You speak with great interest of Virginia――and this is
right――for it is your birth-place. It is natural to love our
native land, and this love, which is called patriotism, is a
virtuous and praiseworthy sentiment. How many beautiful and
glorious actions have sprung from it! What a noble spectacle
does the life of Washington present, who lived for his
country! A true patriot is indeed a great man, and commands
the admiration of the world. You may be proud of a state
that produced Washington, but though I am a Yankee, he was
my countryman, and I am proud of him too.
You ask if I am a whig, or a democrat. If Washington was a
whig, so am I. I do not know that, in all respects, we shall
ever again have so faultless a character to preside over our
nation; but I hope to see the next president, whoever he may
be, willing to walk in his footsteps――willing to imbibe his
spirit――willing to set an example of patriotism to the whole
country and the whole world. If Henry Clay is this kind of
man――and I am told he is――I shall rejoice to see him
president. They say he has a noble, generous, patriotic
heart――and an excellent head too. This union makes a great
man. Without it no man can be truly great.
I have hardly space to talk of politics, for you know it is
a mighty long-winded subject. The best way is for you to
call and see me, when you visit Boston. I live in a brown
house, four miles from the city, and am ever glad to see my
young friends. I always have a plate ready, somewhat in
Virginia fashion, for my juvenile visitors. If my table is
not so bountifully spread as yours, I will try to imitate
that warm-hearted hospitality for which Old Virginia is
famous. When you come, I will tell you whether I am a whig
or a democrat――and one thing you will find out――and that is,
that I like a _clever fellow_, whatever his politics may be.
We will also, when you visit me, talk over the affairs of
Mercury and mythology. If I do not tell you where I got all
my knowledge, I will try to satisfy you that a moderate
stock of learning, well employed, may do a great deal of
good in the world.
I am your sincere friend,
PETER PARLEY.
Our Correspondence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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