and rejoicing, such as I thought
should mark the birthday of American Independence, and the expulsion
of the tyrannical English from the land. I had a table set under the
trees, and a dinner spread for thirty-two guests, to which number
the people on the two farms, with children and servants, amounted.
Beer and wine were liberally provided, and fireworks, for due
honoring of the evening; and though I did not take "the head of the
table" (which would have been a usurpation), or make speeches on the
"expulsion of the British," I did my best to give my visitors "a
good time"; but succeeded only in imposing upon them a dinner and
afternoon of uncomfortable constraint, from which the juniors of the
party alone seemed happily free. Neither the wine nor beer were
touched, and I found they were rather objects of moral reprobation
than of material comfort to my Quaker farmer and his family, who
were all absolute temperance people; he, indeed, was sorely
disinclined to join at all in the "festive occasion," objecting to
me repeatedly that it was a "shame and a pity to waste such a fine
day for work in doing nothing"; and so, with rather a doleful
conviction that my hospitality was as little acceptable to my
neighbors as my teaching, I bade my guests farewell, and never
repeated the experiment of a 4th of July Celebration dinner at
Butler Place.

Of all my blunders, however, that which I made with regard to the
dairy was the most ludicrous. Understanding nothing at all of the
entirely independent position of our "farmer"--to whom, in fact, the
dairy was rented, as well as the meadows that pastured the
cattle--and rather dissatisfied at not being able to obtain a daily
fresh supply of butter for our home consumption, I went down to the
farm-house, and had an interview with the dairymaid; to whom I
explained my desire for a small supply of fresh butter daily for our
breakfast table. But words are faint to express her amazement at the
proposition; the butter was churned regularly in large quantities
twice a week, and the necessary provision for our household being
set aside and charged to us, the remainder was sent off to market
with the rest of the farm produce, and there disposed of to the
public in general. Philadelphia butter had then a high reputation
through all the sea-board States, w