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diff --git a/12760-0.txt b/12760-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..adfa033 --- /dev/null +++ b/12760-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8633 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12760 *** + +THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. + +A MAGAZINE OF LITERATURE, ART, AND POLITICS. + + +VOL. IX.--MARCH, 1862.--NO. LIII. + + + +THE FRUITS OF FREE LABOR IN THE SMALLER ISLANDS OF THE BRITISH WEST +INDIES. + + +The emancipation of an enslaved race seems, at first thought, a most +uncertain and perilous undertaking. To do away with inherited and +constantly strengthening tendencies toward irresponsibility and +idleness,--to substitute the pleasure of activity or the distant good +from industry for the very palpable influence of compulsion,--to implant +forethought and alertness and ingenuity, where, before, labor was stolid +and sulky and unthinking,--to confer the habit of self-dependence and +the courage for unknown tasks on a people timid, childish, and +dependent,--to teach self-control in place of the custom of control by +masters, or by caprice and passion,--in a word, to make a free man out +of a born slave,--appears at first sight the most difficult task which +any legislator or reformer could ever attempt. + +Leaving out of view all possible moral changes which might be induced by +time and patient labor on such a being, we should say beforehand that at +least economically--that is, regarding the production for the wants of +the world by the freed man--the experiment of emancipation would prove, +in all probability, a failure. We put it to the reader. Suppose that +you, an Anglo-American, not born a slave, had by some misfortune been +captured fifteen years since by an Algerine pirate, and during those +years, under the fear of lash and bayonet, had been vigorously adding to +the commodities of the world in the production of cotton. At length, in +some moment of Algerine sentiment for human rights, you are set free by +the government, and are enabled to possess a little farm of your own in +the African mountains. What would probably be your views as to the +economic duty of adding to that great benefaction to the human race, the +production of cotton? What would be your personal sentiments toward +cotton and all species of labor connected therewith? How, especially, +would you be apt to view the estate where you had spent so many +agreeable years, and the master for whom you had produced so +much without reward? Fancy an effort on his part to _hire_ +you,--possibly even at lower wages than other laborers receive, in view +of your many obligations to him! + +It is barely possible that you might prefer even the small farm,--where +you were producing nothing but "pumpkin" for the world, to increasing +the exports of Algeria on the old property, under the same master and at +half-wages. For some years at least, the world's production would not +probably be greatly assisted by you. A certain degree of idleness would +have a charm for a time, even to an Anglo-American, after such an +experience. + +What shall we say, then, of an inferior race, slave-born, ignorant, and +undisciplined by moral influences, placed suddenly in such new and +strange circumstances? Could we reasonably expect that they would at +once labor under freedom as they did under slavery? Could we demand that +the properties which had been sprinkled with the sweat of their +unrequited toil for so many years, which possibly had witnessed their +sufferings under nameless wrongs, where the tone even of the now +labor-paying landlord must have something of the old ring of the +slave-master,--that these should be cultivated as eagerly as their own +little farms by freed men? Especially could we ask it, if the masters +undertook to exercise their old sway over political economy, and paid +less wages than the market-rate, and even these with irregularity? +Should we be rightfully shocked, if the products of these large estates +even entirely failed through want of labor? What else could we expect? + +Suppose, still further, as years went by, the former masters, all the +wealthy and powerful classes of society, united in discouraging the +improvement and opposing the general education of this, the lowest and +poorest class. What would be the almost certain result? + +If we should hear that such an emancipation was an economic failure, we +should not be in the least surprised. If we were told that the freed men +would not work on the old estates,--that the products were falling +off,--that the emancipated slaves were not willing to work at all,--that +they were idle, and were growing constantly more ignorant and corrupt in +morals, and useless to the world,--we should sigh, but say,--"It is the +natural retribution for injustice. These are the harvests of slavery." + +But if--contrary to our expectation--the results of this emancipation +were entirely different: if the freed man produced more than the +slave,--if he was more industrious, more active, more laborious and +self-dependent,--if he even labored for his former master for hire,--if +the latter confessed that the hire of the free man was cheaper than the +ownership of the slave,--if tables of export and import showed that he +added far more to the wealth of the world than ever before,--if the +increasing price of land proved the efficiency of his industry,--if +independent freeholds were created in large numbers since +emancipation,--if additional churches and schools made evident the +improvement of character and the desire of advancement: we should be +obliged to say that there was but one explanation of this most happy and +unexpected improvement, namely,--that the human soul, by virtue of its +very nature and capacities, is somehow adapted to freedom, so that the +most imbruted and degraded is better and more useful, when he cares and +labors for himself, than when another utterly controls him. + +_That the negro will not work, unless he is forced to_, is the +strong and almost invincible objection in the minds of multitudes of +persons to emancipation. + +What, then, are the facts bearing on this important point? We propose, +under the guidance of candid observers and travellers, such as +Schomburg, Breen, Cochin, Burnley, and, best of all, Sewell, briefly to +examine a field where the experiment has been fairly tried, namely, the +smaller islands of the British West Indies. A full examination of the +larger island, Jamaica,--would of itself demand an entire article, or +even a volume. + +The remark is often repeated by West Indian travellers, that no sweeping +conclusions on economical points can ever be true of the West Indies as +a whole,--that each island is distinct from the others, and to be judged +on principles which apply to itself alone. This important fact must be +borne in mind by the reader, in examining the question of the results of +emancipation in the West Indies. + +In BARBADOES the governing peculiarities are the dense population to the +area, and the great numbers of the laboring class. The number to the +square mile is greater than in China, averaging eight hundred. This fact +alone placed a much greater power in the masters' hands after +emancipation, as the competition of labor must be so much more severe +than with a more sparse population. + +With something of the perversity induced by slavery, the planters +maintained a species of land-tenure among their freed slaves which could +not but have a disastrous effect. + +In the first years succeeding the act of emancipation, the tenant worked +for twenty per cent. below the market-rate of wages, and his service was +considered equivalent to the rent. Now he possesses a house and a +land-allotment on an estate for which he pays a stipulated rent; but, +_as a condition of renting_, he must give a certain number of days' +work at certain wages, generally from one-sixth to one-third lower than +the market-rate. The usual wages are twenty-four cents a day; by this +system of tenancy-at-will, the freed negro in Barbadoes must labor for +twenty cents. + +What would be the natural results of such a system? Can we wonder at +such facts as Mr. Sewell quotes from a Tobago paper, in which the writer +"deplores the perverse selfishness of the laborers," (i.e. in buying +farms of their own,) and complains that "the laborers have large patches +of land under cultivation, and hire help at higher wages than the +estates can afford to pay," and otherwise oppress their former +benefactors? The remedy which the aggrieved correspondent suggests is +the immediate importation of Coolies. + +The truth is, however, that, owing to the crowded population of +Barbadoes, the planters have had everything in their own hands, much +more than in other islands. In Trinidad or British Guiana the negroes +were not obliged by competition to submit to the obnoxious tenure; and +they soon found, where land was so cheap, that a path to independence +lay open before them in working their own little properties. The +planters became more stubborn and more rigid, and the result was in many +cases the absolute abandonment of large estates for want of labor. + +The industry of the Barbadoes population is shown in the fact, that, out +of the 106,000 acres of the island, 100,000 are under cultivation,[A] +while the average price of land rises to the unprecedented height of +five hundred dollars an acre. + + [Footnote A: Schomburg.] + +Notwithstanding the high price of land and the low rate of wages, the +freed slaves have increased the number of small proprietors with less +than five acres from 1100 to 3537[B] during the last fifteen years,--an +increase which alone testifies to the remarkable thrift of the +emancipated negro in Barbadoes. + + [Footnote B: Governor Hincks.] + +Mr. Sewell has talked with all classes and conditions, and "none are +more ready to admit than the planters that the free laborer is a better, +more cheerful, and industrious workman than was ever the slave." + +"The colored mechanics and artisans of Barbadoes," says the same author, +"are equal in general intelligence to the artisans and mechanics of any +part of the world equally remote from the great centres of civilization. +The peasantry will soon equal them, when education is more generally +diffused." + +The surest evidences, however, on this question are those of figures. +Land has doubled in value on the island since emancipation.[C] Of the +increased value of estates, we quote, as an example, the case mentioned +in a published letter of Governor Hincks, January, 1858:-- + + "As to the relative cost of slave and free labor in this colony, + I can supply facts upon which the most implicit reliance can be + placed. They have been furnished to me by the proprietor of an + estate containing three hundred acres of land, and situated at a + distance of about twelve miles from the shipping port. The + estate referred to produced during slavery an annual average of + 140 hogsheads of sugar of the present weight, and required 230 + slaves. It is now worked by 90 free laborers: 60 adults, and 30 + under 16 years of age. Its average product during the last seven + years has been 194 hogsheads. The total cost of labor has been + £770 16s., or £3 19s. 2d. per hogshead of + 1,700 pounds. The average of pounds of sugar to each laborer + during slavery was 1,043 pounds, and during freedom 3,660 + pounds. To estimate the cost of slave-labor, the value of 230 + slaves must be ascertained; and I place them at what would have + been a low average,--£50 sterling each,--which would make the + entire stock amount to £11,500. This, at six per cent. interest, + which on such property is much too low an estimate, would give + £690; cost of clothing, food, and medical attendance I estimate + at £3 10s., making £805. Total cost, £1,495, or £10 + 12s. per hogshead, while the cost of free labor on the + same estate is under £4." + + [Footnote C: B.T. Young's Letter of January 12th, 1858, and + other letters from planters, published in the _National + Era_, August, 1858.] + +In 1853, the French committee charged by the Governor of Martinique to +visit the island reported, that "in an agricultural and manufacturing +point of view the aspect of Barbadoes is dazzling." + +Sugar is the most important export. The following were the amounts +exported before emancipation, according to Schomburg and Sewell:-- + + Average export, 1720-1800, 23,000 hhds. + " " 1800-1830, 20,000 " + Particular export, 1830, 22,769 " + Particular export in + year of emancipation, 1834, 27,318 " + +(The weight of a hogshead of sugar, it should be noted, was only 12 cwt. +between 1826 and 1830; from 1830 to 1850, 14 cwt.; and now it is from 15 +to 17 cwt.) + + Yield in 1852, 48,610 hhds. + " 1853, 38,316 " + " 1854, 44,492 " + " 1855, 39,692 " + " 1856, 43,552 " + " 1857, 38,858 " + " 1858, 50,778 " + + Average export, 1835-50, 26,000 " + " " 1851-58, 43,000 " + +That is, an average more than double the export for ten years preceding +emancipation. + +Besides sugar, other articles are exported now to the value of $100,000. +In addition, there is a large production for home-consumption, of such +articles as sweet potatoes, eddoes, yams, cassava-root, etc. + +If imports are the true expression of a nation's economic +well-being,--as all sound political economists affirm,--then can +Barbadoes show most conclusively how much more profitable to a people is +freedom than chatteldom. + + Average imports, 1822-32, £600,000 + Imports, 1845, 682,358 + " 1856, 840,000 + +The imports from America are increasing in rapid measure. Thus they were +in + + 1854, 36,416 bbls. flour. + " 1,500 " beef. + " 9,438 " pork. + " 49,106 " meal. + + 1858, 79,766 " flour. + " 2,646 " beef. + " 12,196 " pork. + " 67,053 " meal. + +Under slavery, the value of American imports was not more than £60,000 +per annum. Under freedom, it is from £300,000 to £400,000. + +The shipping before emancipation (in 1832) numbered 689 vessels of +79,000 tons. In 1856, 966 vessels of 114,800 tons. + +The population of Barbadoes is supposed to be now about 140,000, of whom +124,000 are blacks. Of these, only 22,000 are believed to be field +laborers, against 81,000, just before emancipation, of men, women, and +children, who labored in the field,--a fact which shows the aversion +slavery had implanted to laboring on the soil, as well as the indiscreet +policy of the planters. Yet, despite this decrease of the most +profitable kind of labor, so great is the advantage of freedom over +slavery, that the island has been enabled to make this prodigious +increase in production and wealth since emancipation,--more than +doubling its export of sugar, increasing its imports by $1,200,000, +quintupling its imports from America, and doubling the value of land. + +The progress in education and morality has not been at all so rapid as +in wealth. The freed slave could not at once escape from the debasing +influences of years of bondage, and the planters have deliberately set +themselves against any system of popular education. Crimes against +property, Sewell says, are rife, especially thieving; petty acts of +anger and cruelty are also common, as well as offences against chastity; +while, on the other hand, crimes of violence are almost unknown. From +the last census it appears that more than half of the children born in +the island are illegitimate. This sad condition of morals Mr. Sewell +attributes principally to the imperfect education of the lowest +classes,--the schools being mostly church-schools, and somewhat +expensive. These schools, however, have increased from 27 in 1834, with +1,574 children, to 70 with 6,180 in 1857, and an infant school with +1,140; the children in Sunday-schools have increased in the same time +from 1,679 to 2,071.[D] + + [Footnote D: _Letter from the Bishop of Barbadoes_, + February 23, 1858. It appears in the same letter that the + church-attendants have increased from 5,000 in 1825 to 28,000 in + 1853.] + +ST. VINCENT is generally considered by the passing traveller as another +example of the axiom that "the freed negro will not work," and of "the +melancholy fruits of emancipation." + +The decline of the wealthier classes began before emancipation, and +continued after it. The planters were deeply in debt, and their estates +heavily mortgaged. Slavery there, as everywhere, wasted the means of the +masters, and exhausted the soil. When the day of freedom came, these +gentlemen, instead of prudently endeavoring to retain the laborers on +their estates, offered them lower wages than were paid on the +neighboring islands. The consequence was, that the negroes preferred to +buy their own little properties or to hire farms in the interior, and +let the great estates find labor as they could. Mr. Sewell states that +he inquired much in regard to the abandoned sugar-estates, and never +found one which was deserted because labor could not be procured at fair +cost; the more general reason of their abandonment was want of capital, +or debt incurred previously to emancipation. That the condition of the +island is not caused by the idleness of the negro is shown by the facts, +that since emancipation houses have been built by freed slaves for +themselves and their families, containing 8,209 persons; that from +10,000 to 12,000 acres have been brought under cultivation by the +proprietors of small properties of from one to five acres; that the +export of arrowroot (which is one of the small articles raised by the +negroes on their own grounds) has risen from 60,000 pounds before +emancipation to 1,352,250 pounds in 1857, valued at $750,000, and the +cocoa-nut export has also increased largely. + +The export of sugar has declined as follows:--Under slavery, (1831-34,) +it was 204,095 cwt.; under apprenticeship, (1835-38,) 194,228; under +free labor, (1839-45,) 127,364 cwt.; in 1846, 129,870 cwt.; in 1847, +175,615 cwt.[E] + + [Footnote E: Cochin's _L'Abolition de l'Esclavage_.] + +The moral condition of the island seems most favorable. In a population +of 30,000, there are _no paupers_, and 8,000 is the average +church-attendance, while the average school-attendance is 2,000. The +criminal records show a remarkable obedience to law; there being only +seven convictions in 1857 for assault, six for felony, and 162 for minor +offences. The proportion under slavery was far greater. + +GRENADA presented clear evidences of decline long before emancipation. +The slave-population decreased as follows:-- + + 1779, 35,000 slaves. + 1827, 24,442 " + 1837, 23,641 " + +this last number being that for which compensation was made. The total +value of all the exports in 1776 was about $3,000,000; in 1823, less +than $2,000,000; in 1831, a little over $1,000,000. + +The sugar export declined from 24,000,000 pounds in 1776 to 19,000,000 +pounds in 1831: or more exactly, under slavery, (1831-34,) it was +193,156 cwt.; during apprenticeship, 161,308 cwt.; under free labor, +(1839-45,) 87,161 cwt.; in 1846, 76,931 cwt.; in 1847, 104,952 cwt.: +showing in the last year a considerable increase. + +The policy of the Grenadian planters in offering low wages--the rate +being from 5s. to 5s. 6d. a week--has driven the negroes to their own +little properties, and has caused a diminution in the production of +sugar on the large organized estates. Yet the production of other +smaller articles has greatly increased, and the general well-being of +the people is much advanced. + +Before 1830 there were no small freeholders; now there are over 2,000. +Nearly 7,000 persons live in villages, built since emancipation, and +4,573 pay direct taxes. + +Last year there were only 60 paupers on the island, and those were aged +and sick persons; only 18 were convicted of felony, 6 of theft, and 2 of +other offences. There is an average church-attendance of 8,000, and a +school-attendance of 1,600. In 1857, out of 80,000 acres, 43,800 were in +a state of cultivation, and 3,800 acres were added to the cultivation of +the previous year. + +The sugar export of 1857 was only half that of 1831, while the aggregate +value of all the exports had risen from £153,175 to £218,352. The +imports had risen in the same time from £77,000 to £109,000.[F] + + [Footnote F: Sewell's _Ordeal of Free Labor_, etc.] + +TOBAGO also showed a gradual decline before emancipation; and since that +event, the production of sugar has fallen off as follows: In 1831-34 it +was 99,579 cwt.; 1835-38, 89,332 cwt.; 1839-1845, 52,962 cwt.; 1846, +38,882 cwt.; 1847, 69,240 cwt. One great cause of this decline is the +drawing off of capital from the old, worn-out lands to the fresh, rich, +and profitable culture of Trinidad, where land is very cheap. Moreover, +the climate of Tobago is not entirely favorable to sugar. + +Yet a great improvement is manifest among the people. Small proprietors +have much increased; even the field-hands now possess houses and lands +of their own. There are 2,500 freeholders, and 2,800 tax-payers. The +average church-attendance is 41 per cent, of the whole population; the +average school-attendance, 1,600. Commerce is rapidly advancing. The +imports have risen from £50,307 in 1854 to £59,994 in 1856; and the +exports from £49,754 to £79,789 in the same time. + +In ST. LUCIA the planters have followed a more wise and liberal policy +towards the emancipated slaves. Better wages have been offered; liberal +inducements have been held out to the negroes to cultivate the estates; +efforts have been put forth to improve the social and moral condition of +the laboring class. Tenancy-at-will is unknown, and the _mélairie_ +system (laboring on shares) has been introduced. In other words, the +rich and educated have manifested some kind of humane interest for the +laborers, and in return the latter have worked well and cheerfully. + +Yet, in St. Lucia, as in so many other West India colonies, the +financial condition of the planters, at the time of emancipation, was +exceedingly embarrassed: their registered debts amounting in 1829, +according to Breen, to £1,189,965. + +The export of sugar is stated in Cochin's carefully prepared tables as +follows: In the period of slavery, (1831-34,) 57,549 cwt.; during the +apprenticeship, (1835-38,) 51,427 cwt.; under free labor, (1839-45,) +57,070 cwt; in 1846, 63,566 cwt.; in 1847, 88,370 cwt. + +The imports have not risen till recently, and indicate a greater +consumption of articles grown on the island. In 1833,[G] they were in +value, £108,076; in 1840, £114,537; in 1843, £70,340; in 1851,[H] +£68,881; in 1857, £90,064. + + [Footnote G: Breen.] + + [Footnote H: Sewell.] + +Of the total value of exports Breen gives tables only to 1843. In that +year, they were £96,290 against £71,580 in 1833. + +Since emancipation, 2,045 of the negroes have become freeholders, and +4,603 pay direct taxes. + +In TRINIDAD, the question of the effects of emancipation has some +peculiar elements. The island is a very large, fertile country, with a +sparse population, where of course land is cheap and labor dear. Out of +its 1,287,000 acres,[I] only some 30,000 are cultivated. Its whole +population is but about 80,000, of whom the colored number near 50,000. +Emancipation would work upon such a country somewhat as it might on +Texas, for instance. There were 11,000 field-hands on the estates when +slavery was abolished. The planters undertook to maintain or introduce +the tenancy-at-will system, and to reduce the wages below the +market-rate. Whenever the negroes retired from the estate-work, they +were summarily ejected from their houses and lands, and their little +gardens were destroyed. The natural effect of such an injudicious policy +was, that the negro preferred squatting on the government lands about +him, or buying a small, cheap plot, or hiring a farm, to remaining under +the planters, and soon some 7,000 laborers had left the estates. + + [Footnote I: Burnley's _Trinidad_.] + +Many associated the idea of servitude with labor in the fields, and, +abandoning agriculture, took to trade in the towns and villages, which +they still pursue. Some 4,000 remained on the estates, and have never +progressed, like their more independent brethren. The criminal records +show a greater proportion of crime among them than among any other +class. Of the others, five-sixths became proprietors of farms from one +to five acres each, and 4,500 hire themselves occasionally to the +estates every year. + +One effect of the unfortunate contentions between capital and labor in +the island has been, that no general system of public instruction was +introduced till recently; education was entirely neglected: though now, +under the new system, the people will receive much more general +instruction, for which purpose $20,000 were appropriated in 1859. + +The public morality under such circumstances is of course of a low +order. Out of 136 children born in Port-of-Spain, 100 were illegitimate. +The convictions in the island for felony were 63; for misdemeanor, 865; +for debt, 230. + +The records of material progress show a much better result. The sugar +cultivation in the last twenty years has nearly doubled, and the land in +cane has risen from 15,000 to 29,000 acres. The production of cocoa has +increased, though in a less proportion; while the production and +consumption of home necessaries and luxuries have immensely advanced. +Great practical improvements are being made everywhere, such as the +substitution of steam-power for cattle and water-power. The export of +sugar,[J] especially since the introduction of Coolie labor, has +advanced rapidly. Before emancipation the highest export was 30,000 +hhds., equal to 24,000 hhds. at present weight. Late export,-- + + 1854, 27,987 hhds. 1857, 35,523 hhds. + 1855, 31,693 " 1858, 37,000 " + 1856, 34,411 " 1859, 40,000 " + + [Footnote J: Cochin's tables give the sugar export of Trinidad + as follows: Under slavery, (1831-34,) 316,338 cwt.; during + apprenticeship, (1835-38,) 295,787 cwt.; under free labor, + (1839-45,) 292,023 cwt.; in 1846, 353,293 cwt.; in 1847, 393,537 + cwt.] + +The molasses trade shows a similar increase. Cocoa, which is entirely a +product of negro labor, has advanced from 3,200,000 lbs. before +emancipation to 5,200,000 lbs. in 1859. + +_Leeward Islands._ ANTIGUA was almost the first of the British West +Indies to emancipate her slaves, and this she had the wisdom to do +summarily and at once, without probation or apprenticeship. The +consequences have been most happy. She has escaped the vexations and +heart-burnings of the other colonies, and has established a better +relation between employers and employed. With a small area, a soil not +very rich, and a climate not especially adapted to sugar-growing, she +has notwithstanding taken a prominent position among the West India +islands. The prosperity of the island under free labor has been most +encouraging. Of the 70,000 acres, 38,000 are owned by large proprietors, +whose estates average 320 acres each. Its only export, with the +exception of a little arrow-root, is sugar; of this, the largest crop on +record (20,000 hogsheads) has been obtained since the slaves were +emancipated. Ten years before emancipation, the average annual export, +as given by Sewell, was 12,500 hogsheads, obtained by a field-force of +18,320 hands, of whom one-third were non-effective. From 1840 to 1850, +the average was 13,000; from 1850 to 1860, 13,500, of superior weight, +with a field-force of 6,000. + +The export of sugar, according to Cochin, has been as follows: 1831-34, +180,802 cwt.; 1835-38, 143,878 cwt.; 1839-45, 189,406 cwt.; 1846, +102,644 cwt.; 1847, 200,201 cwt. + +Besides this crop, the small proprietors raise arrow-root and +provisions. + +The imports show the advancing prosperity of the island. From 1822 to +1832, they amounted to £130,000, of which £40,000 were from the United +States; in 1856, under free labor, they reached £266,369, of which +£106,586 were from the United States,--the American imports being mostly +articles of food. This remarkable increase of importations, it should be +observed, is not due to an increase of population, as the population of +Antigua is less now than it was twenty years since. + +In commerce, it appears that ten years before emancipation, 340 vessels +of 30,000 tons entered the ports of the island every year; in 1858, +there were 688 of 42,534 tons. + +Labor costs less in Antigua than in the other islands, wages being 20 +cts. a day; while in Barbadoes they are 24 cts., and in Trinidad 30 cts. +The production of sugar is more profitable, as respects the labor, than +in the slave-islands,--costing but 1-1/5 cts. per lb. + +Though the average price of land is fifty dollars an acre, the freed +negroes seldom squat on the public lands, but buy little farms of their +own. In 1858, the emancipated slaves had built, since 1834, 5187 houses, +in which 15,644 people resided. There were that year only 299 paupers in +the whole island. Education and morality had advanced. Owing to the wise +liberality of the planters, nearly _one-third_ of the whole revenue +of the island (£10,000) was appropriated to educational, charitable, and +religious purposes. The great proportion of the youth attend school. At +the time of emancipation, the whole number of scholars in all the +schools was 1886; in 1858, there were 52 schools with 4467 scholars, and +37 Sunday-schools with 6418. The number of illegitimate births was only +53 per cent., which is a much more favorable proportion than exists in +the other islands. + +The planters all agree that emancipation has been an entire success. The +only drawback is a somewhat singular one, and illustrates the dependent +habits which slavery generates. Under their masters, the slaves were +always provided with sufficient medical attendance; but when free, they +had not the means or were not prudent enough to secure this, and the +consequence has been a great mortality of children, so that the births +now scarcely exceed the deaths. + +An intelligent English traveller, writing on "Antigua and the Antiguans" +in 1844, says in regard to the question, whether the freed negro will +work, that he has often observed, when a piece of land was to be +_holed_ for sugar-cane by task-work, the negroes rising by one or +two o'clock in the morning during moonlight, going to the field and +accomplishing a usual day's work (300 cane-holes) by five or six o'clock +in the forenoon; then, after resting a short time, they were prepared +for another task, which they completed; and still had some hours left +for their own provision-grounds. When the heat is considered, and the +labor of digging one cane-hole, (a trench three or four feet square and +one foot deep,) we may imagine what the work of opening 600 in a day +must be. The same author states that plantations which could not find a +purchaser before emancipation are now worth £10,000. Another writer, +quoted by Cochin, says in 1845, with reference to the efficiency of +labor of the Antiguan negroes, and their employment of machinery, "The +colony has made this year, with a field-force of less than 10,000, a +harvest almost equal to that which has employed 30,000 laborers in +Barbadoes." + +Of the other Leeward Islands, Sewell says, (p. 164,) "The condition of +the free peasant rises infinitely above that of the slave. In all, the +people are more happy and contented; in all, they are more civilized; in +all, there are more provisions grown for home-consumption than ever were +raised in the most flourishing days of slavery; in all, the imports have +largely increased; in all, a very important trade has sprung up with the +United States; from all, there is an exportation of minor articles which +were not cultivated twenty years ago, and which, in estimating the +industry of a people under a free system, are often most unjustly +overlooked. These are considerations from which the planter turns with +contemptuous indifference. Sugar, and sugar alone, is his dream, his +argument, his faith." Yet the following table of exports of sugar shows +that even in that free labor has been successful. + + _Comparative Table of Sugar Exportations in Pounds from the + Leeward Islands._[K] + + Islands. Annual average from Exports in + 1820 to 1832. 1858. + Antigua, 20,580,000 lbs. 26,174,000 lbs. + Dominica, 6,000,000 6,263,000 + Nevis, 5,000,000 4,400,000 + Montserrat, 1,840,000 1,308,000 + St. Kitt's, 12,000,000 10,000,000 + ---------- ---------- + Total, 45,420,000 lbs. 48,145,000 lbs. + + + _Table of Imports in Value._ + + Islands. Annual average value Value of imports + from 1820 to 1832. in 1858. + Antigua, £130,000 £266,364 + Dominica, 62,000 84,906 + Nevis, 28,000 36,721 + Montserrat, 18,000 17,844 + St. Kitt's, 60,000 109,000 + -------- -------- + Total, £298,000 £514,835 + + Excess of sugar exportations under free labor, 2,725,000 lbs. + Excess of imports with free labor, £216,835 + + [Footnote K: Sewell's _Ordeal of Free Labor_, etc.] + +Of GUIANA, a resident writes,--"The portion of the native population +which in other countries constitutes the working class is estimated here +at 70,000 souls. They present the singular spectacle, which we can +contemplate in no other part of the world, of a people hardly escaped +from slavery, enjoying already properties in land and houses for which +they have paid nearly £100,000." + +In a single county, (Berbice,) says Cochin, there had been built in +1843, since emancipation, 1184 houses, and 7,000 additional acres had +been put under cultivation. In the whole colony there were 15,906 landed +proprietors among the negroes who had become such since 1834. The +imports, according to Lord Stanley, during the last six years of +slavery, were about $13,915,000; during apprenticeship, about +$17,890,000; in the first year of liberty, over $20,000,000; in the +second year, about $17,463,670. + + * * * * * + +We have given, perhaps, a rather dry account of the effects of +emancipation on a portion of the British West Indies. But it should be +remembered that this question, as it now stands before the world, is +mainly a question of figures. The great and damning argument against +emancipation is the supposed experience of the West Indies, _that the +negro will not work except under slavery_. The evidences of labor are +in part given by figures: the number of freeholds, the price of land, +the amount of the productions, the quantity consumed, and the quantity +exported. The amount of imports, too, shows the desire and the means of +the people to procure foreign commodities. By these plain and +irrefutable evidences, we have proved that free labor in the Windward +Islands, Trinidad, the Leeward Islands, and Guiana has "paid" much +better than slave labor. + +As Mr. Sewell has summed it up with reference to four colonies,--British +Guiana, Barbadoes, Trinidad, and Antigua,--the total annual export of +sugar before emancipation was 187,300,000 pounds, while now it is +265,000,000 pounds; showing an advantage under free labor of +_seventy-seven million, seven hundred thousand pounds_! The total +imports of the same colonies amounted before emancipation to $8,840,000; +they are now $14,600,000; showing an excess of imports under free labor, +as compared with slave labor, of the value of _five million, seven +hundred and sixty thousand dollars_! + +It is a remarkable experience of the West Indies, to be seriously +considered in the settlement of our American problem, that the islands +which abolished slavery the most summarily and entirely succeeded the +best after emancipation. Half-freedom, both there, and in Russia during +the last year, has proved a source of jealousy to the freedman and of +annoyance to the master, and ultimately, in the West Indies, interfered +with production, and the permanent welfare of the islands. + +It is true, that the moral curse of slavery upon the habits of the +people is not so easily removed, and that we do not behold as favorable +a moral and educational condition of the West India Islands as could be +desired. But it should be remembered how large a share of the blame for +this falls now upon the wealthier classes, who are opposed or +indifferent to the education of the lower. Even these evils are being +gradually removed, and emancipation is establishing itself, not merely +as a grand act of justice, wisely done, but as a successful moral and +economical reform, whose fruits are to be seen in the good morals, +industry, and increasing wealth of many happy communities. + + * * * * * + + + + +A STORY OF TO-DAY. + +PART VI. + + +It was later than Holmes thought: a gray, cold evening. The streets in +that suburb were lonely: he went down them, the new-fallen snow dulling +his step. It had covered the peaked roofs of the houses too, and they +stood in listening rows, white and still. Here and there a pale flicker +from the gas-lamps struggled with the ashy twilight. He met no one: +people had gone home early on Christmas eve. He had no home to go to: +pah! there were plenty of hotels, he remembered, smiling grimly. It was +bitter cold: he buttoned up his coat tightly, as he walked slowly along +as if waiting for some one,--wondering dully if the gray air were any +colder or stiller than the heart hardly beating under the coat. Well, +men had conquered Fate, conquered life and love, before now. It grew +darker: he was pacing now slowly in the shadow of a long low wall +surrounding the grounds of some building. When he came near the gate, he +would stop and listen: he could have heard a sparrow on the snow, it was +so still. After a while he did hear footsteps, crunching the snow +heavily; the gate clicked as they came out: it was Knowles, and the +clergyman whom Dr. Cox did not like; Vandyke was his name. + +"Don't bolt the gate," said Knowles; "Miss Howth will be out presently." + +They sat down on a pile of lumber near by, waiting, apparently. Holmes +went up and joined them, standing in the shadow of the lumber, talking +to Vandyke. He did not meet him, perhaps, once in six months; but he +believed in the man, thoroughly. + +"I've just helped Knowles build a Christmas-tree in yonder,--the House +of Refuge, you know. He could not tell an oak from an arbor-vitæ, I +believe." + +Knowles was in no mood for quizzing. + +"There are other things I don't know," he said, gloomily, recurring to +some subject Holmes had interrupted. "The House is going to the Devil, +Charley, headlong." + +"There's no use in saying no," said the other; "you'll call me a lying +diviner." + +Knowles did not listen. + +"Seems as if I was to go groping and stumbling through the world like +some forsaken Cyclops with his eye out, dragging down whatever I +touched. If there was anything to hold by, anything certain!" + +Vandyke looked at him gravely, but did not answer; rose, and walked +indolently up and down to keep himself warm. A lithe, slow figure, a +clear face with delicate lips, and careless eyes that saw everything: +the face of a man quick to learn and slow to teach. + +"There she comes!" said Knowles, as the lock of the gate rasped. + +Holmes had heard the slow step in the snow long before. A small woman +came out and went down the silent street into the road beyond. Holmes +kept his back turned to her, lighting his cigar; the other men watched +her eagerly. + +"What do you think, Vandyke?" demanded Knowles. "How will she do?" + +"Do for what?"--resuming his lazy walk. "You talk as if she were a +machine. It is the way with modern reformers. Men are so many ploughs +and harrows to work on 'the classes.' Do for what?" + +Knowles flushed hotly. + +"The work the Lord has left for her to do. Do you mean to say there is +none to do,--you, pledged to missionary labor?" + +The young man's face colored. + +"I know this street needs paving terribly, Knowles; but I don't see a +boulder in your hands. Yet the great Taskmaster does not despise the +pavers. He did not give you the spirit and understanding for paving, eh, +is that it? How do you know He gave this Margaret Howth the spirit and +understanding of a reformer? There may be higher work for her to do." + +"Higher!" The old man stood aghast. "I know your creed, then,--that the +true work for a man or a woman is that which develops their highest +nature?" + +Vandyke laughed. + +"You have a creed-mania, Knowles. You have a confession of faith +ready-made for everybody, but yourself. I only meant for you to take +care what you do. That woman looks as the Prodigal Son might have done +when he began to be in want, and would fain have fed himself with the +husks that the swine did eat." + +Knowles got up moodily. + +"Whose work is it, then?" he muttered, following the men down the +street; for they walked on. "The world has waited six thousand years for +help. It comes slowly,--slowly, Vandyke; even through your religion." + +The young man did not answer: looked up, with quiet, rapt eyes, through +the silent city, and the clear gray beyond. They passed a little church +lighted up for evening service: as if to give a meaning to the old man's +words, they were chanting the one anthem of the world, the _Gloria in +Excelsis_. Hearing the deep organ-roll, the men stopped outside to +listen: it heaved and sobbed through the night, as if bearing up to God +the pain and wrong of countless aching hearts, then was silent, and a +single voice swept over the moors in a long, lamentable cry:--"Thou that +takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us!" + +The men stood silent, until the hush was broken by a low murmur:--"For +Thou only art holy." Holmes had taken off his hat, unconscious that he +did it; he put it on slowly, and walked on. What was it that Knowles +had said to him once about mean and selfish taints on his divine soul? +"For Thou only art holy": if there were truth in that! + +"How quiet it is!" he said, as they stopped to leave him. It was,--a +breathless quiet; the great streets of the town behind them were +shrouded in snow; the hills, the moors, the prairie swept off into the +skyless dark, a gray and motionless sea lit by a low watery moon. "The +very earth listens," he said. + +"Listens for what?" said the literal old Doctor. + +"I think it listens always," said Vandyke, his eye on fire. "For its +King--that shall be. Not as He came before. It has not long to wait now: +the New Year is not far off." + +"I've no faith in folding your hands, waiting for it; nor have you +either, Charley," growled Knowles. "There's an infernal lot of work to +be done before it comes, I fancy. Here, let me light my cigar." + +Holmes bade them good-night, laughing, and struck into the by-road +through the hills. He shook hands with Vandyke before he went,--a thing +he scarce ever did with anybody. Knowles noticed it, and, after he was +out of hearing, mumbled out some sarcasm at "a minister of the gospel +consorting with a cold, silent scoundrel like that!" Vandyke listened to +his scolding in his usual lazy way, and they went back into town. + +The road Holmes took was rutted deep with wagon-wheels, not easily +travelled; he walked slowly therefore, being weak, stopping now and then +to gather strength. He had not counted the hours until this day, to be +balked now by a little loss of blood. The moon was nearly down before he +reached the Cloughton hills: he turned there into a narrow path which he +remembered well. Now and then he saw the mark of a little shoe in the +snow,--looking down at it with a hot panting in his veins and a strange +flash in his eye, as he walked on steadily. + +There was a turn in the path at the top of the hill, a sunken wall, with +a broad stone from which the wind had blown the snow. This was the +place. He sat down on the stone, resting. Just there she had stood, +clutching her little fingers behind her, when he came up and threw back +her hood to look in her face: how pale and worn it was, even then! He +had not looked at her to-night: he would not, if he had been dying, with +those men standing there. He stood alone in the world with this little +Margaret. How those men had carped, and criticized her, chattered of the +duties of her soul! Why, it was his, it was his own, softer and fresher. +There was not a glance with which they followed the weak little body in +its poor dress that he had not seen, and savagely resented. They +measured her strength? counted how long the bones and blood would last +in their House of Refuge? There was not a morsel of her flesh that was +not pure and holy in his eyes. His Margaret? He chafed with an +intolerable fever to make her his, but for one instant, as she had been +once. Now, when it was too late. For he went back over every word he had +spoken that night, forcing himself to go through with it,--every cold, +poisoned word. It was a fitting penance. "There is no such thing as love +in real life": he had told her that! How he had stood, with all the +power of his "divine soul" in his will, and told her,--he,--a man,--that +he put away her love from him then, forever! He spared himself +nothing,--slurred over nothing; spurned himself, as it were, for the +meanness, the niggardly selfishness in which he had wallowed that night. +How firm he had been! how kind! how masterful!--pluming himself on his +man's strength, while he held her in his power as one might hold an +insect, played with her shrinking woman's nature, and trampled it under +his feet, coldly and quietly! She was in his way, and he had put her +aside. How the fine subtile spirit had risen up out of its agony of +shame, and scorned him! How it had flashed from the puny frame standing +there in the muddy road despised and jeered at, and calmly judged him! +He might go from her as he would, toss her off like a worn-out +plaything, but he could not blind her: let him put on what face he would +to the world, whether they called him a master among men, or a miser, +or, as Knowles did to-night after he turned away, a scoundrel, this girl +laid her little hand on his soul with an utter recognition: she alone. +"She knew him for a better man than he knew himself that night": he +remembered the words. + +The night was growing murky and bitingly cold: there was no prospect on +the snow-covered hills, or the rough road at his feet with its pools of +ice-water, to bring content into his face, or the dewy light into his +eyes; but they came there, slowly, while he sat thinking. Some old +thought was stealing into his brain, perhaps, fresh and warm, like a +soft spring air,--some hope of the future, in which this child-woman +came close to him and near. It was an idle dream, only would taunt him +when it was over, but he opened his arms to it: it was an old friend; it +had made him once a purer and better man than he could ever be again. A +warm, happy dream, whatever it may have been: the rugged, sinister face +grew calm and sad, as the faces of the dead change when loving tears +fall on them. + +He sighed wearily: the homely little hope was fanning into life stagnant +depths of desire and purpose, stirring his resolute ambition. Too late? +Was it too late? Living or dead she was his, though he should never see +her face, by some subtile power that had made them one, he knew not when +nor how. He did not reason now,--abandoned himself, as morbid men only +do, to this delirious hope, simple and bonny, of a home, and cheerful +warmth, and this woman's love fresh and eternal: a pleasant dream at +first, to be put away at pleasure. But it grew bolder, touched +under-deeps in his nature of longing and intense passion; all that he +knew or felt of power or will, of craving effort, of success in the +world, drifted into this dream and became one with it. He stood up, his +vigorous frame starting into a nobler manhood, with the consciousness of +right,--with a willed assurance, that, the first victory gained, the +others should follow. + +It was late; he must go on; he had not meant to sit idling by the +road-side. He went through the fields, his heavy step crushing the snow, +a dry heat in his blood, his eye intent, still, until he came within +sight of the farm-house; then he went on, cool and grave, in his +ordinary port. + +The house was quite dark; only a light in one of the lower windows,--the +library, he thought. The broad field he was crossing sloped down to the +house, so that, as he came nearer, he saw the little room quite plainly +in the red glow of the fire within, the curtains being undrawn. He had a +keen eye; did not fail to see the marks of poverty about the place, the +gateless fences, even the bare room with its worn and patched carpet: +noted it all with a triumphant gleam of satisfaction. There was a black +shadow passing and repassing the windows: he waited a moment looking at +it, then came more slowly towards them, intenser heats smouldering in +his face. He would not surprise her; she should be as ready as he was +for the meeting. If she ever put her pure hand in his again, it should +be freely done, and of her own good-will. + +She saw him as he came up on the porch, and stopped, looking out, as if +bewildered,--then resumed her walk, mechanically. What it cost her to +see him again he could not tell: her face did not alter. It was lifeless +and schooled, the eyes looking straight forward always, indifferently. +Was this his work? If he had killed her outright, it would have been +better than this. + +The windows were low: it had been his old habit to go in through them, +and he now went up to one unconsciously. As he opened it, he saw her +turn away for an instant; then she waited for him, entirely tranquil, +the clear fire shedding a still glow over the room, no cry or shiver of +pain to show how his coming broke open the old wound. She smiled even, +when he leaned against the window looking, with a careless welcome. + +Holmes stopped, confounded. It did not suit him,--this. If you know a +man's nature, you comprehend why. The bitterest reproach or a proud +contempt would have been less galling than this gentle indifference. His +hold had slipped from off the woman, he believed. A moment before he had +remembered how he had held her in his arms, touched her cold lips, and +then flung her off,--he had remembered it, his every nerve shrinking +with remorse and unutterable tenderness: now--! The utter quiet of her +face told more than words could do. She did not love him; he was nothing +to her. Then love was a lie. A moment before he could have humbled +himself in her eyes as low as he lay in his own, and accepted her pardon +as a necessity of her enduring, faithful nature: now the whole strength +of the man sprang into rage and mad desire of conquest. + +He came gravely across the room, holding out his hand with his old quiet +control. She might be cold and grave as he, but underneath he knew there +was a thwarted hungry spirit,--a strong fine spirit as dainty Ariel. He +would sting it to life, and tame it: it was his. + +"I thought you would come, Stephen," she said, simply, motioning him to +a chair. + +Could this automaton be Margaret? He leaned on the mantel-shelf, looking +down with a cynical sneer. + +"Is that the welcome? Why, there are a thousand greetings for this time +of love and good words you might have chosen. Besides, I have come back +ill and poor,--a beggar perhaps. How do women receive such,--generous +women? Is there no formula? no hand-shaking? nothing more? remembering +that I was once--not indifferent to you." + +He laughed. She stood still and grave as before. + +"Why, Margaret, I have been down near death since that night." + +He thought her lips grew gray, but she looked up clear and steady. + +"I am glad you did not die. Yes, I can say that. As for hand-shaking, my +ideas may be peculiar as your own." + +"She measures her words," he said, as to himself; "her very eye-light is +ruled by decorum; she is a machine, for work. She has swept her child's +heart clean of anger and revenge, even scorn for the wretch that sold +himself for money. There was nothing else to sweep out, was +there?"--bitterly,--"no friendships, such as weak women nurse and coddle +into being,--or love, that they live in, and die for sometimes, in a +silly way?" + +"Unmanly!" + +"No, not unmanly. Margaret, let us be serious and calm. It is no time to +trifle or wear masks. That has passed between us which leaves no room +for sham courtesies." + +"There needs none,"--meeting his eye unflinchingly. "I am ready to meet +you and hear your farewell. Dr. Knowles told me your marriage was near +at hand. I knew you would come, Stephen. You did before." + +He winced,--the more that her voice was so clear of pain. + +"Why should I come? To show you what sort of a heart I have sold for +money? Why, you know, little Margaret. You can reckon up its deformity, +its worthlessness, on your cool fingers. You could tell the serene and +gracious lady who is chaffering for it what a bargain she has +made,--that there is not in it one spark of manly honor or true love. +Don't venture too near it in your coldness and prudence. It has tiger +passions I will not answer for. Give me your hand, and feel how it pants +like a hungry fiend. It will have food, Margaret." + +She drew away the hand he grasped, and stood back in the shadow. + +"What is it to me?"--in the same measured voice. + +Holmes wiped the cold drops from his forehead, a sort of shudder in his +powerful frame. He stood a moment looking into the fire, his head +dropped on his arm. + +"Let it be so," he said at last, quietly. "The worn old heart can gnaw +on itself a little longer. I have no mind to whimper over pain." + +Something that she saw on the dark sardonic face, as the red gleams +lighted it, made her start convulsively, as if she would go to him; then +controlling herself, she stood silent. He had not seen the +movement,--or, if he saw, did not heed it. He did not care to tame her +now. The firelight flashed and darkened, the crackling wood breaking the +dead silence of the room. + +"It does not matter," he said, raising his head, laying his arm over his +strong chest unconsciously, as if to shut in all complaint. "I had an +idle fancy that it would be good on this Christmas night to bare the +secrets of crime and selfishness hidden in here to you,--to suffer your +pure eyes to probe the sorest depths: I thought perhaps they would have +a blessing power. It was an idle fancy. What is my want or crime to +you?" + +The answer came slowly, but it did come. + +"Nothing to me." + +She tried to meet the gaunt face looking down on her with a proud +sadness,--did meet it at last with her meek eyes. + +"No, nothing to you. There is no need that I should stay longer, is +there? You made ready to meet me, and have gone through your part well." + +"It is no part. I speak God's truth to you as I can." + +"I know. There is nothing more for us to say to each other In this +world, then, except good-night. Words--polite words--are bitterer than +death, sometimes. If ever we happen to meet, that courteous smile on +your face will be enough to speak--God's truth for you. Shall we say +good-night now?" + +"If you will." + +She drew farther into the shadow, leaning on a chair. + +He stopped, some sudden thought striking him. + +"I have a whim," he said, dreamily, "that I would like to satisfy. It +would be a trifle to you: will you grant it?--for the sake of some old +happy day, long ago?" + +She put her hand up to her throat; then it fell again. + +"Anything you wish, Stephen," she said, gravely. + +"Yes. Come nearer, then, and let me see what I have lost. A heart so +cold and strong as yours need not fear inspection. I have a fancy to +look into it, for the last time." + +She stood motionless and silent. + +"Come,"--softly,--"there is no hurt in your heart that fears detection?" + +She came out into the full light, and stood before him, pushing back the +hair from her forehead, that he might see every wrinkle, and the faded, +lifeless eyes. It was a true woman's motion, remembering even then to +scorn deception. The light glowed brightly in her face, as the slow +minutes ebbed without a sound: she only saw his face in shadow, with the +fitful gleam of intolerable meaning in his eyes. Her own quailed and +fell. + +"Does it hurt you that I should even look at you?" he said, drawing +back. "Why, even the sainted dead suffer us to come near them after they +have died to us,--to touch their hands, to kiss their lips, to find what +look they left in their faces for us. Be patient, for the sake of the +old time. My whim is not satisfied yet." + +"I am patient." + +"Tell me something of yourself, to take with me when I go, for the last +time. Shall I think of you as happy in these days?" + +"I am contented,"--the words oozing from her white lips in the +bitterness of truth. "I asked God, that night, to show me my work; and I +think He has shown it to me. I do not complain. It is a great work." + +"Is that all?" he demanded, fiercely. + +"No, not all. It pleases me to feel I have a warm home, and to help keep +it cheerful. When my father kisses me at night, or my mother says, 'God +bless you, child,' I know that is enough, that I ought to be happy." + +The old clock in the corner hummed and ticked through the deep silence +like the humble voice of the home she toiled to keep warm, thanking her, +comforting her. + +"Once more," as the light grew stronger on her face,--"will you look +down into your heart that you have given to this great work, and tell me +what you see there? Dare you do it, Margaret?" + +"I dare do it,"--but her whisper was husky. + +"Go on." + +He watched her more as a judge would a criminal, as she sat before him: +she struggled weakly under the power of his eye, not meeting it. He +waited relentless, seeing her face slowly whiten, her limbs shiver, her +bosom heave. + +"Let me speak for you," he said at last. "I know who once filled your +heart to the exclusion of all others: it is no time for mock shame. I +know it was my hand that held the very secret of your being. Whatever I +may have been, you loved me, Margaret. Will you say that now?" + +"I loved you,--once." + +Whether it were truth that nerved her, or self-delusion, she was strong +now to utter it all. + +"You love me no longer, then?" + +"I love you no longer." + +She did not look at him; she was conscious only of the hot fire wearing +her eyes, and the vexing click of the clock. After a while he bent over +her silently,--a manly, tender presence. + +"When love goes once," he said, "it never returns. Did you say it was +gone, Margaret?" + +One effort more, and Duty would be satisfied. + +"It is gone." + +In the slow darkness that came to her she covered her face, knowing and +hearing nothing. When she looked up, Holmes was standing by the window, +with his face toward the gray fields. It was a long time before he +turned and came to her. + +"You have spoken honestly: it is an old fashion of yours. You believed +what you said. Let me also tell you what you call God's truth, for a +moment, Margaret. It will not do you harm."--He spoke gravely, +solemnly.--"When you loved me long ago, selfish, erring as I was, you +fulfilled the law of your nature; when you put that love out of your +heart, you make your duty a tawdry sham, and your life a lie. Listen to +me. I am calm." + +Was he calm? It was calmness that made her tremble as she had not done +before. + +"You have deceived yourself: when you try to fill your heart with this +work, you serve neither your God nor your fellow-man. You tell me," +stooping close to her, "that I am nothing to you: you believe it, poor +child! There is not a line on your face that does not prove it false. I +have keen eyes, Margaret !"--He laughed,--a savage, despairing +laugh.--"You have wrung this love out of your heart? If it was easy to +do, did it need to wring with it every sparkle of pleasure and grace out +of your life? Your very hair is gathered out of your sight: you feared +to remember how my hand had touched it? Your dress is stingy and hard; +your step, your eyes, your mouth under rule. So hard it was to force +yourself into an old worn-out woman! Oh, Margaret! Margaret!" + +She moaned under her breath. + +"I notice trifles, child! Yonder, in that corner, used to stand the desk +where I helped you with your Latin. How you hated it! Do you remember?" + +"I remember." + +"It always stood there: it is gone now. Outside of the gate there was +that elm I planted, and you promised to water while I was gone. It is +cut down now by the roots." + +"I had it done, Stephen." + +"I know. Do you know why? Because you love me: because you do not dare +to think of me, you dare not trust yourself to look at the tree that I +had planted." + +She started up with a cry, and stood there in the old way, her fingers +catching at each other. + +"It is cruel,--let me go!" + +"It is not cruel."--He came up closer to her.