I had heard elsewhere, that at the sign of the Cock in Spruce street, about thirty-five years ago, there was found in a pot in the cellar a sum of money of about 5000 dollars. The Cock inn was an old two story frame house which stood on the site of the present easternmost house of B. Graves's row. A Mrs. Green owned and lived in the Cock inn forty to fifty years ago, and had sold it to Pegan, who found the money in attempting to deepen the cellar. It became a question to whom the money belonged, which it seems was readily settled between Mrs. Green and Pegan, on the pretext that Mrs. Green's husband had put it there! But it must appear sufficiently improbable that Mrs. Green should have left such a treasure on the premises, if she really knew of it when she sold the house. The greater probability is, that neither of them had any conception how it got there; and they mutually agreed to support the story, so as to hush any other or more imposing enquiries. They admitted they found 5000 dollars. It is quite as probable a story that the pirates had deposited it there before the location of the city. It was of course on the margin of the natural harbour once formed there for vessels. In digging the cellar of the old house at the northeast corner of Second street and Gray's alley, they discovered a pot of money there; also some lately at Frankford creek. As late as the year 1792, the ship carpenters formed a party to dig for pirates' money on the Cohocksink creek, northwest of the causeway, under a large tree. They got frightened off. And it came out afterwards, that a waggish neighbour had enacted diabulus to their discomfiture. SPORTS AND AMUSEMENTS. "We, shifting for relief, would play the shapes Deep-shaking every nerve” It may help our conceptions of the olden time to be led into an acquaintance with the nature of their sports and amusements; to this end, the following facts may be contemplated with some advantage, to wit: The dances of the polite part of society were formal minuets. Country or contre dances, although understood, were of rarer occurrence. Hipsesaws and jigs were the common dances of the commonalty. It was long before dancing was encouraged in Philadelphia sufficiently to present a school for a dancing master. The aged Mrs. Shoemaker told me she supposed the first dancing master ever named in Philadelphia, was one Bolton, who taught about seventy-five years ago. In the year 1730, Mrs. Ball, in Lætitia court, advertises her school for French, playing on the spinet, and dancing, &c. When Whitfield laboured in Philadelphia, in 1739, such was the religious excitement of the time, that the dancing school, the assembly and concert room were shut up, as inconsistent with the gospel. This was opposed by some others; so far so, that some of the gentlemen concerned broke open the doors, but no company went to the assembly room. In later time, however, the dancing assembly among the gentry had high vogue, partaking, before the revolu tion, of the aristocratic feelings of a monarchical government-excluding the families of mechanics, however wealthy. The subscription was three pounds fifteen shillings, admitting no gentleman under twenty-one years, nor lady under eighteen years. The supper consisted of tea, chocolate, and rusk-a simple cake, now never seen amidst the profusion of French confectionary. For then we had no spice of French in our institutions, and consequently did not know how to romp in cotillions, but moved with measured dignity in grave minuets or gayer country dances. Every thing was conducted by rule of six married managers, who distributed places by lot; and partners were engaged for the evening-leaving nothing to the success of forwardness or favouritism. Gentlemen always drank tea with their partners the day after the assembly-a sure means of producing a more lasting acquaintance, if mutually desirable. Fox hunting formerly formed the field exercise of some of our wealthy citizens, within the memory of several of the aged whom I have conversed with. There was a kennel of hounds kept by one Butler, for the company. It was situated then as out of town, but in a place now populous enough-say on the brow of the hill north of Callowhill street, descending to Pegg's run, and at about sixty feet westward of Second street. Butler himself dwelt in the low brick house adjoining the northwest corner of Callowhill street on Second street. As population increased, their game decreased; so much so, that the establishment had to remove over to Gloucester, so as to make their hunts in the Jersey pines. At the same time, the company provided for their old huntsman, Butler, by setting him up, in the year 1756, with the first public stage for New York. Old Captain Samuel Morris, dead about 20 years ago, was for many years the life and head of the club. I well remember to have seen the voracious and clamorous hounds in their kennel near Gloucester ferry. Horse races appear to have been of very early introduction, and bringing with them the usual evils, hard to be controlled. They were, at an early period, performed out "Race street," so popularly called because of its being the street directly leading out to the race ground, cleared out for the purpose, through the forest trees, still long remaining there. and the circular The present very aged T. Matlack, Esq. was passionately fond of races in his youth. He told me of his remembrances out Race street. In his early days the woods were in commons, having several straggling forest trees still remaining there, course ranging through those trees. teel horses were pacers. A trotting horse was deemed a base breed! All these Race street races were mostly pace races. His father and others kept pacing studs for propagating the breed. He said all gen Thomas Bradford, Esq., telling me of his recollections of the races, says he was told that the earliest races were scrub and pace races, on the ground now used as Race street. But in his younger days (he is now past 80) they were run in a circular form on a ground from Arch or Race street down to Spruce street, and from Eighth street of Delaware to Schuylkill river, making thus two miles for a heat. About the same time they also run straight races of one mile, from Centre Square to Schuylkill, out High street. At the Centre Square the races used to be continued till the time of the war of 1775. None occurred afterwards there; and after the peace, they were made unlawful. The first equestrian feats performed in Philadelphia, was in 1771, by Faulks; he executed all his wonders alone, himself riding from one to three horses at a time. Bull-baiting and cock-fighting were much countenanced. The present aged and respectable T. M. had once a great passion for the latter, so that some wags sometimes called him Tim Gaff; thereby affecting to slur a latin signature which he sometimes assumed as a political writer, of which T. G. were the initials of his two latin words. They used to have a play at the time of the fairs, called "throwing at the joke." A leather cylinder, not unlike a high candlestick, was placed on the ground over a hole. The adventurers placed their coppers on the top of the joke, then retired to a distance and tossed a stick at it so as to knock the whole down. The pennies which fell in the pot were to belong to the thrower, those which fell out, to the owner of the joke. The leather was pliable and was easily bent to let the pennies drop. They played also at the fairs the wheel of fortune, nine holes, &c. In former days the streets were much filled with boys "skying a copper," a play to toss up pennies and guess heads or tails; "pitch-penny" too, was frequent, to pitch at a white mark on the ground; they pitched also |