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diff --git a/old/15697-8.txt b/old/15697-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6271470 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/15697-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8857 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of True Stories of History and Biography +by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: True Stories of History and Biography + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: April 24, 2005 [EBook #15697] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Internet Archive Children's Library, Joshua +Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +TRUE STORIES + +FROM + +HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. + +BY + +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE + +BOSTON: +TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS. +MDCCCLI. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by NATHANIEL +HAWTHORNE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District +of Massachusetts. + +CAMBRIDGE: +PRINTED BY BOLLES AND HOUGHTON. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In writing this ponderous tome, the author's desire has been to describe +the eminent characters and remarkable events of our annals, in such a +form and style, that the YOUNG might make acquaintance with them of +their own accord. For this purpose, while ostensibly relating the +adventures of a Chair, he has endeavored to keep a distinct and unbroken +thread of authentic history. The Chair is made to pass from one to +another of those personages, of whom he thought it most desirable for +the young reader to have vivid and familiar ideas, and whose lives and +actions would best enable him to give picturesque sketches of the times. +On its sturdy oaken legs, it trudges diligently from one scene to +another, and seems always to thrust itself in the way, with most benign +complacency, whenever a historical personage happens to be looking round +for a seat. + +There is certainly no method, by which the shadowy outlines of departed +men and women can be made to assume the hues of life more effectually, +than by connecting their images with the substantial and homely reality +of a fireside chair. It causes us to feel at once, that these characters +of history had a private and familiar existence, and were not wholly +contained within that cold array of outward action, which we are +compelled to receive as the adequate representation of their lives. If +this impression can be given, much is accomplished. + +Setting aside Grandfather and his auditors, and excepting the adventures +of the Chair, which form the machinery of the work, nothing in the +ensuing pages can be termed fictitious. The author, it is true, has +sometimes assumed the license of filling up the outline of history with +details, for which he has none but imaginative authority, but which, he +hopes, do not violate nor give a false coloring to the truth. He +believes that, in this respect, his narrative will not be found to +convey ideas and impressions, of which the reader may hereafter find it +necessary to purge his mind. + +The author's great doubt is, whether he has succeeded in writing a book +which will be readable by the class for whom he intends it. To make a +lively and entertaining narrative for children, with such unmalleable +material as is presented by the sombre, stern, and rigid characteristics +of the Puritans and their descendants, is quite as difficult an attempt, +as to manufacture delicate playthings out of the granite rocks on which +New England is founded. + + + + +THE WHOLE HISTORY + +OF + +GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR. + +COMPLETE IN THREE PARTS. + + + + +PART I. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +Grandfather had been sitting in his old arm-chair, all that pleasant +afternoon, while the children were pursuing their various sports, far +off or near at hand. Sometimes you would have said, "Grandfather is +asleep;" but still, even when his eyes were closed, his thoughts were +with the young people, playing among the flowers and shrubbery of the +garden. + +He heard the voice of Laurence, who had taken possession of a heap of +decayed branches which the gardener had lopped from the fruit trees, and +was building a little hut for his cousin Clara and himself. He heard +Clara's gladsome voice, too, as she weeded and watered the flower-bed +which had been given her for her own. He could have counted every +footstep that Charley took, as he trundled his wheelbarrow along the +gravel walk. And though Grandfather was old and gray-haired, yet his +heart leaped with joy whenever little Alice came fluttering, like a +butterfly, into the room. She had made each of the children her playmate +in turn, and now made Grandfather her playmate too, and thought him the +merriest of them all. + +At last the children grew weary of their sports; because a summer +afternoon is like a long lifetime to the young. So they came into the +room together, and clustered round Grandfather's great chair. Little +Alice, who was hardly five years old, took the privilege of the +youngest, and climbed his knee. It was a pleasant thing to behold that +fair and golden-haired child in the lap of the old man, and to think +that, different as they were, the hearts of both could be gladdened with +the same joys. + +"Grandfather," said little Alice, laying her head back upon his arm, "I +am very tired now. You must tell me a story to make me go to sleep." + +"That is not what story-tellers like," answered Grandfather, smiling. +"They are better satisfied when they can keep their auditors awake." + +"But here are Laurence, and Charley, and I," cried cousin Clara, who was +twice as old as little Alice. "We will all three keep wide awake. And +pray, Grandfather, tell us a story about this strange-looking old +chair." + +Now, the chair in which Grandfather sat was made of oak, which had grown +dark with age, but had been rubbed and polished till it shone as bright +as mahogany. It was very large and heavy, and had a back that rose high +above Grandfather's white head. This back was curiously carved in open +work, so as to represent flowers and foliage and other devices; which +the children had often gazed at, but could never understand what they +meant. On the very tiptop of the chair, over the head of Grandfather +himself, was a likeness of a lion's head, which had such a savage grin +that you would almost expect to hear it growl and snarl. + +The children had seen Grandfather sitting in this chair ever since they +could remember any thing. Perhaps the younger of them supposed that he +and the chair had come into the world together, and that both had always +been as old as they were now. At this time, however, it happened to be +the fashion for ladies to adorn their drawing-rooms with the oldest and +oddest chairs that could be found. It seemed to cousin Clara that if +these ladies could have seen Grandfather's old chair, they would have +thought it worth all the rest together. She wondered if it were not even +older than Grandfather himself, and longed to know all about its +history. + +"Do, Grandfather, talk to us about this chair," she repeated. + +"Well, child," said Grandfather, patting Clara's cheek, "I can tell you +a great many stories of my chair. Perhaps your cousin Laurence would +like to hear them too. They would teach him something about the history +and distinguished people of his country, which he has never read in any +of his school-books." + +Cousin Laurence was a boy of twelve, a bright scholar, in whom an early +thoughtfulness and sensibility began to show themselves. His young fancy +kindled at the idea of knowing all the adventures of this venerable +chair. He looked eagerly in Grandfather's face; and even Charley, a +bold, brisk, restless little fellow of nine, sat himself down on the +carpet, and resolved to be quiet for at least ten minutes, should the +story last so long. + +Meantime, little Alice was already asleep; so Grandfather, being much +pleased with such an attentive audience, began to talk about matters +that had happened long ago. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +But, before relating the adventures of the chair, Grandfather found it +necessary to speak of the circumstances that caused the first settlement +of New England. For it will soon be perceived that the story of this +remarkable chair cannot be told without telling a great deal of the +history of the country. + +So, Grandfather talked about the Puritans, as those persons were called +who thought it sinful to practise the religious forms and ceremonies +which the Church of England had borrowed from the Roman Catholics. These +Puritans suffered so much persecution in England that, in 1607, many of +them went over to Holland, and lived ten or twelve years at Amsterdam +and Leyden. But they feared that, if they continued there much longer, +they should cease to be English, and should adopt all the manners and +ideas and feelings of the Dutch. For this and other reasons, in the year +1620, they embarked on board of the ship Mayflower, and crossed the +ocean to the shores of Cape Cod. There they made a settlement, and +called it Plymouth; which, though now a part of Massachusetts, was for a +long time a colony by itself. And thus was formed the earliest +settlement of the Puritans in America. + +Meantime, those of the Puritans who remained in England continued to +suffer grievous persecution on account of their religious opinions. They +began to look around them for some spot where they might worship God, +not as the king and bishops thought fit, but according to the dictates +of their own consciences. When their brethren had gone from Holland to +America, they bethought themselves that they likewise might find refuge +from persecution there. Several gentlemen among them purchased a tract +of country on the coast of Massachusetts Bay, and obtained a charter +from King Charles, which authorized them to make laws for the settlers. +In the year 1628, they sent over a few people, with John Endicott at +their head, to commence a plantation at Salem. Peter Palfrey, Roger +Conant, and one or two more, had built houses there in 1626, and may be +considered as the first settlers of that ancient town. Many other +Puritans prepared to follow Endicott. + +"And now we come to the chair, my dear children," said Grandfather. +"This chair is supposed to have been made of an oak tree which grew in +the park of the English earl of Lincoln, between two and three centuries +ago. In its younger days it used, probably, to stand in the hall of the +earl's castle. Do not you see the coat of arms of the family of Lincoln, +carved in the open work of the back? But when his daughter, the Lady +Arbella, was married to a certain Mr. Johnson, the earl gave her this +valuable chair." + +"Who was Mr. Johnson?" inquired Clara. + +"He was a gentleman of great wealth, who agreed with the Puritans in +their religious opinions," answered Grandfather. "And as his belief was +the same as theirs, he resolved that he would live and die with them. +Accordingly, in the month of April, 1630, he left his pleasant abode and +all his comforts in England, and embarked with the Lady Arbella, on +board of a ship bound for America." + +As Grandfather was frequently impeded by the questions and observations +of his young auditors, we deem it advisable to omit all such prattle as +is not essential to the story. We have taken some pains to find out +exactly what Grandfather said, and here offer to our readers, as nearly +as possible in his own words, the story of + + +THE LADY ARBELLA. + +The ship in which Mr. Johnson and his lady embarked, taking +Grandfather's chair along with them, was called the Arbella, in honor of +the lady herself. A fleet of ten or twelve vessels, with many hundred +passengers, left England about the same time; for a multitude of people, +who were discontented with the king's government and oppressed by the +bishops, were flocking over to the new world. One of the vessels in the +fleet was that same Mayflower which had carried the Puritan pilgrims to +Plymouth. And now, my children, I would have you fancy yourselves in the +cabin of the good ship Arbella; because if you could behold the +passengers aboard that vessel, you would feel what a blessing and honor +it was for New England to have such settlers. They were the best men and +women of their day. + +Among the passengers was John Winthrop, who had sold the estate of his +forefathers, and was going to prepare a new home for his wife and +children in the wilderness. He had the king's charter in his keeping, +and was appointed the first Governor of Massachusetts. Imagine him a +person of grave and benevolent aspect, dressed in a black velvet suit, +with a broad ruff around his neck and a peaked beard upon his chin. +There was likewise a minister of the Gospel, whom the English bishops +had forbidden to preach, but who knew that he should have liberty both +to preach and pray in the forests of America. He wore a black cloak, +called a Geneva cloak, and had a black velvet cap, fitting close to his +head, as was the fashion of almost all the Puritan clergymen. In their +company came Sir Richard Saltonstall, who had been one of the five first +projectors of the new colony. He soon returned to his native country. +But his descendants still remain in New England; and the good old family +name is as much respected in our days as it was in those of Sir Richard. + +Not only these, but several other men of wealth and pious ministers, +were in the cabin of the Arbella. One had banished himself for ever from +the old hall where his ancestors had lived for hundreds of years. +Another had left his quiet parsonage, in a country town of England. +Others had come from the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, where they +had gained great fame for their learning. And here they all were, +tossing upon the uncertain and dangerous sea, and bound for a home that +was more dangerous than even the sea itself. In the cabin, likewise, sat +the Lady Arbella in her chair, with a gentle and sweet expression on her +face, but looking too pale and feeble to endure the hardships of the +wilderness. + +Every morning and evening the Lady Arbella gave up her great chair to +one of the ministers, who took his place in it and read passages from +the Bible to his companions. And thus, with prayers and pious +conversation, and frequent singing of hymns, which the breezes caught +from their lips and scattered far over the desolate waves, they +prosecuted their voyage, and sailed into the harbor of Salem in the +month of June. + +At that period there were but six or eight dwellings in the town; and +these were miserable hovels, with roofs of straw and wooden chimneys. +The passengers in the fleet either built huts with bark and branches of +trees, or erected tents of cloth till they could provide themselves with +better shelter. Many of them went to form a settlement at Charlestown. +It was thought fit that the Lady Arbella should tarry in Salem for a +time; she was probably received as a guest into the family of John +Endicott. He was the chief person in the plantation, and had the only +comfortable house which the new comers had beheld since they left +England. So now, children, you must imagine Grandfather's chair in the +midst of a new scene. + +Suppose it a hot summer's day, and the lattice-windows of a chamber in +Mr. Endicott's house thrown wide open. The Lady Arbella, looking paler +than she did on shipboard, is sitting in her chair, and thinking +mournfully of far-off England. She rises and goes to the window. There, +amid patches of garden ground and cornfield, she sees the few wretched +hovels of the settlers, with the still ruder wigwams and cloth tents of +the passengers who had arrived in the same fleet with herself. Far and +near stretches the dismal forest of pine trees, which throw their black +shadows over the whole land, and likewise over the heart of this poor +lady. + +All the inhabitants of the little village are busy. One is clearing a +spot on the verge of the forest for his homestead; another is hewing the +trunk of a fallen pine tree, in order to build himself a dwelling; a +third is hoeing in his field of Indian corn. Here comes a huntsman out +of the woods, dragging a bear which he has shot, and shouting to the +neighbors to lend him a hand. There goes a man to the sea-shore, with a +spade and a bucket, to dig a mess of clams, which were a principal +article of food with the first settlers. Scattered here and there are +two or three dusky figures, clad in mantles of fur, with ornaments of +bone hanging from their ears, and the feathers of wild birds in their +coal black hair. They have belts of shell-work slung across their +shoulders, and are armed with bows and arrows and flint-headed spears. +These are an Indian Sagamore and his attendants, who have come to gaze +at the labors of the white men. And now rises a cry, that a pack of +wolves have seized a young calf in the pasture; and every man snatches +up his gun or pike, and runs in chase of the marauding beasts. + +Poor Lady Arbella watches all these sights, and feels that this new +world is fit only for rough and hardy people. None should be here but +those who can struggle with wild beasts and wild men, and can toil in +the heat or cold, and can keep their hearts firm against all +difficulties and dangers. But she is not one of these. Her gentle and +timid spirit sinks within her; and turning away from the window she sits +down in the great chair, and wonders thereabouts in the wilderness her +friends will dig her grave. + +Mr. Johnson had gone, with Governor Winthrop and most of the other +passengers, to Boston, where he intended to build a house for Lady +Arbella and himself. Boston was then covered with wild woods, and had +fewer inhabitants even than Salem. During her husband's absence, poor +Lady Arbella felt herself growing ill, and was hardly able to stir from +the great chair. Whenever John Endicott noticed her despondency, he +doubtless addressed her with words of comfort. "Cheer up, my good +lady!" he would say. "In a little time, you will love this rude life of +the wilderness as I do." But Endicott's heart was as bold and resolute +as iron, and he could not understand why a woman's heart should not be +of iron too. + +Still, however, he spoke kindly to the lady, and then hastened forth to +till his corn-field and set out fruit trees, or to bargain with the +Indians for furs, or perchance to oversee the building of a fort. Also +being a magistrate, he had often to punish some idler or evil-doer, by +ordering him to be set in the stocks or scourged at the whipping-post. +Often, too, as was the custom of the times, he and Mr. Higginson, the +minister of Salem, held long religious talks together. Thus John +Endicott was a man of multifarious business, and had no time to look +back regretfully to his native land. He felt himself fit for the new +world, and for the work that he had to do, and set himself resolutely to +accomplish it. + +What a contrast, my dear children, between this bold, rough, active man, +and the gentle Lady Arbella, who was fading away, like a pale English +flower, in the shadow of the forest! And now the great chair was often +empty, because Lady Arbella grew too weak to arise from bed. + +Meantime, her husband had pitched upon a spot for their new home. He +returned from Boston to Salem, travelling through the woods on foot, and +leaning on his pilgrim's staff. His heart yearned within him; for he +was eager to tell his wife of the new home which he had chosen. But when +he beheld her pale and hollow cheek, and found how her strength was +wasted, he must have known that her appointed home was in a better land. +Happy for him then,--happy both for him and her,--if they remembered +that there was a path to heaven, as well from this heathen wilderness as +from the Christian land whence they had come. And so, in one short month +from her arrival, the gentle Lady Arbella faded away and died. They dug +a grave for her in the new soil, where the roots of the pine trees +impeded their spades; and when her bones had rested there nearly two +hundred years, and a city had sprung up around them, a church of stone +was built upon the spot. + + * * * * * + +Charley, almost at the commencement of the foregoing narrative, had +galloped away with a prodigious clatter, upon Grandfather's stick, and +was not yet returned. So large a boy should have been ashamed to ride +upon a stick. But Laurence and Clara had listened attentively, and were +affected by this true story of the gentle lady, who had come so far to +die so soon. Grandfather had supposed that little Alice was asleep, but, +towards the close of the story, happening to look down upon her, he saw +that her blue eyes were wide open, and fixed earnestly upon his face. +The tears had gathered in them, like dew upon a delicate flower; but +when Grandfather ceased to speak, the sunshine of her smile broke forth +again. + +"O, the lady must have been so glad to get to heaven!" exclaimed little +Alice. + +"Grandfather, what became of Mr. Johnson?" asked Clara. + +"His heart appears to have been quite broken," answered Grandfather; +"for he died at Boston within a month after the death of his wife. He +was buried in the very same tract of ground, where he had intended to +build a dwelling for Lady Arbella and himself. Where their house would +have stood there was his grave. + +"I never heard any thing so melancholy!" said Clara. + +"The people loved and respected Mr. Johnson so much," continued +Grandfather, "that it was the last request of many of them, when they +died, that they might be buried as near as possible to this good man's +grave. And so the field became the first burial-ground in Boston. When +you pass through Tremont street, along by King's Chapel, you see a +burial-ground, containing many old grave-stones and monuments. That was +Mr. Johnson's field." + +"How sad is the thought," observed Clara, "that one of the first things +which the settlers had to do, when they came to the new world, was to +set apart a burial-ground!" + +"Perhaps," said Laurence, "if they had found no need of burial-grounds +here, they would have been glad, after a few years, to go back to +England." + +Grandfather looked at Laurence, to discover whether he knew how profound +and true a thing he had said. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Not long after Grandfather had told the story of his great chair, there +chanced to be a rainy day. Our friend Charley, after disturbing the +household with beat of drum and riotous shouts, races up and down the +staircase, overturning of chairs, and much other uproar, began to feel +the quiet and confinement within doors intolerable. But as the rain came +down in a flood, the little fellow was hopelessly a prisoner, and now +stood with sullen aspect at a window, wondering whether the sun itself +were not extinguished by so much moisture in the sky. + +Charley had already exhausted the less eager activity of the other +children; and they had betaken themselves to occupations that did not +admit of his companionship. Laurence sat in a recess near the book-case, +reading, not for the first time, the Midsummer Night's Dream. Clara was +making a rosary of beads for a little figure of a Sister of Charity, who +was to attend the Bunker Hill Fair, and lend her aid in erecting the +Monument. Little Alice sat on Grandfather's foot-stool, with a +picture-book in her hand; and, for every picture, the child was telling +Grandfather a story. She did not read from the book, (for little Alice +had not much skill in reading,) but told the story out of her own heart +and mind. + +Charley was too big a boy, of course, to care any thing about little +Alice's stories, although Grandfather appeared to listen with a good +deal of interest. Often, in a young child's ideas and fancies, there is +something which it requires the thought of a lifetime to comprehend. But +Charley was of opinion, that if a story must be told, it had better be +told by Grandfather, than little Alice. + +"Grandfather, I want to hear more about your chair," said he. + +Now Grandfather remembered that Charley had galloped away upon a stick, +in the midst of the narrative of poor Lady Arbella, and I know not +whether he would have thought it worth while to tell another story, +merely to gratify such an inattentive auditor as Charley. But Laurence +laid down his book and seconded the request. Clara drew her chair nearer +to Grandfather, and little Alice immediately closed her picture-book, +and looked up into his face. Grandfather had not the heart to disappoint +them. + +He mentioned several persons who had a share in the settlement of our +country, and who would be well worthy of remembrance, if we could find +room to tell about them all. Among the rest, Grandfather spoke of the +famous Hugh Peters, a minister of the gospel, who did much good to the +inhabitants of Salem. Mr. Peters afterwards went back to England, and +was chaplain to Oliver Cromwell; but Grandfather did not tell the +children what became of this upright and zealous man, at last. In fact, +his auditors were growing impatient to hear more about the history of +the chair. + +"After the death of Mr. Johnson," said he, "Grandfather's chair came +into the possession of Roger Williams. He was a clergyman, who arrived +at Salem, and settled there in 1631. Doubtless the good man has spent +many a studious hour in this old chair, either penning a sermon, or +reading some abstruse book of theology, till midnight came upon him +unawares. At that period, as there were few lamps or candles to be had, +people used to read or work by the light of pitchpine torches. These +supplied the place of the "midnight oil," to the learned men of New +England." + +Grandfather went on to talk about Roger Williams, and told the children +several particulars, which we have not room to repeat. One incident, +however, which was connected with his life, must be related, because it +will give the reader an idea of the opinions and feelings of the first +settlers of New England. It was as follows: + + +THE RED CROSS. + +While Roger Williams sat in Grandfather's chair, at his humble residence +in Salem, John Endicott would often come to visit him. As the clergy had +great influence in temporal concerns, the minister and magistrate would +talk over the occurrences of the day, and consult how the people might +be governed according to scriptural laws. + +One thing especially troubled them both. In the old national banner of +England, under which her soldiers have fought for hundreds of years, +there is a Red Cross, which has been there ever since the days when +England was in subjection to the Pope. The Cross, though a holy symbol, +was abhorred by the Puritans, because they considered it a relic of +Popish idolatry. Now, whenever the train-band of Salem was mustered, the +soldiers, with Endicott at their head, had no other flag to march under +than this same old papistical banner of England, with the Red Cross in +the midst of it. The banner of the Red Cross, likewise, was flying on +the walls of the fort of Salem; and a similar one was displayed in +Boston harbor, from the fortress on Castle Island. + +"I profess, brother Williams," Captain Endicott would say, after they +had been talking of this matter, "it distresses a Christian man's heart, +to see this idolatrous Cross flying over our heads. A stranger beholding +it, would think that we had undergone all our hardships and dangers, by +sea and in the wilderness, only to get new dominions for the Pope of +Rome." + +"Truly, good Mr. Endicott," Roger Williams would answer, "you speak as +an honest man and Protestant Christian should. For mine own part, were +it my business to draw a sword, I should reckon it sinful to fight under +such a banner. Neither can I, in my pulpit, ask the blessing of Heaven +upon it." + +Such, probably, was the way in which Roger Williams and John Endicott +used to talk about the banner of the Red Cross. Endicott, who was a +prompt and resolute man, soon determined that Massachusetts, if she +could not have a banner of her own, should at least be delivered from +that of the Pope of Rome. + +Not long afterwards there was a military muster at Salem. Every +able-bodied man, in the town and neighborhood, was there. All were well +armed, with steel caps upon their heads, plates of iron upon their +breasts and at their backs, and gorgets of steel around their necks. +When the sun shone upon these ranks of iron-clad men, they flashed and +blazed with a splendor that bedazzled the wild Indians, who had come out +of the woods to gaze at them. The soldiers had long pikes, swords, and +muskets, which were fired with matches, and were almost as heavy as a +small cannon. + +These men had mostly a stern and rigid aspect. To judge by their looks, +you might have supposed that there was as much iron in their hearts, as +there was upon their heads and breasts. They were all devoted Puritans, +and of the same temper as those with whom Oliver Cromwell afterwards +overthrew the throne of England. They hated all the relics of Popish +superstition as much as Endicott himself; and yet, over their heads, was +displayed the banner of the Red Cross. + +Endicott was the captain of the company. While the soldiers were +expecting his orders to begin their exercise, they saw him take the +banner in one hand, holding his drawn sword in the other. Probably he +addressed them in a speech, and explained how horrible a thing it was, +that men, who had fled from Popish idolatry into the wilderness, should +be compelled to fight under its symbols here. Perhaps he concluded his +address somewhat in the following style. + +"And now, fellow soldiers, you see this old banner of England. Some of +you, I doubt not, may think it treason for a man to lay violent hands +upon it. But whether or no it be treason to man, I have good assurance +in my conscience that it is no treason to God. Wherefore I have resolved +that we will rather be God's soldiers, than soldiers of the Pope of +Rome; and in that mind I now cut the Papal Cross out of this banner." + +And so he did. And thus, in a province belonging to the crown of +England, a captain was found bold enough to deface the King's banner +with his sword. + +When Winthrop, and the other wise men of Massachusetts, heard of it, +they were disquieted, being afraid that Endicott's act would bring great +trouble upon himself and them. An account of the matter was carried to +King Charles; but he was then so much engrossed by dissensions with his +people, that he had no leisure to punish the offender. In other times, +it might have cost Endicott his life, and Massachusetts her charter. + + * * * * * + +"I should like to know, Grandfather," said Laurence, when the story was +ended, "whether, when Endicott cut the Red Cross out of the banner, he +meant to imply that Massachusetts was independent of England?" + +"A sense of the independence of his adopted country, must have been in +that bold man's heart," answered Grandfather; "but I doubt whether he +had given the matter much consideration, except in its religious +bearing. However, it was a very remarkable affair, and a very strong +expression of Puritan character." + +Grandfather proceeded to speak further of Roger Williams, and of other +persons who sat in the great chair, as will be seen in the following +chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"Roger Williams," said Grandfather, "did not keep possession of the +chair a great while. His opinions of civil and religious matters +differed, in many respects, from those of the rulers and clergymen of +Massachusetts. Now the wise men of those days believed, that the country +could not be safe, unless all the inhabitants thought and felt alike." + +"Does any body believe so in our days Grandfather?" asked Laurence. + +"Possibly there are some who believe it," said Grandfather; "but they +have not so much power to act upon their belief, as the magistrates and +ministers had, in the days of Roger Williams. They had the power to +deprive this good man of his home, and to send him out from the midst of +them, in search of a new place of rest. He was banished in 1634, and +went first to Plymouth colony; but as the people there held the same +opinions as those of Massachusetts, he was not suffered to remain among +them. However, the wilderness was wide enough; so Roger Williams took +his staff and travelled into the forest, and made treaties with the +Indians, and began a plantation which he called Providence." + +"I have been to Providence on the railroad," said Charley. "It is but a +two hours' ride." + +"Yes, Charley," replied Grandfather; "but when Roger Williams travelled +thither, over hills and valleys, and through the tangled woods, and +across swamps and streams, it was a journey of several days. Well; his +little plantation is now grown to be a populous city; and the +inhabitants have a great veneration for Roger Williams. His name is +familiar in the mouths of all because they see it on their bank bills. +How it would have perplexed this good clergyman, if he had been told +that he should give his name to the ROGER WILLIAMS BANK!" + +"When he was driven from Massachusetts," said Laurence, "and began his +journey into the woods, he must have felt as if he were burying himself +forever from the sight and knowledge of men. Yet the whole country has +now heard of him, and will remember him forever." + +"Yes," answered Grandfather, "it often happens, that the outcasts of one +generation are those, who are reverenced as the wisest and best of men +by the next. The securest fame is that which comes after a man's death. +But let us return to our story. When Roger Williams was banished, he +appears to have given the chair to Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. At all events +it was in her possession in 1637. She was a very sharp-witted and +well-instructed lady, and was so conscious of her own wisdom and +abilities, that she thought it a pity that the world should not have the +benefit of them. She therefore used to hold lectures in Boston, once or +twice a week, at which most of the women attended. Mrs. Hutchinson +presided at these meetings, sitting, with great state and dignity, in +Grandfather's chair." + +"Grandfather, was it positively this very chair?" demanded Clara, laying +her hand upon its carved elbow. + +"Why not, my dear Clara?" said Grandfather. "Well; Mrs. Hutchinson's +lectures soon caused a great disturbance; for the ministers of Boston +did not think it safe and proper, that a woman should publicly instruct +the people in religious doctrines. Moreover, she made the matter worse, +by declaring that the Rev. Mr. Cotton was the only sincerely pious and +holy clergyman in New England. Now the clergy of those days had quite as +much share in the government of the country, though indirectly, as the +magistrates themselves; so you may imagine what a host of powerful +enemies were raised up against Mrs. Hutchinson. A synod was convened; +that is to say, an assemblage of all the ministers in Massachusetts. +They declared that there were eighty-two erroneous opinions on religious +subjects, diffused among the people, and that Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions +were of the number." + +"If they had eighty-two wrong opinions," observed Charley, "I don't see +how they could have any right ones." + +"Mrs. Hutchinson had many zealous friends and converts," continued +Grandfather. "She was favored by young Henry Vane, who had come over +from England a year or two before, and had since been chosen governor +of the colony, at the age of twenty-four. But Winthrop, and most of the +other leading men, as well as the ministers, felt an abhorrence of her +doctrines. Thus two opposite parties were formed; and so fierce were the +dissensions, that it was feared the consequence would be civil war and +bloodshed. But Winthrop and the ministers being the most powerful, they +disarmed and imprisoned Mrs. Hutchinson's adherents. She, like Roger +Williams, was banished." + +"Dear Grandfather, did they drive the poor woman into the woods?" +exclaimed little Alice, who contrived to feel a human interest even in +these discords of polemic divinity. + +"They did, my darling," replied Grandfather; "and the end of her life +was so sad, you must not hear it. At her departure, it appears from the +best authorities, that she gave the great chair to her friend, Henry +Vane. He was a young man of wonderful talents and great learning, who +had imbibed the religious opinions of the Puritans, and left England +with the intention of spending his life in Massachusetts. The people +chose him governor; but the controversy about Mrs. Hutchinson, and other +troubles, caused him to leave the country in 1637. You may read the +subsequent events of his life in the History of England." + +"Yes, Grandfather," cried Laurence; "and we may read them better in Mr. +Upham's biography of Vane. And what a beautiful death he died, long +afterwards! beautiful, though it was on a scaffold." + +"Many of the most beautiful deaths have been there," said Grandfather. +"The enemies of a great and good man can in no other way make him so +glorious, as by giving him the crown of martyrdom." + +In order that the children might fully understand the all-important +history of the chair, Grandfather now thought fit to speak of the +progress that was made in settling several colonies. The settlement of +Plymouth, in 1620, has already been mentioned. In 1635, Mr. Hooker and +Mr. Stone, two ministers, went on foot from Massachusetts to +Connecticut, through the pathless woods, taking their whole congregation +along with them. They founded the town of Hartford. In 1638, Mr. +Davenport, a very celebrated minister, went, with other people, and +began a plantation at New Haven. In the same year, some persons who had +been persecuted in Massachusetts, went to the Isle of Rhodes, since +called Rhode Island, and settled there. About this time, also, many +settlers had gone to Maine, and were living without any regular +government. There were likewise settlers near Piscataqua River, in the +region which is now called New Hampshire. + +Thus, at various points along the coast of New England, there were +communities of Englishmen. Though these communities were independent of +one another, yet they had a common dependence upon England; and, at so +vast a distance from their native home, the inhabitants must all have +felt like brethren. They were fitted to become one united people, at a +future period. Perhaps their feelings of brotherhood were the stronger, +because different nations had formed settlements to the north and to the +south. In Canada and Nova Scotia were colonies of French. On the banks +of the Hudson River was a colony of Dutch, who had taken possession of +that region many years before, and called it New Netherlands. + +Grandfather, for aught I know, might have gone on to speak of Maryland +and Virginia; for the good old gentleman really seemed to suppose, that +the whole surface of the United States was not too broad a foundation to +place the four legs of his chair upon. But, happening to glance at +Charley, he perceived that this naughty boy was growing impatient, and +meditating another ride upon a stick. So here, for the present, +Grandfather suspended the history of his chair. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The Children had now learned to look upon the chair with an interest, +which was almost the same as if it were a conscious being, and could +remember the many famous people whom it had held within its arms. + +Even Charley, lawless as he was, seemed to feel that this venerable +chair must not be clambered upon nor overturned, although he had no +scruple in taking such liberties with every other chair in the house. +Clara treated it with still greater reverence, often taking occasion to +smooth its cushion, and to brush the dust from the carved flowers and +grotesque figures of its oaken back and arms. Laurence would sometimes +sit a whole hour, especially at twilight, gazing at the chair, and, by +the spell of his imaginations, summoning up its ancient occupants to +appear in it again. + +Little Alice evidently employed herself in a similar way; for once, when +Grandfather had gone abroad, the child was heard talking with the gentle +Lady Arbella, as if she were still sitting in the chair. So sweet a +child as little Alice may fitly talk with angels, such as the Lady +Arbella had long since become. + +Grandfather was soon importuned for more stories about the chair. He +had no difficulty in relating them; for it really seemed as if every +person, noted in our early history, had, on some occasion or other, +found repose within its comfortable arms. If Grandfather took pride in +any thing, it was in being the possessor of such an honorable and +historic elbow chair. + +"I know not precisely who next got possession of the chair, after +Governor Vane went back to England," said Grandfather. "But there is +reason to believe that President Dunster sat in it, when he held the +first commencement at Harvard College. You have often heard, children, +how careful our forefathers were, to give their young people a good +education. They had scarcely cut down trees enough to make room for +their own dwellings, before they began to think of establishing a +college. Their principal object was, to rear up pious and learned +ministers; and hence old writers call Harvard College a school of the +prophets." + +"Is the college a school of the prophets now?" asked Charley. + +"It is a long while since I took my degree, Charley. You must ask some +of the recent graduates," answered Grandfather. "As I was telling you, +President Dunster sat in Grandfather's chair in 1642, when he conferred +the degree of bachelor of arts on nine young men. They were the first in +America, who had received that honor. And now, my dear auditors, I must +confess that there are contradictory statements and some uncertainty +about the adventures of the chair, for a period of almost ten years. +Some say that it was occupied by your own ancestor, William Hawthorne, +first Speaker of the House of Representatives. I have nearly satisfied +myself, however, that, during most of this questionable period, it was +literally the Chair of State. It gives me much pleasure to imagine, that +several successive governors of Massachusetts sat in it at the council +board." + +"But, Grandfather," interposed Charley, who was a matter-of-fact little +person, "what reason have you to imagine so?" + +"Pray do imagine it, Grandfather," said Laurence. + +"With Charley's permission, I will," replied Grandfather, smiling. "Let +us consider it settled, therefore, that Winthrop, Bellingham, Dudley, +and Endicott, each of them, when chosen governor, took his seat in our +great chair on election day. In this chair, likewise, did those +excellent governors preside, while holding consultations with the chief +counsellors of the province, who were styled Assistants. The governor +sat in this chair, too, whenever messages were brought to him from the +chamber of Representatives." + +And here Grandfather took occasion to talk, rather tediously, about the +nature and forms of government that established themselves, almost +spontaneously, in Massachusetts and the other New England colonies. +Democracies were the natural growth of the new world. As to +Massachusetts, it was at first intended that the colony should be +governed by a council in London. But, in a little while, the people had +the whole power in their own hands, and chose annually the governor, the +counsellors, and the representatives. The people of old England had +never enjoyed any thing like the liberties and privileges, which the +settlers of New England now possessed. And they did not adopt these +modes of government after long study, but in simplicity, as if there +were no other way for people to be ruled. + +"But, Laurence," continued Grandfather, "when you want instruction on +these points, you must seek it in Mr. Bancroft's History. I am merely +telling the history of a chair. To proceed. The period during which the +governors sat in our chair, was not very full of striking incidents. The +province was now established on a secure foundation; but it did not +increase so rapidly as at first, because the Puritans were no longer +driven from England by persecution. However, there was still a quiet and +natural growth. The legislature incorporated towns, and made new +purchases of lands from the Indians. A very memorable event took place +in 1643. The colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New +Haven, formed a union, for the purpose of assisting each other in +difficulties, and for mutual defence against their enemies. They called +themselves the United Colonies of New England." + +"Were they under a government like that of the United States?" inquired +Laurence. + +"No," replied Grandfather, "the different colonies did not compose one +nation together; it was merely a confederacy among the governments. It +somewhat resembled the league of the Amphictyons, which you remember in +Grecian history. But to return to our chair. In 1644 it was highly +honored; for Governor Endicott sat in it, when he gave audience to an +ambassador from the French governor of Acadie, or Nova Scotia. A treaty +of peace, between Massachusetts and the French colony, was then signed." + +"Did England allow Massachusetts to make war and peace with foreign +countries?" asked Laurence. + +"Massachusetts, and the whole of New England, was then almost +independent of the mother country," said Grandfather. "There was now a +civil war in England; and the king, as you may well suppose, had his +hands full at home, and could pay but little attention to these remote +colonies. When the Parliament got the power into their hands, they +likewise had enough to do in keeping down the Cavaliers. Thus New +England, like a young and hardy lad, whose father and mother neglect it, +was left to take care of itself. In 1649, King Charles was beheaded. +Oliver Cromwell then became Protector of England; and as he was a +Puritan himself, and had risen by the valor of the English Puritans, he +showed himself a loving and indulgent father to the Puritan colonies in +America." + +Grandfather might have continued to talk in this dull manner, nobody +knows how long; but, suspecting that Charley would find the subject +rather dry, he looked sideways at that vivacious little fellow, and saw +him give an involuntary yawn. Whereupon, Grandfather proceeded with the +history of the chair, and related a very entertaining incident, which +will be found in the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +"According to the most authentic records, my dear children," said +Grandfather, "the chair, about this time, had the misfortune to break +its leg. It was probably on account of this accident, that it ceased to +be the seat of the governors of Massachusetts; for, assuredly, it would +have been ominous of evil to the commonwealth, if the Chair of State had +tottered upon three legs. Being therefore sold at auction,--alas! what a +vicissitude for a chair that had figured in such high company, our +venerable friend was knocked down to a certain Captain John Hull. This +old gentleman, on carefully examining the maimed chair, discovered that +its broken leg might be clamped with iron and made as serviceable as +ever." + +"Here is the very leg that was broken!" exclaimed Charley, throwing +himself down on the floor to look at it. "And here are the iron clamps. +How well it was mended!" + +When they had all sufficiently examined the broken leg, Grandfather told +them a story about Captain John Hull and + + +THE PINE-TREE SHILLINGS. + +The Captain John Hull, aforesaid, was the mint-master of Massachusetts, +and coined all the money that was made there. This was a new line of +business: for, in the earlier days of the colony, the current coinage +consisted of gold and silver money of England, Portugal, and Spain. +These coins being scarce, the people were often forced to barter their +commodities, instead of selling them. + +For instance, if a man wanted to buy a coat, he perhaps exchanged a +bear-skin for it. If he wished for a barrel of molasses, he might +purchase it with a pile of pine boards. Musket-bullets were used instead +of farthings. The Indians had a sort of money, called wampum, which was +made of clam-shells; and this strange sort of specie was likewise taken +in payment of debts, by the English settlers. Bank-bills had never been +heard of. There was not money enough of any kind, in many parts of the +country, to pay the salaries of the ministers; so that they sometimes +had to take quintals of fish, bushels of corn, or cords of wood, instead +of silver or gold. + +As the people grew more numerous, and their trade one with another +increased, the want of current money was still more sensibly felt. To +supply the demand, the general court passed a law for establishing a +coinage of shillings, sixpences, and threepences. Captain John Hull was +appointed to manufacture this money, and was to have about one shilling +out of every twenty to pay him for the trouble of making them. + +Hereupon, all the old silver in the colony was handed over to Captain +John Hull. The battered silver cans and tankards, I suppose, and silver +buckles, and broken spoons, and silver buttons of worn-out coats, and +silver hilts of swords that had figured at court, all such curious old +articles were doubtless thrown into the melting-pot together. But by far +the greater part of the silver consisted of bullion from the mines of +South America, which the English buccaniers--(who were little better +than pirates)--had taken from the Spaniards, and brought to +Massachusetts. + +All this old and new silver being melted down and coined, the result was +an immense amount of splendid shillings, sixpences, and threepences. +Each had the date, 1652, on the one side, and the figure of a pine-tree +on the other. Hence they were called pine-tree shillings. And for every +twenty shillings that he coined, you will remember, Captain John Hull +was entitled to put one shilling into his own pocket. + +The magistrates soon began to suspect that the mint-master would have +the best of the bargain. They offered him a large sum of money, if he +would but give up that twentieth shilling, which he was continually +dropping into his own pocket. But Captain Hull declared himself +perfectly satisfied with the shilling. And well he might be; for so +diligently did he labor, that, in a few years, his pockets, his money +bags, and his strong box, were overflowing with pine-tree shillings. +This was probably the case when he came into possession of Grandfather's +chair; and, as he had worked so hard at the mint, it was certainly +proper that he should have a comfortable chair to rest himself in. + +When the mint-master had grown very rich, a young man, Samuel Sewell by +name, came a