--"You think you do not +love me, and see what I have made you! Look at the torpor of this +face,--the dead, frozen eyes! It is a 'nightmare, death in life,' Good +God, to think that I have done this! To think of the countless days of +agony, the nights, the years of solitude that have brought her to +this,--little Margaret!" + +He paced the floor, slowly. She sat down on a low stool, leaning her +head on her hands. The little figure, the bent head, the quivering chin +brought up her childhood to him. She used to sit so when he had +tormented her, waiting to be coaxed back to love and smiles again. The +hard man's eyes filled with tears, as he thought of it. He watched the +deep, tearless sobs that shook her breast: he had wounded her to +death,--his bonny Margaret! She was like a dead thing now: what need to +torture her longer? Let him be manly and go out to his solitary life, +taking the remembrance of what he had done with him for company. He rose +uncertainly,--then came to her: was that the way to leave her? + +"I am going, Margaret," he whispered, "but let me tell you a story +before I go,--a Christmas story, say. It will not touch you,--it is too +late to hope for that,--but it is right that you should hear it." + +She looked up wearily. + +"As you will, Stephen." + +Whatever impulse drove the man to speak words that he knew were useless +made him stand back from her, as though she were something he was unfit +to touch: the words dragged from him slowly. + +"I had a curious dream to-night, Margaret,--a waking dream: only a +clear vision of what had been once. Do you remember--the old time?" + +What disconnected rambling was this? Yet the girl understood it, looked +into the low fire with sad, listening eyes. + +"Long ago. That was a free, strong life that opened before us then, +little one,--before you and me? Do you remember the Christmas before I +went away? I had a strong arm and a hungry brain to go out into the +world with, then. Something better, too, I had. A purer self than was +born with me came late in life, and nestled in my heart. Margaret, there +was no fresh loving thought in my brain for God or man that did not grow +from my love of you; there was nothing noble or kindly in my nature that +did not flow into that love and deepen there. I was your master, too. I +held my own soul by no diviner right than I held your love and owed you +mine. I understand it, now, when it is too late."--He wiped the cold +drops from his face.--"Now do you know whether it is remorse I feel, +when I think how I put this purer self away,--how I went out triumphant +in my inhuman, greedy soul,--how I resolved to know, to be, to trample +under foot all weak love or homely pleasures? I have been punished. Let +those years go. I think, sometimes, I came near to the nature of the +damned who dare not love: I would not. It was then I hurt you, +Margaret,--to the death: your true life lay in me, as mine in you." + +He had gone on drearily, as though holding colloquy with himself, as +though great years of meaning surged up and filled the broken words. It +may have been thus with the girl, for her face deepened as she listened. +For the first time for many long days tears welled up into her eyes, and +rolled between her fingers unheeded. + +"I came through the streets to-night baffled in life,--a mean man that +might have been noble,--all the years wasted that had gone +before,--disappointed,--with nothing to hope for but time to work +humbly and atone for the wrongs I had done. When I lay yonder, my soul +on the coast of eternity, I resolved to atone for every selfish deed. I +had no thought of happiness; God knows I had no hope of it. I had +wronged you most: I could not die with that wrong unforgiven." + +"Unforgiven, Stephen?" she sobbed; "I forgave it long ago." + +He looked at her a moment, then by some master effort choked down the +word he would have spoken, and went on with his bitter confession. + +"I came through the crowded town, a homeless, solitary man, on the +Christmas eve when love comes to every man. If ever I had grown sick for +a word or touch from the one soul to whom alone mine was open, I +thirsted for it then. The better part of my nature was crushed out, and +flung away with you, Margaret. I cried for it,--I wanted help to be a +better, purer man. I need it now. And so," he said, with a smile that +hurt her more than tears, "I came to my good angel, to tell her I had +sinned and repented, that I had made humble plans for the future, and +ask her--God knows what I would have asked her then! She had forgotten +me,--she had another work to do!" + +She wrung her hands with a helpless cry. Holmes went to the window: the +dull waste of snow looked to him as hopeless and vague as his own life. + +"I have deserved it," he muttered to himself. "It is too late to amend." + +Some light touch thrilled his arm. + +"Is it too late, Stephen?" whispered a childish voice. + +The strong man trembled, looking at the little dark figure standing near +him. + +"We were both wrong; let us be friends again." + +She went back unconsciously to the old words of their quarrels long ago. +He drew back. + +"Do not mock me," he gasped. "I suffer, Margaret. Do not mock me with +more courtesy." + +"I do not; let us be friends again." + +She was crying like a penitent child; her face was turned away; love, +pure and deep, was in her eyes. + +The red fire-light grew stronger; the clock hushed its noisy ticking to +hear the story. Holmes's pale lip worked: what was this coming to him? +He dared not hope, yet his breast heaved, a dry heat panted in his +veins, his deep eyes flashed fire. + +"If my little friend comes to me," he said, in a smothered voice, "there +is but one place for her,--her soul with my soul, her heart on my +heart."--He opened his arms.--"She must rest her head here. My little +friend must be--my wife." + +She looked into the strong, haggard face,--a smile crept out on her own, +arch and debonair like that of old time. + +"I am tired, Stephen," she whispered, and softly laid her head down on +his breast. + +The red fire-light flashed into a glory of crimson through the room, +about the two figures standing motionless there,--shimmered down into +awe-struck shadow: who heeded it? The old clock ticked away furiously, +as if rejoicing that weary days were over for the pet and darling of the +house: nothing else broke the silence. Without, the deep night paused, +gray, impenetrable. Did it hope that far angel-voices would break its +breathless hush, as once on the fields of Judea, to usher in Christmas +morn? A hush, in air, and earth, and sky, of waiting hope, of a promised +joy. Down there in the farm-window two human hearts had given the joy a +name; the hope throbbed into being; the hearts touching each other beat +in a slow, full chord of love as pure in God's eyes as the song the +angels sang, and as sure a promise of the Christ that is to come. +Forever and ever,--not even death would part them; he knew that, holding +her closer, looking down into her face. + +What a pale little face it was! Through the intensest heat of his +passion the sting touched him: it was but one mark of his murderous +selfishness. Some instinct made her glance up at him, as he thought +this, with a keen insight, and she lifted her head from his breast, and +when he stooped to touch her lips, shook herself free, laughing +carelessly. Their whole life was before them to taste happiness, and she +had a mind they should taste it drop by drop. Alas, Stephen Holmes! you +will have little time for morbid questionings in those years to come: +your very pauses of silent content and love will be rare and +well-earned. No more tranced raptures for to-night,--let tomorrow bring +what it would. + +"You do not seem to find your purer self altogether perfect?" she +demanded. "I think the pale skin hurts your artistic eye, or the frozen +eyes,--which is it?" + +"They have thawed into brilliant fire,--something looks at me +half-yielding and half-defiant,--you know that, you vain child! But, +Margaret, nothing can atone"-- + +He stopped. + +"That is right, Stephen. Remorse grows maudlin when it goes into words," +laughing again at his astounded look. + +He took her hand,--a dewy, healthy hand,--the very touch of it meant +action and life. + +"What if I say, then," he said, earnestly, "that I do not find my angel +perfect, be the fault mine or hers? The child Margaret, with her sudden +tears and laughter and angry heats, is gone,--I killed her, I +think,--gone long ago. I will not take in place of her this worn, pale +ghost, who wears clothes as chilly as if she came from the dead, and +stands alone, as ghosts do." + +She stood a little way off, her great brown eyes flashing with tears. It +was so strange a joy to find herself cared for, when she had believed +she was old and hard: the very idle jesting made her youth and happiness +real to her. Holmes saw that with his quick tact. He flung playfully a +crimson shawl that lay there about her white neck. + +"My wife must suffer her life to flush out in gleams of color and light: +her cheeks must hint at a glow within, as yours do now. I will have no +hard angles, no pallor, no uncertain memory of pain in her life: it +shall be perpetual summer." + +He loosened her hair, and it rolled down about the bright, tearful face, +shining in the red fire-light like a mist of tawny gold. + +"I need warmth and freshness and light: my wife shall bring them to me. +She shall be no strong-willed reformer, standing alone: a sovereign lady +with kind words for the world, who gives her hand only to that man whom +she trusts, and keeps her heart and its secrets for me alone." + +She paid no heed to him other than by a deepening color; the clock, +however, grew tired of the long soliloquy, and broke in with an +asthmatic warning as to the time of night. + +"There is midnight," she said. "You shall go, now, Stephen +Holmes,--quick! before your sovereign lady fades, like Cinderella, into +grayness and frozen eyes!" + +When he was gone, she knelt down by her window, remembering that night +long ago,--free to sob and weep out her joy,--very sure that her Master +had not forgotten to hear even a woman's prayer, and to give her her +true work,--very sure,--never to doubt again. There was a dark, sturdy +figure pacing up and down the road, that she did not see. It was there +when the night was over and morning began to dawn. Christmas morning! he +remembered,--it was something to him now! Never again a homeless, +solitary man! You would think the man weak, if I were to tell you how +this word "home" had taken possession of him,--how he had planned out +work through the long night: success to come, but with his wife nearest +his heart, and the homely farm-house and the old schoolmaster in the +centre of the picture. Such an humble castle in the air! Christmas +morning was surely something to him. Yet, as the night passed, he went +back to the years that had been wasted, with an unavailing bitterness. +He would not turn from the truth, that, with his strength of body and +brain to command happiness and growth, his life had been a failure. I +think it was first on that night that the story of the despised Nazarene +came to him with a new meaning,--One who came to gather up these broken +fragments of lives and save them with His own. But vaguely, though: +Christmas-day as yet was to him the day when love came into the world. +He knew the meaning of that. So he watched with an eagerness new to him +the day breaking. He could see Margaret's window, and a dim light in it: +she would be awake, praying for him, no doubt. He pondered on that. +Would you think Holmes weak, if he forsook the faith of Fichte, +sometime, led by a woman's hand? Think of the apostle of the positive +philosophers, and say no more. He could see a flickering light at dawn +crossing the hall: he remembered the old schoolmaster's habit +well,--calling "Happy Christmas" at every door: he meant to go down +there for breakfast, as he used to do, imagining how the old man would +wring his hands, with a "Holla! you're welcome home, Stephen, boy!" and +Mrs. Howth would bring out the jars of pine-apple preserve which her +sister sent her every year from the West Indies. And then----Never mind +what then. Stephen Holmes was very much in love, and this Christmas-day +had much to bring him. Yet it was with a solemn shadow on his face that +he watched the dawn, showing that he grasped the awful meaning of this +day that "brought love into the world." Through the clear, frosty night +he could hear a low chime of distant bells shiver the air, hurrying +faint and far to tell the glad tidings. He fancied that the dawn flushed +warm to hear the story,--that the very earth should rejoice in its +frozen depths, if it were true. If it were true!--if this passion in his +heart were but a part of an all-embracing power, in whose clear depths +the world struggled vainly!--if it were true that this Christ did come +to make that love clear to us! There would be some meaning then in the +old schoolmaster's joy, in the bells wakening the city yonder, in even +poor Lois's thorough content in this day,--for it would be, he knew, a +thrice-happy day to her. A strange story that of the Child coming into +the world,--simple! He thought of it, watching, through his cold, gray +eyes, how all the fresh morning told it,--it was in the very air; +thinking how its echo stole through the whole world,--how innumerable +children's voices told it in eager laughter,--how even the lowest slave +half-smiled, on waking, to think it was Christmas-day, the day that +Christ was born. He could hear from the church on the hill that they +were singing again the old song of the angels. Did this matter to him? +Did he care, with the new throb in his heart, who was born this day? +There is no smile on his face as he listens to the words, "Glory to God +in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men"; it bends +lower,--lower only. But in the selfish eyes there are warm tears, and on +his worn face a sad and solemn joy. + + * * * * * + +I am going to end my story now, There are phases more vivid in the +commonplace lives of these men and women, I do not doubt: love as +poignant as pain in its joy; crime, weak and foul and foolish, like all +crime; silent self-sacrifices: but I leave them for you to paint; you +will find colors enough in your own house and heart. + +As for Christmas-day, neither you nor I need try to do justice to that +theme: how the old schoolmaster went about, bustling, his thin face +quite hot with enthusiasm, and muttering, "God bless my soul!"--hardly +recovered from the sudden delight of finding his old pupil waiting for +him when he went down in the morning; how he insisted on being led by +him, and nobody else, all day, and before half an hour had confided, +under solemn pledges of secrecy, the great project of the book about +Bertrand de Born; how even easy Mrs. Howth found her hospitable +Virginian blood in a glow at the unexpected breakfast-guest,--settling +into more confident pleasure as dinner came on, for which success was +surer; how cold it was, outside; how Joel piled on great fires, and went +off on some mysterious errand, having "other chores to do than idling +and duddering"; how the day rose into a climax of perfection at +dinner-time, to Mrs. Howth's mind,--the turkey being done to a delicious +brown, the plum-pudding quivering like luscious jelly (a Christian +dinner to-day, if we starve the rest of the year!). Even Dr. Knowles, +who brought a great bouquet out for the schoolmaster, was in an unwonted +good-humor; and Mr. Holmes, of whom she stood a little in dread, enjoyed +it all with such zest, and was so attentive to them all, but Margaret. +They hardly spoke to each other all day; it quite fretted the old lady; +indeed, she gave the girl a good scolding about it out in the pantry, +until she was ready to cry. She had looked that way all day, however. + +Knowles was hurt deep enough when he saw Holmes, and suspected the +worst, under all his good-humor. It was a bitter disappointment to give +up the girl; for, beside the great work, he loved her in an uncouth +fashion, and hated Holmes. He met her alone in the morning; but when he +saw how pale she grew, expecting his outbreak, and how she glanced +timidly in at the room where Stephen was, he relented. Something in the +wet brown eye perhaps recalled a forgotten dream of his boyhood; for he +sighed sharply, and did not swear as he meant to. All he said was, that +"women will be women, and that she had a worse job on her hands than the +House of Refuge,"--which she put down to the account of his ill-temper, +and only laughed, and made him shake hands. + +Lois and her father came out in the old cart in high state across the +bleak, snowy hills, quite aglow with all they had seen at the +farm-houses on the road. Margaret had arranged a settle for the sick +girl by the kitchen-fire, but they all came out to speak to her. + +As for the dinner, it was the essence of all Christmas dinners: Dickens +himself, the priest of the genial day, would have been contented. The +old schoolmaster and his wife had hearts big and warm enough to do the +perpetual honors of a baronial castle; so you may know how the little +room and the faces about the homely table glowed and brightened. Even +Knowles began to think that Holmes might not be so bad, after all, +recalling the chicken in the mill, and,-- + +"Well, it was better to think well of all men, poor devils!" + +I am sorry to say there was a short thunder-storm in the very midst of +the dinner. Knowles and Mr. Howth, in their anxiety to keep off from +ancient subjects of dispute, came, for a wonder, on modern politics, and +of course there was a terrible collision, which made Mrs. Howth quite +breathless: it was over in a minute, however, and it was hard to tell +which was the most repentant. Knowles, as you know, was a disciple of +Garrison, and the old schoolmaster was (will the "Atlantic" +bear it?) a States'-rights man, as you might expect from his +antecedents,--suspected, indeed, of being a contributor to "De Bow's +Review." I may as well come out with the whole truth, and acknowledge +that at the present writing the old gentleman is the very hottest +Secessionist I know. If it hurts the type, write it down a vice of +blood, O printers of New England!--or else, like Uncle Toby's recording +angel, drop a tear upon the word, and blot it out forever. + +The dinner, perhaps, was fresher and heartier after that. Then Knowles +went back to town; and in the middle of the afternoon, as it grew dusk, +Lois started, knowing how many would come into her little shanty in the +evening to wish her Happy Christmas, although it was over. They piled up +comforts and blankets in the cart, and she lay on them quite snugly, her +scarred child's-face looking out from a great woollen hood Mrs. Howth +gave her. Old Yare held Barney, with his hat in his hand, looking as if +he deserved hanging, but very proud of the kindness they all showed his +girl. Holmes gave him some money for a Christmas gift, and he took it, +eagerly enough. For some unexpressed reason, they stood a long time in +the snow bidding Lois good-bye; and for the same reason, it may be, she +was loath to go, looking at each one earnestly as she laughed and grew +red and pale answering them, kissing Mrs. Howth's hand when she gave it +to her. When the cart did drive away, she watched them standing there +until she was out of sight, and waved her scrap of a handkerchief; and +when the road turned down the hill, lay down and softly cried to +herself. + +Now that they were alone they gathered close about the fire, while the +day without grew gray and colder,--Margaret in her old place by her +father's knee. Some dim instinct had troubled the old man all day; it +did now: whenever Margaret spoke, he listened eagerly, and forgot to +answer sometimes, he was so lost in thought. At last he put his hand on +her head, and whispered, "What ails my little girl?" And then his little +girl sobbed and cried, as she had been ready to do all day, and kissed +his trembling hand, and went and hid on her mother's neck, and left +Stephen to say everything for her. And I think you and I had better come +away. Are not these things written on the fairest page of Stephen +Holmes's remembrance? + +It was quite dark before they had done talking,--quite dark; the +wood-fire had charred down into a great bed of crimson; the tea stood +till it grew cold, and no one drank it. The old man got up at last, and +Holmes led him to the library, where he smoked every evening. He held +Maggie, as he called her, in his arms a long time, and wrung Holmes's +hand. "God bless you, Stephen!" he said,--"this is a very happy +Christmas-day to me." And yet, sitting alone, the tears ran over his +wrinkled face as he smoked; and when his pipe went out, he did not know +it, but sat motionless. Mrs. Howth, fairly confounded by the shock, went +upstairs, and stayed there a long time. When she came down, the old +lady's blue eyes were tenderer, if that were possible, and her face very +pale. She went into the library and asked her husband if she didn't +prophesy this two years ago, and he said she did, and after a while +asked her if she remembered the barbecue-night at Judge Clapp's thirty +years ago. She blushed at that, and then went up and kissed him. She had +heard Joel's horse clattering up to the kitchen-door, so concluded she +would go out and scold him. Under the circumstances it would be a +relief. + +If Mrs. Howth's nerves had been weak, she might have supposed that +free-born serving-man seized with sudden insanity, from the sight that +met her, going into the kitchen. His dinner, set on the dresser, was +flung contemptuously on the ashes; a horrible cloud of burning grease +rushed from a dirty pint-pot on the table, and before this Joel was +capering and snorting like some red-headed Hottentot before his fetich, +occasionally sticking his fingers into the nauseous stuff, and snuffing +it up as if it were roses. He was a church-member: he could _not_ +be drunk? At the sight of her, he tried to regain the austere dignity +usual to him when women were concerned, but lapsed into an occasional +giggle, which spoiled the effect. + +"Where have you been," she inquired, severely, "scouring the country +like a heathen on this blessed day? And what is that you have burning? +You're disgracing the house, and strangers in it." + +Joel's good-humor was proof against even this. + +"I've scoured to some purpose, then. Dun't tell the mester: it'll muddle +his brains t'-night. Wait till mornin'. Squire More'll be down hisself +t' 'xplain." + +He rubbed the greasy fingers into his hair, while Mrs. Howth's eyes were +fixed in dumb perplexity. + +"Ye see,"--slowly, determined to make it clear to her now and +forever,--"it's water: no, t' a'n't water: it's troubled me an' Mester +Howth some time in Poke Run, atop o''t. I hed my suspicions,--so'd he; +lay low, though, frum all women-folks. So's I tuk a bottle down, +unbeknown, to Squire More, an' it's oil!"--jumping like a wild +Indian,--"thank the Lord fur His marcies, it's oil!" + +"Well, Joel," she said, calmly, "very disagreeably smelling oil it is, I +must say." + +"Good save the woman!" he broke out, _sotto voce_, "she's a born +natural! Did ye never hear of a shaft? or millions o' gallons a day? +It's better nor a California ranch, I tell ye. Mebbe," charitably, "ye +didn't know Poke Run's the mester's?" + +"I certainly do. But I do not see what this green ditch-water is to me. +And I think, Joel,"-- + +"It's more to ye nor all yer States'-rights as I'm sick o' hearin' of. +It's carpets, an' bunnets, an' slithers of railroad-stock, an' some +color on Margot's cheeks,--ye'd best think o' that! That's what it is to +ye! I'm goin' to take stock myself. I'm glad that gell'll git rest frum +her mills an' her Houses o' Deviltry,--she's got gumption fur a dozen +women." + +He went on muttering, as he gathered up his pint-pot and bottle,-- + +"I'm goin' to send my Tim to college soon's the thing's in runnin' +order. Lord! what a lawyer that boy'll make!" + +Mrs. Howth's brain was still muddled. + +"You are better pleased than you were at the election," she observed, +placidly. + +"Politics be darned!" he broke out, forgetting the teachings of Mr. +Clinche. "Now, Mem, dun't ye muddle the mester's brain t'-night wi' 't, +I say. I'm goin' t' 'xperiment myself a bit." + +Which he did, accordingly,--shutting himself up in the smoke-house, and +burning the compound in divers sconces and Wide-Awake torches, giving up +the entire night to his diabolical orgies. + +Mrs. Howth did not tell the master, for one reason: it took a long time +for so stupendous an idea to penetrate the good lady's brain; and for +another: her motherly heart was touched by another story than this +Aladdin's lamp of Joel's wherein burned petroleum. She watched from her +window until she saw Holmes crossing the icy road: there was a little +bitterness, I confess, in the thought that he had taken her child from +her; but the prayer that rose for them both took her whole woman's heart +with it, and surely will be answered. + +The road was rough over the hills; the wind that struck Holmes's face +bitingly keen: perhaps the life coming for him would be as cold a +struggle, having not only poverty to conquer, but himself. But he is a +strong man,--no stronger puts his foot down with cool, resolute tread; +and to-night there is a thrill on his lips that never rested there +before,--a kiss, dewy and warm. Something, too, stirs in his heart, like +a subtile atom of pure fire, that he hugs closely,--his for all time. No +poverty or death shall ever drive it away. Perhaps he entertains an +angel unaware. + +After that night Lois never left her little shanty. The days that +followed were like one long Christmas; for her poor neighbors, black and +white, had some plot among themselves, and worked zealously to make them +seem so to her. It was easy to make these last days happy for the simple +little soul who had always gathered up every fragment of pleasure in her +featureless life, and made much of it, and rejoiced over it. She grew +bewildered, sometimes, lying on her wooden settle by the fire; people +had always been friendly, taken care of her, but now they were eager in +their kindness, as though the time were short. She did not understand +the reason, at first; she did not want to die: yet if it hurt her, when +it grew clear at last, no one knew it; it was not her way to speak of +pain. Only, as she grew weaker, day by day, she began to set her house +in order, as one might say, in a quaint, almost comical fashion, giving +away everything she owned, down to her treasures of colored bottles and +needlework's, mending her father's clothes, and laying them out in her +drawers; lastly, she had Barney brought in from the country, and every +day would creep to the window to see him fed and chirrup to him, whereat +the poor old beast would look up with his dim eye, and try to neigh a +feeble answer. Kitts used to come every day to see her, though he never +said much when he was there: he lugged his great copy of the Venus del +Pardo along with him one day, and left it, thinking she would like to +look at it; Knowles called it trash, when he came. The Doctor came +always in the morning; he told her he would read to her one day, and did +it always afterwards, putting on his horn spectacles, and holding her +old Bible close up to his rugged, anxious face. He used to read most +from the Gospel of St. John. She liked better to hear him than any of +the others, even than Margaret, whose voice was so low and tender: +something in the man's half-savage nature was akin to the child's. + +As the day drew near when she was to go, every pleasant trifle seemed to +gather a deeper, solemn meaning. Jenny Balls came in one night, and old +Mrs. Polston. + +"We thought you'd like to see her weddin'-dress, Lois," said the old +woman, taking off Jenny's cloak, "seein' as the weddin' was to hev been +to-morrow, and was put off on 'count of you." + +Lois did like to see it; sat up, her face quite flushed to see how +nicely it fitted, and stroked back Jenny's soft hair under the veil. And +Jenny, being a warm-hearted little thing, broke into a sobbing fit, +saying that it spoiled it all to have Lois gone. + +"Don't muss your veil, child," said Mrs. Polston. + +But Jenny cried on, hiding her face in Lois's skinny hand, until Sam +Polston came in, when she grew quiet and shy. The poor deformed girl lay +watching them, as they talked. Very pretty Jenny looked, with her blue +eyes and damp pink cheeks; and it was a manly, grave love in Sam's face, +when it turned to her. A different love from any she had known: better, +she thought. It could not be helped; but it was better. + +After they were gone, she lay a long time quiet, with her hand over her +eyes. Forgive her! she, too, was a woman. Ah, it may be there are more +wrongs that shall be righted yonder in the To-Morrow than are set down +in your theology! + +And so it was, that, as she drew nearer to this To-Morrow, the brain of +the girl grew clearer,--struggling, one would think, to shake off +whatever weight had been put on it by blood or vice or poverty, and +become itself again. Perhaps, even in her cheerful, patient life, there +had been hours when she had known the wrongs that had been done her, +known how cruelly the world had thwarted her; her very keen insight into +whatever was beautiful or helpful may have made her see her own +mischance, the blank she had drawn in life, more bitterly. She did not +see it bitterly now. Death is honest; all things grew clear to her, +going down into the valley of the shadow; so, wakening to the +consciousness of stifled powers and ungiven happiness, she saw that the +fault was not hers, nor His who had appointed her lot; He had helped her +to bear it,--bearing worse himself. She did not say once, "I might have +been," but day by day, more surely, "I shall be." There was not a tear +in the homely faces turning from her bed, not a tint of color in the +flowers they brought her, not a shiver of light in the ashy sky, that +did not make her more sure of that which was to come. More loving she +grew, as she went away from them, the touch of her hand more pitiful, +her voice more tender, if such a thing could be,--with a look in her +eyes never seen there before. Old Yare pointed it out to Mrs. Polston +one day. + +"My girl's far off frum us," he said, sobbing in the kitchen,--"my +girl's far off now." + +It was the last night of the year that she died. She was so much better +that they all were quite cheerful. Kitts went away as it grew dark, and +she bade him wrap up his throat with such a motherly dogmatism that they +all laughed at her; she, too, with the rest. + +"I'll make you a New-Year's call," he said, going out; and she called +out that she should be sure to expect him. + +She seemed so strong that Holmes and Mrs. Polston and Margaret, who were +there, were going home; besides, old Yare said, "I'd like to take care +o' my girl alone to-night, ef yoh'd let me,"--for they had not trusted +him before. But Lois asked them not to go until the Old Year was over; +so they waited downstairs. + +The old man fell asleep, and it was near midnight when he wakened with a +cold touch on his hand. + +"It's come, father!" + +He started up with a cry, looking at the new smile in her eyes, grown +strangely still. + +"Call them all, quick, father!" + +Whatever was the mystery of death that met her now, her heart clung to +the old love that had been true to her so long. + +He did not move. + +"Let me hev yoh to myself, Lo, 't th' last; yoh're all I hev; let me hev +yoh 't th' last." + +It was a bitter disappointment, but she roused herself even then to +smile, and tell him yes, cheerfully. You call it a trifle, nothing? It +may be; yet I think the angels looking down had tears in their eyes, +when they saw the last trial of the unselfish, solitary heart, and kept +for her a different crown from his who conquers a city. + +The fire-light grew warmer and redder; her eyes followed it, as if all +that had been bright and kindly in her life were coming back in it. She +put her hand on her father, trying vainly to smooth his gray hair. The +old man's heart smote him for something, for his sobs grew louder, and +he left her a moment; then she saw them all, faces very dear to her even +then. She laughed and nodded to them all in the old childish way; then +her lips moved. "It's come right!" she tried to say; but the weak voice +would never speak again on earth. + +"It's the turn o' the night," said Mrs. Polston, solemnly; "lift her +head; the Old Year's goin' out." + +Margaret lifted her head, and held it on her breast. She could hear +cries and sobs; the faces, white now, and wet, pressed nearer, yet +fading slowly: it was the Old Year going out, the worn-out year of her +life. Holmes opened the window: the cold night-wind rushed in, bearing +with it snatches of broken harmony: some idle musician down in the city, +playing fragments of some old, sweet air, heavy with love and regret. It +may have been chance: yet let us think it was not chance; let us believe +that He who had made the world warm and happy for her chose that this +best voice of all should bid her goodbye at the last. + +So the Old Year went out. The dull eyes, loving to the end, wandered +vaguely as the sounds died away, as if losing something,--losing all, +suddenly. She sighed as the clock struck, and then a strange calm, +unknown before, stole over her face; her eyes flashed open with a living +joy. Margaret stooped to close them, kissing the cold lids; and Tiger, +who had climbed upon the bed, whined and crept down. + +"It is the New Year," said Holmes, bending his head. + +The cripple was dead; but _Lois_, free, loving, and beloved, +trembled from her prison to her Master's side in the To-Morrow. + +I can show you her grave out there in the hills,--a short, stunted +grave, like a child's. No one goes there, although there are many +firesides where they speak of "Lois" softly, as of something holy and +dear: but they think of her always as gone home; even old Yare looks up, +when he talks of "my girl." Yet, knowing that nothing in God's just +universe is lost, or fails to meet the late fulfilment of its hope, I +like to think of her poor body lying there: I like to believe that the +great mother was glad to receive the form that want and crime of men had +thwarted,--took her uncouth child home again, that had been so cruelly +wronged,--folded it in her warm bosom with tender, palpitating love. + +It pleased me in the winter months to think that the worn-out limbs, the +old scarred face of Lois rested, slept: crumbled into fresh atoms, woke +at last with a strange sentience, and, when God smiled permission +through the summer sun, flashed forth in a wild ecstasy of the true +beauty that she loved so well. In no questioning, sad pallor of sombre +leaves or gray lichens: throbbed out rather in answering crimsons, in +lilies, white, exultant in a chordant life! + +Yet, more than this: I strive to grope, with dull, earthy sense, at her +freed life in that earnest land where souls forget to hunger or to hope, +and learn to be. And so thinking, the certainty of her aim and work and +love yonder comes with a new, vital reality, beside which the story of +the yet living men and women of whom I have told you grows vague and +incomplete, like an unguessed riddle. I have no key to solve it +with,--no right to solve it. Let me lay the pen abruptly down. + + * * * * * + +My story is coarse, unended, a mere groping hint? It has no conduit of +God's justice running through it, awarding good and ill? It lacks +determined concord, and a certain yea and nay? I know: it is a story of +To-Day. The Old Year is on us yet. Poor faithful old Knowles will tell +you that it is a dark day: that now, as eighteen hundred years ago, the +Helper stands unwelcome in the world: that the air is filled with the +cry of the slave, and of nations going down into darkness, their message +untold, their work undone: that your own heart, as well as the great +humanity, asks, even now, an unrendered justice. Does he utter all the +problem of To-Day? I think, not all: yet let it be. Other hands are +strong to show you how, in the very instant peril of this hour, is +lifted clearer into view the eternal, hopeful prophecy; may tell you +that the slumbering heaven and the unquiet earth are instinct with it; +that the unanswered prayer of your own life should teach it to you; that +in that Book wherein God has not scorned to write the history of America +we find the quiet surety that the To-Morrow of the world is near at +hand. + +For me, I have no prophetic insight, as I said before: the homely things +of every day wear their old faces. This moment, the evening air thrills +with a purple of which no painter has caught the tint, no poet the +meaning; not a face passes me in the street on which some human voice +has not the charm to call out love or power: the Helper yet waits +amongst us; surely, this Old Year you despise holds beauty, work, +content yet unmastered. Child-souls, you tell me, like that of Lois, may +find it enough to hold no past and no future, to accept the work of each +moment, and think it no wrong to drink every drop of its beauty and joy: +we who are wiser laugh at them. It may be: yet I say unto you, their +angels only do always behold the face of my Father in the New Year. + + * * * * * + + + + +MOUNTAIN PICTURES. + +I. + + +FRANCONIA FROM THE PEMIGEWASSET. + + Once more, O Mountains of the North, unveil + Your brows, and lay your cloudy mantles by! + And once more, ere the eyes that seek ye fail, + Uplift against the blue walls of the sky + Your mighty shapes, and let the sunshine weave + Its golden net-work in your belting woods, + Smile down in rainbows from your falling floods, + And on your kingly brows at morn and eve + Set crowns of fire! So shall my soul receive + Haply the secret of your calm and strength, + Your unforgotten beauty interfuse + My common life, your glorious shapes and hues + And sun-dropped splendors at my bidding come, + Loom vast through dreams, and stretch in billowy length + From the sea-level of my lowland home! + + They rise before me! Last night's thunder-gust + Roared not in vain: for, where its lightnings thrust + Their tongues of fire, the great peaks seem so near, + Burned clean of mist, so starkly bold and clear, + I almost pause the wind in the pines to hear, + The loose rock's fall, the steps of browsing deer. + The clouds that shattered on yon slide-worn walls + And splintered on the rocks their spears of rain + Have set in play a thousand waterfalls, + Making the dusk and silence of the woods + Glad with the laughter of the chasing floods + And luminous with blown spray and silver gleams, + While, in the vales below, the dry-lipped streams + Sing to the freshened meadow-lands again. + So, let me hope, the battle-storm that beats + The land with hail and fire may pass away + With its spent thunders at the break of day, + Like last night's clouds, and leave, as it retreats, + A greener earth and fairer sky behind, + Blown crystal-clear by Freedom's Northern wind! + + * * * * * + + + + +THE USE OF THE RIFLE. + + +In no branch of manufacture has human ingenuity been taxed more +vigorously, for the attainment of the highest possible point of +perfection, than in that of rifled guns for the use of the troops, on +whose capacity for the destruction of their opponents the throne of the +tyrant or the liberty of the people may be dependent. Nations, +companies, and individuals have expended years of time and millions of +money in testing every conceivable contrivance which offered a hope of +improvement in precision, force, facility of loading or firing, or any +of the minute details which contribute to render the weapon more +serviceable. + +And yet, at this day, not only are the troops of different nations armed +with rifles differing in size, weight, calibre, and degree of twist, +requiring different instruction in their use, and shooting projectiles +of widely different pattern, but scarcely any two gun-makers will be +found to agree in all the details requisite to the construction of the +most serviceable weapon. The reason for this diversity lies in the fact, +that perfection in any one of its requirements can be attained only by +the sacrifice of some portion at least of its other elements, and the +point at which the balance should be fixed is a sliding scale covering +as wide a range as that of the mental and physical differences of the +men on whom the decision rests. + +The objects to be attained are, precision and force at long ranges, +facility of loading and firing, and such simplicity and strength in the +general construction as to allow the least possible chance of +derangement or mistake in the management, at the moment when such error +might cost the owner his life. And in addition to these points it is +required that the weight shall not exceed the amount which a man of the +average strength needed for a soldier can manipulate and carry on the +march without over-fatigue. + +It will be seen that we have awarded the first place on the list of +requisites to precision and force at long ranges; and we presume it is +unnecessary to enter into any explanation of the obvious primary +necessity for the attainment of those qualities. We find, however, that +our progress towards perfection in this direction cannot proceed beyond +a certain point, except at the cost of other qualities, which cannot be +sacrificed with impunity. + +Regarding it as a settled point that any recoil of the gun is just so +much taken from the initial velocity of the ball, (and if any one doubts +it, let him try the experiment of throwing a stone, and stepping +backwards at the moment of propulsion,) it is obvious, that, for the +attainment of the longest range, such a preponderance of weight in the +gun over that of the projectile is necessary as to secure the least +possible recoil, and this point seems to have been fixed by our best +gun-makers at the ratio of five hundred to one, which would require a +gun weighing nearly sixteen pounds to carry a half-ounce ball or shot. +We use the word _ball_ from habit, meaning, merely, the projectile, +which will probably never again resume its spherical shape in actual +service. We conceive the perfection of precision and range in +rifle-practice to have been attained in the American target-ride, +carrying a slug or cone of one ounce weight,--the gun itself weighing +not less than thirty pounds,--and provided with a telescope-sight, and +Clark's patent muzzle. At three-quarters of a mile this weapon may be +said to be entirely trustworthy for an object of the size of a man, and +to have force enough at that distance to disable three men. But it is +obvious that such weight and such equipments as are required for it must +render it utterly useless for ordinary field-service. It becomes, in +fact, a species of light artillery, and as such we are firm in the +conviction that it is destined to establish for itself a reputation +which will render it henceforth a necessity in the composition of an +army. + +For troops of the line the weight of the gun should not exceed ten +pounds. Now, if we reduce the rifle to that weight, and preserve the +ratio of 1-500 as that of the ball, we reduce its range; for the +momentum being, as every school-boy knows, in proportion to weight as +well as velocity, a projectile which may be perfectly sure for two or +three hundred yards flies wide of the mark at six hundred, and can +hardly be found at a thousand. Here begins the operation of the sliding +scale, in the necessity of sacrificing some degree of precision, in +order to procure a weapon fulfilling other indispensable requisites for +the soldier's use. In the English and our own service, the Enfield and +Springfield rifled muskets have been fixed upon as presenting the +nearest attainable approach to perfection in all the desirable elements +of a military rifle. + +It is out of the question to look for any such nice work with these +tools as our best amateur riflemen are constantly in the habit of +performing with the heavy thick-barrelled American rifle. The short +Enfield is found to shoot better than the long, owing to the increased +"spring" of the long, thin barrel of the latter; and the English +themselves are becoming aware that they have carried the point of +reducing the weight too far, and their best gun-makers are now insisting +upon the fact which General Jacobs told them years ago,--that a "heavy +conical ball cannot be used effectively from a long, thin barrel like +that of the Enfield rifle, which is liable to great vibration." + +The Enfield rifle, however, is a long step in advance of the old +smooth-bored musket, concerning which a veteran British officer has +declared his opinion that "a man might sit at his ease in an armchair +all day long while another at two hundred yards' distance was blazing +away at him with a brown Bess, on the sole condition that he should, on +his honor, aim exactly at him at every shot." _Per contra_ to this, +may be stated the fact, mentioned by Lord Raglan in his despatches, that +at Balaklava a Russian battery of two guns was silenced by the skill in +rifle-shooting of a single officer, (Lieutenant Godfrey,) who, +approaching under cover of a ravine within six hundred yards, and having +his men hand him their Enfield rifles in turn, actually picked off the +artillerymen, one after another, till there were not enough left to +serve the guns, and this in spite of the storm of shot and shell which +they poured around him in reply, he being under no necessity of exposing +a larger target than his head and shoulders for them to aim at. + +A trustworthy breech-loading rifle has long been a _desideratum_ +with military men; but nothing has yet been produced which offers +sufficient advantages, or seems sufficiently free from objections, to +authorize its introduction as anything more than an experiment. In fact, +the special object of a breech-loading gun--that of enabling its owner +to deliver his fire with greater rapidity--is found in actual service to +be an objection: the soldier being tempted, in the excitement of battle, +to load and fire as rapidly as possible, and thus to waste the greater +portion of his shots, whereas the primary object at such a time is to +induce the deliberation which alone can insure efficiency. It must be +obvious to any one who reflects upon the matter, that in reality the +whole question of efficiency in battle must hinge upon the one point of +precision of fire. It is well known that in actual service not more than +one shot in six hundred takes effect, and, except for the moral effect +of the roar of the musketry and the whistling of the balls, the +remaining five hundred and ninety-nine might better have been kept in +the cartridge-boxes. Upon raw troops, for the most part, this moral +effect is sufficient to decide the question, with the addition of a +comparatively small number of killed and wounded. But veteran troops are +not disturbed by it. They know that a ball which misses by a quarter of +an inch is as harmless as if it had never been shot, and they very soon +learn to disregard the whistling. When they encounter such a fire, +however, as the English met at Bunker's Hill and at New Orleans,--when +the shots which miss are the exceptions, and those which hit, the rule, +no amount of discipline or courage can avail. Disciplined soldiers are +no more willing to be shot than raw levies; but having learned by +experience that the danger in an ordinary action is very trifling in +comparison with its appearance to the imagination of a recruit, they +face it with a determination which to him is inconceivable. Make the +apparent danger real, as in the cases we have cited, and veterans become +as powerless as the merest tyros. With the stimulus of the present +demand, it is probable that Yankee ingenuity will erelong produce some +kind of rifle so far superior to anything yet known as to supersede all +others; and indeed we have little doubt that such would already have +been the case, but for the fact that comparatively few of our most +ingenious mechanics are also expert riflemen, and none but a first-rate +shot can thoroughly appreciate all the requirements of the weapon. + +Since the Crimean War, the Governments of Europe seem to have become +awakened to the fact, that, however important and desirable it may be to +secure the best possible implements for the soldier's use, it is +infinitely more so that he should know how to use them. In the hands of +a marksman the rifle is an efficient weapon at half a mile's distance; +but to expect on that account that it will do any more execution in the +hands of one who is not familiar with it than a smooth-bored musket is +as idle as it would be to hope that a person unacquainted with the +violin could give us better music from a Cremona than he could from a +corn-stalk fiddle. + +For years past the European powers have been training men to the use of +the rifle. Hundreds of thousands of Englishmen and Frenchmen are at this +moment as familiar with the practical application of its powers as if +their subsistence had been dependent upon its use. Government and people +have perceived that the improvements in small-arms have wrought such a +revolution in the art of war as to revive the necessity which existed in +the days of archery, of making every man a marksman, and in England the +old archery sports of prize-shooting and unremitting private practice +have been renewed, with the substitution of the rifle for the bow; and +besides the regular standing army, England is now guarded by two hundred +thousand volunteers, every one of whom is a good rifleman, and who have +all been subjected to such an amount of drilling as would enable them +speedily to accomplish themselves in the art of united action. The +inciting cause of this great national movement was the apprehension of a +French invasion. Whether there was any ground for such apprehension, or +whether the preparations which were made in consequence have served to +avert the danger, are questions which are irrelevant to our present +object, which lies nearer home. + +It needs no argument at this moment to prove the possibility that we may +become engaged in a foreign war, before we have done with the one we +have on our hands at home; but without troubling ourselves with +apprehensions of possible contingencies, have we not sufficient motive +in the condition of affairs at home to render it an imperative duty to +strengthen ourselves by every available means? + +We have been so long unused to anything like warlike preparations that +we find it difficult to arouse ourselves to a realization of the fact +that every able-bodied man is liable to be called upon to render active +service for his country; and when a war is raging within our borders, of +whose termination the only thing that can be predicted with certainty is +that it can be reached only through fearful suffering and destruction of +life and property, is it not incumbent on every man to prepare himself +by whatever means are within his reach to render his services efficient? +That the affirmative would be the popular answer is sufficiently proved +by a recurrence to the zeal with which we organized drill-clubs and +practised military tactics in the early stages of the war. It was not +long before the zeal died away. It soon proved a bore to people who +could not help perceiving, that, however perfect they might become in +the manual exercise, their efficiency as soldiers could hardly amount to +much, when most of them had never fired a gun in their lives. And so the +drill-room was quietly abandoned,--the conduct of the war was left to +the Government and the army, while we looked on as mere spectators,--and +the future was left to take care of itself. + +We do not mourn greatly at the decay of the drill-clubs, which, in the +form they assumed, were likely to be of little practical benefit; but we +do most sincerely regret the decay of the spirit which led to their +formation, for it was founded on the universal conviction of the fact, +which exists at this moment in still stronger force, that every man +ought to make himself ready for the possible contingency of his services +being demanded in the field. + +No man can foretell the chances and changes which are before us; but he +must be ignorant indeed of human nature and human history, who does not +perceive, that, even if our success in the present contest is all that +we can hope, there are issues involved in the weighty questions which +must ensue before the storm subsides, which may render the preservation +of our liberties dependent upon our ability to resist the attempts of +factions or of ambitious and unprincipled military leaders to overturn +them. We have had evidence enough, since the struggle began, (if any one +doubted it before,) that selfishness and ambition are not unrepresented +among us; and if such spirits are abroad, they are working for evil, and +we are worse than foolish to trust to virtue and patriotism to encounter +them unarmed. Do we not owe it to that fatal error, that we are in our +present condition? Were not ambition and lust of power secretly +strengthening their hands for years, in the hope to spring upon us +unawares, and bind us fast before we could prepare for resistance?--and +can we again suffer ourselves to be caught in the same trap? + +The question implies its own answer, and the practical reply should be +the immediate and universal instruction of the people in the use of +arms; and to this end the readiest and most efficient means lie in the +encouragement of rifle-practice, by the organization of rifle-clubs, the +institution of shooting-matches for prizes, and the inculcation by all +available methods of a taste for the acquirement of an art which +constitutes the vital spirit of military efficiency. Wherever clubs can +be formed, a course of drilling should be entered upon in connection +with target-practice; but thousands of able-bodied men throughout the +country may be unable to unite with clubs or attend the drills, who may +yet perfect themselves in target-shooting, and the prizes at +shooting-matches should be open to all competitors and all weapons. + +The volume of instructions for the Hythe School, issued from the +Horse-Guards, contains the following preliminary remarks:--"The rifle is +placed in the soldier's hands for the destruction of his enemy; his own +safety depends upon his efficient use of it: it cannot, therefore, be +too strongly inculcated, that every man who has no defect in his eyes +may be made a good shot, and that no degree of perfection he may have +attained in the other parts of his drill can upon service remedy any +want of proficiency in this; in fact, all his other instructions in +marching and manoeuvring can do no more than place him in the best +possible situation for using his weapon with effect." + +To the assertion that "every man who has no defect in his eyes may be +made a good shot," we beg leave to object, or at least to accept it with +allowances. That every one may attain sufficient skill for ordinary +military service, by which we mean according to modern requirements, we +have no manner of doubt; but the experience of the great shooting-match +at Wimbledon in July last proves conclusively the existence of very wide +differences in the powers of men who had enjoyed equal opportunities of +perfecting themselves; and we are confident that our best riflemen will +sooner indorse the verdict of Frank Forester, who, after a fair +statement of the obstacles to the attainment of perfection, concludes +with the remark,--"It is impossible, therefore, for one-half at least, +if not more, of mankind to become even fair rifle-shots, with any +possible amount of practice; but to all men who have good eyes, iron +nerves, sufficient physical strength, and phlegmatic tempers, it is a +certainty beyond calculation that they can become first-rate rifle-shots +with sufficient practice."