, and riding
nearly two mUes through the plantation arrived at dusk at the
Colonel's, who gave me a kind reception. He has a very large plan
tation. I found him bitterly opposed to the excise, and attempted
to reason his objections; we discussed the matter upwards of an
hour, but I fear I met with httle success; his objections were ground
less. Saturday, .April 30. Colonel Meade2 conducted me through a
by-road into the main road which leads to Chinkapin church. Some
parts of the road this morning were bad, and from the appearance
of the road I imagine that it must be impassable in winter. I had
the advantage in traveling at this season of the year of having the
roads good, roads which are dreadful in winter being now firm and
level. I dined at rather an ordinary tavern at Chinkapin church;
here I met several respectable citizens of the neighborhood, after a
great deal of conversation on public topics, in the course of which
they spoke theh minds freely, I withdrew to dress, and on my return
the most respectable of them, who was a Colonel Morton3 and one
of the County Court Judges said: "We suppose, sh, from your
acquaintance with the proceedings of Congress, that you probably
are a member of that body." I replied that I was. "From what
State," "South Carolina." "Mr.  , I suppose." "Yes,sh." "I
have heard a great deal of you, sh: had we known who you were,
we should have spoken with more reserve about Congress;" (they
had said nothing offensive). I told them that it was on that account
I had not discovered who I was, in order to hear theh opinions about
Government with freedom, that I wished to have the sentiments of
the people respecting the proceeding of Congress, as our object was
only to promote theh welfare and obtain their approbation.
I then inquired whether the State certificates of Virginia were
raised in value since the assumption, and was informed they were
doubled; whether the Excise was so odious in this State as had been
represented; Colonel Morton said that after all stills had been made
liable to pay a duty, he was satisfied with it, but that he should have
much disapproved of an exemption of domestic stills. I informed
him that Colonel Meade's principal objection had been to the sub-
1 Chinquapin Church, built about 1749, at a place since called Paineville.
' Mr. Stanard thinks that this was Everard Meade {d. 1808), a brother of
Richard Kidder Meade (1746-1805) and uncle of Bishop WiUiam Meade.
3 Mr. Stanard thinks that this was John Morton.

68 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
jecting domestic stills to the duty; all the company thought that
they should be subject to it, as well as those distUling liquors for
sale. After some further conversation Colonel Meade1 asked whether
it was true that the lands of individuals within the ten miles square
were to be at the disposal of Congress, I assured him not, and ac
quainted him with the meaning of the Constitution as generally
explained. When the horses were ready, my head was so full of
politics that I ascended my sulky, took leave of the company, and
drove off. I had proceeded nearly a mile before I recollected that
I had come off without paying for my dinner. I stopt, called Ben,
and was relieved to find he had done what I should have done.
The road was now pleasant and fine for several mUes, hard and
level, and romantic woods. Six miles from Chinkapin church
there is a fork; the right leads through Prince Edward County to
Prince Edward court house; the left through Amelia to Moore's
Ordinary;2 the distances nearly the same by both roads, but I
was advised to take the latter, being more level; the former ap
proaches the Appomattox and crossing several creeks is broken
ground and hilly. Within six or eight mUes of Prince Edward
court house lives the celebrated Patrick Henry,3 who is now mak
ing a great deal of money by large fees of £50 or £100 for clearing
horse thieves and murderers, which has lost him much of the great
reputation he enjoyed in his neighborhood; he has been left out of
the Assembly at the last election; some say because he insisted on
not being elected, others that his conduct has given general disgust.
I am told that he will travel hundreds of miles for a handsome fee
to plead for criminals, and that his powers of oratory are so great
he generaUy succeeds, insomuch, that a man in his neighborhood
has been heard to say he should have no apprehension of being de
tected in horse stealing, for that Governor Henry, or Colonel Henry
as he is sometimes called, would for £50 clear him. The road forks
at one doctor's; taking the left I proceeded along a very high ridge,
from which a great extent of country is seen on both sides, for
ests rising above forests, with intermediate spots of well-cultivated
country. From the description I have had, this part of the country
must considerably resemble the back part of South Carolina. This
country when thickly settled, wUl be equal in beauty of prospect and
richness of scenery to Great Britain. This is evident from some
1 Doubtless an error for " Colonel Morton."
2 "The next road that passes through the county from the east, is by Moor's
old ordinary in Prince Edward." J. Martin, Comprehensive Description of
Virginia, 1834, 149.
3 Henry moved to Prince Edward County in 1786 or 1787: see W.W.Henry,
Patrick Henry, n. 305, 311.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 69
spots, which, being well cleared and cultivated, and possessing a
happy combination of woods, meadows, wheat fields, and hills
gently swelling, present a romantic prospect. One of these spots
struck me soon after leaving Janet's Bridge, when ascending a hill,
and, looking back, I saw the scene just described.
These parts of Virginia through which I have just traveled, viz. :
the counties of Powhatan, Prince Edward, Amelia, and Charlotte
are generaUy thickly settled; the inhabitants I have met with are
polite and kind to strangers. I found a sufficiency of fodder for my
horses; my own fare consisted generally of bacon, eggs, salad, corn
bread, tolerable rum, good cool water, sometimes a chicken, but
not often ; the bills reasonable. There are some peculiarities in this
people; they are fond of showing respect to strangers, by bedecking
them with the title of Colonel:1 this happened to me more than
once, and I could scarce keep my countenance at hearing this when
I have so httle of a martial appearance and such small pretension
to the title. They pronounce the words "there" and "stairs"
different from any of the inhabitants of the other States, calling
the one "stars," and saying "thar." Gaining a livelihood so easily,
having abundance of land, and a tolerably fertile soil, cultivated in
many parts altogether by the negroes, they have a great deal of
leisure on their hands, which they spend in piazzas at taverns on
the road, where a great number will coUect and pass whole morn
ings in conversing about theh geldings and "mars," and relating
anecdotes about theh neighborhood and theh own adventures.
Land being abundant and living plenty, no people in the world can
surpass these in good living and ease; with theh blessings and a
mild government they ought to be happy, if it be the lot of any
people to be so. The dwellings of gentlemen of property being
generaUy remote from cities and mechanics, are generally most out
of order; if a pane of glass be broken, or some of the paper loose, or
the wall peeled off, or the lock of a door deranged, they wUl continue
so for years, for there is no remedy at hand. In this respect their
houses are not comfortable. You will therefore put up at a house
perfectly unfurnished and uncomfortable, the owner of which drives
his carriage and four.
I passed this afternoon several small taverns, and traveled an
hour after dark to reach Billy George's because it was recommended
as the best, but I found it bad enough; there was neither rum nor
sugar; he borrowed some rum from a neighbor, but I lost my tea.
1 "There is not a country under heaven," wrote John Adams in 1807, "in
which titles and precedency are more eagerly coveted than in this country:"
see G. L. Kittredge, Old Farmer and his Almanack, 234.