courting to his only daughter. His daughter,--whose name I +do not know, but we will call her Betsey,--was a fine hearty damsel, by +no means so slender as some young ladies of our own days. On the +contrary, having always fed heartily on pumpkin pies, doughnuts, Indian +puddings, and other Puritan dainties, she was as round and plump as a +pudding herself. With this round, rosy Miss Betsey, did Samuel Sewell +fall in love. As he was a young man of good character, industrious in +his business, and a member of the church, the mint-master very readily +gave his consent. + +"Yes--you may take her," said he, in his rough way; "and you'll find her +a heavy burden enough!" + +On the wedding day, we may suppose that honest John Hull dressed himself +in a plum-colored coat, all the buttons of which were made of pine-tree +shillings. The buttons of his waistcoat were sixpences; and the knees of +his smallclothes were buttoned with silver threepences. Thus attired, he +sat with great dignity in Grandfather's chair; and, being a portly old +gentleman, he completely filled it from elbow to elbow. On the opposite +side of the room, between her bride-maids, sat Miss Betsey. She was +blushing with all her might, and looked like a full blown pæony, or a +great red apple. + +There, too, was the bridegroom, dressed in a fine purple coat, and gold +lace waistcoat, with as much other finery as the Puritan laws and +customs would allow him to put on. His hair was cropped close to his +head, because Governor Endicott had forbidden any man to wear it below +the ears. But he was a very personable young man; and so thought the +bride-maids and Miss Betsey herself. + +The mint-master also was pleased with his new son-in-law; especially as +he had courted Miss Betsey out of pure love, and had said nothing at all +about her portion. So when the marriage ceremony was over, Captain Hull +whispered a word to two of his men-servants, who immediately went out, +and soon returned, lugging in a large pair of scales. They were such a +pair as wholesale merchants use, for weighing bulky commodities; and +quite a bulky commodity was now to be weighed in them. + +"Daughter Betsey," said the mint-master, "get into one side of these +scales." + +Miss Betsey,--or Mrs. Sewell, as we must now call her,--did as she was +bid, like a dutiful child, without any question of the why and +wherefore. But what her father could mean, unless to make her husband +pay for her by the pound, (in which case she would have been a dear +bargain,) she had not the least idea. + +"And now," said honest John Hull to the servants, "bring that box +hither." + +The box, to which the mint-master pointed, was a huge, square, iron +bound, oaken chest; it was big enough, my children, for all four of you +to play at hide-and-seek in. The servants tugged with might and main, +but could not lift this enormous receptacle, and were finally obliged to +drag it across the floor. Captain Hull then took a key from his girdle, +unlocked the chest, and lifted its ponderous lid. Behold! it was full to +the brim of bright pine-tree shillings, fresh from the mint; and Samuel +Sewell began to think that his father-in-law had got possession of all +the money in the Massachusetts treasury. But it was only the +mint-master's honest share of the coinage. + +Then the servants, at Captain Hull's command, heaped double handfulls of +shillings into one side of the scales, while Betsey remained in the +other. Jingle, jingle, went the shillings, as handful after handful was +thrown in, till, plump and ponderous as she was, they fairly weighed the +young lady from the floor. + +"There, son Sewell!" cried the honest mint-master, resuming his seat in +Grandfather's chair. "Take these shillings for my daughter's portion. +Use her kindly, and thank Heaven for her. It is not every wife that's +worth her weight in silver!" + + * * * * * + +The children laughed heartily at this legend, and would hardly be +convinced but that Grandfather had made it out of his own head. He +assured them faithfully, however, that he had found it in the pages of +a grave historian, and had merely tried to tell it in a somewhat funnier +style. As for Samuel Sewell, he afterwards became Chief Justice of +Massachusetts. + +"Well, Grandfather," remarked Clara, "if wedding portions now-a-days +were paid as Miss Betsey's was, young ladies would not pride themselves +upon an airy figure as many of them do." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +When his little audience next assembled round the chair, Grandfather +gave them a doleful history of the Quaker persecution, which began in +1656, and raged for about three years in Massachusetts. + +He told them how, in the first place, twelve of the converts of George +Fox, the first Quaker in the world, had come over from England. They +seemed to be impelled by an earnest love for the souls of men, and a +pure desire to make known what they considered a revelation from Heaven. +But the rulers looked upon them as plotting the downfall of all +government and religion. They were banished from the colony. In a little +while, however, not only the first twelve had returned, but a multitude +of other Quakers had come to rebuke the rulers, and to preach against +the priests and steeple-houses. + +Grandfather described the hatred and scorn with which these enthusiasts +were received. They were thrown into dungeons; they were beaten with +many stripes, women as well as men; they were driven forth into the +wilderness, and left to the tender mercies of wild beasts and Indians. +The children were amazed to hear, that, the more the Quakers were +scourged, and imprisoned, and banished, the more did the sect increase, +both by the influx of strangers, and by converts from among the +Puritans. But Grandfather told them, that God had put something into the +soul of man, which always turned the cruelties of the persecutor to +nought. + +He went on to relate, that, in 1659, two Quakers, named William Robinson +and Marmaduke Stephenson, were hanged at Boston. A woman had been +sentenced to die with them, but was reprieved, on condition of her +leaving the colony. Her name was Mary Dyer. In the year 1660 she +returned to Boston, although she knew death awaited her there; and, if +Grandfather had been correctly informed, an incident had then taken +place, which connects her with our story. This Mary Dyer had entered the +mint-master's dwelling, clothed in sackcloth and ashes, and seated +herself in our great chair, with a sort of dignity and state. Then she +proceeded to deliver what she called a message from Heaven; but in the +midst of it, they dragged her to prison. + +"And was she executed?" asked Laurence. + +"She was," said Grandfather. + +"Grandfather," cried Charley, clenching his fist, "I would have fought +for that poor Quaker woman!" + +"Ah! but if a sword had been drawn for her," said Laurence, "it would +have taken away all the beauty of her death." + +It seemed as if hardly any of the preceding stories had thrown such an +interest around Grandfather's chair, as did the fact, that the poor, +persecuted, wandering Quaker woman had rested in it for a moment. The +children were so much excited, that Grandfather found it necessary to +bring his account of the persecution to a close. + +"In 1660, the same year in which Mary Dyer was executed," said he, +"Charles the Second was restored to the throne of his fathers. This king +had many vices; but he would not permit blood to be shed, under pretence +of religion, in any part of his dominions. The Quakers in England told +him what had been done to their brethren in Massachusetts; and he sent +orders to Governor Endicott to forbear all such proceedings in future. +And so ended the Quaker persecution,--one of the most mournful passages +in the history of our forefathers." + +Grandfather then told his auditors, that, shortly after the above +incident, the great chair had been given by the mint-master to the Rev. +Mr. John Eliot. He was the first minister of Roxbury. But besides +attending to his pastoral duties there, he learned the language of the +red men, and often went into the woods to preach to them. So earnestly +did he labor for their conversion, that he has always been called the +apostle to the Indians. The mention of this holy man suggested to +Grandfather the propriety of giving a brief sketch of the history of the +Indians, so far as they were connected with the English colonists. + +A short period before the arrival of the first Pilgrims at Plymouth, +there had been a very grievous plague among the red men; and the sages +and ministers of that day were inclined to the opinion, that Providence +had sent this mortality, in order to make room for the settlement of the +English. But I know not why we should suppose that an Indian's life is +less precious, in the eye of Heaven, than that of a white man. Be that +as it may, death had certainly been very busy with the savage tribes. + +In many places the English found the wigwams deserted, and the +corn-fields growing to waste, with none to harvest the grain. There were +heaps of earth also, which, being dug open, proved to be Indian graves, +containing bows and flint-headed spears and arrows; for the Indians +buried the dead warrior's weapons along with him. In some spots, there +were skulls and other human bones, lying unburied. In 1633, and the year +afterwards, the smallpox broke out among the Massachusetts Indians, +multitudes of whom died by this terrible disease of the old world. These +misfortunes made them far less powerful than they had formerly been. + +For nearly half a century after the arrival of the English, the red men +showed themselves generally inclined to peace and amity. They often made +submission, when they might have made successful war. The Plymouth +settlers, led by the famous Captain Miles Standish, slew some of them in +1623, without any very evident necessity for so doing. In 1636, and the +following year, there was the most dreadful war that had yet occurred +between the Indians and the English. The Connecticut settlers, assisted +by a celebrated Indian chief, named Uncas, bore the brunt of this war, +with but little aid from Massachusetts. Many hundreds of the hostile +Indians were slain, or burnt in their wigwams. Sassacus, their sachem, +fled to another tribe, after his own people were defeated; but he was +murdered by them, and his head was sent to his English enemies. + +From that period, down to the time of King Philip's war, which will be +mentioned hereafter, there was not much trouble with the Indians. But +the colonists were always on their guard, and kept their weapons ready +for the conflict. + +"I have sometimes doubted," said Grandfather, when he had told these +things to the children, "I have sometimes doubted whether there was more +than a single man, among our forefathers, who realized that an Indian +possesses a mind and a heart, and an immortal soul. That single man was +John Eliot. All the rest of the early settlers seemed to think that the +Indians were an inferior race of beings, whom the Creator had merely +allowed to keep possession of this beautiful country, till the white men +should be in want of it. + +"Did the pious men of those days never try to make Christians of them?" +asked Laurence. + +"Sometimes, it is true," answered Grandfather, "the magistrates and +ministers would talk about civilizing and converting the red people. +But, at the bottom of their hearts, they would have had almost as much +expectation of civilizing a wild bear of the woods, and making him fit +for paradise. They felt no faith in the success of any such attempts, +because they had no love for the poor Indians. Now Eliot was full of +love for them, and therefore so full of faith and hope, that he spent +the labor of a lifetime in their behalf." + +"I would have conquered them first, and then converted them," said +Charley. + +"Ah, Charley, there spoke the very spirit of our forefathers!" replied +Grandfather. "But Mr. Eliot had a better spirit. He looked upon them as +his brethren. He persuaded as many of them as he could, to leave off +their idle and wandering habits, and to build houses, and cultivate the +earth, as the English did. He established schools among them, and taught +many of the Indians how to read. He taught them, likewise, how to pray. +Hence they were called 'praying Indians.' Finally, having spent the best +years of his life for their good, Mr. Eliot resolved to spend the +remainder in doing them a yet greater benefit." + +"I know what that was!" cried Laurence. + +"He sat down in his study," continued Grandfather, "and began a +translation of the Bible into the Indian tongue. It was while he was +engaged in this pious work, that the mint-master gave him our great +chair. His toil needed it, and deserved it." + +"O, Grandfather, tell us all about that Indian Bible!" exclaimed +Laurence. "I have seen it in the library of the Athenæum; and the tears +came into my eyes, to think that there were no Indians left to read it." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +As Grandfather was a great admirer of the Apostle Eliot, he was glad to +comply with the earnest request which Laurence had made, at the close of +the last chapter. So he proceeded to describe how good Mr. Eliot +labored, while he was at work upon + + +THE INDIAN BIBLE + +My dear children, what a task would you think it, even with a long +lifetime before you, were you bidden to copy every chapter and verse, +and word, in yonder great family Bible! Would not this be a heavy toil? +But if the task were, not to write off the English Bible, but to learn a +language, utterly unlike all other tongues,--a language which hitherto +had never been learned, except by the Indians themselves, from their +mothers' lips,--a language never written, and the strange words of which +seemed inexpressible by letters;--if the task were, first, to learn this +new variety of speech, and then to translate the Bible into it, and to +do it so carefully, that not one idea throughout the holy book should be +changed,--what would induce you to undertake this toil? Yet this was +what the Apostle Eliot did. + +It was a mighty work for a man, now growing old, to take upon himself. +And what earthly reward could he expect from it? None; no reward on +earth. But he believed that the red men were the descendants of those +lost tribes of Israel of whom history has been able to tell us nothing, +for thousands of years. He hoped that God had sent the English across +the ocean, Gentiles as they were, to enlighten this benighted portion of +his once chosen race. And when he should be summoned hence, he trusted +to meet blessed spirits in another world, whose bliss would have been +earned by his patient toil, in translating the Word of God. This hope +and trust were far dearer to him, than any thing that earth could offer. + +Sometimes, while thus at work, he was visited by learned men, who +desired to know what literary undertaking Mr. Elliot had in hand. They, +like himself, had been bred in the studious cloisters of a university, +and were supposed to possess all the erudition which mankind has hoarded +up from age to age. Greek and Latin were as familiar to them as the +babble of their childhood. Hebrew was like their mother tongue. They had +grown gray in study; their eyes were bleared with poring over print and +manuscript by the light of the midnight lamp. + +And yet, how much had they left unlearned! Mr. Eliot would put into +their hands some of the pages, which he had been writing; and behold! +the gray-headed men stammered over the long, strange words, like a +little child in his first attempts to read. Then would the apostle call +to him an Indian boy, one of his scholars, and show him the manuscript, +which had so puzzled the learned Englishmen. + +"Read this, my child," said he, "these are some brethren of mine, who +would fain hear the sound of thy native tongue." + +Then would the Indian boy cast his eyes over the mysterious page, and +read it so skilfully, that it sounded like wild music. It seemed as if +the forest leaves were singing in the ears of his auditors, and as if +the roar of distant streams were poured through the young Indian's +voice. Such were the sounds amid which the language of the red man had +been formed; and they were still heard to echo in it. + +The lesson being over, Mr. Eliot would give the Indian boy an apple or a +cake, and bid him leap forth into the open air, which his free nature +loved. The apostle was kind to children, and even shared in their +sports, sometimes. And when his visitors had bidden him farewell, the +good man turned patiently to his toil again. + +No other Englishman had ever understood the Indian character so well, +nor possessed so great an influence over the New England tribes, as the +apostle did. His advice and assistance must often have been valuable to +his countrymen, in their transactions with the Indians. Occasionally, +perhaps, the governor and some of the counsellors came to visit Mr. +Eliot. Perchance they were seeking some method to circumvent the forest +people. They inquired, it may be, how they could obtain possession of +such and such a tract of their rich land. Or they talked of making the +Indians their servants, as if God had destined them for perpetual +bondage to the more powerful white man. + +Perhaps, too, some warlike captain, dressed in his buff-coat, with a +corslet beneath it, accompanied the governor and counsellors. Laying his +hand upon his sword hilt, he would declare, that the only method of +dealing with the red men was to meet them with the sword drawn, and the +musket presented. + +But the apostle resisted both the craft of the politician, and the +fierceness of the warrior. + +"Treat these sons of the forest as men and brethren," he would say, "and +let us endeavor to make them Christians. Their forefathers were of that +chosen race, whom God delivered from Egyptian bondage. Perchance he has +destined us to deliver the children from the more cruel bondage of +ignorance and idolatry. Chiefly for this end, it may be, we were +directed across the ocean." + +When these other visitors were gone, Mr. Eliot bent himself again over +the half written page. He dared hardly relax a moment from his toil. He +felt that, in the book which he was translating, there was a deep human, +as well as heavenly wisdom, which would of itself suffice to civilize +and refine the savage tribes. Let the Bible be diffused among them, and +all earthly good would follow. But how slight a consideration was this, +when he reflected that the eternal welfare of a whole race of men +depended upon his accomplishment of the task which he had set himself! +What if his hands should be palsied? What if his mind should lose its +vigor? What if death should come upon him, ere the work were done? Then +must the red man wander in the dark wilderness of heathenism for ever. + +Impelled by such thoughts as these, he sat writing in the great chair, +when the pleasant summer breeze came in through his open casement; and +also when the fire of forest logs sent up its blaze and smoke, through +the broad stone chimney, into the wintry air. Before the earliest bird +sang, in the morning, the apostle's lamp was kindled; and, at midnight, +his weary head was not yet upon its pillow. And at length, leaning back +in the great chair, he could say to himself, with a holy triumph,--"The +work is finished!" + +It was finished. Here was a Bible for the Indians. Those long lost +descendants of the ten tribes of Israel would now learn the history of +their forefathers. That grace, which the ancient Israelites had +forfeited, was offered anew to their children. + +There is no impiety in believing that, when his long life was over, the +apostle of the Indians was welcomed to the celestial abodes by the +prophets of ancient days, and by those earliest apostles and +evangelists, who had drawn their inspiration from the immediate presence +of the Saviour. They first had preached truth and salvation to the +world. And Eliot, separated from them by many centuries, yet full of the +same spirit, had borne the like message to the new world of the West. +Since the first days of Christianity, there has been no man more worthy +to be numbered in the brotherhood of the apostles, than Eliot. + + * * * * * + +"My heart is not satisfied to think," observed Laurence, "that Mr. +Eliot's labors have done no good, except to a few Indians of his own +time. Doubtless, he would not have regretted his toil, if it were the +means of saving but a single soul. But it is a grievous thing to me, +that he should have toiled so hard to translate the Bible, and now the +language and the people are gone! The Indian Bible itself is almost the +only relic of both." + +"Laurence," said his Grandfather, "if ever you should doubt that man is +capable of disinterested zeal for his brother's good, then remember how +the apostle Eliot toiled. And if you should feel your own self-interest +pressing upon your heart too closely, then think of Eliot's Indian +Bible. It is good for the world that such a man has lived, and left this +emblem of his life." + +The tears gushed into the eyes of Laurence, and he acknowledged that +Eliot had not toiled in vain. Little Alice put up her arms to +Grandfather, and drew down his white head beside her own golden locks. + +"Grandfather," whispered she, "I want to kiss good Mr. Eliot!" + +And, doubtless, good Mr. Eliot would gladly receive the kiss of so sweet +a child as little Alice, and would think it a portion of his reward in +heaven. + +Grandfather now observed, that Dr. Francis had written a very beautiful +Life of Eliot, which he advised Laurence to peruse. He then spoke of +King Philip's war, which began in 1675, and terminated with the death of +King Philip, in the following year. Philip was a proud, fierce Indian, +whom Mr. Eliot had vainly endeavored to convert to the Christian faith. + +"It must have been a great anguish to the apostle," continued +Grandfather, "to hear of mutual slaughter and outrage between his own +countrymen, and those for whom he felt the affection of a father. A few +of the praying Indians joined the followers of King Philip. A greater +number fought on the side of the English. In the course of the war, the +little community of red people whom Mr. Eliot had begun to civilize, was +scattered, and probably never was restored to a flourishing condition. +But his zeal did not grow cold; and only about five years before his +death he took great pains in preparing a new edition of the Indian +Bible." + +"I do wish Grandfather," cried Charley, "you would tell us all about the +battles in King Philip's war." + +"O, no!" exclaimed Clara. "Who wants to hear about tomahawks and +scalping knives!" + +"No, Charley," replied Grandfather, "I have no time to spare in talking +about battles. You must be content with knowing that it was the +bloodiest war that the Indians had ever waged against the white men; and +that, at its close, the English set King Philip's head upon a pole." + +"Who was the captain of the English?" asked Charley. + +"Their most noted captain was Benjamin Church,--a very famous warrior," +said Grandfather. "But I assure you, Charley, that neither Captain +Church, nor any of the officers and soldiers who fought in King Philip's +war, did any thing a thousandth part so glorious, as Mr. Eliot did, when +he translated the Bible for the Indians." + +"Let Laurence be the apostle," said Charley to himself, "and I will be +the captain." