"Yet, if the happiness, fair maid, That soothes me in the silent shade, Come, take it all-and share my fate!" In reply she shows herself versatile and laughs at her 66 Unhappy me! who ne'er could dream, That you should think yourself the theme." At last she defines her position, "Let friendship, gen'rous friendship, be Vestal, Platonic-what you will, So virtue reigns with freedom still.” This subdued him; he craved her mercy and promised to remain her slave. This correspondence is included in the collection of Evans's poems and, because of its place in Duyckinck,52 is better known than anything else of either writer. Continuing the story of Miss Graeme, we find it stated that she filled a brilliant place in society. Her father's home at Graeme Park53 was one of the most noted in Pennsylvania for gatherings of gifted men. Here she met Hugh Henry Ferguson, a Scotchman, ten years her junior. They were married in 1775, and settled at Graeme Park, which Mrs. Ferguson had inherited. This union lasted only a short time, for her husband accepted a commission in the British army and was attainted of treason to the American Government. She remained at her home and busied herself in 52 See Duyckinck's Cyclopædia of American Literature, Vol. 1, pp. 234-5. 53 See Scharf and Westcott's History of Philadelphia, Vol. 2, p. 1119. 54 Duyckinck records a large gift of linen to American prisoners and the eighth of her income to a ruined merchant. See Vol. 1, p. 233. acts of benevolence54 to the soldiers of both armies. In the history of the Revolution she is remembered as the bearer of an offensive letter from the Rev. Dr. Duché to General Washington. This is the famous letter urging the latter to abandon the rebel cause and submit himself to the British Government. Although Washington highly disapproved of her part in this, she was also 55 concerned in the proposal of Governor Johnston to give Joseph Reed ten thousand guineas and the best post in the government" to exert his influence with Washington. Mrs. Ferguson reported in a narrative, published in her defence, the famous reply from Reed,56 “The King of Great Britain has nothing within his gift that would tempt me." 66 66 In 1778 she was refused permission to pass through the lines and bid farewell to her husband in New York. She never saw him again. Her home was seized as his property, but upon her petition, an occupancy for life was allowed her. In comparative poverty, she returned to the study of Fénelon and re-wrote the four volumes of twenty years before. the worst I would recommend it as a good narcotic which may administer comfort to all those who are in want of sleep." 57 The twenty-four books58 in twenty-nine thousand six hundred lines, have never been printed, but are deposited with the Library Company of Philadelphia. In the Invocation she implores,59 55 See Life of Joseph Reed by Wm. B. Reed, Vol. 1, p. 384. Sparks' Washington, Vol. 5, pp. 95 and 476. American Remembrancer, Vol, 6. p. 236. Scharf and Westcott's History of Philadelphia, Vol. 2, p. 1691. 58 Remarks on Governor Johnson's Speech in Parliament with a collection of the letters and papers relating to his offer to Joseph Reed. . . . Philadelphia, 1779. 57 Some selections are in Griswold's Female Poets of America, pp. 26-7. 58 See the Manuscript Writings. 59 Fénelon had long been a favorite with the colonists in Pennsylvania. A. S. Bradford published his Dissertation on Pure Love in 1738; the volume can now be seen in the library of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Other editions followed in 1750, 1756, 1760 and 1766. Télémaque was reprinted in French, 1784, but imported copies had been advertised since 1765. "Grave Wisdom, guardian of modest youth, Thou soul of knowledge and thou source of truth, Inspire my muse, and animate her lays, That she harmonious may chant thy praise." But her own struggles are seen below, "Passion and Wisdom hold perpetual strife Through the strange mazes of man's checquered life, Of all the evils our frail nature knows, The most acute from Love's emotions flows." It is claimed that she copied the whole Bible to impress it more firmly on her memory. 60 She died in 1801. Joshua Francis Fisher wrote of her in 1831:61 "Mrs. Ferguson is said to have been a lady of fine talents, of refined delicacy, exquisite sensibility, and romantic generosity; several of her friends are still living, who remember with delight, her noble disposition, her agreeable conversation, and her amusing eccentricities." However cultivated a woman62 she may have been, her gift in poetry must be doubted.63 While fluent and of fine feeling, her verse lacks most of the elements of real worth. 