70 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
The bugs made a heartier supper on me than I did on my bacon and
eggs; I was glad, however, to find that my horse fared better than
I did, and before six the next morning I proceeded on my journey.
On Sunday I passed by Moore's Ordinance,1 now kept by one
Boucker, and crossing Little Roanoke River on the bridge of that
name, arrived at breakfast at ten o'clock at Captain Thnberly's
tavern at Charlotte court house. This being my wedding day, I
was struck with the co-incidence of names.2 Entering Charlotte
county, I remarked that a great part of this road I traveled from
Richmond is very badly watered, scarce having seen above two or
three streams of water the whole way; the road, I fancy, runs along
a high and dry ridge. After dinner, proceeded to Cole's Ferry.
The first part of the road is very hilly, some of the hiUs steep; from
the summits are several fine prospects of broken ground and well
cultivated country; passed several fine streams, aU along are settle
ments. After traveling three or four mfles the road is hard and level
for some distance through pleasant woods, and then it becomes
again extremely hilly. Crossed Cubb Creek3 over a bridge, after
which ascending a hiU had a beautiful view on the east side and
behind of the most verdant wheat fields on the sides of fine undulat
ing hiUs intermixed with woods; then descending a steep hUl, ap
proached Staunton river and passed through a low ground cleared,
which appears very fine land, being sometimes overflowed by the
river, which though at present not above 1 50 yards wide is at times
nearly a mUe wide, rising forty feet and spreading over aU the low
grounds in its vicinity. I crossed the ferry; some countrymen forded
it at the same time, for though the river is wide and the water deep
and rapid, the fording is reckoned safe, as the exact depth can be
easUy ascertained and the bottom is fine and level. There is a faU
of the river just at the ferry, which occasions a great rapidity in
the current.
At the moment that I crossed the ferry came on a thunder-storm,
which, with the fierce redness of the sky just over my head, the
rapidity of the current, and the violence of the wind, excited some
apprehensions, as I had never before crossed the ferry with my
horses. The rain pursued me, and poured in torrents, I, however,
pushed on to Colonel Cole's; he is a man of genteel fortune, and has
a pretty considerable plantation here, with other estates. Here I
tarried the forenoon, and after dinner proceeded on towards Dan
river to cross it at Dix's Ferry. The road good for about ten mUes;
1 Mr. Smith doubtless wrote "Ordinary."
8 On May 1, 1786, Mr. Smith married Charlotte Izard: see p. 28, supra.
3 Cub Creek, Charlotte County, Va.

1917.] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1 790-1 791. 71
it is then very hUly. I put up this night at one Pridie's, a sorry
tavern; I had for company an idiot, the landlord's brother, who
was himself but one remove from it, and I was waited on by an ugly
broken backed old negro woman. My fare was indifferent, and as
I was kept awake a great part of the night by bugs and fleas, and
the united groaning and grunting of the hogs under the window, and
my man Ben in the chamber with me; all this agreeable music was
enlivened by perpetual peals of thunder and the rattling of heavy
rain on the shingles over my head, which continued nearly the whole
night, and began just as I entered the tavern. The heavy rain of
the night had so cooled the ah that I traveled the whole of the next
day in my cloak. A mUe or two from Pridie's I came to Banister
river, which I crossed over a bridge; the river and banks pleasant
and shady. The country well settled along this road. Breakfasted
at Halifax Old Town; or Old Town, as it is caUed: it has no other
pretension to the name than by containing two or three old houses,
inhabited by some wretched old women: I, however, got a decent
breakfast and went on.
A few mUes from the old town the road forks; the right goes to
Allen's ford; the left carried me towards Dix's ferry. The road
from Pridie's to the old town pretty good; from thence to one Wis
dom's, about fourteen mUes, the road continues tolerably good,
but from his house to BiUy Dix's, eight mUes, is an abominable road,
consisting of stumps, roots, stones, gullies, steep hiUs, and every
thing which can compose an execrable road: thence three miles
further to the ferry the road is good; the country all this way well
settled. A little above Billy Dix's is a road which goes from Dix's
ferry to Petersburgh. The tavern where I lay that night is kept by
Colonel Dix. A sick, cross chUd made a terrible noise from the
time I entered the house tiU bedtime, and then its mother, who
was suddenly seized with a violent fit of the colic, commenced the
most dreadful howling, screaming and groaning I ever heard, and
as my chamber was only separated by a thin partition, I was kept
awake by her music the greatest part of the night. After supper I
had a long debate with the landlord upon the excise, to which he
was not a little opposed.
Wednesday, 4th of May. Descending a steep hill I came to the
ferry over Dan river, near the tavern. The river is nearly as wide
as Staunton and is fordable; the banks wooded and pleasant; it is less
rapid than Staunton. Ascending a very steep hill on the other side
I entered the State of North Carolina. The road is there good.
Stopt and breakfasted at Grant's store, twelve mUes, where I got a
very good breakfast and where a tavern is kept. About a mUe

72 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
further is a fork; the left goes on by Stublefield's tavern to Guilford
Court House; the right, which I took, goes likewise to GuUford, by
the hon works, and is reckoned a better road; it goes likewise to
Salem. Arrived at the hon works about three o'clock. My land
lord, Jones, superintends them. After dinner he conducted me over
them. They are situated at the head of a creek called "Great
Troublesome," in a hollow surrounded by high hills covered with
wood. The first appearance of the buildings, large reservoir of
water, creek, and the people at work, with the noise of the machinery
of the mills and the rapid currents which work them, have a pleasing
and singular appearance just as you ascend the hill which overlooks
them, after traveling a number of miles through the woods. The
ore is none of the best, and the furnace is not yet in order; they
make less hon here than there is a demand for. The spot is reckoned
very unhealthy, on account of the large reservoir and the creek,
which is wide and stagnant. During the night came on a violent
rain accompanied by loud and continued peals of thunder, some of
the severest I ever heard. I imagine the vicinity of the mines must
have had some influence on the lightning; the common ore is got
close by, and the rock ore at about four miles distance; my con
ductor supposes there is silver in the ore.
Thursday, May 5. About two miles from the hon works the
road again forks; the left leads to Guilford Court House, the right
to Salem. Leaving the iron works, I ascended a high hUl; the road
for seventeen or eighteen miles towards Salem is very disagreeable
— a soft clay badly cut up by the wagons, numberless stumps,
some steep hills, the ascent obstructed by large stones. After
passing a mill the road becomes very good, and continues so to
Dobson's, about twenty-six miles from the hon works. There is no
tavern in the whole of this distance, and the road a very long and
fatiguing one, which took me six hours, so that I did not get my
breakfast till after twelve. The country from Dix's ferry is well
settled, many new plantations. The people, however, do not look
so well as those more northerly, nor so much at theh ease. The
soil on the high land, indifferent, but good near the water courses.
Country woody, now and then an opening, with a plantation of
good-looking wheat, and sometimes from the summits of the hills,
over which the road passes, is seen a great extent of woody country
rising in waves one above the other, with a little clearing here and
there. I got a very good breakfast at Dobson's; he has a very decent •
house; his wife, who sat down to breakfast with me, is a huge fat
woman of about eighty, whom he calls "Honey." The road con-
inues good, with a few interruptions of steep and broken hills to

