The 'Diaries of Sidney George Fisher 1857-1858

ONTINUING the diaries of Sidney George Fisher, this install- ment finds him established with his wife and son at Forest C Hill, his father-in-law's countryseat, to which he had moved in June, 1857. While Forest Hill did not offer the country living the diarist would have preferred, it at least furnished him a suburban home and released him from city life, which he hated. It offered other advantages in economy and in its nearness to his brother Henry's handsome Brookwood estate, and these were sufficient to overcome Fisher's reluctance to place himself in a somewhat dependent posi- tion with his wife's family. During the year covered by this section of his diary, Fisher wrote four major articles for the ZNprth ^American, which were well received but which brought him in no income. Financial problems were a constant concern to Fisher. He had abandoned the practice of law, and more than ever had to rely on his farm, Mount Harmon, in Maryland. Expectations of an adequate yield from Mount Harmon continued to be disappointed, however, and it was fortunate that Fisher could turn to his generous brother for aid.

June 29, 1857 I commence a new volume at a new home and at a time of change in circumstances which must bring new influences on my life. On the 20th, we cleared the furniture, after the labor of two weeks, from our house in town and considered ourselves estab- lished at Forest Hill. I came to this place on the day I was married, May 28th, 1851, and every year since I have spent the summer here, except two. I have, therefore, many associations with it, some of them very happy, some, for reasons unnecessary to explain, far otherwise.1 1 During his previous stays at Forest Hill, the owners of the place, his father- and mother-in- law, were frequently in residence. Fisher felt keenly his position of dependence and lack of full authority in the house in which he lived. 454 i96i DIARIES 1857-1858 455 For a year past, I had been anxious to establish myself in the country. I dislike a town life. I had no business at all in my profession and held it in such abhorrence that I could not even desire any, much less make efforts to obtain it, and my income, too small to live with comfort in a city, is sufficient, tho scarcely sufficient for the country. As Bet shared my rural tastes, we at length brought our desires to a definite form and resolved, if possible, to make the change. We thought of Mount Harmon. There was a good house, a beauti- ful place, a large farm. But the experience of two months passed there in 1855 convinced us that the obstacles to a comfortable and satisfactory life there are insurmountable. Four months' absence during the sickly season alone would be a sufficient objection.2 To be obliged to leave home every year, to break up an establishment and to be without a home for so long a period, living at a watering place or country lodgings, would destroy the enjoyment of life. Besides which, the difficulty of getting servants, the total want of society and separation from all our friends, induced us, reluctantly on my part, to give up the Mount Harmon plan, as impossible or as the last resort of dire necessity. 1 then determined to look for a place at some convenient distance by railroad from Philad., a farm of moderate size, 50 to 100 acres, with comfortable buildings. After a long search and looking at many places, I could find none that would at all suit our views, except at a price beyond our means. The only way to get a good house in a country of small farms is to build one. This was too expensive for us and we began to despair of finding a farm, unless in some remote neighborhood, far from all our friends & the sort of society to which we had been accustomed. In this difficulty, Mr. Ingersoll offered us Forest Hill, free of rent, for five years certainly, and I suppose for a longer period, if he should live longer & we wish to stay. As the house was much out of repair and required many things to make it suitable for a winter residence, he also offered $500 to make the necessary improvements, it being understood that he and Mrs. Ingersoll were to spend the summer with us. This plan presented positive & immedi- ate advantages, a country home for a long time, accessible to town, near all our friends, and economy in the saving of rent. On the other

2 Malaria kept Fisher away during the warm months. He did not return to Mount Harmon in the fall until after there had been a "black" frost. 45^ SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October hand, it is a temporary home, the place is not ours, & we can feel no interest in improving it. It is too near town and is not perfectly healthy. After deliberating for some weeks, and making several abortive efforts to find another place, I finally decided to accept Mr. IngersolPs offer. In April, workmen began the repairs & alterations which were finished by the 16th of this month, & here we are. The house is big enough & sufficiently comfortable. We have a large parlor, a small dining room, and a large room for a library, a one-story frame building resting on pillars, connected with the main house by an entry. It is my sanctum and I like it very much. There are 4 good chambers & a dressing room in the 2nd story. We put a furnace in the cellar and repaired it, so that it gives two excellent, dry & convenient kitchens. The house was painted inside & part of it papered, and is neat & convenient enough. It is surrounded by a grove of noble forest trees, oaks, tulip poplars, horse chesnuts, beeches, & pines. There is a very pretty flower garden, good barn, stabling & tenant's house, and 20 acres of land. It is four miles from town; on one side at the distance of 6 or 8 minutes' walk is the North Penna. railroad station, on the other, about a mile off, is one of the Germantown railroad. Within a quarter of a mile is the Rising Sun Village, from which omnibuses go to town every hour. We have got the furniture and various things arranged at last, mats down and the establishment in order & comfortable. Luckily, just now we have good servants. Dennis, the gardener & groom, who works the vegetable garden, keeps the lawn & gravel walks & flowers neat, blacks boots & brushes clothes & takes care of Fairfax and the wagon, is a very satisfactory man, civil, obliging and faithful, so far. He was highly recommended by his last employer. Everything as yet seems satisfactory and promising. It is a great thing to get out of town. 3 July ioy 1857 At 6}4 drove Bet, in the wagon Harry gave her, up to Harkinson's, the fashionable Germantown cake & bread baker,4 to buy some bread. Fairfax made nothing of the wagon, tho it is rather heavy. Germantown has quite a town look, handsome, gay shops, lighted with gas, and an air of business & bustle. The multitude of cottages, built of late years in all directions around it, 3 Harry Ingersoll, Mrs. Fisher's wealthy brother. 4 John Harkinson, confectioner. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania FOREST HILL, NOVEMBER, 1863 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER Daguerreotype, c, i860 1962 DIARIES 1857-1858 459 many of them very handsome & expensive, and the large increase of villa population, has caused a demand for the conveniences & luxuries of life & produced the shops & mechanics, as well as the water & gas to supply it. July ii, 1857 Clear, warm, but breezy. Read under the trees, noble oaks, tulip poplars, beeches, horse-chesnuts, &c, which cover the lawn and make a shadowy saloon of magnificent dimensions, roofed by a lofty, leafy canopy which is supported by gigantic pillars. Here I spend a large portion of every day in hot weather, seated with a book in a rustic chair or pacing up & down the cathedral aisles in meditation. This grove-covered lawn of about 3 acres is the only merit the place has. It has no outlook or view at all, no variety of surface, is suburban & confined & close to a little village with small houses for labouring people all around, within sight & hearing. It is neither town nor country, but it is not town. That is the great thing. July 75, 1857 Went to see McMichael. Told him I would write an article for him on the Dred Scott case in October. He says he will print Wm. Gilpin's letter in a few days.5 Took a bath at the Sansom St. bath house, an extremely comfortable, clean & complete estab- lishment. This is the only luxury that I have not here & had at my old house, No. n Sansom St., in town. I take a sitz bath with a sponge here every morning, which answers all the purposes of clean- liness, but is very different from a plunging bath in enjoyment. aAugust 2y 1857 Yesterday I dined at George Smith's, taking Bet first to Medary,6 who dined there, & calling for her in the evening. Admired George's place, the grounds, the trees, the garden, the grapery, & greenhouse, the farm and cattle, fine Durhams & Alderneys, the barns and stables, all in the nicest order & keeping. He unites in a remarkable degree a love of the beautiful & of the useful, fine taste with practical ability, the power to produce results. It is proof of a well-balanced & rounded character, which is not one- sided & half-developed, but, as Emerson says, comes full circle and is displayed also in his skill & talent for business combined with a