[A] + + [Footnote A: _Complete Manual for Young Sportsmen_.] + +We not only recognize this difference in the powers of different +individuals, but we insist upon the importance of observing it in the +military organization of the rifle corps. The men who prove by their +work that they possess the skill which is the result of such a +combination of moral and physical characteristics as are here enumerated +should be selected for special duty, and armed with the most efficient +weapons that can be procured, which, even at four times the cost of +ordinary infantry muskets, would prove in the end the better economy, by +rendering needless the enormous waste of ammunition which seems +inseparable from the use of ordinary arms. The sharp-shooters thus +selected should be armed in part with the best rifles of ordinary +construction and weight, (and we are strongly inclined to believe, if +allowed their own choice, they would select the common American +hunting-rifle,) and a portion with the best telescope-rifles of the kind +we have heretofore described. We are well aware, that, till recently, +the introduction of these guns into the service has been scouted at by +military men, and the experiment of sending a company of men provided +with them and familiar with their use from this State was met with +ridicule, which, however, has been changed to admiration by the +triumphant manner in which they have vindicated the most sanguine hopes +of those who were instrumental in procuring their introduction. + +A letter from a member of the company says of them,--"The +telescope-rifles more than equalled our expectations. They do good +service at a mile, and are certain death at half a mile." At Edwards's +Ferry, on the 22d of October, seventy men of this company repelled a +charge of fifteen hundred of the enemy and drove them from the field, +with the loss of more than one hundred killed, while not one of their +own men received a scratch. They lay upon the ground behind a fence, +resting their guns upon the lower rail, and the enemy came in sight half +a mile distant and started towards them at double-quick, loading and +firing as they ran; but before they had traversed half the distance, +they had learned that the whistle of every bullet was the death-knell of +one, and in many instances of more than one of their number, and coming +to a slight ravine, the temptation of its shelter from so fearful a +storm proved irresistible, and, turning up course, they fled in dismay, +leaving their dead upon the ground in windrows. Three standard-bearers +in succession fell before the fatal aim of the same rifle, and no man +dared repeat the suicidal act of again displaying that ensign. We have +seen a letter from an officer high in command who witnessed that action, +and, after describing it, he remarks,--"There is more chance of credit +to your State in the new gun and men than in twenty drilled regiments." + +But the history of that skirmish proves the capacity of the weapon in +question for the performance of more than ought ever to be asked of it. +Had the troops who attempted the charge been thoroughly disciplined and +accustomed to the work, they could not have been checked by so small a +number, and in five minutes more the little handful of riflemen would +have been riddled with bayonets. On the other hand, nothing but the +confidence inspired by the consciousness of the power they wielded could +have enabled such a handful to hold their ground as they did in the face +of such overwhelming odds. Two companies of infantry in their rear, who +were intended as a support, fired one volley and then fled. + +In a close conflict so unwieldy a weapon as the telescope-rifle is of +course useless, and its owner must depend upon his side-arms for +defence. The same is true of artillery, and, as we said before, these +riflemen are to be considered and used in service as light +artillery,--requiring a sufficient support to enable them to withdraw +from close action, but operating with deadly effect upon individual +enemies at a distance at which cannon are serviceable only against +masses, and, for the most part, require a series of trials to get the +range, which may be constantly shifting. The telescope-rifle is a +field-piece possessing such precision and range as no other weapon can +boast, and provided with an instrument which reduces the art of aiming +to a point of mathematical certainty,--and all within such a compass of +size and weight that every man of a company can manage one with nearly +the rapidity and with ten times the efficiency of an ordinary musket. We +submit the question, whether we can afford to dispense with such +advantages,--or rather, whether we are not bound to develop them to +their fullest extent, by the adoption and adaptation to field-service of +the weapon which combines them? It is obvious that a corps armed with +such a weapon would require a peculiar drill, and their sphere of +usefulness would necessarily be limited by circumstances which would not +affect ordinary infantry; but common sense would readily dictate the +positions of attack or defence in which their peculiar powers would +render the best service, and military science would suggest the most +efficient manner of directing their operations. Such a force, however, +would necessarily form but a small portion of any army; and we have +dwelt upon the subject solely from the conviction that its importance is +too great to allow it to be neglected, while it is yet too little known +to be appreciated as it deserves. + +We turn now to the ordinary rifle-practice, which has come of late years +to be considered in Europe almost as the one thing needful for the +soldier, while with us it has been gradually sinking into disuse for a +quarter of a century. When called upon to send an army into the field, +we find that more than half of its members have never fired a gun, and +even of those who have, not one in a hundred has had any instruction +beyond what he has been able to pick up for himself, while popping at +robins and squirrels with a ten-dollar Birmingham shot-gun; and every +account we receive of a skirmish with the enemy elicits exclamations of +astonishment that so few are hurt on either side. It may relieve in some +degree the prevalent dread of fire-arms (which is a primary cause of +this general ignorance of their use) to discover that it requires no +small amount of skill to hurt anybody with them; and when the fact comes +to be equally appreciated, that ignorance lies at the bottom of all the +unintended mischief that is done with them, it is probable that proper +instruction in their use will be considered, as it ought, a necessary +part of a boy's education. It had been better for us, if this matter had +been sooner attended to. _Let us lose no time now_. + +Reader! are you a man, having the use of your limbs and eyes, and do you +know how to put a ball into a rifle and bring it out again with a true +aim? If not, it is time you were learning. Provide yourself with a rifle +and equipments, and find some one to give you the first lessons in their +use, and then practise daily at target-shooting. Do not excuse yourself +with the plea that you have no intention to enter the service. If the +work of preparation is left only to those who mean to become soldiers, +it will not be done; but if every man proves his appreciation of its +importance by taking an active interest in its promotion, the right men +for soldiers will be forthcoming when they are needed, and the most +important element of their military education will have been acquired; +and it is not impossible that the day may come when you yourself will +feel that the power you have thus obtained is worth more to you than all +you learned in college. Are you too old and infirm for such service, or +are you a woman, and have you the means of equipping another who is +unable to do it for himself? If so, it will not be hard to find an +able-bodied young man who will gladly take charge of a rifle, on the +condition that he is to be its owner at the end of six months, if he can +then place ten successive shots in a circle of a foot in diameter at two +hundred yards. + +"A word to the wise is enough." The word has been uttered in +trumpet-tones from the battle-fields of the South. Let us prove that we +are wise, by acting at once upon its suggestions. + + * * * * * + + + + +AGNES OF SORRENTO. + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE PILGRIMAGE. + + +The morning sun rose clear and lovely on the old red rocks of Sorrento, +and danced in a thousand golden scales and ripples on the wide +Mediterranean. The shadows of the gorge were pierced by long golden +shafts of light, here falling on some moist bed of crimson cyclamen, +there shining through a waving tuft of gladiolus, or making the abundant +yellow fringes of the broom more vivid in their brightness. The +velvet-mossy old bridge, in the far shadows at the bottom, was lit up by +a chance beam, and seemed as if it might be something belonging to +fairy-land. + +There had been a bustle and stir betimes in the little dove-cot, for +to-morrow the inmates were to leave it for a long, adventurous journey. + +To old Elsie, the journey back to Rome, the city of her former days of +prosperity, the place which had witnessed her ambitious hopes, her +disgrace and downfall, was full of painful ideas. There arose to her +memory, like a picture, those princely halls, with their slippery, cold +mosaic floors, their long galleries of statues and paintings, their +enchanting gardens, musical with the voice of mossy fountains, fragrant +with the breath of roses and jessamines, where the mother of Agnes had +spent the hours of her youth and beauty. She seemed to see her flitting +hither and thither down the stately ilex-avenues, like some gay +singing-bird, to whom were given gilded cages and a constant round of +caresses and sweets, or like the flowers in the parterres, which lived +and died only as the graceful accessories of the grandeur of an old +princely family. + +She compared, mentally, the shaded and secluded life which Agnes had led +with the specious and fatal brilliancy which had been the lot of her +mother,--her simple peasant garb with those remembered visions of +jewelry and silk and embroideries with which the partial patronage of +the Duchess or the ephemeral passion of her son had decked out the poor +Isella; and then came swelling at her heart a tumultuous thought, one +which she had repressed and kept down for years with all the force of +pride and hatred. Agnes, peasant-girl though she seemed, had yet the +blood of that proud old family in her veins; the marriage had been a +true one; she herself had witnessed it. + +"Yes, indeed," she said to herself, "were justice done, she would now be +a princess,--a fit mate for the nobles of the land; and here I ask no +more than to mate her to an honest smith,--I that have seen a prince +kneel to kiss her mother's hand,--yes, he did,--entreat her on his knees +to be his wife,--I saw it. But then, what came of it? Was there ever one +of these nobles that kept oath or promise to us of the people, or that +cared for us longer than the few moments we could serve his pleasure? +Old Elsie, you have done wisely! keep your dove out of the eagle's nest: +it is foul with the blood of poor innocents whom he has torn to pieces +in his cruel pride!" + +These thoughts swelled in silence in the mind of Elsie, while she was +busy sorting and arranging her household stores, and making those +thousand-and-one preparations known to every householder, whether of +much or little, who meditates a long journey. + +To Agnes she seemed more than ever severe and hard; yet probably there +never was a time when every pulse of her heart was beating more warmly +for the child, and every thought of the future was more entirely +regulated with reference to her welfare. It is no sinecure to have the +entire devotion of a strong, enterprising, self-willed friend, as Agnes +had all her life found. One cannot gather grapes of thorns or figs of +thistles, and the affection of thorny and thistly natures has often as +sharp an acid and as long prickers as wild gooseberries,--yet it is +their best, and must be so accepted. + +Agnes tried several times to offer her help to her grandmother, but was +refused so roughly that she dared not offer again, and therefore went to +her favorite station by the parapet in the garden, whence she could look +up and down the gorge, and through the arches of the old mossy Roman +bridge that spanned it far down by the city-wall. All these things had +become dear to her by years of familiar silent converse. The little +garden, with its old sculptured basin, and the ever-lulling dash of +falling water,--the tremulous draperies of maiden's-hair, always beaded +with shining drops,--the old shrine, with its picture, its lamp, and +flower-vase,--the tall, dusky orange-trees, so full of blossoms and +fruit, so smooth and shining in their healthy bark,--all seemed to her +as so many dear old friends whom she was about to leave, perhaps +forever. + +What this pilgrimage would be like, she scarcely knew: days and weeks of +wandering,--over mountain-passes,--in deep, solitary valleys,--as years +ago, when her grandmother brought her, a little child, from Rome. + +In the last few weeks, Agnes seemed to herself to have become wholly +another being. Silently, insensibly, her feet had crossed the enchanted +river that divides childhood from womanhood, and all the sweet ignorant +joys of that first early paradise lay behind her. Up to this time her +life had seemed to her a charming dream, full of blessed visions and +images: legends of saints, and hymns, and prayers had blended with +flower-gatherings in the gorge, and light daily toils. + +Now, a new, strange life had been born within her,--a life full of +passions, contradictions, and conflicts. A love had sprung up in her +heart, strange and wonderful, for one who till within these few weeks +had been entirely unknown to her, who had never toiled for, or housed, +or clothed, or cared for her as her grandmother had, and yet whom a few +short interviews, a few looks, a few words, had made to seem nearer and +dearer than the old, tried friends of her childhood. In vain she +confessed it as a sin,--in vain she strove against it; it came back to +her in every hymn, in every prayer. Then she would press the sharp cross +to her breast, till a thousand stings of pain would send the blood in +momentary rushes to her pale cheek, and cause her delicate lips to +contract with an expression of stern endurance, and pray that by any +penance and anguish she might secure his salvation. + +To save one such glorious soul, she said to herself, was work enough for +one little life. She was willing to spend it all in endurance, unseen by +him, unknown to him, so that at last he should be received into that +Paradise which her ardent imagination conceived so vividly. Surely, +there she should meet him, radiant as the angel of her dream; and then +she would tell him that it was all for his sake that she had refused to +listen to him here. And these sinful longings to see him once more, +these involuntary reachings of her soul after an earthly companionship, +she should find strength to overcome in this pilgrimage. She should go +to Rome,--the very city where the blessed Paul poured out his blood for +the Lord Jesus,--where Peter fed the flock, till his time, too, came to +follow his Lord in the way of the cross. She should even come near to +her blessed Redeemer; she should go up, on her knees, those very steps +to Pilate's hall where He stood bleeding, crowned with thorns,--His +blood, perhaps, dropping on the very stones. Ah, could any mortal love +distract her there? Should she not there find her soul made free of +every earthly thrall to love her Lord alone,--as she had loved Him in +the artless and ignorant days of her childhood,--but better, a thousand +times? + +"Good morning to you, pretty dove!" said a voice from without the +garden-wall; and Agnes, roused from her reverie, saw old Jocunda. + +"I came down to help you off," she said, as she came into the little +garden. "Why, my dear little saint! you are looking white as a sheet, +and with those tears! What's it all for, baby?" + +"Ah, Jocunda! grandmamma is angry with me all the time now. I wish I +could go once more to the Convent and see my dear Mother Theresa. She is +angry, if I but name it; and yet she will not let me do anything here to +help her, and so I don't know _what_ to do." + +"Well, at any rate, don't cry, pretty one! Your grandmamma is worked +with hard thoughts. We old folks are twisted and crabbed and full of +knots with disappointment and trouble, like the mulberry-trees that they +keep for vines to run on. But I'll speak to her; I know her ways; she +shall let you go; I'll bring her round." + +"So-ho, sister!" said the old soul, hobbling to the door, and looking in +at Elsie, who was sitting flat on the stone floor of her cottage, +sorting a quantity of flax that lay around her. The severe Roman profile +was thrown out by the deep shadows of the interior,--and the piercing +black eyes, the silver-white hair, and the strong, compressed lines of +the mouth, as she worked, and struggled with the ghosts of her former +life, made her look like no unapt personification of one of the Fates +reviewing her flax before she commenced the spinning of some new web of +destiny. + +"Good morning to you, sister!" said Jocunda. "I heard you were off +tomorrow, and I came to see what I could do to help you." + +"There's nothing to be done for me, but to kill me," said Elsie. "I am +weary of living." + +"Oh, never say that! Shake the dice again, my old man used to say,--God +rest his soul! Please Saint Agnes, you'll have a brave pilgrimage." + +"Saint Agnes be hanged!" said Elsie, gruffly. "I'm out with her. It was +she put all these notions into my girl's head. Because she didn't get +married herself, she don't want any one else to. She has no +consideration. I've done with her: I told her so this morning. The +candles I've burned and the prayers I've gone through with, that she +might prosper me in this one thing! and it's all gone against me. She's +a baggage, and shall never see another penny of mine,--that's flat!" + +Such vituperation of saints and sacred images may be heard to this day +in Italy, and is a common feature of idol-worship in all lands; for, +however the invocation of the saints could be vitalized in the hearts of +the few spiritual, there is no doubt that in the mass of the common +people it had all the well-defined symptoms of the grossest idolatry, +among which fits of passionate irreverence are one. That feeling, which +tempts the enlightened Christian in sore disappointment and vexation to +rise in rebellion against a wise Providence, in the childish twilight of +uncultured natures finds its full expression unawed by reverence or +fear. + +"Oh, hush, now!" said Jocunda. "What is the use of making her angry just +as you are going to Rome, where she has the most power? All sorts of ill +luck will befall you. Make up with her before you start, or you may get +the fever in the marshes and die, and then who will take care of poor +Agnes?" + +"Let Saint Agnes look after her; the girl loves her better than she does +me or anybody else," said Elsie. "If she cared anything about me, she'd +marry and settle down, as I want her to." + +"Oh, there you are wrong," said Jocunda. "Marrying is like your dinner: +one is not always in stomach for it, and one's meat is another's poison. +Now who knows but this pilgrimage may be the very thing to bring the +girl round? I've seen people cured of too much religion by going to +Rome. You know things a'n't there as our little saint fancies. Why, +between you and me, the priests themselves have their jokes on those who +come so far to so little purpose. More shame for 'em, say I, too; but we +common people mustn't look into such things too closely. Now take it +cheerfully, and you'll see the girl will come back tired of tramping and +able to settle down in a good home with a likely husband. I have a +brother in Naples who is turning a pretty penny in the fisheries; I will +give you directions to find him; his wife is a wholesome Christian +woman; and if the little one be tired by the time you get there, you +might do worse than stop two or three days with them. It's a brave city; +seems made to have a good time in. Come, you let her just run up to the +Convent to bid goodbye to the Mother Theresa and the sisters." + +"I don't care where she goes," said Elsie, ungraciously. + +"There, now!" said Jocunda, coming out,--"Agnes, your grandmother bids +you go to the Convent to say good-bye to the sisters; so run along, +there's a little dear. The Mother Theresa talks of nothing else but you +since she heard that you meditated this; and she has broken in two her +own piece of the True Cross which she's carried in the gold and pearl +reliquary that the Queen sent her, and means to give it to you. One +doesn't halve such gifts, without one's whole heart goes with them." + +"Dear mother!" said Agnes, her eyes filling with tears. "I will take her +some flowers and oranges for the last time. Do you know, Jocunda, I feel +that I never shall come back here to this dear little home where I have +been so happy?--everything sounds so mournful and looks so mournful!--I +love everything here so much!" + +"Oh, dear child, never give in to such fancies, but pluck up heart. You +will be sure to have luck, wherever you go,--especially since the mother +will give you that holy relic. I myself had a piece of Saint John +Baptist's thumb-nail sewed up in a leather bag, which I wore day and +night all the years I was tramping up and down with my old man; but when +he died, I had it buried with him to ease his soul. For you see, dear, +he was a trooper, and led such a rackety, up-and-down life, that I doubt +but his confessions were but slipshod, and he needed all the help be +could get, poor old soul! It's a comfort to think he has it." + +"Ah, Jocunda, seems to me it were better to trust to the free love of +our dear Lord who died for us, and pray to Him, without ceasing, for his +soul." + +"Like enough, dearie; but then, one can't he too sure, you know. And +there isn't the least doubt in my mind that that was a true relic, for I +got it in the sack of the city of Volterra, out of the private cabinet +of a noble lady, with a lot of jewels and other matters that made quite +a little purse for us. Ah, that was a time, when that city was sacked! +It was hell upon earth for three days, and all our men acted like devils +incarnate; but then they always will in such cases. But go your ways +now, dearie, and I'll stay with your grandmamma; for, please God, you +must be up and away with the sun tomorrow." + +Agnes hastily arranged a little basket of fruit and flowers, and took +her way down through the gorge, under the Roman bridge, through an +orange-orchard, and finally came out upon the sea-shore, and so along +the sands below the cliffs on which the old town of Sorrento is +situated. + +So cheating and inconsistent is the human heart, especially in the +feminine subject, that she had more than once occasion to chide herself +for the thrill with which she remembered passing the Cavalier once in +this orange-garden, and the sort of vague hope which she detected that +somewhere along this road he might appear again. + +"How perfectly wicked and depraved I must be," she said to herself, "to +find any pleasure in such a thought of one I should pray never to meet +again!" + +And so the little soul went on condemning herself in those exaggerated +terms which the religious vocabulary of conventual life furnished +ready-made for the use of penitents of every degree, till by the time +she arrived at the Convent she could scarcely have been more oppressed +with a sense of sin, if she had murdered her grandmother and eloped with +the Cavalier. + +On her arrival in the Convent court, the peaceful and dreamy stillness +contrasted strangely with the gorgeous brightness of the day outside. +The splendid sunshine, the sparkling sea, the songs of the boatmen, the +brisk passage of gliding sails, the bright hues of the flowers that +garlanded the rocks, all seemed as if the earth had been arrayed for +some gala-day; but the moment she had passed the portal, the silent, +mossy court, with its pale marble nymph, its lull of falling water, its +turf snow-dropt with daisies and fragrant with blue and white violets, +and the surrounding cloistered walks, with their pictured figures of +pious history, all came with a sad and soothing influence on her nerves. + +The nuns, who had heard the news of the projected pilgrimage, and +regarded it as the commencement of that saintly career which they had +always predicted for her, crowded around her, kissing her hands and her +robe, and entreating her prayers at different shrines of especial +sanctity that she might visit. + +The Mother Theresa took her to her cell, and there hung round her neck, +by a golden chain, the relic which she designed for her, and of whose +genuineness she appeared to possess no manner of doubt. + +"But how pale you are, my sweet child!" she said. "What has happened to +alter you so much? Your cheeks look so thin, and there are deep, dark +circles round your eyes." + +"Ah, my mother, it is because of my sins." + +"Your sins, dear little one! What sins can you be guilty of?" + +"Ah, my dear mother, I have been false to my Lord, and let the love of +an earthly creature into my heart." + +"What can you mean?" said the mother. + +"Alas, dear mother, the cavalier who sent that ring!" said Agnes, +covering her face with her hands. + +Now the Mother Theresa had never left the walls of that convent since +she was ten years old,--had seen no men except her father and uncle, who +once or twice made her a short call, and an old hunch-back who took care +of their garden, safe in his armor of deformity. Her ideas on the +subject of masculine attractions were, therefore, as vague as might be +the conceptions of the eyeless fishes in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky +with regard to the fruits and flowers above-ground. All that portion of +her womanly nature which might have throbbed lay in a dead calm. Still +there was a faint flutter of curiosity, as she pressed Agnes to tell her +story, which she did with many pauses and sobs and blushes. + +"And is he so very handsome, my little heart?" she said, after +listening. "What makes you love him so much in so little time?" + +"Yes,--he is beautiful as an angel." + +"I never saw a young man, really," said the Mother Theresa. "Uncle +Angelo was lame, and had gray hair; and papa was very fat, and had a red +face. Perhaps he looks like our picture of Saint Sebastian;--I have +often thought that I might be in danger of loving a young man that +looked like him." + +"Oh, he is more beautiful than that picture or any picture!" said Agnes, +fervently; "and, mother, though he is excommunicated, I can't help +feeling that he is as good as he is beautiful. My uncle had strong hopes +that he should restore him to the True Church; and to pray for his soul +I am going on this pilgrimage. Father Francesco says, if I will tear +away and overcome this love, I shall gain so much merit that my prayers +will have power to save his soul. Promise me, dear mother, that you and +all the sisters will help me with your prayers;--help me to work out +this great salvation, and then I shall be so glad to come back here and +spend all my life in prayer!" + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE MOUNTAIN FORTRESS. + + +And so on a bright spring morning our pilgrims started. Whoever has +traversed the road from Sorrento to Naples, that wonderful path along +the high, rocky shores of the Mediterranean, must remember it only as a +wild dream of enchantment. On one side lies the sea, shimmering in bands +of blue, purple, and green to the swaying of gentle winds, exhibiting +those magical shiftings and changes of color peculiar to these waves. +Near the land its waters are of pale, transparent emerald, while farther +out they deepen into blue and thence into a violet-purple, which again, +towards the horizon-line, fades into misty pearl-color. The shores rise +above the sea in wild, bold precipices, grottoed into fantastic caverns +by the action of the waves, and presenting every moment some new variety +of outline. As the path of the traveller winds round promontories whose +mountain-heights are capped by white villages and silvery with +olive-groves, he catches the enchanting sea-view, now at this point, and +now at another, with Naples glimmering through the mists in the +distance, and the purple sides of Vesuvius ever changing with streaks +and veins of cloud-shadows, while silver vapors crown the summit. Above +the road the steep hills seem piled up to the sky,--every spot +terraced, and cultivated with some form of vegetable wealth, and the +wild, untamable rocks garlanded over with golden broom, crimson +gillyflowers, and a thousand other bright adornments. The road lies +through villages whose gardens and orange-orchards fill the air with, +sweet scents, and whose rose-hedges sometimes pour a perfect cascade of +bloom and fragrance over the walls. + +Our travellers started in the dewy freshness of one of those gorgeous +days which seem to cast an illuminating charm over everything. Even old +Elsie's stern features relaxed somewhat under the balmy influences of +sun and sky, and Agnes's young, pale face was lit up with a brighter +color than for many a day before. Their pilgrimage through this +beautiful country had few incidents. They walked in the earlier and +latter parts of the day, reposing a few hours at noon near some fountain +or shrine by the wayside,--often experiencing the kindly veneration of +the simple peasantry, who cheerfully offered them refreshments, and +begged their prayers at the holy places whither they were going. + +In a few days they reached Naples, where they made a little stop with +the hospitable family to whom Jocunda had recommended them. From Naples +their path lay through the Pontine Marshes; and though the malaria makes +this region a word of fear, yet it is no less one of strange, soft, +enchanting beauty. A wide, sea-like expanse, clothed with an abundance +of soft, rich grass, painted with golden bands and streaks of bright +yellow flowers, stretches away to a purple curtain of mountains, whose +romantic outline rises constantly in a thousand new forms of beauty. The +upland at the foot of these mountains is beautifully diversified with +tufts of trees, and the contrast of the purple softness of the distant +hills with the dazzling gold and emerald of the wide meadow-tracts they +inclose is a striking feature in the landscape. Droves of silver-haired +oxen, with their great, dreamy, dark eyes and polished black horns, were +tranquilly feeding knee-deep in the lush, juicy grass, and herds of +buffaloes, uncouth, but harmless, might be seen pasturing or reposing in +the distance. On either side of the way were waving tracts of yellow +fleur-de-lis, and beds of arum, with its arrowy leaves and white +blossoms. It was a wild luxuriance of growth, a dreamy stillness of +solitude, so lovely that one could scarce remember that it was deadly. + +Elsie was so impressed with the fear of the malaria, that she trafficked +with an honest peasant, who had been hired to take back to Rome the +horses which had been used to convey part of the suite of a nobleman +travelling to Naples, to give them a quicker passage across than they +could have made on foot. It is true that this was quite contrary to the +wishes of Agnes, who felt that the journey ought to be performed in the +most toilsome and self-renouncing way, and that they should trust solely +to prayer and spiritual protection to ward off the pestilential +exhalations. + +In vain she quoted the Psalm, "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror +by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence +that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at +noon-day," and adduced cases of saints who had walked unhurt through all +sorts of dangers. + +"There's no use talking, child," said Elsie. "I'm older than you, and +have seen more of real men and women; and whatever they did in old +times, I know that nowadays the saints don't help those that don't take +care of themselves; and the long and the short of it is, we must ride +across those marshes, and get out of them as quick as possible, or we +shall get into Paradise quicker than we want to." + +In common with many other professing Christians, Elsie felt that going +to Paradise was the very dismallest of alternatives,--a thing to be +staved off as long as possible. + +After many days of journeying, the travellers, somewhat weary and +foot-sore, found themselves in a sombre and lonely dell of the +mountains, about an hour before the going down of the sun. The slanting +yellow beams turned to silvery brightness the ashy foliage of the +gnarled old olives, which gaunt and weird clung with their great, +knotty, straggling roots to the rocky mountain-sides. Before them, the +path, stony, steep, and winding, was rising upward and still upward, and +no shelter for the night appeared, except in a distant mountaintown, +which, perched airily as an eagle's nest on its hazy height, reflected +from the dome of its church and its half-ruined old feudal tower, the +golden light of sunset. A drowsy-toned bell was ringing out the Ave +Maria over the wide purple solitude of mountains, whose varying outlines +were rising around. + +"You are tired, my little heart," said old Elsie to Agnes, who had +drooped during a longer walk than usual. + +"No, grandmamma," said Agnes, sinking on her knees to repeat her evening +prayer, which she did, covering her face with her hands. + +Old Elsie kneeled too; but, as she was praying,--being a thrifty old +body in the use of her time,--she cast an eye up the steep mountain-path +and calculated the distance of the little airy village. Just at that +moment she saw two or three horsemen, who appeared to be stealthily +observing them from behind the shadow of some large rocks. + +When their devotions were finished, she hurried on her grandchild, +saying,-- + +"Come, dearie! it must be we shall find a shelter soon." + +The horsemen now rode up behind them. + +"Good evening, mother!" said one of them, speaking from under the shadow +of a deeply slouched hat. + +Elsie made no reply, but hurried forward. + +"Good evening, pretty maid!" he said again, riding still nearer. + +"Go your ways in the name of God," said Elsie. "We are pilgrims, going +for our souls to Rome; and whoever hinders us will have the saints to +deal with." + +"Who talks of hindering you, mother?" responded the other. "On the +contrary, we come for the express purpose of helping you along." + +"We want none of your help," said Elsie, gruffly. + +"See, now, how foolish you are!" said the horseman. "Don't you see that +that town is a good seven miles off, and not a bit of bed or supper to +be had till you get there, and the sun will be down soon? So mount up +behind me, and here is a horse for the little one." + +In fact, the horsemen at this moment opening disclosed to view a palfrey +with a lady's saddle, richly caparisoned, as if for a person of +condition. With a sudden movement, two of the men dismounted, confronted +the travellers, and the one who had acted as spokesman, approaching +Agnes, said, in a tone somewhat imperative,-- + +"Come, young lady, it is our master's will that your poor little feet +should have some rest." + +And before Agnes could remonstrate, he raised her into the saddle as +easily as if she had been a puff of thistle-down, and then turning to +Elsie, he said,-- + +"For you, good mother, if you wish to keep up, you must e'en be content +with a seat behind me." + +"Who are you? and how dare you?" said Elsie, indignantly. + +"Good mother," said the man, "you see God's will is that you should +submit, because we are four to you two, and there are fifty more within +call. So get up without more words, and I swear by the Holy Virgin no +harm shall be done you." + +Elsie looked and saw Agnes already some distance before her, the bridle +of her palfrey being held by one of the horsemen, who rode by her side +and seemed to look after her carefully; and so, without more ado, she +accepted the services of the man, and, placing her foot on the toe of +his riding-boot, mounted to the crupper behind him. + +"That is right," said he. "Now hold on to me lustily, and be not +afraid." + +So saying, the whole troop began winding as rapidly as possible up the +steep, rocky path to the mountain-town. + +Notwithstanding the surprise and alarm of this most unexpected +adventure, Agnes, who had been at the very point of exhaustion from +fatigue, could not but feel the sensation of relief and repose which the +seat in an easy saddle gave her. The mountain air, as they arose, +breathed fresh and cold on her brow, and a prospect of such wondrous +beauty unrolled beneath her feet that her alarm soon became lost in +admiration. The mountains that rose everywhere around them seemed to +float in a transparent sea of luminous vapor, with olive-orchards and +well-tilled fields lying in far, dreamy distances below, while out +towards the horizon silver gleams of the Mediterranean gradually widened +to the view. Soothed by the hour, refreshed by the air, and filled with +admiration for the beauty of all she saw, she surrendered herself to her +situation with a feeling of solemn religious calm, as to some unfolding +of the Divine Will, which might unroll like the landscape beneath her. +They pursued their way in silence, rising higher and higher out of the +shadows of the deep valleys below, the man who conducted them observing +a strict reserve, but seeming to have a care for their welfare. + +The twilight yet burned red in the sky, and painted with solemn lights +the mossy walls of the little old town, as they plunged under a sombre +antique gateway, and entered on a street as damp and dark as a cellar, +which went up almost perpendicularly between tall, black stone walls +that seemed to have neither windows nor doors. Agnes could only remember +clambering upward, turning short corners, clattering down steep stone +steps, under low archways, along narrow, ill-smelling passages, where +the light that seemed so clear without the town was almost extinguished +in utter night. + +At last they entered the damp court of a huge, irregular pile of stone +buildings. Here the men suddenly drew up, and Agnes's conductor, +dismounting, came and took her silently from her saddle, saying briefly, +"Come this way." + +Elsie sprang from her seat in a moment, and placed herself at the side +of her child. + +"No, good mother," said the man with whom she had ridden, seizing her +powerfully by the shoulders, and turning her round. + +"What do you mean?" said Elsie, fiercely. "Are you going to keep me from +my own child?" + +"Patience!" replied the man. "You can't help yourself, so recommend +yourself to God, and no harm shall come to you." + +Agnes looked back at her grandmother. + +"Fear not, dear grandmamma," she said, "the blessed angels will watch +over us." + +As she spoke, she followed her conductor through long, damp, mouldering +passages and up flights of stone steps, and again through other long +passages smelling of mould and damp, till at last he opened the door of +an apartment from which streamed a light so dazzling to the eyes of +Agnes that at first she could form no distinct conception as to where +she was. + +As soon as her eyesight cleared, she found herself in an apartment which +to her simplicity seemed furnished with an unheard-of luxury. The walls +were richly frescoed and gilded, and from a chandelier of Venetian glass +the light fell upon a foot-cloth of brilliant tapestry which covered the +marble floor. Gilded chairs and couches, covered with the softest +Genoese velvet, invited to repose; while tables inlaid with choice +mosaics stood here and there, sustaining rare vases, musical +instruments, and many of the light, fanciful ornaments with which, in +those days, the halls of women of condition were graced. At one end of +the apartment was an alcove, where the rich velvet curtains were looped +away with heavy cords and tassels of gold, displaying a smaller room, +where was a bed with hangings of crimson satin embroidered with gold. + +Agnes stood petrified with amazement, and put her hand to her head, as +if to assure herself by the sense of touch that she was not dreaming, +and then, with an impulse of curious wonder, began examining the +apartment. The rich furniture and the many adornments, though only such +as were common in the daily life of the great at that period, had for +her simple eyes all the marvellousness of the most incredible illusion. +She touched the velvet couches almost with fear, and passed from object +to object in a sort of maze. When she arrived at the alcove, she thought +she heard a slight rustling within, and then a smothered laugh. Her +heart beat quick as she stopped to listen. There was a tittering sound, +and a movement as if some one were shaking the curtain, and at last +Giulietta stood in the doorway. + +For a moment Agnes stood looking at her in utter bewilderment. Yes, +surely it was Giulietta, dressed out in all the bravery of splendid +apparel, her black hair shining and lustrous, great solid ear-rings of +gold shaking in her ears, and a row of gold coins displayed around her +neck. + +She broke into a loud laugh at the sight of Agnes's astonished face. + +"So, here you are!" she said, "Well, now, didn't I tell you so? You see +he was in love with you, just as I said; and if you wouldn't come to him +of your own accord, he must fly off with you." + +"Oh, Giulietta!" said Agnes, springing towards her and catching her +hands, "what does all this mean? and where have they carried poor +grandmamma?" + +"Oh, never worry about her! Do you know you are in high favor here, and +any one who belongs to you gets good quarters? Your grandmother just now +is at supper, I doubt not, with my mother; and a jolly time they will +have of it, gossiping together." + +"Your mother here, too?" + +"Yes, simple, to be sure! I found it so much easier living here than in +the old town that I sent for her, that she might have peace in her old +age.--But how do you like your room? Were you not astonished to see it +so brave? Know, then, pretty one, that it is all on account of the good +courage of our band. For, you see, the people there in Rome (we won't +say who) had given away all our captain's lands and palaces and villas +to this one and that, as pleased them; and one pretty little villa in +the mountains not far from here went to a stout old cardinal. What does +a band of our men do, one night, but pounce on old red-hat and tie him +up, while they helped themselves to what they liked through the house? +True, they couldn't bring house and all; but they brought stores of rich +furnishing, and left him thanking the saints that he was yet alive. So +we arranged your rooms right nobly, thinking to please our captain when +he comes. If you are not pleased, you will be ungrateful, that's all." + +"Giulietta," said Agnes, who had scarcely seemed to listen to this +prattle, so anxious was she to speak of what lay nearest her heart, "I +want to see grandmamma. Can't you bring her to me?" + +"No, my little princess, I can't. Do you know you are my mistress now? +Well, you are; but there's one that's master of us both, and he says +none must speak with you till he has seen you." + +"And is he here?" + +"No, he has been some time gone Northward, and has not returned,-- +though we expect him to-night. So compose yourself, and ask for anything +in the world, but to see your grandmother, and I will show that I am +your humble servant to command." + +So saying, Giulietta curtsied archly and laughed, showing her white, +shiny teeth, which looked as bright as pearls. + +Agnes sat down on one of the velvet couches and leaned her head on her +hand. + +"Come, now, let me bring you some supper," said Giulietta. "What say you +to a nice roast fowl and a bottle of wine?" + +"How can you speak of such things in the holy time of Lent?" said Agnes. + +"Oh, never you fear about that! Our holy Father Stefano sets such +matters right for any of us in a twinkling, and especially would he do +it for you." + +"Oh, but, Giulietta, I don't want anything. I couldn't eat, if I were to +try." + +"Ta, ta, ta!" said Giulietta, going out. "Wait till you smell it. I +shall be back in a little while." + +And she left the room, locking the door after her. + +In a few moments she returned, bearing a rich silver tray, on which was +a covered dish that steamed a refreshing odor, together with a roll of +white bread, and a small glass _flacon_ containing a little choice +wine. + +By much entreaty and coaxing, Agnes was induced to partake of the bread, +enough to revive her somewhat after the toils of the day; and then, a +little reassured by the familiar presence of Giulietta, she began to +undress, her former companion officiously assisting her. + +"There, now, you are tired, my lady princess," she said. "I'll unlace +your bodice. One of these days your gowns will be all of silk, and stiff +with gold and pearls." + +"Oh, Giulietta," said Agnes, "don't!--let me,--I don't need help." + +"Ta, ta, ta!--you must learn to be waited on," said Giulietta, +persisting. "But, Holy Virgin! what is the matter here? Oh, Agnes, what +are you doing to yourself?" + +"It's a penance, Giulietta," said Agnes, her face flushing. + +"Well, I should think it was! Father Francesco ought to be ashamed of +himself; he is a real butcher!" + +"He does it to save my soul, Giulietta. The cross of our Lord without +will heal a deadly wound within." + +In her heart, Giulietta had somewhat of secret reverence for such +austerities, which the whole instruction of her time and country taught +her to regard as especially saintly. People who live in the senses more +than in the world of reflection feel the force of such outward appeals. +Giulietta made the sign of the cross, and looked grave for several +minutes. + +"Poor little dove!" she said at last, "if your sins must needs be +expiated so, what will become of me? It must be that you will lay up +stores of merit with God; for surely your sins do not need _all_ +this. Agnes, you will be a saint some day, like your namesake at the +Convent, I truly do believe." + +"Oh, no, no, Giulietta! don't talk so! God knows I wrestle with +forbidden thoughts all the while. I am no saint, but the chief of +sinners." + +"That's what the saints all say," said Giulietta. "But, my dear +princess, when _he_ comes, he will forbid this; he is lordly, and +will not suffer his little wife"-- + +"Giulietta, don't speak so,--I cannot hear it,--I must not be his +wife,--I am vowed to be the spouse of the Lord." + +"And yet you love our handsome prince," said Giulietta; "and there is +the great sin you are breaking your little heart about. Well, now, it's +all of that dry, sour old Father Francesco. I never could abide him,--he +made such dismal pother about sin; old Father Girolamo was worth a dozen +of him. If you would just see our good Father Stefano, now, he would set +your mind at ease about your vows in a twinkling; and you must needs get +them loosed, for our captain is born to command, and when princes stoop +to us peasant-girls it isn't for us to say nay. It's being good as Saint +Michael himself for him to think of you only in the holy way of +marriage. I'll warrant me, there's many a lord cardinal at Rome that +isn't so good; and as to princes, he is one of a thousand, a most holy +and religious knight, or he would do as others do when they have the +power." + +Agnes, confused and agitated, turned away, and, as if seeking refuge, +laid her down in the bed, looking timidly up at the unwonted +splendor,--and then, hiding her face in the pillow, began repeating a +prayer. + +Giulietta sat by her a moment, till she felt, from the relaxing of the +little hand, that the reaction of fatigue and intense excitement was +beginning to take place. Nature would assert her rights, and the heavy +curtain of sleep fell on the weary little head. Quietly extinguishing +the lights, Giulietta left the room, locking the door. + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE CRISIS. + + +Agnes was so entirely exhausted with bodily fatigue and mental agitation +that she slept soundly till awakened by the beams of the morning sun. +Her first glance up at the gold-embroidered curtains of her bed +occasioned a bewildered surprise;--she raised herself and looked around, +slowly recovering her consciousness and the memory of the strange event +which had placed her where she was. She rose hastily and went to the +window to look out. This window was in a kind of circular tower +projecting from the side of the building, such as one often sees in old +Norman architecture;--it overhung not only a wall of dizzy height, but +a precipice with a sheer descent of some thousand feet; and far below, +spread out like a map in the distance, lay a prospect of enchanting +richness. The eye might wander over orchards of silvery olives, +plantations with their rows of mulberry-trees supporting the vines, now +in the first tender spring green, scarlet fields of clover, and patches +where the young corn was just showing its waving blades above the brown +soil. Here and there rose tufts of stone-pines with their dark +umbrella-tops towering above all other foliage, while far off in the +blue distance a silvery belt of glittering spangles showed where the sea +closed in the horizon-line. So high was the perch, so distant and dreamy +the prospect, that Agues felt a sensation of giddiness, as if she were +suspended over it in the air,--and turned away from the window, to look +again at what seemed to her the surprising and unheard-of splendors of +the apartment. There lay her simple peasant garb, on the rich velvet +couch,--a strange sight in the midst of so much luxury. Having dressed +herself, she sat down, and, covering her face with her hands, tried to +reflect calmly on the position in which she was placed. + +With the education she had received, she could look on this strange +interruption of her pilgrimage only as a special assault upon her faith, +instigated by those evil spirits that are ever setting themselves in +conflict with the just. Such trials had befallen saints of whom she had +read. They had been assailed by visions of worldly ease and luxury +suddenly presented before them, for which they were tempted to deny +their faith and sell their souls. Was it not, perhaps, as a punishment +for having admitted the love of an excommunicated heretic into her +heart, that this sore trial had been permitted to come upon her? And if +she should fail? She shuddered, when she recalled the severe and +terrible manner in which Father Francesco had warned her against +yielding to the solicitations of an earthly love. To her it seemed as if +that holy man must have been inspired with a prophetic foresight of her +present position, and warned her against it. Those awful words came +burning into her mind as when they seemed to issue like the voice of a +spirit from the depths of the confessional:--"_If ever you should +yield to his love, and turn back from this heavenly marriage to follow +him, you will accomplish his damnation and your own_." + +Agnes trembled in an agony of real belief, and with a vivid terror of +the world to come such as belonged to the almost physical certainty with +which the religious teaching of her time presented it to the popular +mind. Was she, indeed, the cause of such awful danger to his soul? Might +a false step now, a faltering human weakness, indeed plunge that soul, +so dear, into a fiery abyss without bottom or shore? Should she forever +hear his shrieks of torture and despair, his curses on the hour he had +first known her? Her very blood curdled, her nerves froze, as she +thought of it, and she threw herself on her knees and prayed with an +anguish that brought the sweat in beaded drops to her forehead,--strange +dew for so frail a lily!--and her prayer rose above all intercession of +saints, above the seat even of the Virgin Mother herself, to the heart +of her Redeemer, to Him who some divine instinct told her was alone +mighty to save. We of the present day may look on her distress as +unreal, as the result of a misguided sense of religious obligation; but +the great Hearer of Prayer regards each heart in its own scope of +vision, and helps not less the mistaken than the enlightened distress. +And for that matter, who is enlightened? who carries to God's throne a +trouble or a temptation in which there is _not_ somewhere a +misconception or a mistake? + +And so it came to pass. Agnes rose from prayer with an experience which +has been common to the members of the True Invisible Church, whether +Catholic, Greek, or Protestant. "In the day when I cried Thou answeredst +me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." She had that vivid +sense of the sustaining presence and sympathy of an Almighty Saviour +which is the substance of which all religious forms and appliances are +the shadows; her soul was stayed on God, and was at peace, as truly as +if she had been the veriest Puritan maiden that ever worshipped in a +New-England meeting-house. She felt a calm superiority to all things +earthly,--a profound reliance on that invisible aid which comes from God +alone. + +She was standing at her window, deep in thought, when Giulietta +entered,--fresh and blooming,--bearing the breakfast-tray. + +"Come, my little princess, here I am," she said, "with your breakfast! +How do you find yourself, this morning?" + +Agnes came towards her. + +"Bless us, how grave we are!" said Giulietta. "What has come over us?" + +"Giulietta, have you seen poor grandmamma this morning?" + +"Poor grandmamma!" said Giulietta, mimicking the sad tone in which Agnes +spoke,--"to be sure I have. I left her making a hearty breakfast. So +fall to, and do the same,--for you don't know who may come to see you +this morning." + +"Giulietta, is he here?" + +"He!" said Giulietta, laughing. "Do hear the little bird! It begins to +chirp already! No, he is not here yet; but Pietro says he will come +soon, and Pietro knows all his movements." + +"Pietro is your husband?" said Agnes, inquiringly. + +"Yes, to be sure,--and a pretty good one, too, as men go," said +Giulietta. "They are sorry bargains, the best of them. But you'll get a +prize, if you play your cards well. Do you know that the King of Naples +and the King of France have both sent messages to our captain? Our men +hold all the passes between Rome and Naples, and so every one sees the +sense of gaining our captain's favor. But eat your breakfast, little +one, while I go and see to Pietro and the men." + +So saying, she bustled out of the room, locking the door behind her. + +Agnes took a little bread and water,--resolved to fast and pray, as the +only defence against the danger in which she stood. + +After breakfasting, she retired into the inner room, and, opening the +window, sat down and looked out on the prospect, and then, in a low +voice, began singing a hymn of Savonarola's, which had been taught her +by her uncle. It was entitled "Christ's Call to the Soul." The words +were conceived in that tender spirit of mystical devotion which +characterizes all this class of productions. + + "Fair soul, created in the primal hour, + Once pure and grand, + And for whose sake I left my throne and power + At God's right hand, + By this sad heart pierced through because I loved thee, + Let love and mercy to contrition move thee! + + "Cast off the sins thy holy beauty veiling, + Spirit divine! + Vain against thee the hosts of hell assailing: + My strength is thine! + Drink from my side the cup of life immortal, + And love will lead thee back to heaven's portal! + + "I, for thy sake, was pierced with many sorrows, + And bore the cross, + Yet heeded not the galling of the arrows, + The shame and loss. + So faint not thou, whate'er the burden be: + But bear it bravely, even to Calvary!" + +While Agnes was singing, the door of the outer room was slowly opened, +and Agostino Sarelli entered. He had just returned from Florence, having +ridden day and night to meet her whom he expected to find within the +walls of his fastness. + +He entered so softly that Agnes did not hear his approach, and he stood +listening to her singing. He had come back with his mind burning with +indignation against the Pope and the whole hierarchy then ruling in +Rome; but conversation with Father Antonio and the scenes he had +witnessed at San Marco had converted the blind sense of personal wrong +into a fixed principle of moral indignation and opposition. He no longer +found himself checked by the pleading of his early religious +recollections; for now he had a leader who realized in his own person +all his conceptions of those primitive apostles and holy bishops who +first fed the flock of the Lord in Italy. He had heard from his lips the +fearless declaration, "If Rome is against me, know that it is not +contrary to me, but to Christ, and its controversy is with God: doubt +not that God will conquer"; and he embraced the cause with all the +enthusiasm of patriotism and knighthood. In his view, the most holy +place of his religion had been taken by a robber, who reigned in the +name of Christ only to disgrace it; and he felt called to pledge his +sword, his life, his knightly honor to do battle against him. He had +urged his uncle in Milan to make interest for the cause of Savonarola +with the King of France; and his uncle, with that crafty diplomacy which +in those days formed the staple of what was called statesmanship, had +seemed to listen favorably to his views,--intending, however, no more by +his apparent assent than to withdraw his nephew from the dangers in +which he stood in Italy, and bring him under his own influence and +guardianship in the court of France. But the wily diplomate had sent +Agostino Sarelli from his presence with the highest possible +expectations of his influence both with the King of France and the +Emperor of Germany in the present religious crisis in Italy. + +And now the time was come, Agostino thought, to break the spell under +which Agnes was held,--to show her the true character of the men whom +she was beholding through a mist of veneration arising entirely from the +dewy freshness of ignorant innocence. All the way home from Florence he +had urged his horse onward, burning to meet her, to tell her all that he +knew and felt, to claim her as his own, and to take her into the sphere +of light and liberty in which he himself moved. He did not doubt his +power, when she should once be where he could speak with her freely, +without fear of interruption. Hers was a soul too good and pure, he +said, to be kept in chains of slavish ignorance any longer. When she +ceased singing, he spoke from the outer apartment,--"Agnes!" + +The name was uttered in the softest tone, but it sent the blood to her +heart, as if it were the summons of doom. Everything seemed to swim +before her, and grow dark for a moment; but by a strong effort she +lifted her heart in prayer, and, rising, came towards him. + +Agostino had figured her to himself in all that soft and sacred +innocence and freshness of bloom in which he had left her, a fair angel +child, looking through sad, innocent eyes on a life whose sins and +sorrows, and deeper loves and hates, she scarcely comprehended,--one +that he might fold in his arms with protecting tenderness, while he +gently reasoned with her fears and prejudices; but the figure that stood +there in the curtained arch, with its solemn, calm, transparent paleness +of face, its large, intense dark eyes, now vivid with some mysterious +and concentrated resolve, struck a strange chill over him. Was it Agnes +or a disembodied spirit that stood before him? For a few moments there +fell such a pause between them as the intensity of some unexpressed +feeling often brings with it, and which seems like a spell. + +"Agnes! Agnes! is it you?" at last said the knight, in a low, hesitating +tone. "Oh, my love, what has changed you so? Speak!--do speak! Are you +angry with me? Are you angry that I brought you here?" + +"My Lord, I am not angry," said Agnes, speaking in a cold, sad tone; +"but you have committed a great sin in turning aside those vowed to a +holy pilgrimage, and you tempt me to sin by this conversation, which +ought not to be between us." + +"Why not?" said Agostino. "You would not see me at Sorrento. I sought to +warn you of the dangers of this pilgrimage,--to tell you that Rome is +not what you think it is,--that it is not the seat of Christ, but a foul +cage of unclean birds, a den of wickedness,--that he they call Pope is a +vile impostor"-- + +"My Lord," said Agnes, speaking with a touch of something even +commanding in her tone, "you have me at advantage, it is true, but you +ought not to use it in trying to ruin my soul by blaspheming holy +things." And then she added, in a tone of indescribable sadness, "Alas, +that so noble and beautiful a soul should be in rebellion against the +only True Church! Have you forgotten that good mother you spoke of? What +must she feel to know that her son is an infidel!" + +"I am not an infidel, Agnes; I am a true knight of our Lord and Saviour +Jesus Christ, and a believer in the One True, Holy Church." + +"How can that be?" said Agnes. "Ah, seek not to deceive me! My Lord, +such a poor little girl as I am is not worth the pains." + +"By the Holy Mother, Agnes, by the Holy Cross, I do not seek to deceive +you! I speak on my honor as a knight and gentleman. I love you truly and +honorably, and seek you among all women as my spotless wife, and would I +lie to _you_?" + +"My Lord, you have spoken words which it is a sin for me to hear, a +peril to your soul to say; and if you had not, you must not seek me as a +wife. Holy vows are upon me. I must be the wife of no man here; it is a +sin even to think of it." + +"Impossible, Agnes!" said Agostino, with a start. "You have not taken +the veil already? If you had"-- + +"No, my Lord, I have not. I have only promised and vowed in my heart to +do so when the Lord shall open the way." + +"But such vows, dear Agnes, are often dispensed; they may be loosed by +the priest. Now hear me,--only hear me. I believe as your uncle +believes,--your good, pious uncle, whom you love so much. I have taken +the sacrament from his hand; he has blessed me as a son. I believe as +Jerome Savonarola believes. He it is, that holy prophet, who has +proclaimed this Pope and his crew to be vile usurpers, reigning in the +name of Christ." + +"My Lord! my Lord! I must not hear more! I must not,--I cannot,--I will +not!" said Agnes, becoming violently agitated, as she found herself +listening with interest to the pleadings of her lover. + +"Oh, Agnes, what has turned your heart against me? I thought you +promised to love me a little?" + +"Oh, hush! hush! don't plead with me!" she said, with a wild, affrighted +look. + +He sought to come towards her, and she sprang forward and threw herself +at his feet. + +"Oh, my Lord, for mercy's sake let me go! Let us go on our way! We will +pray for you always,--yes, always!" And she looked up at him in an agony +of earnestness. + +"Am I so hateful to you, then, Agnes?" + +"Hateful? Oh, no, no! God knows you are--I--I--yes, I love you too well, +and you have too much power over me; but, oh, do not use it! If I hear +you talk, I shall yield,--I surely shall, and we shall be lost, both of +us! Oh, my God! I shall be the means of your damnation!" + +"Agnes!" + +"It is true! it is true! Oh, do not talk to me, but promise me, promise +me, or I shall die! Have pity on me! have pity on yourself!" + +In the agony of her feelings her voice became almost a shriek, and her +wild, affrighted face had a deadly pallor; she looked like one in a +death-agony. Agostino was alarmed, and hastened to soothe her, by +promising whatever she required. + +"Agnes, dear Agnes, I submit; only be calm. I promise +anything,--anything in the wide world you can ask." + +"Will you let me go?" + +"Yes." + +"And will you let my poor grandmamma go with me?" + +"Yes." + +"And you will not talk with me any more?" + +"Not if you do not wish it. And now," he said, "that I have submitted to +all these hard conditions, will you suffer me to raise you?" + +He took her hands and lifted her up; they were cold, and she was +trembling and shivering. He held them a moment; she tried to withdraw +them, and he let them go. + +"Farewell, Agnes!" he said. "I am going." + +She raised both her hands and pressed the sharp cross to her bosom, but +made no answer. + +"I yield to your will," he continued. "Immediately when I leave you, +your grandmother will come to you, and the attendants who brought you +here will conduct you to the high-road. For me, since it is your will, I +part here. Farewell, Agnes!" + +He held out his hand, but she stood as before, pale and silent, with her +hands clasped on her breast. + +"Do your vows forbid even a farewell to a poor, humble friend?" said the +knight, in a low tone. + +"I cannot," said Agnes, speaking at broken intervals, in a suffocating +voice,--"for _your_ sake I cannot! I bear this pain for you,--for +_you_! Oh, repent, and meet me in heaven!" + +She gave him her hand; he kneeled and kissed it, pressed it to his +forehead, then rose and left the room. + +For a moment after the departure of the Cavalier, Agnes felt a bitter +pang,--the pain which one feels on first realizing that a dear friend +is lost forever; and then, rousing herself with a start and a sigh, she +hurried into the inner room and threw herself on her knees, giving +thanks that the dreadful trial was past and that she had not been left +to fail. + +In a few moments she heard the voice of her grandmother in the outer +apartment, and the old wrinkled creature clasped her grandchild in her +arms, and wept with a passionate abandonment of fondness, calling her by +every tender and endearing name which mothers give to their infants. + +"After all," said Elsie, "these are not such bad people, and I have been +right well entertained among them. They are of ourselves,--they do not +prey on the poor, but only on our enemies, the princes and nobles, who +look on us as sheep to be shorn and slaughtered for their wearing and +eating. These men are none such, but pitiful to poor peasants and old +widows, whom they feed and clothe out of the spoils of the rich. As to +their captain,--would you believe it?