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 73
Salem.1 After traveling through woods for many days, the sight of
this little settlement of Moravians is highly curious and interesting.
Between 200 and 300 persons of this sect here assembled live in
brotherly love and set a laudable example of industry, unfortunately
too little observed and followed in this part of the country. Every
man follows some occupation; every woman is engaged in some
feminine work; a tanner, shoemaker, potter, saddler, tinner, brewer,
distiUer, etc., is here seen at work; from theh labors they not only
supply themselves but the country all around them. The first view
of the town is romantic, just as it breaks upon you through the
woods; it is pleasantly seated on a rising ground, and is surrounded
by beautiful meadows, well-cultivated fields, and shady woods.
The antique appearance of the houses, built in the German style,
and the trees among which they are placed have a singular and
pleasing effect; the whole resembles a beautiful village, and forms a
pastoral scene. On my arrival I waited on a Mr. Bagge, one of the
brethren and a respectable old gentleman, who keeps a store here.
Having introduced myself to him, he very politely conducted me
to the single men's house, and to all the different trades. I found
every one hard at work; such a scene of industry, perhaps, exists no
where in so small a place. The brewery and distillery are consider
able; the beer is very good, and a cordial made out of the whiskey
excellent. Water brought from the adjacent rivulets is collected in
large pipes and conveyed to all the houses: at the tanner's a very
smaU quantity falling from no great height turns a large wheel and
works the pestles with which the bark is broken. Every house has
its garden. Theh discipline and customs resemble generally those
of Bethlehem in Pennsylvania. There are two settlements or towns
near Salem, but they are sickly. The settlement in this State covers
about 90,000 acres: Salem covers 2,000. There are in all 1,500 souls;
260 at Salem, 200 at the two other settlements, and the residue
scattered in different farms. The church yard is on a hill above the
town, surrounded by shady groves: the graves are aU distinct, laid
out in apartments, a small square stone on each only mentions the
name, the place they come from, and the age and day of death. It
is surprising to find what a medley of nations lie here interred; it is
also astonishing to find the small number of deaths, since theh first
settlement in Salem, which was in 1772, there are only buried here
ten boys, twelve girls, fourteen single men, only one single woman,
thirteen married women, nine married men, and one negro, total
sixty, which in the space of twenty years is only three per annum,
a surprising proof of the good effects of industry, sobriety, temper-
1 Col. Rec. North Carolina, v. 1156, et seq.

74 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.. [OCT.
ance, and a good situation. Between eight and nine o'clock I
attended theh evening service, which consisted only of singing,
accompanied by an organ. I was much pleased with the music,
which was good, and with the very orderly and decent appearance
of the audience.
Friday, May 6. Very much pleased with Salem, and recruited by
the best bed since I left home, I proceeded to Saulsbury by a most
excellent road and crossed the Yadkin at Long's ferry. Less fa
tigued than by any day's journey I had traveled. I arrived at
Saulsbury1 to dinner, after which Mr. Steele attended me to the
County Court which was sitting, and then shewed me the town,
which consists of about forty or fifty straggling houses in an open
pretty plain; it looks like a poor place and has but little business.
The Court House is not half finished: the town contains about 300
inhabitants among them a great number of children. The weather
this day uncommonly cool and the evening very cool. Mr. Steele
informed me that people could sleep under a blanket almost the
whole summer; there was a white frost this night. On Saturday I
rose with the sun and found the weather extremely cold, and trav
eled twenty miles to breakfast, the road excellent. From Phifer's
the road which was wide all the way from Saulsbury narrows and
forks; the left goes to Camden by the Rocky river, it is most
frequented by the wagons, but is so little settled that there is scarce
a house to be seen for forty mUes; the right hand through Charlotte,
though farther about, and perhaps a worn road being weU settled
is most preferable. For twelve or fourteen mUes the road is very
disagreeable, being hUly, and broken by deep gullies, and passes
through several creeks, which in wet weather must be extremely
bad. About the creeks the land is good, and I saw this day several
beautiful wheat and rye fields. From the summits of some of the
high ridges over which I passed, a great extent of country is seen.
The last eight or ten miles to Charlotte, with a few interruptions
of steep hiUs and a good many roots across the road, is a fine, hard,
level red clay through beautiful woods. Near Charlotte are some
finely cultivated fields. This place does not deserve the name of a
town, it consists only of a wretched Court House, and a few dweUings
falling to decay. There is a good tavern kept by Mason, where,
however, I paid the dearest bill on the road. On Sunday I rode
eight or nine miles on a good road, then there is a good deal of bad
road to Major Barklay's; some part is abominable, a succession of
steep hills, fuU of deep gullies and large rocks, intermixed with roots
stumps and ruts: passed this day several creeks, Twelve MUe Creek,
1 Salisbury, N. C.

1917.] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1 790-1 791. 75
Waxam Creek, etc. The first is the boundary between the two
states, but there is a slip of South Carolina runs northward a con
siderable distance above it. On the road some good looking plan
tations, and several fine hiUs weU cultivated. Slept at Barclay's,
an indifferent house. The road is now good all the way to Camden,
generally level and sandy, a few hUls, but not bad: the country about
here well known in the history of the war, particularly for the ac
tions of Hanging Rock and Camden: I passed over the spot where
both were fought. The road passed over some curious flat rocks of
great extent: the land about here, pine barrens and some parts of
the road heavy. About nine miles from Camden I saw the traces of
the famous battle of Camden, and the marks of balls against the
trees. Slept at Camden, a pretty town of about seventy houses
and some very good dweUings. On Tuesday breakfasted at States-
burgh,1 on the high bUls of Santee, a delightful situation, com
manding a prodigious extent of country. Slept at Simpson's. On
Wednesday breakfasted at Eutaw's, slept at Jackson's. Thursday
dined at P. Smith's, lay at the "Elms."2 Friday morning started
on the last stage of my journey, reached home in the afternoon.3
1 Stateburg, S. C.
2 Ralph Izard's estate. In a letter to Jefferson dated "The Elms, South
Carohna," April 27, 1784, Izard said, "I am settled upon an agreeable spot,
about 18 miles from Charles Town. A plantation long neglected, but pleasantly
situated and capable of great improvement. This I am attempting; and my
inclination would lead me never to enter again into pubUc Ufe." South Carolina
Historical and Genealogical Magazine, n. 195.
3 An itinerary of this trip foUows:
April 20. W. Philadelphia to Derby, Wilmington, Newport, Christiana,
Elkton.
21. Th. Elkton to Charlestown, Harford (Bush Town), Abingdon,
Baltimore.
22. F. Baltimore to Elkridge, Bladensburg, Georgetown, Federal City.
23. Sa. Georgetown to Alexandria and Mount Vernon.
24. Su. Mount Vernon.
25. M. Mount Vernon to Guns ton HaU.
26. Tu. Gunston HaU to Colchester, Dumfries, Stafford Court House,
Falmouth, Fredericksburg.
27. W. Fredericksburg to BowUng Green, Merry Oaks, Richmond.
28. Th. Richmond: no entry.
29. F. Richmond to Manchester, Hopkins, Col. Meade's.
30. Sa. Col. Meade's to Chinkapin Church, BiUy George's tavern.
May 1. Su. BiUy George's tavern to Moore's ordinary, Charlotte Court
House, Cole's Ferry.
2. M. Cole's Ferry to Pridie's.
3. Tu. Pridie's to Halifax Old Town, Col. Dix's.
4. W. Col. Dix's to Jones's at iron works.
5. Th. Jones's at iron works to Salem.
6. F. Salem to Salisbury.

76 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.