60 Defoe, set to the same task in his youth, does not seem to have completed it. The commonplace book of Mrs. Ferguson, the property of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, has written in it many of her paraphrases of the Psalms of David. 61 See the " Early Poets of Pennsylvania" in Memoirs of the Historical Society, Vol. 2, part 2, p. 90. It is said that her nephew, John Young, when twelve years old, was closeted in the library for twenty-four hours as a punishment, but became so interested in a book that in due time he became a student. He translated D'Argent's Ancient Geography, a copy of which is owned by the Library Company of Philadelphia. It contains a tribute by Mrs. Ferguson. He died a lieutenant in the British army. 62 Francis Hopkinson wrote a sincere tribute to Mrs. Ferguson while on a visit to Graeme Park in 1765. 83 Her niece, Mrs. Ann Young Smith, wife of Dr. William Smith, wrote an elegy to the American Volunteers who fell at Lexington. See Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, p. 461. CHAPTER V LITERARY PRODUCTIONS OF THE REVOLUTION Condition of Colonies-Abolitionists-Saundiford, Lay, BenezetProud's History-Edwards-Bartram, Observations, etc.—Revolutionary Writings-Dickinson, Life and Training, The Farmer's Letters, Service-Galloway, Writings-Paine, Common Sense, Condition of Army, Crisis, Later Works-Hopkinson, The Pretty Story, Satirical Letters and Essays, Verse, The Battle of the Kegs -Stansbury, Verses, Characteristics-Clergymen-Duché-Coombe -Brackenridge, Discourses, Modern Chivalry-Smith, WorkWhite, Wordsworth's Sonnet-Satiric Drama-The Fall of British Tyranny, The Battle of Bunker Hill, The Death of General Montgomery-Summary. As late as 1760 the colonies were loyal to the English Crown, but the different interpretations of taxation and parliamentary representation gave rise to honest misunderstandings. The American conception of legal rights differed from the English, and each country believed in self-assertion and independence. The controversial struggle, from the passage of the Stamp Act (1765) to the Declaration of Independence (1776), and the actual strife from 1775 to 1783 naturally kept men busy. There were some historical and scientific writings, some essays and poems, but the great mass of early Revolutionary matter was political, dealing with the treatment which the colonies had received and the efforts at an understanding and reconciliation. When that failed to accomplish its purpose, and war literature was needed, men wrote an abundance of it, and by brisk, pungent prose or rollicking burlesque, moved their countrymen to action. After the war these same men set about the work of reconstruction, the restoration of normal conditions and the establishment of those principles in which they believed and for which they had fought. Such other literature as was the work of the Revolutionists will be considered at this time. On the whole, it may be said that during this exciting period Pennsylvania had an enormous influence; the breadth of view, the training and study of her statesmen, giving them a deeper insight and a clearer grasp of the movement than was known in more isolated sections. Before considering the controversial writings, let us glance at the earlier productions of the period. The tendency to oppose unfavorable conditions was seen in the resistance to slavery, first spoken against by Pastorius and by George Keith, who delivered an essay on the subject at a religious meeting in 1693. Even though the minister was later counted a heretic,1 this sermon was remembered, and was helpful in accentuating the principle which, along with opposition to the war, became a cardinal point with the Quakers. Three men emphasized the doctrine, Saundiford, who distributed books and pamphlets; Lay, an eccentric old fellow, who railed on meat, tea, and slaves, and Benezet, an earnest and successful advocate of abolition. Ralph Saundiford (1693-1733), of Liverpool, became, after his emigration to Pennsylvania, a farmer and preacher. He published A Brief Examination of the Practice of the Times, Philadelphia, 1729, of which Franklin says he distributed gratis two editions. Franklin called him "pious and enlightened," but Saundiford was generally regarded as a fanatic. Benjamin Lay (1677-1759) removed to Pennsylvania in 1731 from Barbadoes, where objections had been made to his principles of abolition. When Franklin, in 1736, attempted to print his work, All Slave-Keepers 1 See Chapter 1, p. 6. |