--he is the same handsome gentleman +who once gave you a ring,--you may have forgotten him, as you never +think of such things, but I knew him in a moment,--and such a religious +man, that no sooner did he find that we were pilgrims on a holy errand +than he gave orders to have us set free with all honor, and a band of +the best of them to escort us through the mountains; and the people of +the town are all moved to do us reverence, and coming with garlands and +flowers to wish us well and ask our prayers. So let us set forth +immediately." + +Agnes followed her grandmother through the long passages and down the +dark, mouldy stair-way to the court-yard, where two horses were standing +caparisoned for them. A troop of men in high peaked hats, cloaked and +plumed, were preparing also to mount, while a throng of women and +children stood pressing around. When Agnes appeared, enthusiastic cries +were heard: "_Viva Jesù!_" "_Viva Maria!_" "_Viva! viva +Jesù! nostro Rè!_" and showers of myrtle-branches and garlands fell +around. "Pray for us!" "Pray for us, holy pilgrims!" was uttered eagerly +by one and another. Mothers held up their children; and beggars and +cripples, aged and sick,--never absent in an Italian town,--joined with +loud cries in the general enthusiasm. Agnes stood amid it all, pale and +serene, with that elevated expression of heavenly calm on her features +which is often the clear shining of the soul after the wrench and +torture of some great interior conflict. She felt that the last earthly +chain was broken, and that now she belonged to Heaven alone. She +scarcely saw or heard what was around her, wrapt in the calm of inward +prayer. + +"Look at her! she is beautiful as the Madonna!" said one and another, +"She is divine as Santa Catarina!" said others. "She might have been the +wife of our chief, who is a nobleman of the oldest blood, but she chose +to be the bride of the Lord," said others: for Giulietta, with a woman's +love of romancing, had not failed to make the most among her companions +of the love-adventures of Agnes. + +Agnes meanwhile was seated on her palfrey, and the whole train passed +out of the court-yard into the dim, narrow street,--men, women, and +children following. On reaching the public square, they halted a moment +by the side of the antique fountain to water their horses. The groups +that surrounded it at this time were such as a painter would have +delighted to copy. The women and girls of this obscure mountain-town had +all that peculiar beauty of form and attitude which appears in the +studies of the antique; and as they poised on their heads their copper +water-jars of the old Etruscan pattern, they seemed as if they might be +statues of golden bronze, had not the warm tints of their complexion, +the brilliancy of their large eyes, and the bright, picturesque colors +of their attire given the richness of painting to their classic +outlines. Then, too, the men, with their finely-moulded limbs, their +figures so straight and strong and elastic, their graceful attitudes, +and their well-fitting, showy costumes, formed a no less imposing +feature in the scene. Among them all sat Agnes waiting on her palfrey, +seeming scarcely conscious of the enthusiasm which surrounded her. Some +admiring friend had placed in her hand a large bough of blossoming +hawthorn,--which she held unconsciously, as, with a sort of childlike +simplicity, she turned from right to left, to make reply to the request +for prayers, or to return thanks for the offered benediction of some one +in the crowd. + +When all the preparations were at last finished, the procession of +mounted horsemen, with a confused gathering of the population, passed +down the streets to the gates of the city, and as they passed they sang +the words of the Crusaders' Hymn, which had fluttered back into the +traditionary memory of Europe from the knights going to redeem the Holy +Sepulchre. + + "Fairest Lord Jesus, + Ruler of all Nature, + O Thou of God and man the Son! + Thee will I honor, + Thee will I cherish, + Thou, my soul's glory, joy, and crown! + + "Fair are the meadows, + Fairer still the woodlands, + Robed in the pleasing garb of spring: + Jesus shines fairer, + Jesus is purer + Who makes the woful heart to sing! + + "Fair is the sunshine, + Fairer still the moonlight, + And all the twinkling starry host; + Jesus shines fairer, + Jesus is purer, + Than all the angels heaven can boast!" + +They were singing the second verse, as, emerging from the dark old +gate-way of the town, all the distant landscape of silvery +olive-orchards, crimson clover-fields, blossoming almond-trees, +fig-trees, and grape-vines, just in the tender green of spring, burst +upon their view. Agnes felt a kind of inspiration. From the high +mountain elevation she could discern the far-off brightness of the sea-- +all between one vision of beauty,--and the religious enthusiasm which +possessed all around her had in her eye all the value of the most solid +and reasonable faith. With us, who may look on it from a colder and more +distant point of view, doubts may be suggested whether this _naïve_ +impressibility to religious influences, this simple, whole-hearted +abandonment to their expression, had any real practical value. The fact +that any or all of the actors might before night rob or stab or lie +quite as freely as if it has not occurred may well give reason for such +a question. Be this as it may, the phenomenon is not confined to Italy +or the religion of the Middle Ages, but exhibits itself in many a +prayer-meeting and camp-meeting of modern days. For our own part, we +hold it better to have even transient upliftings of the nobler and more +devout element of man's nature than never to have any at all, and that +he who goes on in worldly and sordid courses, without ever a spark of +religious enthusiasm or a throb of aspiration, is less of a man than he +who sometimes soars heavenward, though his wings be weak and he fall +again. + +In all this scene Agostino Sarelli took no part. He had simply given +orders for the safe-conduct of Agnes, and then retired to his own room. +From a window, however, he watched the procession as it passed through +the gates of the city, and his resolution was immediately taken to +proceed at once by a secret path to the place where the pilgrims should +emerge upon the high-road. + +He had been induced to allow the departure of Agnes, from seeing the +utter hopelessness by any argument or persuasion of removing a barrier +that was so vitally interwoven with the most sensitive religious nerves +of her being. He saw in her terrified looks, in the deadly paleness of +her face, how real and unaffected was the anguish which his words gave +her; he saw that the very consciousness of her own love to him produced +a sense of weakness which made her shrink in utter terror from his +arguments. + +"There is no remedy," he said, "but to let her go to Rome and see with +her own eyes how utterly false and vain is the vision which she draws +from the purity of her own believing soul. What Christian would not wish +that these fair dreams had any earthly reality? But this gentle dove +must not be left unprotected to fly into that foul, unclean cage of +vultures and harpies. Deadly as the peril may be to me to breathe the +air of Rome, I will be around her invisibly to watch over her." + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +ROME. + + +A vision rises upon us from the land of shadows. We see a wide plain, +miles and miles in extent, rolling in soft billows of green, and girded +on all sides by blue mountains, whose silver crests gleaming in the +setting sunlight tell that the winter yet lingers on their tops, though +spring has decked all the plain. So silent, so lonely, so fair is this +waving expanse with its guardian mountains, it might be some wild +solitude, an American prairie or Asiatic steppe, but that in the midst +thereof, on some billows of rolling land, we discern a city, sombre, +quaint, and old,--a city of dreams and mysteries,--a city of the living +and the dead. And this is Rome,--weird, wonderful, ancient, mighty +Rome,--mighty once by physical force and grandeur, mightier now in +physical decadence and weakness by the spell of a potent moral +enchantment. + +As the sun is moving westward, the whole air around becomes flooded with +a luminousness which seems to transfuse itself with pervading presence +through every part of the city, and make all its ruinous and mossy age +bright and living. The air shivers with the silver vibrations of +hundreds of bells, and the evening glory goes up and down, soft-footed +and angelic, transfiguring all things. The broken columns of the Forum +seem to swim in golden mist, and luminous floods fill the Coliseum as it +stands with its thousand arches looking out into the city like so many +sightless eye-holes in the skull of the past. The tender light pours up +streets dank and ill-paved,--into noisome and cavernous dens called +houses, where the peasantry of to-day vegetate in contented +subservience. It illuminates many a dingy court-yard, where the moss is +green on the walls, and gurgling fountains fall into quaint old +sculptured basins. It lights up the gorgeous palaces of Rome's modern +princes, built with stones wrenched from ancient ruins. It streams +through a wilderness of churches, each with its tolling prayer-bell, and +steals through painted windows into the dazzling confusion of pictured +and gilded glories that glitter and gleam from roof and wall within. And +it goes, too, across the Tiber, up the filthy and noisome Ghetto, where, +hemmed in by ghostly superstition, the sons of Israel are growing up +without vital day, like wan white plants in cellars; and the black +mournful obelisks of the cypresses in the villas around, it touches with +a solemn glory. The castle of St. Angelo looks like a great translucent, +luminous orb, and the statues of saints and apostles on the top of St. +John Lateran glow as if made of living fire, and seem to stretch out +glorified hands of welcome to the pilgrims that are approaching the Holy +City across the soft, palpitating sea of green that lies stretched like +a misty veil around it. + +Then, as now, Rome was an enchantress of mighty and wonderful power, +with her damp, and mud, and mould, her ill-fed, ill-housed populace, her +ruins of old glory rising dim and ghostly amid her palaces of to-day. +With all her awful secrets of rapine, cruelty, ambition, +injustice,--with her foul orgies of unnatural crime,--with the very +corruption of the old buried Roman Empire steaming up as from a +charnel-house, and permeating all modern life with its effluvium of +deadly uncleanness,--still Rome had that strange, bewildering charm of +melancholy grandeur and glory which made all hearts cleave to her, and +eyes and feet turn longingly towards her from the ends of the earth. +Great souls and pious yearned for her as for a mother, and could not be +quieted till they had kissed the dust of her streets. There they fondly +thought was rest to be found,--that rest which through all weary life +ever recedes like the mirage of the desert; there sins were to be +shriven which no common priest might forgive, and heavy burdens unbound +from the conscience by an infallible wisdom; there was to be revealed to +the praying soul the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of +things not seen. Even the mighty spirit of Luther yearned for the breast +of this great unknown mother, and came humbly thither to seek the repose +which he found afterwards in Jesus. + +At this golden twilight-hour along the Appian Way come the pilgrims of +our story with prayers and tears of thankfulness. Agnes looks forward +and sees the saintly forms on St. John Lateran standing in a cloud of +golden light and stretching out protecting hands to bless her. + +"See, see, grandmother!" she exclaimed,--"yonder is our Father's house, +and all the saints beckon us home! Glory be to God who hath brought us +hither!" + +Within the church the evening-service is going on, and the soft glory +streaming in reveals that dizzying confusion of riches and brightness +with which the sensuous and color-loving Italian delights to encircle +the shrine of the Heavenly Majesty. Pictured angels in cloudy wreaths +smile down from the gold-fretted roofs and over the round, graceful +arches; and the floor seems like a translucent sea of precious marbles +and gems fused into solid brightness, and reflecting in long gleams and +streaks dim intimations of the sculptured and gilded glories above. +Altar and shrine are now veiled in that rich violet hue which the Church +has chosen for its mourning color; and violet vestments, taking the +place of the gorgeous robes of the ecclesiastics, tell the approach of +that holy week of sadness when all Christendom falls in penitence at the +feet of that Almighty Love once sorrowful and slain for her. + +The long-drawn aisles are now full to overflowing with that weird +chanting which one hears nowhere but in Rome at this solemn season. +Those voices, neither of men nor women, have a wild, morbid energy which +seems to search every fibre of the nervous system, and, instead of +soothing or calming, to awaken strange yearning agonies of pain, ghostly +unquiet longings, and endless feverish, unrestful cravings. The sounds +now swell and flood the church as with a rushing torrent of wailing and +clamorous supplication,--now recede and moan themselves away to silence +in far-distant aisles, like the last faint sigh of discouragement and +despair. Anon they burst out from the roof, they drop from arches and +pictures, they rise like steam from the glassy pavement, and, meeting, +mingle in wavering clamors of lamentation and shrieks of anguish. One +might fancy lost souls from out the infinite and dreary abysses of utter +separation from God might thus wearily and aimlessly moan and wail, +breaking into agonized tumults of desire, and trembling back into +exhaustions of despair. Such music brings only throbbings and yearnings, +but no peace; and yonder, on the glassy floor, at the foot of a +crucifix, a poor mortal lies sobbing and quivering under its pitiless +power, as if it had wrenched every tenderest nerve of memory, and torn +open every half-healed wound of the soul. + +When the chanting ceases, he rises slow and tottering, and we see in the +wan face turning towards the dim light the well-remembered features of +Father Francesco. Driven to despair by the wild, ungovernable force of +his unfortunate love, weary of striving, overborne with a hopeless and +continually accumulating load of guilt, he had come to Rome to lay down +at the feet of heavenly wisdom the burden which he can no longer bear +alone; and rising now, he totters to a confessional where sits a holy +cardinal to whom has been deputed the office to hear and judge those +sins which no subordinate power in the Church is competent to absolve. + +Father Francesco kneels down with a despairing, confiding movement, such +as one makes, when, after a long struggle of anguish, one has found a +refuge; and the churchman within inclining his ear to the grating, the +confession begins. + +Could we only be clairvoyant, it would be worth our while to note the +difference between the two faces, separated only by the thin grating of +the confessional, but belonging to souls whom an abyss wide as eternity +must forever divide from any common ground of understanding. + +On the one side, with ear close to the grate, is a round, smoothly +developed Italian head, with that rather tumid outline of features which +one often sees in a Roman in middle life, when easy living and habits of +sensual indulgence begin to reveal their signs in the countenance, and +to broaden and confuse the clear-cut, statuesque lines of early youth. +Evidently, that is the head of an easy-going, pleasure-loving man, who +has waxed warm with good living, and performs the duties of his office +with an unctuous grace as something becoming and decorous to be gone +through with. Evidently, he is puzzled and half-contemptuous at the +revelations which come through the grating in hoarse whispers from those +thin, trembling lips. That other man, who speaks with the sweat of +anguish beaded on his brow, with a mortal pallor on his thin, worn +cheeks, is putting questions to the celestial guide within which seem to +that guide the ravings of a crazed lunatic; and yet there is a deadly, +despairing earnestness in the appeal that makes an indistinct knocking +at the door of his heart, for the man is born of woman, and can feel +that somehow or other these are the words of a mighty agony. + +He addresses him some words of commonplace ghostly comfort, and gives a +plenary absolution. The Capuchin monk rises up and stands meekly wiping +the sweat from his brow, the churchman leaves his box, and they meet +face to face, when each starts, seeing in the other the apparition of a +once well-known countenance. + +"What! Lorenzo Sforza!" said the churchman. "Who would have thought it? +Don't you remember me?" + +"Not Lorenzo Sforza," said the other, a hectic brilliancy flushing his +pale cheek; "that name is buried in the tomb of his fathers; he you +speak to knows it no more. The unworthy Brother Francesco, deserving +nothing of God or man, is before you." + +"Oh, come, come!" said the other, grasping his hand in spite of his +resistance; "that is all proper enough in its place; but between +friends, you know, what's the use? It's lucky we have you here now; we +want one of your family to send on a mission to Florence, and talk a +little reason into the citizens and the Signoria. Come right away with +me to the Pope." + +"Brother, in God's name let me go! I have no mission to the great of +this world; and I cannot remember or be called by the name of other +days, or salute kinsman or acquaintance after the flesh, without a +breach of vows." + +"Poh, poh! you are nervous, dyspeptic; you don't understand things. +Don't you see you are where vows can be bound and loosed? Come along, +and let us wake you out of this nightmare. Such a pother about a pretty +peasant-girl! One of your rank and taste, too! I warrant me the little +sinner practised on you at the confessional. I know their ways, the +whole of them; but you mourn over it in a way that is perfectly +incomprehensible. If you had tripped a little,--paid a compliment, or +taken a liberty or two,--it would have been only natural; but this +desperation, when you have resisted like Saint Anthony himself, shows +your nerves are out of order and you need change." + +"For God's sake, brother, tempt me not!" said Father Francesco, +wrenching himself away, with such a haggard and insane vehemence as +quite to discompose the churchman; and drawing his cowl over his face, +he glided swiftly down a side-aisle and out the door. + +The churchman was too easy-going to risk the fatigue of a scuffle with a +man whom he considered as a monomaniac; but he stepped smoothly and +stealthily after him and watched him go out. + +"Look you," he said to a servant in violet livery who was waiting by the +door, "follow yonder Capuchin and bring me word where he abides.--He may +be cracked," he said to himself; "but, after all, one of his blood may +be worth mending, and do us good service either in Florence or Milan. We +must have him transferred to some convent here, where we can lay hands +on him readily, if we want him." + +Meanwhile Father Francesco wends his way through many a dark and dingy +street to an ancient Capuchin convent, where he finds brotherly +admission. Weary and despairing is he beyond all earthly despair, for +the very altar of his God seems to have failed him. He asked for bread, +and has got a stone,--he asked a fish, and has got a scorpion. Again and +again the worldly, almost scoffing, tone of the superior to whom he has +been confessing sounds like the hiss of a serpent in his ear. + +But he is sent for in haste to visit the bedside of the Prior, who has +long been sick and failing, and who gladly embraces this opportunity to +make his last confession to a man of such reputed sanctity in his order +as Father Francesco. For the acute Father Johannes, casting about for +various means to empty the Superior's chair at Sorrento, for his own +benefit, and despairing of any occasion of slanderous accusation, had +taken the other tack of writing to Rome extravagant laudations of such +feats of penance and saintship in his Superior as in the view of all the +brothers required that such a light should no more be hidden in an +obscure province, but be set on a Roman candlestick, where it might give +light to the faithful in all parts of the world. Thus two currents of +worldly intrigue were uniting to push an unworldly man to a higher +dignity than he either sought or desired. + +When a man has a sensitive or sore spot in his heart, from the pain of +which he would gladly flee to the ends of the earth, it is marvellous +what coincidences of events will be found to press upon it wherever he +may go. Singularly enough, one of the first items in the confession of +the Capuchin Superior related to Agnes, and his story was in substance +as follows. In his youth he had been induced by the persuasions of the +young son of a great and powerful family to unite him in the holy +sacrament of marriage with a _protégée_ of his mother's; but the +marriage being detected, it was disavowed by the young nobleman, and the +girl and her mother chased out ignominiously, so that she died in great +misery. For his complicity in this sin the conscience of the monk had +often troubled him, and he had kept track of the child she left, +thinking perhaps some day to make reparation by declaring the true +marriage of her mother, which now he certified upon the holy cross, and +charged Father Francesco to make known to one of that kin whom he named. +He further informed him, that this family, having fallen under the +displeasure of the Pope and his son, Cæsar Borgia, had been banished +from the city, and their property confiscated, so that there was none of +them to be found thereabouts except an aged widowed sister, who, having +married into a family in favor with the Pope, was allowed to retain her +possessions, and now resided in a villa near Rome, where she lived +retired, devoting her whole life to works of piety. The old man +therefore conjured Father Francesco to lose no time in making this +religious lady understand the existence of so near a kinswoman, and take +her under her protection.--Thus strangely did Father Francesco find +himself again obliged to take up that enchanted thread which had led him +into labyrinths so fatal to his peace. + + * * * * * + + + + +METHODS OF STUDY IN NATURAL HISTORY. + +V. + + +It is in the search after the true boundaries and characteristics of +orders that we may expect the greatest advance by the naturalists of the +present day; and yet there is now much discrepancy among them, some +mistaking orders for classes, others raising families to the dignity of +orders. This want of agreement in their results is not strange, however; +for the recognition of orders is indeed exceedingly difficult. If they +are, as I have defined them, groups in Nature founded upon a greater or +less complication of structure, they must of course form a regular +gradation within the limits of their class, since comparative perfection +implies comparative rank, and a correct estimate of these degrees of +complication requires an intimate and extensive knowledge of structure +throughout the class. There would seem to be an arbitrary element +here,--that of our individual appreciation of structural character. If +one man holds a certain kind of structural characters superior to +another, he will establish the rank of the order upon that feature, +while some other naturalist, appreciating a different point of the +structure more highly, will make that the test character of the group. +Let us see whether we can eliminate this arbitrary element in our +estimate of these groups, and find any mode of determining orders that +shall be unquestionable, and give us results as positive as a chemical +analysis according to quantitative elements. I believe that there are +such absolute tests of structural relations. It is my conviction, that +orders, like all the other groups of the Animal Kingdom, have a positive +existence in Nature with definite limits, that no arbitrary element +should enter into any part of our classifications, and that we have +already the key by which to solve this question about orders. + +To illustrate this statement, I must return to the class of Insects. We +have seen that they are divided into three orders: the long cylindrical +Centipedes, with the body divided throughout in uniform rings, like the +Worms; the Spiders, with the body divided into two regions; and the +Winged Insects, with head, chest, and hind body distinct from each +other, forming three separate regions. In the first group, the +Centipedes, the nervous system is scattered through the whole body, as +in the Worms; in the Spiders it is concentrated in two nervous +swellings, as in the Crustacea, the front one being the largest; and in +the Insects there are three nervous centres, the largest in the head, a +smaller one in the chest, and the smallest in the hind body. Now +according to this greater or less individualization of parts, with the +corresponding localization of the nervous centres, naturalists have +established the relative rank of these three groups, placing Centipedes +lowest, Spiders next, and Winged Insects highest. But naturalists may, +and indeed they actually do, differ as to this estimation of the +anatomical structure. Have we, then, any means of testing its truth to +Nature? Let us look at the development of these animals, taking the +highest order as an illustration, that we may have the whole succession +of changes. All know the story of the Butterfly with its three lives, as +Caterpillar, Chrysalis, and Winged Insect. I speak of its three lives, +but we must not forget that they make after all but one life, and that +the Caterpillar is as truly the same being with the future Butterfly as +the child is the same being with the future man. The old significance of +the word _metamorphosis_--the fabled transformation of one +individual into another, in which so much of the imagination and +poetical culture of the ancients found expression--still clings to us; +and where the different phases of the same life assume such different +external forms, we are apt to overlook the fact that it is one single +continuous life. To a naturalist, metamorphosis is simply growth; and in +that sense the different stages of development in animals that undergo +their successive changes within the egg are as much metamorphoses as the +successive phases of life in those animals that complete their +development after they are hatched. + +But to return to our Butterfly. In its most imperfect, earliest +condition, it is Worm-like, the body consisting of thirteen uniform +rings; but when it has completed this stage of its existence, it passes +into the Chrysalis state, during which the body has two regions, the +front rings being soldered together to form the head and chest, while +the hind joints remain distinct; and it is only when it bursts from its +Chrysalis envelope, as a complete Winged Insect, that it has three +distinct regions of the body. Do not the different periods of growth in +this highest order explain the relation of all the orders to each other? +The earliest condition of an animal cannot be its highest condition,--it +does not pass from a more perfect to a less perfect state of existence. +The history of its growth is, on the contrary, the history of its +progress in development; and therefore, when we find that the first +stage of growth in the Winged Insect transiently represents a structural +character that is permanent in the lowest order of its class, that its +second stage of growth transiently represents a structural character +that is permanent in the second order of its class, and that only in the +last stage of its existence does the Winged Insect attain its complete +and perfect condition, we may fairly infer that this division of the +class of Insects into a gradation of orders placing Centipedes lowest, +Spiders next, and Winged Insects highest, is true to Nature. + +This is not the only instance in which the embryological evidence +confirms perfectly the anatomical evidence on which orders have been +distinguished, and I believe that Embryology will give us the true +standard by which to test the accuracy of our ordinal groups. In the +class of Crustacea, for instance, the Crabs have been placed above the +Lobsters by some naturalists, in consequence of certain anatomical +features; but there may easily be a difference of individual opinion as +to the relative value of these features. When we find, however, that the +Crab, while undergoing its changes in the egg, passes through a stage in +which it resembles the Lobster much more than it does its own adult +condition, we cannot doubt that its earlier state is its lower one, and +that the organization of the Lobster is not as high in the class of +Crustacea as that of the Crab. While using illustrations of this kind, +however, I must guard against misinterpretation. These embryological +changes are never the passing of one kind of animal into another kind of +animal: the Crab is none the less a Crab during that period of its +development in which it resembles a Lobster; it simply passes, in the +natural course of its growth, through a phase of existence which is +permanent in the Lobster, but transient in the Crab. Such facts should +stimulate all our young students to embryological investigation as a +most important branch of study in the present state of our science. + +But while there is this structural gradation among orders, establishing +a relative rank between them, are classes and branches also linked +together as a connected chain? That such a chain exists throughout the +Animal Kingdom has long been a favorite idea, not only among +naturalists, but also in the popular mind. Lamarck was one of the +greatest teachers of this doctrine. He held not only that branches and +classes were connected in a direct gradation, but that within each class +there was a regular series of orders, families, genera, and species, +forming a continuous chain from the lowest animals to the highest, and +that the whole had been a gradual development of higher out of lower +forms. I have already alluded to his division of the Animal Kingdom into +the Apathetic, Sensitive, and Intelligent animals. The Apathetic were +those devoid of all sensitiveness except when aroused by the influence +of some external agent. Under this head he placed five classes, +including the Infusoria, Polyps, Star-Fishes, Sea-Urchins, Tunicata, and +Worms,--thus bringing together indiscriminately Radiates, Mollusks, and +Articulates. Under the head of Sensitive he had also a heterogeneous +assemblage, including Winged Insects, Spiders, Crustacea, Annelids, and +Barnacles, all of which are Articulates, and with these he placed in two +classes the Mollusks, Conchifera, Gasteropoda, and Cephalopoda. Under +the head of Intelligent he brought together a natural division, for he +here united all the Vertebrates. He succeeded in this way in making out +a series which seemed plausible enough, but when we examine it, we find +at once that it is perfectly arbitrary; for he has brought together +animals built on entirely different structural plans, when he could find +characters among them that seemed to justify his favorite idea of a +gradation of qualities. Blainville attempted to establish the same idea +in another way. He founded his series on gradations of form, placing +together, in one division, all animals that he considered vague and +indefinite in form, and in another all those that he considered +symmetrical. Under a third head he brought together the Radiates; but +his symmetrical division united Articulates, Mollusks, and Vertebrates +in the most indiscriminate manner. He sustained his theory by assuming +intermediate groups,--as, for instance, the Barnacles between the +Mollusks and Articulates, whereas they are as truly Articulates as +Insects or Crabs. Thus, by misplacing certain animals, he arrived at a +series which, like that of Lamarck, made a strong impression on the +scientific world, till a more careful investigation of facts exposed its +fallacy. + +Oken, the great German naturalist, also attempted to establish a +connected chain throughout the Animal Kingdom, but on an entirely +different principle; and I cannot allude to this most original +investigator, so condemned by some, so praised by others, so powerful in +his influence on science in Germany, without attempting to give some +analysis of his peculiar philosophy. For twenty years his classification +was accepted by his countrymen without question; and though I believe it +to be wrong, yet, by the ingenuity with which he maintained it, he has +shed a flood of light upon science, and has stimulated other naturalists +to most important and interesting investigations. This famous +classification was founded upon the idea that the system of man, the +most perfect created being, is the measure for the whole Animal Kingdom, +and that in analyzing his organization we have the clue to all organized +beings. The structure of man includes two systems of organs: those which +maintain the body in its integrity, and which he shares in some sort +with the lower animals,--the organs of digestion, circulation, +respiration, and reproduction; and that higher system of organs, the +brain, spinal marrow, and nerves, with the organs of sense, on which all +the manifestations of the intelligent faculties depend, and by which his +relations to the external world are established and controlled: the +whole being surrounded by flesh, muscles, and skin. On account of this +fleshy envelope of the hard parts in all the higher animals, Oken +divided the Animal Kingdom into two groups, the Vertebrates and +Invertebrates, or, as he called them, the "_Eingeweide und Fleisch +Thiere_"--which we may translate as the _Intestinal Animals_, or +those that represent the intestinal systems of organs, and the _Flesh +Animals_, or those that combine all the systems of organs under one +envelope of flesh. Let us examine a little more closely this singular +theory, by which each branch of the Invertebrates becomes, as it were, +the exponent of a special system of organs, while the Vertebrates, with +man at their head, include all these systems. + +According to Oken, the Radiates, the lowest type of the Animal Kingdom, +embody digestion. They all represent a stomach, whether it is the simple +sac of the Polyps, or the cavity of the Acalephs, with its radiating +tubes traversing the gelatinous mass of the body, or the cavity and +tubes of the Echinoderms, inclosed within walls of their own. + +The Mollusks represent circulation; and his division of this type into +classes, according to what he considers the higher or lower organization +of the heart, agrees with the ordinary division into Acephala, +Gasteropoda, and Cephalopoda. + +The Articulates are the respiratory animals in this classification: they +represent respiration. The Worms, breathing, as he asserts, through the +whole surface of the skin, without special breathing organs, are the +lowest; the Crustacea, with gills, or aquatic breathing organs, come +next; and he places the Insects highest, with their branching tracheæ, +admitting air to all parts of the body. The Vertebrates, or Flesh +Animals, with their four classes, represent the Bones, the Muscles, the +Nerves, and the Organs of Sense. + +This theory, according to which there are as many great divisions as +there are structural systems or combinations of systems in the Animal +Kingdom, seemed natural and significant, and there was something +attractive in the idea that man represents, as it were, the synthetic +combination of all these different systems. Oken also, in his exposition +of his mode of classification, showed an insight into the structure and +relations of animals that commended it to the interest of all students +of Nature, and entitles him to their everlasting gratitude. +Nevertheless, his theory fails, when it is compared with facts. For +instance, there are many Worms that have no respiration through the +skin, while his appreciation of the whole class is founded on that +feature; and in his type representing circulation, the Mollusks, there +are those that have no heart at all. It would carry me too far into +scientific details, were I to explain all the points at which this +celebrated classification fails. Suffice it to say that there is no +better proof of the discrepancy between the system and the facts than +the constant changes in the different editions of Oken's own works and +in the publications of his followers founded upon his views, showing +that they were themselves conscious of the shifting and unstable +character of their scientific ground. + + +VI. + + +What, then, is the relation of these larger groups to each other, if +they do not stand in a connected series from the lowest to the highest? +How far are each of the branches and each of the classes superior or +inferior one to another? All agree, that, while Vertebrates stand at the +head of the Animal Kingdom, Radiates are lowest. There can be no doubt +upon this point; for, while the Vertebrate plan, founded upon a double +symmetry, includes the highest possibilities of animal organization, +there is a certain monotony of structure in the Radiate plan, in which +the body is divided into a number of identical parts, bearing definite +relations to a central vertical axis. But while all admit that +Vertebrates are highest and Radiates lowest, how do the Articulates and +Mollusks stand to these and to each other? To me it seems, that, while +both are decidedly superior to the Radiates and inferior to the +Vertebrates, we cannot predicate absolute superiority or inferiority of +organization of either of these groups as compared with each other; they +stand on one structural level, though with different tendencies,--the +body in Mollusks having always a soft, massive, concentrated character, +with great power of contraction and dilatation, while the body in +Articulates has nothing of this compactness and concentration, but on +the contrary is usually marked by a conspicuous external display of +limbs and other appendages, and by a remarkable elongation of the +body,--that feature characterized by Baer when he called them the +Longitudinal type. There is in the Articulates an extraordinary tendency +toward outward expression, singularly in contrast to the soft, +contractile bodies of the Mollusks. We need only remember the numerous +Insects with small bodies and enormously long wings, or the Spiders with +little bodies and long legs, or the number and length of the claws in +the Lobsters and Crabs, as illustrations of this statement for the +Articulates, while the soft compact body of the Oyster or of the Snail +is equally characteristic of the Mollusks; and though it may seem that +this assertion cannot apply to the highest class of Mollusks, the +Cephalopoda, including the Cuttle-Fishes with their long arms or +feelers, yet even these conspicuous appendages have considerable power +of contraction and dilatation, and in the Nautili may even be drawn +completely within the shell. If this view be correct, these two types +occupy an intermediate position between the highest and the lowest +divisions of the Animal Kingdom, but are on equal ground when compared +with each other. + +But is there a transition from Radiates to Mollusks, or from Articulates +to Vertebrates, or from any one of these divisions into any other? Let +us first consider the classes as they stand within their divisions. We +have seen that there are three classes of Radiates,--Polyps, Acalephs, +and Echinoderms; three classes of Mollusks,--Acephala, Gasteropoda, and +Cephalopoda; three classes of Articulates,--Worms, Crustacea, and +Insects; and, according to the usually accepted classification, four +classes of Vertebrates,--Fishes, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammalia. If there +is indeed a transition between all these classes, it must become clear +to us, when we have accurately interpreted their relative standing. +Taking first the lowest branch, how do the classes stand within the +limits of the type of Radiates? I think I have said enough of these +different classes to show that Polyps as a whole are inferior to +Acalephs as a whole, and that Acalephs as a whole are inferior to +Echinoderms as a whole. But if they are linked together as a connected +series, then the lowest Acaleph should stand next in structure above the +highest Polyp, and the lowest Echinoderm next above the highest Acaleph. +So far from this being the case, there are, on the contrary, many +Acalephs which, in their specialization, are unquestionably lower in the +scale of life than some Polyps, while there are some Echinoderms lower +in the same sense than many Acalephs. This remark applies equally to the +classes within the other types; they stand, as an average, relatively to +each other, lower and higher, but considered in their diversified +specification, there are some members of the higher classes that are +inferior in organization to some members of the lower classes. The same +is true of the great divisions as compared with each other. Instead of +the highest Radiates being always lower in organization than the lowest +Mollusks, there are many Star-Fishes and Sea-Urchins higher in +organization than some Mollusks; and so when we pass from this branch to +the Articulates, if we assume for the moment, as some naturalists +believe, that the Mollusks are the inferior type, the Cuttle-Fishes are +certainly very superior animals to most of the Worms; and passing from +Articulates to Vertebrates, not only are there Insects of a more complex +organization than the lowest Fishes, but we bring together two kinds of +animals so remote from each other in structure that the wildest +imagination can scarcely fancy a transition between them. A comparison +may make my meaning clearer as to the relative standing of these groups. +The Epic Poem is a higher order of composition than the Song,--yet we +may have an Epic Poem which, from its inferior mode of execution, stands +lower than a Song that is perfect of its kind. So the plan of certain +branches is more comprehensive and includes higher possibilities than +that of others, while at the same time there may be species in which the +higher plan is executed in so simple a manner that it places their +organization below some more highly developed being built on a lower +plan. It is a poor comparison, because everything that God has made is +perfect of its kind and in its place, though relatively lower or higher; +yet it is only by comparison of what is after all akin,--of mind with +mind,--even though so far apart as the works of the divine and the human +reason, that we may arrive at some idea, however dim, of the mental +operations of the Creative Intellect. + +It is, then, in their whole bulk that any one of these groups is above +any other. We may represent the relative positions of the classes by a +diagram in which each successive class in every type starts at a lower +point than that at which the preceding class closes. Taking the Polyps +as the lowest class of Radiates, for instance, its highest animals rise +above the lowest members of the Acalephs, but then the higher members of +the class of Acalephs reach a point far above any of the Polyps,--and so +on. + + RADIATES. MOLLUSKS. ARTICULATES. VERTEBRATES. + | | | | + | | | | | + | | | | | | | Mammalia. + | | | | | | | | + | | Echinoderms. | | Cephalopoda. | | Insects. | | Birds. + | | | | | | | | + | Acalephs. | Gasteropoda. | Crustacea. | Reptiles. + | | | | + Polyps. Acephala. Worms Fishes. + +If this view be correct, it sets aside the possibility of any +uninterrupted series based on absolute superiority or inferiority of +structure, on which so much ingenuity and intellectual power have been +wasted. + +But it is not merely upon the structural relations established between +these groups by anatomical features in the adult that we must decide +this question. We must examine it also from the embryological point of +view. Every animal in its growth undergoes a succession of changes: is +there anything in these changes implying a transition of one type into +another? Baer has given us the answer to this question. He has shown +that there are four distinct modes of development, as well as four plans +of structure; and though we have seen that higher animals of one class +pass through phases of growth in which they transiently resemble lower +animals of the same class, yet each one of these four modes of +development is confined within the limits of the type, and a Vertebrate +never resembles, at any stage of its growth, anything but a Vertebrate, +or an Articulate anything but an Articulate, or a Mollusk anything but a +Mollusk, or a Radiate anything but a Radiate. + +Yet, although there is no embryological transition of one type into +another, the gradations of growth within the limits of the same type and +the same class, already alluded to, are very striking throughout the +Animal Kingdom. There are periods in the development of the germs of the +higher members of all the types, when they transiently resemble in their +general outline the lower representatives of the same type, just as we +have seen that the higher orders of one class pass through stages of +development in which they transiently resemble lower orders of the same +class. This gradation of growth corresponds to the gradation of rank in +adult animals, as established upon comparative complication of +structure. For instance, according to their structural character, all +naturalists have placed Fishes lowest in the scale of Vertebrates. Now +all the higher Vertebrates have a Fish-like character at first, and pass +successively through phases in which they vaguely resemble other lower +forms of the same type before they assume their own characteristic form; +and this is equally true of the other great divisions, so that the +history of the individual is, in some sort, the history of its type. + +There is still another aspect of this question,--that of time. If +neither the gradation of structural rank among adult animals, nor the +gradation of growth in their embryological development gives us any +evidence of a transition between types, does not the sequence of animals +in their successive introduction upon the globe afford any proof of such +a connection? In this relation, I must briefly allude to the succession +of geological formations that compose the crust of our globe. The limits +of this article will not allow me to enter at any length into the +geological details connected with this question; but I will, in the most +cursory manner, give a sketch of the great geological periods, as +generally accepted now by geologists. The first of these periods has +been called the Azoic or lifeless period, because it is the only one +that contains no remains of organic life, and it is therefore supposed +that at that early stage of the world's history the necessary conditions +for the maintenance of animals and plants were not yet established. +After this, every great geological period that follows has been found to +be characterized by a special set of animals and plants, differing from +all that follow and all that precede it, till we arrive at our own +period, when Man, with the animals and plants that accompany him on +earth, was introduced. + +There is, then, an order of succession in time among animals; and if +there has been any transition between types and classes, any growth of +higher out of lower forms, it is here that we should look for the +evidence of it. According to this view, we should expect to find in the +first period in which organic remains are found at all only the lowest +type, and of that type only the lowest class, and, indeed, if we push +the theory to its logical consequences, only the lowest forms of the +lowest class. What are now the facts? This continent affords admirable +opportunities for the investigation of this succession, because, in +consequence of its mode of formation, we have, in the State of New York, +a direct, unbroken sequence of all the earliest geological deposits. + +The ridge of low hills, called the Laurentian Hills, along the line of +division between Canada and the States was the first American land +lifted above the ocean. That land belongs to the Azoic period, and +contains no trace of life. Along the base of that range of hills lie the +deposits of the next great geological period, the Silurian; and the +State of New York, geologically speaking, belongs almost entirely to +this Silurian period, with its lowest Taconic division, and the Devonian +period, the third in succession of these great epochs. I need hardly +remind those of my readers who have travelled through New York, and have +visited Niagara or Trenton, or, indeed, any of the localities where the +broken edges of the strata expose the buried life within them, how +numerous this early population of the earth must have been. No one who +has held in his hand one of the crowded slabs of sand--or lime-stone, +full of Crustacea, Shells, and Corals, from any of the old Silurian or +Devonian beaches which follow each other from north to south across the +State of New York, can suppose that the manifestation of life was less +multitudinous then than now. Now, what does this fossil creation tell +us? It says this: that, in the Silurian period, the first in which +organic life is found at all, there were the three classes of Radiates, +the three classes of Mollusks, two of the classes of Articulates, and +one class of Vertebrates. In other words, at the dawn of life on earth, +the plan of the animal creation with its four fundamental ideas was laid +out,--Radiates, Mollusks, Articulates, and Vertebrates were present at +that first representation of life upon our globe. If, then, all the +primary types appeared simultaneously, one cannot have grown out of +another,--they could not be at once contemporaries and descendants of +each other. + +The diagram on the opposite page represents the geological periods in +their regular succession, and the approximate time at which all the +types and all the classes of the Animal Kingdom were introduced; for +there is still some doubt as to the exact period of the introduction of +several of the classes, though all geologists are agreed respecting +them, within certain limits, not very remote from each other, according +to geological estimates of time. + + RADIATES. + Polyps. Acalephs. Echinoderms. + T | Present,.........|.........|...........|...... + E | | | | + R | Pliocene,........|.........|...........|...... + T | | | | + I | Miocene,.........|.........|...........|...... + A | | | | + R | Eocene,..........|.........|...........|...... + Y | | | | + | | | + S | Cretaceous,......|.........|...........|...... + E | | | | + C | Jurassic,........|.........|...........|...... + O | | | | + N | Triassic,........|.........|...........|...... + D | | | | + A | Permian,.........|.........|...........|...... + R | | | | + Y | Carboniferous,...|.........|...........|...... + | | | + P | | | | + R | Devonian,........|.........|...........|...... + I | | | | + M | Silurian,.....Polyps. Acalephs. Echinoderms... + A | + R | Azoic. + Y | + + + MOLLUSKS. + Acephala. Gasteropoda. Cephalopoda. + T | Present,.........|.........|...........|...... + E | | | | + R | Pliocene,........|.........|...........|...... + T | | | | + I | Miocene,.........|.........|...........|...... + A | | | | + R | Eocene,..........|.........|...........|...... + Y | | | | + | | | + S | Cretaceous,......|.........|...........|...... + E | | | | + C | Jurassic,........|.........|...........|...... + O | | | | + N | Triassic,........|.........|...........|...... + D | | | | + A | Permian,.........|.........|...........|...... + R | | | | + Y | Carboniferous,...|.........|...........|...... + | | | + P | | | | + R | Devonian,........|.........|...........|...... + I | | | | + M | Silurian,.....Acephala. Gasteropoda. Cephalopoda. + A | + R | Azoic. + Y | + + + ARTICULATES. + Worms. Crustacea. Insects. + T | Present,.........|.........|...........|...... + E | | | | + R | Pliocene,........|.........|...........|...... + T | | | | + I | Miocene,.........|.........|...........|...... + A | | | | + R | Eocene,..........|.........|...........|...... + Y | | | | + | | | + S | Cretaceous,......|.........|...........|...... + E | | | | + C | Jurassic,........|.........|...........|...... + O | | | | + N | Triassic,........|.........|...........|...... + D | | | | + A | Permian,.........|.........|...........|...... + R | | | | + Y | Carboniferous,...|.........|.........Insects.. + | | + P | | | + R | Devonian,........|.........|.................. + I | | | + M | Silurian,.....Worms. Crustacea............... + A | + R | Azoic. + Y | + + + VERTEBRATES. + Fishes. Reptiles. Birds. Mammalia. + T | Present,.........|.........|.........|........|....... + E | | | | | + R | Pliocene,........|.........|.........|........|....... + T | | | | | + I | Miocene,.........|.........|.........|........|....... + A | | | | | + R | Eocene,..........|.........|.........|..True Mammalia. + Y | | | | | + | | | | + S | Cretaceous,......|.........|.........|........|....... + E | | | | | + C | Jurassic,........|.........|.........|....Marsupials.. + O | | | | + N | Triassic,........|.........|.......Birds.............. + D | | | + A | Permian,.........|.........|.......................... + R | | | + Y | Carboniferous,...|......Reptiles...................... + | + P | | + R | Devonian,........|.................................... + I | | + M | Silurian,.......Fishes................................ + A | + R | Azoic. + Y | + +If such discussions were not inappropriate here from their technical +character, I think I could show upon combined geological and zoological +evidence that the classes which are not present with the others at the +beginning, such as Insects among Articulates, or Reptiles, Birds, and +Mammalia among Vertebrates, are always introduced at the time when the +conditions essential to their existence are established,--as, for +instance, Reptiles, at the period when the earth was not fully redeemed +from the waste of waters, and extensive marshes afforded means for the +half-aquatic, half-terrestrial life even now characteristic of all our +larger Reptiles, while Insects, so dependent on vegetable growth, make +their appearance with the first forests; so that we need not infer, +because these and other classes come in after the earlier ones, that +they are therefore a growth out of them, since it is altogether probable +that they would not be created till the conditions necessary for their +maintenance on earth were established. From a merely speculative point +of view it seems to me natural to suppose that the physical and the +organic world have progressed together, and that there is a direct +relation between the successive creations and the condition of the earth +at the time of those creations. We know that all the beings of the +Silurian and Devonian periods were marine; the land, so far as it +existed in their time, was a great beach, and along those shores, +wherever any part of the continents was lifted above the level of the +waters, the Silurian and Devonian animals lived. Later, in the marshes +and the fern-forests of the Carboniferous period, Reptiles and Insects +found their place; and only when the earth was more extensive, when +marshes had become dry land, when islands had united to form continents, +when mountain-chains had been thrown up to make the inequalities of the +surface, were the larger quadrupeds introduced, to whose mode of +existence all these circumstances are important accessories. + +But while all the types and most of the classes were introduced upon the +earth simultaneously at the beginning, these types and classes have +nevertheless been represented in every great geological period by +different sets or species of animals. In this sense, then, there has +been a gradation in time among animals, and every successive epoch of +the world's physical history has had its characteristic population. We +have found that there is a correspondence between the gradation of +structural complication among adult animals as known to us to-day, which +we may call the Series of Rank, and the gradation of embryological +changes in the same animals, which we may call the Series of Growth; and +there is also a correspondence between these two series and the order of +succession in time, that establishes a certain gradation in the +introduction of animals upon earth, and which we may call the Series of +Time. Take as an illustration the class of Echinoderms. The first +representatives of this class were a sort of Star-Fishes on stems; then +were introduced animals of the same order without stems; in later +periods come in the true Star-Fishes and Sea-Urchins; and the highest +order of the class, the Holothurians, are introduced only in the present +geological epoch. Compare now with this the ordinal division of the +class as it exists today. The present representative of those earliest +Echinoderms on stems is an animal that upon structural evidence stands +lowest in the class; next above it are the Comatulæ, corresponding to +the early Echinoderms without stems; next in our classification are the +Star-Fishes and Sea-Urchins; and the Holothurians stand highest, on +account of certain structural features that place them at the head of +their class. The Series of Time and the Series of Rank, then, accord +perfectly, and investigations of the embryological development of these +animals have shown that the higher Echinoderms pass through changes in +the egg that indicate the same kind of gradation, for the young in some +of them have a stem which is gradually dropped, and their successive +phases of development recall the adult forms of the lower orders. Take +as another illustration the class of Polyps. First in time we find a +kind of Polyp Coral, one among the early Reef-Builders, who built their +myriad lives into the solid crust of our globe then as their successors +do now. These old Corals have their representatives among the present +Polyps, and from their structure they are placed lowest in their class, +while the embryological development of the higher ones recalls in the +younger condition of the germ the same peculiar character. I might +multiply examples, and draw equally striking illustrations from the +other classes; and though these correspondences cannot be fully +established while our knowledge of the embryological growth of animals +is so scanty, and information about their geological succession, yet +wherever we have been able to trace the connected history of any group +of animals in time, and to compare it with the history of their +embryological development and their structural relations as they exist +to-day, the correspondence is found to be so complete that we are +justified in believing that it will not fail in other instances. I may +add that a gradation of exactly the same character controls the +geographical distribution of animals over the surface of the globe. Here +again I must beg my readers to take much of the evidence, which, if +expanded, would fill a volume, for granted, since it would be entirely +inappropriate here. But I may briefly state that animals are not +scattered over the surface of our globe at random, but that they are +associated together in what are called _faunæ_, and that these +faunæ have their homes within certain districts--called by naturalists +_zoölogical provinces_. The limits of these provinces are +absolutely fixed, in the ocean as well as on the land, by certain +physical conditions connected with climate, with altitude, with the +pressure of the atmosphere, the weight of the water, etc.; and this is +true even for animals of migratory habits, for all such migrations are +periodical, and have boundaries as definite and impassable as those that +limit the permanent homes of animals. There is a certain series +established by the relations between different kinds of animals, as thus +distributed over the globe, which agrees with the gradation in their +rank, their growth, and their succession in time;--the law which +distributes animals in successive faunæ, and in accordance both with +their relative superiority or inferiority, and with the physical +conditions essential to their existence, being the same as that which +controls their structural relations, their embryological development, +and their succession in time. + +What, then, does this correspondence between the Series of Rank, the +Series of Growth, the Series of Time, and the Series of Geographical +Distribution in the life of animals teach us? Surely not that the +connection between animals is a material one; for the same kind of +relation exists between lower and higher animals of one type or one +class to-day, in their structural features, in their embryological +growth, and in their geographical distribution, as we trace in their +order of succession in time; and therefore, if this kind of evidence +proves that the later animals are the descendants of the earlier in any +genealogical sense, it should also prove that the animals living in one +part of the earth at present grow out of animals living in another part, +and that the higher animals of one class as it exists now are developed +out of the lower ones. The first of these propositions needs no +refutation; and with regard to the second, all our investigations go to +show that every being born into the world to-day adheres to its +individual law of life, and though it passes through transient phases of +growth that resemble other beings of its own kind, never pauses at a +lower stage of development, or passes on to a higher condition than the +one it is bound to fill. If, then, this connection is not a material +one, what is it?