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Show J2 TRAVELS fliROUGfi NORTH AMERICA; LETTER II. J>opulatiou c) Pb,.!addjJbi~l.-Some Ac~.·ou,zt oj' tbc Inhab1.tmzts, tbt:ir Clhlrav'ler ami }. !amzcrs-Prl·vate .dmuj~mcnts. -Amt'i icmJS l?f· tl•l'ir 'l'cc:tb jJrcmaturc!y.- 'tl~eatn·cal L1muj.'lllt'llts 011./y pen;:i:tL'd of' ~t!.c.-~{1/icrs. -Pr~jident's Le'l·cc: ami Drrn:ing Poom.-Piaces oJ'jmb!t~· UorjbtjJ.Crzrn~'. r';t'J, 'wl at.fort qJ: t(/t~rl in J>biladelpbia.-Tavcnu) l'o1.:; c~m1ufle i i1t .A!Ih r/c'd.-7,(~/cu/ty q/ j'rocurin:; Scrvauts.-Charat/er of tln· lower C!.!!J~'J' qf J>eoj>le £n A,nt'!.c.1. MY DEAR SIR, Phil hlclphia, November. ptiiLADELPIUA, accon.ling to the ern us taken in tl1e Yc1r 1790, contained 42,000 people. From the n ~tu r 1l increate, however, of popuLltion, and the influx of {hangers, the number is fuppofcd now to be nco.r so,ooo, notwith{bnding tlJc ravages of the ydlow fever in 179 3, which [wept off 4 ,ooo pc·oplc. The iPhabitants confiil of EngliOl, Irifll, ScotLh, Gc.:t mans, Frencl1, and of Ameli\.·: n born ci tizel.ls, dl[c ~ndcd frorn people of thefc diff~r nt 1ntions, who arc of cou rf~ hy t~1r the mofl: numerous clafs. The inhabi tants arc for th~ nwil pa:t t ng~.ged in .GJine fort of b ~!lintfs ; a f(:w, and a few only, live w·thou t any oO:cnfiblc profeffionc;, on the fort u11cs which they thcn1fdvcs have raife i; but thcfe n1cn arc not idk or inattcn tive to the i11crcaf~ of their propel ty, being ever on the w.1tch to profit by the .Ctle of l.111ds, whj .~ 1 tht;y have purdufcd, and to buy n10rc on adv:1nt.lgcous tcnns. lt would be a drD1cult matter to fi1·1d a man of any property in the country, who is not concerned in the buying or felling of bnd, wl1ich may be confidcrecl in America :.1s an article of trade. In a large city, like PhiJadelphi.1, where people arc anembled together frotn fo n1any difFerent quarters, there cannot fail to be a great divcrfity in the manners of the inhabit.111ts. It is a remark, ho\vcver, very generally 1nadc, not only by forcign\:rs, but alfo by perfons fron1 other parts of P H I L A D E L P H I A. IJ of the United States, that the Philadelphians are extremely d. ficien t in hofpitality and politcnefs tov·n rds fl mngers. Amongfl the upi1erm ) {l; circles in Philadelphia, pride, IJtlllghtinefs, ~n Ll oftcnt1tion arc eonf[>i cuous; ~nd it 1cems as if nothing could mal c them luppi~r than that an order of nobility {hould he dlablidH.:d, by which they migh t b\.! cxaltcll above th~ir fellow citiz ~n s, as nlllth as they arc in thlir own conceit. In the nnnncrs of the people in g~n ral thcr~ is a c )!dnc( s and rdcrve, as if they \vcre furpic ious of{(> nc.; tk'igt~s a_;ainf!: th-?m , which chills to the very he.nt thole who come tu vifit them. L1 the1r private focietie5 a t,·ijltflu is apparent, nc.ar which tnirth, nd gaiety can never apiwoach. It is no unu(u::d thing, in the gcntcddl houCcs, to fc '' ~large 1 arty of ii·om twcn ty to t hi rty per funs a11cm bled, and fc: ted round a room, wi thont partaking of :tny other am u ft:ment tl1an w h:tt arifcs frorn the convcrf1tion, nJofl: frcqucrltly in vvhifper3, th.tt p .df~s h ... twcen the two pcr~ > I~S who arc f(:a•cd next to each other. The p,11 ty 1nccts between Iix and fcvcn in the cveninJ,; tt::l is fTvcd ' itll mac..h forn1; and at ten, by which time tnofl: of the company arc WLar ic~l ,. ith h aving rernained fo long ilationary, they rdurn to their own hoillCS. Still, however they ate not fha nn·crs to muLe, catc.ls, or d.1J1ci , 1~; th ,.:ir , 0 u knowledge of n1ufic imked is at a very lo\v ebb; but in d.mcin:r, which ... ' ' .. ' appears to be their mofl: f,tvourit.; amufemcnt, they ccrta in1y exc.d. 'I' he women, in geucral, wh i 111: young, arc very prd ty, but by th c time they becon1e mothers of ,llittlc family they lofe all thci r beau ty, their cotnplcxions £1(L away, their teeth begin to decay, and they h trJ ly appear like the fat 1C creatures. In a few i11lbnccs only it would be pofT1bJe to find a fine woman of the a:;c of forty, who has had a lar0c fundy. The fuddcn decay of the teeth is a circUinilanc.c whil-11 has cngagcJ the attention of tht..! f~tcu 1ty; both men anJ women, AnH:rican born, lofing them very gcn 'rally at an early age. Smnc afcribc it lo the great and fuddcn changes in the weath ·r, 11 orn heat to cold; but negroes, who arc cxpoi(>d to the nllnc tran1ition of climate, arc dillingui{hcd for the; whitcnefs and beauty of thur teeth; and the lndi,tns alio, who are rnore cxpofed than either, prcferve their te th in good order. Others attribute it to the iJnrnoderate ufe of confectio nary. Of confel'"tionary, the |