5 William Gilpin (1813-1894), brother of Henry D. Gilpin and a cousin of Fisher's, had been an Indian fighter and the first territorial governor of Colorado. His public letter, "The Pastoral Region of the West," Fisher found so interesting that he persuaded Morton McMi- chael to print it in his newspaper, the North American, where it appeared on July 17, 1857, 6 George R. Smith's place was on Green Lane near Fern Rock Station, and lay between Harry Ingersoll's Medary and Henry Fisher's Brookwood. 460 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October fondness for literature & speculative philosophy. He loves painting & music & is a good judge of both, indeed, would excel in both if he chose to cultivate his talents of that kind. He is fond of poetry. He is a capital farmer, horticulturist & florist, & has a keen & cultivated perception of the minuter beauties of nature, such as escape common eyes, whilst his power of mastering details & applying means to ends makes him very successful. Everything he plants grows, whilst order & neatness reign in every part of his place. His moral nature corre- sponds to this full intellectual development and is marked by truth, loyalty & magnanimity. I cannot imagine the possibility of his doing or intending any act below the highest standard of honor & propriety or that any temptation could make him swerve from the path of virtue. I have lived with him in the utmost intimacy of friendship for nearly 30 years, have never seen anything in him seriously7 to disapprove or had a moment's coolness or unkind feeling to cloud our intercourse. I feel very uneasy about him. He had another hemor- rhage from the lungs a day or two ago, very slight, yet as it was the fourth it shows the existence & progress of disease. He suffers from palpitation of the heart, of which his father died at the age of 56, after years of tedious & suffering illness. He has been acquainted with grief & has now many troubles. He has lost 6 children, cannot but look forward to losing those now living,8 and his wife, besides having her general health shattered, is almost blind and it is too probable will become entirely so. We had an excellent dinner, the table, service & establishment are those of a gentleman of fortune, the place is beautiful, we had pleasant & interesting talk, everything external was prosperous & smiling, but all melancholy to me, for the skeleton was at the feast. ^August 7, /

7 The word "seriously" was added many years later, Fisher and Smith having grown somewhat apart. 8 This was too gloomy a prophecy. Both of Smith's surviving children, Charles Morton Smith and Sally Roberts Smith, lived many years. 1962 DIARIES 1857-1858 461 hills of Jersey. You see on three sides the full sweep of the horizon in a circle as well defined as if drawn by a pair of compasses. We sat till the moon, broad & round and red, rose above the distant rim of the landscape as it does at sea. Mrs. Jno. Butler & Tom James came over at 8. Mrs. Butler is living at Butler Place. Butler has left it. She has rented it till it can be sold.9 What a result—an hereditary fortune of $700,000 lost by sheer folly & infatuation. This beautiful old place is to be cut up in lots. Stenton is going thro the same process. At 9 o'clock drove home by brilliant moonlight & so endeth a day of great enjoyment. Was much impressed in my drive today with the beauty of the country, the universal aspect of wealth & comfort and the difference that a few years have made in the neighborhood of Germantown, always a respectable, substantial village, but now adorned with elegance & supplied with all the conveniences of a city—shops, gas, waterworks, with none of the annoyances of town, but quiet, country scenery, gardens and trees everywhere. The railroad & the taste for villa life have done it all, and so manifold are its advantages that the wonder to me is how any can bear to stay in town. I passed many beautiful places, comfortable & tasteful cottages, all neatly kept, some costly & luxurious. First Blight's, Tucker's, Pratt McKean's, Gardette's in a cluster,10 then some 8 or 10 on Betton's Lane, then Wakefield & Butler Place & Swift's & Cope's & Roger's on the York Road,11 then Judge Kane's, Champlost,12 Medary, George Smith's, & Brookwood on Green Lane. It is the same thing on every lane & road for 10 miles around. All is the growth of 10 or 15 years, except the few old places, such as Wakefield & Stenton & Champlost & Butler Place, that are of the last century. I wish it was my lot to have one of them. It ought to have been and would have been had I been blessed with a small portion of common sense, that valuable quality