Bibliography.
This bibliography is based on the pamphlets owned by the foUowing
four libraries: Boston Athenaeum, Boston Public Library, Harvard Col
lege Library, Massachusetts Historical Society. Two of the pamphlets
here listed — Nos. 5 and iS — are not in those libraries, and their titles
have been obtained Trom other sources. The authorship of three pam
phlets — Nos. 9, 13, and 14 — is uncertain, but they are included for
convenience. Chronological and alphabetical lists of the pamphlets
foUow, after which the pamphlets wUl be discussed chronologicaUy.
1 1792 Politicks and Views.
2 1794 Jan. Speeches, Philadelphia.
3 1794 Jan. Friendship with Great Britain, Edinburgh reprint of
No. 2.
4 1794 Jan. Speeches, Edinburgh reprint of No. 2.
5 1794 Jan. Speeches, London reprint of No. 2.
6 1794 May 1.. Address, Philadelphia.
7 1794 May 1. Address, London reprint of No. 6.
8 1794 Dec. Speech.
9 1795 Candid Examination, New York.
10 1796 July 4. Oration, Charleston.
11 1796 July 4. Oration, second edition, Charleston.
12 1796 Oct. 2. Comparative View, Philadelphia.
13 1796 Oct. Pretensions, Part First.
14 1796 Nov. Pretensions, Part Second.
15 1797 Phocion's Examination. Reprint of Nos. 13 and 14.
16 1806 Numbers of Phocion, Charleston.
17 1806 American Arguments, London reprint of No. 16.
18 1815 Speech, PhUadelphia, reprint of No. 2.
19 1832 Comparative View, Washington, reprint of No. 12.
6 Address, Philadelphia, 1794.
7 Address, London reprint of No. 6, 1794.
17 American Arguments, London reprint of No. 16, 1806.
9 Candid Examination, New York, 1795.
12 Comparative View, PhUadelphia, 1796.
19 Comparative View, Washington reprint of No. 12, 1832.
3 Friendship with Great Britain, Edinburgh reprint of No. 2.
16 Numbers of Phocion, Charleston, 1806.
10 Oration, July 4, 1796, Charleston.
May 7. Sa. SaUsbury to Charlotte.
8. Su. Charlotte to Barclay's.
9. M. Barclay's to Camden.
10. Tu. Camden to Stateburg, Simpson's.
11. W. Simpson's to Eutaw's, Jackson's.
12. Th. Jackson's to P. Smith's, the Elms.
13. F. The Elms to Charleston.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 77
11 Oration, July 4, 1796, Charleston, second edition.
15 Phocion's Examination, 1797. Reprint of Nos. 13 and 14.
1 Politicks and Views.
13 Pretensions, Part First, October, 1796.
14 Pretensions, Part Second, November, 1796.
18 Speech, PhUadelphia, 1815, reprint of No. 2.
8 Speech, December, 1794.
2 Speeches, Philadelphia, 1794.
4 Speeches, Edinburgh reprint of No. 2, 1794.
5 Speeches, London reprint of No. 2, 1794.

The / Politicks / And Views / Of a Certain Parrty, / Displayed.
/ Printed in the Year M,DCC,XCII.
Title, 1 p. ; Text, pp. 2-36.
The Boston Athenaeum has five copies, one with "G° Washington" in
ink on the title-page; another with "D. Cobbs" in ink on the title-page;
another with "Cabot" in ink on the title-page and also in ink the words
"said to be written by WiUiam Smith of South Carolina," either in the
hand of George Cabot (with which I am not famUiar) or in that of Josiah
Quincy, to whom the volume containing the pamphlet once belonged.
In 1877 and again in 1885 Sabin attributed the pamphlet to Hamilton.1
"The authorship of this pamphlet," wrote P. L. Ford in 1886, "has been
referred to Hamilton. It is probably by WUliam L. Smith."2 "Its
authorship," wrote H. B. Tompkins in 1887, "has been generally attrib
uted to Hamilton, although Ford . . . thinks it was probably written
by WUliam L. Smith."3 "This has been sometimes attributed to
Alexander HamUton," wrote Evans in 1914, "but there seems to be good
reason for ascribing the authorship to William Loughton Smith, who
shared his political views." 4 That Mr. Smith was the author is made
certain by a manuscript note in his own hand on the title-page of a copy
which once belonged to him but is now owned by the Charleston Library
Society: "By WiUiam Smith — 1792." 6]

The / Speeches / of / Mr. Smith, of South-Carolina, / delivered in the
/ House of Representatives of the United States, / in January, 1794, on
the subject of certain / Commercial Regulations, / proposed by Mr.
1 Dictionary of Books relating to America, vni. 28; xv. 249.
2 Bibliotheca Hamiltoniana, 39.
3 Bibliotheca Jef ersoniana, 51-52.
4 American Bibliography, vin. 356.
6 Miss Mabel L.Webber of the South CaroUna Historical Society informs me
that the Charleston Library Society owns sixteen bound volumes of pamphlets
which formerly belonged to Mr. Smith, having his book-plate and in each volume
a manuscript table of contents in his hand (according to Mr. SaUey), together
with a few manuscript notes also in his hand.

78 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Od.
Madison, in the Committee of the Whole, / on the Report of the Sec
retary of State. / PhUadelphia: / M DCC XCIV.
Title, i leaf; Resolutions . . . proposed . . . January 3, 1794, pp.
[iii]— vi; Speeches, &c, pp. [7]— 75; Comparative Footing of the Commerce
of the United States with the Dominions of France and Great Britain
prior to the pending Revolution of France, folded table at end.1

Friendship with Great Britain / the / True Interest of America. /
The / Speech / of / Mr Smith, / of / South Carohna, / deUvered in
the / House of Representatives / of the / United States, / In January
1794. / On the subject of certain / Commercial Regulations, / pro
posed by Mr Madison, / in the Committee of the Whole on the
Report of / the Secretary of State. / Philadelphia Printed. / Edinburgh:
Reprinted for BeU and Bradfute, / J. Simpson and W. Laing. 1794.
Title, 1 leaf; Resolutions . . . proposed . . . January 3, 1794, pp.
[i]-3; Mr. Smith's Speech, pp. 4-78; Comparative Footing of the Com
merce of the United States with the Dominions of France and Great
Britain, prior to the pending Revolution of France, folded table at end.

The / Speeches / of / Mr Smith, / of / South Carolina, / deliv
ered in the / House of Representatives / of the / United States, / in
January 1794. / On the subject of certain / Commercial Regula
tions, / proposed by Mr Madison, / in the Committee of the Whole,
on the Report of / the Secretary of State. / Philadelphia Printed: / Edin-
1 See Annals of Congress, January 13, 1794, 174-209. Madison's reply on
January 14 {Annals of Congress, 209-225) was published at New York in 1794
in a pamphlet entitled "Speech in the House of Representatives," etc.
On December 31, 1793, Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State and returned
to MonticeUo, whence he wrote Madison on February 15, 1794: "We have been
told that mr. Smith's speech and your's also on your propositions have got into
Davis's papers, but none of them have reached us." And again on April 13, he
wrote to Madison: "I have been particularly gratified by the receipt of the papers
containing your's and Smith's discussion of your regulating propositions. ... I
am at no loss to ascribe Smith's speech to it's true father. Every tittle of it is
Hamilton's except the introduction. There is scarcely anything there wrote I
have not heard from him in our various prfvate tho' official discussions. The
very turn of the arguments is the same, and others wiU see as weU as myself that
the style is Hamilton's. The sophistry is too fine, too ingenious, even to have
been comprehended by Smith, much less devised by him." Writings (Ford), VI.
499, 501. Hamilton's draft of the "Outline of Smith's Speech on Madison's
Resolutions of January 3, 1794," including the table, is printed in Hamilton's
Works (Hamilton), v. 80-95; and in Hamilton's Works (Lodge), in. 423-441.
This was the most popular of Mr. Smith's pamphlets, and as late as October
7, 1796, the South Carolina State Gazette (Columbia) advertised "For sale, at
the Printing-Office, . . . Smith's (of South Carohna) speeches, delivered in the
house of representatives of the United States, in January, 1794."