--for that such a connection does exist throughout the +Animal Kingdom, as intimate, as continuous, as complex as any series +which the development theorists have ever contended for, is not to be +denied. What can it be but an intellectual one? These correspondences +are correspondences of thought,--of a thought that is always the same, +whether it is expressed in the history of the type through all time, or +in the life of the individuals that represent the type at the present +moment, or in the growth of the germ of every being born into that type +to-day. In other words, the same thought that spans the whole succession +of geological ages controls the structural relations of all living +beings as well as their distribution over the surface of the earth, and +is repeated within the narrow compass of the smallest egg in which any +being undergoes its growth. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SOUTHERN CROSS. + + Deem not the ravished glory thine; + Nor think the flag shall scathless wave + Whereon thou bidd'st its presage shine,-- + Land of the traitor and the slave! + + God never set that holy sign + In deathless light among His stars + To make its blazonry divine + A scutcheon for thine impious wars! + + And surely as the Wrong must fail + Before the everlasting Right, + So surely thy device shall pale + And shrivel in the Northern Light! + + Look, where its coming splendors stream! + The red and white athwart the blue,-- + While far above, the unconquered gleam + Of Freedom's stars is blazing through! + + Hark to the rustle and the sweep, + Like sound of mighty wings unfurled, + And bearing down the sapphire steep + Heaven's hosts to help the imperilled world! + + Light in the North! Each bristling lance + Of steely sheen a promise bears; + And all the midnight where they glance + A rosy flush of morning wears! + + Yon symbol of your Southern sky + Shall surely mean but grief and loss; + Then tremble, as ye raise on high, + In sacrilege, the Southern Cross! + + O brothers! we entreat in pain, + Take ye the unblessed emblem down! + Or purge your standard of its stain, + And join it with the Northern Crown! + + * * * * * + + + + +CONCERNING THE SORROWS OF CHILDHOOD. + + +Once upon a time, Mr. Smith, who was seven feet in height, went out for +a walk with Mr. Brown, whose stature was three feet and a half. It was +in a distant age, in which people were different from what they are now, +and in which events occurred such as do not usually occur in these days. +Smith and Brown, having traversed various paths, and having passed +several griffins, serpents, and mail-clad knights, came at length to a +certain river. It was needful that they should cross it; and the idea +was suggested that they should cross it by wading. They proceeded, +accordingly, to wade across; and both arrived safely at the farther +side. The water was exactly four feet deep,--not an inch more or less. +On reaching the other bank of the river, Mr. Brown said,-- + +"This is awful work; it is no joke crossing a river like _that_. I +was nearly drowned." + +"Nonsense!" replied Mr. Smith; "why make a fuss about crossing a shallow +stream like this? Why, the water is only four feet deep: _that_ is +nothing at all!" + +"Nothing to you, perhaps," was the response of Mr. Brown, "but a serious +matter for me. You observe," he went on, "that water four feet deep is +just six inches over my head. The river may be shallow to you, but it is +deep to me." + +Mr. Smith, like many other individuals of great physical bulk and +strength, had an intellect not much adapted for comprehending subtile +and difficult thoughts. He took up the ground that things are what they +are in themselves, and was incapable of grasping the idea that greatness +and littleness, depth and shallowness, are relative things. An +altercation ensued, which resulted in threats on the part of Smith that +he would throw Brown into the river; and a coolness was occasioned +between the friends which subsisted for several days. + +The acute mind of the reader of this page will perceive that Mr. Smith +was in error; and that the principle asserted by Mr. Brown was a sound +and true one. It is unquestionable that a thing which is little to one +man may be great to another man. And it is just as really and certainly +great in this latter case as anything ever can be. And yet, many people +do a thing exactly analogous to what was done by Smith. They insist that +the water which is shallow to them shall be held to be absolutely +shallow; and that, if smaller men declare that it is deep to themselves, +these smaller men shall be regarded as weak, fanciful, and mistaken. +Many people, as they look back upon the sorrows of their own childhood, +or as they look round upon the sorrows of existing childhood, think that +these sorrows are or were very light and insignificant, and their causes +very small. These people do this, because to them, as they are now, +_big people_, (to use the expressive phrase of childhood,) these +sorrows would be light, if they should befall. But though these sorrows +may seem light to us now, and their causes small, it is only as water +four feet in depth was shallow to the tall Mr. Smith. The same water was +very deep to the man whose stature was three feet and a half; and the +peril was as great to him as could have been caused by eight feet depth +of water to the man seven feet high. The little cause of trouble was +great to the little child. The little heart was as full of grief and +fear and bewilderment as it could hold. + +Yes, I stand up against the common belief that childhood is our happiest +time. And whenever I hear grown-up people say that it is so, I think of +Mr. Smith, and the water four feet deep. I have always, in my heart, +rebelled against that common delusion. I recall, as if it were +yesterday, a day which I have left behind me more than twenty years. I +see a large hall, the hall of a certain educational institution, which +helped to make the present writer what he is. It is the day of the +distribution of the prizes. The hall is crowded with little boys, and +with the relations and friends of the little boys. And the chief +magistrate of that ancient town, in all the pomp of civic majesty, has +distributed the prizes. It is neither here nor there what honors were +borne off by me; though I remember well that _that_ day was the +proudest that ever had come in my short life. But I see the face and +hear the voice of the kind-hearted old dignitary, who has now been for +many years in his grave. And I recall especially one sentence he said, +as he made a few eloquent remarks at the close of the day's proceedings. + +"Ah, boys," said he, "I can tell you this is the happiest time of all +your life!" + +"Little you know about the matter," was my inward reply. + +I knew that our worries, fears, and sorrows were just as great as those +of any one else. + +The sorrows of childhood and boyhood are not sorrows of that complicated +and perplexing nature which sit heavy on the heart in after-years; but +in relation to the little hearts that have to bear them, they are very +overwhelming for the time. As has been said, great and little are quite +relative terms. A weight which is not absolutely heavy is heavy to a +weak person. We think an industrious flea draws a vast weight, if it +draw the eighth part of an ounce. And I believe that the sorrows of +childhood task the endurance of childhood as severely as those of +manhood do the endurance of the man. Yes, we look back now, and we smile +at them, and at the anguish they occasioned, because they would be no +great matter to us now. Yet in all this we err just as Mr. Smith the +tall man erred, in that discussion with the little man, Mr. Brown. Those +early sorrows were great things then. Very bitter grief may be in a very +little heart. "The sports of childhood," we know from Goldsmith, +"satisfy the child." The sorrows of childhood overwhelm the poor little +thing. I think a sympathetic reader would hardly read without a tear, as +well as a smile, an incident in the early life of Patrick Fraser Tytler, +recorded in his biography. When five years old, he got hold of the gun +of an elder brother and broke the spring of its lock. What anguish the +little boy must have endured, what a crushing sense of having caused an +irremediable evil, before he sat down and printed in great letters the +following epistle to his brother, the owner of the gun:--"Oh, Jamie, +think no more of guns, for the main-spring of that is broken, and _my +heart is broken!_" Doubtless the poor little fellow fancied that for +all the remainder of his life he never could feel as he had felt before +he touched the unlucky weapon. And looking back over many years, most of +us can remember a child crushed and overwhelmed by some trouble which it +thought could never be got over; and we can feel for our early self as +though sympathizing with another being. + +What I wish in this essay is, that we should look away along the path we +have come in life; and that we should see, that, though many cares and +troubles may now press upon us, still we may well be content. I speak to +ordinary people, whose lot has been an ordinary lot. I know there are +exceptional cases; but I firmly believe, that, as for most of us, we +never have seen better days than these. No doubt, in the retrospect of +early youth, we seem to see a time when the summer was brighter, the +flowers sweeter, the snowy days of winter more cheerful, than we ever +find them now. But, in sober sense, we know that it is all an illusion. +It is only as the man travelling over the burning desert sees sparkling +water and shady trees where he knows there is nothing but arid sand. + +I dare say you know that one of the acutest of living men has maintained +that it is foolish to grieve over past suffering. He says, truly enough +in one sense, that the suffering which is past is as truly non-existent +as the suffering which has never been at all; that, in fact, past +suffering is now nothing, and is entitled to no more consideration than +that to which nothing is entitled. No doubt, when bodily pain has +ceased, it is all over: we do not feel it any more. And you have +probably observed that the impression left by bodily pain passes very +quickly away. The sleepless night, or the night of torment from +toothache, which seemed such a distressing reality while it was dragging +over, looks a very shadowy thing the next forenoon. But it may be +doubted whether you will ever so far succeed in overcoming the fancies +and weaknesses of humanity as to get people to cease to feel that past +sufferings and sorrows are a great part of their present life. The +remembrance of our past life is a great part of our present life. And, +indeed, the greater part of human suffering consists in its anticipation +and in its recollection. It is so by the inevitable law of our being. It +is because we are rational creatures that it is so. We cannot help +looking forward to that which is coming, and looking back on that which +is past; nor can we suppress, as we do so, an emotion corresponding to +the perception. There is not the least use in telling a little boy who +knows that he is to have a tooth pulled out to-morrow, that it is absurd +in him to make himself unhappy to-night through the anticipation of it. +You may show with irrefragable force of reason, that the pain will last +only for the two or three seconds during which the tooth is being +wrenched from its place, and that it will be time enough to vex himself +about the pain when he has actually to feel it. But the little fellow +will pass but an unhappy night in the dismal prospect; and by the time +the cold iron lays hold of the tooth, he will have endured by +anticipation a vast deal more suffering than the suffering of the actual +operation. It is so with bigger people, looking forward to greater +trials. And it serves no end whatever to prove that all this ought not +to be. The question as to the emotions turned off in the workings of the +human mind is one of fact. It is not how the machine ought to work, but +how the machine does work. And as with the anticipation of suffering, so +with its retrospect. The great grief which is past, even though its +consequences no longer directly press upon us, casts its shadow over +after-years. There are, indeed, some hardships and trials upon which it +is possible that we may look back with satisfaction. The contrast with +them enhances the enjoyment of better days. But these trials, it seems +to me, must be such as come through the direct intervention of +Providence; and they must be clear of the elements of human cruelty or +injustice. I do not believe that a man who was a weakly and timid boy +can ever look back with pleasure upon the ill-usage of the brutal bully +of his school-days, or upon the injustice of his teacher in cheating him +out of some well-earned prize. There are kinds of great suffering which +can never be thought of without present suffering, so long as human +nature continues what it is. And I believe that past sorrows are a great +reality in our present life, and exert a great influence over our +present life, whether for good or ill. As you may see in the trembling +knees of some poor horse, in its drooping head, and spiritless paces, +that it was overwrought when young: so, if the human soul were a thing +that could be seen, you might discern the scars where the iron entered +into it long ago,--you might trace not merely the enduring remembrance, +but the enduring results, of the incapacity and dishonesty of teachers, +the heartlessness of companions, and the idiotic folly and cruelty of +parents. No, it will not do to tell us that past sufferings have ceased +to exist, while their remembrance continues so vivid, and their results +so great. You are not done with the bitter frosts of last winter, though +it be summer now, if your blighted evergreens remain as their result and +memorial. And the man who was brought up in an unhappy home in childhood +will never feel that that unhappy home has ceased to be a present +reality, if he knows that its whole discipline fostered in him a spirit +of distrust in his kind which is not yet entirely got over, and made him +set himself to the work of life with a heart somewhat soured and +prematurely old. The past is a great reality. We are here the living +embodiment of all we have seen and felt through all our life,--fashioned +into our present form by millions of little touches, and by none with a +more real result than the hours of sorrow we have known. + +One great cause of the suffering of boyhood is the bullying of bigger +boys at school. I know nothing practically of the English system of +_fagging_ at public schools, but I am not prepared to join out and +out in the cry against it. I see many evils inherent in the system; but +I see that various advantages may result from it, too. To organize a +recognized subordination of lesser boys to bigger ones must +unquestionably tend to cut the ground from under the feet of the +unrecognized, unauthorized, private bully. But I know that at large +schools, where there is no fagging, bullying on the part of youthful +tyrants prevails to a great degree. Human nature is beyond doubt fallen. +The systematic cruelty of a school-bully to a little boy is proof enough +of _that_, and presents one of the very hatefullest phases of human +character. It is worthy of notice, that, as a general rule, the higher +you ascend in the social scale among boys, the less of bullying there is +to be found. Something of the chivalrous and the magnanimous comes out +in the case of the sons of gentlemen: it is only among such that you +will ever find a boy, not personally interested in the matter, standing +up against the bully in the interest of right and justice. I have +watched a big boy thrashing a little one, in the presence of half a +dozen other big boys, not one of whom interfered on behalf of the +oppressed little fellow. You may be sure I did not watch the transaction +longer than was necessary to ascertain whether there was a grain of +generosity in the hulking boors; and you may be sure, too, that that +thrashing of the little boy was, to the big bully, one of the most +unfortunate transactions in which he had engaged in his bestial and +blackguard, though brief, life. _I_ took care of _that_, you +may rely on it. And I favored the bully's companions with my sentiments +as to their conduct, with an energy of statement that made them sneak +off, looking very like whipped spaniels. My friendly reader, let us +never fail to stop a bully, when we can. And we very often can. Among +the writer's possessions might be found by the curious inspector several +black kid gloves, no longer fit for use, though apparently not very much +worn. Surveying these integuments minutely, you would find the thumb of +the right hand rent away, beyond the possibility of mending. Whence the +phenomenon? It comes of the writer's determined habit of stopping the +bully. Walking along the street, or the country-road, I occasionally see +a big blackguard fellow thrashing a boy much less than himself. I am +well aware that some prudent individuals would pass by on the other +side, possibly addressing an admonition to the big blackguard. But I +approve Thomson's statement, that "prudence to baseness verges still"; +and I follow a different course. Suddenly approaching the blackguard, by +a rapid movement, generally quite unforeseen by him, I take him by the +arm, and occasionally (let me confess) by the neck, and shake him till +his teeth rattle. This, being done with a new glove on the right hand, +will generally unfit that glove for further use. For the bully must be +taken with a grip so firm and sudden as shall serve to paralyze his +nervous system for the time. And never once have I found the bully fail +to prove a whimpering coward. The punishment is well deserved, of +course; and it is a terribly severe one in ordinary cases. It is a +serious thing, in the estimation both of the bully and his companions, +that he should have so behaved as to have drawn on himself the notice of +a passer-by, and especially of a parson. The bully is instantly cowed; +and by a few words to any of his school-associates who may be near, you +can render him unenviably conspicuous among them for a week or two. I +never permit bullying to pass unchecked; and so long as my strength and +life remain, I never will. I trust you never will. If you could stand +coolly by, and see the cruelty you could check, or the wrong you could +right, and move no finger to do it, you are not the reader I want, nor +the human being I choose to know. I hold the cautious and sagacious man, +who can look on at an act of bullying without stopping it and punishing +it, as a worse and more despicable animal than the bully himself. + +Of course, you must interfere with judgment; and you must follow up your +interference with firmness. Don't intermeddle, like Don Quixote, in such +a manner as to make things worse. It is only in the case of continued +and systematic cruelty that it is worth while to work temporary +aggravation, to the end of ultimate and entire relief. And sometimes +that is unavoidable. You remember how, when Moses made his application +to Pharaoh for release to the Hebrews, the first result was the +aggravation of their burdens. The supply of straw was cut off, and the +tale of bricks was to remain the same as before. It could not be helped. +And though things came right at last, the immediate consequence was that +the Hebrews turned in bitterness on their intending deliverer, and +charged their aggravated sufferings upon him. Now, my friend, if you set +yourself to the discomfiture of a bully, see you do it effectually. If +needful, follow up your first shaking. Find out his master, find out his +parents; let the fellow see distinctly that your interference is no +passing fancy. Make him understand that you are thoroughly determined +that his bullying shall cease. And carry out your determination +unflinchingly. + +I frequently see the boys of a certain large public school, which is +attended by boys of the better class; and judging from their cheerful +and happy aspect, I judge that bullying among boys of that condition is +becoming rare. Still, I doubt not, there yet are poor little nervous +fellows whose school-life is embittered by it. I don't think any one +could read the poet Cowper's account of how he was bullied at school, +without feeling his blood a good deal stirred, if not entirely boiling. +If I knew of such a case within a good many miles, I should stop it, +though I never wore a glove again that was not split across the right +palm. + +But, doubtless, the greatest cause of the sorrows of childhood is the +mismanagement and cruelty of parents. You will find many parents who +make favorites of some of their children to the neglect of others: an +error and a sin which is bitterly felt by the children who are held +down, and which can never by possibility result in good to any party +concerned. And there are parents who deliberately lay themselves out to +torment their children. There are two classes of parents who are the +most inexorably cruel and malignant: it is hard to say which class +excels, but it is certain that both classes exceed all ordinary mortals. +One is the utterly blackguard: the parents about whom there is no good +nor pretence of good. The other is the wrong-headedly conscientious and +religious: probably, after all, there is greater rancor and malice about +these last than about any other. These act upon a system of unnatural +repression, and systematized weeding out of all enjoyment from life. +These are the people whose very crowning act of hatred and malice +towards any one is to pray for him, or to threaten to pray for him. +These are the people who, if their children complain of their bare and +joyless life, say that such complaints indicate a wicked heart, or +Satanic possession; and have recourse to further persecution to bring +about a happier frame of mind. Yes: the wrong-headed and wrong-hearted +religionist is probably the very worst type of man or woman on whom the +sun looks down. And, oh! how sad to think of the fashion in which +stupid, conceited, malicious blockheads set up their own worst passions +as the fruits of the working of the Blessed Spirit, and caricature, to +the lasting injury of many a young heart, the pure and kindly religion +of the Blessed Redeemer! These are the folk who inflict systematic and +ingenious torment on their children: and, unhappily, a very contemptible +parent can inflict much suffering on a sensitive child. But of this +there is more to be said hereafter; and before going on to it, let us +think of another evil influence which darkens and embitters the early +years of many. + +It is the cruelty, injustice, and incompetence of many schoolmasters. I +know a young man of twenty-eight, who told me, that, when at school in a +certain large city in Peru, (let us say,) he never went into his class +any day without feeling quite sick with nervous terror. The entire class +of boys lived in that state of cowed submission to a vulgar, stupid, +bullying, flogging barbarian. If it prevents the manners from becoming +brutal diligently to study the ingenuous arts, it appears certain that +diligently to teach them sometimes leads to a directly contrary result. +The bullying schoolmaster has now become an almost extinct animal; but +it is not very long since the spirit of Mr. Squeers was to be found, in +its worst manifestations, far beyond the precincts of Dotheboys Hall. +You would find fellows who showed a grim delight in walking down a class +with a cane in their hand, enjoying the evident fear they occasioned as +they swung it about, occasionally coming down with a savage whack on +some poor fellow who was doing nothing whatsoever. These brutal teachers +would flog, and that till compelled to cease by pure exhaustion, not +merely for moral offences, which possibly deserve it, (though I do not +believe any one was ever made better by flogging,) but for making a +mistake in saying a lesson, which the poor boy had done his best to +prepare, and which was driven out of his head by the fearful aspect of +the truculent blackguard with his cane and his hoarse voice. And how +indignant, in after-years, many a boy of the last generation must have +been, to find that this tyrant of his childhood was in truth a humbug, a +liar, a fool, and a sneak! Yet how that miserable piece of humanity was +feared! How they watched his eye, and laughed at the old idiot's +wretched jokes! I have several friends who have told me such stories of +their school-days, that I used to wonder that they did not, after they +became men, return to the schoolboy spot that they might heartily shake +their preceptor of other years, or even kick him! + +If there be a thing to be wondered at, it is that the human race is not +much worse than it is. It has not a fair chance. I am not thinking now +of an original defect in the material provided: I am thinking only of +the kind of handling it gets. I am thinking of the amount of judgment +which may be found in most parents and in most teachers, and of the +degree of honesty which may be found in many. I suppose there is no +doubt that the accursed system of the cheap Yorkshire schools was by no +means caricatured by Mr. Dickens in "Nicholas Nickleby." I believe that +starvation and brutality were the rule at these institutions. And I do +not think it says much for the manliness of Yorkshire men and of +Yorkshire clergymen, that these foul dens of misery and wickedness were +suffered to exist so long without a voice raised to let the world know +of them. I venture to think, that, if Dr. Guthrie of Edinburgh had lived +anywhere near Greta Bridge, Mr. Squeers and his compeers would have +attained a notoriety that would have stopped their trade. I cannot +imagine how any one, with the spirit of a man in him, could sleep and +wake within sight of one of these schools without lifting a hand or a +voice to stop what was going on there. But without supposing these +extreme cases, I can remember what I have myself seen of the +incompetence and injustice of teachers. I burn with indignation yet, as +I think of a malignant blockhead who once taught me for a few months. I +have been at various schools; and I spent six years at one venerable +university (where my instructors were wise and worthy); and I am now so +old, that I may say, without any great exhibition of vanity, that I have +always kept well up among my school- and college-companions: but that +blockhead kept me steadily at the bottom of my class, and kept a +frightful dunce at the top of it, by his peculiar system. I have +observed (let me say) that masters and professors who are stupid +themselves have a great preference for stupid fellows, and like to keep +down clever ones. A professor who was himself a dunce at college, and +who has been jobbed into his chair, being quite unfit for it, has a +fellow-feeling for other dunces. He is at home with them, you see, and +is not afraid that they see through him and despise him. The injustice +of the malignant blockhead who was my early instructor, and who +succeeded in making several months of my boyhood unhappy enough, was +taken up and imitated by several lesser blockheads among the boys. I +remember particularly one sneaking wretch who was occasionally set to +mark down on a slate the names of such boys as talked in school; such +boys being punished by being turned to the bottom of their class. I +remember how that sneaking wretch used always to mark my name down, +though I kept perfectly silent: and how he put my name last on the list, +that I might have to begin the lesson the very lowest in my form. The +sneaking wretch was bigger than I, so I could not thrash him; and any +representation I made to the malignant blockhead of a schoolmaster was +entirely disregarded. I cannot think but with considerable ferocity, +that probably there are many schools to-day in Britain containing a +master who has taken an unreasonable dislike to some poor boy, and who +lays himself out to make that poor boy unhappy. And I know that such may +be the case where the boy is neither bad nor stupid. And if the school +be one attended by a good many boys of the lower grade, there are sure +to be several sneaky boys among them who will devote themselves to +tormenting the one whom the master hates and torments. + +It cannot be denied that there is a generous and magnanimous tone about +the boys of a school attended exclusively by the children of the better +classes, which is unknown among the children of uncultivated boors. I +have observed, that, if you offer a prize to the cleverest and most +industrious boy of a certain form in a school of the upper class, and +propose to let the prize be decided by the votes of the boys themselves, +you will almost invariably find it fairly given: that is, given to the +boy who deserves it best. If you explain, in a frank, manly way, to the +little fellows, that, in asking each for whom he votes, you are asking +each to say upon his honor whom he thinks the cleverest and most +diligent boy in the form, nineteen boys out of twenty will answer +honestly. But I have witnessed the signal failure of such an appeal to +the honor of the bumpkins of a country school. I was once present at the +examination of such a school, and remarked carefully how the boys +acquitted themselves. After the examination was over, the master +proposed, very absurdly, to let the boys of each class vote the prize +for that particular class. The voting began. A class of about twenty was +called up: I explained to the boys what they were to do. I told them +they were not to vote for the boy they liked best, but were to tell me +faithfully who had done best in the class-lessons. I then asked the +first boy in the line for whom he gave his vote. To my mortification, +instead of voting for a little fellow who had done incomparably best at +the examination, he gave his vote for a big sullen-looking blockhead who +had done conspicuously ill. I asked the next boy, and received the same +answer. So all round the class: all voted for the big sullen-looking +blockhead. One or two did not give their votes quite promptly; and I +could discern a threatening glance cast at them by the big +sullen-looking blockhead, and an ominous clenching of the blockhead's +right fist. I went round the class without remark; and the blockhead +made sure of the prize. Of course this would not do. The blockhead could +not be suffered to get the prize; and it was expedient that he should be +made to remember the occasion on which he had sought to tamper with +justice and right. Addressing the blockhead, amid the dead silence of +the school, I said: "You shall not get the prize, because I can judge +for myself that you don't deserve it. I can see that you are the +stupidest boy in the class; and I have seen reason, during this voting, +to believe that you are the worst. You have tried to bully these boys +into voting for you. Their votes go for nothing; for their voting for +you proves either that they are so stupid as to think you deserve the +prize, or so dishonest as to say they think so when they don't think +so." Then I inducted the blockhead into a seat where I could see him +well, and proceeded to take the votes over again. I explained to the +boys once more what they had to do; and explained that any boy would be +telling a lie who voted the prize unfairly. I also told them that I knew +who deserved the prize, and that they knew it too, and that they had +better vote fairly. Then, instead of saying to each boy, "For whom do +you vote?" I said to each, "Tell me who did best in the class during +these months past." Each boy in reply named the boy who really deserved +the prize: and the little fellow got it. I need not record the means I +adopted to prevent the sullen-looking blockhead from carrying out his +purpose of thrashing the little fellow. It may suffice to say that the +means were thoroughly effectual; and that the blockhead was very meek +and tractable for about six weeks after that memorable day. + +But, after all, the great cause of the sorrows of childhood is +unquestionably the mismanagement of parents. You hear a great deal about +parents who spoil their children by excessive kindness; but I venture to +think that a greater number of children are spoiled by stupidity and +cruelty on the part of their parents. You may find parents who, having +started from a humble origin, have attained to wealth, and who, instead +of being glad to think that their children are better off than they +themselves were, exhibit a diabolical jealousy of their children. You +will find such wretched beings insisting that their children shall go +through needless trials and mortifications, because they themselves went +through the like. Why, I do not hesitate to say that one of the thoughts +which would most powerfully lead a worthy man to value material +prosperity would be the thought that his boys would have a fairer and +happier start in life than he had, and would be saved the many +difficulties on which he still looks back with pain. You will find +parents, especially parents of the pharisaical and wrong-headedly +religious class, who seem to hold it a sacred duty to make the little +things unhappy; who systematically endeavor to render life as bare, +ugly, and wretched a thing as possible; who never praise their children +when they do right, but punish them with great severity when they do +wrong; who seem to hate to see their children lively or cheerful in +their presence; who thoroughly repel all sympathy or confidence on the +part of their children, and then mention as a proof that their children +are possessed by the Devil, that their children always like to get away +from them; who rejoice to cut off any little enjoyment,--rigidly +carrying out into practice the fundamental principle of their creed, +which undoubtedly is, that "nobody should ever please himself, neither +should anybody ever please anybody else, because in either case he is +sure to displease God." No doubt, Mr. Buckle, in his second volume, +caricatured and misrepresented the religion of Scotland as a country; +but he did not in the least degree caricature or misrepresent the +religion of some people in Scotland. The great doctrine underlying all +other doctrines, in the creed of a few unfortunate beings, is, that God +is spitefully angry to see his creatures happy; and of course the +practical lesson follows, that they are following the best example, when +they are spitefully angry to see their children happy. + +Then a great trouble, always pressing heavily on many a little mind, is +that it is overtasked with lessons. You still see here and there idiotic +parents striving to make infant phenomena of their children, and +recording with much pride how their children could read and write at an +unnaturally early age. Such parents are fools: not necessarily malicious +fools, but fools beyond question. The great use to which the first six +or seven years of life should be given is the laying the foundation of a +healthful constitution in body and mind; and the instilling of those +first principles of duty and religion which do not need to be taught out +of any books. Even if you do not permanently injure the young brain and +mind by prematurely overtasking them,--even if you do not permanently +blight the bodily health and break the mind's cheerful spring, you gain +nothing. Your child at fourteen years old is not a bit farther advanced +in his education than a child who began his years after him; and the +entire result of your stupid driving has been to overcloud some days +which should have been among the happiest of his life. It is a woful +sight to me to see the little forehead corrugated with mental effort, +though the effort be to do no more than master the multiplication table: +it was a sad story I lately heard of a little boy repeating his Latin +lesson over and over again in the delirium of the fever of which he +died, and saying piteously that indeed he could not do it better. I +don't like to see a little face looking unnaturally anxious and earnest +about a horrible task of spelling; and even when children pass that +stage, and grow up into school-boys who can read Thucydides and write +Greek iambics, it is not wise in parents to stimulate a clever boy's +anxiety to hold the first place in his class. That anxiety is strong +enough already; it needs rather to be repressed. It is bad enough even +at college to work on late into the night; but at school it ought not to +be suffered for one moment. If a lad takes his place in his class every +day in a state of nervous tremor, he may be in the way to get his gold +medal, indeed; but he is in the way to shatter his constitution for +life. + +We all know, of course, that children are subjected to worse things +than these. I think of little things early set to hard work, to add a +little to their parents' scanty store. Yet, if it be only work, they +bear it cheerfully. This afternoon, I was walking through a certain +quiet street, when I saw a little child standing with a basket at a +door. The little man looked at various passers-by; and I am happy to +say, that, when he saw me, he asked me to ring the door-bell for him: +for, though he had been sent with that basket, which was not a light +one, he could not reach up to the bell. I asked him how old he was. +"Five years past," said the child, quite cheerfully and independently. +"God help you, poor little man!" I thought; "the doom of toil has fallen +early upon you!" If you visit much among the poor, few things will touch +you more than the unnatural sagacity and trustworthiness of children who +are little more than babies. You will find these little things left in a +bare room by themselves,--the eldest six years old,--while the poor +mother is out at her work. And the eldest will reply to your questions +in a way that will astonish you, till you get accustomed to such things. +I think that almost as heart-rending a sight as you will readily see is +the misery of a little thing who has spilt in the street the milk she +was sent to fetch, or broken a jug, and who is sitting in despair beside +the spilt milk or the broken fragments. Good Samaritan, never pass by +such a sight; bring out your two-pence; set things completely right: a +small matter and a kind word will cheer and comfort an overwhelmed +heart. That child has a truculent step-mother, or (alas!) mother, at +home, who would punish that mishap as nothing should be punished but the +gravest moral delinquency. And lower down the scale than this, it is +awful to see want, cold, hunger, rags, in a little child. I have seen +the wee thing shuffling along the pavement in great men's shoes, holding +up its sorry tatters with its hands, and casting on the passengers a +look so eager, yet so hopeless, as went to one's heart. Let us thank God +that there is one large city in the empire where you need never see such +a sight, and where, if you do, you know how to relieve it effectually; +and let us bless the name and the labors and the genius of Thomas +Guthrie! It is a sad thing to see the toys of such little children as I +can think of. What curious things they are able to seek amusement in! I +have known a brass button at the end of a string a much prized +possession. I have seen a grave little boy standing by a broken chair in +a bare garret, solemnly arranging and rearranging two pins upon the +broken chair. A machine much employed by poor children in country places +is a slate tied to a bit of string: this, being drawn along the road, +constitutes a cart; and you may find it attended by the admiration of +the entire young population of three or four cottages standing in the +moorland miles from any neighbor. + + * * * * * + +You will not unfrequently find parents who, if they cannot keep back +their children from some little treat, will try to infuse a sting into +it, so as to prevent the children from enjoying it. They will impress on +their children that they must be very wicked to care so much about going +out to some children's party; or they will insist that their children +should return home at some preposterously early hour, so as to lose the +best part of the fun, and so as to appear ridiculous in the eyes of +their young companions. You will find this amiable tendency in people +intrusted with the care of older children. I have heard of a man whose +nephew lived with him, and lived a very cheerless life. When the season +came round at which the lad hoped to be allowed to go and visit his +parents, he ventured, after much hesitation, to hint this to his uncle. +Of course the uncle felt that it was quite right the lad should go, but +he grudged him the chance of the little enjoyment, and the happy thought +struck him that he might let the lad go, and at the same time make the +poor fellow uncomfortable in going. Accordingly he conveyed his +permission to the lad to go by roaring out in a savage manner, +"_Begone!_" This made the poor lad feel as if it were his duty to +stay, and as if it were very wicked in him to wish to go; and though he +ultimately went, he enjoyed his visit with only half a heart. There are +parents and guardians who take great pains to make their children think +themselves very bad,--to make the little things grow up in the endurance +of the pangs of a bad conscience. For conscience, in children, is a +quite artificial thing: you may dictate to it what it is to say. And +parents, often injudicious, sometimes malignant, not seldom apply hard +names to their children, which sink down into the little heart and +memory far more deeply than they think. If a child cannot eat fat, you +may instil into him that it is because he is so wicked; and he will +believe you for a while. A favorite weapon in the hands of some parents, +who have devoted themselves diligently to making their children +miserable, is to frequently predict to the children the remorse which +they (the children) will feel after they (the parents) are dead. In such +cases, it would be difficult to specify the precise things which the +children are to feel remorseful about. It must just be, generally, +because they were so wicked, and because they did not sufficiently +believe the infallibility and impeccability of their ancestors. I am +reminded of the woman mentioned by Sam Weller, whose husband +disappeared. The woman had been a fearful termagant; the husband, a very +inoffensive man. After his disappearance, the woman issued an +advertisement, assuring him, that, if he returned, he would be fully +forgiven; which, as Mr. Weller justly remarked, was very generous, +seeing he had never done anything at all. + +Yes, the conscience of children is an artificial and a sensitive thing. +The other day, a friend of mine, who is one of the kindest of parents +and the most amiable of men, told me what happened in his house on a +certain _Fast-day_. A Scotch Fast-day, you may remember, is the +institution which so completely puzzled Mr. Buckle. That historian +fancied that _to fast_ means in Scotland to abstain from food. Had +Mr. Buckle known anything whatever about Scotland, he would have known +that a Scotch Fast-day means a week-day on which people go to church, +but on which (especially in the dwellings of the clergy) there is a +better dinner than usual. I never knew man or woman in all my life who +on a Fast-day refrained from eating. And quite right, too. The growth of +common sense has gradually abolished literal fasting. In a Oriental +climate, abstinence from food may give the mind the preeminence over the +body, and so leave the mind better fitted for religious duties. In our +country, literal fasting would have just the contrary effect: it would +give the body the mastery over the soul; it would make a man so +physically uncomfortable that he could not attend with profit to his +religious duties at all. I am aware, Anglican reader, of the defects of +my countrymen; but commend me to the average Scotchman for sound +practical sense. But to return. These Fast-days are by many people +observed as rigorously as the Scotch Sunday. On the forenoon of such a +day, my friend's little child, three years old, came to him in much +distress. She said, as one who had a fearful sin to confess, "I have +been playing with my toys this morning"; and then began to cry as if her +little heart would break. I know some stupid parents who would have +strongly encouraged this needless sensitiveness; and who would thus have +made their child unhappy at the time, and prepared the way for an +indignant bursting of these artificial trammels when the child had grown +up to maturity. But my friend was not of that stamp. He comforted the +little thing, and told her, that, though it might be as well not to play +with her toys on a Fast-day, what she had done was nothing to cry about. +I think, my reader, that, even if you were a Scotch minister, you would +appear with considerable confidence before your Judge, if you had never +done worse than failed to observe a Scotch Fast-day with the Covenanting +austerity. + + * * * * * + +But when one looks back and looks round, and tries to reckon up the +sorrows of childhood arising from parental folly, one feels that the +task is endless. There are parents who will not suffer their children to +go to the little feasts which children occasionally have, either on that +wicked principle that all enjoyment is sinful, or because the children +have recently committed some small offence, which is to be thus +punished. There are parents who take pleasure in informing strangers, in +their children's presence, about their children's faults, to the extreme +bitterness of the children's hearts. There are parents who will not +allow their children to be taught dancing, regarding dancing as sinful. +The result is, that the children are awkward and unlike other children; +and when they are suffered to spend an evening among a number of +companions who have all learned dancing, they suffer a keen +mortification which older people ought to be able to understand. Then +you will find parents, possessing ample means, who will not dress their +children like others, but send them out in very shabby garments. Few +things cause a more painful sense of humiliation to a child. It is a sad +sight to see a little fellow hiding round the corner when some one +passes who is likely to recognize him, afraid to go through the decent +streets, and creeping out of sight by back-ways. We have all seen +_that_. We have all sympathized heartily with the reduced widow who +has it not in her power to dress her boy better; and we have all felt +lively indignation at the parents who had the power to attire their +children becomingly, but whose heartless parsimony made the little +things go about under a constant sense of painful degradation. + +An extremely wicked way of punishing children is by shutting them up in +a dark place. Darkness is naturally fearful to human beings, and the +stupid ghost-stories of many nurses make it especially fearful to a +child. It is a stupid and wicked thing to send a child on an errand in a +dark night. I do not remember passing through a greater trial in my +youth than once walking three miles alone (it was not going on an +errand) in the dark, along a road thickly shaded with trees. I was a +little fellow; but I got over the distance in half an hour. Part of the +way was along the wall of a church-yard, one of those ghastly, weedy, +neglected, accursed-looking spots where stupidity has done what it can +to add circumstances of disgust and horror to the Christian's long +sleep. Nobody ever supposed that this walk was a trial to a boy of +twelve years old: so little are the thoughts of children understood. And +children are reticent: I am telling now about that dismal walk for the +very first time. And in the illnesses of childhood, children sometimes +get very close and real views of death. I remember, when I was nine +years old, how every evening, when I lay down to sleep, I used for about +a year to picture myself lying dead, till I felt as though the coffin +were closing round me. I used to read at that period, with a curious +feeling of fascination, Blair's poem, "The Grave." But I never dreamed +of telling anybody about these thoughts. I believe that thoughtful +children keep most of their thoughts to themselves, and in respect of +the things of which they think most are as profoundly alone as the +Ancient Mariner in the Pacific. I have heard of a parent, an important +member of a very strait sect of the Pharisees, whose child, when dying, +begged to be buried not in a certain foul old hideous church-yard, but +in a certain cheerful cemetery. This request the poor little creature +made with all the energy of terror and despair. But the strait Pharisee +refused the dying request, and pointed out with polemical bitterness to +the child that he must be very wicked indeed to care at such a time +where he was to be buried, or what might be done with his body after +death. How I should enjoy the spectacle of that unnatural, heartless, +stupid wretch tarred and feathered! The dying child was caring for a +thing about which Shakspeare cared; and it was not in mere human +weakness, but "by faith," that "Joseph, when he was a-dying, gave +commandment concerning his bones." + +I believe that real depression of spirits, usually the sad heritage of +after-years, is often felt in very early youth. It sometimes comes of +the child's belief that he must be very bad, because he is so frequently +told that he is so. It sometimes comes of the child's fears, early felt, +as to what is to become of him. His parents, possibly, with the good +sense and kind feeling which distinguish various parents, have taken +pains to drive it into the child, that, if his father should die, he +will certainly starve, and may very probably have to become a wandering +beggar. And these sayings have sunk deep into the little heart. I +remember how a friend told me that his constant wonder, when he was +twelve or thirteen years old, was _this_: If life was such a burden +already, and so miserable to look back upon, how could he ever bear it +when be had grown older? + + * * * * * + +But now, my reader, I am going to stop. I have a great deal more marked +down to say; but the subject is growing so thoroughly distressing to me, +as I go on, that I shall go on no farther. It would make me sour and +wretched for the next week, if I were to state and illustrate the varied +sorrows of childhood of which I intended yet to speak: and if I were to +talk out my heart to you about the people who cause these, I fear my +character for good-nature would be gone with you forever. "This genial +writer," as the newspapers call me, would show but little geniality: I +am aware, indeed, that I have already been writing in a style which, to +say the least, is snappish. So I shall say nothing of the first death +that comes in the family in our childish days,--its hurry, its +confusion, its awe-struck mystery, its wonderfully vivid recalling of +the words and looks of the dead; nor of the terrible trial to a little +child of being sent away from home to school,--the heart-sickness, and +the weary counting of the weeks and days before the time of returning +home again. But let me say to every reader who has it in his power +directly or indirectly to do so, Oh, do what you can to make children +happy! oh, seek to give that great enduring blessing of a happy youth! +Whatever after-life may prove, let there be something bright to look +back upon in the horizon of their early time! You may sour the human +spirit forever, by cruelty and injustice in youth. There is a past +suffering which exalts and purifies; but _this_ leaves only an evil +result: it darkens all the world, and all our views of it. Let us try to +make every little child happy. The most selfish parent might try to +please a little child, if it were only to see the fresh expression of +unblunted feeling, and a liveliness of pleasurable emotion which in +after-years we shall never know, I do not believe a great English +barrister is so happy when he has the Great Seal committed to him as two +little and rather ragged urchins whom I saw this very afternoon. I was +walking along a country-road, and overtook them. They were about five +years old. I walked slower, and talked to them for a few minutes, and +found that they were good boys, and went to school every day. Then I +produced two coins of the copper coinage of Britain: one a large penny +of ancient days, another a small penny of the present age. "There is a +penny for each of you," I said, with some solemnity: "one is large, you +see, and the other small; but they are each worth exactly the same. Go +and get something good." I wish you had seen them go off! It is a cheap +and easy thing to make a little heart happy. May this hand never write +another essay, if it ever wilfully miss the chance of doing so! It is +all quite right in after-years to be careworn and sad. We understand +these matters ourselves. Let others bear the burden which we ourselves +bear, and which is doubtless good for us. But the poor little things! I +can enter into the feeling of a kind-hearted man who told me that he +never could look at a number of little children but the tears came into +his eyes. How much these young creatures have to bear yet! I think you +can, as you look at them, in some degree understand and sympathize with +the Redeemer, who, when he "saw a great multitude, was moved with +compassion toward them"! Ah, you smooth little face, (you may think,) I +know what years will make of you, if they find you in this world! And +you, light little heart, will know your weight of care! + +And I remember, as I write these concluding lines, who they were that +the Best and Kindest this world ever saw liked to have near him; and +what the reason was he gave why he felt most in his element when they +were by his side. He wished to have little children round him, and would +not have them chidden away; and this because there was something about +them that reminded him of the Place from which he came. He liked the +little faces and the little voices,--he to whom the wisest are in +understanding as children. And oftentimes, I believe, these little ones +still do his work. Oftentimes, I believe, when the worn man is led to +him in childlike confidence, it is by the hand of a little child. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE REHABILITATION OF SPAIN. + + +Three hundred and fifty years ago, a Spanish gentleman sailed on a +cruise that may be considered remarkable even in the history of the +wonderful adventures of the age of Columbus and Da Gama. Juan Ponce de +Leon, having lost the government of Porto Rico, resolved to discover a +world for himself, and so become as renowned as "The Admiral." With the +strong fanaticism of his time and his race, he believed that there was a +third world to be found, and that it "had been saved up" for him, a +gentleman of Leon, and a loyal subject of their Catholic Majesties, who +had done good service for his sovereigns and the faith in Granada, and +later in the Indies. While he was thinking of the course in which he +should sail, he was told that to the North there lay a land which not +only contained unlimited gold, and many other material good things, but +also a fountain of such marvellous nature that to bathe in it was to +secure the return of youth. This revival of an old classic story[A] +fired the imagination of the adventurous cavalier, and he sailed +forthwith (March 3, 1512) in search of a land so rich in things that all +men, from philosophers to politicians, desire to have,--perfect health +and boundless wealth. We need not say that Ponce de Leon failed as +completely as if he had sailed in search of the Northwest Passage, for +he died in less than ten years, a worn-out old man, aged beyond his +years, leaving little gold behind him, and presenting at his parting +hour anything but the appearance of youth. He was a type of the +Spaniards of those days, who believed everything, and whose valor was as +great as their credulity; and his cruise in search of the _Fontaine de +Jouvence_ was quite worthy of a native of a country which seems to be +allowed the privilege of an occasional "dip" into that fountain, though +at long intervals, but is denied the power of constantly bathing in it. + + [Footnote A: The belief in the existence of the Fountain of + Youth belongs to many countries and to all times. Not to mention + other instances, Herodotus, in his third book, (23,) tells of a + fountain of the kind which was possessed by "the long-lived + Ethiopians," and which caused the bather's flesh to become sleek + and glossy, and sent forth an odor like that of violets. Peter + Martyr, to whom we owe so many lively pictures of the effect on + the European mind of the discovery of America and its + consequences, wrote to Leo X. of the marvellous fountain which + was sought by Ponce de Leon, and in terms that leave no doubt + that he was well inclined to place considerable faith in the + truth of the common story. The clever Pope probably believed as + much of it as he did of the New Testament. Peter Martyr does + not, we think, mention the Ethiopian fountain, of which, as he + was a good scholar, and that was the age of the revival of + classic learning, he must have read.] + +Spain, unlike most other countries, rises and falls, and apparently is +never so near to degradation as when she is most strong, and never so +near to power as when she is at the weakest point to which a nation can +sink and still remain a nation. All states have had both good and evil +fortune, but no other great European kingdom has known the extreme and +extraordinary changes that have been experienced by Spain. France has +met with heavy reverses, but she has been a great and powerful country +ever since the days of Philip Augustus, whose body was turned up the +other day, after a repose of more than six centuries. Even the victories +of the English Plantagenets could but temporarily check her growth; and +notwithstanding the successes of Eugène and Marlborough, Louis XIV. left +France a greater country than he found it. England's lowest point was +reached during the reigns of her first four Stuart monarchs, but her +weakness was exhibited only on the side of foreign politics: it being +absurd to suppose that the country which could produce Hampden and +Cromwell, Strafford and Falkland, and the men who formed the Cavalier +and Roundhead armies, was then in a state of decay. At the worst, she +was but depressed, and the removal of such dead weights from her as +Charles I. and James II. was all that was necessary to enable her to +vindicate her claim to a first-rate place in the European family. In +1783, at the close of the American War, men said that all was over with +England; but so mistaken were they, that at that very time were growing +up the men who were to lead her fleets and armies with success in +contests compared with which the combats of Gates and Burgoyne, of +Cornwallis and Washington, were but as skirmishes. No other nation, +perhaps, ever had so sudden and so great a fall as that which France met +with in 1814-15. It was the most perfect specimen of the "grand smash" +order of things that history mentions, if we consider both what was +lost, and how quickly it was lost. But it was humiliating merely, and +was attended with no loss of true strength. There was taken from France +that which she had no right to hold, any more than England has at this +moment to hold Gibraltar and Aden and India. France remained much as she +had been under the old monarchy, and there were some millions more of +Frenchmen than had ever lived under a Bourbon of former days, and they +were of a better breed than the political slaves, and in some instances +the personal serfs, who had existed under kings that misruled at +Versailles and Marly. How rapidly France rose above the effects of her +fall we have seen, as her recovery belongs to contemporary history. Her +various mind was never more vigorous than it has been since 1815. As to +her political and military greatness, millions of men who were living on +Waterloo's day, and who read of that "dishonest victory" as "news," +lived to read the details of Solferino, and of the redemption of Italy. + +Not so has it been with Spain. Unlike all other nations in all other +respects, she could not allow herself to resemble them even in the +matter of making sacrifices to Mutability. Had Juan Ponce de Leon been +so unlucky as to find the Fountain of Youth, and had he been so unwise +as to reserve its waters for his own private washing and drinking, and +so have lived from the age of American discovery to the age of American +secession, he would, as a Spaniard, have been forced to undergo many +mortifications in the course of the dozen generations that he would then +have survived beyond his originally appointed time. Spain has been a +greater country than any other in Europe, but she has experienced +greater changes than any other European country. She has never known +such a catastrophe as that which befell France in the early part of our +century, but her losses have been far beyond those which France has ever +met with. It was the lot of France to fall at once, to pass from the +highest place in the world to the lowest at one step, to abdicate her +hegemony with something of that rapidity which is common in dreams, but +which is of rare occurrence in real life. It has been the lot of Spain +to perish by the dry rot, and to lose imperial positions through the +operation of internal causes. So situated as to be almost beyond the +reach of effective foreign attack, Spain has had to contend against the +processes of domestic decay more than any other leading nation of modern +times. To these she has often had to succumb, but she has never failed +in due time to redeem herself, and, after having been a by-word for +imbecility, to rise again to a commanding place. Three times in less +than three centuries have the Spaniards fallen so low as to become of +less account in the European system than the feeblest of the Northern +peoples; and on each occasion has the native, inherent vigor of the race +enabled it to astonish mankind by entering again upon the career of +greatness, not always, it must be allowed, after the wisest fashion, but +so as to testify to the continued existence of those high qualities +which made the Castilian the Roman of the sixteenth century. + +Spain was of considerable importance in Europe from a very early period +of modern history; but the want of union among her communities, and the +presence of Mussulman power in the Peninsula, prevented her from +exercising more influence in the Old World than would fall to our share +in the New, should the principles of the Secession party prevail. It was +not until a union had been effected through the marriage of Ferdinand +and Isabella, that the power of Christian Spain was brought to bear upon +the remnant of the Mussulmans of that country, and rounded and completed +the work of redeeming it from the dominion of the followers of the +Prophet, who had, on the whole, ruled their possessions better than the +Christian states had been ruled. The fall of Granada, in 1492, was +hailed throughout Christendom as a great triumph for the Cross, as in +one sense it was; but there was not a Christian country which would not +have been the gainer, if the Mussulmans of Spain had risen victorious +from the last game which they played with the adversaries of their +religion in a duel that had endured for more than seven hundred years. +Many a Pagan country, too, which had never heard either of Jesus or of +Mahomet, was interested in the event of the War of Granada. Montezuma +and Atahuallpa, who never had so much as dreamed of Europe, had their +fate determined by the decision of the long struggle between the rival +religions and peoples of the Peninsula; and Boabdil was not the only +monarch, by many, who then and there had his lot decided. Much of +America, and not a little of Europe, were conquered on the Plains of +Granada; and "the Last Sigh of the Moor" may have been given, not so +much to his own sad fate, as over the evil that was to come, and which +was to affect popes and princes and peoples alike. There was not a +country in the world but might have served itself well, if it had sent +aid to the struggling Moors. Instead of rejoicing over the victory of +the Spanish Christians, the world might have sent forth a wail in +consequence of it, as best expressing the sense that should have existed +of the woes which that victory was to be the means of bringing upon +mankind. The issue of that Peninsular contest was in every way bad, and +no good has ever come from it, but evil in abundance. The fountain that +was then unsealed was one of bitter waters only. The sympathies of men +should be with the Moors, who were the more enlightened, the more +liberal, and the wiser of the two races that then grappled for a final +encounter. Being the weaker party, they fell, but they were destined to +have grand funeral games. + +Freed from the presence of any Mussulman states, Spain was enabled to +begin a grand European career in the latter years of the fifteenth +century, the conquest of Granada and the discovery of America having +given her a degree of power that gained for her the world's profoundest +respect. Partly by success in war, and partly through a series of +fortunate marriages, she became the first member of the European +commonwealth in a quarter of a century after the overthrow of the Moors. +The first of her Austro-Burgundian kings was made Emperor of Germany, +and by birth he was lord of the Netherlands. In a few years, and after +the conquest of Mexico, he had a French king among his captives, and the +Pope was shut up by one of his armies in the Castle of St. Angelo. Yet a +few years more, and Peru was added to the dominions of Spain. The +position and principles of the Emperor-King made him the champion of the +old order of things in Europe as against the Reformation, which added +immensely to his power. Spain was then, as she is now, and as probably +she ever will be, intensely Catholic, and as Papal as any country +valuing its independence well could be. How she regarded Protestantism, +and all other forms of "heresy," we know from the fiery energy--it was +literally of a fiery character--with which she disposed of all the +Reformers, of every degree, upon whom her iron hand could be laid. Had +Charles V. been inclined to favor the Reformation, from his position as +Emperor of Germany, he would soon have been diverted from any such +thought by considerations drawn from his position as King of the Spains. +A Mussulman, or a Hebrew, or an avowed atheist would have had a better +chance of being a powerful and popular sovereign at Valladolid than a +pious man who should have been inclined to look with favor upon Dr. +Luther. It may be doubted if even a king could have been safe from the +inquiries of the Inquisition. Thus Spain was not only at the head of +Europe because of her military superiority and the extent of her home +territory and foreign dominion, but, as the champion of the Church, she +had a moral power such as no other country has ever possessed, her +championship of the Pope being something very different from Napoleon +III.'s championship of the Pope of to-day. The German aristocracy might +be after the loaves and fishes of the Church, when they professed +readiness to aid in warfare against the Reformers; but no one could +doubt the zeal of the Spanish patricians, when _they_ dedicated +their swords and lances to the work of extirpating all enemies of the +faith. An Englishman of 1857 could not have been more hostile to a Sepoy +than a Spaniard of 1557 was to a Protestant. Religious power, political +power, military power, and long-continued success in the cabinet and in +the field, all combined to place Spain in a position such as no other +nation had ever known, such as no other nation ever will know. Even the +failures of Charles V.--his flight before Maurice of Saxony, and his +defeat at Metz--did not sensibly abate the power of Spain, for they +concerned Germany more than they did the Peninsular subjects of the +disappointed monarch. + +When Philip II. succeeded to most of his father's abdicated thrones, +there was no diminution of Spanish pretensions, and he became the +mightiest sovereign that Europe had known since Charlemagne. Philip's +failure to obtain the Imperial throne was a personal disappointment to +both father and son, but it was no loss of real power to the elder +branch of the House of Austria. The death of Mary of England, though it +prevented Philip from availing himself of the men and money of his +wife's kingdom, was rather beneficial to him, as chief of the Spanish +dominion, than otherwise. What could he have done with the haughty, +arrogant, self-sufficient islanders, who were as proud as the Castilians +themselves, without any of the imperial pretensions of the Castilians to +justify their pride, had Mary lived and reigned, while he alone should +have ruled? There would have been civil war in England but for Mary's +death, which occurred at a happy time both for her and for her subjects. +Philip also lost a portion of his Northern hereditary dominions, because +he would have a tyranny established in the Netherlands. But all that he +lost in Germany, in the Netherlands, and in Britain was compensated by +his easy conquest of Portugal after the extinction of the House of Avis. +The Portugal of those times was a very different country from the +Portugal of these times. It was not only Portugal and the Algarves that +Philip added to the dominions of Spain,--and that alone would have been +a great thing, for it would have perfected the Spanish rule of the +Peninsula, always a most desirable event in the eyes of Castilians,--but +the enormous and wide-spread possessions of Portugal in Africa, in +America, and in Asia became subject to the conqueror. Portugal alone was +of far more value to Spain than England could have been; but Portugal +and her colonies together made a greater prize than England, Holland, +and Germany could have made, recollecting how full of "heretics" those +countries were, and that the more heretical subjects Philip should have +had, the less powerful he would have been. Portugal was as "Faithful" as +Spain was "Catholic," and both titles now belonged to Philip. At that +time, Philip's power, to outward seeming, was at its height. It was not +certain that he would lose Holland, and it was certain that he had +gained Portugal and all her dependencies. He was absolute master of the +Spanish Peninsula, and his will was law over nearly all the Italian +Peninsula except that portion of it which was ruled by Venice. He alone +of European sovereigns had vast possessions in both Indies, the East and +the West. He was monarch of no insignificant part of Africa, and in +America he was the Great King, his dominion there being almost as little +disputed as was that of Selkirk in his island. He was still master of +the best part of the Low Countries, and the Hollanders were regarded as +nothing more than his rebellious subjects. He was the sole Western +potentate who had lieutenants in the East, who ruled over Indian +territories that never had been reached even by the Macedonian +Alexander. From his cabinet in Madrid, he fixed the fate of many +millions of the first peoples in the world, members of the races most +advanced in all the arts of war and of peace. His least whisper could +affect the every-day life of men in the principal cities of both +hemispheres. He who was sovereign at Madrid and Lisbon, at Naples and +Milan, at Brussels and Antwerp, was sovereign also at Mexico and Lima, +at Goa and Ormuz. + +Philip's power was by no means to be measured solely by the extent and +various character of his dominions. His position, as a great monarch, +and as the chief champion of the Catholic cause, made him, at times, +master of many European countries over which he could exercise no direct +rule. England trembled before him even after the "Armada's pride" had +been rebuked, and Elizabeth came much nearer being vanquished by him +than is generally supposed. Nothing but the blockade of Parma's forces +by the Dutch, and the occurrence of storms, saved England from +experiencing that sad fate which she has ever been so ready, with cause +and without cause, to visit upon other countries. In Ireland the Spanish +monarch was more respected than Elizabeth, its nominal ruler, and he was +regarded by the Irish not only with reverence as the first of Catholic +princes, but also with that affection which men ever feel for the +enemies of their enemies. Whoso hates England is sure of Irish +affection, and as it is today so was it three hundred years ago, and so +will it ever be, unless the very human heart itself shall undergo a +complete change. Scotland furnished a Spanish party that might have +become formidable to England, had events taken a slightly different +turn; and the old Caledonian hatred of Southrons had not been +extinguished by the success of the Reform party in both countries. The +Scotch Catholics called Philip "the pillar of the Christian +commonwealth," (_Totius reipublicæ Christianæ columen_,) and sought +his assistance to restore the old religion to their country. France was +for several years more at the command of Philip than at that of any of +its own sovereigns, the weak dregs of the line of Valois. The League +would willingly have transferred the French crown to any person whom he +might have named to wear it; and perhaps nothing but the sensible +decision of Henry IV., that Paris was worth a mass, prevented that crown +from passing to some member of the Spanish branch of the House of +Austria. In Germany Philip had an influence corresponding to his power, +which was all the greater because he was the head of a Germanic house +that under him seemed destined to develop an old idea that it should +become ruler of the world. If anything marred his strength in that +quarter, it was the fact that the junior branch of the Austrian family +was at that time inclined to liberalism in politics,--an offence against +the purposes and traditions of the whole family of which few members of +it have ever been guilty, before or since. + +But this mighty Spanish power came to an end with the monarch in whom it +was represented. The sources of Spanish strength had been drying up for +a century, but the personal character of the successive monarchs, and +vast foreign acquisitions, had disguised the fact from the world. Philip +died in 1598, and in reality left his empire but a skeleton to his son, +a youth of feeble mind, but under whose rule a change of policy was +effected, not, as has been sometimes supposed, from any deep views on +the part of the Count-Duke Lerma, but because it was impossible for +Spain to maintain the place she had held under Philip II. Even had +Philip III. been as able a man as his father, or his grandfather, he +could not have preserved the ascendency of Spain,--that country having +changed much, and Europe more. Every European nation, with the exception +of Turkey,--and the Turks were only encamped in Europe,--had advanced +during the sixteenth century, except Spain, which had declined. Thus had +she become weak, positively and relatively. Rest was necessary to her, +and under the rule of Lerma she obtained it. He supported the peace +policy of that old aristocratical party of which Ruy Gomez had been the +chief, but which had been hardly heard of in the last twenty years of +Philip II.'s reign. That monarch, on his death-bed, regretted that "to +his grace in bestowing on him so great a realm, God had not been pleased +to add the grace of granting him a successor capable of continuing to +rule it"; but had his son been all that the most unreasonable parent +could have desired, he could not have pursued his father's policy. Lerma +did but act as he was forced to act. The circumstance that the Catholic +Reaction had triumphed was alone sufficient to make a change necessary. +Spanish greatness was no longer the leading political interest of the +Church, and Rome was at liberty to have some regard to the new powers +that were growing up in Europe. Pacific ideas prevailed. Spain ceased to +make war in every direction, and husbanded her resources, and began to +renew her native strength. The skeleton bequeathed by Philip II. became +clothed with flesh, and sinewy. Could this policy have been continued +for a generation, Spanish history might have been made to read +differently from the melancholy text it now presents. But the process of +rehabilitation was not allowed to go on. There had always been a strong +party opposed to Lerma, and that statesman's friendliness to the English +and the Dutch made him liable to the charge of favoring heresy,--a +charge that was the heaviest that could be brought against any one in +the estimation of Philip III., who was as bigoted as his father. The +Catholic and warlike policy of Idiaquez, Granvella, and Moura was +revived. The two branches of the Austrian family were again brought into +the closest alliance, and at a time when the German branch had become +even more Catholic than the elder branch. Spain stepped once more into +the European arena, and her generals and armies by their abilities and +exploits revived recollections of what had been done by Parma and his +hosts. Spinola, who was scarcely inferior to Farnese, conquered the +Palatinate, and so began the Thirty Years' War favorably to the Catholic +cause. The great victory of Nordlingen, won by the Catholics in 1635, +was due to the valor of the Spanish troops in the Imperial army. Spain +appeared to be as powerful as at any former period, and the revival of +her ascendency might have been expected by those who judged only from +external indications of strength. Yet a few years, however, and it was +clear to all politicians at least that Spain was far gone into a +decline, and that the course of Olivarez had been fatal to her +greatness; and the mass of mankind, who judge only from glaring actions, +could not fail to appreciate the nature of such events as the defeat of +Rocroi and the loss of Portugal, the latter including the loss of all +the dependencies of the Portuguese in Africa, America, and India. No +historical transaction of the seventeenth century testifies so strongly +to the weakness of a first-class power as the Revolution of Portugal. +Though Portugal lay at the very door of Spain, that country slipped from +her feeble hands, and she never could recover it. Having resumed her +encroaching, domineering course before she had fairly recovered her +strength, she broke down in less than a quarter of a century, though +even then the full extent of her weakness was not generally understood. +It is an amusement to read works that were written in the reigns of +Philip IV. and Charles II., in which Spain is spoken of as a great +power, and to compare the words of their writers with the actual facts +of the case. If we were to fix upon any one date as indicating the final +breaking down of Austrian Spain, it would be the year 1659, when the +treaty of the Pyrenees was made, and when the old rival of France became +virtually her vassal. From that time we must date the beginning of that +strange interference in Spanish affairs which has formed so much of the +public business of France, whereby one of the proudest of peoples have +become, as it were, provincials to one of the vainest of peoples. It is +true that there were more wars between Austrian Spain and France, but +they served only to show that the former had lost the power to contend +with her rival, who might look forward to the day when the empire of +Philip II. should fall to pieces, and furnish spoil to those strong +nations that watch over the beds of sick men in purple. + +The state of decay in which the first Bourbon king of Spain found his +inheritance, in 1701, is well known. The War of the Succession soon +followed, and Spain was shorn of some of her most magnificent foreign +possessions. All that she had held in Flanders was lost,--and so were +Naples, and Sicily, and Sardinia, and the Milanese, and other lands that +had been ruled, and wellnigh ruined, by the Austro-Burgundian kings. The +English had Gibraltar, and were holding Minorca also. Bourbon Spain was +not to be Austrian Spain,--that was clear. But this trimming and pruning +of the Peninsular monarchy were very useful to it; and Spain, having +been ploughed up by the sword for twelve successive years, was in +condition to yield something beyond what it had produced since the death +of Philip II. Accordingly, under the ascendency of the Italian Alberoni, +Spain became rapidly powerful; and could that remarkable statesman have +confined his labors to affairs purely Spanish in their character and +purpose, that country might have taken, and have continued to hold, the +first place in Europe. He, however, with all his talents, was +intellectually deficient in some important respects, and so all his +schemes came to nought, and he fell. He tried to effect too much, and +though fully sensible of the necessity of peace to Spain, he plunged +into war. He did, in fact, what the rulers of Spain are doing to-day: he +sought to restore the old Castilian influence by engaging the country in +wars that would have been foolish, even if they had not been unjust, +when he should have continued to direct all his attention to its +internal affairs. Had he been at the head of any other than a Spanish +ministry, Alberoni would probably have borne himself rationally; but +there is something in the politics of Spain that affects even the wisest +of heads, often turning them, as it were, and rendering their owners the +strangest of caricatures. It is sometimes said that the most Irish of +the people of Ireland are those who have come latest into the green +island, there being something in its air and soil that soon converts the +stranger into a true Hibernian in all moral respects; but the remark is +more applicable to Spain than to Ireland, as in the former country +foreign statesmen have more than once made Spanish policy ridiculous by +taking that one step which separates that quality from the sublime. What +in the person of a Castilian is at the worst but Quixotic becomes in the +foreigner, or man of foreign descent, the merest burlesque upon +statesmanship. + +Alberoni's fall did not imply the fall of Spain. The renewal of vigor +that she had gained under his direction was sufficiently great to carry +her well through more than seventy years, during which she stood on an +equal footing with France, the Empire, and Great Britain, and for most +of the time was the superior of Russia and Prussia, whose European +greatness did not begin until the second half of the eighteenth century +had become somewhat advanced. It is difficult for the men of to-day to +understand that Spain was really a great power under the Bourbon kings, +down to the first years of the French Revolution. We have seen her, +until very recently, a country of little more European account than +Portugal; and that she should, but eighty years since, have treated with +England as equal with equal, after having assisted at the work of +England's humiliation, it is hard to comprehend. But such was the fact. +Several of the Spanish statesmen of the last Century were very superior +men, the kingdom itself was strong, and the Indies did not experience +any disturbances calculated seriously to embarrass the mother-country. +Then the close union that was brought about between France and Spain, in +the early days of Charles III. and the last days of Louis XV., had no +unimportant effect on the fortunes of Spain. The _Pacte de Famille_ +was one of the greatest political transactions of those days. It was +effected just a hundred years ago, and but for the occurrence of the +French Revolution it would have proved most fruitful of remarkable +events. Had it never been made, it may well be doubted if the American +Revolution could have been a successful movement. That Revolution France +was bound to support, both by interest and by sentiment; and the +Family-Compact enabled her to take Spain on to the side of America, +where it is evident that her interests scarcely could have taken her; +and Spain's aid, which was liberally afforded, was necessary to the +success of our ancestors. That it was possible thus to place Spain was +owing to one of those displays of English insolence that have made the +islanders abhorred by the rulers and the ruled of almost every land. +"Charles III. of Spain," says Macaulay, "had early conceived a deadly +hatred of England. Twenty years before, when he was King of the Two +Sicilies, he had been eager to join the coalition against Maria Theresa. +But an English fleet had suddenly appeared in the Bay of Naples. An +English captain had landed, had proceeded to the palace, had laid a +watch on the table, and had told his Majesty that within an hour a +treaty of neutrality must be signed, or a bombardment would commence. +The treaty was signed; the squadron sailed out of the bay twenty-four +hours after it had sailed in; and from that day the ruling passion of +the humbled prince was aversion to the English name. He was at length in +a situation in which he might hope to gratify that passion. He had +recently become King of Spain and the Indies. He saw, with envy and +apprehension, the triumphs of our navy, and the rapid extension of our +colonial empire. He was a Bourbon, and sympathized with the distress of +the house from which he sprang. He was a Spaniard; and no Spaniard could +bear to see Gibraltar and Minorca in the possession of a foreign power. +Impelled by such feelings, Charles concluded a secret treaty with +France. By this treaty, known as the Family-Compact, the two powers +bound themselves, not in express words, but by the clearest implication, +to make war on England in common." Such was the origin of an alliance +that changed the fate of America, and which might have done as much for +Europe but for the fall of the French Bourbons. The statesmen of +England, with that short-sightedness which is the badge of all their +tribe, were nursing the power of Russia, at an enormous expense, in +order that, at a still greater expense, their grandsons might attempt +the bridling of that power, in which they succeeded about as well as did +Doria in bridling the horses of St. Mark. The partition of Poland showed +what Europe had most to fear, and French statesmen were preparing for +the Northern blast, while those of England, according to one of their +own number, who was a Secretary of State, spoke of it as something +indeed inconsistent with national equity and public honor, and therefore +engaging their master's disapprobation, but as not so immediately +interesting as to deserve his interposition. Time, however, would have +brought England right, from regard to her own safety, and she would have +united herself with France, Spain, and Naples to resist Russian +encroachments; and Austria, it may be assumed, would have gone with the +West and the South against the North, for her statesmen had the sagacity +to see that the partition of Poland was adverse to their country's +interests, and the part they had in that most iniquitous of modern +transactions was taken rather from fear than from ambition. They could +not prevent a robbery, and so they aided in it, and shared in the spoil. +But the revolutionary storm came, and broke up the old European system. +Passional politics took the place of diplomacy, and party-spirit usurped +that of patriotism. It was the age of the Reformation repeated, and men +could hail the defeats of their own country with joy, because their +country and their party were on opposite sides in the grand struggle +which opinions were making for supremacy. + +In that storm Spain broke down, but not until she had exhibited +considerable power in war, first with France, and then as the ally of +France. Her navy was honorably distinguished, though unfortunate, at St. +Vincent and Trafalgar, and elsewhere, showing that Spanish valor was not +extinct. Napoleon I., unequal to bearing well the good-fortune that had +been made complete at Tilsit, and maddened by the success of England in +her piratical attack on Denmark, resolved to add Spain to his empire, +virtually, if not in terms. He was not content with having her as one of +his most useful and submissive dependencies, whose resources were at his +command as thoroughly as were those of Belgium and Lombardy, but must +needs insist upon having her throne at his disposal. Human folly never +perpetrated a grosser blunder than this, and he established that +"Spanish ulcer" which undermined the strength of the most magnificent +empire that the world had seen for ten centuries; for, if his empire was +in some respects inferior to that of Philip II., in others it was +superior to the Castilian dominion. Out of his action in the Peninsula +grew the Peninsular War, which was to the Spain of our age what the +Succession War had been to the Spain of a century earlier. That country +was prepared by it for another revival, which came at last, but which +also came slowly. Had Ferdinand VII. been a wise and truthful man, or +had there been Spanish statesmen capable of governing both monarch and +monarchy, the days of Alberoni would have been repeated before 1820. But +there was neither an honest monarch nor a great statesman in the +kingdom, and Spain daily became weaker and more contemptible. Her +colonial empire disappeared, with a few exceptions, such as Cuba and the +Philippines. The sun ceased to shine constantly on that empire which had +been warmed by his beams through three centuries, and transferred that +honor to England. Spanish politics became the world's scorn; and a +French army, acting as the police of the Holy Alliance, crossed the +Pyrenees, and made Ferdinand VII. once more an absolute king. After his +death, a civil war raged for a long time between the Christinos and the +Carlists, parties which took their names from the Queen-Mother and from +Don Carlos, who claimed to be the legitimate King of the Spains. At +length that war was brought to an end, and the throne of Isabella II. +appears to be as well established as was that of Isabella I. + +During all those unhappy years, Spain had, to use the common phrase, +been making progress. Foreign war and civil war, and political +convulsions of every kind, had been eminently useful to her. The Arachne +webs and dust of ages had been blown away by the cannon of France and +England. Old ideas were exploded. Young Spain had displaced Old Spain. A +generation had grown up who had no sympathy with the antique world. In +spite of repeated invasions, and almost unbroken bad government, and +colonial losses such as no other country ever had experienced, the +material power of Spain had vastly advanced between 1808 and 1850. Since +1850 the Spaniards have been prosperous people, and every year has seen +their power increased; and they are now demanding for their country +admission into the list of the Great Powers of Europe. They have formed +a numerous army, and a navy that is more than respectable. They are +constructing railways, and encouraging business in all its forms. The +public revenue is equal to about ninety millions of our money, which +would liberally provide for every expenditure that the Government ought +to make, but which cannot meet the wants of that Government, because the +Spanish statesmen of 1862 are as unwise as were any of their +predecessors, most of whom treated the dollar as if it contained twelve +dimes. "To spend half a crown out of sixpence a day" requires the +possession of as much ingenuity as would, if rationally employed, serve +to convert the sixpence into a crown; but Spain rarely permits common +sense to govern her action, and prefers debt to prosperity, when she can +fairly make her choice between the two. As to her public morality, a +very little observation proves that she is not an iota more merciful or +consistent now than she was when she banished the Moriscos. At the very +time when she is engaged in making war on Mexico because of alleged +wrongs received at the hands of that country, she refuses to pay her own +debts, thus placing herself on the level of Mississippi, which can raise +money to aid in warring against the Union, and yet will not liquidate +its bonds, which are held by the English allies of American rebels. This +does not promise much for the future of Spain, and she may find her +armies brought to a stand in Mexico from the want of money; and thus +will be repeated the blunder of the sixteenth century, when the +victories of the Spaniards in the Low Countries were made fruitless +because their sovereign was unable to pay his soldiers, and so they +became mutineers at the very time when it was most requisite that their +loyalty should be perfect, in order that the Castilian ascendency might +be entirely restored. Spain walks in a circle, and she repeats the +follies of her past with a pertinacity that would seem to indicate, +that, while she has forgotten everything, she has learned nothing. + +This third revival of Spain has been attended with a liberal exhibition +of the same follies which we know it was her custom to display after +preceding revivals. Instead of attending to her internal affairs, which +demanded all her attention and the use of all her means, she has plunged +into the great sea of foreign politics, with the view, it should seem, +of being admitted formally into the list of leading European Powers. +That she should desire a first place is by no means discreditable to +her; but her manner of seeking it is to the last degree childish, and +unworthy of a country that has had so much experience. That place which +she seeks can never long be denied to any European nation which is +really strong, and modern strength does not consist merely in great +fleets and armies, to be employed in attacking the weak, and in +promoting a system of intervention in the affairs of foreign countries. +Such, however, is not the opinion of Spanish statesmen, if they are to +be judged by their actions. No sooner did Spain begin to feel her +strength, than she determined to make other countries feel it, in a very +disagreeable fashion. She directed her attention to Italy, and nothing +but a salutary dread of Napoleon III prevented her from becoming the +champion of all the tyrants and abuses of that country. It was at one +time supposed that she meant to revive her pretensions to territorial +rule in the Italian Peninsula, and to contend for the restoration of the +state of things which there ended with the ending of the +Austro-Burgundian rule of the Spanish Empire in 1700; and though it +would have been preposterous to have thought such pretensions possible +in the case of any other country,--as preposterous as it would be to +suppose England capable of thinking of the restoration of her power over +the United States,--yet it was perfectly reasonable to believe that +Spain would revive claims that were barred by the lapse of one hundred +and fifty years. No statute of limitations is known to her, and what she +has held once she thinks herself entitled to reclaim on any day through +all time. Weakness may prevent her from enforcing her title, but that +title never becomes weak. What is ridiculous in the eyes of the +statesmen of Paris and London is eminently commonplace in those of the +statesmen of Madrid, who are the most industrious of builders, +_Châteaux en Espagne_ employing their energies. Although it is more +than two centuries since Portugal threw off the Spanish yoke, they have +never yet given up the hope in Spain of adding that spirited little +kingdom to the Peninsular monarchy. They would absorb it, as so many +other kingdoms have been absorbed by the power that has issued its +decrees from Madrid and Valladolid. The attack made by Spain on Morocco +was a silly affair, and was resolved upon only to convince the world +that Spain could make war abroad, a point in which the world felt but +small interest, as at that time it was not thought that the Spaniards +would seriously endeavor to regain their old American possessions. That +what had been lost through one class of errors would be sought through +resort to another class of errors, it entered not the minds of men to +conceive. They would as soon have thought of Spain making a demand on +Holland, with the view of restoring in that country the rule that was +lost there in the days of Alva and Parma, as of her entering upon a war +for a second conquest of Mexico. Nor would they have been astonished by +the breaking out of such a war, had it not been for the breaking down of +the American Republic. America's calamity was Spain's opportunity. She +had been successful in her crusade against the modern Moors, because bad +government had unfitted those Mussulmans to make effectual resistance to +her well-led and well-appointed armies, which were supported by +well-equipped ships. Then, flushed with victory, and beholding America +in convulsions, she resolved to direct her energies against Mexico, +where, unfortunately, bad government had done its work even more +perfectly than it had been done in Morocco. The Spaniards are a brave +and a spirited people, but their conduct in St. Domingo and their attack +on Mexico cannot be cited as evidence of their bravery and spirit. They +never would have dared to move against the Mexicans, if our condition +had remained what it was but eighteen months ago; and yet they had just +as good cause to assail them in the summer of 1860 as they now have in +the winter of 1862. All the grounds of complaint that they have against +Mexico were in existence then,--but we heard of no modern Spanish Armada +at that time, and might then as rationally have expected to see a French +fleet in the St. Lawrence as a Spanish fleet in the Mexican Gulf. The +American sword was then sharp, and the American shield broad, and so +Spain stayed her chivalrous hand. Her conduct is as bad as was our own, +when we "picked a quarrel" with Mexico, and bestowed upon her weak back +the blows we should have visited on the stout shoulders of England. Our +Mexican contest was the effect of our fear of a stronger adversary. We +had brought the Oregon question to such a point that it was difficult to +avoid war with Great Britain. The West had been cheated by the cry for +"the whole of Oregon," and the men who had got up that cry were afraid +to face the people whom they had deceived by the light of common day; +and so we had the Mexican War improvised, to distract public attention +from the lame and impotent manner in which we had settled the Oregon +question. Having kissed the Briton's boot, it became necessary to soothe +our exasperated feelings by applying our own boot to the person of the +Aztec. The man having been too much for us, we were bound to give the +boy a sound beating, and that beating he received. True, we had cause of +quarrel with Mexico, which we had long overlooked, and which had seldom +moved us to anger, and never to the point of falling foul, until we had +become excessively angry both with the English and ourselves; and +equally true is it that Spain has some reason to make Mexico feel the +weight of her arm, now that it has become strong again,--but, imitating +our prudence, she has chosen her own time for calling Mexico to account. +All chivalrous nations are partial to this form of shabbiness; and +though we are told that honor is the distinction of a monarchy, we see +that under the Spanish monarchy its requirements can be dispensed with +when a gain can be secured by walking in the path of dishonor. + +But though the policy of Spain is base toward Mexico, it has the merit +of being perfectly intelligible, which is generally the case with things +of the kind. Much fault has been found with Spain by our Unionists +because she has exhibited some partiality for the Secessionists, and +apparently is ready to go as far as England means to go in helping them +to the full enjoyment of independence and national life. It has been +pointed out, that it was the South, not the North, which favored the +"acquisition" of Cuba by force, fraud, or falsehood, according to +circumstances; that the men who met at Ostend, and proclaimed that Cuba +must be ours, were Democrats, not Republicans; and that the buccaneers +who used to fit out expeditions for the redemption of the "faithful" +island from Spanish rule were Southrons, while other Southrons refused +to convict those buccaneers who were tried at New Orleans, and elsewhere +in Secessia, of being guilty of crimes against the laws of America and +of nations. And it is asked, with looks of wonder, "How can Spain be so +blind to her interests, and so regardless of insults that ordinarily +disturb even the mildest of nations, as to sympathize with and aid her +enemies, men who, if successful in their present purpose, would be sure +to attack Cuba, to help themselves to Mexico, and to become masters of +all the Spanish-American countries on this continent?" Pertinent to the +matter as this question is, Spain has an answer to give that would be +very much to the point. "True," she might say, "it was the South that +sent land pirates to Cuba, and it was a Federal Government that was +dominated by Southrons that used to insult us semiannually by insisting +that we should part with Cuba, though we should as soon have thought of +selling Cadiz. But it was the American Government, which spoke in the +name of the whole American nation, that made the demand for Cuba, and +which protected the pirates. Had you made war on us to obtain possession +of Cuba, as you would have done but for the occurrence of your civil +troubles, that war would have been waged by the United States, and not +by the South and by the Democratic party. It would have been the work of +you all, of Republicans as well as Democrats, of Yankees as well as +Southrons, of Abolitionists as well as Slaveholders. There would have +come soldiers from your Southern States, to tear from the Spanish +monarchy its most valuable foreign possession; but whence would have +come the men who would have manned your fleets, that would have acted +with your armies, protecting their landing, and thus alone making Cuba's +conquest possible? They would have been Northern men, New-Englanders and +New-Yorkers, perhaps descendants of some of the very men who helped to +conquer a portion of the island a century ago. It was _American_ +strength that we feared, not the strength of the _North_ or that of +the _South_, for neither of which do we care. Who would have +furnished the capital to pay the expenses of the war? Who but the rich +men of the North? Money is the sinew of all war, foreign and civil, and +not a little of that Northern capital which we have seen so lavishly +poured out in aid of the Union would have been subscribed in aid of a +project to bring the curse of disunion upon our country. You know this +to be the fact, and we challenge you as truthful men to deny it, that +for many years it has been a favorite idea with some of your statesmen, +and not of leaders of the Democratic party only, to stave off the +troubles that were rapidly growing out of the slavery question, by +having recourse to a 'distraction' based on the acquisition of Cuba. You +know, or ought to know, that the very man who is now at the head of the +Southern Confederacy was advised, at the North, in 1853, to pursue such +a course with regard to Cuba, he being then the most influential member +of the Pierce administration, as should 'distract' American attention +from slavery as a local matter; and that he thought this Northern advice +good, and would have given the administration's support to the project +it involved, and probably with success, and to our great loss and +disgrace, when a new turn was given to your strange politics by the +movement in behalf of the repeal of the Missouri compromise, a movement +that has brought safety to us, and loss and disgrace upon yourselves. We +admit that your cause is the cause of law, of order, and of +constitutional freedom; but why should we desire the triumph of the +cause of law, of order, and of constitutional freedom in the United +States, when that triumph would be but preliminary to a triumph over our +own country? Had your internal peace been continued for ten years +longer, your free population would have reached to forty millions, and +your wealth would have grown at a greater rate than your population. You +would have been able to give law to America, and you would, under one +plausible pretext or another, have taken possession of all the European +colonies of the Occident. Nothing short of a European alliance could +have prevented your becoming supreme from the region of eternal snows to +the regions of eternal bloom; and such an alliance it would have been +difficult to form, as there are nations in Europe that would have been +as ready to back you in your day of strength as they are now both ready +and anxious to back your enemy in this your hour of weakness. In plain +words, it is for our interest that you should fall; and as your fall can +be best promoted through the success of the Secessionists, therefore do +we give them our moral support, and sympathize with them in their +struggle to establish their national freedom on the basis of everlasting +slavery. Why should we not sympathize with them, and even aid, at an +early day, in raising the blockade of their ports? Are they not doing +our work? As to their seizure of Spanish-American countries, it would be +long before they could attempt an extension of their dominion; and by +reëstablishing our rule over Mexico we shall be in condition to bridle +them for fifty years to come, even if they should remain united. But it +is not at all probable that they would continue united. What Mexico has +been, that the Southern Confederacy would be. The revolutions, the +_pronunciamientos_, the murders, and the robberies which it is our +intention to banish from Mexico, would take up their abode in the +Southern Confederacy, in which Secession would do its perfect work. Such +things are the natural fruits of the Secession tree, which is as +poisonous as the upas and as productive as the palm. _You_ we shall +have no occasion to fear, as, once cut down, Europe would never again +permit you to endanger the integrity of the possessions of any of her +countries in the West." + +Such might be the language of Spain in reply to the remonstrances of our +Unionists, and although it embodies nothing but the intensest +selfishness, it would not be the worse diplomatic expression on that +account. When was diplomacy otherwise than sordid in its nature? When +was it the custom with nations to "spare the humble and subdue the +proud"? Never. The Romans said that such was their practice, but every +page of their bloody history gives the lie to the poetical boast. It is +the humble who are subdued, and the proud who are spared. Good +Samaritans are rare characters among men, but who ever heard of a Good +Samaritan among nations? The custom of nations is far worse than was the +conduct of those persons who would not relieve the man who had fallen +among thieves. They simply abstained from doing good, while nations +unite their powers to annoy and annihilate the distressed. There is, it +is probable, an understanding existing between France, England, and +Spain to aid the Southern Confederacy at an early day, and when we shall +have become sufficiently reduced to admit of their giving such aid +without hazard to themselves, they being little inclined to engage in +hazardous wars. + +In one respect the reconquest of Mexico by Spain would prove beneficial +to us. If the Southern Confederacy should be established through the +action of foreign powers, it would be for our interest that Mexico +should have a strong government ruling over a united people. If the +anarchical condition of Mexico should be continued, that country would +afford a fine field for the energy and enterprise of all the lawless +spirits of the South, who could be precipitated upon it to the great +gain of their countrymen; and England, in pursuance of her great +Christian principle of creating markets for cotton and cottons, would +encourage the Confederates to enter Mexico. But if Mexico should be +converted into an orderly country, and have an army capable of treating +buccaneers as the Spanish army treated Lopez and his followers, it would +be no place for the discharged soldiers of Davis and Stephens. They +would have to stay at home, and they would make of that home a hell. The +welfare of the North would be promoted by the misery of the Southrons, +who ought to be made to pay the full penalty of their extraordinary +crime. Without provocation, and making of that want of provocation an +absolute boast, they have brought war upon their country, and are +endeavoring to spread its flames over the world. The misery they have +wrought is incalculable, and no narrative of it, let it be as minute and +as detailed as it could be made, will ever furnish a full picture of it. +It would be but the merest justice, that men who make war in the spirit +of wantonness be compelled to drink off the red cup they have filled, to +the very lees. Such would probably be their doom, should they prevail. +The least successful thing to them would be success. + +It is not certain, however, that the revival of Spanish power is to be +lasting in its nature; and if Spain should fall as suddenly as she has +risen, the way to Mexico would be open to the Southrons, who might then +and there add so tremendously to the dominions of King Cotton as to make +him even more powerful than ever he has been in the imagination of his +votaries,--and they have ranked him only one step below the Devil. +Spanish revivals are so much like certain other revivals, that they are +apt to be followed by reaction, leaving the unduly excited subject in a +worse condition than ever. European affairs, too, may demand Spain's +attention, and require her to leave Mexico to take care of herself. +Europe is full of causes of war, occasion for waging which must soon +arise. The American war has tended to the promotion of peace in Europe, +but that cannot be much longer maintained. Let war break out in Europe, +and Spain would probably feel herself called upon to assume a principal +part in it, and then the Southern Confederacy would be at liberty to +spread slavery over the finest cotton country on earth, under the +patronage of England, which hates slavery, but worships its results. The +future of Mexico it lies in the power of the American Union to decide, +and our armies are contending as much for Mexican freedom as they are +for American nationality. + + * * * * * + + + +A RAFT THAT NO MAN MADE. + + +I am a soldier: but my tale, this time, is not of war. + +The man of whom the Muse talked to the blind bard of old had grown wise +in wayfaring. He had seen such men and cities as the sun shines on, and +the great wonders of land and sea; and he had visited the farther +countries, whose indwellers, having been once at home in the green +fields and under the sky and roofs of the cheery earth, were now gone +forth and forward into a dim and shadowed land, from which they found no +backward path to these old haunts, and their old loves:-- + + [Greek: Êéri kaì nephélê kekalumménoi oudé pot' autoùs + Êélios phaéuôn katadérketai aktinessin.] + _Od._ XI. + +At the Charter-House I learned the story of the King of Ithaca, and read +it for something better than a task; and since, though I have never seen +so many cities as the much-wandering man, nor grown so wise, yet have +heard and seen and remembered, for myself, words and things from crowded +streets and fairs and shows and wave-washed quays and murmurous +market-places, in many lands; and for his [Greek: Kimmeríon undrôn +dêmos],--his people wrapt in cloud and vapor, whom "no glad sun finds +with his beams,"--have been borne along a perilous path through thick +mists, among the crashing ice of the Upper Atlantic, as well as +sweltered upon a Southern sea, and have learned something of men and +something of God. + +I was in Newfoundland, a lieutenant of Royal Engineers, in Major Gore's +time, and went about a good deal among the people, in surveying for +Government. One of my old friends there was Skipper Benjie Westham, of +Brigus, a shortish, stout, bald man, with a cheerful, honest face and a +kind voice; and he, mending a caplin-seine one day, told me this story, +which I will try to tell after him. + +We were upon the high ground, beyond where the church stands now, and +Prudence, the fisherman's daughter, and Ralph Barrows, her husband, were +with Skipper Benjie when he began; and I had an hour by the watch to +spend. The neighborhood, all about, was still; the only men who were in +sight were so far off that we heard nothing from them; no wind was +stirring near us, and a slow sail could be seen outside. Everything was +right for listening and telling. + +"I can tell 'ee what I sid[A] myself, Sir," said Skipper Benjie. "It +isn' like a story that's put down in books: it's on'y like what we +planters[B] tells of a winter's night or sech: but it's _feelun_, +mubbe, an' 'ee won't expect much off a man as couldn' never read,--not +so much as Bible or Prayer-Book, even." + + [Footnote A: Saw.] + [Footnote B: Fishermen.] + +Skipper Benjie looked just like what he was thought: a true-hearted, +healthy man, a good fisherman, and a good seaman. There was no need of +any one's saying it. So I only waited till he went on speaking. + +"'T was one time I goed to th' Ice, Sir. I never goed but once, an' 't was +a'most the first v'yage ever was, ef 't wasn' the _very_ first; an' +'t was the last for me, an' worse agen for the rest-part o' that crew, +that never goed no more! 'T was tarrible sad douns wi' they!" + +This preface was accompanied by some preliminary handling of the +caplin-seine, also, to find out the broken places and get them about +him. Ralph and Prudence deftly helped him. Then, making his story wait, +after this opening, he took one hole to begin at in mending, chose his +seat, and drew the seine up to his knee. At the same time I got nearer +to the fellowship of the family by persuading the planter (who yielded +with a pleasant smile) to let me try my hand at the netting. Prudence +quietly took to herself a share of the work, and Ralph alone was +unbusied. + +"They calls th' Ice a wicked place,--Sundays an' weekin days all alike; +an' to my seemun it's a cruel, bloody place, jes' so well,--but not all +thinks alike, surely.--Rafe, lad, mubbe 'ee'd ruther go down cove-ways, +an' overhaul the punt a bit." + +Ralph, who perhaps had stood waiting for the very dismissal that he now +got, assented and left us three. Prudence, to be sure, looked after him +as if she would a good deal rather go with him than stay; but she +stayed, nevertheless, and worked at the seine. I interpreted to myself +Skipper Benjie's sending away of one of his hearers by supposing that +his son-in-law had often heard his tales; but the planter explained +himself:-- + +"'Ee sees, Sir, I knocked off goun to th' Ice becase 't was sech a +tarrible cruel place, to my seemun. They swiles[C] be so knowun +like,--as knowun as a dog, in a manner, an' lovun to their own, like +Christens, a'most, more than bastes; an' they'm got red blood, for all +they lives most-partly in water; an' then I found 'em so friendly, when +I was wantun friends badly. But I s'pose the swile-fishery's needful; +an' I knows, in course, that even Christens' blood's got to be taken +sometimes, when it's bad blood, an' I wouldn' be childish about they +things: on'y,--ef it's me,--when I can live by fishun, I don' want to go +an' club an' shoot an' cut an' slash among poor harmless things that +'ould never harm man or 'oman, an' 'ould cry great tears down for +pity-sake, an' got a sound like a Christen: I 'ouldn' like to go +a-swilun for gain,--not after beun among 'em, way I was, anyways." + + [Footnote C: Seals.] + +This apology made it plain that Skipper Benjie was large-hearted enough, +or indulgent enough, not to seek to strain others, even his own family, +up to his own way in everything; and it might easily be thought that the +young fisherman had different feelings about sealing from those that the +planter's story was meant to bring out. All being ready, he began his +tale again:-- + +"I shipped wi' Skipper Isra'l Gooden, from Carbonear: the schooner was +the Baccaloue, wi' forty men, all told. 'T was of a Sunday morn'n 'e +'ould sail, twel'th day o' March, wi' another schooner in company,--the +Sparrow. There was a many of us wasn' too good, but we thowt wrong of +'e's takun the Lord's Day to 'e'sself.