nor the attempt to regulate the prices of the necessaries of life proved of the least avail. The people could see but little difference in the two kinds of paper, both fearfully depreciated; while the holders of commodities, because of their refusal to part with them at any price rather than accept that fixed by law, were stigmatized as speculators and forestallers, and this added to the feeling of discontent. It is not my intention to enter upon an examination of the causes of these financial difficulties, or to follow them to their conclusions; but only to glance at the effect which they had on the domestic and social life of our citizens, and to picture Philadelphia society at that time. If, in doing this, I should grate on your feelings by exhibiting some of the days of the Revolution in colors other than those in which they are generally presented, I beg you to remember the words of that excellent authority, Diedrich Knickerbocker: "It has ever been the task of one race of philosophers to demolish the works of their predecessors, and elevate more splendid fantasies in their stead, which in their turn are demolished and replaced by the air-castles of a succeeding generation." After the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British in June, 1778, Gen. Arnold was made its military commander. He at once entered into a style of living ill suited to his means, and was charged with having engaged in speculations. of a questionable character. The unblushing publicity with which he used his authority for the advancement of his own schemes, his high position, and the splendor of his entertainments could not but have an injurious effect in a community already demoralized by the evils of an inflated currency, and Philadelphia soon became the centre of speculation and of the pursuit of private gain. Wealth thus easily acquired was as freely squandered; and, while luxuries of all kinds were being enjoyed by one class of citizens, the expenses and burthens of others were greatly increased. On none did the weight fall more heavily than on those public servants whose salaries in paper money were 1 History of New York, chap. ii. being daily diminished by its depreciation. These causes and the return of Congress soon made our city what it was in the winter of '76-'77, when Richard Henry Lee wrote of it as an "attractive scene of debauch and amusement;"" and James Lovell, as "a place of Crucifying expenses." On Sunday afternoon, July 12th, Gerard, the French Ambassador, arrived in Philadelphia. He was escorted to the apartments which had been prepared for him by a committee of Congress; and, on the Tuesday following, his credentials were presented to that body. On the 6th of August, at 12 o'clock, he was formally received by Congress, and in the afternoon a grand banquet was given in his honor. On Sunday, the 23d of August, the birthday of Louis the Sixteenth, the President and the members of Congress called upon his Minister to offer their congratulations, and two days afterwards Gerard gave an elegant entertainment at the City Tavern. These events, following so closely upon the news of the French alliance, had their influence on the fashions of the day, and Timothy Pickering, a man of plain taste, thus ungallantly wrote to his wife: "I mentioned to you the enormous head-dresses of the ladies here. The more I see, the more I am displeased with them. 'Tis surprising how they fix such loads of trumpery on their polls; and not less so that they are by any one deemed ornamental. The Whig ladies seem as fond of them as others. I am told by a French gentleman they are in the true French taste, only that they want a few very long feathers. The married ladies, however, are not all infected. One of the handsomest (General Mifflin's lady) I have seen in the State does not dress her head higher than was common in Salem a year ago. But you know, my dear, I have odd, old-fashioned notions. Neither powder nor pomatum has touched my head this twelvemonth, not even to cover my Lee to Washington, Sparks's Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i. p. 367. Lovell to Washington, Ibid. 412. baldness. The latter I find a very common thing, now men have left off their wigs." It is not surprising that the Whigs gloried in the opportunity that was offered them to retaliate upon the Tories for their conduct, while protected by the British. One Whig who did not wish to purchase anything of a Tory, found it troublesome to learn the sentiments of those with whom he was dealing, and proposed that the houses of the disaffected should be marked, as the Turks designated "the residences of liars, by painting them black." Another suggested that "the right side of the face, and the right hand" of every Tory, "be dyed black," and added "if that don't answer, it will not be any great loss if the whole body is set to dying." It was the wish of many of the citizens that the Tory ladies who had taken part in the Meschianza and other entertainments given by the British, should be excluded from the social gatherings in which the Whigs indulged in the autumn of '78, and the winter following. With this view, a ball was given at the City Tavern "to the young ladies who had manifested their attachment to the cause of virtue and freedom by sacrificing every convenience to the love of their country." "Tell those Philadelphia ladies who attended Howe's assemblies and levees," wrote General Wayne from camp in July, "that the heavenly, sweet, pretty red-coats, the accomplished gentlemen of the guards and grenadiers, have been humbled on the plains of Monmouth. The knights of the Blended Roses and of the Burning Mount have resigned their laurels to rebel officers, who will lay them at the feet of those virtuous daughters of America who cheerfully gave up ease and affluence in a city for liberty and peace of mind in a cottage." But all did not think and speak as Wayne. Arnold's conduct had given great offence to many of the most active supporters of the American cause, and had involved him in a quarrel with the authorities of Pennsylvania, Life of Timothy Pickering, vol. i. p. 215. 