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1 790-1 791. 79
burgh: Reprinted for J. Simpson, Book- / seUer, Front of the Royal Ex
change. / 1794.
Tide, 1 leaf; Resolutions . . . proposed . . . January 3, 1794, pp.
[i]-3; Mr. Smith's Speech, pp. 4-78.1 5
The speeches of Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, delivered in the House
of Representatives of the United States, in January, 1794, on the subject
of certain commercial regulations, proposed by Mr. Madison . . . Phila
delphia, printed; London, reprinted, J. Stockdale, 1794.
vi, [7]— 75 p. fold. tab.
This I have not seen, and the title and collation are taken from the
Library of Congress cards at the Massachusetts State House.

An / Address / from / WUUam Smith, / of / South-Carolina, / to his
/ Constituents. / PhUadelphia: Printed in the Year MDCCXCIV.
Title, 1 leaf; Address, pp. [31-32. Dated at end (p. 32): "PhUadelphia,
May 1, 1794."
The Boston Athenasum copy formerly belonged to WiUiam S. Shaw,
having his autograph in ink on the title-page and in his hand the words:
"in defence of his opposition to Maddison's resolutions."
7
An / Address / from / WiUiam Smith, / of / South-Carolina, / to his
/ Constituents. / Philadelphia, Printed: / London, Reprinted for J.
Debrett, opposite / Burlington-House, Piccadilly. / 1794.
Title, 1 leaf; Address, pp. [3]-28; Books printed for J. Debrett, opposite
Burlington-House, PiccadiUy, 4 pp. 8
The / Speech / of / Mr. Smith, / of / South Carolina, / In the House
of Representatives of the United / States, on the subject of the Reduc
tion / of the Public Debt. / December, 1794.
Title, 1 leaf; Text, pp. [3P20.
This speech was delivered December 23, 1794: see Annals of Congress,
pp. 1010-1019. 9
A / Candid Examination / of the / Objections / to the / Treaty / of
Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, / between the / United States and
Great-Britain, / as stated in the / Report of the Committee / appointed
by the Citizens of the United States, in / Charleston, South-Carolina. /
1 The only copy of this pamphlet I have seen (in the Boston PubUc Library)
lacks pp. 73-78 and the folded table at end.

80 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
By a Citizen of South-Carolina. / Audi alteram partem. / By a Collision
of Sentiments Truth is discovered. / Addressed to the Citizens of South-
Carolina. / Charleston: Printed. / New- York: / Re-printed for James
Rivington, No. 156 Pearl-street. A795-
Half-title, 1 leaf; Title, 1 leaf; A Candid Examination, &c, pp. [31-43;
Half-title, 1 leaf; Postscript, pp. [i]-5-
First half-title reads:
The / Eyes Opened, / or the / Carolinians Convinced, / by an / Hon
ourable and eloquent Representative / in the / Congress of the United
States, / in the following / weU received and candid Examination / of the
/ Objections / to His Excellency / Governor Jay's late Treaty with /
Great Britain; / and which has been ratified by / President Washing
ton, / at the City of PhUadelphia. / New- York: / Printed for, and sold
by J. Rivington, No. 156 Pearl-street. / 1795.
Second half-title reads: "Postscript."
The Boston Athenaeum has three copies, one having "Cabot" written
in ink on the first half-title. The Boston Public Library has two copies,
one having "Daniel Sargent junr" written in ink on the first half-title
and against lines 5-8 in the same hand the words "WUliam Smith."
That Mr. Smith was the author seems a reasonable conclusion from the
evidence. I have not found a copy of the original Charleston edition.1

An / Oration, / delivered in / St. PhUip's Church, / before the In
habitants of / Charleston, South-Carolina, / on the Fourth of July, 1796,
/ in commemoration of / American Independence. / By Appointment of
1 On June 24, 1795, the Senate voted to recommend to Washington the
ratification of Jay's Treaty, and it was ratified by Washington August 14. The
New York edition of the pamphlet was issued after August 18, since the Post
script (evidently added by Rivington) contains extracts from New York papers
of that date. On April 30, 1796, the House of Representatives "took up the
resolution . . for carrying into effect the Treaty lately negotiated with Great
Britain," and the question was "determined in the affirmative — yeas 51,
nays 48." Annals of Congress, 1282-1291. It has been stated that "only four
from the South voted for the biU." C. W. SommerviUe, Robert Goodloe Harper,
1899, 10. South Carolina was then represented in the House by Lemuel Benton,
Samuel Earle, Wade Hampton, Robert Goodloe Harper, William Smith, and
Richard Wynn, of whom aU voted nay on the resolution except Mr. Smith and
Harper. It would seem, therefore, as if the pamphlet must have been written
either by Mr. Smith or by Harper. Though elected as a Democrat, Harper yet
approved of Jay's Treaty, and late in 1795 published at Philadelphia a defence
of his position entitled: "An Address from Robert Goodloe Harper, of South Caro
lina, to his Constituents," etc. This is dated at the end "Philadelphia, Dec. 17,
1795," and editions were printed in 1796 at Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.
So far as I have been able to ascertain, Harper had published nothing on Jay's
Treaty earlier than this, and thus by a process of elimination we reach Mr. Smith
as the probable author of the Candid Examination, etc. (Cf. p. 88, note 4, infra.)
It should be added, however, that Mr. Smith's coUection of pamphlets, now owned
by the Charleston Library Society, contains no copy of this tract.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 8l
the / American Revolution Society, / and published at the request of that
Society, / and also of the / South-Carolina State Society / of / Cincin
nati. / By William Smith, / a member of the Revolution Society, / and
Representative in the Congress of the / United States. / Printed by
W. P. Young, N° 43, Broad-Street, / Charleston.
Half-title, 1 leaf; Title, 1 leaf; Oration, pp. [i]-4o; Errata, p. 40.
The half-title reads: "Smith's Oration." With straight rules above
and below.

