About the middle of July 1794 my father left Philadelphia for Northumberland, a town situated at the confluence of the North-East and West branches of the Susquehanna, and about 130 miles North-West of Philadelphia. I, and some other English gentlemen, had projected a settlement of 300,000 acres of land, about fifty miles distant from Northumberland. The subscription was filled chiefly by persons in England. Northumberland being at that time the nearest town to the proposed settlement, my father wished to see the place, and ascertain what conveniencies it would afford should he incline either to fix there permanently, or only until the settlement should be sufficiently advanced for his accommodation; he was induced likewise to retreat, at least for the summer months, into the country, fearing the effects of the hot weather in such a city as Philadelphia. He had not, as has been erroneously reported, the least concern in the projected settlement. He was not consulted in the formation of the plan of it, nor had he come to any determination to join it had it been carried into effect. The scheme of settlement was not confined to any particular class or character of men, religious, or political. It was set on foot to be as it were a rallying point for the English, who were at that time emigrating to America in great numbers, and who it was thought, would be more happy in society of the kind they had been accustomed to, than they would be, dispersed, as they now are, through the whole of the United States. It was farther thought, that by the union of industry and capital, the wilderness would soon become cultivated and equal to any other part of the country in every thing necessary to the enjoyment of life. To promote this as much as possible, the original projectors of that scheme reserved only a few shares for themselves, for which they paid the same as those who had no trouble or expence either in forming the plan, or carrying it into execution. This they did, with a view to take away all source of jealousy, and to increase the facility of settlement, by increasing the proportion of settlers to the quantity of land to be settled. Fortunately for the original proposers, the scheme was abandoned. It might and would have answered in a pecuniary point of view, as the land now sells at double and treble the price then asked for it, without the advantages which that settlement would have given rise to; but the generality of Englishmen come to this country with such erroneous ideas, and, unless previously accustomed to a life of labour, are so ill qualified to commence cultivation in a wilderness, that the projectors would most probably have been subject to still more unfounded abuse than they have been, for their well meant endeavours to promote the interests of their countrymen.