 | Letters of Mrs. Adams, |  |
TO MRS. CRANCH.
I will now give you some account of my late tour
to Bath, that seat of fashionable resort, where, like
the rest of the world, I spent a fortnight in amusement
and dissipation, but returned, I assure you,
with double pleasure to my own fireside, where
only, thank Heaven, my substantial happiness subsists.
Here I find that satisfaction, which neither
satiates by enjoyment, nor palls upon reflection; for,
though I like sometimes to mix in the gay world,
and view the manners as they rise, I have much
reason to be grateful to my parents, that my early
education gave me not an habitual taste for what is
termed fashionable life. The Eastern monarch,
sensual pleasure, which power, wealth, and dignity
could bestow, pronounced it all vanity and vexation,
of spirit; and I have too great a respect for his
wisdom to doubt his authority. I, however, passed
through the routine, and attended three balls, two
concerts, one play, and two private parties, besides
dining and breakfasting abroad. We made up a
party of Americans; Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Mr. and
Mrs. Rucker, and Miss Ramsay, Mr. Shippen, Mr.
Harrison, Mr. Murray, Mr. Paradise, Mr. Bridgen,
and a Count Zenobia, a Venetian nobleman. These,
with our domestics, made a considerable train, and
when we went to the rooms, we at least had a party
to speak to. As I had but one acquaintance at
Bath, and did not seek for letters of introduction,
I had no reason to expect half the civility I experienced.
I was, however, very politely treated by Mr.
Fairfax and his lady, who had been in America,
and own an estate in Virginia, and by a sister of Mr.
Hartley's, who, though herself a cripple, was every
way attentive and polite to us. Mr. John Boylston,
whom I dare say you recollect, was the acquaintance
I mentioned. He visited us immediately upon our
arrival, and during our stay made it his whole study
to show us every civility in his power. We breakfasted
with him, and he dined with us. He has
very handsome apartments, though he lives at lodgings.
We drank tea and spent an evening with
him, in a style of great elegance; for he is one of
the nicest bachelors in the world, and bears his age
of youth. He has a peculiarity in his manners,
which is natural to him; but is a man of great reading
and knowledge. He is a firm friend and well-wisher
to America, as he amply testified during the
war by his kindness to the American prisoners.
And now you will naturally expect that I should
give you some account of Bath, the antiquity of it,
and the fame of its waters, having been so greatly
celebrated. The story, which is related of its first
discovery, is not the least curious part of it. A
certain King Bladud, said to be a descendant from
Hercules, was banished his father's court, on account
of his having the leprosy. Thus disgraced,
he wandered in disguise into this part of the country,
and let himself to a swine-herd, to whom he
communicated the disease, as well as to the hogs.
In driving his hogs one day at some distance from
his home, they wandered away to one of these
streams, of which they were so fond that he could
not get them out, until he enticed them with acorns.
After their wallowing in them for several successive
days, he observed that their scales fell off, and that
his herd were perfectly cured. Upon which he determined
to try the experiment upon himself; and,
after a few bathings, he was made whole. And
Bladud's figure, in stone, is placed in the bath known
by the name of the King's Bath, with an inscription
relating his discovery of these baths, eight hundred
and sixty-three years before Christ.
Bath lies in a great valley, surrounded with hills.
is its own growth, and is dug from the sides of its
hills. The streets are as narrow and inconvenient
for carriages as those of Paris, so that chairs are
chiefly used, particularly in the old town. Bath
was formerly walled in, and was a very small
place; but of late years it is much extended, and
the new buildings are erected upon hills. Since it
has become a place of such fashionable resort, it
has been embellished with a Circus and a Crescent.
The Parades are magnificent piles of buildings, the
square is a noble one, and the Circus is said to be a
beautiful piece of architecture; but what I think the
beauty of Bath, is the Crescent. The front consists
of a range of Ionic columns on a rustic basement;
the ground falls gradually before it down to the river
Avon, about half a mile's distance, and the rising
country on the other side of the river holds up to it a
most delightful prospect. The Crescent takes its
name from the form in which the houses stand; all
of which join. There is a parade and street before
them, a hundred feet wide, and nothing in front to
obstruct this beautiful prospect. In this situation
are the new assembly-rooms, which are said to
exceed any thing of the kind in the kingdom, both
as to size and decoration; but, large as they are,
they were completely crowded the evenings that I
attended. There is a constant emulation subsisting
between the new and old rooms, similar to the North
and South Ends of Boston. It was said whilst I was
there, that there were fourteen thousand persons
may judge what a place of resort it is, not only for
the infirm, but for the gay, the indolent, the curious,
the gambler, the fortune-hunter, and even for those
who go, as the thoughtless girl from the country told
Beau Nash, (as he was styled,) that she came, out
of wantonness. It is one constant scene of dissipation
and gambling, from Monday morning till Saturday
night, and the ladies sit down to cards in the
public rooms as they would at a private party; and
not to spend a fortnight or a month at Bath at this
season of the year, is as unfashionable as it would
be to reside in London during the summer season.
