Our Philadelphia . sa place apart in the social life of Philadelphia ofwhich annually it is the supreme moment, and in my recordof my experiences of this life, however imperfect, I cantreat it with no less consideration. It must have a chapterapart. To go to the Assembly was the one thing of all othersI wanted to do, not only on the general principle that thething one wants most is the thing one cannot have, butbecause to go to the Assembly was the thing of all othersI ought to have done. There could be no question of were not really out in Philadelphia if you did notgo; only the Frie
Our Philadelphia . sa place apart in the social life of Philadelphia ofwhich annually it is the supreme moment, and in my recordof my experiences of this life, however imperfect, I cantreat it with no less consideration. It must have a chapterapart. To go to the Assembly was the one thing of all othersI wanted to do, not only on the general principle that thething one wants most is the thing one cannot have, butbecause to go to the Assembly was the thing of all othersI ought to have done. There could be no question of were not really out in Philadelphia if you did notgo; only the Friends could afford not to. And Ameri-cans from other towns felt much the same way aboutit, they felt they were not anybody if they were not in-vited, and they moved heaven and earth for an invitation,and prized it, when received, as highly as a pedigree. Afew honoured guests were always at the Assembly. Philadelphians who are not on the Assembly list maypretend to laugh at it, to despise it, to sneer at the snob- 154. ^f&w^ THE HALL, STENTON THE SOCIAL ADVENTURE: THE ASSEMBLY 157 bishness of people who endeavour to draw a social linein a countiy where everybody is as good as everybody elseand where those on the right side may look down but thoseon the wrong will not be induced to look up. And not oneamong those who laugh and sneer would not jump at thechance to get in, were it given them, at the risk of beingtransformed into snobs themselves. For the Assemblyplaces the Philadelphian as nothing else can. It gives hhnwhat the German gets from his quarterings or the Britonfrom an invitation to Court. The Dancing Class had itshigh social standard, it required grandfathers as cre-dentials before admission could be granted, the archivesof the Historical Society of Pensylvania supplied no moreauthoritative assurance of Philadelphia respectability thanits subscription hst, but the Dancing Class was lax inits standard compared to the Assembly. I am not surewhat was the number, what the qu
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