--Wull, Sir, afore I comed 'ome, I +was in a great desert country, an' floated on sea wi' a monstrous great +raft that no man never made, creakun an' crashun an' groanun an' tumblun +an' wastun an' goun to pieces, an' no man on her but me, an' full o' +livun things,--dreadful! + +"About a five hours out, 't was, we first sid the blink,[D] an' comed up +wi' th' Ice about off Cape Bonavis'. We fell in wi' it south, an' worked +up nothe along: but we didn' see swiles for two or three days yet; on'y +we was workun along; pokun the cakes of ice away, an' haulun through wi' +main strength sometimes, holdun on wi' bights o' ropes out o' the bow; +an' more times, agen, in clear water: sometimes mist all round us, 'ee +couldn' see the ship's len'th, sca'ce; an' more times snow, jes' so +thick; an' then a gale o' wind, mubbe, would a'most blow all the spars +out of her, seemunly. + + [Footnote D: A dull glare on the horizon, from the immense + masses of ice.] + +"We kep' sight o' th' other schooner, most-partly; an' when we didn' +keep it, we'd get it agen. So one night 't was a beautiful moonlight +night: I think I never sid a moon so bright as that moon was; an' such +lovely sights a body 'ouldn' think could be! Little islands, an' bigger, +agen, there was, on every hand, shinun so bright, wi' great, +awful-lookun shadows! an' then the sea all black, between! They did look +so beautiful as ef a body could go an' bide on 'em, in a manner; an' the +sky was jes' so blue, an' the stars all shinun out, an' the moon all so +bright! I never looked upon the like. An' so I stood in the bows; an' I +don' know ef I thowt o' God first, but I was thinkun o' my girl that I +was troth-plight wi' then, an' a many things, when all of a sudden we +comed upon the hardest ice we'd a-had; an' into it; an' then, wi' pokun +an' haulun, workun along. An' there was a cry goed up,--like the cry of +a babby, 't was, an' I thowt mubbe 't was a somethun had got upon one o' +they islands; but I said, agen, 'How could it?' an' one John Harris said +'e thowt 't was a bird. Then another man (Moffis 'e's name was) started +off wi' what they calls a gaff, ('t is somethun like a short boat-hook,) +over the bows, an' run; an' we sid un strike, an' strike, an' we hard it +go wump! wump! an' the cry goun up so tarrible feelun, seemed as ef 'e +was murderun some poor wild Inden child 'e'd a-found, (on'y mubbe 'e +wouldn' do so bad as that: but there've a-been tarrible bloody, cruel +work wi' Indens in my time,) an' then 'e comed back wi' a white-coat[E] +over 'e's shoulder; an' the poor thing wasn' dead, but cried an' soughed +like any poor little babby." + + [Footnote E: A young seal.] + +The young wife was very restless at this point, and, though she did not +look up, I saw her tears. The stout fisherman smoothed out the net a +little upon his knee, and drew it in closer, and heaved a great sigh: he +did not look at his hearers. + +"When 'e throwed it down, it walloped, an' cried, an' soughed,--an' its +poor eyes blinded wi' blood! ('Ee sees, Sir," said the planter, by way +of excusing his tenderness, "they swiles were friends to I, after.) +Dear, oh, dear! I couldn' stand it; for 'e _might_ ha' killed un', +an' so 'e goes for a quart o' rum, for fetchun first swile, an' I went +an' put the poor thing out o' pain. I didn' want to look at they +beautiful islands no more, somehow. Bumby it comed on thick, an' then +snow. + +"Nex' day swiles bawlun[F] every way, poor things! (I knowed their +voice, now,) but 't was blowun a gale o' wind, an' we under bare poles, +an' snow comun agen, so fast as ever it could come: but out the men +'ould go, all mad like, an' my watch goed, an' so I mus' go. (I didn' +think what I was goun to!) The skipper never said no; but to keep near +the schooner, an' fetch in first we could, close by; an' keep near the +schooner. + + [Footnote F: Technical word for the crying of the seals.] + +"So we got abroad, an' the men that was wi' me jes' began to knock right +an' left: 't was heartless to see an' hear it. They laved two old uns +an' a young whelp to me, as they runned by. The mother did cry like a +Christen, in a manner, an' the big tears 'ould run down, an' they 'ould +both be so brave for the poor whelp that 'ould cuddle up an' cry; an the +mother looked this way an' that way, wi' big, pooty, black eyes, to see +what was the manun of it, when they'd never doned any harm in God's +world that 'E made, an' would n', even ef you killed 'em: on'y the poor +mother baste ketched my gaff, that I was goun to strike wi', betwixt her +teeth, an' I could n' get it away. 'T was n' like fishun! (I was +weak-hearted like: I s'pose 't was wi' what was comun that I did n' +know.) Then comed a hail, all of a sudden, from the schooner; (we had n' +been gone more 'n a five minutes, ef't was so much,--no, not more 'n a +three;) but I was glad to hear it come then, however: an' so every man +ran, one afore t' other. There the schooner was, tearun through all, an' +we runnun for dear life. I failed among the slob,[G] and got out agen. +'T was another man pushun agen me doned it. I could n' 'elp myself from +goun in, an' when I got out I was astarn of all, an' there was the +schooner carryun on, right through to clear water! So, hold of a bight +o' line, or anything! an' they swung up in over bows an' sides! an' +swash! she struck the water, an' was out o' sight in a minute, an' the +snow drivun as ef't would bury her, an' a man laved behind on a pan of +ice, an' the great black say two fathom ahead, an' the storm-wind blowun +'im into it!" + + [Footnote G: Broken ice, between large cakes, or against the + shore.] + +The planter stopped speaking. We had all gone along so with the story, +that the stout seafarer, as he wrought the whole scene up about us, +seemed instinctively to lean back and brace his feet against the ground, +and clutch his net. The young woman looked up, this time; and the cold +snow-blast seemed to howl through that still summer's noon, and the +terrific ice-fields and hills to be crashing against the solid earth +that we sat upon, and all things round changed to the far-off stormy +ocean and boundless frozen wastes. + +The planter began to speak again:-- + +"So I failed right down upon th' ice, sayun, 'Lard, help me! Lard, help +me!' an' crawlun away, wi' the snow in my face, (I was afeard, a'most, +to stand,) 'Lard, help me! Lard, help me!' + +"'T was n' all hard ice, but many places lolly;[H] an once I goed right +down wi' my hand-wristès an' my armes in cold water, part-ways to the +bottom o' th' ocean; and a'most head-first into un, as I'd a-been in wi' +my legs afore: but, thanks be to God! 'E helped me out of un, but colder +an' wetter agen. + + [Footnote H: Snow in water, not yet frozen, but looking like + the white ice.] + +"In course I wanted to folly the schooner; so I runned up along, a +little ways from the edge, an' then I runned down along: but 't was all +great black ocean outside, an' she gone miles an' miles away; an' by two +hours' time, even ef she'd come to, itself, an' all clear weather, I +could n' never see her; an' ef she could come back, she could n' never +find me, more'n I could find any one o' they flakes o' snow. The +schooner was gone, an' I was laved out o' the world! + +"Bumby, when I got on the big field agen, I stood up on my feet, an' I +sid that was my ship! She had n' e'er a sail, an' she had n' e'er a +spar, an' she had n' e'er a compass, an' she had n' e'er a helm, an' she +had n' no hold, an' she had n' no cabin. I could n' sail her, nor I +could n' steer her, nor I could n' anchor her, nor bring her to, but she +would go, wind or calm, an' she'd never come to port, but out in th' +ocean she'd go to pieces! I sid 't was so, an' I must take it, an' do my +best wi' it. 'T was jest a great, white, frozen raft, driftun bodily +away, wi' storm blowun over, an' current runnun under, an' snow comun +down so thick, an' a poor Christen laved all alone wi' it. 'T would +drift as long as anything was of it, an' 't was n' likely there'd be any +life in the poor man by time th' ice goed to nawthun; an' the swiles +'ould swim back agen up to the Nothe! + +"I was th' only one, seemunly, to be cast out alive, an' wi' the dearest +maid in the world (so I thought) waitun for me. I s'pose 'ee might ha' +knowed somethun better, Sir; but I was n' larned, an' I ran so fast as +ever I could up the way I thowt home was, an' I groaned, an' groaned, +an' shook my handès, an' then I thowt, 'Mubbe I may be goun wrong way.' +So I groaned to the Lard to stop the snow. Then I on'y ran this way an' +that way, an' groaned for snow to knock off.[I] I knowed we was driftun +mubbe a twenty leagues a day, and anyways I wanted to be doun what I +could, keepun up over th' Ice so well as I could, Noofundland-ways, an' +I might come to somethun,--to a schooner or somethun; anyways I'd get up +so near as I could. So I looked for a lee. I s'pose 'ee'd ha' knowed +better what to do, Sir," said the planter, here again appealing to me, +and showing by his question that he understood me, in spite of my +pea-jacket. + + [Footnote I: To stop.] + +I had been so carried along with his story that I had felt as if I were +the man on the Ice, myself, and assured him, that, though I could get +along pretty well on land, _and could even do something at +netting_, I should have been very awkward in his place. + +"Wull, Sir, I looked for a lee. ('T wouldn' ha' been so cold, to say +cold, ef it hadn' a-blowed so tarrible hard.) First step, I stumbled +upon somethun in the snow, seemed soft, like a body! Then I comed all +together, hopun an' fearun an' all together. Down I goed upon my knees +to un, an' I smoothed away the snow, all tremblun, an' there was a moan, +as ef 't was a-livun. + +"'O Lard!' I said, 'who's this? Be this one of our men?' + +"But how could it? So I scraped the snow away, but 't was easy to see 't +was smaller than a man. There wasn' no man on that dreadful place but +me! Wull, Sir, 't was a poor swile, wi' blood runnun all under; an' I +got my cuffs[J] an' sleeves all red wi' it. It looked like a +fellow-creatur's blood, a'most, an' I was a lost man, left to die away +out there in th' Ice, an' I said, 'Poor thing! poor thing!' an' I didn' +mind about the wind, or th' ice, or the schooner goun away from me afore +a gale, (I _wouldn'_ mind about 'em,) an' a poor lost Christen may +show a good turn to a hurt thing, ef 't was on'y a baste. So I smoothed +away the snow wi' my cuffs, an' I sid 't was a poor thing wi' her whelp +close by her, an' her tongue out, as ef she'd a-died fondlun an' lickun +it; an' a great puddle o' blood,--it looked tarrible heartless, when I +was so nigh to death, an' wasn' hungry. An' then I feeled a stick, an' I +thowt, 'It may be a help to me,' an' so I pulled un, an' it wouldn' +come, an' I found she was lyun on it; so I hauled agen, an', when it +comed, 't was my gaff the poor baste had got away from me, an' got it +under her, an' she was a-lyun on it. Some o' the men, when they was +runnun for dear life, must ha' struck 'em, out o' madness like, an' +laved 'em to die where they was. 'T was the whelp wasn' quite dead. +'Ee'll think 't was foolish, Sir, but it seemed as though they was +somethun to me, an' I'd a-lost the last friendly thing there was. + + [Footnote J: Mittens.] + +"I found a big hummock an' sheltered under it, standun on my feet, wi +nawthun to do but think, an' think, an' pray to God; an' so I doned. I +couldn' help feelun to God then, surely. Nawthun to do, an' no place to +go, tull snow cleared away; but jes' drift wi' the great Ice down from +the Nothe, away down over the say, a sixty mile a day, mubbe. I wasn' a +good Christen, an' I couldn' help a-thinkun o' home an' she I was +troth-plight wi', an' I doubled over myself an' groaned,--I couldn' help +it: but bumby it comed into me to say my prayers, an' it seemed as thof +she was askun me to pray, (an' she _was_ good, Sir, al'ays,) an' I +seemed all opened, somehow, an' I knowed how to pray." + +While the words were coming tenderly from the weather-beaten fisherman, +I could not help being moved, and glanced over toward the daughter's +seat; but she was gone, and, turning round, I saw her going quietly, +almost stealthily, and very quickly, _toward the cove_. + +The father gave no heed to her leaving, but went on with his tale:-- + +"Then the wind began to fall down, an' the snow knocked off altogether, +an' the sun comed out; an' I sid th' Ice, field-ice an' icebargs, an' +every one of 'em flashun up as ef they'd kendled up a bonfire, but no +sign of a schooner! no sign of a schooner! nor no sign o' man's douns, +but on'y ice, every way, high an' low, an' some places black water, +in-among; an' on'y the poor swiles bawlun all over, an' I standun +amongst 'em. + +"While I was lookun out, I sid a great icebarg (they calls 'em) a +quarter of a mile away, or thereabouts, standun up,--one end a twenty +fathom out o' water, an' about a forty fathom across, wi' hills like, +an' houses,--an' then, jest as ef 'e was alive an' had tooked a notion +in 'e'sself, seemunly, all of a sudden 'e rared up, an' turned over an' +over, wi' a tarrible thunderun noise, an' comed right on, breakun +everything an' throwun up great seas: 't was frightsome for a lone body +away out among 'em! I stood an' looked at un, but then agen I thowt I +may jes' so well be goun to thick ice an' over Noofundland-ways a piece, +so well as I could. So I said my bit of a prayer, an' told Un I could n' +help myself; an' I made my confession how bad I'd been, an' I was sorry, +an' ef 'E'd be so pitiful an' forgive me; an' ef I mus' loss my life, ef +'E'd be so good as make me a good Christen first,--an' make _they_ +happy, in course. + +"So then I started; an' first I goed to where my gaff was, by the +mother-swile an' her whelp. There was swiles every two or three yards +a'most, old uns an' young uns, all round, everywhere; an' I feeled +shamed in a manner: but I got my gaff, an' cleaned un, an' then, in +God's name, I took the big swile, that was dead by its dead whelp, an' +hauled it away, where the t' other poor things could n' si' me, an' I +sculped[K] it, an' took the pelt;--for I thowt I'd wear un, now the poor +dead thing did n' want to make oose of un no more,--an' partly becase't +was sech a lovun thing. An' so I set out, walkun this way, for a spurt, +an' then t' other way, keepun up mostly a Nor-norwest, so well as I +could: sometimes away round th' open, an' more times round a lump of +ice, an' more times, agen, off from one an' on to another, every minute. +I did n' feel hungry, for I drinked fresh water off th' ice. No +schooner! no schooner! + + [Footnote K: Skinned.] + +"Bumby the sun was goun down:'t was slow work feelun my way along, an' I +did n' want to look about: but then agen I thowt God 'ad made it to be +sid; an' so I come to, an' turned all round, an' looked; an' surely it +seemed like another world, someway,'t was so beautiful,--yellow, an' +different sorts o' red, like the sky itself in a manner, an' flashun +like glass. So then it comed night: an' I thowt I should n' go to bed, +an' I may forget my prayers, an' so I'd, mubbe, best say 'em right away; +an' so I doned: 'Lighten our darkness,' and others we was oosed to say: +an' it comed into my mind the Lard said to Saint Peter, 'Why did n' 'ee +have faith?' when there was nawthun on the water for un to go on; an' I +had ice under foot,--'t was but frozen water, but't was frozen,--an' I +thanked Un. + +"I could n' help thinkun o' Brigus an' them I'd laved in it, an' then I +prayed for 'em; an' I could n' help cryun, a'most: but then I give over +agen, an' would n' think, ef I could help it; on'y tryun to say an odd +psalm, all through singun-psalms an' other, for I knowed a many of 'em +by singun wi' Patience, on'y now I cared more about 'em: I said that +one,-- + + 'Sech as in ships an' brickle barks + Into the seas descend, + Their merchantun, through fearful floods, + To compass an' to end: + They men are force-put to behold + The Lard's works, what they be; + An' in the dreadful deep the same + Most marvellous they see.' + +An' I said a many more, (I can't be accountable how many I said,) an' +same uns many times over: for I would keep on; an' 'ould sometimes sing +'em very loud in my poor way. + +"A poor baste (a silver fox 'e was) comed an' looked at me; an' when I +turned round, he walked away a piece, an' then 'e comed back, an' +looked. + +"So I found a high piece, wi' a wall of ice atop for shelter, ef it +comed on to blow; an' so I stood, an' said, an' sung, I knowed well I +was on'y driftun away. + +"It was tarrible lonely in the night, when night comed: it's no use! 'T +was tarrible lonely: but I 'ouldn' think, ef I could help it; an' I +prayed a bit, an' kep' up my psalms, an' varses out o' the Bible, I'd +a-larned. I had n' a-prayed for sleep, but for wakun all night, an' +there I was, standun. + +"The moon was out agen, so bright; an' all the hills of ice shinun up to +her; an' stars twinklun, so busy, all over; an' No'ther' Lights goun up +wi' a faint blaze, seemunly, from th' ice, an' meetun up aloft; an' +sometimes a great groanun, an' more times tarrible loud shriekun! There +was great white fields, an' great white hills, like countries, comun +down to be destroyed; an' some great bargs a-goun faster, an' tearun +through, breakun others to pieces; an' the groanun an' screechun,--ef +all the dead that ever was, wi' their white clothès---But no!" said the +stout fisherman, recalling himself from gazing, as he seemed to be, on +the far-off ghastly scene, in memory. + +"No!--an' thank 'E's marcy, I'm sittun by my own room. 'E tooked me off: +but 't was a dreadful sight,--it's no use,--ef a body'd let 'e'sself +think! I sid a great black bear, an' hard un growl; an' 't was feelun, +like, to hear un so bold an' so stout, among all they dreadful things, +an' bumby the time 'ould come when 'e couldn' save 'e'sself, do what 'e +woul'. + +"An' more times 't was all still: on'y swiles bawlun, all over. Ef it +hadn' a-been for they poor swiles, how could I stan' it? Many's the one +I'd a-ketched, day-time, an' talked to un, an' patted un on the head, as +ef they'd a-been dogs by the door, like; an' they'd oose to shut their +eyes, an' draw their poor foolish faces together. It seemed +neighbor-like to have some live thing. + +"So I kep' awake, sayun an' singun, an' it wasn' very cold; an' +so--first thing I knowed, I started, an' there I was lyun in a heap; an' +I must have been asleep, an' didn' know how 't was, nor how long I'd +a-been so: an' some sort o' baste started away, an' 'e must have waked +me up; I couldn' rightly see what 't was, wi' sleepiness: an' then I +hard a sound, sounded like breakers; an' that waked me fairly. 'T was +like a lee-shore; an' 't was a comfort to think o' land, ef 't was on'y +to be wrecked on itself: but I didn' go, an' I stood an' listened to un; +an' now an' agen I'd walk a piece, back an' forth, an' back an' forth; +an' so I passed a many, many longsome hours, seemunly, tull night goed +down tarrible slowly, an' it comed up day o' t' other side: an' there +wasn' no land; nawthun but great mountains meltun an' breakun up, an' +fields wastun away. I sid 't was a rollun barg made the noise like +breakers, throwun up great seas o' both sides of un; no sight nor sign +o' shore, nor ship, but dazun white,--enough to blind a body,--an' I +knowed 't was all floatun away, over the say. Then I said my prayers, +an' tooked a drink o' water, an' set out agen for Nor-norwest: 't was +all I could do. Sometimes snow, an' more times fair agen; but no sign o' +man's things, an' no sign o' land, on'y white ice an' black water; an' +ef a schooner wasn' into un a'ready, 't wasn' likely they woul', for we +was gettun furder an' furder away. Tired I was wi' goun, though I hadn' +walked more 'n a twenty or thirty mile, mubbe, an' it all comun down so +fast as I could go up, an' faster, an' never stoppun! 'T was a tarrible +long journey up over the driftun ice, at sea! So, then I went on a high +bit to wait tull all was done: I thowt 't would be last to melt, an' +mubbe, I thowt, 'e may capsize wi' me, when I didn' know (for I don' say +I was stout-hearted): an' I prayed Un to take care o' them I loved; an' +the tears comed. Then I felt somethun tryun to turn me round like, an' +it seemed as ef _she_ was doun it, somehow, an' she seemed to be +very nigh, somehow, an' I didn' look. + +"After a bit, I got up to look out where most swiles was, for company, +while I was livun: an' the first look struck me a'most like a bullet! +There I sid a sail! _'T was_ a sail, an' 't was like heaven openun, +an' God settun her down there. About three mile away she was, to +nothe'ard, in th' Ice. + +"I could ha' sid, at first look, what schooner't was; but I did n' want +to look hard at her. I kep' my peace, a spurt, an' then I runned an' +bawled out, 'Glory be to God!' an' then I stopped, an' made proper +thanks to Un. An' there she was, same as ef I'd a-walked off from her an +hour ago! It felt so long as ef I'd been livun years, an' they would n' +know me, sca'ce. Somehow I did n' think I could come up wi' her. + +"I started, in the name o' God, wi' all my might, an' went, an' +went,--'t was a five mile, wi' goun round,--an' got her, thank God! 'T +was n' the Baccaloue, (I sid that long before,) 't was t' other +schooner, the Sparrow, repairun damages they 'd got day before. So that +kep' 'em there, an' I'd a-been took from one an' brought to t' other. + +"I could n' do a hand's turn tull we got into the Bay agen,--I was so +clear beat out. The Sparrow kep' her men, an' fotch home about +thirty-eight hundred swiles, an' a poor man off th' Ice: but they, poor +fellows, that I went out wi', never comed no more; an' I never went +agen. + +"I kep' the skin o' the poor baste, Sir: that's 'e on my cap." + +When the planter had fairly finished his tale, it was a little while +before I could teach my eyes to see the things about me in their places. +The slow-going sail, outside, I at first saw as the schooner that +brought away the lost man from the Ice; the green of the earth would +not, at first, show itself through the white with which the fancy +covered it; and at first I could not quite feel that the ground was fast +under my feet. I even mistook one of my own men (the sight of whom was +to warn me that I was wanted elsewhere) for one of the crew of the +schooner Sparrow of a generation ago. + +I got the tale and its scene gathered away, presently, inside my mind, +and shook myself into a present association with surrounding things, and +took my leave. I went away the more gratified that I had a chance of +lifting my cap to a matron, dark-haired and comely, (who, I was sure, at +a glance, had once been the maiden of Benjie Westham's "troth-plight,") +and receiving a handsome curtsy in return. + + * * * * * + + + + +FREMONT'S HUNDRED DAYS IN MISSOURI. + + +III. + +THE FORCED MARCH TO SPRINGFIELD. + + +_Bolivar, October 26th_. Zagonyi's success has roused the +enthusiasm of the army. The old stagers took it coolly, but the green +hands revealed their excitement by preparing for instant battle. Pistols +were oiled and reloaded, and swords sharpened. We did all this a month +ago, before leaving St. Louis. We then expected a battle, and went forth +with the shadow and the sunshine of that expectation upon our hearts; +but up to this time we have not seen a shot fired in earnest. Now the +blast of war blows in our ears, and we instinctively "stiffen the sinews +and summon up the blood." + +Captain H., the young chevalier of the staff, whom we have named _Le +Beau Capitaine_, went this morning to St. Louis with intelligence of +the victory. He has ninety miles to ride before midnight, to catch +to-morrow's train. + +Under the influence of the excitement which prevailed, we were on +horseback this morning long before it was necessary, when the General +sent us word that the staff might go forward, and he would overtake us. +The gay and brilliant cavalcade which marched out of Jefferson City is +destroyed,--the maimed and bleeding Guard is reposing a few miles south +of Bolivar,--the detachment which was left at head-quarters has gone on +to join the main body,--and the staff, broken into small parties, +straggles along the road. A more beautiful day never delighted the +earth. The atmosphere is warm, the sky cloudless, and the distance is +filled with a soft dreamy haze, which veils, but does not conceal, the +purple hills and golden forests. + +A few miles south of our last night's camp we came out upon a large +prairie, called the Twenty-Five Mile Prairie. It is an undulating plain, +seven miles wide and twenty-five long. It was the intention to +concentrate the army here. A more favorable position for reviewing and +manoeuvring a large force cannot be found. But the plan has been +changed. We must hasten to Springfield, lest the Rebels seize the +place, capture White and our wounded, and throw a cloud over Zagonyi's +brilliant victory. + +Passing from the prairie, we entered a broad belt of timber, and soon +reached a fine stream. We drew rein at a farmhouse on the top of the +river-bank, where we found a pleasant Union family. The farmer came out, +and, thinking Colonel Eaton was the General, offered him two superb +apples, large enough for foot-balls. He was disappointed to find his +mistake, and to be compelled to withdraw the proffered gift. Sigel +encamped here last night;, and the _débris_ of his camp-fires +checker the hill-side and the flats along the margin of the creek. After +waiting an hour, the General not coming up, Colonel Eaton and myself set +out alone over a road which was crowded with Sigel's wagons. Everything +bears witness to the extraordinary energy and efficiency of that +officer. This morning he started before day, and he will be in +Springfield by noon to-morrow. His train is made up of materials which +would drive most generals to despair. There are mule-teams, and +ox-teams, and in some cases horses, mules, and oxen hitched together. +There are army-wagons, box-wagons, lumber-wagons, hay-racks, buggies, +carriages,--in fact, every kind of animal and every description of +vehicle which could be found in the country. Most of our +division-commanders would have refused to leave camp with such a train; +but Sigel has made it answer his purpose, and here he is, fifty miles in +advance of any other officer, tearing after Price. + +We were jogging painfully over the incumbered road, and through clouds +of dust, when an officer rode up in great haste, and asked for Dr. C., +who was needed at the camp of the Guards. By reason of the broken order +in which the staff rode to-day, he could not be found. For two mortal +hours unlucky aides-de-camp dashed to the front and the rear, and +scoured the country for five miles upon the flanks, visiting the +farm-houses in search of the missing surgeon. At last he was found, and +hurried on to the relief of the Guard. At this moment the General came +up, and, to our astonishment, Zagonyi was riding beside him, bearing +upon his trim person no mark of yesterday's fatigue and danger. The +Major fell behind, and rode into Bolivar with me. On the way we met +Lieutenant Maythenyi of the Guard. + +Our camp is on the farm of a member of the State legislature who is now +serving under Price. His white cottage and well-ordered farm-buildings +are surrounded by rich meadows, bearing frequent groups of noble trees; +the fences are in good condition, and the whole place wears an air of +thrift and prosperity which must be foreign to Missouri even in her best +estate. + +_Springfield, October 28th_. Few of those who endured the labor of +yesterday will forget the march into Springfield. At midnight of +Saturday, the Sharp-shooters were sent on in wagons, and at two in the +morning the Benton Cadets started, with orders to march that day to +Springfield, thirty miles. Their departure broke the repose of the camp. +To add to the confusion, a report was spread that the General intended +to start at daybreak, and that we must have breakfast at four o'clock +and be ready for the saddle at six. This programme was carried out. Long +before day our servants called us; fires were lighted, and breakfast +eaten by starlight. Before dawn the wagons were packed and horses +saddled. But the General had no intention of going so early; the report +had its origin in the uneasy brain of some officer who probably thought +the General ought to leave at daybreak. Some of the old heads paid no +attention to the report, or did not hear it, and they were deep in the +pleasures of the morning nap while we poor fellows were shivering over +our breakfast. + +Colonel Wyman reported himself at Bolivar, having marched from Rolla and +beaten the Rebels in three engagements. The General set out at nine +o'clock for our thirty-mile ride. The black horse fell into his usual +scrambling gait, and we pounded along uneasily after him. As we passed +through Bolivar, the inhabitants came into the streets and greeted us +with cheers and the waving of handkerchiefs,--a degree of interest which +is not often exhibited. Fording a small stream, we came into Wyman's +camp, and thence upon a long, rolling prairie. An hour's ride brought us +to the place where the Guard encamped the night before. The troops had +left, but the wounded officers were still in a neighboring house, +waiting for our ambulances. Those who were able to walk came out to see +the General. He received them with marked kindness. At times like this, +he has a simple grace and poetry of expression and a tenderness of +manner which are very winning. He spoke a few words to each of the brave +fellows, which brought smiles to their faces and tears into their eyes. +Next came our turn, and we were soon listening to the incidents of the +fearful fray. None of them are severely wounded, except Kennedy, and he +will probably lose an arm. We saw them all placed in the ambulances, and +then fell in behind the black pacer. + +A short distance farther on, a very amusing scene occurred. The road in +front was nearly filled by a middle-aged woman, fat enough to have been +the original of some of the pictures which are displayed over the booths +at a county fair. + +"Are you Gin'ral Freemount?" she shouted, her loud voice husky with +rage. + +"Yes," replied the General in a low tone, somewhat abashed at the +formidable obstruction in his path, and occupied in restraining the +black pacer, who was as much frightened at the huge woman as he could +have been at a park of artillery. + +"Waal, you're the man I want to see. I'm a widder. I wus born in Old +Kentuck, and am a Union, and allers wus a Union, and will be a Union to +the eend, clear grit." + +She said this with startling earnestness and velocity of utterance, and +paused, the veins in her face swollen almost to bursting. The black +pacer bounded from one side of the road to the other, throwing the whole +party into confusion. + +The General raised his cap and asked,-- + +"What is the matter, my good woman?" + +"Matter, Gin'ral! Ther's enough the matter. I've allers gi'n the sogers +all they wanted. I gi'n 'em turkeys and chickens and eggs and butter and +bread. And I never charged 'em anything for it. They tuk all my corn, +and I never said nuthing. I allers treated 'em well, for I'm Union, and +so wus my man, who died more nor six yeah ago." + +She again paused, evidently for no reason except to escape a stroke of +apoplexy. + +"But tell me what you want now. I will see to it that you have justice," +interrupted the General. + +"You see, Gin'ral, last night some sogers come and tuk my +ox-chains,--two on 'em,--all I've got,--and I can't buy no more in these +war-times. I can't do any work without them chains; they'd 'a' better uv +tuk my teams with 'em, too." + +"How much were your ox-chains worth," said the General, laughing. + +"Waal now," answered the fat one, moderating her tone, "they're wuth a +good deal jes' now. The war has made such things dreffle deah. The big +one wus the best I ever see; bought it last yeah, up at Hinman's store +in Bolivar; that chain was wuth--waal now--Ho, Jim! ho, Dick! come +y'ere! Gin'ral Freemount wants to know how much them ox-chains wus +wath." + +A lazy negro and a lazier white man, the latter whittling a piece of +cedar, walked slowly from the house to the road, and, leaning against +the fence, began in drawling tones to discuss the value of the +ox-chains, how much they cost, how much it would take to buy new ones in +these times. One thought "may-be four dollars wud do," but the other was +sure they could not be bought for less than five. There was no promise +of a decision, and the black pacer was floundering about in a perfect +agony of fear. At last the General drew out a gold eagle and gave it to +the woman, asking,-- + +"Is that enough?" + +She took the money with a ludicrous expression of joy and astonishment +at the rare sight, but exclaimed,-- + +"Lor' bless me! it's too much, Gin'ral! I don't want more nor my rights. +It's too much." + +But the General spurred by her, and we followed, leaving the "Union" +shouting after us, "It's too much! It's more nor I expected!" She must +have received an impression of the simplicity and promptitude of the +quartermaster's department which the experience of those who have had +more to do with it will hardly sustain. + +Our road was filled with teams belonging to Sigel's train, and the dust +was very oppressive. At length it became so distressing to our animals +that the General permitted us to separate from him and break up into +small parties. I made the rest of the journey in company with Colonel +Eaton. Our road lay through the most picturesque region we had seen. The +Ozark Mountains filled the southern horizon, and ranges of hills swept +along our flanks. The broad prairies, covered with tall grass waving and +rustling in the light breeze, were succeeded by patches of woods, +through which the road passed, winding among picturesque hills covered +with golden forests and inlaid with the silver of swift-running crystal +streams. + +As we came near the town, we saw many evidences of the rapid march Sigel +had made. We passed large numbers of stragglers. Some were limping +along, weary and foot-sore, others were lying by the road-side, and +every farmhouse was filled with exhausted men. A mile or two from +Springfield we overtook the Cadets. They had marched thirty miles since +morning, and had halted beside a brook to wash themselves. As we +approached, Colonel Marshall dressed the ranks, the colors were flung +out, the music struck up, and the Cadets marched into Springfield in as +good order as if they had just left camp. + +It was a gala-day in Springfield. The Stars and Stripes were flying from +windows and house-tops, and ladies and children, with little flags in +their hands, stood on the door-steps to welcome us. This is the +prettiest town I have found in Missouri, and we can see the remains of +former thrift and comfort worthy a village in the Valley of the +Merrimack or Genesee. It has suffered severely from the war. From its +position it is the key to Southern Missouri, and all decisive battles +for the possession of that region must be fought near Springfield. This +is the third Union army which has been here, and the Confederate armies +have already occupied the place twice. When the Federals came, the +leading Secessionists fled; and when the Rebels came, the most prominent +Union men ran away. Thus by the working of events the town has lost its +chief citizens, and their residences are either deserted or have been +sacked. War's dreary record is written upon the dismantled houses, the +wasted gardens, the empty storehouses, and the deserted taverns. The +market, which stood in the centre of the _Plaza_, was last night +fired by a crazy old man, well known here, and previously thought to be +harmless: it now stands a black ruin, a type of the desolation which +broods over the once happy and prosperous town. + +Near the market is a substantial brick edifice, newly built,--the county +courthouse. It is used as a hospital, and we were told that the dead +Guardsmen were lying in the basement. Colonel Eaton and myself +dismounted, and entered a long, narrow room in which lay sixteen ghastly +figures in open coffins of unpainted pine, ranged along the walls. All +were shot to death except one. They seemed to have died easily, and many +wore smiles upon their faces. Death had come so suddenly that the color +still lingered in their boyish cheeks, giving them the appearance of +wax-figures. Near the door was the manly form of the sergeant of the +first company, who, while on the march, rode immediately in front of the +General. We all knew him well. He was a model soldier: his dress always +neat, his horse well groomed, the trappings clean, and his +sabre-scabbard bright. He lay as calm and placid as if asleep; and a +small blue mark between his nose and left eye told the story of his +death. Opposite him was a terrible spectacle,--the bruised, mangled, and +distorted shape of a bright-eyed lad belonging to the Kentucky company. +I had often remarked his arch, mirthful, Irish-like face; and the +evening the Guard left camp he brought me a letter to send to his +mother, and talked of the fun he was going to have at Springfield. His +body was found seven miles from the battle-field, stripped naked. There +was neither bullet--nor sabre-wound upon him, but his skull had been +beaten in by a score of blows. The cowards had taken him prisoner, +carried him with them in their flight, and then robbed and murdered him. + +After leaving the hospital we met Major White, whom we supposed to be a +prisoner. He is quite ill from the effects of exposure and anxiety. With +his little band of twenty-four men he held the town, protecting and +caring for the wounded, until Sigel came in yesterday noon. + +Head-quarters were established at the residence of Colonel Phelps, the +member of Congress from this district, and our tents are now grouped in +front and at the sides of the house. The wagons did not come up until +midnight, and we were compelled to forage for our supper and lodging. A +widow lady who lives near gave some half-dozen officers an excellent +meal, and Major White and myself slept on the floor of her sitting-room. + +This afternoon the Guardsmen were buried with solemn ceremony. We placed +the sixteen in one huge grave. Upon a grassy hill-side, and beneath the +shade of tall trees, the brave boys sleep in the soil they have hallowed +by their valor. + +We are so far in advance that there is some solicitude lest we may be +attacked before the other divisions come up. Sigel has no more than five +thousand men, and the addition of our little column makes the whole +force here less than six thousand. Asboth is two days' march behind. +McKinstry is on the Pomme-de-Terre, seventy miles north, and Pope is +about the same distance. Hunter--we do not know precisely where he is, +but we suppose him to be south of the Osage, and that he will come by +the Buffalo road: he has not reported for some time. Price is at Neosho, +fifty-four miles to the southwest. Should he advance rapidly, it will +need energetic marching to bring up our reinforcements. Price and +McCulloch have joined, and there are rumors that Hardee has reached +their camp with ten thousand men. The best information we can get places +the enemy's force at thirty thousand men and thirty-two pieces of +artillery. Deserters are numerous. I have interrogated a number of them +to-day, and they all say they came away because Price was retreating, +and they did not wish to be taken so far from their homes. They also say +that the time for which his men are enlisted expires in the middle of +November, and if he does not fight, his army will dissolve. + + +SLAVERY. + + +_Springfield, October 30th_. Asboth brought in his division this +morning, and soon after Lane came at the head of his brigade. It was a +motley procession, made up of the desperate fighters of the Kansas +borders and about two hundred negroes. The contrabands were mounted and +armed, and rode through the streets rolling about in their saddles with +their shiny faces on a broad grin. + +The disposition to be made of fugitive slaves is a subject which every +day presents itself. The camps and even head-quarters are filled with +runaways. Several negroes came from St. Louis as servants of +staff-officers, and these men have become a sort of Vigilance Committee +to secure the freedom of the slaves in our neighborhood. The new-comers +are employed to do the work about camp, and we find them very +useful,--and they serve us with a zeal which is born of their +long-baffled love of liberty. The officers of the regular army here have +little sympathy with this practical Abolitionism; but it is very +different with the volunteers and the rank and file of the army at +large. The men do not talk much about it; it is not likely that they +think very profoundly upon the social and legal questions involved; they +are Abolitionists by the inexorable logic of their situation. However +ignorant or thoughtless they may be, they know that they are here at the +peril of their lives, facing a stern, vigilant, and relentless foe. To +subdue this foe, to cripple and destroy him, is not only their duty, but +the purpose to which the instinct of self-preservation concentrates all +their energies. Is it to be supposed that men who, like the soldiers of +the Guard, last week pursued Rebellion into the very valley and shadow +of death, will be solicitous to protect the system which incited their +enemies to that fearful struggle, and hurried their comrades to early +graves? What laws or proclamations can control men stimulated by such +memories? The stern decrees of fact prescribe the conditions upon which +this war must be waged. An attempt to give back the negroes who ask our +protection would demoralize the army; an order to assist in such +rendition would be resented as an insult. Fortunately, no such attempt +will be made. So long as General Fremont is in command of this +department, no person, white or black, will be taken out of our lines +into slavery. The flag we follow will be in truth what the nation has +proudly called it, a symbol of freedom to all. + +The other day a farmer of the neighborhood came into our quarters, +seeking a runaway slave. It happened that the fugitive had been employed +as a servant by Colonel Owen Lovejoy. Some one told the man to apply to +the Colonel, and he entered the tent of that officer and said,-- + +"Colonel, I am told you have got my boy Ben, who has run away from me." + +"Your boy?" exclaimed the Colonel; "I do not know that I have any boy of +yours." + +"Yes, there he is," insisted the master, pointing to a negro who was +approaching. "I want you to deliver him to me: you have no right to him; +he is my slave." + +"Your slave?" shouted Colonel Lovejoy, springing to his feet. "That man +is my servant. By his own consent he is in my service, and I pay him for +his labor, which it is his right to sell and mine to buy. Do you dare +come here and claim the person of my servant? He is entitled to my +protection, and shall have it. I advise you to leave this camp +forthwith." + +The farmer was astounded at the cool way in which the Colonel turned the +tables upon him, and set his claim to the negro, by reason of having +hired him, above the one which he had as the negro's master. He left +hastily, and we afterwards learned that his brother and two sons were in +the Rebel army. + +As an instance of the peculiar manner in which some of the fugitive +slaves address our sympathies, I may mention the case of Lanzy, one of +my servants. He came to my tent the morning after I arrived here, +ragged, hungry, foot-sore, and weary. Upon inquiry, I have found his +story to be true. He is nearly white, and is the son of his master, +whose residence is a few miles west of here, but who is now a captain +under Price,--a fact which does not predispose me to the rendition of +Lanzy, should he be pursued. He is married, after the fashion in which +slaves are usually married, and has two children. But his wife and of +course her children belong to a widow lady, whose estate adjoins his +master's farm, and several months ago, by reason of the unsettled +condition of the country, Lanzy's wife and little children were sold and +taken down to the Red River. Fearing the approach of the Federal forces, +last week the Rebel captain sent instructions to have Lanzy and his +other slaves removed into Arkansas. This purpose was discovered, and +Lanzy and a very old negro, whom he calls uncle, fled at night. For +several days they wandered through the forests, and at last succeeded in +reaching Springfield. How can a man establish a stronger claim to the +sympathy and protection of a stranger than that which tyranny, +misfortune, and misery have given to this poor negro upon me? Bereft of +wife and children, whose love was the sunshine of his dark and dreary +life, threatened with instant exile from which there was no hope of +escape,--what was there of which imagination can conceive that could +increase the load of evil which pressed upon this unhappy man? Is it +strange that he fled from his hard fate, as the hare flies from the +hounds? + +His case is by no means extraordinary. Go to any one of the dusky +figures loitering around yonder fire, and you will hear a moving story +of oppression and sorrow. Every slave who runs breathless into our lines +and claims the soldier's protection, not only appeals to him as a +soldier struggling with a deadly foe, but addresses every generous +instinct of his manhood. Mighty forces born of man's sympathy for man +are at work in this war, and will continue their work, whether we oppose +or yield to them. + +Yesterday fifty-three Delaware Indians came from Kansas to serve under +the General. Years ago he made friends of the Delawares, when travelling +through their country upon his first journey of exploration; and hearing +that he was on the war-path, the tribe have sent their best young +warriors to join him. They are descendants of the famous tribe which +once dwelt on the Delaware River, and belonged to the confederacy of the +Six Nations, for more than two centuries the most powerful Indian +community in America. Their ancient prowess remains. The Delawares are +feared all over the Plains, and their war-parties have often penetrated +beyond the Rocky Mountains, carrying terror through all the Indian +tribes. These men are fine specimens of their race,--tall, lightly +formed, and agile. They ride little shaggy ponies, rough enough to look +at, but very hardy and active; and they are armed with the old American +rifle, the traditional weapon which Cooper places in the hands of his +red heroes. They are led by the chief of their tribe, Fall-Leaf, a +dignified personage, past the noon of life, but showing in his erect +form and dark eye that the fires of manhood burn with undiminished vigor. + + +THE SITUATION. + + +_Springfield, November 1st._ It is certain that Price left Neosho +on Monday and is moving towards us. He probably heard how small the +force was with which the General arrived here, and thinks that he can +overwhelm us before the other divisions come up. We have had some fear +of this ourselves, and all the dispositions have been made for a +stubborn defence in case we are attacked. The last two nights we have +slept on our arms, with our horses saddled and baggage packed. Now all +danger is past: a part of Pope's division came in this morning, and +McKinstry is close at hand. He has marched nearly seventy miles in three +days. The evidence that Price is advancing is conclusive. Our scouts +have reported that he was moving, and numerous deserters have confirmed +these reports; but we have other evidence of the most undoubted +reliability. During the last two days, hundreds of men, women, and +children have come into our lines,--Union people who fled at the +approach of the Rebels. I have talked with a number of these fugitives +who reside southwest from here, and they all represent the roads to be +filled with vast numbers of men and teams going towards Wilson's Creek. +They give the most exaggerated estimates of the number of the enemy, +placing them at from fifty thousand to one hundred and twenty-five +thousand men; but the scouts and deserters say that the whole force does +not exceed thirty-two thousand, and of these a large number are poorly +armed and quite undisciplined. Hunter has not come up, nor has he been +heard from directly, but there is a report that yesterday he had not +left the Osage: if this be true, he will not be here in time for the +battle. + +The Rebel generals must now make their choice between permitting +themselves to be cut off from their base of operations and sources of +supply and reinforcement, and attempting to reach Forsyth, in which case +they will have to give us battle. The movement from Neosho leaves no +doubt that they intend to fight. It is said by the deserters that Price +would be willing to avoid an engagement, but he is forced to offer +battle by the necessities of his position, the discontent of his +followers, the approaching expiration of their term of enlistment, and +the importunities of McCulloch, who declares he will not make another +retreat. + +We are now perfectly prepared. Hunter's delay leaves us with only +twenty-two thousand men, seventy pieces of artillery, and about four +thousand cavalry. In view of our superiority as respects armament, +discipline, and ordnance, we are more than a match for our opponent. We +sleep to-night in constant expectation of an attack: two guns will be +fired as a signal that the enemy are at hand. + + +THE REMOVAL. + + +_Springfield, November 2d_. The catastrophe has come which we have +long dreaded, but for which we were in no degree prepared. This morning, +at about ten o'clock, while I was standing in front of my tent, chatting +with some friends, an officer in the uniform of a captain of the general +staff rode up, and asked the orderly to show him to the General. He went +into the house, and in a few moments came out and rode off. I soon +learned that he had brought an order from General Scott informing +General Fremont that he was temporarily relieved of his command, and +directing him to transfer it to Major-General Hunter and report himself +to the head-quarters of the army by letter. The order was originally +dated October 7th, but the date had been altered to October 24th, on +which day it left St. Louis,--the day the Guards started upon their +expedition, to Springfield. + +This order, which, on the very eve of consummation, has defeated the +carefully matured plans upon which the General's fortunes and in so +large a measure the fortunes of the country depended,--which has +destroyed the results of three months of patient labor, transferring to +another the splendid army he has called together, organized, and +equipped, and giving to another the laurel wreath of victory which now +hangs ready to fall at the touch,--this order, which has disappointed so +many long-cherished hopes, was received by our magnanimous General +without a word of complaint. In his noble mind there was no doubt or +hesitation. He obeyed it promptly and implicitly. He at once directed +Colonel Eaton to issue the proper order transferring the command to +General Hunter, and having prepared a brief address to the soldiers, +full of pathos and patriotic devotion, he rode out accompanied by the +Delawares to examine the positions south of the village. + +Hunter has not yet been heard from: three couriers have been sent after +him. General Pope is now in command here. It is understood, that, until +the Commanding General arrives, the army will stand upon the defensive, +and that no engagement will take place, unless it is attacked. General +Fremont and his staff will leave to-morrow for St. Louis. + +This evening I rode through Sigel's and McKinstry's camps. The general +order and the farewell address had been read to the regiments, and the +camp-fires were surrounded by groups of excited soldiers, and cheers for +Fremont were heard on every side. + +_November 3d, 8 P.M._ This morning it became apparent that the +departure of the General before the arrival of Hunter would endanger the +discipline of the army. Great numbers of officers have offered their +resignations, and it has required the constant and earnest efforts of +General Fremont to induce them to retain their positions. The slightest +encouragement upon his part of the discontent which prevails will +disorganize the divisions of Sigel and Asboth. + +The attitude of the enemy is threatening, and it does not seem possible +to avoid a battle more than a few hours. Great numbers of people, flying +before Price, have come in to-day. A reconnaissance in the direction of +Springfield has been made, and the following report rendered by General +Asboth. + + "HEAD-QUARTERS FOURTH DIVISION WESTERN DEPARTMENT. + + "_Springfield, November 3d, 1861._ + + "To MAJOR-GENERAL J.C. FREMONT, _Commanding Western + Department._ + + "GENERAL:--The captain commanding the company of Major Wright's + battalion, which was sent out on a scouting party to Wilson's + Creek, has just sent in his report by a runner. He says, last + night the enemy's advanced guard, some two thousand strong, + camped at Wilson's Creek. Price's forces are at Terrill's Creek + on the Marionsville road, nine miles behind Wilson's Creek, and + McCulloch's forces are at Dug Springs. + + "Both these forces were expected to concentrate at Wilson's + Creek to-night, and offer battle there. + + "The scout depicts every road and path covered with moving + troops, estimating them at forty thousand men. + + "Very respectfully, + + "Your obedient serv't, + + "ASBOTH, + + "Act. Maj.-Gen'l Com'd'g 4th Div." + +According to this report, the whole of Price's army is within twenty +miles of us, and probably nearer. Hunter has not been heard from, +and it is impossible to discover his whereabouts. This afternoon +General McKinstry designed to make a reconnaissance in force with +his whole division towards Wilson's Creek; but yielding to the +solicitations of the chief officers, and in view of the imminence of +battle, to-day General Fremont resumed the command, and ordered +McKinstry not to make his reconnoissance,--not wishing to bring on a +general engagement during the absence of Hunter. + +All day long officers have visited General Fremont and urged him to +give battle, representing, that, if this opportunity were permitted +to pass, Price, after ascertaining our force, would retire, and it +would be impossible to catch him again. This evening one hundred and +ten officers called upon him in a body. They ranged themselves in +semicircular array in front of the house, and one of their number +presented an address to the General full of sympathy and respect, +and earnestly requesting him to lead them against the enemy. At the +close of the interview, the General said, that, under all the +circumstances, he felt it to be his duty not to decline the battle +which our foe offers us,--and that, if General Hunter did not arrive +before midnight, he would lead the army forward to-morrow morning at +daybreak; and that they might so inform their several commands. This +announcement was received with loud cheers. The staff-officers were +at once despatched with directions to the division and brigade +commanders to repair forthwith to head-quarters and receive their +orders. The Generals assembled at eight o'clock, and the following +order of battle was then published. + + "HEAD-QUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT. + + "_Springfield, November 3,1861_. + + "The different divisions of the army shall be put in the + following order of battle. + + "Act'g Maj.-Gen. Asboth, right wing. + " " McKinstry, centre. + " " Sigel, left. + " " Pope, reserve. + + "General McKinstry's column to leave camp at six o'clock, and + proceed by the Fayetteville road to the upper end of the upper + cornfield on the left, where General Lyon made his first attack. + + "General Sigel to start at six o'clock by Joakum's Mill, and + follow his old trail, except that he is to turn to the right + some two miles sooner, and proceed to the old stable on the + lower end of the lower cornfield. + + "General Asboth to start at six and one-half o'clock, by the + Mount Vernon road, then by a prairie road to the right of the + ravine opposite the lower field. + + "General Pope to start at seven o'clock by the Fayetteville + road, following General McKinstry's column. + + "General Lane to join General Sigel's division. General Wyman to + join General Asboth's division. + + "One regiment and two pieces of artillery of General Pope's + division to remain as a reserve in Springfield. + + "The different divisions to come into their positions at the + same time, about eleven o'clock, at which hour a simultaneous + attack will be made. + + "The baggage-trains to be packed and held in readiness at + Springfield. Each regiment to carry three two-horse wagons to + transport the wounded. + + "J.C. FREMONT, + + "Maj.