Yet Bath is a place I should never visit a second
time for pleasure. To derive a proper improvement
from company, it ought to be select, and to consist
of persons respectable both for their morals and
their understanding; but such is the prevailing taste,
that, provided you can be in a crowd, with here and
there a glittering star, it is considered of little importance
what the character of the person is who
wears it. Few consider that the foundation stone,
and the pillar on which they erect the fabric of
their felicity, must be in their own hearts, otherwise
the winds of dissipation will shake it, and the floods
of pleasure overwhelm it in ruins. What is the
chief end of man? is a subject well worth the investigation
of every rational being. What, indeed,
is life, or its enjoyments, without settled principle,
laudable purposes, mental exertions, and internal
comfort, that sunshine of the soul; and how are
world? My visit to Bath, and the scenes which I
mixed in, instead of exciting a gayety of disposition,
led me into a train of moral reflections, which I could
not refrain from detailing to you in my account of it.
Upon my return, I had a new scene of folly to go
through, which was, preparing for the birth-day.
But as the fashionable Magazine will detail this
matter, I shall omit any account of birth-day dresses
and decorations, only that I most sincerely wish
myself rid of it. It is a prodigious expense, from
which I derive neither pleasure nor satisfaction.
The riots and dissensions in our State have been
matter of very serious concern to me. No one will
suppose that our situation here is rendered more
eligible in consequence of it; but I hope it will lead
the wise and sensible part of the community in our
State, as well as in the whole Union, to reflect
seriously upon their situation, and, having wise laws,
to execute them with vigor, justice, and punctuality.
I have been gratified with perusing many late publications
in our Boston papers; particularly the
speech of the Chief Justice, which does him great
honor. Mr. Adams, you will see by the books
which Captain Cushing has carried out, has been
employed in strengthening and supporting our governments,
and has spared no pains to collect examples
for them, and show them, in one short, comprehensive
statement, the dangerous consequences of
unbalanced power. We have the means of being
the first and the happiest people upon the globe.
Captain Scott, I hear, is just arrived; but it may
be a week, perhaps ten days, before he will get
up himself, so that, whatever letters he may have,
I shall not be able to get them before Captain Cushing
sails. This is rather unfortunate, as there may
be something I might wish to reply to. As to India
handkerchiefs, I give two guineas a-piece here
for them, so that they are lower with you, as well
as all other India goods. I give more for an ounce
of spice than I used to do for a quarter of a pound in
America. Only think, too, of five shillings sterling
for every pound of coffee we use! O, pray, by the
next opportunity, send me a peck of Tuscarora rice.
Let it be sifted. I want it only to scour my hands
with. "Tuscarora rice?" say you, "why, I suppose
she means Indian meal." Very true, my dear
sister; but I will tell you a good story about this
said rice. An ancestor of a family, who now hold
their heads very high, is said to have made a fortune
by it. The old grand-dame went out to America,
when its productions were not much known here,
and returned in rather indigent circumstances. After
some time, knowing the taste in all ages for
cosmetics, she made out a pompous advertisement
of a costly secret which she possessed for purifying
and beautifying the complexion,—nothing less than
the "Tuscarora rice" at a guinea an ounce. The
project took like the "Olympian dew" at this day,
and barrel after barrel was disposed of at the moderate
price before mentioned, till one fatal day, a sailor,
whose wife had procured one quarter of an ounce,
very roughly threw away the darling powder, upon
which his wife exclaimed that he had ruined her, as
she could procure no more, there being an unusual
scarcity at that time. The fellow examined the
paper, and swore it was nothing but Indian meal, and
that he would bring her two barrels for a guinea, the
next voyage he went. Upon this, the imposture was
discovered, and the good woman obliged to decamp.
Now, though I do not esteem it so highly as the
sailor's wife, I pronounce it the best antidote to sea-coal
black, that can be found. One friend and
another have supplied me ever since I have been
here, but now I am quite destitute. It is an article in
so small quantity, that it will not be an object for the
custom-house, so that it may come safely.
Remember me most affectionately to all my
friends. I cannot write to half of them; my nieces
shall hear from me by Raimond; in the mean time
be assured, my dear sister, of the warmest affection
of
| Letters of Mrs. Adams, | |