[Peter Johnston, Jr., at Abingdon, Virginia, to John Archer Morton, Jr., at Bordeaux, France, March 26, 1817, care of William Campbell Preston. Floyd-Johnston-Preston Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary, Series I: Mss. Acc. 2002.37, folder 16. Note: folder contents list identifies the letter as dated March 26, 1819, but internal evidence corrects the year to 1817. These are my rough notes with some transcription, based on images made by Sue Davis, who graciously made them available. Paragraph breaks added for easier reading; Johnston's use of the "long s" modernized for the same reason.]
[Johnston's letter serves two purposes: as a letter of introduction for Preston and as a means of bringing Morton generally up to date with his (Johnston's) news and views.]
[Context: "[I]n May 1817, he [William Campbell Preston] sailed for Europe, by way of New York. with letters of introduction from Jefferson, Madison and the newly-inaugurated President Monroe. He began in Ireland . . ." ~ Patrick Scott, "William Campbell Preston, Student, Statesman, President & Professor being the First Annual Preston Lecture delivered on April 10th, 1996." (Columbia, S.C.: Printed by Request, 1996), page [6]. Link here.]
[Once in Europe, Preston traveled with Washington Irving and Hugh Legaré, among others. The Prestons were among the top socio-economic elite, with the Johnstons being on the second tier.]
[The opening portion of Johnston's letter to Morton places Preston within the context of his family, including the services of William Campbell, Preston's grandfather, and Francis Preston, his father, during the American Revolution. He lauds them all while presenting the bearer of the letter.]
I know he will experience from you that reception which will be most grateful to his feelings, & best calculated to render him happy in a land of strangers . . .
So many years have elapsed since it was my good fortune to spend an hour with you, that I have a thousand times more to say, than I can find room for, in the compass of a letter. What an interesting period has passed since you you left the land of your fathers! What changes have occurred in the political world! What wonderful incidents have arisen in your quarter of the Globe! . . .
But, I have entered an unbounded field -- I will not explore it -- Domestic life, and the themes which it affords, are best suited to my feelings & taste.
I shall never cease to regret, that we did not meet when you were last in Virginia. removed by the back country & the distance of 250 miles from the neighborhood of our former residence, I can hardly hope, that the little tie which I have to pass on this terrestrial scene, will afford me an opportunity of shaking your hand, and of talking over the incidents of our earlier lives: always pleasing to men whose hearts have beaten in unison with each other. What is worse, for me, the future is overshadowed with a gloom, which nothing can dispel.
I live amongst strangers, very few of whom are true Virginians. Here and there, thinly scattered indeed, you will find worth, intelligence, and warmth of heart. But the frankness of manner, the hospitality, & kindness of feeling, which characterise the middle & low country are unknown in the mountains.
I regard it as a most serious misfortune, that the region has been peopled principally by emigrants from Pennsylvania -- cold hearted, and avaricious, they are only intent on the increase of their property, without much concern about the means. They have no souls for social intercourse, no qualities that can engage your esteem.
Yet is there another, and a numerous population, composed of the lowest class, infinitely worse than it has entered into your mind to believe the United States afford. The mere huntsman, or, as he is sometimes called here, the Rowdy," is amongst the most detestable of human beings. Addicted to every species of depravity, there is no crime which he will hesitate to commit, upon very slight inducements of interest, or of passion. To debate on his character, would disgust you. We are not indebted to these to any neighboring state: they are the native growth of our own soil. It is my destiny to be fixed, for life, in a situation where I am surrounded by such . . . Though I am not under the necessity of associating with them, yet I am incessantly liable to be persecuted, and secretly injured, by them.
[End Part 1.]
[Peter Johnston, Jr. (1763-1831)
John Archer Morton, Jr. (1772-1834)
William Campbell Preston (1794-1860)
Francis Smith Preston (1765-1836)
William Campbell (1745-1781)
Washington Irving (1783-1859)
Hugh Swinton Legaré (1797-1843)]
[Many thanks to Sue Davis, William Myers, Mary Davy and Sally Young for their ongoing research collaboration.]
[Johnston's letter serves two purposes: as a letter of introduction for Preston and as a means of bringing Morton generally up to date with his (Johnston's) news and views.]
[Context: "[I]n May 1817, he [William Campbell Preston] sailed for Europe, by way of New York. with letters of introduction from Jefferson, Madison and the newly-inaugurated President Monroe. He began in Ireland . . ." ~ Patrick Scott, "William Campbell Preston, Student, Statesman, President & Professor being the First Annual Preston Lecture delivered on April 10th, 1996." (Columbia, S.C.: Printed by Request, 1996), page [6]. Link here.]
[Once in Europe, Preston traveled with Washington Irving and Hugh Legaré, among others. The Prestons were among the top socio-economic elite, with the Johnstons being on the second tier.]
[The opening portion of Johnston's letter to Morton places Preston within the context of his family, including the services of William Campbell, Preston's grandfather, and Francis Preston, his father, during the American Revolution. He lauds them all while presenting the bearer of the letter.]
I know he will experience from you that reception which will be most grateful to his feelings, & best calculated to render him happy in a land of strangers . . .
So many years have elapsed since it was my good fortune to spend an hour with you, that I have a thousand times more to say, than I can find room for, in the compass of a letter. What an interesting period has passed since you you left the land of your fathers! What changes have occurred in the political world! What wonderful incidents have arisen in your quarter of the Globe! . . .
But, I have entered an unbounded field -- I will not explore it -- Domestic life, and the themes which it affords, are best suited to my feelings & taste.
I shall never cease to regret, that we did not meet when you were last in Virginia. removed by the back country & the distance of 250 miles from the neighborhood of our former residence, I can hardly hope, that the little tie which I have to pass on this terrestrial scene, will afford me an opportunity of shaking your hand, and of talking over the incidents of our earlier lives: always pleasing to men whose hearts have beaten in unison with each other. What is worse, for me, the future is overshadowed with a gloom, which nothing can dispel.
I live amongst strangers, very few of whom are true Virginians. Here and there, thinly scattered indeed, you will find worth, intelligence, and warmth of heart. But the frankness of manner, the hospitality, & kindness of feeling, which characterise the middle & low country are unknown in the mountains.
I regard it as a most serious misfortune, that the region has been peopled principally by emigrants from Pennsylvania -- cold hearted, and avaricious, they are only intent on the increase of their property, without much concern about the means. They have no souls for social intercourse, no qualities that can engage your esteem.
Yet is there another, and a numerous population, composed of the lowest class, infinitely worse than it has entered into your mind to believe the United States afford. The mere huntsman, or, as he is sometimes called here, the Rowdy," is amongst the most detestable of human beings. Addicted to every species of depravity, there is no crime which he will hesitate to commit, upon very slight inducements of interest, or of passion. To debate on his character, would disgust you. We are not indebted to these to any neighboring state: they are the native growth of our own soil. It is my destiny to be fixed, for life, in a situation where I am surrounded by such . . . Though I am not under the necessity of associating with them, yet I am incessantly liable to be persecuted, and secretly injured, by them.
[End Part 1.]
[Peter Johnston, Jr. (1763-1831)
John Archer Morton, Jr. (1772-1834)
William Campbell Preston (1794-1860)
Francis Smith Preston (1765-1836)
William Campbell (1745-1781)
Washington Irving (1783-1859)
Hugh Swinton Legaré (1797-1843)]
[Many thanks to Sue Davis, William Myers, Mary Davy and Sally Young for their ongoing research collaboration.]
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