-Gen'l Com'd'g." + +The General and staff, with the Body-Guard, Benton Cadets, +Sharp-shooters, and Delawares, will accompany McKinstry's column. + +The news has spread like wildfire. As I galloped up the road this +evening, returning from McKinstry's quarters, every camp was astir. The +enthusiasm was unbounded. On every side the eager soldiers are preparing +for the conflict. They are packing wagons, sharpening sabres, grooming +horses, and cleaning muskets. The spirit of our men promises a brilliant +victory. + +_Midnight_. At eleven o'clock General Hunter entered the Council of +Generals at head-quarters. General Fremont explained to him the +situation of affairs, the attitude of the enemy, and the dispositions +which had been made for the following day, and then gracefully resigned +the command into his hands. And thus our hopes are finally defeated, and +in the morning we turn our faces to the north. General Hunter will not +advance to-morrow, and the opportunity of catching Price will probably +be lost, for it is not likely the Rebel General will remain at Wilson's +Creek after he has learned that the whole Federal army is concentrated. + +The news of the change has not yet reached the camps. As I sit here, +wearied with the excitement and labors of the day, the midnight +stillness is broken by the din of preparation, the shouting of +teamsters, the clang of the cavalry anvils, and the distant cheers of +the soldiers, still excited with the hope of to-morrow's victory. + +The Body-Guard and Sharp-shooters return with us; and all the officers +of General Fremont's staff have received orders to accompany him. + + +HOMEWARD BOUND. + + +_In camp, twenty-five miles north of Springfield, November 4th._ At +nine o'clock this morning we were in the saddle, and our little column +was in marching order. The Delawares led, then came our band, the +General and his staff followed, the Body-Guard came next, and the +Sharp-shooters in wagons brought up the rear. In this order we proceeded +through the village. The Benton Cadets were drawn up in line in front of +their camp, and saluted us as we passed, but none of the other regiments +were paraded. The band had been directed to play lively airs, and we +marched out to merry music. The troops did not seem to know that the +General was to leave; but when they heard the band, they ran out of +their camps and flocked into the streets: there was no order in their +coming; they came without arms, many of them without their coats and +bareheaded, and filled the road. The crowd was so dense that with +difficulty the General rode through the throng. The farewell was most +touching. There was little cheering, but an expression of sorrow on +every face. Some pressed forward to take his hand; others cried, "God +bless you, General!" "Your enemies are not in the camp!" "Come back and +lead us to battle; we will fight for you!" The General rode on perfectly +calm, a pleasant smile on his face, telling the men he was doing his +duty, and they must do theirs. + +We travelled with great rapidity and circumspection; for there was some +reason to suppose that parties of the enemy had been thrown to the north +of Springfield, in which case we might have been interfered with. + +_Sedalia, November 7th._ We are waiting for the train which is to +take us to St. Louis. Our journey here has been made very quickly. +Monday we marched twenty-five miles. Tuesday we started at dawn, and +made thirty miles, encamping twenty-five miles south of the Osage. +Wednesday we were in the saddle at six o'clock, crossed the Osage in the +afternoon, and halted ten miles north of that river, the day's journey +being thirty-five miles. We pitched our tents upon a high, flat prairie, +covered with long dry grass. + +In the evening the Delawares signified, that, if the General would +consent to it, they would perform a war-dance. Permission was easily +obtained, and, after the Indian braves had finished their toilet, they +approached in formal procession, arrayed in all the glory and terror of +war-paint. A huge fire had been built. The inhabitants of our little +camp quickly gathered, officers, soldiers of the Guard, and +Sharp-shooters, negroes and teamsters. The Indians ranged themselves on +one side of the fire, and the rest of us completed the circle. The +dancing was done by some half-dozen young Indians, to the monotonous +beating of two small drums and a guttural accompaniment which the +dancers sang, the other Indians joining in the chorus. The performance +was divided into parts, and the whole was intended to express the +passions which war excites in the Indian nature,--the joy which they +feel at the prospect of a fight,--their contempt for their +enemies,--their frenzy at sight of the foe,--the conflict,--the +operations of tomahawking and scalping their opponents,--and, finally, +the triumph of victory. The performances occupied over two hours. +Fall-Leaf presided with an air of becoming gravity, smoking an enormous +stone pipe with a long reed stem. + +After rendering thanks in proper form, Fall-Leaf was told, that, by way +of return for their civility, and in special honor of the Delawares, the +negroes would dance one of their national dances. Two agile darkies came +forward, and went through with a regular break-down, to the evident +entertainment of the red men. Afterwards an Irishman leaped into the +ring, and began an Irish hornpipe. He was the best dancer of all, and +his complicated steps and astonishing _tours-de-force_ completely +upset the gravity of the Indians, and they burst into loud laughter. It +was midnight before the camp was composed to its last night's sleep. +This morning we started an hour before day, and marched to this place, +twenty miles, by noon. + +Thus ended the expedition of General Fremont to Springfield. + + * * * * * + +In bringing these papers to a close, the writer cannot refrain from +expressing his regret that circumstances have prevented him from making +that exposition of affairs in the Western Department which the country +has long expected. While he was in the field, General Fremont permitted +the attacks of his enemies to pass unheeded, because he held them +unworthy to be intruded upon more important occupations, and he would +not be diverted from the great objects he was pursuing; since his +recall, considerations affecting the public service, and the desire not +at this time to embarrass the Government with personal matters, have +sealed his lips. I will not now disregard his wishes by entering into +any detailed discussion of the charges which have been made against +him,--but I cannot lay down my pen without bearing voluntary testimony +to the fidelity, energy, and skill which he brought to his high office. +It will be hard for any one who was not a constant witness of his career +to appreciate the labor which he assumed and successfully performed. +From the first to the last hour of the day, there was no idle moment. No +time was given to pleasure,--none even to needed relaxation. Often, long +after the strength of his body was spent, the force of his will bound +him to exhausting toil. No religious zealot ever gave himself to his +devotions with more absorbing abandonment than General Fremont to his +hard, and, as it has proved, most thankless task. Time will verify the +statement, that, whether as respects thoroughness or economy, his +administration of affairs at the West will compare favorably with the +transactions of any other department of the Government, military or +civil, during the last nine months. Let it be contrasted with the most +conspicuous instance of the management of military affairs at the East. + +The period between the President's Proclamation and the Battle of +Manassas was about equal in duration to the career of Fremont in the +West. The Federal Government had at command all the resources, in men, +material, and money, of powerful, wealthy, and populous communities. +Nothing was asked which was not promptly and lavishly given. After three +months of earnest effort, assisted by the best military and civil talent +of the country, by the whole army organization, by scientific soldiers +and an accomplished and experienced staff, a column of thirty thousand +men, with thirty-four pieces of artillery and but four hundred cavalry, +was moved a distance of twenty-two miles. Though it had been in camp +several weeks, up to a few days before its departure it was without +brigade or division organization, and ignorant of any evolutions except +those of the battalion. It was sent forward without equipage, without a +sufficient commissariat or an adequate medical establishment. This armed +mob was led against an intrenched foe, and driven back in wild and +disgraceful defeat,--a defeat which has prolonged the war for a year, +called for a vast expenditure of men and treasure, and now to our +present burdens seems likely to add those of a foreign war. The authors +of this great disaster remain unpunished, and, except in the opinions of +the public, unblamed; while nearly all the officers who led the +ill-planned, ill-timed, and badly executed enterprise have received +distinguished promotions, such as the soldier never expects to obtain, +except as the reward of heroic and successful effort. + +When General Fremont reached St. Louis, the Federal militia were +returning to their homes, and a confident foe pressed upon every salient +point of an extended and difficult defensive position. Drawing his +troops from a few sparsely settled and impoverished States, denied +expected and needed assistance in money and material from the General +Government, he overcame every obstacle, and at the end of eight weeks +led forth an army of thirty thousand men, with five thousand cavalry and +eighty-six pieces of artillery. Officers of high rank declared that this +force could not leave its encampments by reason of the lack of supplies +and transportation; but he conveyed them one hundred and ninety miles by +rail, marched them one hundred and thirty-five miles, crossing a broad +and rapid river in five days, and in three months from his assumption of +the command, and in one month after leaving St. Louis, placed them in +presence of the enemy,--not an incoherent mass, but a well-ordered and +compact army, upon whose valor, steadfastness, and discipline the fate +of the nation might safely have been pledged. + +If General Fremont was not tried by the crowning test of the +soldier--the battle-field--it was not through fault of his. On the very +eve of battle he was removed. His army was arrested in its triumphal +progress, and compelled to a shameful retreat, abandoning the beautiful +region it had wrested from the foe, and deserting the loyal people who +trusted to its protection, and who, exiles from their homes, followed +its retreating files,--a mournful procession of broken-hearted men, +weeping women, and suffering children. With an unscrupulousness which +passes belief, the authors of this terrible disaster have denied the +presence of the enemy at Springfield. The miserable wretches, once +prosperous farmers upon the slopes of the Ozark Hills, who now wander +mendicants through the streets of St, Louis, or crouch around the +campfires of Holla and Sedalia, can tell whether Price was near +Springfield or not. + +Forty-eight hours more must have given to General Fremont an engagement. +What the result would have been no one who was there doubted. A victory +such as the country has long desired and sorely needs,--a decisive, +complete, and overwhelming victory,--was as certain as it is possible +for the skill and valor of man to make certain any future event Now, +twenty thousand men are required to hold our long line of defence in +Missouri; then, five thousand at Springfield would have secured the +State of Missouri, and a column pushed into Arkansas would have turned +the enemy's position upon the Mississippi. In the same time and with the +same labor that the march to the rear was made, two States might have +been won, and the fate of the Rebellion in the Southwest decided. + +While I am writing these concluding pages, the telegraph brings +information that another expedition has started for Springfield. Strong +columns are marching from Bolla, Sedalia, and Versailles, to do the work +which General Fremont stood ready to do last November. After three +months of experience and reflection, the enterprise which was denounced +as aimless, extravagant, and ill-judged, which was derided as a wild +hunt after an unreal foe, an exploration into desert regions, is now +repeated in face of the obstacles of difficult roads and an inclement +season, and when many of the objects of the expedition no longer +exist,--for, unhappily, the loyal inhabitants of those fertile uplands, +the fruitful farms and pleasant homes, are no longer there to receive +the protection of our armies. General Fremont's military conduct could +not have received more signal approval. The malignant criticisms of his +enemies could in no other manner have been so completely refuted. +Unmoved by the storm of calumny and detraction which raged around him, +he has calmly and silently awaited the unerring judgment, the triumphant +verdict, which he knew time and the ebb of the bad passions his success +excited would surely bring. + + * * * * * + + + + +BIRDOFREDUM SAWIN, ESQ., TO MR. HOSEA BIGLOW. + +_With the following Letter from the_ REVEREND HOMER WILBUR, A.M. + +_To the Editors of the_ ATLANTIC MONTHLY. + +Jaalam, 7th Feb., 1862. + +Respected Friends,--If I know myself, and surely a man can hardly be +supposed to have overpassed the limit of fourscore years without +attaining to some proficiency in that most useful branch of learning, +(_e cælo descendit_, says the pagan poet,) I have no great smack +of that weakness which would press upon the publick attention any matter +pertaining to my private affairs. But since the following letter of Mr. +Sawin contains not only a direct allusion to myself, but that in +connection with a topick of interest to all those engaged in the publick +ministrations of the sanctuary, I may be pardoned for touching briefly +thereupon. Mr. Sawin was never a stated attendant upon my +preaching,--never, as I believe, even an occasional one, since the +erection of the new house (where we now worship) in 1845. He did, +indeed, for a time supply a not unacceptable bass in the choir, but, +whether on some umbrage (_omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus_) taken +against the bass-viol, then, and till his decease in 1850, (_æt. 77_,) +under the charge of Mr. Asaph Perley, or, as was reported by +others, on account of an imminent subscription for a new bell, he +thenceforth, absented himself from all outward and visible communion. +Yet he seems to have preserved, (_altâ mente repostum_,) as it +were, in the pickle of a mind soured by prejudice, a lasting +_scunner_, as he would call it, against our staid and decent form +of worship: for I would rather in that wise interpret his fling, than +suppose that any chance tares sown by my pulpit discourses should +survive so long, while good seed too often fails to root itself. I +humbly trust that I have no personal feeling in the matter; though I +know, that, if we sound any man deep enough, our lead shall bring up the +mud of human nature at last. The Bretons believe in an evil spirit which +they call _ar c'houskesik_, whose office it is to make the +congregation drowsy; and though I have never had reason to think that he +was specially busy among my flock, yet have I seen enough to make me +sometimes regret the hinged seats of the ancient meeting-house, whose +lively clatter, not unwillingly intensified by boys beyond eyeshot of +the tithing-man, served at intervals as a wholesome _réveil_. It is +true, I have numbered among my parishioners some whose gift of +somnolence rivalled that of the Cretan Rip van Winkle, Epimenides, and +who, nevertheless, complained not so much of the substance as of the +length of my (by them unheard) discourses. Happy Saint Anthony of Padua, +whose finny acolytes, however they might profit, could never murmur! +_Quare fremuerunt gentes?_ Who is he that can twice a week be +inspired, or has eloquence (_ut ita dicam_) always on tap? A good +man, and, next to David, a sacred poet, (himself, haply, not inexpert of +evil in this particular,) has said,-- + + "The worst speak something good: if all want sense, + God takes a text and preacheth patience." + +There are one or two other points in Mr. Sawin's letter which I would +also briefly animadvert upon. And first concerning the claim he sets up +to a certain superiority of blood and lineage in the people of our +Southern States, now unhappily in rebellion against lawful authority and +their own better interests. There is a sort of opinions, anachronisms +and anachorisms, foreign both to the age and the country, that maintain +a feeble and buzzing existence, scarce to be called life, like winter +flies, which in mild weather crawl out from obscure nooks and crannies +to expatiate in the sun, and sometimes acquire vigour enough to disturb +with their enforced familiarity the studious hours of the scholar. One +of the most stupid and pertinacious of these is the theory that the +Southern States were settled by a class of emigrants from the Old World +socially superiour to those who founded the institutions of New England. +The Virginians especially lay claim to this generosity of lineage, which +were of no possible account, were it not for the fact that such +superstitions are sometimes not without their effect on the course of +human affairs. The early adventurers to Massachusetts at least paid +their passages; no felons were ever shipped thither; and though it be +true that many deboshed younger brothers of what are called good +families may have sought refuge in Virginia, it is equally certain that +a great part of the early deportations thither were the sweepings of the +London streets and the leavings of the London stews. On what the heralds +call the spindle side, some, at least, of the oldest Virginian families +are descended from matrons who were exported and sold for so many +hogsheads of tobacco the head. So notorious was this, that it became one +of the jokes of contemporary playwrights, not only that men bankrupt in +purse and character were "food for the Plantations," (and this before +the settlement of New England,) but also that any drab would suffice to +wive such pitiful adventurers. "Never choose a wife as if you were going +to Virginia," says Middleton in one of his comedies. The mule is apt to +forget all but the equine side of his pedigree. How early the +counterfeit nobility of the Old Dominion became a topick of ridicule in +the Mother Country may be learned from a play of Mrs. Behn's, founded on +the Rebellion of Bacon: for even these kennels of literature may yield a +fact or two to pay the raking. Mrs. Flirt, the keeper of a Virginia +ordinary, calls herself the daughter of a baronet "undone in the late +rebellion,"--her father having in truth been a tailor,--and three of the +Council, assuming to themselves an equal splendour of origin, are shown +to have been, one "a broken exciseman who came over a poor servant," +another a tinker transported for theft, and the third "a common +pickpocket often flogged at the cart's-tail." The ancestry of South +Carolina will as little pass muster at the Herald's Visitation, though I +hold them to have been more reputable, inasmuch as many of them were +honest tradesmen and artisans, in some measure exiles for conscience' +sake, who would have smiled at the high-flying nonsense of their +descendants. Some of the more respectable were Jews. The absurdity of +supposing a population of eight millions all sprung from gentle loins in +the course of a century and a half is too manifest for confutation. The +aristocracy of the South, such as it is, has the shallowest of all +foundations, for it is only skin-deep,--the most odious of all, for, +while affecting to despise trade, it traces its origin to a successful +traffick in men, women, and children, and still draws its chief revenues +thence. And though, as Doctor Chamberlayne says in his _Present State +of England_, "to become a Merchant of Foreign Commerce, without +serving any Apprentisage, hath been allowed no disparagement to a +Gentleman born, especially to a younger Brother," yet I conceive that he +would hardly have made a like exception in favour of the particular +trade in question. Nor do I believe that such aristocracy as exists at +the South (for I hold, with Marius, _fortissimum quemque +generosissimum_) will be found an element of anything like persistent +strength in war,--thinking the saying of Lord Bacon (whom one quaintly +called _inductionis dominus et Verulamii_) as true as it is pithy, +that, "the more gentlemen, ever the lower books of subsidies." It is odd +enough as an historical precedent, that, while the fathers of New +England were laying deep in religion, education, and freedom the basis +of a polity which has substantially outlasted any then existing, the +first work of the founders of Virginia, as may be seen in Wingfield's +_Memorial_, was conspiracy and rebellion,--odder yet, as showing +the changes which are wrought by circumstance, that the first +insurrection in South Carolina was against the aristocratical scheme of +the Proprietary Government. I do not find that the cuticular aristocracy +of the South has added anything to the refinements of civilization +except the carrying of bowie-knives and the chewing of tobacco,--a +high-toned Southern gentleman being commonly not only _quadrumanous_, +but _quidruminant_. + +I confess that the present letter of Mr. Sawin increases my doubts as to +the sincerity of the convictions which he professes, and I am inclined +to think that the triumph of the legitimate Government, sure sooner or +later to take place, will find him and a large majority of his +newly-adopted fellow-citizens (who hold with Dædalus, the primal +sitter-on-the-fence, that _medium tenere tutissimum_) original +Union men. The criticisms toward the close of his letter on certain of +our failings are worthy to be seriously perpended, for he is not, as I +think, without a spice of vulgar shrewdness. As to the good-nature in us +which he seems to gird at, while I would not consecrate a chapel, as +they have not scrupled to do in France, to _Nótre Dame de la +Haine_, Our Lady of Hate, yet I cannot forget that the corruption of +good-nature is the generation of laxity of principle. Good-nature is our +national characteristick; and though it be, perhaps, nothing more than a +culpable weakness or cowardice, when it leads us to put up tamely with +manifold impositions and breaches of implied contracts, (as too +frequently in our publick conveyances,) it becomes a positive crime, +when it leads us to look unresentfully on peculation, and to regard +treason to the best Government that ever existed as something with which +a gentleman may shake hands without soiling his fingers. I do not think +the gallows-tree the most profitable member of our _Sylva_; but, +since it continues to be planted, I would fain see a Northern limb +ingrafted on it, that it may bear some other fruit than loyal +Tennesseeans. + +A relick has recently been discovered on the east bank of Bushy Brook in +North Jaalam, which I conceive to be an inscription in Runic characters +relating to the early expedition of the Northmen to this continent. I +shall make fuller investigations, and communicate the result in due +season. + +Respectfully, +Your obedient servant, +HOMER WILBUR, A.M. + +P.S. I inclose a year's subscription from Deacon Tinkham. + + + I hed it on my min' las' time, when I to write ye started, + To tech the leadin' featurs o' my gittin' me convarted; + But, ez my letters hez to go clearn roun' by way o' Cuby, + 'T wun't seem no staler now than then, by th' time it gits where you be. + You know up North, though sees an' things air plenty ez you please, + Ther' warn't nut one on 'em thet come jes' square with my idees: + I dessay they suit workin'-folks thet ain't noways pertic'lar, + But nut your Southun gen'leman thet keeps his perpendic'lar; + I don't blame nary man thet casts his lot along o' his folks, + But ef you cal'late to save _me_, 't must be with folks thet _is_ folks; + Cov'nants o' works go 'ginst my grain, but down here I've found out + The true fus'-fem'ly A 1 plan,--here's how it come about. + When I fus' sot up with Miss S., sez she to me, sez she,-- + "Without you git religion, Sir, the thing can't never be; + Nut but wut I respeck," sez she, "your intellectle part, + But you wun't noways du for me athout a change o' heart: + Nothun religion works wal North, but it's ez soft ez spruce, + Compared to ourn, for keepin' sound," sez she, "upon the goose; + A day's experunce'd prove to ye, ez easy 'z pull a trigger, + It takes the Southun pint o' view to raise ten bales a nigger; + You'll fin' thet human natur, South, ain't wholesome more 'n skin-deep, + An' once't a darkie's took with it, he wun't be wuth his keep." + "How _shell_ I git it, Ma'am?" sez I. "Attend the nex' camp-meetin'," + Sez she, "an' it'll come to ye ez cheap ez onbleached sheetin'." + + Wal, so I went along an' hearn most an impressive sarmon + About besprinklin' Afriky with fourth-proof dew o' Harmon: + He did n' put no weaknin' in, but gin it tu us hot, + 'Z ef he an' Satan'd ben two bulls in one five-acre lot: + I don't purtend to foller him, but give ye jes' the heads; + For pulpit ellerkence, you know, 'most ollers kin' o' spreads. + Ham's seed wuz gin to us in chairge, an' shouldn't we be li'ble + In Kingdom Come, ef we kep' back their priv'lege in the Bible? + The cusses an' the promerses make one gret chain, an' ef + You snake one link out here, one there, how much on't ud be lef'? + All things wuz gin to man for's use, his sarvice, an' delight; + An' don't the Greek an' Hebrew words thet mean a Man mean White? + Ain't it belittlin' the Good Book in all its proudes' featurs + To think 't wuz wrote for black an' brown an' 'lasses-colored creaturs, + Thet could n' read it, ef they would, nor ain't by lor allowed to, + But ough' to take wut we think suits their naturs, an' be proud to? + Warn't it more prof'table to bring your raw materil thru + Where you can work it inta grace an' inta cotton, tu, + Than sendin' missionaries out where fevers might defeat 'em, + An' ef the butcher did n' call, their p'rishioners might eat 'em? + An' then, agin, wut airthly use? Nor 't warn't our fault, in so fur + Ez Yankee skippers would keep on a-totin' on 'em over. + 'T improved the whites by savin' 'em from ary need o' workin', + An' kep' the blacks from bein' lost thru idleness an' shirkin'; + We took to 'em ez nat'ral ez a barn-owl doos to mice, + An' hed our hull time on our hands to keep us out o' vice; + It made us feel ez pop'lar ez a hen doos with one chicken, + An' fill our place in Natur's scale by givin' 'em a lickin': + For why should Cæsar git his dues more 'n Juno, Pomp, an' Cuffy? + It's justifyin' Ham to spare a nigger when he's stuffy. + Where'd their soles go tu, like to know, ef we should let 'em ketch + Freeknowledgism an' Fourierism an' Speritoolism an' sech? + When Satan sets himself to work to raise his very bes' muss, + He scatters roun' onscriptur'l views relatin' to Ones'mus. + + You'd ough' to seen, though, how his face an' argymunce an' figgers + Drawed tears o' real conviction from a lot o' pen'tent niggers! + It warn't like Wilbur's meetin', where you're shet up in a pew, + Your dickeys sorrin' off your ears, an' bilin' to be thru; + Ther' wuz a tent clost by thet hed a kag o' sunthin' in it, + Where you could go, ef you wuz dry, an' damp ye in a minute; + Au' ef you did dror off a spell, ther' wuzn't no occasion + To lose the thread, because, ye see, he bellered like all Bashan. + It's dry work follerin' argymunce, an' so, 'twix' this an' thet, + I felt conviction weighin' down somehow inside my hat; + It growed an' growed like Jonah's gourd, a kin' o' whirlin' ketched me, + Ontil I fin'lly clean giv out an' owned up thet he'd fetched me; + An' when nine-tenths the perrish took to tumblin' roun' an' hollerin', + I did n' fin' no gret in th' way o' turnin' tu an' follerin'. + Soon ez Miss S. see thet, sez she, "_Thet_ 's wut I call wuth seein'! + _Thet_ 's actin' like a reas'nable an' intellectle bein'!" + An' so we fin'lly made it up, concluded to hitch hosses, + An' here I be 'n my ellermunt among creation's bosses; + Arter I'd drawed sech heaps o' blanks, Fortin at last hez sent a prize, + An' chose me for a shinin' light o' missionary enterprise. + + This leads me to another pint on which I've changed my plan + O' thinkin' so 's 't I might become a straight-out Southun man. + Miss S. (her maiden name wuz Higgs, o' the fus' fem'ly here) + On her Ma's side 's all Juggernot, on Pa's all Cavileer, + An' sence I've merried into her an' stept into her shoes, + It ain't more 'n nateral thet I should modderfy my views: + I've ben a-readin' in Debow ontil I've fairly gut + So 'nlightened thet I'd full ez lives ha' ben a Dook ez nut; + An' when we've laid ye all out stiff, an' Jeff hez gut his crown, + An' comes to pick his nobles out, _wun't_ this child be in town! + We'll hev an Age o' Chivverlry surpassin' Mister Burke's, + Where every fem'ly is fus'-best an' nary white man works: + Our system's sech, the thing'll root ez easy ez a tater; + For while your lords in furrin parts ain't noways marked by natur', + Nor sot apart from ornery folks in featurs nor in figgers, + Ef ourn'll keep their faces washed, you'll know 'em from their niggers. + Ain't _sech_ things wuth secedin' for, an' gittin' red o' you + Thet waller in your low idees, an' will till all is blue? + Fact is, we _air_ a diff'rent race, an' I, for one, don't see, + Sech havin' ollers ben the case, how w' ever _did_ agree. + It's sunthin' thet you lab'rin'-folks up North hed ough' to think on, + Thet Higgses can't bemean themselves to rulin' by a Lincoln,-- + Thet men, (an' guv'nors, tu,) thet hez sech Normal names ez Pickens, + Accustomed to no kin' o' work, 'thout 't is to givin' lickins, + Can't masure votes with folks thet git their livins from their farms + An' prob'ly think thet Law 's ez good ez hevin' coats o' arms. + Sence I've ben here, I've hired a chap to look about for me + To git me a transplantable an' thrifty fem'ly-tree, + An' he tells _me_ the Sawins is ez much o' Normal blood + Ez Pickens an' the rest on 'em, an' older 'n Noah's flood. + Your Normal schools wun't turn ye into Normals, for it's clear, + Ef eddykatin' done the thing, they'd be some skurcer here. + Pickenses, Boggses, Pettuses, Magoffins, Letchers, Polks,-- + Where can you scare up names like them among your mudsill folks? + Ther' 's nothin' to compare with 'em, you'd fin', ef you should glance, + Among the tip-top femerlies in Englan', nor in France: + I've hearn from 'sponsible men whose word wuz full ez good's their note, + Men thet can run their face for drinks, an' keep a Sunday coat, + Thet they wuz all on 'em come down, an' come down pooty fur, + From folks thet, 'thout their crowns wuz on, ou'doors would n' never + stir, + Nor thet ther' warn't a Southun man but wut wuz _primy fashy_ + O' the bes' blood in Europe, yis, an' Afriky an' Ashy: + Sech bein' the case, is 't likely we should bend like cotton-wickin', + Or set down under anythin' so low-lived ez a lickin'? + More 'n this,--hain't we the literatoor an' science, tu, by gorry? + Hain't we them intellectle twins, them giants, Simms an' Maury, + Each with full twice the ushle brains, like nothin' thet I know, + 'Thout 't wuz a double-headed calf I see once to a show? + + For all thet, I warn't jest at fast in favor o' seeedin'; + I wuz for layin' low a spell to find out where't wuz leadin', + For hevin' South-Carliny try her hand at seprit-nationin', + She takin' resks an' findin' funds, an' we cooperationin',-- + I mean a kin' o' hangin' roun' an' settin' on the fence, + Till Prov'dunce pinted how to jump an' save the most expense; + I reccollected thet 'ere mine o' lead to Shiraz Centre + Thet bust up Jabez Pettibone, an' didn't want to ventur' + 'Fore I wuz sartin wut come out ud pay for wut went in, + For swappin' silver off for lead ain't the sure way to win; + (An', fact, it _doos_ look now ez though--but folks must live an' larn-- + We should git lead, an' more 'n we want, out o' the Old Consarn;) + But when I see a man so wise an' honest ez Buchanan + A-lettin' us hev all the forts an' all the arms an' cannon, + Admittin' we wuz nat'lly right an' you wuz nat'lly wrong, + Coz you wuz lab'rin'-folks an' we wuz wut they call _bong-tong_, + An' coz there warn't no fight in ye more 'n in a mashed potater, + While two o' _us_ can't skurcely meet but wut we fight by natur', + An' th' ain't a bar-room here would pay for openin' on 't a night, + Without it giv the priverlege o' bein' shot at sight, + Which proves we're Natur's noblemen, with whom it don't surprise + The British aristoxy should feel boun' to sympathize,-- + Seein' all this, an' seein', tu, the thing wuz strikin' roots + While Uncle Sam sot still in hopes thet some one 'd bring his boots, + I thought th' ole Union's hoops wuz off, an' let myself be sucked in + To rise a peg an' jine the crowd thet went for reconstructin',-- + Thet is, to hev the pardnership under th' ole name continner + Jest ez it wuz, we drorrin' pay, you findin' bone an' sinner,-- + On'y to put it in the bond, an' enter 't in the journals, + Thet you're the nat'ral rank an' file an' we the nat'ral kurnels. + + Now this I thought a fees'ble plan, thet 'ud work smooth ez grease, + Suitin' the Nineteenth Century an' Upper Ten idees, + An' there I meant to stick, an' so did most o' th' leaders, tu, + Coz we all thought the chance wuz good o' puttin' on it thru; + But Jeff he hit upon a way o' helpin' on us forrard + By bein' unannermous,--a trick you ain't quite up to, Norrard. + A baldin hain't no more 'f a chance with them new apple-corers + Than folks's oppersition views aginst the Ringtail Roarers; + They'll take 'em out on him 'bout east,--one canter on a rail + Makes a man feel unannermous ez Jonah in the whale; + Or ef he's a slow-moulded cuss thet can't seem quite t' agree, + He gits the noose by tellergraph upon the nighes' tree: + Their mission-work with Afrikins hez put 'em up, thet's sartin, + To all the mos' across-lot ways o' preachin' an' convartin'; + I'll bet my hat th' ain't nary priest, nor all on 'em together, + Thet cairs conviction to the min' like Reveren' Taranfeather; + Why, he sot up with me one night, an' labored to sech purpose, + Thet (ez an owl by daylight 'mongst a flock o' teazin' chirpers + Sees clearer 'n mud the wickedness o' eatin' little birds) + I see my error an' agreed to shen it arterwurds; + An' I should say, (to jedge our folks by facs in my possession,) + Thet three's Unannermous where one's a 'Riginal Secession; + So it's a thing you fellers North may safely bet your chink on, + Thet we're all water-proofed agin th' usurpin' reign o' Lincoln. + + Jeff's _some_. He's gut another plan thet hez pertic'lar merits, + In givin' things a cherfle look an' stiffnin' loose-hung sperits; + For while your million papers, wut with lyin' an' discussin', + Keep folks's tempers all on eend a-fumin' an' a-fussin', + A-wondrin' this an' guessin' thet, an' dreadin', every night, + The breechin' o' the Univarse'll break afore it's light, + Our papers don't purtend to print on'y wut Guv'ment choose, + An' thet insures us all to git the very best o' noose: + Jeff hez it of all sorts an' kines, an' sarves it out ez wanted, + So's't every man gits wut he likes an' nobody ain't scanted; + Sometimes it's vict'ries, (they're 'bout all ther' is thet's cheap + down here,) + Sometimes it's France an' England on the jump to interfere. + Fact is, the less the people know o' wut ther' is a-doin', + The hendier 't is for Guv'ment, sence it henders trouble brewin'; + An' noose is like a shinplaster,--it's good, ef you believe it, + Or, wut's all same, the other man thet's goin' to receive it: + Ef you've a son in th' army, wy, it's comfortin' to hear + He'll hev no gretter resk to run than seein' th' in'my's rear, + Coz, ef an F.F. looks at 'em, they ollers break an' run, + Or wilt right down ez debtors will thet stumble on a dun + (An' this, ef an'thin', proves the wuth o' proper fem'ly pride, + Fer sech mean shucks ez creditors are all on Lincoln's side); + Ef I hev scrip thet wun't go off no more 'n a Belgin rifle, + An' read thet it's at par on 'Change, it makes me feel deli'fle; + It's cheerin', tu, where every man mus' fortify his bed, + To hear thet Freedom's the one thing our darkies mos'ly dread, + An' thet experunce, time 'n' agin, to Dixie's Land hez shown + Ther' 's nothin' like a powder-cask f'r a stiddy corner-stone; + Ain't it ez good ez nuts, when salt is sellin' by the ounce + For its own weight in Treash'ry-bons, (ef bought in small amounts,) + When even whiskey's gittin' skurce, an' sugar can't be found, + To know thet all the ellerments o' luxury abound? + An' don't it glorify sal'-pork, to come to understand + It's wut the Richmon' editors call fatness o' the land? + Nex' thing to knowin' you're well off is _nut_ to know when y' ain't; + An' ef Jeff says all's goin' wal, who'll ventur' t' say it ain't? + + This cairn the Constitooshun roun' ez Jeff doos in his hat + Is hendier a dreffle sight, an' comes more kin' o' pat. + I tell ye wut, my jedgment is you're pooty sure to fail, + Ez long 'z the head keeps turnin' back for counsel to the tail: + Th' advantiges of our consarn for bein' prompt air gret, + While, 'long o' Congress, you can't strike, 'f you git an iron het; + They bother roun' with argooin', an' var'ous sorts o' foolin', + To make sure ef it's leg'lly het, an' all the while it's coolin', + So 's 't when you come to strike, it ain't no gret to wish ye j'y on, + An' hurts the hammer 'z much or more ez wut it doos the iron. + Jeff don't allow no jawin'-sprees for three months at a stretch, + Knowin' the ears long speeches suits air mostly made to metch; + He jes' ropes in your tonguey chaps an' reg'lar ten-inch bores + An' lets 'em play at Congress, ef they'll du it with closed doors; + So they ain't no more bothersome than ef we'd took an' sunk 'em, + An' yit enj'y th' exclusive right to one another's Buncombe + 'Thout doin' nobody no hurt, an' 'thout its costin' nothin', + Their pay bein' jes' Confedrit funds, they findin' keep an' clothin'; + They taste the sweets o' public life, an' plan their little jobs, + An' suck the Treash'ry, (no gret harm, for it's ez dry ez cobs,) + An' go thru all the motions jest ez safe ez in a prison, + An' hev their business to themselves, while Buregard hez hisn: + Ez long 'z he gives the Hessians fits, committees can't make bother + 'Bout whether 't's done the legle way or whether 't's done the t'other. + An' _I_ tell _you_ you've gut to larn thet War ain't one long teeter + Betwixt _I wan' to_ an' _'T wun't du_, debatin' like a skeetur + Afore he lights,--all is, to give the other side a millin', + An' arter thet's done, th' ain't no resk but wut the lor'll be willin'; + No metter wut the guv'ment is, ez nigh ez I can hit it, + A lickin's constitooshunal, pervidin' _We_ don't git it. + Jeff don't stan' dilly-dallyin', afore he takes a fort, + (With no one in,) to git the leave o' the nex' Soopreme Court, + Nor don't want forty-'leven 'weeks o' jawin' an' expoundin' + To prove a nigger hez a right to save him, ef he's drowndin'; + Whereas ole Abram'd sink afore he'd let a darkie boost him, + Ef Taney shouldn't come along an' hedn't interdooced him. + It ain't your twenty millions thet'll ever block Jeff's game, + But one Man thet wun't let 'em jog jest ez he's takin' aim: + Your numbers they may strengthen ye or weaken ye, ez 't heppens + They're willin' to be helpin.' hands or wuss'n-nothin' cap'ns. + + I've chose my side, an' 't ain't no odds ef I wuz drawed with magnets, + Or ef I thought it prudenter to jine the nighes' bagnets; + I've made my ch'ice, an' ciphered out, from all I see an' heard, + Th' ole Constitooshun never'd git her decks for action cleared, + Long 'z you elect for Congressmen poor shotes thet want to go + Coz they can't seem to git their grub no otherways than so, + An' let your bes' men stay to home coz they wun't show ez talkers, + Nor can't be hired to fool ye an' sof'-soap ye at a caucus,-- + Long 'z ye set by Rotashun more 'n ye do by folks's merits, + Ez though experance thriv by change o' sile, like corn an' kerrits,-- + Long 'z you allow a critter's "claims" coz, spite o' shoves an' tippins, + He's kep' his private pan jest where't would ketch mos' public + drippins,-- + Long 'z A.'ll turn tu an' grin' B.'s exe, ef B.'ll help him grin' hisn, + (An' thet's the main idee by which your leadin' men hev risen,)-- + Long 'z you let ary exe be groun'; 'less 'L is to cut the weasan' + O' sneaks thet dunno till they're told wut is an' wut ain't Treason,- + Long 'z ye give out commissions to a lot o' peddlin' drones + Thet trade in whiskey with their men an' skin 'em to their bones,-- + Long 'z ye sift out "safe" canderdates thet no one ain't afeared on + Coz they're so thund'rin' eminent for bein' never heard on, + An' hain't no record, ez it's called, for folks to pick a hole in, + Ez ef it hurt a man to hev a body with a soul in, + An' it wuz ostenstashun to be showm' on't about, + When half his feller-citizens contrive to do without,-- + Long 'z you suppose your votes can turn biled kebbage into brain, + An' ary man thet's pop'lar's fit to drive a lightnin'-train,-- + Long 'z you believe democracy means _I'm ez good ez you be,_ + An' thet a feller from the ranks can't be a knave or booby,-- + Long 'z Congress seems purvided, like yer street-cars an' yer 'busses, + With oilers room for jes' one more o' your spiled-in-bakin' cusses, + Dough'thout the emptins of a soul, an' yit with means about 'em + (Like essence-peddlers[A]) thet 'll make folks long to be without 'em, + Jest heavy 'nough to turn a scale thet's doubtfle the wrong way, + An' make their nat'ral arsenal o' bein' nasty pay,-- + Long 'z them things last, (an' I don't see no gret signs of improvin',) + I sha'n't up stakes, not hardly yit, nor't wouldn't pay for movin'; + For, 'fore you lick us, it 'll be the long'st day ever you see. + Yourn, (ez I 'xpec' to be nex' spring,) + + B., MARKISS O' BIG BOOSY. + + [Footnote A: A rustic euphemism for the American variety of the + _Mephitis_.--H.W.] + + * * * * * + + + + +TAXATION. + + +Milton, in his superb sonnet to Sir Henry Vane the Younger, declares +that Rome, in the most prosperous age of the Republic, never possessed a +better senator,-- + + "Whether to settle peace, or to unfold + The hollow drift of States, hard to be spelled; + Then to advise how war may, best upheld, + Move by _her two main nerves, iron and gold,_ + In all her equipage." + +The list of his writings appended by Mr. Upham to his instructive +biography of our _quondam_ fellow-citizen and governor[A] does not +enable us to judge to which of his twenty-five works Milton particularly +refers, in this magnificent commendation of Sir Henry Vane's financial +skill. It might be inferred, however, from the significant union of iron +and gold, as the "main nerves" of war, that he understood the importance +of a specie currency, which in fact, in those days, was the only +currency known. + + [Footnote A: Sir Henry Vane the Younger, being then twenty-three + years of age, arrived in Boston in 1635, was chosen governor of + the Colony in 1636, and returned to England the next year. His + house stood, within the recollection of the writer, on what is + now Tremont Street, on a spot opposite the Museum.] + +Our business, however, at present, is not with currency, but with taxes, +which as long ago as Cicero's time were pronounced "the nerves of the +State," and which, whether paid in gold or in what can in the present +condition of the country be best substituted, must be allowed to be the +great sympathetic nerve of the body-politic. Introduce a wise and +efficient system of taxation, and life and energy will pervade the +country. Without such a system it will soon sink into a general and +fatal paralysis. + +The country is engaged at this moment in a struggle of unexampled +magnitude. The great wars of the last generation in Europe gathered no +army equal in magnitude to that which the Government of the United +States has, within little more than six months, called into being. Its +naval operations, so far as concerns the extent of sea-coast effectively +blockaded, and considering the condition of that branch of the service +at the breaking out of the war, will not suffer in comparison with those +of England in the wars of the French Revolution. England is now +threatening to take part against us in this war, waged by the first +State (according to Mr. Vice-president Stephens) ever avowedly founded +on Slavery as its corner-stone, on the ground that our blockade of the +Southern ports is not effectual,--forgetting, apparently, that our last +war with her was in part to resist her pretended right to seal up with a +paper blockade every port in the French Empire. + +The great practical question which presses most heavily upon the mind, +not only of every person responsible for the conduct of affairs, but of +every intelligent and thoughtful citizen, is, in what way the vast +expenditure is to be met, which is necessary to bring this gigantic +struggle to a prompt and successful issue. It has been customary, from +the first, to estimate this expenditure at a million and a half of +dollars _per diem_, and it will not be lessened while the war +lasts. How is this frightful expenditure to be met? + +The answer is simple, and is contained in the one little word +"Taxation." Without this, all else will be of no avail. Our civil rulers +may have the wisdom of Solomon; our generals and admirals may equal in +skill and courage the greatest captains of ancient or modern times; we +may place in the field the bravest and best-disciplined armies that ever +battled in a righteous cause,--but without an amount of taxation +adequate to sustain the credit of the Government, all this show of +counsel and strength will pass away, and that at no distant period, like +a morning cloud and the early dew. + +"Adequate to sustain the credit of the Government,"--for that is all +that is required. It is by no means necessary, as it is by no means +just, that the whole of this vast expenditure should fall upon the +shoulders of the present generation. Engaged in a contest of which the +result, for good or for evil, is, if possible, more important to +posterity than to ourselves,--a struggle in which the great cause of +civil liberty, as embodied and regulated by the Constitution and laws, +is more deeply involved, not only for this, but for all future +generations, than in any other war ever waged,--it is not right that the +burden should fall exclusively on ourselves. Nor is it necessary. There +is, perhaps, no feature in our modern civilization in which its beauty, +flexibility, and strength, as compared with that of antiquity, is more +signally displayed, than the well-organized credit-system of a +prosperous State: the system which makes men not only willing, but +desirous, to forego the actual possession of that darling property which +has been the great object of desire through life,--which they have +sought by all honest and, unhappily too often, dishonest means, to gain +and accumulate,--provided only they can receive a fair equivalent for +its use. By the wise application of this almost mysterious principle, +the members of modern civilized States are not only, for the time being, +much more effectually consociated in the joint life and action of the +country than would have been possible without it, but even distant +generations--men separated from each other by years, not to say +ages--are brought into a noble partnership of effort in great and +generous undertakings and sacrifices. + +Dr. Johnson somewhat cynically says, that + + "Mortgaged States, in everlasting debt, + From age to age their grandsires' wreaths regret." + +This may be true of debts incurred in wars of ambition and conquest; but +what citizen of the United States, at the present day, would not, with a +willing mind, if it were still necessary, bear his part of the pecuniary +burdens of the American Revolution? + +It is a well-established law of public credit, that it can be carried to +any length to which it is sustained by an efficient system of taxation. +So long as provision is made to secure in this way the regular payment +of the interest on the sums borrowed, the Government holds the +purse-strings of the capitalist, and has nothing to do but to call for +whatever amount is needed for the public service. This, however, is the +essential condition, and nothing else will, for any length of time, +produce the desired result. In the first fervor of a great popular +movement, and in confident reliance that effective provision to sustain +it will eventually be made, a large loan may be obtained from the banks, +from capitalists, or the mass of the people; but this will be a +temporary, probably a solitary, effort. No Government can permanently +sustain its credit, but by providing the means (independent of credit) +to pay the interest on its public debt. To borrow more money in order to +pay the interest on that already borrowed is bankruptcy in disguise. + +With these general principles established and clearly borne in mind, we +perceive the absurdity of the language which has been so freely used +abroad and is even sometimes heard at home, since the suspension of +specie-payments, that the United States are on the verge of bankruptcy. +Let the expenses of the war in which we are now engaged against the +"disappointed aspirants" of the South be estimated as high as six +hundred millions of dollars. A loan to this amount implies, at the usual +rate, the payment of an interest of thirty-six millions, certainly a +large amount in addition to the ordinary expenditure of the Government, +but not more than a fifth part of the annual interest on the public debt +of England,--by no means a formidable percentage, allowing for a short +war, on the annual surplus income of the country. + +In fact, when we cast our eyes over the continent and contemplate the +vast extent of fertile land already brought or capable of being readily +brought into cultivation,--the productive agricultural, manufacturing, +and commercial investments,--our internal and foreign trade,--our +fisheries, and our mining operations,--the rapid increase of labor (the +great creative source of wealth) by the growth of our own native +population and the steady flow of immigration from abroad,--when we +contemplate these things, the draughts which must be made upon the +resources of the country in the successful prosecution of the war, great +as they are, are really insignificant Let us take a single item, but one +which may serve as a fair index of the resources of the loyal States. In +the American Circular of Messrs. Hallett & Co. of New York, for the 6th +of November last, the value of the tonnage of all kinds annually moved +upon the public works (railroads and canals) of the Northern and Middle +States is estimated in even figures at $4,620,000,000. This enormous +sum, of course, represents only that part of the internal and foreign +trade of the country which is moved upon the canals and railroads. All +that portion of trade which is not transacted in this way,--all that +moves exclusively on the lakes, rivers, and coastwise, without coming in +contact with artificial communications,--the retail business of every +kind in the large cities, and all that is transported in moderate +parcels by animal power in the neighborhood of the places of production, +is in addition to this vast amount. + +The Secretary of the Treasury, in his patriotic appeal to the country +last summer, calculates "the real and personal values, in the States now +loyal to the Union, at eleven thousand millions of dollars," while he +remarks that "the yearly surplus earnings of the loyal people are +estimated at more than four hundred millions of dollars." A tax of nine +per cent, on this surplus would pay an interest of six per cent, on a +loan of six hundred millions. Now in this country, where we are so +little accustomed to taxation, such a tax may seem to be a very serious +affair; but the man who in times like these, and for objects like those +for which we are struggling, is not willing to pay nine per cent--of his +_surplus earnings_, does not deserve to enjoy the blessings of a +free government. + +It is therefore a gross exaggeration to say that the country is +bankrupt, or on the verge of bankruptcy. Nothing more is true than that +the Government of the country--the legislative power--has not as yet +shown the sagacity and vigor to apply a moderate portion of its abundant +resources to the preservation of all we hold dear. The wealth is +here,--not merely what is locked up in the vaults of the banks, (for +this, though ample for all the purposes of these institutions, is but a +very small portion of the wealth of the country, not much over one-half +of the annual surplus earnings,) but the entire accumulations of town +and country, the whole vast aggregate of the property having a +marketable value or capable of being applied in kind or by exchange for +its equivalent to the public service. All this fund belongs to the +people, to be levied upon and appropriated to the service of the country +by the people's representatives and servants. It belongs only _sub +modo_ to those who are commonly deemed its owners. They are the +stewards to whom Providence has confided it, subject to the condition, +in time of need, of being employed, under equitable and equal laws, to +defend the life of the country. And when we consider how small a portion +of it is required to answer the demands of the public service, we cannot +but be amazed at the language of despondency which is sometimes uttered +at the state of the public finances. We call the individual man of +wealth a miser, who hoards his income, instead of spending a portion of +it in deeds of charity and public spirit, or even on his own comforts +and those of his family. This expressive use of that word, says Bishop +South, is peculiar to the English language. Although the word is Latin, +we have improved on the Romans, in the bitter sarcasm of this +application. But a Government deserves the same stigma or worse, which, +with the exuberant wealth of a loyal people at its command, wants the +moral courage to apply a moderate portion of it to obtain ample means +for feeding, clothing, and arming the brave men who, on the land and the +water, are risking their lives in the public service. + +We speak of "the moral courage" to establish an efficient system of +taxation, more in deference to the traditionary unpopularity of the +tax-gatherer than because, in the present state of affairs, there is any +just cause to doubt the willingness of the people to make the necessary +sacrifices for the support of the Government and the defence of the +country. In peaceful times and in an ordinary state of affairs, it may +be admitted that the tax-gatherer is an unwelcome visitant. Mr. +Jefferson relied upon him in 1799 to bring about a change of parties and +administrations. But the country was then poor, the parties equally +divided, and the political issues matters of temper and theory, on which +men delight to differ and to argue, rather than those stern realities in +which, at the present time, the very being of the State is wrapt up. +Accordingly, it is a most remarkable fact at the present day, and one +certainly without example in this country, perhaps in any country, that +the unanimous desire of the people is for taxation, adequate, efficient +taxation. Although the emergencies of the service, and the large amounts +which it requires, are daily commented on by the public journals, and +are perfectly well understood, not a voice has been uttered on the +subject which does not call for taxation. The Secretary of the Treasury +is censured, the Committee of Ways and Means rebuked, the patriotism of +Congress called in question, because the absolute necessity for heavy +taxation is not urged with sufficient warmth by the Executive, and the +requisite laws for laying the tax are delayed in their introduction and +passage. And reason good; for, while the legislation required to impose +a tax lingers, the whole mass of the country's property is incurring the +fearful peril of a prostration of the public credit. + +But though the loyal people of the country are more than willing--are +ardently desirous--to be taxed for the public service, they are not +willing to be taxed for the benefit of fraudulent contractors, or to +enrich the miscreants who, not content with plundering the Treasury by +exorbitant prices, put the health and lives of our brave men in peril, +and the success of the war at hazard, by furnishing arms that have been +condemned as unserviceable, clothes and shoes that drop to pieces in a +fortnight's wear, water poisoned by filthy casks, horses too feeble to +be ridden, and vessels known by their vendors to be of a draught too +great for the intended service. It is not unlikely that there may be +exaggeration in the accounts of this kind that find their way into the +public journals; but if any reliance can be placed on the reports of our +legislative committees, frauds like those alluded to have been carried +to a stupendous length. If we mistake not, a bill has been introduced +into Congress for the condign punishment of the wretches guilty of these +abominable crimes. The offences which have filled Forts Lafayette and +Warren with their inmates are venial, compared with the guilt of the man +who is willing to fatten on the sufferings of the country and the health +and lives of its patriotic defenders. But the evil, enormous as it is, +admits of an easy remedy. If, on the one hand, one or two cases of gross +fraud, highly prejudicial to the public service, were summarily dealt +with by a court-martial, while, on the other hand, fifty per cent, of +the contract-price were habitually retained for three or four months, +till the value of the article furnished was ascertained by trial, the +evil would soon be brought within manageable limits. A little of the +wholesome severity with which Bonaparte, in 1797, carried on what he +called "_la guerre aux voleurs_"[B] would not only save millions to +the Treasury of the United States, but protect the country from +consequences still more disastrous. + + [Footnote B: Thiers, Tome II., p. 337.] + +In fact, it will be one of the incidental benefits of an efficient +system of taxation, that it will induce greater care in the expenditure +of the public money. Fraudulent contracts are not the only, nor even the +chief cause of our financial embarrassments. It may be hoped that what +is extracted from it by downright swindling, however considerable in +amount, does not cause the great drain upon the Treasury. But if money +can be obtained by the simple issue of evidences of debt, and without +any provision to sustain the credit of the Government by taxation, the +process of supply is too facile. The funds so easily procured are in +danger of being too profusely spent. Individual responsibility in +money-matters, aided by direct self-interest, is usually more efficient +in imposing limits to improvidence than a general sense of duty on the +part of official personages. But if funds could be obtained _ad +libitum_ by the speculator, without the necessity of giving security +for the payment of principal or interest, bankruptcy would soon become +the rule and solvency the exception. Still more urgently, in the +administration of the National Treasury, is the wholesome corrective of +taxation required, to make economy a necessity as well as a virtue. + +Much must be pardoned to the urgency of the public service, in a crisis +like that of last summer, when the Government was compelled to improvise +the forces, military and naval, required for the suppression of a +gigantic rebellion, long concocted and matured in treacherous secrecy. +With the capital of the country beleaguered by open foes without, +swarming with hardly concealed traitors within, who privately thwarted +and paralyzed when they could not openly defeat the measures of the +Government, and conveyed information of them to the enemy with the +regularity of official returns, some degree of improvident hurry in +every branch of the service was inevitable, and must not be too severely +scanned. You cannot stand chaffering at a bargain as to the cheapest +mode of extinguishing a fire kindled by a red-hot cannon-ball at the +door of the magazine. But the crisis and the necessity for precipitate +action are past. The rebellion, dragged to the light of day, has assumed +definite proportions. The means for its suppression are ample, and +nothing is requisite but the firmness and sagacity to apply them. In +other words, the one thing needful for the successful prosecution of the +war is a judicious system of taxation. + +With such a system, as we have already intimated, there is no limit to +the credit of the Government With an efficient system of taxation to +sustain its loans, the entire property of the country--that is, all that +is needed of it--may be consecrated to the public service. We must not +be terrified by the ghost of the paper-money with which the country was +Hooded daring the Revolutionary War. It became worthless because there +was no limit to its issue and no provision for its redemption or the +payment of Interest. The Congress of the Confederation possessed no +power to lay a tax, and the States which had the power were destitute of +resources, without mutual concert, and often moved by influences at +variance with each other. In this state of things taxation was out of +the question, and the paper-money, which had been manufactured by +wholesale rather than issued on any system of finance, steadily and at +length rapidly sank to its intrinsic worthlessness. Its memory has left +behind a wholesome dread of paper-money, but ought not to create a +prejudice against a well-organized system of credit, sustained by +efficient taxation. + +No one will be better pleased than the writer of this article, if, +before it sees the light, the vigorous action of Congress shall render +its suggestions superfluous and unseasonable. + + * * * * * + + + + +VOYAGE OF THE GOOD SHIP UNION. + + 'T is midnight: through my troubled dream + Loud wails the tempest's cry; + Before the gale, with tattered sail, + A ship goes plunging by. + What name? Where bound?--The rocks around + Repeat the loud halloo. + --The good ship Union, Southward bound: + God help her and her crew! + + And is the old flag flying still + That o'er your fathers flew, + With bands of white and rosy light, + And field of starry blue? + --Ay! look aloft! its folds full oft + Have braved the roaring blast, + And still shall fly when from the sky + This black typhoon has past! + + Speak, pilot of the storm-tost bark! + May I thy peril share? + --O landsman, these are fearful seas + The brave alone may dare! + --Nay, ruler of the rebel deep, + What matters wind or wave? + The rocks that wreck your reeling deck + Will leave me nought to save! + + O landsman, art thou false or true? + What sign hast thou to show? + --The crimson stains from loyal veins + That hold my heart-blood's flow! + --Enough! what more shall honor claim? + I know the sacred sign; + Above thy head our flag shall spread, + Our ocean path be thine! + + The bark sails on; the Pilgrim's Cape + Lies low along her lee, + Whose headland crooks its anchor-flukes + To lock the shore and sea. + No treason here! it cost too dear + To win this barren realm! + And true and free the hands must be + That hold the whaler's helm! + + Still on! Manhattan's narrowing bay + No Rebel cruiser scars; + Her waters feel no pirate's keel + That flaunts the fallen stars! + --But watch the light on yonder height,-- + Ay, pilot, have a care! + Some lingering cloud in mist may shroud + The capes of Delaware! + + Say, pilot, what this fort may be, + Whose sentinels look down + From moated walls that show the sea + Their deep embrasures' frown? + The Rebel host claims all the coast, + But these are friends, we know, + Whose footprints spoil the "sacred soil," + And this is?--Fort Monroe! + + The breakers roar,--how bears the shore? + --The traitorous wreckers' hands + Have quenched the blaze that poured its rays + Along the Hatteras sands. + --Ha! say not so! I see its glow! + Again the shoals display + The beacon light that shines by night, + The Union Stars by day! + + The good ship flies to milder skies, + The wave more gently flows, + The softening breeze wafts o'er the seas + The breath of Beaufort's rose. + "What fold is this the sweet winds kiss, + Fair-striped and many-starred, + Whose shadow palls these orphaned walls, + The twins of Beauregard? + + "What! heard you not Port Royal's doom? + How the black war-ships came + And turned the Beaufort roses' bloom + To redder wreaths of flame? + How from Rebellion's broken reed + We saw his emblem fall, + As soon his cursèd poison-weed + Shall drop from Sumter's wall? + + On! on! Pulaski's iron hail + Falls harmless on Tybee! + Her topsails feel the freshening gale, + She strikes the open sea; + She rounds the point, she threads the keys + That guard the Land of Flowers, + And rides at last where firm and fast + Her own Gibraltar towers! + + The good ship Union's voyage is o'er, + At anchor safe she swings, + And loud and clear with cheer on cheer + Her joyous welcome rings: + Hurrah! Hurrah! it shakes the wave, + It thunders on the shore,-- + One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, + One Nation, evermore! + + * * * * * + + + + +RECENT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS + +RECEIVED BY THE EDITORS OF THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. + + +For Better, for Worse. A Story from "Temple Bar" and "Tales of the Day." +Complete. Boston. T.O.H.P. Burnham. 8vo. paper. pp. 165. 25 cts. + +Prayers. By Theodore Parker. Boston. Walker, Wise, & Co. 16mo. pp. 200. +75 cts. + +Lilliesleaf: being a Concluding Series of Passages in the Life of Mrs. +Margaret Maitland, of Sunnyside. Written by Herself. 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