9 The widowed Mrs. John Butler was constantly escorted by Thomas C. James, a sporting gentleman and captain of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. Pierce Butler, tempo- rarily embarrassed financially, had rented his country home, Butler Place on Old York Road, to Mrs. Butler, who was his sister-in-law. 10 George Blight's Devonshire (built in 1842), Henry Pratt McKean's Fern Hill, and the dentist Dr. Emile B. Gardette's place. 11 William Logan Fisher's Wakefield, Joseph Swift's home, Alfred Cope's brownstone Fairfield, and the brownstone house of Charles H. Roger, president of the Tradesman's Bank. 12 Judge John K. Kane's Fern Rock, Charles P. Fox's Champlost. 462 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October by which people get country places or keep them when^they have them, for want of which I have none and Pierce Butler hasjost his. ^August /p, 1857 In the eveng. began an article about the present troubles in Kansas, on which my mind has been exercised, rather against my will, for several days. My convictions are so strong as to the causes of those troubles, I think I see so clearly the prin- ciples on which they depend, that I express them almost involuntarily. zAugust jiy 1857 Began at 9 to copy the article, polishing & compacting as I went on. Worked steadily until 5. ... Worked again after dinner & then in the eveng. from 9 to io}4 & finished it. Pretty severe labor. It contains 28 pages of manuscript & will make about 3 columns of the paper. I was anxious to get it done as I promised McMichael he should have it tomorrow. I think it as good as any of the others I wrote last year on the same subject, except perhaps the "Southern Rights & Northern Duties/' which is the most artistic piece of work I ever did in prose. This article is entitled "The true issue in Kansas/' and endeavours to show the mistakes both in morals & in policy of the Southern party for some years past. It is not of a character to excite much attention, being too abstract and philosophical in its reasoning to be generally appreciated, but I think it will please the judicious, and that is all I care for. Indeed, I care more for the pleasure of writing it than even for that.13 September i6y 1857 Went to town. Saw Henry. There is a money panic raging here and in New York & he is absorbed in business. September /p, 1857 Mrs. John Butler & her daughter, Mrs. McCalester,14 here on Thursday. She is living at Butler Place, having rented it. Butler has left it and is at lodgings in town! One of his daughters is with her mother, Mrs. Kemble, at Nahant,15 the other is boarding in the country. Such is the end of his folly. A hereditary fortune of $700,000 lost in a few years by sheer infatuation. September 20, 1857 There is now a panic & pressure in business similar to the disastrous year of 1837. Several of the oldest & strong- est houses have failed and more trouble is anticipated. Henry is in the midst of it, helping others as well as protecting his own interests.

