Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 4).djvu/87

 was at M'Cullough's confined by indisposition, did me the favour of calling on me, and the attentions of doctor Andrew Richardson, Mr. James Mountain, a learned practitioner at the bar, and Messrs. Anthony Beelen and Nicholas Cunningham respectable merchants, prevented my being able to charge Pittsburgh with an absolute want of hospitality. The two former offered me the use of their judiciously selected libraries, when I should become sufficiently convalescent to go out, and the perusal of any of their books in the interim, and the first supplied {64} me with the Philadelphia and Baltimore newspapers as they arrived by post, twice weekly.

A few evenings after my arrival, the daughters of my host had a numerous party of young people of both sexes to spend the evening and practice vocal musick under the directions of a Mr. Tyler who had taught them. They displayed taste and harmony enough to do honour to their venerable teacher, and I was tempted to join the sounds of my flute to the sweet treble of some of the young ladies. This led to a degree of confidence to me from Mr. Tyler, who on retiring to bed in the same room, imparted to me his little history, which though not replete with incident, was singular and affecting, exhibiting generous benevolent simplicity, a victim to vice and ingratitude. He was an Englishman, and had been one of the choristers of a cathedral in England from whence he had emigrated to America, when a young man. He had exercised his talent in teaching sacred musick, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, until he had acquired a sufficiency to purchase a farm in the neighbourhood of Carlisle, where he and his wife settled. They were childless—an infant foundling which they chanced to see, impressed them with the idea of supplying themselves with what nature had denied them. They took the boy home, adopted him as their son, and spared neither