2 Moore's Diary of the American Revolution, vol. ii. p. Annals of Philadelphia, Watson, vol. ii. p. 297. 4 87. • Life and Services of Gen. Anthony Wayne. By H. N. Moore, p. 64. who administered the government of the State under a new Constitution. This Constitution had occasioned much heartburning and bitter feeling, and its opponents, many of whom were good Whigs, together with those who sympathized with the British, gathered around the military commander, and for a while influenced the gayeties of the day. "New Characters," says a letter from Philadelphia in November, "are emerging from obscurity like insects after a storm. Treason, Disaffection to the interests of America, and even assistance to the British interest is called . . Error of Judgment which candor and liberality of sentiment will overlook." Such ideas were undoubtedly those entertained by Arnold and some of his friends, for the same letter goes on to say, "Will you think it extraordinary that General Arnold made a publick Entertainment the night before last of which not only Tory ladies, but the Wives and Daughters of Persons proscribed by the State, and now with the enemy at New York, formed a very considerable number." Another writer, whose loyalty to his country does not admit of doubt, but whose party zeal made his judgment err woefully, wrote: "General Arnold is become very unpopular [among the] men in power in Congress, and among those of this State in general. Every Gentleman, every man who has a liberal way of thinking, highly approve his conduct. He has been civil to every gentleman who has taken the oath, intimate with none. The Ladies, as well those who have taken an active part (as our low-lived fellows will call it), as those who are good approved Whigs, have been visited and treated with the greatest civilities." "I know of no news," wrote Mrs. Robt. Morris to her mother the same month, "unless to tell you we are very gay is such. We have a great many balls and entertainments, and soon the Assembly will begin. Tell Mr. Hall even our military gentlemen are too liberal to make any distinction between Whig and Tory ladyes. If they make any it is in favor of the latter. Such, strange as it may seem, is the way those things 1 Reed to Greene, Lee Papers, vol. iii. p. 250, 252, in Publications of the New York Historical Society, 1873. 2 Cadwalader to Greene, Ibid. 270. are conducted at present in this city. It originates at headquarters, and that I may make some apology for such strange conduct, I must tell you that Cupid has given our little General a more mortal wound than all the hosts of Britons could, unless his present conduct can expiate for his pastMiss Peggy Shippen is the fair one." It is not our privilege to have even a passing glance at the ball-rooms of Arnold and his friends; but, from what we know of some of the characters, and of the events in which they figured, it does not require a very fertile brain to picture the changes which had been wrought in the manners of the Quaker City since its Provincial days. The leading belle was no doubt Peggy Shippen, then in her eighteenth year, soon to become the wife of the military commander. Her character has more than once been the subject of an almost cruel scrutiny; but those who have thus closely considered it have pronounced her an innocent sufferer for her husband's crimes. If, however, her guilt had been confessed, and it could have been said of her, as of the heroine of Esmond, that "she was imperious, she was light-minded, she was flighty, she was false," and that "she had no reverence for character," it is doubtful whether her punishment would have been more severe than it was, for, like Beatrix, "she was very beautiful." Then there were the two sisters of Miss Peggy, Sarah and Molly Shippen, who, with their sister, had been knight's ladies at the famous Meschianza, and of whose extravagances we will hear more anon. The ladies of the families of Foot 1 PENNA. MAG., vol. ii. 162. 2 In making the statement that the Miss Shippens were present at the Meschianza I followed the accounts written by Major André and others. Since the paper was read I have received a letter from Mr. Lawrence Lewis, Jr., from which I extract the following, that will be new to those interested in the history of that celebration: I would like to communicate to you a suggestion in reference to one part of your address. You stated that Mrs. Arnold and her two sisters (daughters of Shippen, C. J.), were present at the Meschianza. Although all the printed and published accounts of that festivity have made a similar statement, the tradition in the Shippen family has always been to the contrary. The young ladies had been invited, and had arranged to go; their names were upon the programmes, and their |