An / Oration, / deUvered in / St. PhUip's Church, / before the In
habitants of / Charleston, South-Carolina, / on the Fourth of July, 1 796,
/ in commemoration of / American Independence. / By appointment of
the / American Revolution Society, / and published at the request of
that Society, / and also of the / South-Carolina State Society of Cin
cinnati. / By WUliam Smith, / a member of the Revolution Society, /
and Representative in the Congress of the / United States. / Second Edi
tion. / Printed by W. P. Young, No. 43, Broad-Street, / Charleston.
HaU-title, 1 leaf; Title, 1 leaf; Oration, pp. [i]-40.
The half-title reads: "Smith's Oration. Second Edition." In orna
mental oval.1

A / Comparative View / of the / Constitutions / of the / several
States with each other, and with that / of the United States: / exhibiting
in / Tables / The prominent Features of each Constitution, / and class
ing together their most important provisions under the / several heads of
administration; / with / Notes and Observations. / By WUliam Smith, of
South Carolina, L.L.D. / and Member of the Congress of the United
States. / Dedicated to the People of the United States. / PhUadelphia, /
1 An advertisement, headed "American Revolution Society," in the City
Gazette (Charleston) of June 25, 1796, stated that "The Members of this Society
wiU, on the 4th day of July next, . . . meet at WiUiams's Coffee-House, at 1 1 o'clock,
a.m. when they wiU be joined by the Society of the Cincinnati, in procession to
St. Philip's Church, and attend service. Anthems wiU be performed suited to
the occasion; after which an Oration wiU be deUvered ... by the honorable Wil
Uam Smith, esq. appointed for that purpose by the Revolution Society." An
advertisement of the Cincinnati, printed in the Columbian Herald (Charleston)
of June 13, mentioned the oration, but did not give the name of the orator. The
City Gazette of July 2 announced the arrival of " Passengers in the South Carolina,
captain Garman,from Philadelphia: . . . WiUiam Smith, esq." In a letter to Rufus
King dated July 23, Mr. Smith said: "I did not leave Philad. tiU ten days after
the adjt. and having a very tedious passage did not arrive here [Chareleston] till
the ist inst., not in time to prepare, and scarcely in time to dehver my Oration,
a copy of which I send you, with a curious advertisement of the vender, who says
that the works which have lately had the greatest run in town, are Paine's Age
of Reason and Smith's Oration. You wiU smile at seeing any work of mine as
sociated with Paine's and the heroic actions of the French." King's Life and
Correspondence, iv. 427.

82 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
Printed by John Thompson, and sold by aU the BookseUers / in the
United States. / 1796.
Title, 1 leaf; Dedication to "FeUow Citizens," 1 leaf; Copyright, 1
leaf; Preliminary Discourse, pp. [i]-4; Tables I- VI, not paged and with
out signatures; Notes on the Legislative, pp. 9-26; Notes on the Execu
tive, pp. 27-31; Notes on the Judiciary, pp. 32-34.1 The dedication is
dated "PhUadelphia, October 2, 1796." 2
The copy owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society has written
in ink on the title-page the words: "For the Historical Society — Boston
From Henry Wm De Saussure." Cf. 1 Proceedings, 1. 146. One of the
two copies owned by the Harvard CoUege Library has written in ink
on the inside of the front cover the words: "The GUt of the Author to
J. Pickering, 1797, at Lisbon — (and bound at Lisbon)." This was John
Pickering (1777-1846), son of Col. Timothy Pickering, then Secretary of
State.3 1 The copyright notice states that "on the twenty-fourth day of January,
in the twenty-first year of the Independence of the United States [1797], John ,
Thompson of the said District, hath deposited in this Office the Title of a
Book, . . ."
2 In some copies the tables are differently folded. An advertisement dated
"Aug. 22," printed in Procupine's Gazette of August 23, 1797, and succeeding
issues, reads in part as follows: "Just published, And for sale by Thomas Dob
son, ... A Comparative View Of the Constitutions of the several states with
each other, and with that of the United States: . . . By WiUiam Smith, LL.D.
Of South Carolina, and Member of Congress of the United States. Price of the
fine paper, hot-pressed, one doUar 25-iooths — and of the common paper one
dollar." 3 John Pickering accompanied Mr. Smith to Portugal as his secretary: see
p. 27, supra. In a letter dated Lisbon, September 1, 1798, Pickering wrote:
"I am told that at Princeton they study (for information on one branch of
politics) a book written by Mr. Smith, the gentleman with whom I Uve. The
author has made me a present of one. It is a most excellent work; and if you have
already any interest in the subject of it, you can get one from Philadelphia. It
is entitled ' Comparative View of the Constitutions, ' etc. It is a smaU volume,
but deserves the motto of multum in parvo as much as any book I know" Life of
John Pickering, 130.
Mr. Smith also gave copies of the work to Hamilton and to King. "I have
received, my dear sir," wrote Hamilton April 5, 1797, "your letter of the 2d of
April, (1797,) with your little work accompanying it, which I shaU read with
the interest I take in the author, the first leisure hour. I have cast my eye over
it, and Uke very much the plan." And again on April 10: "Since my last to
you I have perused with great satisfaction your little work on our governments.
I like the execution no less than the plan. If my health and leisure should permit,
I would make some notes; but you can not depend on it, as I am not only ex
tremely occupied, but in feeble health." Hamilton's Works (Lodge), viii. 459,
461-462. In a letterto King dated April 3, 1797, Mr. Smith wrote: "Our friend
[WiUiam Vans] Murray sails for Amsterdam shortly; he wiU do credit to the ap
pointment. I shaU entrust to his care a copy of a little work on the Constitution
for you, which I have had interleaved to receive those judicious remarks which
wiU I am sure occur to you on perusing it. When this is done, I shaU request
you to return it to me, in exchange for a copy of a new edition on a more enlarged

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 83
13
The / Pretensions of / Thomas Jefferson / to the / Presidency / Ex
amined; / and the / Charges against / John Adams / Refuted. / Ad
dressed to the Citizens of America in general; / and particularly to the
/ Electors / of the / President. / United States, October 1796.
Title, 1 leaf; Text, pp. [31-64. Colophon on p. 64: "End of First
Part." A copy in the Harvard College Library has written in pencU on the
title-page in an unknown hand the words: "By Wm Smith, of S° Caro
lina — Member of Congress — & Minister to Portugal." The copy
owned by the New York Historical Society has written on the title-page,
in the hand of John Pintard, then Recording Secretary, the words:
"N. Y. Historical Society presented by Oliver Wolcott 30th Sept 1813;"
and above the date of the imprint the words: "by Oliver Wolcott and
WiUiam Smith of S. C."

The / Pretensions of / Thomas Jefferson / to the / Presidency / Ex
amined; / and the / Charges against / John Adams / Refuted. / Ad
dressed to the Citizens of America in general, / and particularly to the /
Electors / of the / President. / Part the Second. / United States, No
vember 1796.
Title, 1 leaf; The Pretensions of Thomas Jefferson, &c, pp. [31-39;
Appendix, pp. 39-42.
The text fiUs 31 lines on p. 39, after which comes the word "Finis."
Then foUows "Appendix. / Vindication of Mr. Adams's / Defence of the
/ American Constitutions," pp. 39-42, signed "Union" and dated "East-
em Shore, Maryland, / 26th Oct. 1796." •
The volume in which the Boston Athenaeum copy is bound belonged
to William S. Shaw, having his autograph on the first fly-leaf and on the
second fly-leaf a Ust of the contents in the same hand, which says: "5
Phocion— -by Wm Smith of South Carolina."
These articles by "Phocion" were originaUy printed in the Gazette
of the United States (PhUadelphia), beginning October 14 and ending
November 24, 1796. The First Part was advertised as "This Day Is
& useful plan." King's Life and Correspondence, rv. 167. The contemplated
enlarged edition was never pubhshed by Mr. Smith, his early transference to
Europe probably interfering with the revision.
1 This Short Vindication of Mr. Adams's 'Defence of American Constitutions'
signed "Union," was printed in the Gazette of the United States of November
5, 1796, p. 2, where it ispreceded by this note: "The foUowing judicious and can
did analysis of 'A Defence of the American Constitutions, by John Adams,' is
earnestly recommended to the consideration of the Electors, generaUy." Miss
Webber informs me that in his copy of this pamphlet, now owned by the Charles
ton Library Society, Mr. Smith has written under the Appendix this note: "by
WilUam Vans Murray, now Min. Res. in HoUd." This is quite improbable as
no other reference to such an authorship has been found.