13 The article, signed "Cecil," appeared in the North American on Sept. 5, 1857, and occupied nearly three columns. 14 Mrs. Julian Macalester. 15 Mrs. Frances Anne Kemble, the actress and divorced wife of Pierce Butler. 196a DIARIES 1857-1858 463 His position & signal abilities give him a very influential voice at such a time. September 2jy 1857 Saw Henry. He seemed in such a state of excitement that when I came out I drove up to Brookwood to dinner, fearing that he might be in difficulty. I asked him no ques- tions, but from his conversation I infer that he is entirely safe. More failures today. Genl. Patterson,16 Caleb Cope,17 &c, very rich men. September joy 1857 Went to town in the omnibus from 6th & Master St. at 7 A.M. Going along 6th St. a man pointed to a crowd around the City Bank and told me it was a run on the bank. Going down Chesnut St., I saw a similar crowd at the Farmers & Mechanics and other banks. Went to the Bank of Commerce to deposit some money. They had a run too but were paying their notes, tho refusing payment of checques. Went to Henry's office. He told me that all the banks would stop payment the next day, which they did. There was no unpleasant excitement and everyone seemed hopeful & in good humour. It is not so bad as in 1837, when the crops were deficient and banks & currency were topics connected with party politics and used by the demagogues for popular agitation. October /, 1857 Drove Bet & the baby to Germantown to a shop. Thence to Brookwood. Saw Sarah Ann & Mrs. Atherton18 & Henry, who came out whilst we were there. He seemed much worried. They say everybody seems to depend on his mind & energy for advice & support in these calamitous times. I trust he may be in no danger himself. Stopped at Henry's to dinner. . . . Mr. Hunt came out with him and dined there. Manlius Evans & his wife came in before we left the table. Affairs are no better, even worse. Many more failures are anticipated, no one can say when or where the calamities are to cease, the failures are for the most part insolvencies and many families, lately rich, are plunged into actual poverty. Nearly all the factories have stopped work and thousands of the poor are thus thrown out of employment, now, at the approach of winter. Severe and extensive suffering will be the consequence, and very probably 16 Gen. Robert Patterson (1792-1881). The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is built on the site of Gen. Patterson's mansion. 17 Caleb Cope (1797-1888), a wealthy silk merchant whose firm failed in 1857, later be- came president of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society. 18 Mrs. Humphrey Atherton, Henry Fisher's mother-in-law, lived at Brookwood. 464 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October riots & popular tumult. Under our government these are serious things and I should not be surprised to see Phila. & New York before six months under the rule of vigilance committees or martial law. The great failure of the day, however, is that of the Reading Railroad. This vast corporation, with a capital of over 20 millions, employing thousands of laborers, and owned all over the country as investment by people of every class, stopped today. (Note: It resumed some months afterward.) It has often been on the eve of bankruptcy before. Henry has saved it over and over again, but Cullen,19 the president now, is an inefficient man, and Henry says its present position is the result of sheer mismanagement. It is difficult to estimate the distress to families which the failure of these corpora- tions will cause. The loss of dividends alone is a most serious thing to persons who rely on them for income. Henry says none of the banks will pay dividends in January. October j, 1857 Walked with Bet past Ellwood, a pretty little place on the next lane to this that belonged to my father and where Henry was born. The place recalls vague recollections of childhood, and some of its features I recall distinctly as they then appeared. Several domestic scenes and events there also I remember well, and the appearance of persons, as in a dream, of my parents, servants, horses, dogs. I remember seeing my father go off on horseback, on a chesnut horse and bidding my mother adieu as she was standing on the piazza, his pretending to strike her with a horsewhip on one occasion to frighten me, & how she behaved, a dress she wore, yellow with dark spots, the way she arranged her hair, seeing my father at table, seeing him sick in a rocking chair which I have now, his boxing the ears of a black servant for some misconduct, Mrs. Cavender, our housekeeper, Bill, our coachman, owned & set free by my mother & born at Mount Harmon, but who lived & died in my mother's house, a black mare on whose back I was put to learn to ride, a pair of carriage horses called Toby & Tim, another pair called Bully & Jack, my being scolded well once for striking the horses with a whip as they were driven from the door to the stable, Henry's birth & my being taken by Mrs. Cavender to see him & how he looked, my father's death at Ellwood, my mother's taking me to see his body, her kissing his forehead & weeping, the scenes at his funeral & several other 19 Robert D. Cullen. 1962 DIARIES 1857-1858 465 things of the sort. I was born March 2, 1809. My father died August 23, 1814, so that I was then 5 years & 5 months old. How many changes since then until now, when I am sitting in this room, with my little son playing on the floor by my side, within quarter of a mile of the scene of my own infancy. In recalling my career of folly since I grew up, it seems extraordinary to me how I contrived to miss or rather throw away all those advantages & chances, which by the most ordinary prudence & common sense would have made me comfortable & at ease, living on my own place instead of another man's & free from every care, instead of being in my present embar- rassed & straitened condition. October io> 1857 Heard today of the death of Louis McLane,20 with regret. I had known him for many years and always received from him kindness and hospitality. When they lived at Bohemia & I was in the habit of being a great deal at Mount Harmon, I was constantly at their house and my intercourse with his family is among the pleasant recollections of my life. He was a man of talents and ability of the kind required for what is called success in life, energetic, sensible, adroit, but without any powers of abstract thought or general mental culture. His manners were genial and agreeable, his conversation intelligent on common topics, easy & flowing. He was successful in his pursuits, having been much in public life & obtained what are considered the high prizes. He was senator, Secretary of the Treasury and minister to England. Any one who knew him, however, & was capable of judging, could not fail to remark what has so often been remarked before, that these high prizes by no means imply in those who win them a high standard of intellect or knowledge or moral elevation. McLane had none of these, and as a consequence, survived his reputation and influence. He was 72 when he died, I did not learn of what disease. I saw him twice last summer, once in Cecilton on my way up from Mount Harmon, and again in July, I think, in the street in town. On both occasions he was looking remarkably well & seemed in very good spirits, so that I heard of his death with surprise as well as regret. I suppose Bohemia will now be sold. October if> 1857 The distress among the poor is becoming pain- fully evident already. Two men came here today for food. They said 20 Louis McLane (1786-1857). 466 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October they could get no work & looked very wretched. One came to Henry's whilst we were there. The factories and workshops have all stopped and thousands are without employment now at the approach of winter. What will it be two months hence? It is feared that the roads, that our houses will not be safe. October 26^ 1857 Henry brought news that I was sorry to hear, the death of Mrs. James Rush at Saratoga on Friday. She had been ill there for many weeks. Her disease was erisipelas. I knew her all my life. I recollect her when I was a child at Ellwood & her father lived at Clermont close by. She knew my parents and my aunt, Mrs. Bradford, intimately. When I left college and entered society in Philad. she was very kind to me and invited me constantly to her house, then, as always since, a very gay and pleasant one. She took offence some years after this at something that I innocently and unconsciously said or did, and for a good while we did not speak. When she returned from Europe, however, the first time I met her she offered her hand, & since then we have been excellent friends, as before. She was a person of remarkable qualities, with virtues and defects strongly marked, much intellect, cultivated by books, society & traveling, an energetic will which she inherited from her father, a kind & generous heart, excitable passions, and sentiments altogether elevated & free from anything petty or mean. On the other hand, her mind was ill-regulated, without high culture, and led her to opinions and conduct at times so extravagant that she seemed partially insane. Her strong will made her ambitious of governing others & ruling society in a way that was often absurd, her affections were variable and whilst her friendship was strong, it was often on the slightest cause or without apparent cause converted into enmity, and her vanity was so great, her self-esteem so excessive, that she re- quired from everyone more attention than many were willing to give whose attention was worth having, and consequently she was sur- rounded as intimates by men who were mere toadies, desirous to gain importance or enter society by her means. Her appearance was singular. Her figure was very tall, very stout and unwieldy, wholly devoid of beauty or grace. Her features were masculine, well cut and expressive of mind & character, but not of softness. She had bright, clear, dark eyes, rich, abundant dark hair, 1962 DIARIES 1857-1858 467 teeth perfectly white & regular, and was always so highly rouged that at a little distance she seemed to have a most florid complexion. She dressed in the most expensive manner and in the brightest & most conspicuous colors, and, in her daily walks, was an object that attracted much notice in the street. Everyone turned to look at her tall, robust, ungainly but striking face and figure, attired in splendid blue or crimson silk or velvet of the last Parisian taste. She was the daughter of old Jacob Ridgway, a successful merchant here, who left some 3 or 4 millions, of which she inherited one. She was the sister of Mrs. Barton and of John Ridgway,21 now in Paris, and was the wife of Dr. James Rush,22 a person as wild and crazy in his way as she in hers. She had no children. I fancy her married life was not entirely happy. Soon after her return from Europe, about ten years ago, I think, she built the large house in Chestnut St. above 19, furnished it in the most sumptuous manner, the furniture having been bought in Paris at a cost of $6o,ooo,23 and has lived there since, going every summer to Saratoga, where she has just died, this disease having overtaken her before she could get home. She was very fond of society, but had her own notions on the subject, affecting to despise those distinctions of position & birth which produce different circles and separate the persons of a class, according to similarity of fortune, habits, manners, and pursuits. She declared that she found agreeable people in every circle and therefore visited all and invited all to her house. Her parties, there- fore, were very mixed and those were brought together at them who would not and could not mingle. One or two unpleasant events and several instances of gross misconduct on the part of some of her guests convinced her at last that she had made a mistake and she restricted her acquaintance very much afterwards. She no doubt considered that her wealth & position made her a public person, at the head of society & entitled to rule, and she did not forgive easily anyone who resisted her regulations. She gave one splendid ball every winter, and really it was worth seeing, as all the rooms of her magnificent house were thrown open and the scene was very striking.