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The children were now accustomed to assemble round Grandfather's chair, +at all their unoccupied moments; and often it was a striking picture to +behold the white-headed old sire, with this flowery wreath of young +people around him. When he talked to them, it was the past speaking to +the present,--or rather to the future, for the children were of a +generation which had not become actual. Their part in life, thus far, +was only to be happy, and to draw knowledge from a thousand sources. As +yet, it was not their time to do. + +Sometimes, as Grandfather gazed at their fair, unworldly countenances, a +mist of tears bedimmed his spectacles. He almost regretted that it was +necessary for them to know any thing of the past, or to provide aught +for the future. He could have wished that they might be always the +happy, youthful creatures, who had hitherto sported around his chair, +without inquiring whether it had a history. It grieved him to think that +his little Alice, who was a flower-bud fresh from paradise, must open +her leaves to the rough breezes of the world, or ever open them in any +clime. So sweet a child she was, that it seemed fit her infancy should +be immortal! + +But such repinings were merely flitting shadows across the old man's +heart. He had faith enough to believe, and wisdom enough to know, that +the bloom of the flower would be even holier and happier than its bud. +Even within himself,--though Grandfather was now at that period of life, +when the veil of mortality is apt to hang heavily over the soul,--still, +in his inmost being, he was conscious of something that he would not +have exchanged for the best happiness of childhood. It was a bliss to +which every sort of earthly experience,--all that he had enjoyed or +suffered, or seen, or heard, or acted, with the broodings of his soul +upon the whole,--had contributed somewhat. In the same manner must a +bliss, of which now they could have no conception, grow up within these +children, and form a part of their sustenance for immortality. + +So Grandfather, with renewed cheerfulness, continued his history of the +chair, trusting that a profounder wisdom than his own would extract, +from these flowers and weeds of Time, a fragrance that might last beyond +all time. + +At this period of the story, Grandfather threw a glance backward, as far +as the year 1660. He spoke of the ill-concealed reluctance with which +the Puritans in America had acknowledged the sway of Charles the Second, +on his restoration to his father's throne. When death had stricken +Oliver Cromwell, that mighty protector had no sincerer mourners than in +New England. The new king had been more than a year upon the throne +before his accession was proclaimed in Boston; although the neglect to +perform the ceremony might have subjected the rulers to the charge of +treason. + +During the reign of Charles the Second, however, the American colonies +had but little reason to complain of harsh or tyrannical treatment. But +when Charles died, in 1685, and was succeeded by his brother James, the +patriarchs of New England began to tremble. King James was a bigoted +Roman Catholic, and was known to be of an arbitrary temper. It was +feared by all Protestants, and chiefly by the Puritians, that he would +assume despotic power, and attempt to establish Popery throughout his +dominions. Our forefathers felt that they had no security either for +their religion or their liberties. + +The result proved that they had reason for their apprehensions. King +James caused the charters of all the American colonies to be taken away. +The old charter of Massachusetts, which the people regarded as a holy +thing, and as the foundation of all their liberties, was declared void. +The colonists were now no longer freemen; they were entirely dependent +on the king's pleasure. At first, in 1685, King James appointed Joseph +Dudley, a native of Massachusetts, to be president of New England. But +soon afterwards, Sir Edmund Andros, an officer of the English army, +arrived, with a commission to be governor-general of New England and New +York. + +The king had given such powers to Sir Edmund Andros, that there was now +no liberty, nor scarcely any law, in the colonies over which he ruled. +The inhabitants were not allowed to choose representatives, and +consequently had no voice whatever in the government, nor control over +the measures that were adopted. The counsellors, with whom the governor +consulted on matters of state, were appointed by himself. This sort of +government was no better than an absolute despotism. + +"The people suffered much wrong, while Sir Edmund Andros ruled over +them," continued Grandfather, "and they were apprehensive of much more. +He had brought some soldiers with him from England, who took possession +of the old fortress on Castle Island, and of the fortification on Fort +Hill. Sometimes it was rumored that a general massacre of the +inhabitants was to be perpetrated by these soldiers. There were reports, +too, that all the ministers were to be slain or imprisoned." + +"For what?" inquired Charley. + +"Because they were the leaders of the people, Charley," said +Grandfather. "A minister was a more formidable man than a general, in +those days. Well; while these things were going on in America, King +James had so misgoverned the people of England, that they sent over to +Holland for the Prince of Orange. He had married the king's daughter, +and was therefore considered to have a claim to the crown. On his +arrival in England, the Prince of Orange was proclaimed king, by the +name of William the Third. Poor old King James made his escape to +France." + +Grandfather told how, at the first intelligence of the landing of the +Prince of Orange in England, the people of Massachusetts rose in their +strength, and overthrew the government of Sir Edmund Andros. He, with +Joseph Dudley, Edmund Randolph, and his other principal adherents, were +thrown into prison. Old Simon Bradstreet, who had been governor, when +King James took away the charter, was called by the people to govern +them again. + +"Governor Bradstreet was a venerable old man, nearly ninety years of +age," said Grandfather. "He came over with the first settlers, and had +been the intimate companion of all those excellent and famous men who +laid the foundation of our country. They were all gone before him to the +grave; and Bradstreet was the last of the Puritans." + +Grandfather paused a moment, and smiled, as if he had something very +interesting to tell his auditors. He then proceeded: + +"And now, Laurence,--now, Clara,--now, Charley,--now, my dear little +Alice,--what chair do you think had been placed in the council chamber, +for old Governor Bradstreet to take his seat in? Would you believe that +it was this very chair in which grandfather now sits, and of which he is +telling you the history?" + +"I am glad to hear it, with all my heart!" cried Charley, after a shout +of delight. "I thought Grandfather had quite forgotten the chair." + +"It was a solemn and affecting sight," said Grandfather, "when this +venerable patriarch, with his white beard flowing down upon his breast, +took his seat in his Chair of State. Within his remembrance, and even +since his mature age, the site where now stood the populous town, had +been a wild and forest-covered peninsula. The province, now so fertile, +and spotted with thriving villages, had been a desert wilderness. He was +surrounded by a shouting multitude, most of whom had been born in the +country which he had helped to found. They were of one generation, and +he of another. As the old man looked upon them, and beheld new faces +everywhere, he must have felt that it was now time for him to go, +whither his brethren had gone before him." + +"Were the former governors all dead and gone?" asked Laurence. + +"All of them," replied Grandfather. "Winthrop had been dead forty years. +Endicott died, a very old man, in 1665. Sir Henry Vane was beheaded in +London, at the beginning of the reign of Charles the Second. And Haynes, +Dudley, Bellingham and Leverett, who had all been governors of +Massachusetts, were now likewise in their graves. Old Simon Bradstreet +was the sole representative of that departed brotherhood. There was no +other public man remaining to connect the ancient system of government +and manners with the new system, which was about to take its place. The +era of the Puritans was now completed." + +"I am sorry for it," observed Laurence; "for, though they were so stern, +yet it seems to me that there was something warm and real about them. I +think, Grandfather, that each of these old governors should have his +statue set up in our State House, sculptured out of the hardest of New +England granite." + +"It would not be amiss, Laurence," said Grandfather; "but perhaps clay, +or some other perishable material, might suffice for some of their +successors. But let us go back to our chair. It was occupied by Governor +Bradstreet from April, 1689, until May, 1692. Sir William Phips then +arrived in Boston, with a new charter from King William, and a +commission to be governor." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +"And what became of the chair," inquired Clara. + +"The outward aspect of our chair," replied Grandfather, "was now +somewhat the worse for its long and arduous services. It was considered +hardly magnificent enough to be allowed to keep its place in the council +chamber of Massachusetts. In fact, it was banished as an article of +useless lumber. But Sir William Phips happened to see it and being much +pleased with its construction, resolved to take the good old chair into +his private mansion. Accordingly, with his own gubernatorial hands, he +repaired one of its arms, which had been slightly damaged". + +"Why, Grandfather, here is the very arm!" interrupted Charley, in great +wonderment. "And did Sir William Phips put in these screws with his own +hands? I am sure, he did it beautifully! But how came a governor to know +how to mend a chair?" + +"I will tell you a story about the early life of Sir William Phips," +said Grandfather. "You will then perceive, that he well knew how to use +his hands." + +So Grandfather related the wonderful and true tale of + + +THE SUNKEN TREASURE. + +Picture to yourselves, my dear children, a handsome, old-fashioned room, +with a large, open cupboard at one end, in which is displayed a +magnificent gold cup, with some other splendid articles of gold and +silver plate. In another part of the room, opposite to a tall +looking-glass, stands our beloved chair, newly polished, and adorned +with a gorgeous cushion of crimson velvet tufted with gold. + +In the chair sits a man of strong and sturdy frame, whose face has been +roughened by northern tempests, and blackened by the burning sun of the +West Indies. He wears an immense periwig, flowing down over his +shoulders. His coat has a wide embroidery of golden foliage; and his +waistcoat, likewise, is all flowered over and bedizened with gold. His +red, rough hands, which have done many a good day's work with the hammer +and adze, are half covered by the delicate lace ruffles at his wrists. +On a table lies his silver-hilted sword, and in a corner of the room +stands his gold-headed cane, made of a beautifully polished West Indian +wood. + +Somewhat such an aspect as this, did Sir William Phips present, when he +sat in Grandfather's chair, after the king had appointed him governor of +Massachusetts. Truly, there was need that the old chair should be +varnished, and decorated with a crimson cushion, in order to make it +suitable for such a magnificent looking personage. + +But Sir William Phips had not always worn a gold embroidered coat, nor +always sat so much at his ease as he did in Grandfather's chair. He was +a poor man's son, and was born in the province of Maine, where he used +to tend sheep upon the hills, in his boyhood and youth. Until he had +grown to be a man, he did not even know how to read and write. Tired of +tending sheep, he next apprenticed himself to a ship-carpenter, and +spent about four years in hewing the crooked limbs of oak trees into +knees for vessels. + +In 1673, when he was twenty-two years old, he came to Boston, and soon +afterwards was married to a widow lady, who had property enough to set +him up in business. It was not long, however, before he lost all the +money that he had acquired by his marriage, and became a poor man again. +Still, he was not discouraged. He often told his wife that, some time or +other, he should be very rich, and would build a "fair brick house" in +the Green Lane of Boston. + +Do not suppose, children, that he had been to a fortune-teller to +inquire his destiny. It was his own energy and spirit of enterprise, and +his resolution to lead an industrious life, that made him look forward +with so much confidence to better days. + +Several years passed away; and William Phips had not yet gained the +riches which he promised to himself. During this time he had begun to +follow the sea for a living. In the year 1684, he happened to hear of a +Spanish ship, which had been cast away near the Bahama Islands, and +which was supposed to contain a great deal of gold and silver. Phips +went to the place in a small vessel, hoping that he should be able to +recover some of the treasure from the wreck. He did not succeed, +however, in fishing up gold and silver enough to pay the expenses of his +voyage. + +But, before he returned, he was told of another Spanish ship or galleon, +which had been cast away near Porto de la Plata. She had now lain as +much as fifty years beneath the waves. This old ship had been laden with +immense wealth; and, hitherto, nobody had thought of the possibility of +recovering any part of it from the deep sea, which was rolling and +tossing it about. But though it was now an old story, and the most aged +people had almost forgotten that such a vessel had been wrecked. William +Phips resolved that the sunken treasure should again be brought to +light. + +He went to London, and obtained admittance to King James, who had not +yet been driven from his throne. He told the king of the vast wealth +that was lying at the bottom of the sea. King James listened with +attention, and thought this a fine opportunity to fill his treasury with +Spanish gold. He appointed William Phips to be captain of a vessel, +called the Rose Algier, carrying eighteen guns and ninety-five men. So +now he was Captain Phips of the English navy. + +Captain Phips sailed from England in the Rose Algier, and cruised for +nearly two years in the West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of +the Spanish ship. But the sea is so wide and deep, that it is no easy +matter to discover the exact spot where a sunken vessel lies. The +prospect of success seemed very small; and most people would have +thought that Captain Phips was as far from having money enough to build +a "fair brick house," as he was while he tended sheep. + +The seamen of the Rose Algier became discouraged, and gave up all hope +of making their fortunes by discovering the Spanish wreck. They wanted +to compel Captain Phips to turn pirate. There was a much better +prospect, they thought, of growing rich by plundering vessels, which +still sailed the sea, than by seeking for a ship that had lain beneath +the waves full half a century. They broke out in open mutiny, but were +finally mastered by Phips, and compelled to obey his orders. It would +have been dangerous, however, to continue much longer at sea with such a +crew of mutinous sailors; and, besides, the Rose Algier was leaky and +unseaworthy. So Captain Phips judged it best to return to England. + +Before leaving the West Indies, he met with a Spaniard, an old man, who +remembered the wreck of the Spanish ship, and gave him directions how to +find the very spot. It was on a reef of rocks a few leagues from Porto +de la Plata. + +On his arrival in England, therefore, Captain Phips solicited the king +to let him have another vessel, and send him back again to the West +Indies. But King James, who had probably expected that the Rose Algier +would return laden with gold, refused to have any thing more to do with +the affair. Phips might never have been able to renew the search, if the +Duke of Albemarle, and some other noblemen had not lent their +assistance. They fitted out a ship and gave the command to Captain +Phips. He sailed from England, and arrived safely at Porto de la Plata, +where he took an adze and assisted his men to build a large boat. + +The boat was intended for the purpose of going closer to the reef of +rocks than a large vessel could safely venture. When it was finished, +the Captain sent several men in it, to examine the spot where the +Spanish ship was said to have been wrecked. They were accompanied by +some Indians, who were skilful divers, and could go down a great way +into the depths of the sea. + +The boat's crew proceeded to the reef of rocks, and rowed round and +round it, a great many times. They gazed down into the water, which was +so transparent that it seemed as if they could have seen the gold and +silver at the bottom, had there been any of those precious metals there. +Nothing, however, could they see; nothing more valuable than a curious +sea shrub, which was growing beneath the water, in a crevice of the +reef of rocks. It flaunted to and fro with the swell and reflux of the +waves, and looked as bright and beautiful as if its leaves were gold. + +"We won't go back empty-handed," cried an English sailor; and then he +spoke to one of the Indian divers. "Dive down and bring me that pretty +sea shrub there. That's the only treasure we shall find!" + +Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping from the water, holding +the sea shrub in his hand. But he had learnt some news at the bottom of +the sea. + +"There are some ship's guns," said he, the moment he had drawn breath, +"some great cannon among the rocks, near where the shrub was growing." + +No sooner had he spoken, than the English sailors knew that they had +found the very spot where the Spanish galleon had been wrecked so many +years before. The other Indian divers immediately plunged over the +boat's side, and swam headlong down, groping among the rocks and sunken +cannon. In a few moments one of them rose above the water, with a heavy +lump of silver in his arms. That single lump was worth more than a +thousand dollars. The sailors took it into the boat, and then rowed back +as speedily as they could, being in haste to inform Captain Phips of +their good luck. + +But, confidently as the Captain had hoped to find the Spanish wreck, +yet now that it was really found, the news seemed too good to be true. +He could not believe it till the sailors showed him the lump of silver. + +"Thanks be to God!" then cries Captain Phips. "We shall every man of us +make our fortunes!" + +Hereupon the Captain and all the crew set to work, with iron rakes and +great hooks and lines, fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the +sea. Up came the treasure in abundance. Now they beheld a table of solid +silver, once the property of an old Spanish Grandee. Now they found a +sacramental vessel, which had been destined as a gift to some Catholic +church. Now they drew up a golden cup, fit for the king of Spain to +drink his wine out of. Perhaps the bony hand of its former owner had +been grasping the precious cup, and was drawn up along with it. Now +their rakes or fishing lines were loaded with masses of silver bullion. +There were also precious stones among the treasure, glittering and +sparkling, so that it is a wonder how their radiance could have been +concealed. + +There is something sad and terrible in the idea of snatching all this +wealth from the devouring ocean, which had possessed it for such a +length of years. It seems as if men had no right to make themselves rich +with it. It ought to have been left with the skeletons of the ancient +Spaniards, who had been drowned when the ship was wrecked, and whose +bones were now scattered among the gold and silver. + +But Captain Phips and his crew were troubled with no such thoughts as +these. After a day or two they lighted on another part of the wreck, +where they found a great many bags of silver dollars. But nobody could +have guessed that these were money-bags. By remaining so long in the +salt-water, they had become covered over with a crust which had the +appearance of stone, so that it was necessary to break them in pieces +with hammers and axes. When this was done, a stream of silver dollars +gushed out upon the deck of the vessel. + +The whole value of the recovered treasure, plate, bullion, precious +stones, and all, was estimated at more than two millions of dollars. It +was dangerous even to look at such a vast amount of wealth. A sea +captain, who had assisted Phips in the enterprise, utterly lost his +reason at the sight of it. He died two years afterwards, still raving +about the treasures that lie at the bottom of the sea. It would have +been better for this man, if he had left the skeletons of the +shipwrecked Spaniards in quiet possession of their wealth. + +Captain Phips and his men continued to fish up plate, bullion, and +dollars, as plentifully as ever, till their provisions grew short. Then, +as they could not feed upon gold and silver any more than old King Midas +could, they found it necessary to go in search of better sustenance. +Phips resolved to return to England. He arrived there in 1687, and was +received with great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and the other English +lords, who had fitted out the vessel. Well they might rejoice; for they +took by far the greater part of the treasure to themselves. + +The Captain's share, however, was enough to make him comfortable for the +rest of his days. It also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his wife, +by building a "fair brick house," in the Green Lane of Boston. The Duke +of Albemarle sent Mrs. Phips a magnificent gold cup, worth at least five +thousand dollars. Before Captain Phips left London, King James made him +a knight; so that, instead of the obscure ship-carpenter who had +formerly dwelt among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed him on his +return, as the rich and famous Sir William Phips. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +"Sir William Phips," continued Grandfather, "was too active and +adventurous a man to sit still in the quiet enjoyment of his good +fortune. In the year 1690, he went on a military expedition against the +French colonies in America, conquered the whole province of Acadie, and +returned to Boston with a great deal of plunder." + +"Why, grandfather, he was the greatest man that ever sat in the chair!" +cried Charley. + +"Ask Laurence what he thinks," replied Grandfather with a smile. "Well; +in the same year, Sir William took command of an expedition against +Quebec, but did not succeed in capturing the city. In 1692, being then +in London, King William the Third appointed him governor of +Massachusetts. And now, my dear children, having followed Sir William +Phips through all his adventures and hardships, till we find him +comfortably seated in Grandfather's chair, we will here bid him +farewell. May he be as happy in ruling a people, as he was while he +tended sheep!" + +Charley, whose fancy had been greatly taken by the adventurous +disposition of Sir William Phips, was eager to know how he had acted, +and what happened to him while he held the office of governor. But +Grandfather had made up his mind to tell no more stories for the +present. + +"Possibly, one of these days, I may go on with the adventures of the +chair," said he. "But its history becomes very obscure just at this +point; and I must search into some old books and manuscripts, before +proceeding further. Besides, it is now a good time to pause in our +narrative; because the new charter, which Sir William Phips brought over +from England, formed a very important epoch in the history of the +province." + +"Really, Grandfather," observed Laurence, "this seems to be the most +remarkable chair in the world. Its history cannot be told without +intertwining it with the lives of distinguished men, and the great +events that have befallen the country." + +"True, Laurence," replied Grandfather, smiling, "We must write a book, +with some such title as this,--MEMOIRS OF MY OWN TIMES, BY GRANDFATHER'S +CHAIR." + +"That would be beautiful!" exclaimed Laurence, clapping his hands. + +"But, after all," continued Grandfather, "any other old chair, if it +possessed memory, and a hand to write its recollections, could record +stranger stories than any that I have told you. From generation to +generation, a chair sits familiarly in the midst of human interests, and +is witness to the most secret and confidential intercourse, that mortal +man can hold with his fellow. The human heart may best be read in the +fireside chair. And as to external events, Grief and Joy keep a +continual vicissitude around it and within it. Now we see the glad face +and glowing form of Joy, sitting merrily in the old chair, and throwing +a warm fire-light radiance over all the household. Now, while we thought +not of it, the dark clad mourner, Grief, has stolen into the place of +Joy, but not to retain it long. The imagination can hardly grasp so wide +a subject, as is embraced in the experience of a family chair." + +"It makes my breath flutter,--my heart thrill,--to think of it," said +Laurence. "Yes; a family chair must have a deeper history than a Chair +of State." + +"O, yes!" cried Clara, expressing a woman's feeling on the point in +question, "The history of a country is not nearly so interesting as that +of a single family would be." + +"But the history of a country is more easily told," said Grandfather. +"So, if we proceed with our narrative of the chair, I shall still +confine myself to its connection with public events." + +Good old Grandfather now rose and quitted the room, while the children +remained gazing at the chair. Laurence, so vivid was his conception of +past times, would hardly have deemed it strange, if its former +occupants, one after another, had resumed the seat which they had each +left vacant, such a dim length of years ago. + +First, the gentle and lovely lady Arbella would have been seen in the +old chair, almost sinking out of its arms, for very weakness; then Roger +Williams, in his cloak and band, earnest, energetic, and benevolent; +then the figure of Anne Hutchinson, with the like gesture as when she +presided at the assemblages of women; then the dark, intellectual face +of Vane, "young in years, but in sage counsel old." Next would have +appeared the successive governors, Winthrop, Dudley, Bellingham, and +Endicott, who sat in the chair, while it was a Chair of State. Then its +ample seat would have been pressed by the comfortable, rotund +corporation of the honest mint-master. Then the half-frenzied shape of +Mary Dyer, the persecuted Quaker woman, clad in sackcloth and ashes, +would have rested in it for a moment. Then the holy apostolic form of +Eliot would have sanctified it. Then would have arisen, like the shade +of departed Puritanism, the venerable dignity of the white-bearded +Governor Bradstreet. Lastly, on the gorgeous crimson cushion of +Grandfather's chair, would have shone the purple and golden magnificence +of Sir William Phips. + +But, all these, with the other historic personages, in the midst of whom +the chair had so often stood, had passed, both in substance and shadow, +from the scene of ages. Yet here stood the chair, with the old Lincoln +coat of arms, and the oaken flowers and foliage, and the fierce lion's +head at the summit, the whole, apparently, in as perfect preservation as +when it had first been placed in the Earl of Lincoln's Hall. And what +vast changes of society and of nations had been wrought by sudden +convulsions or by slow degrees, since that era! + +"This chair has stood firm when the thrones of kings were overturned!" +thought Laurence. "Its oaken frame has proved stronger than many frames +of government!" + +More the thoughtful and imaginative boy might have mused; but now a +large yellow cat, a great favorite with all the children, leaped in at +the open window. Perceiving that Grandfather's chair was empty, and +having often before experienced its comforts, puss laid herself quietly +down upon the cushion. Laurence, Clara, Charley, and little Alice, all +laughed at the idea of such a successor to the worthies of old times. + +"Pussy," said little Alice, putting out her hand, into which the cat +laid a velvet paw, "you look very wise. Do tell us a story about +GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR!" + + + + +PART II. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"O Grandfather," dear Grandfather, cried little Alice, "pray tell us +some more stories about your chair!" + +How long a time had fled, since the children had felt any curiosity to +hear the sequel of this venerable chair's adventures! Summer was now +past and gone, and the better part of Autumn likewise. Dreary, chill +November was howling, out of doors, and vexing the atmosphere with +sudden showers of wintry rain, or sometimes with gusts of snow, that +rattled like small pebbles against the windows. + +When the weather began to grow cool, Grandfather's chair had been +removed from the summer parlor into a smaller and snugger room. It now +stood by the side of a bright blazing wood-fire. Grandfather loved a +wood-fire, far better than a grate of glowing anthracite, or than the +dull heat of an invisible furnace, which seems to think that it has done +its duty in merely warming the house. But the wood-fire is a kindly, +cheerful, sociable spirit, sympathizing with mankind, and knowing that +to create warmth is but one of the good offices which are expected from +it. Therefore it dances on the hearth, and laughs broadly through the +room, and plays a thousand antics, and throws a joyous glow over all the +faces that encircle it. + +In the twilight of the evening, the fire grew brighter and more +cheerful. And thus, perhaps, there was something in Grandfather's heart, +that cheered him most with its warmth and comfort in the gathering +twilight of old age. He had been gazing at the red embers, as intently +as if his past life were all pictured there, or as if it were a prospect +of the future world, when little Alice's voice aroused him. + +"Dear Grandfather," repeated the little girl, more earnestly, "do talk +to us again about your chair." + +Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, and little Alice, had been attracted +to other objects, for two or three months past. They had sported in the +gladsome sunshine of the present, and so had forgotten the shadowy +region of the past, in the midst of which stood Grandfather's chair. But +now, in the autumnal twilight, illuminated by the flickering blaze of +the wood-fire, they looked at the old chair and thought that it had +never before worn such an interesting aspect. There it stood, in the +venerable majesty of more than two hundred years. The light from the +hearth quivered upon the flowers and foliage, that were wrought into its +oaken back; and the lion's head at the summit seemed almost to move its +jaws and shake its mane. + +"Does little Alice speak for all of you?" asked Grandfather. "Do you +wish me to go on with the adventures of the chair?" + +"Oh, yes, yes, Grandfather!" cried Clara. "The dear old chair! How +strange that we should have forgotten it so long!" + +"Oh, pray begin, Grandfather," said Laurence; "for I think, when we talk +about old times, it should be in the early evening before the candles +are lighted. The shapes of the famous persons, who once sat in the +chair, will be more apt to come back, and be seen among us, in this +glimmer and pleasant gloom, than they would in the vulgar daylight. And, +besides, we can make pictures of all that you tell us, among the glowing +embers and white ashes." + +Our friend Charley, too, thought the evening the best time to hear +Grandfather's stories, because he could not then be playing out of +doors. So, finding his young auditors unanimous in their petition, the +good old gentleman took up the narrative of the historic chair, at the +point where he had dropt it. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"You recollect, my dear children," said Grandfather, "that we took leave +of the chair in 1692, while it was occupied by Sir William Phips. This +fortunate treasure-seeker, you will remember, had come over from +England, with King William's commission to be Governor of Massachusetts. +Within the limits of this province were now included the old colony of +Plymouth, and the territories of Maine and Nova Scotia. Sir William +Phips had likewise brought a new charter from the king, which served +instead of a constitution, and set forth the method in which the +province was to be governed." + +"Did the new charter allow the people all their former liberties?" +inquired Laurence. + +"No," replied Grandfather. "Under the first charter, the people had been +the source of all power. Winthrop, Endicott, Bradstreet, and the rest of +them, had been governors by the choice of the people, without any +interference of the king. But henceforth the governor was to hold his +station solely by the king's appointment, and during his pleasure; and +the same was the case with the lieutenant-governor, and some other high +officers. The people, however, were still allowed to choose +representatives; and the governor's council was chosen by the general +court." + +"Would the inhabitants have elected Sir William Phips," asked Laurence, +"if the choice of governor had been left to them?" + +"He might probably have been a successful candidate," answered +Grandfather; "for his adventures and military enterprises had gained him +a sort of renown, which always goes a great way with the people. And he +had many popular characteristics, being a kind, warm-hearted man, not +ashamed of his low origin, nor haughty in his present elevation. Soon +after his arrival, he proved that he did not blush to recognize his +former associates." + +"How was that?" inquired Charley. + +"He made a grand festival at his new brick house," said Grandfather, +"and invited all the ship-carpenters of Boston to be his guests. At the +head of the table, in our great chair, sat Sir William Phips himself, +treating these hard handed men as his brethren, cracking jokes with +them, and talking familiarly about old times. I know not whether he wore +his embroidered dress, but I rather choose to imagine that he had on a +suit of rough clothes, such as he used to labor in, while he was Phips +the ship-carpenter." + +"An aristocrat need not be ashamed of the trade," observed Laurence; +"for the czar Peter the Great once served an apprenticeship to it." + +"Did Sir William Phips make as good a governor as he was a +ship-carpenter?" asked Charley. + +"History says but little about his merits as a ship-carpenter," +answered Grandfather; "but, as a governor, a great deal of fault was +found with him. Almost as soon as he assumed the government, he became +engaged in a very frightful business, which might have perplexed a wiser +and better cultivated head than his. This was the witchcraft delusion." + +And here Grandfather gave his auditors such details of this melancholy +affair, as he thought it fit for them to know. They shuddered to hear +that a frenzy, which led to the death of many innocent persons, had +originated in the wicked arts of a few children. They belonged to the +Rev. Mr. Parris, minister of Salem. These children complained of being +pinched, and pricked with pins, and otherwise tormented by the shapes of +men and women, who were supposed to have power to haunt them invisibly, +both in darkness and daylight. Often, in the midst of their family and +friends, the children would pretend to be seized with strange +convulsions, and would cry out that the witches were afflicting them. + +These stories spread abroad, and caused great tumult and alarm. From the +foundation of New England, it had been the custom of the inhabitants, in +all matters of doubt and difficulty, to look to their ministers for +council. So they did now; but, unfortunately, the ministers and wise men +were more deluded than the illiterate people. Cotton Mather, a very +learned and eminent clergyman, believed that the whole country was full +of witches and wizards, who had given up their hopes of heaven, and +signed a covenant with the Evil One. + +Nobody could be certain that his nearest neighbor, or most intimate +friend, was not guilty of this imaginary crime. The number of those who +pretended to be afflicted by witchcraft, grew daily more numerous; and +they bore testimony against many of the best and worthiest people. A +minister, named George Burroughs, was among the accused. In the months +of August and September, 1692, he, and nineteen other innocent men and +women, were put to death. The place of execution was a high hill, on the +outskirts of Salem; so that many of the sufferers, as they stood beneath +the gallows, could discern their own habitations in the town. + +The martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed only to increase the +madness. The afflicted now grew bolder in their accusations. Many people +of rank and wealth were either thrown into prison, or compelled to flee +for their lives. Among these were two sons of old Simon Bradstreet, the +last of the Puritan governors. Mr. Willard, a pious minister of Boston, +was cried out upon as a wizard, in open court. Mrs. Hale, the wife of +the minister of Beverly, was likewise accused. Philip English, a rich +merchant of Salem, found it necessary to take flight, leaving his +property and business in confusion. But a short time afterwards, the +Salem people were glad to invite him back. + +"The boldest thing that the accusers did," continued Grandfather, "was +to cry out against the governor's own beloved wife. Yes; the lady of Sir +William Phips was accused of being a witch, and of flying through the +air to attend witch meetings. When the governor heard this, he probably +trembled, so that our great chair shook beneath him." + +"Dear Grandfather," cried little Alice, clinging closer to his knee, "is +it true that witches ever come in the night-time to frighten little +children?" + +"No, no, dear little Alice," replied Grandfather. "Even if there were +any witches, they would flee away from the presence of a pure-hearted +child. But there are none; and our forefathers soon became convinced, +that they had been led into a terrible delusion. All the prisoners on +account of witchcraft were set free. But the innocent dead could not be +restored to life; and the hill where they were executed, will always +remind people of the saddest and most humiliating passage in our +history." + +Grandfather then said, that the next remarkable event, while Sir William +Phips remained in the chair, was the arrival at Boston of an English +fleet, in 1693. It brought an army, which was intended for the conquest +of Canada. But a malignant disease, more fatal than the small-pox, broke +out among the soldiers and sailors, and destroyed the greater part of +them. The infection spread into the town of Boston, and made much havoc +there. This dreadful sickness caused the governor, and Sir Francis +Wheeler, who was commander of the British forces, to give up all +thoughts of attacking Canada. + +"Soon after this," said Grandfather, "Sir William Phips quarrelled with +the captain of an English frigate, and also with the Collector of +Boston. Being a man of violent temper, he gave each of them a sound +beating with his cane." + +"He was a bold fellow," observed Charley, who was himself somewhat +addicted to a similar mode of settling disputes. + +"More bold than wise," replied Grandfather; "for complaints were carried +to the king, and Sir William Phips was summoned to England, to make the +best answer he could. Accordingly he went to London, where, in 1695, he +was seized with a malignant fever, of which he died. Had he lived +longer, he would probably have gone again in search of sunken treasure. +He had heard of a Spanish ship, which was cast away in 1502, during the +lifetime of Columbus. Bovadilla, Roldan, and many other Spaniards, were +lost in her, together with the immense wealth of which they had robbed +the South American kings." + +"Why, Grandfather," exclaimed Laurence, "what magnificent ideas the +governor had! Only think of recovering all that old treasure, which had +lain almost two centuries under the sea! Me thinks Sir William Phips +ought to have been buried in the ocean, when he died; so that he might +have gone down among the sunken ships, and cargoes of treasure, which he +was always dreaming about in his lifetime." + +"He was buried in one of the crowded cemeteries of London," said +Grandfather. "As he left no children, his estate was inherited by his +nephew, from whom is descended the present Marquis of Normandy. The +noble Marquis is not aware, perhaps, that the prosperity of his family +originated in the successful enterprise of a New England ship +carpenter." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"At the death of Sir William Phips," proceeded Grandfather, "our chair +was bequeathed to Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, a famous school-master in Boston. +This old gentleman came from London in 1637, and had been teaching +school ever since; so that there were now aged men, grandfathers like +myself, to whom Master Cheever had taught their alphabet. He was a +person of venerable aspect, and wore a long white beard. + +"Was the chair placed in his school?" asked Charley. + +"Yes, in his school," answered Grandfather; "and we may safely say that +it had never before been regarded with such awful reverence--no, not +even when the old governors of Massachusetts sat in it. Even you, +Charley, my boy, would have felt some respect for the chair, if you had +seen it occupied by this famous school-master." + +And here Grandfather endeavored to give his auditors an idea how matters +were managed in schools above a hundred years ago. As this will probably +be an interesting subject to our readers, we shall make a separate +sketch of it, and call it + + +THE OLD-FASHIONED SCHOOL. + +Now imagine yourselves, my children, in Master Ezekiel Cheever's +school-room. It is a large, dingy room, with a sanded floor, and is +lighted by windows that turn on hinges, and have little diamond shaped +panes of glass. The scholars sit on long benches, with desks before +them. At one end of the room is a great fire-place, so very spacious, +that there is room enough for three or four boys to stand in each of the +chimney corners. This was the good old fashion of fire-places, when +there was wood enough in the forests to keep people warm, without their +digging into the bowels of the earth for coal. + +It is a winter's day when we take our peep into the school-room. See +what great logs of wood have been rolled into the fire-place, and what a +broad, bright blaze goes leaping up the chimney! And every few moments, +a vast cloud of smoke is puffed into the room, which sails slowly over +the heads of the scholars, until it gradually settles upon the walls and +ceiling. They are blackened with the smoke of many years already. + +[Illustration] + +Next, look at our old historic chair! It is placed, you perceive, in the +most comfortable part of the room, where the generous glow of the fire +is sufficiently felt, without being too intensely hot. How stately the +old chair looks, as if it remembered its many famous occupants, but yet +were conscious that a greater man is sitting in it now! Do you see the +venerable school-master, severe in aspect, with a black scull-cap on his +head, like an ancient Puritan, and the snow of his white beard drifting +down to his very girdle? What boy would dare to play, or whisper, or +even glance aside from his book, while Master Cheever is on the +look-out, behind his spectacles! For such offenders, if any such there +be, a rod of birch is hanging over the fire-place, and a heavy ferule +lies on the master's desk. + +And now school is begun. What a murmur of multitudinous tongues, like +the whispering leaves of a wind-stirred oak, as the scholars con over +their various tasks! Buz, buz, buz! Amid just such a murmur has Master +Cheever spent above sixty years: and long habit has made it as pleasant +to him as the hum of a bee-hive, when the insects are busy in the +sunshine. + +Now a class in Latin is called to recite. Forth steps a row of +queer-looking little fellows, wearing square-skirted coats, and small +clothes, with buttons at the knee. They look like so many grandfathers +in their second childhood. These lads are to be sent to Cambridge, and +educated for the learned professions. Old Master Cheever has lived so +long, and seen so many generations of school-boys grow up to be men, +that now he can almost prophesy what sort of a man each boy will be. One +urchin shall hereafter be a doctor, and administer pills and potions, +and stalk gravely through life, perfumed with assafoetida. Another +shall wrangle at the bar, and fight his way to wealth and honors, and in +his declining age, shall be a worshipful member of his Majesty's +council. A third--and he is the Master's favorite--shall be a worthy +successor to the old Puritan ministers, now in their graves; he shall +preach with great unction and effect, and leave volumes of sermons, in +print and manuscript, for the benefit of future generations. + +But, as they are merely school-boys now, their business is to construe +Virgil. Poor Virgil, whose verses, which he took so much pains to +polish, have been mis-scanned, and mis-parsed, and mis-interpreted, by +so many generations of idle school-boys! There, sit down, ye Latinists. +Two or three of you, I fear, are doomed to feel the master's ferule. + +Next comes a class in Arithmetic. These boys are to be the merchants, +shop-keepers, and mechanics, of a future period. Hitherto, they have +traded only in marbles and apples. Hereafter, some will send vessels to +England for broadcloths and all sorts of manufactured wares, and to the +West Indies for sugar, and rum, and coffee. Others will stand behind +counters, and measure tape, and ribbon, and cambric, by the yard. Others +will upheave the blacksmith's hammer, or drive the plane over the +carpenter's bench, or take the lapstone and the awl, and learn the trade +of shoe-making. Many will follow the sea, and become bold, rough +sea-captains. + +This class of boys, in short, must supply the world with those active, +skilful hands, and clear, sagacious heads, without which the affairs of +life would be thrown into confusion, by the theories of studious and +visionary men. Wherefore, teach them their multiplication table, good +Master Cheever, and whip them well, when they deserve it; for much of +the country's welfare depends on these boys! + +But, alas! while we have been thinking of other matters, Master +Cheever's watchful eye has caught two boys at play. Now we shall see +awful times! The two malefactors are summoned before the master's chair, +wherein he sits, with the terror of a judge upon his brow. Our old chair +is now a judgment-seat. Ah, Master Cheever has taken down that terrible +birch-rod! Short is the trial--the sentence quickly passed--and now the +judge prepares to execute it in person. Thwack! thwack! thwack! In those +good old times, a school-master's blows were well laid on. + +See! the birch-rod has lost several of its twigs, and will hardly serve +for another execution. Mercy on us, what a bellowing the urchins make! +My ears are almost deafened, though the clamor comes through the far +length of a hundred and fifty years. There, go to your seats, poor boys; +and do not cry, sweet little Alice; for they have ceased to feel the +pain, a long time since. + +And thus the forenoon passes away. Now it is twelve o'clock. The master +looks at his great silver watch, and then with tiresome deliberation, +puts the ferule into his desk. The little multitude await the word of +dismissal, with almost irrepressible impatience. + +"You are dismissed," says Master Cheever. + +The boys retire, treading softly until they have passed the threshold; +but, fairly out of the school-room, lo, what a joyous shout!--what a +scampering and trampling of feet!--what a sense of recovered freedom, +expressed in the merry uproar of all their voices! What care they for +the ferule and birch-rod now? Were boys created merely to study Latin +and Arithmetic? No; the better purposes of their being are to sport, to +leap, to run, to shout, to slide upon the ice, to snow-ball! + +Happy boys! Enjoy your play-time now, and come again to study, and to +feel the birch-rod and the ferule, to-morrow; not till to-morrow, for +to-day is Thursday-lecture; and ever since the settlement of +Massachusetts, there has been no school on Thursday afternoons. +Therefore, sport, boys, while you may; for the morrow cometh, with the +birch-rod and the ferule; and after that, another Morrow, with troubles +of its own. + +Now the master has set every thing to rights, and is ready to go home to +dinner. Yet he goes reluctantly. The old man has spent so much of his +life in the smoky, noisy, buzzing school-room, that, when he has a +holiday, he feels as if his place were lost, and himself a stranger in +the world. But, forth he goes; and there stands our old chair, vacant +and solitary, till good Master Cheever resumes his seat in it to-morrow +morning. + + * * * * * + +"Grandfather," said Charley, "I wonder whether the boys did not use to +upset the old chair, when the school-master was out?" + +"There is a tradition," replied Grandfather, "that one of its arms was +dislocated, in some such manner. But I cannot believe that any +school-boy would behave so naughtily." + +As it was now later than little Alice's usual bedtime, Grandfather broke +off his narrative, promising to talk more about Master Cheever and his +scholars, some other evening. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Accordingly the next evening, Grandfather resumed the history of his +beloved chair. + +"Master Ezekiel Cheever," said he, "died in 1707, after having taught +school about seventy years. It would require a pretty good scholar in +arithmetic to tell how many stripes he had inflicted, and how many +birch-rods he had worn out, during all that time, in his fatherly +tenderness for his pupils. Almost all the great men of that period, and +for many years back, had been whipt into eminence by Master Cheever. +Moreover, he had written a Latin Accidence, which was used in schools +more than half a century after his death; so that the good old man, even +in his grave, was still the cause of trouble and stripes to idle +school-boys." + +Grandfather proceeded to say, that, when Master Cheever died, he +bequeathed the chair to the most learned man that was educated at his +school, or that had ever been born in America. This was the renowned +Cotton Mather, minister of the Old North Church in Boston. + +"And author of the Magnalia, Grandfather, which we sometimes see you +reading," said Laurence. + +"Yes, Laurence," replied Grandfather. "The Magnalia is a strange, +pedantic history, in which true events and real personages move before +the reader, with the dreamy aspect which they wore in Cotton Mather's +singular mind. This huge volume, however, was written and published +before our chair came into his possession. But, as he was the author of +more books than there are days in the year, we may conclude that he +wrote a great deal, while sitting in this chair." + +"I am tired of these school-masters and learned men," said Charley. "I +wish some stirring man, that knew how to do something in the world, like +Sir William Phips, would set in the chair." + +"Such men seldom have leisure to sit quietly in a chair," said +Grandfather. "We must make the best of such people as we have." + +As Cotton Mather was a very distinguished man, Grandfather took some +pains to give the children a lively conception of his character. Over +the door of his library were painted these words--BE SHORT--as a warning +to visitors that they must not do the world so much harm, as needlessly +to interrupt this great man's wonderful labors. On entering the room you +would probably behold it crowded, and piled, and heaped with books. +There were huge, ponderous folios and quartos, and little duodecimos, in +English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldaic, and all other languages, that +either originated at the confusion of Babel, or have since come into +use. + +All these books, no doubt, were tossed about in confusion, thus forming +a visible emblem of the manner in which their contents were crowded +into Cotton Mather's brain. And in the middle of the room stood a table, +on which, besides printed volumes, were strewn manuscript sermons, +historical tracts, and political pamphlets, all written in such a queer, +blind, crabbed, fantastical hand, that a writing-master would have gone +raving mad at the sight of them. By this table stood Grandfather's +chair, which seemed already to have contracted an air of deep erudition, +as if its cushion were stuffed with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and other +hard matters. + +In this chair, from one year's end to another, sat that prodigious +book-worm, Cotton Mather, sometimes devouring a great book, and +sometimes scribbling one as big. In Grandfather's younger days, there +used to be a wax figure of him in one of the Boston museums, +representing a solemn, dark-visaged person, in a minister's black gown, +and with a black-letter volume before him. + +"It is difficult, my children," observed Grandfather, "to make you +understand such a character as Cotton Mather's, in whom there was so +much good, and yet so many failings and frailties. Undoubtedly, he was a +pious man. Often he kept fasts; and once, for three whole days, he +allowed himself not a morsel of food, but spent the time in prayer and +religious meditation. Many a live-long night did he watch and pray. +These fasts and vigils made him meagre and haggard, and probably caused +him to appear as if he hardly belonged to the world." + +"Was not the witchcraft delusion partly caused by Cotton Mather?" +inquired Laurence. + +"He was the chief agent of the mischief," answered Grandfather; "but we +will not suppose that he acted otherwise than conscientiously. He +believed that there were evil spirits all about the world. Doubtless he +imagined that they were hidden in the corners and crevices of his +library, and that they peeped out from among the leaves of many of his +books, as he turned them over, at midnight. He supposed that these +unlovely demons were everywhere, in the sunshine as well as in the +darkness, and that they were hidden in men's hearts, and stole into +their most secret thoughts." + +Here Grandfather was interrupted by little Alice, who hid her face in +his lap, and murmured a wish that he would not talk any more about +Cotton Mather and the evil spirits. Grandfather kissed her, and told her +that angels were the only spirits whom she had any thing to do with. He +then spoke of the public affairs of the period. + +A new war between France and England had broken out in 1702, and had +been raging ever since. In the course of it, New England suffered much +injury from the French and Indians, who often came through the woods +from Canada, and assaulted the frontier towns. Villages were sometimes +burnt, and the inhabitants slaughtered, within a day's ride of Boston. +The people of New England had a bitter hatred against the French, not +only for the mischief which they did with their own hands, but because +they incited the Indians to hostility. + +The New Englanders knew that they could never dwell in security, until +the provinces of France should be subdued, and brought under the English +government. They frequently, in time of war, undertook military +expeditions against Acadia and Canada, and sometimes besieged the +fortresses, by which those territories were defended. But the most +earnest wish of their hearts was, to take Quebec, and so get possession +of the whole province of Canada. Sir William Phips had once attempted +it, but without success. + +Fleets and soldiers were often sent from England, to assist the +colonists in their warlike undertakings. In 1710, Port Royal, a fortress +of Acadia, was taken by the English. The next year, in the month of +June, a fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker, arrived in +Boston Harbor. On board of this fleet was the English General Hill, with +seven regiments of soldiers, who had been fighting under the Duke of +Marlborough, in Flanders. The government of Massachusetts was called +upon to find provisions for the army and fleet, and to raise more men to +assist in taking Canada. + +What with recruiting and drilling of soldiers, there was now nothing but +warlike bustle in the streets of Boston. The drum and fife, the rattle +of arms, and the shouts of boys, were heard from morning till night. In +about a month, the fleet set sail, carrying four regiments from New +England and New York, besides the English soldiers. The whole army +amounted to at least seven thousand men. They steered for the mouth of +the river St. Lawrence. + +"Cotton Mather prayed most fervently for their success," continued +Grandfather, "both in his pulpit, and when he kneeled down in the +solitude of his library, resting his face on our old chair. But +Providence ordered the result otherwise. In a few weeks, tidings were +received, that eight or nine of the vessels had been wrecked in the St. +Lawrence, and that above a thousand drowned soldiers had been washed +ashore, on the banks of that mighty river. After this misfortune, Sir +Hovenden Walker set sail for England; and many pious people began to +think it a sin, even to wish for the conquest of Canada." + +"I would never give it up so," cried Charley. + +"Nor did they, as we shall see," replied Grandfather. "However, no more +attempts were made during this war, which came to a close in 1713. The +people of New England were probably glad of some repose; for their young +men had been made soldiers, till many of them were fit for nothing else. +And those, who remained at home, had been heavily taxed to pay for the +arms, ammunition, fortifications, and all the other endless expenses of +a war. There was great need of the prayers of Cotton Mather, and of all +pious men, not only on account of the sufferings of the people, but +because the old moral and religious character of New England was in +danger of being utterly lost." + +"How glorious it would have been," remarked Laurence, "if our +forefathers could have kept the country unspotted with blood." + +"Yes," said Grandfather; "but there was a stern warlike spirit in them, +from the beginning. They seem never to have thought of questioning +either the morality or piety of war." + +The next event, which Grandfather spoke of, was one that Cotton Mather, +as well as most of the other inhabitants of New England, heartily +rejoiced at. This was the accession of the Elector of Hanover to the +throne of England, in 1714, on the death of Queen Anne. Hitherto, the +people had been in continual dread that the male line of the Stuarts, +who were descended from the beheaded King Charles and the banished King +James, would be restored to the throne. In that case, as the Stuart +family were Roman Catholics, it was supposed that they would attempt to +establish their own religion throughout the British dominions. But the +Elector of Hanover, and all his race, were Protestants; so that now the +descendants of the old Puritans were relieved from many fears and +disquietudes. + +"The importance of this event," observed Grandfather, "was a thousand +times greater than that of a Presidential Election, in our own days. If +the people dislike their president, they may get rid of him in four +years; whereas, a dynasty of kings may wear the crown for an unlimited +period." + +The German elector was proclaimed king from the balcony of the +town-house, in Boston, by the title of George the First, while the +trumpets sounded, and the people cried Amen. That night, the town was +illuminated; and Cotton Mather threw aside book and pen, and left +Grandfather's chair vacant, while he walked hither and thither to +witness the rejoicings. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +"Cotton Mather," continued Grandfather, "was a bitter enemy to Governor +Dudley; and nobody exulted more than he, when that crafty politician was +removed from the government, and succeeded by Colonel Shute. This took +place in 1716. The new governor had been an officer in the renowned Duke +of Marlborough's army, and had fought in some of the great battles in +Flanders." + +"Now, I hope," said Charley, "we shall hear of his doing great things." + +"I am afraid you will be disappointed, Charley," answered Grandfather. +"It is true, that Colonel Shute had probably never led so unquiet a life +while fighting the French, as he did now, while governing this province +of Massachusetts Bay. But his troubles consisted almost entirely of +dissensions with the legislature. The king had ordered him to lay claim +to a fixed salary; but the representatives of the people insisted upon +paying him only such sums, from year to year, as they saw fit." + +Grandfather here explained some of the circumstances, that made the +situation of a colonial governor so difficult and irksome. There was not +the same feeling towards the chief magistrate, now, that had existed, +while he was chosen by the free suffrages of the people. It was felt, +that, as the king appointed the governor, and as he held his office +during the king's pleasure, it would be his great object to please the +king. But the people thought, that a governor ought to have nothing in +view, but the best interests of those whom he governed. + +"The governor," remarked Grandfather, "had two masters to serve--the +king, who appointed him, and the people, on whom he depended for his +pay. Few men, in this position, would have ingenuity enough to satisfy +either party. Colonel Shute, though a good-natured, well-meaning man, +succeeded so ill with the people, that in 1722, he suddenly went away to +England, and made complaint to King George. In the mean time, +Lieutenant-Governor Dummer directed the affairs of the province, and +carried on a long and bloody war with the Indians." + +"But where was our chair, all this time?" asked Clara. + +"It still remained in Cotton Mather's library," replied Grandfather; +"and I must not omit to tell you an incident, which is very much to the +honor of this celebrated man. It is the more proper, too, that you +should hear it, because it will show you what a terrible calamity the +small pox was to our forefathers. The history of the province, (and, of +course, the history of our chair,) would be incomplete, without +particular mention of it." Accordingly, Grandfather told the children a +story, to which, for want of a better title, we shall give that of + + +THE REJECTED BLESSING. + +One day, in 1721, Doctor Cotton Mather sat in his library, reading a +book that had been published by the Royal Society of London. But, every +few moments, he laid the book upon the table, and leaned back in +Grandfather's chair, with an aspect of deep care and disquietude. There +were certain things which troubled him exceedingly, so that he could +hardly fix his thoughts upon what he read. + +It was now a gloomy time in Boston. That terrible disease, the small +pox, had recently made its appearance in the town. Ever since the first +settlement of the country, this awful pestilence had come, at intervals, +and swept away multitudes of the inhabitants. Whenever it commenced its +ravages, nothing seemed to stay its progress, until there were no more +victims for it to seize upon. Oftentimes, hundreds of people, at once, +lay groaning with its agony; and when it departed, its deep footsteps +were always to be traced in many graves. + +The people never felt secure from this calamity. Sometimes, perhaps, it +was brought into the country by a poor sailor, who had caught the +infection in foreign parts, and came hither to die, and to be the cause +of many deaths. Sometimes, no doubt, it followed in the train of the +pompous governors, when they came over from England. Sometimes, the +disease lay hidden in the cargoes of ships, among silks and brocades, +and other costly merchandise, which was imported for the rich people to +wear. And, sometimes, it started up, seemingly of its own accord; and +nobody could tell whence it came. The physician, being called to attend +the sick person, would look at him, and say,--"It is the small pox! let +the patient be carried to the hospital." + +And now, this dreadful sickness had shown itself again in Boston. Cotton +Mather was greatly afflicted, for the sake of the whole province. He had +children, too, who were exposed to the danger. At that very moment, he +heard the voice of his youngest son, for whom his heart was moved with +apprehension. + +"Alas! I fear for that poor child," said Cotton Mather to himself. "What +shall I do for my son Samuel?" + +Again, he attempted to drive away these thoughts, by taking up the book +which he had been reading. And now, all of a sudden, his attention +became fixed. The book contained a printed letter that an Italian +physician had written upon the very subject, about which Cotton Mather +was so anxiously meditating. He ran his eye eagerly over the pages; and, +behold! a method was disclosed to him, by which the small pox might be +robbed of its worst terrors. Such a method was known in Greece. The +physicians of Turkey, too, those long-bearded Eastern sages, had been +acquainted with it for many years. The negroes of Africa, ignorant as +they were, had likewise practised it, and thus had shown themselves +wiser than the white men. + +"Of a truth," ejaculated Cotton Mather, clasping his hands and looking +up to Heaven, "it was a merciful Providence that brought this book under +mine eye! I will procure a consultation of physicians, and see whether +this wondrous Inoculation may not stay the progress of the Destroyer." + +So he arose from Grandfather's chair, and went out of the library. Near +the door he met his son Samuel, who seemed downcast and out of spirits. +The boy had heard, probably, that some of his playmates were taken ill +with the small pox. But, as his father looked cheerfully at him, Samuel +took courage, trusting that either the wisdom of so learned a minister +would find some remedy for the danger, or else that his prayers would +secure protection from on high. + +Meanwhile, Cotton Mather took his staff and three-cornered hat, and +walked about the streets, calling at the houses of all the physicians in +Boston. They were a very wise fraternity; and their huge wigs, and black +dresses, and solemn visages, made their wisdom appear even profounder +than it was. One after another, he acquainted them with the discovery +which he had hit upon. + +But these grave and sagacious personages would scarcely listen to him. +The oldest doctor in town contented himself with remarking, that no such +thing as inoculation was mentioned by Galen or Hippocrates, and it was +impossible that modern physicians should be wiser than those old sages. +A second held up his hands in dumb astonishment and horror, at the +madness of what Cotton Mather proposed to do. A third told him, in +pretty plain terms, that he knew not what he was talking about. A fourth +requested, in the name of the whole medical fraternity, that Cotton +Mather would confine his attention to people's souls, and leave the +physicians to take care of their bodies. + +In short, there was but a single doctor among them all, who would grant +the poor minister so much as a patient hearing. This was Doctor Zabdiel +Boylston. He looked into the matter like a man of sense, and finding, +beyond a doubt, that inoculation had rescued many from death, he +resolved to try the experiment in his own family. + +And so he did. But, when the other physicians heard of it, they arose in +great fury, and began a war of words, written, printed, and spoken, +against Cotton Mather and Doctor Boylston. To hear them talk, you would +have supposed that these two harmless and benevolent men had plotted the +ruin of the country. + +The people, also, took the alarm. Many, who thought themselves more +pious than their neighbors, contended, that, if Providence had ordained +them to die of the small pox, it was sinful to aim at preventing it. +The strangest reports were in circulation. Some said, that Doctor +Boylston had contrived a method for conveying the gout, rheumatism, sick +headache, asthma, and all other diseases, from one person to another, +and diffusing them through the whole community. Others flatly affirmed +that the Evil One had got possession of Cotton Mather, and was at the +bottom of the whole business. + +You must observe, children, that Cotton Mather's fellow citizens were +generally inclined to doubt the wisdom of any measure, which he might +propose to them. They recollected how he had led them astray in the old +witchcraft delusion; and now, if he thought and acted ever so wisely, it +was difficult for him to get the credit of it. + +The people's wrath grew so hot at his attempt to guard them from the +small pox, that he could not walk the streets in peace. Whenever the +venerable form of the old minister, meagre and haggard with fasts and +vigils, was seen approaching, hisses were heard, and shouts of derision, +and scornful and bitter laughter. The women snatched away their children +from his path, lest he should do them a mischief. Still, however, +bending his head meekly, and perhaps stretching out his hands to bless +those who reviled him, he pursued his way. But the tears came into his +eyes, to think how blindly the people rejected the means of safety, that +were offered them. + +Indeed, there were melancholy sights enough in the streets of Boston, to +draw forth the tears of a compassionate man. Over the door of almost +every dwelling, a red flag was fluttering in the air. This was the +signal that the small pox had entered the house, and attacked some +member of the family; or perhaps the whole family, old and young, were +struggling at once with the pestilence. Friends and relatives, when they +met one another in the streets, would hurry onward without a grasp of +the hand, or scarcely a word of greeting, lest they should catch or +communicate the contagion. And, often a coffin was borne hastily along. + +"Alas, alas!" said Cotton Mather to himself. "What shall be done for +this poor, misguided people? Oh, that Providence would open their eyes, +and enable them to discern good from evil!" + +So furious, however, were the people, that they threatened vengeance +against any person who should dare to practise inoculation, though it +were only in his own family. This was a hard case for Cotton Mather, who +saw no other way to rescue his poor child Samuel from the disease. But +he resolved to save him, even if his house should be burnt over his +head. + +"I will not be turned aside," said he. "My townsmen shall see that I +have faith in this thing, when I make the experiment on my beloved son, +whose life is dearer to me than my own. And when I have saved Samuel, +peradventure they will be persuaded to save themselves." + +Accordingly, Samuel was inoculated; and so was Mr. Walter, a son-in-law +of Cotton Mather. Doctor Boylston, likewise, inoculated many persons; +and while hundreds died, who had caught the contagion from the garments +of the sick, almost all were preserved, who followed the wise +physician's advice. + +But the people were not yet convinced of their mistake. One night, a +destructive little instrument, called a hand-grenade, was thrown into +Cotton Mather's window, and rolled under Grandfather's chair. It was +supposed to be filled with gunpowder, the explosion of which would have +blown the poor minister to atoms. But the best-informed historians are +of opinion, that the grenade contained only brimstone and assafoetida, +and was meant to plague Cotton Mather with a very evil perfume. + +This is no strange thing in human experience. Men, who attempt to do the +world more good, than the world is able entirely to comprehend, are +almost invariably held in bad odor. But yet, if the wise and good man +can wait awhile, either the present generation or posterity, will do him +justice. So it proved, in the case which we have been speaking of. In +after years, when inoculation was universally practised, and thousands +were saved from death by it, the people remembered old Cotton Mather, +then sleeping in his grave. They acknowledged that the very thing, for +which they had so reviled and persecuted him, was the best and wisest +thing he ever did. + + * * * * * + +"Grandfather, this is not an agreeable story," observed Clara. + +"No, Clara," replied Grandfather. "But it is right that you should know +what a dark shadow this disease threw over the times of our forefathers. +And now, if you wish to learn more about Cotton Mather, you must read +his biography, written by Mr. Peabody, of Springfield. You will find it +very entertaining and instructive; but perhaps the writer is somewhat +too harsh in his judgment of this singular man. He estimates him fairly, +indeed, and understands him well; but he unriddles his character rather +by acuteness than by sympathy. Now, his life should have been written by +one, who, knowing all his faults, would nevertheless love him." + +So Grandfather made an end of Cotton Mather, telling his auditors that +he died in 1728, at the age of sixty-five, and bequeathed the chair to +Elisha Cooke. This gentleman was a famous advocate of the people's +rights. + +The same year, William Burnet, a son of the celebrated Bishop Burnet, +arrived in Boston, with the commission of governor. He was the first +that had been appointed since the departure of Colonel Shute. Governor +Burnet took up his residence with Mr. Cooke, while the Province House +was undergoing repairs. During this period, he was always complimented +with a seat in Grandfather's chair; and so comfortable did he find it, +that on removing to the Province House, he could not bear to leave it +behind him. Mr. Cooke, therefore, requested his acceptance of it. + +"I should think," said Laurence, "that the people would have petitioned +the king always to appoint a native-born New Englander to govern them." + +"Undoubtedly it was a grievance," answered Grandfather, "to see men +placed in this station, who perhaps had neither talents nor virtues to +fit them for it, and who certainly could have no natural affection for +the country. The king generally bestowed the governorships of the +American colonies upon needy noblemen, or hangers-on at court, or +disbanded officers. The people knew that such persons would be very +likely to make the good of the country subservient to the wishes of the +king. The legislature, therefore, endeavored to keep as much power as +possible in their own hands, by refusing to settle a fixed salary upon +the governors. It was thought better to pay them according to their +deserts." + +"Did Governor Burnet work well for his money?" asked Charley. + +Grandfather could not help smiling at the simplicity of Charley's +question. Nevertheless, it put the matter in a very plain point of +view. + +He then described the character of Governor Burnet, representing him as +a good scholar, possessed of much ability, and likewise of unspotted +integrity. His story affords a striking example, how unfortunate it is +for a man, who is placed as ruler over a country, to be compelled to aim +at any thing but the good of the people. Governor Burnet was so chained +down by his instructions from the king, that he could not act as he +might otherwise have wished. Consequently, his whole term of office was +wasted in quarrels with the legislature. + +"I am afraid, children," said Grandfather, "that Governor Burnet found +but little rest or comfort in our old chair. Here he used to sit, +dressed in a coat which was made of rough, shaggy cloth outside, but of +smooth velvet within. It was said that his own character resembled that +coat, for his outward manner was rough, but his inward disposition soft +and kind. It is a pity that such a man could not have been kept free +from trouble. But so harassing were his disputes with the +representatives of the people, that he fell into a fever, of which he +died, in 1720. The legislature had refused him a salary, while alive; +but they appropriated money enough to give him a splendid and pompous +funeral." + +And now Grandfather perceived that little Alice had fallen fast asleep, +with her head upon his footstool. Indeed, as Clara observed, she had +been sleeping from the time of Sir Hovenden Walker's expedition against +Quebec, until the death of Governor Burnet--a period of about eighteen +years. And yet, after so long a nap, sweet little Alice was a +golden-haired child, of scarcely five years old. + +"It puts me in mind," said Laurence, "of the story of the enchanted +princess, who slept many a hundred years, and awoke as young and +beautiful as ever." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +A few evenings afterwards, cousin Clara happened to inquire of +Grandfather, whether the old chair had never been present at a ball. At +the same time, little Alice brought forward a doll, with whom she had +been holding a long conversation. + +"See, Grandfather," cried she. "Did such a pretty lady as this ever sit +in your great chair?" + +These questions led Grandfather to talk about the fashions and manners, +which now began to be introduced from England into the provinces. The +simplicity of the good old Puritan times was fast disappearing. This was +partly owing to the increasing number and wealth of the inhabitants, and +to the additions which they continually received, by the arrival and +settlement of people from beyond the sea. + +Another cause of a pompous and artificial mode of life, among those who +could afford it, was, that the example was set by the royal governors. +Under the old charter, the governors were the representatives of the +people, and therefore their way of living had probably been marked by a +popular simplicity. But now, as they represented the person of the king, +they thought it necessary to preserve the dignity of their station, by +the practice of high and gorgeous ceremonials. And, besides, the +profitable offices under the government were filled by men who had lived +in London, and had there contracted fashionable and luxurious habits of +living, which they would not now lay aside. The wealthy people of the +province imitated them; and thus began a general change in social life. + +"So, my dear Clara," said Grandfather, "after our chair had entered the +Province House, it must often have been present at balls and festivals, +though I cannot give you a description of any particular one. But I +doubt not that they were very magnificent; and slaves in gorgeous +liveries waited on the guests, and offered them wine in goblets of +massive silver." + +"Were there slaves in those days?" exclaimed Clara. + +"Yes; black slaves and white," replied Grandfather. "Our ancestors not +only bought negroes from Africa, but Indians from South America, and +white people from Ireland. These last were sold, not for life, but for a +certain number of years, in order to pay the expenses of their voyage +across the Atlantic. Nothing was more common than to see a lot of likely +Irish girls, advertised for sale in the newspapers. As for the little +negro babies, they were offered to be given away, like young kittens." + +"Perhaps Alice would have liked one to play with, instead of her doll," +said Charley, laughing. + +But little Alice clasped the waxen doll closer to her bosom. + +"Now, as for this pretty doll, my little Alice," said Grandfather, "I +wish you could have seen what splendid dresses the ladies wore in those +times. They had silks, and satins, and damasks, and brocades, and high +head-dresses, and all sorts of fine things. And they used to wear +hooped-petticoats, of such enormous size that it was quite a journey to +walk round them." + +"And how did the gentlemen dress?" asked Charley. + +"With full as much magnificence as the ladies," answered Grandfather. +"For their holiday suits, they had coats of figured velvet, crimson, +green, blue, and all other gay colors, embroidered with gold or silver +lace. Their waistcoats, which were five times as large as modern ones, +were very splendid. Sometimes, the whole waistcoat, which came down +almost to the knees, was made of gold brocade." + +"Why, the wearer must have shone like a golden image!" said Clara. + +"And, then," continued Grandfather, "they wore various sorts of +periwigs, such as the Tie, the Spencer, the Brigadier, the Major, the +Albemarle, the Ramilies, the Feather-top, and the Full-bottom! Their +three-cornered hats were laced with gold or silver. They had shining +buckles at the knees of their small clothes, and buckles likewise in +their shoes. They wore swords, with beautiful hilts, either of silver, +or sometimes of polished steel, inlaid with gold." + +"Oh, I should like to wear a sword!" cried Charley. + +"And an embroidered crimson velvet coat," said Clara, laughing, "and a +gold brocade waistcoat down to your knees!" + +"And knee-buckles and shoe-buckles," said Laurence, laughing also. + +"And a periwig," added little Alice, soberly, not knowing what was the +article of dress, which she recommended to our friend Charley. + +Grandfather smiled at the idea of Charley's sturdy little figure in such +a grotesque caparison. He then went on with the history of the chair, +and told the children, that, in 1730, King George the Second appointed +Jonathan Belcher to be governor of Massachusetts, in place of the +deceased Governor Burnet. Mr. Belcher was a native of the province, but +had spent much of his life in Europe. + +The new governor found Grandfather's chair in the Province House, he was +struck with its noble and stately aspect, but was of opinion, that age +and hard services had made it scarcely so fit for courtly company, as +when it stood in the Earl of Lincoln's hall. Wherefore, as Governor +Belcher was fond of splendor, he employed a skilful artist to beautify +the chair. This was done by polishing and varnishing it, and by gilding +the carved work of the elbows, and likewise the oaken flowers of the +back. The lion's head now shone like a veritable lump of gold. Finally, +Governor Belcher gave the chair a cushion of blue damask, with a rich +golden fringe. + +"Our good old chair being thus glorified," proceeded Grandfather, "it +glittered with a great deal more splendor than it had exhibited just a +century before, when the Lady Arbella brought it over from England. Most +people mistook it for a chair of the latest London fashion. And this may +serve for an example, that there is almost always an old and time-worn +substance under all the glittering show of new invention." + +"Grandfather, I cannot see any of the gilding," remarked Charley, who +had been examining the chair very minutely. + +"You will not wonder that it has been rubbed off," replied Grandfather, +"when you hear all the adventures that have since befallen the chair. +Gilded it was; and the handsomest room in the Province House was adorned +by it." + +There was not much to interest the children, in what happened during the +years that Governor Belcher remained in the chair. At first, like +Colonel Shute and Governor Burnet, he was engaged in disputing with the +legislature about his salary. But, as he found it impossible to get a +fixed sum, he finally obtained the king's leave to accept whatever the +legislature chose to give him. And thus the people triumphed, after this +long contest for the privilege of expending their own money as they saw +fit. + +The remainder of Governor Belcher's term of office was principally taken +up in endeavoring to settle the currency. Honest John Hull's pine-tree +shillings had long ago been worn out, or lost, or melted down again, and +their place was supplied by bills of paper or parchment, which were +nominally valued at three pence and upwards. The value of these bills +kept continually sinking, because the real hard money could not be +obtained for them. They were a great deal worse than the old Indian +currency of clam-shells. These disorders of the circulating medium were +a source of endless plague and perplexity to the rulers and legislators, +not only in Governor Belcher's days, but for many years before and +afterwards. + +Finally, the people suspected that Governor Belcher was secretly +endeavoring to establish the Episcopal mode of worship in the provinces. +There was enough of the old Puritan spirit remaining, to cause most of +the true sons of New England to look with horror upon such an attempt. +Great exertions were made, to induce the king to remove the governor. +Accordingly, in 1740, he was compelled to resign his office, and +Grandfather's chair into the bargain, to Mr. Shirley. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +"William Shirley," said Grandfather, "had come from England a few years +before, and begun to practise law in Boston. You will think, perhaps, +that, as he had been a lawyer, the new governor used to sit in our great +chair, reading heavy law-books from morning till night. On the contrary, +he was as stirring and active a governor as Massachusetts ever had. Even +Sir William Phips hardly equalled him. The first year or two of his +administration was spent in trying to regulate the currency. But, in +1744, after a peace of more than thirty years, war broke out between +France and England." + +"And I suppose," said Charley, "the governor went to take Canada." + +"Not exactly, Charley," said Grandfather, "though you have made a pretty +shrewd conjecture. He planned, in 1745, an expedition against +Louisbourg. This was a fortified city, on the Island of Cape Breton, +near Nova Scotia. Its walls were of immense height and strength, and +were defended by hundreds of heavy cannon. It was the strongest fortress +which the French possessed in America; and if the king of France had +guessed Governor Shirley's intentions, he would have sent all the ships +he could muster, to protect it." + +As the siege of Louisbourg was one of the most remarkable events that +ever the inhabitants of New England were engaged in, Grandfather +endeavored to give his auditors a lively idea of the spirit with which +they set about it. We shall call his description + + +THE PROVINCIAL MUSTER. + +The expedition against Louisbourg first began to be thought of in the +month of January. From that time, the governor's chair was continually +surrounded by counsellors, representatives, clergymen, captains, pilots, +and all manner of people, with whom he consulted about this wonderful +project. + +First of all, it was necessary to provide men and arms. The legislature +immediately sent out a huge quantity of paper money, with which, as if +by magic spell, the governor hoped to get possession of all the old +cannon, powder and balls, rusty swords and muskets, and every thing else +that would be serviceable in killing Frenchmen. Drums were beaten in all +the villages of Massachusetts, to enlist soldiers for the service. +Messages were sent to the other governors of New England, and to New +York and Pennsylvania, entreating them to unite in this crusade against +the French. All these provinces agreed to give what assistance they +could. + +But there was one very important thing to be decided. Who shall be the +General of this great army? Peace had continued such an unusual length +of time, that there was now less military experience among the +colonists, than at any former period. The old Puritans had always kept +their weapons bright, and were never destitute of warlike captains, who +were skilful in assault or defence. But the swords of their descendants +had grown rusty by disuse. There was nobody in New England that knew any +thing about sieges, or any other regular fighting. The only persons, at +all acquainted with warlike business, were a few elderly men, who had +hunted Indians through the underbrush of the forest, in old Governor +Dummer's war. + +In this dilemma, Governor Shirley fixed upon a wealthy merchant, named +William Pepperell, who was pretty well known and liked among the people. +As to military skill, he had no more of it than his neighbors. But, as +the governor urged him very pressingly, Mr. Pepperell consented to shut +up his leger, gird on a sword, and assume the title of General. + +Meantime, what a hubbub was raised by this scheme! Rub-a-dub-dub! +Rub-a-dub-dub! The rattle of drums, beaten out of all manner of time, +was heard above every other sound. + +Nothing now was so valuable as arms, of whatever style and fashion they +might be. The bellows blew, and the hammer clanged continually upon the +anvil, while the blacksmiths were repairing the broken weapons of other +wars. Doubtless, some of the soldiers lugged out those enormous, heavy +muskets, which used to be fired with rests, in the time of the early +Puritans. Great horse-pistols, too, were found, which would go off with +a bang like a cannon. Old cannon, with touch-holes almost as big as +their muzzles, were looked upon as inestimable treasures. Pikes, which +perhaps, had been handled by Miles Standish's soldiers, now made their +appearance again. Many a young man ransacked the garret, and brought +forth his great-grandfather's sword, corroded with rust, and stained +with the blood of King Philip's war. + +Never had there been seen such an arming as this, when a people, so long +peaceful, rose to the war, with the best weapons that they could lay +their hands upon. And still the drums were heard--Rub-a-dub-dub! +Rub-a-dub-dub!--in all the towns and villages; and louder and more +numerous grew the trampling footsteps of the recruits that marched +behind. + +And now the army began to gather into Boston. Tall, lanky, awkward, +fellows, came in squads, and companies, and regiments, swaggering along, +dressed in their brown homespun clothes and blue yarn stockings. They +stooped, as if they still had hold of the plough-handles, and marched +without any time or tune. Hither they came, from the corn-fields, from +the clearing in the forest, from the blacksmith's forge, from the +carpenter's workshop, and from the shoemaker's seat. They were an army +of rough faces and sturdy frames. A trained officer of Europe would have +laughed at them, till his sides had ached. But there was a spirit in +their bosoms, which is more essential to soldiership than to wear red +coats, and march in stately ranks to the sound of regular music. + +Still was heard the beat of the drum--rub-a-dub-dub!--and now a host of +three or four thousand men had found their way to Boston. Little quiet +was there then! Forth scampered the school-boys, shouting behind the +drums. The whole town--the whole land--was on fire with war. + +After the arrival of the troops, they were probably reviewed upon the +Common. We may imagine Governor Shirley and General Pepperell riding +slowly along the line, while the drummers beat strange old tunes, like +psalm-tunes, and all the officers and soldiers put on their most warlike +looks. It would have been a terrible sight for the Frenchmen, could they +but have witnessed it! + +At length, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1745, the army gave a parting +shout, and set sail from Boston in ten or twelve vessels, which had been +hired by the governor. A few days afterwards, an English fleet, +commanded by Commodore Peter Warren, sailed also for Louisbourg, to +assist the provincial army. So, now, after all this bustle of +preparation, the town and province were left in stillness and repose. + +But, stillness and repose, at such a time of anxious expectation, are +hard to bear. The hearts of the old people and women sunk within them, +when they reflected what perils they had sent their sons, and husbands, +and brothers, to encounter. The boys loitered heavily to school, missing +the rub-a-dub-dub, and the trampling march, in the rear of which they +had so lately run and shouted. All the ministers prayed earnestly, in +their pulpits, for a blessing on the army of New England. In every +family, when the good man lifted up his heart in domestic worship, the +burthen of his petition was for the safety of those dear ones, who were +fighting under the walls of Louisbourg. + +Governor Shirley, all this time, was probably in an ecstasy of +impatience. He could not sit still a moment. He found no quiet, not even +in Grandfather's chair, but hurried to-and-fro, and up and down the +staircase of the Province House. Now, he mounted to the cupola, and +looked sea-ward, straining his eyes to discover if there were a sail +upon the horizon. Now, he hastened down the stairs, and stood beneath +the portal, on the red freestone steps, to receive some mud-bespattered +courtier, from whom he hoped to hear tidings of the army. + +A few weeks after the departure of the troops, Commodore Warren sent a +small vessel to Boston, with two French prisoners. One of them was +Monsieur Bouladrie, who had been commander of a battery, outside of the +walls of Louisbourg. The other was the Marquis de la Maison Forte, +captain of a French frigate, which had been taken by Commodore Warren's +fleet. These prisoners assured Governor Shirley, that the fortifications +of Louisbourg were far too strong ever to be stormed by the provincial +army. + +Day after day, and week after week, went on. The people grew almost +heart-sick with anxiety; for the flower of the country was at peril in +this adventurous expedition. It was now day-break, on the morning of the +third of July. + +But, hark! what sound is this? The hurried clang of a bell! There is the +Old North, pealing suddenly out!--there, the Old South strikes in!--now, +the peal comes from the church in Brattle street!--the bells of nine or +ten steeples are all flinging their iron voices, at once, upon the +morning breeze! Is it joy or alarm? There goes the roar of a cannon, +too! A royal salute is thundered forth. And, now, we hear the loud +exulting shout of a multitude, assembled in the street. Huzza, Huzza! +Louisbourg has surrendered! Huzza! + + * * * * * + +"O Grandfather, how glad I should have been to live in those times!" +cried Charley. "And what reward did the king give to General Pepperell +and Governor Shirley?" + +"He made Pepperell a baronet; so that he was now to be called Sir +William Pepperell," replied Grandfather. "He likewise appointed both +Pepperell and Shirley to be colonels in the royal army. These rewards, +and higher ones, were well deserved; for this was the greatest triumph +that the English met with, in the whole course of that war. General +Pepperell became a man of great fame. I have seen a full length portrait +of him, representing him in a splendid scarlet uniform, standing before +the walls of Louisbourg, while several bombs are falling through the +air." + +"But, did the country gain any real good by the conquest of Louisbourg?" +asked Laurence. "Or was all the benefit reaped by Pepperell and +Shirley?" + +"The English Parliament," said Grandfather, "agreed to pay the colonists +for all the expenses of the siege. Accordingly, in 1749, two hundred and +fifteen chests of Spanish dollars, and one hundred casks of copper coin, +were brought from England to Boston. The whole amount was about a +million of dollars. Twenty-seven carts and trucks carried this money +from the wharf to the provincial treasury. Was not this a pretty liberal +reward?" + +"The mothers of the young men, who were killed at the siege of +Louisbourg, would not have thought it so," said Laurence. + +"No, Laurence," rejoined Grandfather; "and every warlike achievement +involves an amount of physical and moral evil, for which all the gold in +the Spanish mines would not be the slightest recompense. But, we are to +consider that this siege was one of the occasions, on which the +colonists tested their ability for war, and thus were prepared for the +great contest of the Revolution. In that point of view, the valor of our +forefathers was its own reward." + +Grandfather went on to say, that the success of the expedition against +Louisbourg, induced Shirley and Pepperell to form a scheme for +conquering Canada. This plan, however, was not carried into execution. + +In the year 1746, great terror was excited by the arrival of a +formidable French fleet upon the coast. It was commanded by the Duke +d'Anville, and consisted of forty ships of war, besides vessels with +soldiers on board. With this force, the French intended to retake +Louisbourg, and afterwards to ravage the whole of New England. Many +people were ready to give up the country for lost. + +But the hostile fleet met with so many disasters and losses, by storm +and shipwreck, that the Duke d'Anville is said to have poisoned himself +in despair. The officer next in command threw himself upon his sword and +perished. Thus deprived of their commanders, the remainder of the ships +returned to France. This was as great a deliverance for New England, as +that which old England had experienced in the days of Queen Elizabeth, +when the Spanish Armada was wrecked upon her coast. + +"In 1747," proceeded Grandfather, "Governor Shirley was driven from the +Province House, not by a hostile fleet and army, but by a mob of the +Boston people. They were so incensed at the conduct of the British +Commodore Knowles, who had impressed some of their fellow-citizens, that +several thousands of them surrounded the council-chamber, and threw +stones and brick-bats into the windows. The governor attempted to pacify +them; but, not succeeding, he thought it necessary to leave the town, +and take refuge within the walls of Castle William. Quiet was not +restored, until Commodore Knowles had sent back the impressed men. This +affair was a flash of spirit, that might have warned the English not to +venture upon any oppressive measures against their colonial brethren." + +Peace being declared between France and England in 1748, the governor +had now an opportunity to sit at his ease in Grandfather's chair. Such +repose, however, appears not to have suited his disposition; for, in the +following year, he went to England, and thence was dispatched to France, +on public business. Meanwhile, as Shirley had not resigned his office, +Lieutenant-Governor Phips acted as chief magistrate in his stead. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +In the early twilight of Thanksgiving eve, came Laurence, and Clara, and +Charley, and little Alice, hand in hand, and stood in a semi-circle +round Grandfather's chair. They had been joyous, throughout that day of +festivity, mingling together in all kinds of play, so that the house had +echoed with their airy mirth. + +Grandfather, too, had been happy, though not mirthful. He felt that this +was to be set down as one of the good Thanksgivings of his life. In +truth, all his former Thanksgivings had borne their part in the present +one; for, his years of infancy, and youth, and manhood with their +blessings and their griefs, had flitted before him, while he sat +silently in the great chair. Vanished scenes had been pictured in the +air. The forms of departed friends had visited him. Voices, to be heard +no more on earth, had sent an echo from the infinite and the eternal. +These shadows, if such they were, seemed almost as real to him, as what +was actually present--as the merry shouts and laughter of the +children--as their figures, dancing like sunshine before his eyes. + +He felt that the past was not taken from him. The happiness of former +days was a possession forever. And there was something in the mingled +sorrow of his lifetime, that became akin to happiness, after being long +treasured in the depths of his heart. There it underwent a change, and +grew more precious than pure gold. + +And now came the children, somewhat aweary with their wild play, and +sought the quiet enjoyment of Grandfather's talk. The good old gentleman +rubbed his eyes, and smiled round upon them all. He was glad, as most +aged people are, to find that he was yet of consequence, and could give +pleasure to the world. After being so merry, all day long, did these +children desire to hear his sober talk? Oh, then, old Grandfather had +yet a place to fill among living men,--or at least among boys and girls! + +"Begin quick, Grandfather," cried little Alice; "for Pussy wants to hear +you." + +And, truly, our yellow friend, the cat, lay upon the hearth rug, basking +in the warmth of the fire, pricking up her ears, and turning her head +from the children to Grandfather, and from Grandfather to the children, +as if she felt herself very sympathetic with them all. A loud purr, like +the singing of a tea-kettle, or the hum of a spinning-wheel, testified +that she was as comfortable and happy as a cat could be. For Puss had +feasted, and therefore, like Grandfather and the children, had kept a +good Thanksgiving. + +"Does Pussy want to hear me?" said Grandfather, smiling. "Well; we must +please Pussy, if we can!" + +And so he took up the history of the chair, from the epoch of the peace +of 1748. By one of the provisions of the treaty, Louisbourg, which the +New Englanders had been at so much pains to take, was restored to the +king of France. + +The French were afraid, that, unless their colonies should be better +defended than heretofore, another war might deprive them of the whole. +Almost as soon as peace was declared, therefore, they began to build +strong fortifications in the interior of North America. It was strange +to behold these warlike castles, on the banks of solitary lakes, and far +in the midst of woods. The Indian, paddling his birch-canoe on Lake +Champlain, looked up at the high ramparts of Ticonderoga, stone piled on +stone, bristling with cannon, and the white flag of France floating +above. There were similar fortifications on Lake Ontario, and near the +great Falls of Niagara, and at the sources of the Ohio River. And all +around these forts and castles lay the eternal forest; and the roll of +the drum died away in those deep solitudes. + +The truth was, that the French intended to build forts, all the way from +Canada to Louisiana. They would then have had a wall of military +strength, at the back of the English settlements, so as completely to +hem them in. The king of England considered the building of these forts +as a sufficient cause of war, which was accordingly commenced in 1754. + +"Governor Shirley," said Grandfather, "had returned to Boston in 1753. +While in Paris, he had married a second wife, a young French girl, and +now brought her to the Province House. But, when war was breaking out, +it was impossible for such a bustling man to stay quietly at home, +sitting in our old chair, with his wife and children round about him. He +therefore obtained a command in the English forces." + +"And what did Sir William Pepperell do?" asked Charley. + +"He staid at home," said Grandfather, "and was general of the militia. +The veteran regiments of the English army, which were now sent across +the Atlantic, would have scorned to fight under the orders of an old +American merchant. And now began what aged people call the Old French +War. It would be going too far astray from the history of our chair, to +tell you one half of the battles that were fought. I cannot even allow +myself to describe the bloody defeat of General Braddock, near the +sources of the Ohio River, in 1755. But, I must not omit to mention, +that when the English general was mortally wounded, and his army routed, +the remains of it were preserved by the skill and valor of GEORGE +WASHINGTON." + +At the mention of this illustrious name, the children started, as if a +sudden sunlight had gleamed upon the history of their country, now that +the great Deliverer had arisen above the horizon. + +Among all the events of the Old French War, Grandfather thought that +there was none more interesting than the removal of the inhabitants of +Acadia. From the first settlement of this ancient province of the +French, in 1604, until the present time, its people could scarcely ever +know what kingdom held dominion over them. They were a peaceful race, +taking no delight in warfare, and caring nothing for military renown. +And yet, in every war, their region was infested with iron-hearted +soldiers, both French and English, who fought one another for the +privilege of ill treating these poor harmless Acadians. Sometimes the +treaty of peace made them subjects of one king, sometimes of another. + +At the peace of 1748, Acadia had been ceded to England. But the French +still claimed a large portion of it, and built forts for its defence. In +1755, these forts were taken, and the whole of Acadia was conquered, by +three thousand men from Massachusetts, under the command of General +Winslow. The inhabitants were accused of supplying the French with +provisions, and of doing other things that violated their neutrality. + +"These accusations were probably true," observed Grandfather; "for the +Acadians were descended from the French, and had the same friendly +feelings towards them, that the people of Massachusetts had for the +English. But their punishment was severe. The English determined to tear +these poor people from their native homes and scatter them abroad." + +The Acadians were about seven thousand in number. A considerable part of +them were made prisoners, and transported to the English colonies. All +their dwellings and churches were burnt, their cattle were killed, and +the whole country was laid waste, so that none of them might find +shelter or food in their old homes, after the departure of the English. +One thousand of the prisoners were sent to Massachusetts; and +Grandfather allowed his fancy to follow them thither, and tried to give +his auditors an idea of their situation. + +We shall call this passage the story of + + +THE ACADIAN EXILES. + +A sad day it was for the poor Acadians, when the armed soldiers drove +them, at the point of the bayonet, down to the sea-shore. Very sad were +they, likewise, while tossing upon the ocean, in the crowded transport +vessels. But, methinks, it must have been sadder still, when they were +landed on the Long Wharf, in Boston, and left to themselves, on a +foreign strand. + +Then, probably, they huddled together, and looked into one another's +faces for the comfort which was not there. Hitherto, they had been +confined on board of separate vessels, so that they could not tell +whether their relatives and friends were prisoners along with them. But, +now, at least, they could tell that many had been left behind, or +transported to other regions. + +Now, a desolate wife might be heard calling for her husband. He, alas! +had gone, she knew not whither, or perhaps had fled into the woods of +Acadia, and had now returned to weep over the ashes of their dwelling. +An aged widow was crying out, in a querulous, lamentable tone, for her +son, whose affectionate toil had supported her for many a year. He was +not in the crowd of exiles; and what could this aged widow do but sink +down and die? Young men and maidens, whose hearts had been torn asunder +by separation, had hoped, during the voyage, to meet their beloved ones +at its close. Now, they began to feel that they were separated forever. +And, perhaps, a lonesome little girl, a golden-haired child of five +years old, the very picture of our little Alice, was weeping and wailing +for her mother, and found not a soul to give her a kind word. + +Oh, how many broken bonds of affection were here! Country lost!