84 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
Published" in the same paper of November 5th, p. 3/3. They were
written (so the first one states) in reply to "a writer under the signature
of Hampden, in the Richmond paper of" October ist. Their authorship
is in doubt. The only passage which throws any light on the matter is
found on pp. 30-31 of the First Part, where the author quotes Hampden
as saying: "'I believe,' he adds, 'no member of congress wUl contradict
this fact.'" Whereupon the author remarks: "Without being a member
of congress, I wiU undertake to contradict this fact, and to prove that
Hampden's assertion is as false, as his reasoning thereon is absurd." If
the author was not a Member of Congress, then he could not have been
Mr. Smith; but this is one of those statements which writers frequently
make when they wish to conceal their identity. Besides, U Oliver Wol
cott (who was then Secretary of State) was part author of the articles,
then the above passage was presumably written by him. Even while the
articles were appearing in the Gazette of the United States, Mr. Smith was
pointed at as their author.1 In 1801, under the heading "Jefferson's
1 "Extract of a letter from a gentleman in Philadelphia, October 25. 'Except
the late news from Europe we have nothing new here. Our campaign for the
chusing electors of a President has commenced and each party is straining every
nerve to get in their favorites. Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams are to be opposed
to each other. It is generaUy thought that electors favorable to the former will
be chosen in this state, notwithstanding the many attempts which have been
made to injure his pubUck character in the daily papers. Amongst these attacks
on his character, there are none which have been read with more disgust than
some pieces under the signature of Phocion, and which you wiU find in the Gazette
ofthe United States, sent you here with. Even the enemies of Mr. Jefferson speak
of them as discreditable to their author and injurious to the cause they were
meant to assist. It is said that they are the production of a member from your
state. I can hardly beheve it, as, from his general character, I thought he could
not descend to scatter such abuse, for it can be caUed by no other name, on a
character who at least has always shewn himself a decided friend of his country,
and at an early day in our revolution was noted for his manly opposition to the
unjust claims of Great-Britain'." City Gazette, Charleston, November 9, 1796.
A letter signed "Z," written "For the City Gazette," reads in part as foUows:
"A Member of Congress from South Carolina, who has on aU occasions been
lavish of his abuse of Mr. Jefferson, apprehending that if he shall be elected
President he wiU have Uttle chance of participating of the loaves and fishes, has
attacked him with much asperity under the signature of Phocion." City Gazette,
November 17, 1796.
A communication "From a Correspondent" reads as follows: "If there were
any doubts concermng who is the author, or rather the compiler of the abusive
and malignant pieces which have lately appeared in the Columbian Herald, under
the signature of Phocion, they would vanish, or at least be very much lessened,
on reading in a late Gazette of the United States, printed in Philadelphia, where
the pieces in question were first pubhshed, that ' it is perfectly certain, that the
letters of Phocion contain entire passages of the essays of Catullus (pubhshed in
1792) without the usual inverted commas, or any other mark of quotation.' Who
does not know the person that committed a similar plagiarism upon the Federahst,
in defending the treaty here in the summer of 1795?" City Gazette, December
17, 1796. For these extracts I am indebted to Miss Webber.
The allusion in the third passage to a pamphlet by "CatuUus" published in

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791. 85
Character," WiUiam Cobbett quoted from the pamphlet in question
various extracts, which he thus introduced:
" This man's character has been well Ulustrated by Mr. William Smith,
now (in 1801) American Ambassador in Portugal. A writer under the
signature of Hampden, . . . after asserting the exclusive right of Vir
ginia to fiU the office of President, caUed the attention of that state to
the jUustrious Thomas Jefferson, as the fittest character in the Union to
fill the President's chair, and proceeded to enumerate the various pre
tensions of that gentleman. — In answer to Hampden, Mr. Smith pub
lished a pamphlet, from which the following extracts are made."
After quoting the extracts, Cobbett concluded:
" Such was the character and conduct of the man, who is now President
of the United States. Let it be remembered, that it is not /, it is not
any Royalist that says this; but a Republican, an American, a gentle
man who was long a member of Congress, and who is now an
Ambassador." 1
In a work pubhshed in 1802 Cobbett again quoted the same passages,
which he said were "Extracted from the Letters of Phocion, written by
WiUiam Smith, Esq. of South Carolina, long a member of Congress, and
lately American Minister to the Court of Portugal." 2 In 1859 the
pamphlet was attributed to Mr. Smith and OUver Wolcott,3 and in
1885 to the same persons.4 "This tract," wrote H. B. Tompkins in
1887, "has been attributed to Noah Webster. It was written, however,
by WiUiam L. Smith of South Carolina (Phocian)." 6 In 1914 R. H.
Johnston attributed the pamphlet to Mr. Smith.6 With the remark
1792 eludes me. The aUusion to "the Federalist" is probably to the celebrated
essays written by HamUton, Madison, and Jay in 1 787-1 788, but may be to one
of the numerous articles which were written on Jay's Treaty in 1795. Thus a
series of letters under the title "Federalist" and signed "A FederaUst," appeared
in the Columbian Centinel of July 22, 25, 29, August 1, 8, 12, 15, and 26, 1795,
and was reprinted the same year by Mathew Carey in his A merican Remembrancer,
n. 61-72, 95-103, 228-265. The final aUusion to "defending the treaty here in
the summer of 1795 " must be a reference to A Candid Examination, etc., which is
No. 9 in my hst of Mr. Smith's writings.
1 Porcupine's Works, London, May, 1801, xn. 192-217.
2 Cobbett's Annual Register, London, 1802, 1. 961-972.
¦ Catalogue of Printed Books in the New York Historical Society, 1859, 552, 645.
* Sabin, xv. 457. It is also attributed to Smith and Wolcott in the Library of
Congress cards.
6 Bibliotheca Jeffersoniana, p. 153. Mr. Tompkins does not say who at
tributed the pamphlet to Noah Webster, but adds: "CaUender, in the American
Annual Register, or Historical Memoirs of the United States for the year 1796, at
pages 205 et seq., defends Jefferson against Phocian's attacks." CaUender (pp.
205-212) says nothing about the authorship, but in the next paragraph (p. 212)
returns to Noah Webster, whom he had mentioned on an earlier page — thus,
perhaps, giving the erroneous impression that he attributed the pamphlet to
Webster. 3 A Contribution to a Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson, p. 26, in Jefferson's
Writings (Jefferson Memorial Association edition, 1903), xx.