21 Mrs. John Rhea Barton and John J. Ridgway. 22 Dr. James Rush (1786-1869), a son of Dr. Benjamin Rush. 23 Several ornate pieces of furniture and many pictures from the Rush house are at the Ridgway Branch of the Library Company of Philadelphia. 468 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October Every Saturday, from November till June, she was at home in the morning, and expected all her acquaintances to come. Many did go and the rooms were usually well filled. It was a pleasant lounge. No dressing or ceremony and nothing but music & conversation, nothing to eat or drink. If any musicians of celebrity were in town, as prima donnas from the opera, she always had them. The conservatories, the drawing rooms, the libraries, the parlors & hall were all thrown open, and the guests wandered about at will and left at will without ceremony. The annual ball and these receptions were all she did. She gave no evening parties, no dinners, she did not receive in the evening nor admit visitors in the morning on any other day. Indeed, she was offended if anyone called on any other day, she said it proved they did not want to see her as she was known never to be at home. All the rest of the time she employed in reading, in practising on the piano, in her long daily walks, and she often told me that her time was fully occupied. She went out in the evening whenever there was a party and was always at the opera. I have no doubt her life was an unhappy one. There was no scope here for her active temperament, her strong passion for display & for producing results, her love for the excitement of conversation and society, her ambition to hold a prominent and influential position. With her large fortune, Paris would have been her element and would have afforded a sphere suitable to her powers and gratifying to her passions. As the mistress of a splendid establishment, as a conspicuous member of a brilliant and intellectual society, her life would have been a constant succession of the scenes, the excitements and the triumphs in which she delighted. And it was her plan to lead this life. She went abroad with the intention never to return and she did return, as she told me herself, only to please Dr. Rush, who hated a residence abroad & could not be satisfied to remain there, thus sacrificing to him the favorite scheme of her life & proving herself, as she said, a good wife. Wanting these enjoyments, she had nothing to give interest and purpose to life, no domestic affections, for she had no children, she was unhappily estranged from her sister Mrs. Barton, and her brother & his family were absent for many years before her death. She had, I imagine, few, if any, intimate friends. On the whole, there was far more to admire and esteem in her character than to condemn. I remember her conversation, her 1962 DIARIES 1857-1858 469 mind, her intelligence, her impulsive and truthful nature, her kind- ness to me, and am sorry that I shall see her no more. October ^7, 1857 Took my article, which is entitled "Special Legislation for Banks," to McMichael. He approved it, but thinks it had better not be published till after the meeting of the bank presidents to take place on the 3rd of next month. That meeting is to decide on accepting the "relief bill"24 just passed, and it is understood that they will accept it, bad as it is. He thinks my article might induce some to oppose this intention. The banks must accept this bill; the consequences of executing the law would be too disastrous to them & the community. My article is intended not to influence them, but the next legislature, thro public opinion. A hopeless task as the legislature is composed. November -?, 1857 Found that Henry had been here to ask me to dine to meet Mr. Granville Penn,25 the great-great-grandson of the founder, and Mr. Lardner.26 Mr. Penn has been several times in this country during the last four or five years. He is very quiet, gentle- manlike, but dull & prosy. He was the owner of Stoke Poges, a beautiful old hall in England, attached to which is the church, the yard of which was the scene of Gray's "Elegy." He made some unfortunate speculations in railroad stocks, by reason of which he was obliged to sell this fine ancestral place, tho he is still independent & easy in his fortune, tho not rich. November j, 1857 Henry said that he showed my article on banks to Mercer,27 the pres. of "The Farmer's & Mechanic's Bank," who approved of it very highly & [said] that it would probably be published in pamphlet. J^pvember 6> 1857 The article appeared in the paper this morning. Called at McMichael's office to get a few copies. They printed 500 extra copies, & more than half had been sold already. Some of the banks taking 25 to 50, and one person, 100.

24 By suspending specie payments, the banks had violated the Pennsylvania Banking Act of 1850, and their charters were thus subject to forfeiture. The legislature passed an act for the relief of the banks from that eventuality, but the act contained clauses highly disagreeable to the Philadelphia bankers, who, nevertheless, did accept it. 25 Granville John Penn (1803-1867), a bachelor, visited Pennsylvania in 1852 and again in 1857. 26 Richard Penn Lardner. 27 Singleton A. Mercer. 47° SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October November 22, 1857 Went to town on Thursday at 11. Met Henry & went with him to see Bolivar28 at the Franklin House. We greeted each other with great cordiality & I believe mutual pleasure. I should have known him at once, voice, manner, expression, the noble cast of features, the same. Thirty years have only given addi- tional gravity and taken away some coloring, converted the youth into a man. He has with him a son, whom he has placed at the same school in Germantown, where he & I were together 30 years ago & more! We walked up to Henry's office & then about town till 2, when Henry proposed that he should take Bolivar out to Forest Hill to dinner, instead of his going in the cars with me as I proposed, giving him a drive around the neighborhood to see some of the countryseats before I left them & came out in the cars. They came at 5. We had a pleasant evening. Bolivar resumed at once the manner of our old boyish intimacy, was cordial & friendly, & seemed really glad to see me again. His position in Venezuela is a pleasant one. The heir of an historical name and a large landed estate, he no doubt enjoys great consideration & respect, and then he is a lord, counts his land by the square league, owns vallies & has dependents & retainers and a very large income. All this I gather from incidental remarks, for he is very modest & unassuming. His chief residence is Caracas, where he has a house & near the town a countryseat. He has, besides, 5 estates for sugar, coffee and chocolate. On three of these, three splendid vallies, he is founding a colony. The colonists receive land in fee, and pay him three days' labor per week on his plantations. He received a good education in this country, first at the German- town Academy & then at the Virginia University. He afterwards spent several years in Europe, where his name gained him an intro- duction into the best society. I remember in 1833 or 4, when Willis29 returned from Europe, he showed me a collection of autographs of people of rank and celebrity, among which was that of F. Bolivar. He has been in the habit of reading ever since, and tho not a student at all, is as conversant with literature as most gentlemen of educa- tion. He was remarkable at school for dignified & courteous manners,

28 Fernando Bolivar, nephew of Simon Bolivar and one of his heirs. 29 Nathaniel Parker Willis (i806-1867), journalist, editor, poet and dramatist. Fisher's diary for Dec. 13, 1836, notes the autograph volume which Willis showed him that day con- taining Bolivar's signature. 1962 DIARIES 1857-1858 471 with a good deal of Spanish gravity, for spirit, manliness & courage, for amiable & kind feelings. All these qualities seem to have been confirmed & strengthened by the influences of time. Yesterday, Saturday, still clear & cold. Therm. 26 at 9. Wrote to Wm. Gilpin, &c. Went to town at 12. Saw Bolivar. Asked him to come out to dinner. He, however, wished me to dine with him at the La Pierre House in Broad St., to which he has moved, at 4. Did so. This is the best hotel we have in Philadelphia & tho comfortable is far inferior in elegance to many in New York. The table is good, however. After dinner Geo. Smith came in & sat with us for an hour. Offered to take Bolivar in the evening to Mr. Cole's Wistar Party,30 to which he assented. Came away at 6}4, Bolivar walking with me to 9th & Green to the cars, accompanied by his son, a lad of 13, dark, Spanish complexion & jet black hair, who went in the cars to Ger- mantown to his school. Got home at 8, tired with my day's walking, which in all was about 5 miles. James Morrison,31 the English banker, of whose affairs in this country Henry has so long had the charge, died recently. He left a fortune of 20 millions, much of it land in various counties in England. He made it all himself and was a very shrewd & energetic but coarse and uneducated person. November 28, 1857 Bolivar came with his son at 2, in a hired wagon. Went with him in his wagon to Brookwood. All out. Thence up Germantown to call on Miss Morris, who lives in a nice, old- fashioned, ivy-covered house above the toll gate,32 where they lived 30 years ago when we were at school in Germantown, & where we used to visit. They were out. Was pleased, as I always am, with the substantial, prosperous look of Germantown, where the houses are of stone & the woodwork painted dark colors, and most of the houses old-fashioned, surrounded by pleasant gardens. After dinner Wm. Gerhard33 came in. He came from Wakefield where he had been to see Charles,34 whom he visits once a week. He 30 Edward Coles (1786-1868) was formerly governor of Illinois. Wistar Parties were instituted in honor of Dr. Caspar Wistar following his death in 1818. Members of the Wistar Association are drawn from the American Philosophical Society. 31 James Morrison of London. 32 This house at the southeast corner of Germantown Ave. and High St. was occupied by Miss Elizabeth C. Morris (1795-1865), a botanist of some note, and Miss Margaretta H. Morris (1797-1867), who was celebrated for her studies on the Hessian fly and the seven-year locust. Robert C. Moon, The Morris Family of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1898), II, 404. 33 Dr. William W. Gerhard (1809-1872). 34 Charles William Fisher (1820-1857), a bachelor son of William Logan Fisher. 472 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October says that he is frightfully diseased, that there is no prospect of his immediate death, tho he may die at any time, that he cannot pos- sibly live thro the winter and that his sufferings as yet are not very severe. They all went about 9 o'clock, Gerhard going in Bolivar's wagon. Met Daniel B. Smith,35 a man whom I much like, in German- town. He paid me a great many compliments, with a very kind & cordial manner, about my articles & my speech & said he hoped before long to have the pleasure of voting for me for Congress. I told him that was not the sphere for me. ^December 20, 1857 Called to see McMichael on Wednesday. He told me that my article on "Special Legislation for Banks," published Nov. 6 in his paper, had been printed two or three weeks ago in pamphlet form for distribution by the banks. Went to Henry's office. He said it was not by the banks but by Mr. Mercer, pres. of the Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank, at the expence of that bank. Mercer is considered the most intelligent of all the men here connected with banks. Henry had a large number of copies & gave me some. This is certainly a compliment & an encouragement to go on writing articles. It shows that some result is produced, some good done. Indeed, when one gets to some extent the ear of the public, as I may say that Cecil has done, the press is a ready & powerful means of expressing opinion. It enables one to address a large number of minds simultane- ously. I feel the desire to write, to bear witness to the truth; I like the practice of art; I like the excitement & the credit gained, but I rather dread the notoriety. I do not wish to be talked of as a pam- phleteer & writer of newspaper articles. If there was a magazine or journal of respectable character here, I would prefer it as a vehicle, but there is none. The only one in the country, indeed, of any stand- ing is the J^(prth ^American Ifyview™ which is but little read here and moreover is not suited for the expression of opinion on the passing political topics of the day. December 23, 1857 Went to a morning party at Fern Hill.37 There was dancing and a sumptuous lunch. These parties, matinees, are now fashionable. It was a gay & beautiful scene. Came away at 5, leaving the amusement & the crowd in full play.

35 Daniel B. Smith (1792-1883). 36 Published in Boston. 37 Countryseat of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Pratt McKean. 1962 DIARIES 1857-1858 473 "December 27,1857 Drove up to Wakefield, partly to see Elizth.38 on business, partly to inquire about Charles, little expecting the scene I was to witness. On entering the parlor, I found Wm. Rotch Wister39 there. I asked how Charles was. He said "growing slowly worse." I asked where he was. He said "upstairs, lying down." Both of these answers that he might have made a month ago. I asked if he thought it would be agreeable for him to see me. He said he would go & inquire. He returned in a few minutes and invited me to go up—yes—Charles would like to see me. I went up to the large west chamber. On one bed was Mary Fox,40 weeping. On another was Charles, his eyes closed, white as a sheet, looking exactly like a dead man, & by his side, lying down, Elizabeth, her eyes red, her face working with emotion, and his hand clasped in hers. I went to his side and asked him how he was. "Dying," said he, "dying. The long struggle is almost over." I was quite startled at this, having heard nothing of his being worse than when I last saw him. It appeared to me indeed that what he said was true. I told him that he had the comfort of being surrounded by kind friends, that he had had a happy life & could look back on it without having cause for reproach. He said that he felt this and was willing and anxious to go. That his sufferings had been and were terrible, tho he had never complained and that he was glad the end had come. He said more, expressive of his entire tranquility & resignation, talked of Lindley41 and of his parents, all with complete composure. Meanwhile, his mother came in and her grief was very affecting. In quarter of an hour I left the room & found Uncle William downstairs, looking very worn and haggard. . • . Dr. Owen Wister42 came whilst I remained. He said that Charles was in a dying state but might live another day, tho he thought it doubtful. Got to Henry's at 4. He persuaded me to stay to dinner. Mr. & Mrs. Purviance43 there. Sarah Ann not well. Henry says she has