86 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Od.
that neither of the two copies of the pamphlet which once belonged to
Mr. Smith and are now in the Charleston Library Society contains any
note as to the identity of the writer, the authorship must be left unde
termined.1 15
Phocion's Examination of the Pretensions of Thomas Jefferson and his
Refutation of the Charges against John Adams.
This I have not seen, the title being taken from an advertisement in
Porcupine's Gazette (PhUadelphia) of July 25, 1797, and succeeding issues.
The title is preceded by the words "Pubhshed Complete, And for sale by
Wuiiam Cobbett, opposite Christ Church," and is foUowed by a longish
statement which reads in part as foUows: "The above most interesting
work contains a satisfactory refutation of the absurd charges of the Jacob
ins against the President of the United States, with a correct analysis and
vindication of his defence of the American constitutions. . . . These
papers were originaUy published with a reference to the late important
election of president, but the valuable information they contain must
recommend them at aU times to the attentive perusal of American citi
zens. . . ." Presumably the work is merely a reprint of Nos. 13 and 14.
1 The Pretensions, etc., was repUed to as foUows:
The / FederaUst: / containing / some Strictures / upon a pamphlet, en
titled, / "The Pretensions of Thomas Jefferson to the Presi- / "deney, ex
amined, and the Charges against / "John Adams refuted." / Which pamphlet
was first pubUshed in the Gazette / of the United States, in a series of Essays, /
under the signature of / "Phocion." / Philadelphia: / Re-published from the
Gazette of the United States, / by Mathew Carey, No. 118, Market-Street. /
November 1796.
Title, 1 leaf; Remark, 1 leaf; The Federalist, &c, pp. [s]-48.
Contains Nos. I-VIII, each signed "A FederaUst." Colophon on p. 48 reads:
"End of the First Part."
The / FederaUst: / containing / some Strictures / upon a pamphlet, entitled,
/ "The Pretension of Thomas Jefferson to the Presi- / "deney, examined, and
the Charges against / "John Adams refuted." / Which pamphlet was first
published in the Gazette / of the United States, in a series of Essays, / under
the signature of / "Phocion." / Part the Second. / Philadelphia: / Re-published
from the Gazette of the United States, / and the New World, / by Mathew
Carey, No. 118, Market-Street. / November 1796.
Title, 1 leaf; The Federalist, &c, pp. [31-27.
Contains Nos. IX-XII.
These articles by "A Federalist" were originaUy printed in the Gazette of the
United States of November 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 24, 25, 29, 30, when they
suddenly ceased. My guess is that the remainder of the series, judging from the
title-page of the Second Part, appeared in the New World, a Philadelphia pubh
cation which I have not seen — not in "the New York World," as R. H. Johnston
has it (A Contribution to the BibUography of Thomas Jefferson, p. 26). Hints
as to their author are given in the Gazette of the United States of November 17,
1796.

I9I7-] JOURNAL OF WILLIAM LOUGHTON SMITH, 1790-1791

87

16

?1. ^^T™ /nt /Fh0(r™' I wh^h were originaUy published / in
\ \^L Tl ^eston C°^r'/ln l8o6>/on the Subject of / Neutral
Rights. /Revised and Corrected. / Charleston, S. C. / Printed at the
Courier Office, / No. 1, Broad-Street.
Title 1 leaf; Introduction, pp. [3]-4; Phocion, pp. [5]-64; Appendix,
pp. [651-70. * '
The Boston Athenaeum has two copies, one having "Ben: Merrill"
written in ink on the title-page and on p. [3] in the same hand the words
"Hon: WiUiam Smith of South Carolina is the reputed Author of these
Letters."1 Mr. Smith's own volume of pamphlets, now owned by the
Charleston Library Society, has this note in his hand: "Phocion on
Neutral Rights, Amer. Ed."
These articles were first printed in the Charleston Courier, beginning
February 18 and ending May 31, 1806. In the issue of May 31st, p. 3/4,
was advertised "Proposals for publishing by subscription The Numbers
of Phocion." On September 26, at a meeting of the Anthology Society,
"Mr [W. S.] Shaw read Mr MerriU's review of 'Phocion' which was ac
cepted; " 2 and the review duly appeared in the Monthly Anthology for
September, ending as foUows:
" The reputed author of this pamphlet is WiUiam Smith of South Caro
lina, an eloquent and honourable gentleman, who adorns his country,
and who is one of those of whom Bolingbroke says, that 'tf they retire
from the world, their splendour accompanies them, and enlightens even
the obscurity of their retreat.' " 3

17
American Arguments / for / British Rights; / being / a Republication
/ of / The Celebrated Letters of Phocion, / on the subject of / Neutral
Trade. / Printed at Charlestown, South Carolina; / Reprinted for J.
Butterworth, Fleet Street, London, / by G. Auld, Greville-Street. / 1806.
Title, 1 leaf; Preface, by the EngUsh Editor, pp. [iii]— xii ; Text, pp.
[i]-68; Appendix, pp. [691-74.
The preface reads in part as foUows:
" The ensuing Letters were first published in a newspaper of South
Carolina, but attracted so much notice, that they were soon afterward
republished in a pamphlet, . . .
'As the able and intelligent writer used the signature of Phocion, it
has not been thought proper to put his name in the title-page; but he has
not affected to disavow or conceal his being the Author of these Papers;
and it may therefore, without scruple, be mentioned, that America and
1 Benjamin Merrill was born at Conway, N. H., in 1784, graduated at
Harvard CoUege in 1804, practised law at Salem, Mass., and died in 1847: see
1 Proceedings, n. 390-392.
1 The Anthology Society (1910), 89: cf. pp. 301, 321.
8 Monthly Anthology, in. 494-495.

88 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [OCT.
Europe are indebted to the Honourable William L. Smith, a native of
South Carolina, late one of the Representatives of that State in the Gen
eral Congress, and Ambassador from the United States to the Court of
Portugal'" (p. iii).
Sabin attributed Nos. >S and *6 to Hamilton, an error not easily ac
counted for since HamUton was kiUed July 12, 1804.1 Henry Stevens
in 1885,2 and P. L. Ford in 1886,3 correctly assigned them to Mr.
Smith. 18
Select / American Speeches, / Forensic and Parliamentary, / with /
Prefatory Remarks: / being / a Sequel to Dr. Chapman's 'Select
Speeches.' / By S. C. Carpenter, Esq. / Vol. I. / PhUadelphia: / Printed
for and published by J. W. CampbeU. / WiUiam Fry, Printer. / 1815.
The "Speech of WUliam L. Smith, on Mr. Madison's Resolutions" —
that is, Mr. Smith's speech deUvered January 13, 1794 — is printed on
pp. 351-417, with prefatory remarks on pp. 346-350.

10
A / comparative view / of the / constitutions / of the / several States
with each other, and with that / of the / United States; / presenting the
most prominent features of each constitution. / By WUliam L. Smith,
L.L.D. / formerly a member of Congress from South Carolina. / Revised
and extended / by E. S. Davis, / of South Carolina. / City of Washington:
/ Published by Thompson and Homans. / 1832.
O., pp. 135.
This I have not seen, the title and coUation being taken from Mr.
SaUey's article.4

y, 1. 132, vra. 225.
2 Stevens's Historical Nuggets, No. 3262, m. 78-80.
1 Bibliotheca Hamiltoniana.
4 In 1795 Thomas Greenleaf pubhshed at New York Examination of the
Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Great
Britain. In Several Numbers: By Cato. In his Bibliotheca Hamiltoniana (p.
47), P. L. Ford says that "The authorship of this pamphlet has been ascribed
to Hamilton, and to WiUiam Smith," but states that it was by Robert R.
Livingston.