38 Fisher's cousin Elizabeth Fisher, a daughter of his Uncle William Logan Fisher. 39 William Rotch Wister (i 827-1911) was the grandson of William Logan Fisher and the son of Sarah Logan Fisher, who had married William Wister of Belfield. 40 Mary R. Fisher, sister of Charles W. Fisher and wife of Samuel M. Fox. 41 Lindley Fisher (1818-1852), a brother of Charles W. Fisher. 42 Dr. Owen Jones Wister, father of the author Owen Wister. 43 Emily J. Atherton, sister of Mrs. Henry Fisher, married the Rev. George D. Purviance of Baltimore in 1850. 474 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October neuralgic pains and that her spirits are much depressed, even to agitation and constant weeping. She thinks she will not survive her confinement, which is to come in May, & that this is the last Christ- mas she will pass with her family. Was surprised as well as pained to hear all this, for Sarah Ann is an energetic person by no means nervous and always in good spirits. She has in my opinion too great a charge in their large establishment and the way it is kept up; house, children, garden, farm, all are directed by her. So it is, there is trouble in every home and fear and grief share with enjoyment and hope the lordship of life. "December joy 1857 Went up to Wakefield at 12. Charles still alive, had slept a little during the night, his mind still tranquil. Sat for some time with Uncle William,44 who was in great distress, and his conversation was a good illustration of the law by which a con- stant succession of ideas, varying according to association, is kept up in the mind and by which it is impossible to dwell long on one idea. Uncle William talked of Charley, of death, the immortality of the soul, religion, philosophy, different writers, sects, Charley again, what he had said lately, his early life, other members of the family, family history, his brothers & sisters, &c, Charles again, Lindley, &c, &c, in a varying stream of ideas, some of which were even jocose & at which he was surprised into a laugh. Among others, he told a story of Geo. Selwyn45 I had never heard before. Selwyn it seems had a passion for witnessing death, & never missed going to see a public execution. He went to Paris once to see a man broke on the wheel. One of his friends, being in his last illness, told those about him to admit Selwyn if he called, "For," said he, "if I am alive, I shall be glad to see him, and if I am dead, he will be glad to see me." Came away at 3 and worked at my article. In the evening, Henry sent me a message that Charles died at 8>£, without pain and very quietly. He was 37. He was tall, slender, with an agreeable counte- nance & manners. He was intelligent & educated to business, but had not much literary cultivation or any remarkable intellectual force. He was amiable, kind-hearted & worthy in all respects, fond of pleasure but not of dissipation. He was energetic and attentive in

44 William Logan Fisher. 45 George Augustus Selwyn (1719-1791), English wit and politician, was noted for his fondness for seeing corpses and for attending executions. 1962 DIARIES 1857-1858 475 business, managing with good judgment the large affairs of the iron works,46 in which, I fear, they will find it difficult to fill his place. January /jy 1858 Weather has been remarkable. On Monday, a warm rain, at times very violent, nearly all day. Therm. 50 to 60. Yesterday clear, soft & mild as April. Therm. 55 to 60. Worked at the article both days, morning & evening, copying and altering, add- ing, compacting as I did it. Finished it last night at 12 o'clock. There are 36 pages of mss. It is entitled "Fillibusterism" and I think is equal to any of the others.47 January f8, 1858 Several persons spoke to me about the article in high terms. They say it has produced a sensation. McMi- chael sent me a letter from Dr. Darlington of West Chester,48 who many years ago was in Congress & who is a person of some celebrity in the scientific world, speaking of it in very high terms & urging its publication in pamphlet. Met Meredith.49 He expressed himself in strong terms, and, what I was glad of, said the legal argument is perfectly sound & conclusive. January 25, 1858 The same soft, mild, spring-like weather. Took Bet at 12 to the 6th St. passenger railway, a new enterprize, just started, the first in Philad.50 The cars are drawn by horses & start every 7 minutes, running from Frankford down 6th St. to Southwark, & out 5th St. It is very convenient for us as we can drive to the station at 5 th St. & the German town road, i}4 miles. January 28, 1858 Was sadly disappointed at finding that the Little Schl. Rl. Road would not declare a dividend, a loss to me of #500. I owe more money than I can pay & counted on this. I am going behind hand in my affairs at a frightful rate. Owing to the loss of crops last year, the farm paid less than nothing. Should the same thing occur this year, I really don't know what we are to do. I am troubled about Henry. The labor & excitement of carry- ing his immense business thro these difficult times are wearing 46 The Duncannon Iron Works in Perry County, partially owned by the Fisher family of Wakefield. 47 This article was published in the North American on Jan. 16, 1858. 48 Dr. William Darlington (1782-1863), a distinguished botanist and public figure. 49 William M. Meredith was an outstanding Philadelphia lawyer much admired by Fisher for his intellectual powers. 5° This line commenced operations on Jan. 21, 1858. Each car was drawn by two horses. J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 (Philadelphia, 1884), HI, 2200. 476 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October him out. He says he has no enjoyment in life and does not sleep at night. What good does all his money produce ? Toil, anxiety, no time for thought or mental improvement, and the sword of Damocles hanging over his head. If he had taken my advice years ago and been contented with what was a most ample fortune, how much better would it have been for him & his family. As business is conducted in this country, it is so nearly allied to gambling that any one who has a competence is very foolish not to be satisfied. But the excite- ment of a career, love of action, of influence, pride of display and want of mental resources lead most men on from one enterprize to another, until to stop is difficult, even if they desire it, and the temptation to make still more too great to be resisted, and so life passes & is gone, without real enjoyment or worthy purpose accom- plished. Often, too, failure & ruin are the results. Henry has shown great ability & force of character, he has made a very large fortune in a short time, he has also exhibited excellent and amiable qualities in his kindness and generosity to others, but he has committed the folly, very common to persons who make money rapidly, of extrava- gant expenditure. His place & his establishment are on a scale of luxury & cost much greater than any others here. One third of the money he spends would furnish as much of comfort & elegance with infinitely less of trouble & care. The difficulty is to stop, to reduce, having once commenced. The fear of the world, the desire to maintain a fancied position, love of the vain eclat that follows lavish profusion & display, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye & the pride of life and habit, are all so many bars to change. January j/, 1858 The Cray, a little stream that forms our western boundary, frozen over so that we have some hopes of getting ice. Read Patent Office Reports, walked about the place with Bet in the morning. Charles Ingersoll and Mr. L'Antilliac,51 a French gentleman, called. He is a relation of Stephen Girard and came to this country to prosecute a claim against a portion of his estate & Charles is his counsel. The claim is very large & there are, it is said, great prospects of his recovering a large amount. He is at the head of an Agricultural School in France & very fond of the subject.

51 Charles Ingersoll was a brother of Mrs. Fisher's. Alfred de Lentilhac had married Anne St6phanie, a daughter of Etienne (Bellebrun) Girard, brother of Stephen Girard. Harry Emerson Wildes, Lonely Midas. The Story of Stephen Girard (New York, 1943), 295, 305, 358. i96i DIARIES 1857-1858 477 February 6> 1858 Went to see a collection of paintings, over a hundred, by modern British artists now at the Academy of Fine Arts. They are of what is called the Pre-Raphaelite School. The characteristic of this school, recently sprung up in England, is minute & faithful representation of details, instead of the mere repre- sentation of character. Was very glad of an opportunity of seeing really good pictures, particularly of this kind, as I had read a great deal about them in Ruskin's works. Was not disappointed. Many of them are admirable. The extent to which minute copying of nature is carried is wonderful. They are like daguerrotypes seen thro a stereo- scope, in fidelity & startling relief, with color and expression added. There is also a collection of water color paintings, a branch of art in which the English excel, & which has of late been brought to great perfection. I had no idea before of anything approaching the excel- lence they exhibit. Spent two hours looking at these pictures & shall see them again as they are to remain some weeks. February u> 1858 In the morning read, wrote letters, and began an article on the President's Lecompton message.52 February 75, 1858 Read newspapers & some books in reference to the article which I like to do after writing it in pencil & before copying & finishing it, to get authorities & perhaps new views & illustrative quotations. February 2i> 1858 Henry & Sarah Ann here for a few moments in a sleigh. He told me that Judge Kane was lying at the point of death, ill of pneumonia, & had been ill for several days. Had heard nothing of it. Am very sorry. Drove up to Henry's at 3. Stopped at Judge Kane's, a very pretty place on Green Lane, next west from Harry Ingersoll's house, dark gray stone built in the woods. Saw Lieper, Mrs. Kane's brother.53 He said the Judge was still alive &

52 The issue of the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution for the basically free-soil territory of Kansas is a complex one. In the face of an overwhelming territorial vote against it, President Buchanan on Feb. 1 sent the constitution to Congress with a message favoring its acceptance as the basis for Kansas statehood. Charges of violation of the principle of popular sovereignty, led by Stephen A. Douglas, roused bitter debate in and out of Congress, and the intraparty feuds which surrounded the affair eventually caused an irreparable split in Democratic ranks. Kansas voters again rejected the Lecompton Constitution in August, 1858, thus remaining in territorial status until 1861, when Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state. 63 At this time, Mrs. Kane had two brothers, Judge George G. Leiper (1786-1868) and William Jones Leiper (1803-1860). 478 SIDNEY GEORGE FISHER October sensible, tho entirely given up by the medical men.54 This day two weeks ago I dined with him at Henry's in company with Mr. Dun- can.55 He was in the full enjoyment then of life and the good things of the world, animated and in high spirits. What a mysterious change. After dinner Fox, Tom James, & Hunt, and then Mrs. Butler, two Miss Cadwaladers and Miss Pennington came in. They are staying at Butler Place. Henry took them all a sleigh ride this morning, four in hand, up to Willow Grove. After a pleasant dinner and evening, drove home at 10 by brilliant moonlight, moonlight on snow. Never fully appreciated before the charms of snow & winter in the country. The exquisite effects of light, shadow and color, the beauty of the woods & sky, the pure exhilarating atmosphere, keep me in a state of high enjoyment. February 24, 1858 The article appeared this morning. It is entitled "Popular Sovereignty in the Territories" and its object is to show the unconstitutionality and absurdity of the Kansas & Ne- braska bill. It takes ground wholly different from that of any of the parties now contending on the subject & its object is to prove that they are all wrong. For the sake of party victory, both sides disregard the true principles involved and the Constitution. It occupies 4 columns and, on reading it over, I am not dissatisfied with it. Drove Bet to the passenger railroad at 12 & went for her to the N. P. cars at 5. Henry here for a moment this morning in a sleigh. Judge Kane was interred this morning. Henry one of the pallbearers. I did not go, as I was not invited. I regret the loss of Kane. I did not approve his course as a judge nor his character in all respects. He was ambitious and I fear unscrupulous in defending doctrines that tended to gratify his ambition. He wanted high principle. But he was genial & gracious in his manners, kind & friendly in his relations with others, and had the accomplishments, feelings and habits of a gentleman. These are rare qualities nowadays, and are becoming more rare, especially in official station. My opinions differed from his and I have often expressed that difference in conversations with him, but this never interrupted our friendly intercourse. I was always graciously received at his house and he was always cordial in his manner to me whenever we met.

54 Judge Kane died later in the day. 55 Alexander Duncan.