--friends +lost!--their rural wealth of cottage, field, and herds, all lost +together! Every tie between these poor exiles and the world seemed to be +cut off at once. They must have regretted that they had not died before +their exile; for even the English would not have been so pitiless as to +deny them graves in their native soil. The dead were happy; for they +were not exiles! + +While they thus stood upon the wharf, the curiosity and inquisitiveness +of the New England people would naturally lead them into the midst of +the poor Acadians. Prying busy-bodies thrust their heads into the +circle, wherever two or three of the exiles were conversing together. +How puzzled did they look, at the outlandish sound of the French tongue! +There were seen the New England women, too. They had just come out of +their warm, safe homes, where every thing was regular and comfortable, +and where their husbands and children would be with them at night-fall. +Surely, they could pity the wretched wives and mothers of Acadia! Or, +did the sign of the cross, which the Acadians continually made upon +their breasts, and which was abhorred by the descendants of the +Puritans--did that sign exclude all pity? + +Among the spectators, too, was the noisy brood of Boston school-boys, +who came running, with laughter and shouts, to gaze at this crowd of +oddly dressed foreigners. At first they danced and capered around them, +full of merriment and mischief. But the despair of the Acadians soon had +its effect upon these thoughtless lads, and melted them into tearful +sympathy. + +At a little distance from the throng, might be seen the wealthy and +pompous merchants, whose warehouses stood on Long Wharf. It was +difficult to touch these rich men's hearts; for they had all the +comforts of the world at their command; and when they walked abroad, +their feelings were seldom moved, except by the roughness of the +pavement, irritating their gouty toes. Leaning upon their gold-headed +canes, they watched the scene with an aspect of composure. But, let us +hope, they distributed some of their superfluous coin among these +hapless exiles, to purchase food and a night's lodging. + +After standing a long time at the end of the wharf, gazing seaward, as +if to catch a glimpse of their lost Acadia, the strangers began to stray +into the town. + +They went, we will suppose, in parties and groups, here a hundred, there +a score, there ten, there three or four, who possessed some bond of +unity among themselves. Here and there was one, who, utterly desolate, +stole away by himself, seeking no companionship. + +Whither did they go? I imagine them wandering about the streets, telling +the town's-people, in outlandish, unintelligible words, that no earthly +affliction ever equalled what had befallen them. Man's brotherhood with +man was sufficient to make the New Englanders understand this language. +The strangers wanted food. Some of them sought hospitality at the doors +of the stately mansions, which then stood in the vicinity of Hanover +Street and the North Square. Others were applicants at the humble wooden +tenements, where dwelt the petty shop-keepers and mechanics. Pray +Heaven, that no family in Boston turned one of these poor exiles from +their door! It would be a reproach upon New England--a crime worthy of +heavy retribution--if the aged women and children, or even the strong +men, were allowed to feel the pinch of hunger. + +Perhaps some of the Acadians, in their aimless wanderings through the +town, found themselves near a large brick edifice, which was fenced in +from the street by an iron railing, wrought with fantastic figures. They +saw a flight of red freestone steps, ascending to a portal, above which +was a balcony and balustrade. Misery and desolation give men the right +of free passage everywhere. Let us suppose, then, that they mounted the +flight of steps, and passed into the Province House. Making their way +into one of the apartments, they beheld a richly clad gentleman, seated +in a stately chair, with gilding upon the carved work of its back, and a +gilded lion's head at the summit. This was Governor Shirley, meditating +upon matters of war and state, in Grandfather's chair! + +If such an incident did happen, Shirley, reflecting what a ruin of +peaceful and humble hopes had been wrought by the cold policy of the +statesman, and the iron hand of the warrior, might have drawn a deep +moral from it. It should have taught him that the poor man's hearth is +sacred, and that armies and nations have no right to violate it. It +should have made him feel, that England's triumph, and increased +dominion, could not compensate to mankind, nor atone to Heaven, for the +ashes of a single Acadian cottage. But it is not thus that statesmen and +warriors moralize. + +"Grandfather," cried Laurence, with emotion trembling in his voice, "did +iron-hearted War itself ever do so hard and cruel a thing as this +before?" + +"You have rend in history, Laurence, of whole regions wantonly laid +waste," said Grandfather. "In the removal of the Acadians, the troops +were guilty of no cruelty or outrage, except what was inseparable from +the measure." + +Little Alice, whose eyes had, all along, been brimming full of tears, +now burst forth a-sobbing; for Grandfather had touched her sympathies +more than he intended. + +"To think of a whole people, homeless in the world!" said Clara, with +moistened eyes. "There never was any thing so sad!" + +"It was their own fault," cried Charley, energetically. "Why did not +they fight for the country where they were born? Then, if the worst had +happened to them they could only have been killed and buried there. They +would not have been exiles then!" + +"Certainly, their lot was as hard as death," said Grandfather. "All that +could be done for them, in the English provinces, was to send them to +the alms-houses, or bind them out to task-masters. And this was the fate +of persons, who had possessed a comfortable property in their native +country. Some of them found means to embark for France; but though it +was the land of their forefathers, it must have been a foreign land to +them. Those, who remained behind, always cherished a belief, that the +king of France would never make peace with England, till his poor +Acadians were restored their country and their homes." + +"And did he?" inquired Clara. + +"Alas, my dear Clara," said Grandfather, "it is improbable that the +slightest whisper of the woes of Acadia ever reached the ears of Louis +the Fifteenth. The exiles grew old in the British provinces, and never +saw Acadia again. Their descendants remain among us, to this day. They +have forgotten the language of their ancestors, and probably retain no +tradition of their misfortunes. But, methinks, if I were an American +poet, I would choose Acadia for the subject of my song." + +Since Grandfather first spoke these words, the most famous of American +poets has drawn sweet tears from all of us, by his beautiful poem of +Evangeline. + +And now, having thrown a gentle gloom around the Thanksgiving fire-side, +by a story that made the children feel the blessing of a secure and +peaceful hearth, Grandfather put off the other events of the Old French +War till the next evening. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +In the twilight of the succeeding eve, when the red beams of the fire +were dancing upon the wall, the children besought Grandfather to tell +them what had next happened to the old chair. + +"Our chair," said Grandfather, "stood all this time in the Province +House. But, Governor Shirley had seldom an opportunity to repose within +its arms. He was loading his troops through the forest, or sailing in a +flat-boat on Lake Ontario, or sleeping in his tent, while the awful +cataract of Niagara sent its roar through his dreams. At one period, in +the early part of the war, Shirley had the chief command of all the +king's forces in America." + +"Did his young wife go with him to the war?" asked Clara. + +"I rather imagine," replied Grandfather, "that she remained in Boston. +This lady, I suppose, had our chair all to herself, and used to sit in +it, during those brief intervals when a young French woman can be quiet +enough to sit in a chair. The people of Massachusetts were never fond of +Governor Shirley's young French wife. They had a suspicion that she +betrayed the military plans of the English to the generals of the French +armies." + +"And was it true?" inquired Clara. + +"Probably not," said Grandfather. "But the mere suspicion did Shirley a +great deal of harm. Partly, perhaps, for this reason, but much more on +account of his inefficiency as a general, he was deprived of his +command, in 1756, and recalled to England. He never afterwards made any +figure in public life." + +As Grandfather's chair had no locomotive properties, and did not even +run on castors, it cannot be supposed to have marched in person to the +Old French War. But Grandfather delayed its momentous history, while he +touched briefly upon some of the bloody battles, sieges, and onslaughts, +the tidings of which kept continually coming to the ears of the old +inhabitants of Boston. The woods of the north were populous with +fighting men. All the Indian tribes uplifted their tomahawks, and took +part either with the French or English. The rattle of musketry and roar +of cannon disturbed the ancient quiet of the forest, and actually drove +the bears and other wild beasts to the more cultivated portion of the +country in the vicinity of the sea-ports. The children felt as if they +were transported back to those forgotten times, and that the couriers +from the army, with the news of a battle lost or won, might even now be +heard galloping through the streets. Grandfather told them about the +battle of Lake George, in 1755, when the gallant Colonel Williams, a +Massachusetts officer, was slain, with many of his countrymen. But +General Johnson and General Lyman, with their army, drove back the +enemy, and mortally wounded the French leader, who was called the Baron +Dieskau. A gold watch, pilfered from the poor Baron, is still in +existence, and still marks each moment of time, without complaining of +weariness, although its hands have been in motion ever since the hour of +battle. + +In the first years of the war, there were many disasters on the English +side. Among these was the loss of Fort Oswego, in 1756, and of Fort +William Henry, in the following year. But the greatest misfortune that +befell the English, during the whole war, was the repulse of General +Abercrombie, with his army, from the ramparts of Ticonderoga, in 1758. +He attempted to storm the walls; but a terrible conflict ensued, in +which more than two thousand Englishmen and New Englanders were killed +or wounded. The slain soldiers now lie buried around that ancient +fortress. When the plough passes over the soil, it turns up here and +there a mouldering bone. + +Up to this period, none of the English generals had shown any military +talent. Shirley, the Earl of Loudon, and General Abercrombie, had each +held the chief command, at different times; but not one of them had won +a single important triumph for the British arms. This ill success was +not owing to the want of means; for, in 1758, General Abercrombie had +fifty thousand soldiers under his command. But the French general, the +famous Marquis de Montcalm, possessed a great genius for war, and had +something within him, that taught him how battles were to be won. + +At length, in 1759, Sir Jeffrey Amherst was appointed commander-in-chief +of all the British forces in America. He was a man of ability, and a +skilful soldier. A plan was now formed for accomplishing that object, +which had so long been the darling wish of the New Englanders, and which +their fathers had so many times attempted. This was the conquest of +Canada. + +Three separate armies were to enter Canada, from different quarters. One +of the three, commanded by General Prideaux, was to embark on Lake +Ontario, and proceed to Montreal. The second, at the head of which was +Sir Jeffrey Amherst himself, was destined to reach the River St. +Lawrence, by the way of Lake Champlain, and then go down the river to +meet the third army. This last, led by General Wolfe, was to enter the +St. Lawrence from the sea, and ascend the river to Quebec. It is to +Wolfe and his army that England owes one of the most splendid triumphs, +ever written in her history. + +Grandfather described the siege of Quebec, and told how Wolfe led his +soldiers up a rugged and lofty precipice, that rose from the shore of +the river to the plain on which the city stood. This bold adventure was +achieved in the darkness of night. At day-break, tidings were carried to +the Marquis de Montcalm, that the English army was waiting to give him +battle on the plains of Abraham. This brave French general ordered his +drums to strike up, and immediately marched to encounter Wolfe. + +He marched to his own death. The battle was the most fierce and +terrible, that had ever been fought in America. General Wolfe was at the +head of his soldiers, and while encouraging them onward, received a +mortal wound. He reclined against a stone, in the agonies of death; but +it seemed as if his spirit could not pass away, while the fight yet +raged so doubtfully. Suddenly, a shout came pealing across the +battle-field--"They flee! they flee!" and, for a moment, Wolfe lifted +his languid head. "Who flee?" he inquired. "The French," replied an +officer. "Then I die satisfied!" said Wolfe, and expired in the arms of +victory. + +"If ever a warrior's death were glorious, Wolfe's was so!" said +Grandfather; and his eye kindled, though he was a man of peaceful +thoughts, and gentle spirit. "His life-blood streamed to baptize the +soil which he had added to the dominion of Britain! His dying breath was +mingled with his army's shout of victory!" + +"Oh, it was a good death to die!" cried Charley, with glistening eyes. +"Was it not a good death, Laurence?" + +Laurence made no reply; for his heart burned within him, as the picture +of Wolfe, dying on the blood-stained field of victory, arose to his +imagination; and yet, he had a deep inward consciousness, that, after +all, there was a truer glory than could thus be won. + +"There were other battles in Canada, after Wolfe's victory," resumed +Grandfather; "but we may consider the Old French War as having +terminated with this great event. The treaty of peace, however, was not +signed until 1763. The terms of the treaty were very disadvantageous to +the French; for all Canada, and all Acadia, and the island of Cape +Breton, in short, all the territories that France and England had been +fighting about, for nearly a hundred years--were surrendered to the +English." + +"So, now, at last," said Laurence, "New England had gained her wish. +Canada was taken!" + +"And now there was nobody to fight with, but the Indians," said Charley. + +Grandfather mentioned two other important events. The first was the +great fire of Boston, in 1700, when the glare from nearly three hundred +buildings, all in flames at once, shone through the windows of the +Province House, and threw a fierce lustre upon the gilded foliage and +lion's head of our old chair. The second event was the proclamation, in +the same year, of George the Third as king of Great Britain. The blast +of the trumpet sounded from the balcony of the Town House, and awoke the +echoes far and wide, as if to challenge all mankind to dispute King +George's title. + +Seven times, as the successive monarchs of Britain ascended the throne, +the trumpet-peal of proclamation had been heard by those who sat in our +venerable chair. But, when the next king put on his father's crown, no +trumpet-peal proclaimed it to New England! Long before that day, America +had shaken off the royal government. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Now that Grandfather had fought through the Old French War, in which our +chair made no very distinguished figure, he thought it high time to tell +the children some of the more private history of that praiseworthy old +piece of furniture. + +"In 1757," said Grandfather, "after Shirley had been summoned to +England, Thomas Pownall was appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was +a gay and fashionable English gentleman, who had spent much of his life +in London, but had a considerable acquaintance with America. The new +governor appears to have taken no active part in the war that was going +on; although, at one period, he talked of marching against the enemy, at +the head of his company of cadets. But, on the whole, he probably +concluded that it was more befitting a governor to remain quietly in our +chair, reading the newspapers and official documents." + +"Did the people like Pownall?" asked Charley. + +"They found no fault with him," replied Grandfather. "It was no time to +quarrel with the governor, when the utmost harmony was required, in +order to defend the country against the French. But Pownall did not +remain long in Massachusetts. In 1759, he was sent to be governor of +South Carolina. In thus exchanging one government for another, I +suppose he felt no regret, except at the necessity of leaving +Grandfather's chair behind him." + +"He might have taken it to South Carolina," observed Clara. + +"It appears to me," said Laurence, giving the rein to his fancy, "that +the fate of this ancient chair was, somehow or other, mysteriously +connected with the fortunes of old Massachusetts. If Governor Pownall +had put it aboard the vessel in which he sailed for South Carolina, she +would probably have lain wind-bound in Boston harbor. It was ordained +that the chair should not be taken away. Don't you think so, +Grandfather?" + +"It was kept here for Grandfather and me to sit in together," said +little Alice, "and for Grandfather to tell stories about." + +"And Grandfather is very glad of such a companion, and such a theme," +said the old gentleman, with a smile. "Well, Laurence, if our oaken +chair, like the wooden Palladium of Troy, was connected with the +country's fate, yet there appears to have been no supernatural obstacle +to its removal from the Province House. In 1760, Sir Francis Bernard, +who had been governor of New Jersey, was appointed to the same office in +Massachusetts. He looked at the old chair, and thought it quite too +shabby to keep company with a new set of mahogany chairs, and an +aristocratic sofa, which had just arrived from London. He therefore +ordered it to be put away in the garret." + +The children were loud in their exclamations against this irreverent +conduct of Sir Francis Bernard. But Grandfather defended him, as well as +he could. He observed, that it was then thirty years since the chair had +been beautified by Governor Belcher. Most of the gilding was worn off by +the frequent scourings which it had undergone, beneath the hands of a +black slave. The damask cushion, once so splendid, was now squeezed out +of all shape, and absolutely in tatters, so many were the ponderous +gentlemen who had deposited their weight upon it, during these thirty +years. + +Moreover, at a council held by the Earl of Loudon with the governors of +New England, in 1757, his lordship, in a moment of passion, had kicked +over the chair with his military boot. By this unprovoked and +unjustifiable act, our venerable friend had suffered a fracture of one +of its rungs. + +"But," said Grandfather, "our chair, after all, was not destined to +spend the remainder of its days in the inglorious obscurity of a garret. +Thomas Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor of the province, was told of Sir +Francis Bernard's design. This gentleman was more familiar with the +history of New England than any other man alive. He knew all the +adventures and vicissitudes through which the old chair had passed, and +could have told, as accurately as your own Grandfather, who were the +personages that had occupied it. Often, while visiting at the Province +House, he had eyed the chair with admiration, and felt a longing desire +to become the possessor of it. He now waited upon Sir Francis Bernard, +and easily obtained leave to carry it home." + +"And I hope," said Clara, "he had it varnished and gilded anew." + +"No," answered Grandfather. "What Mr. Hutchinson desired was to restore +the chair, as much as possible, to its original aspect, such as it had +appeared, when it was first made out of the Earl of Lincoln's oak-tree. +For this purpose he ordered it to be well scoured with soap and sand and +polished with wax, and then provided it with a substantial leather +cushion. When all was completed to his mind, he sat down in the old +chair, and began to write his History of Massachusetts." + +"Oh, that was a bright thought in Mr. Hutchinson!" exclaimed Laurence. +"And, no doubt, the dim figures of the former possessors of the chair +flitted around him, as he wrote, and inspired him with a knowledge of +all that they had done and suffered while on earth." + +"Why, my dear Laurence," replied Grandfather, smiling, "if Mr. +Hutchinson was favored with any such extraordinary inspiration, he made +but a poor use of it in his History; for a duller piece of composition +never came from any man's pen. However, he was accurate, at least, +though far from possessing the brilliancy or philosophy of Mr. +Bancroft." + +"But, if Hutchinson knew the history of the chair," rejoined Laurence, +"his heart must have been stirred by it." + +"It must, indeed," said Grandfather. "It would be entertaining and +instructive, at the present day, to imagine what were Mr. Hutchinson's +thoughts, as he looked back upon the long vista of events with which +this chair was so remarkably connected." + +And Grandfather allowed his fancy to shape out an image of +Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, sitting in an evening reverie by his +fireside, and meditating on the changes that had slowly passed around +the chair. + +A devoted monarchist, Hutchinson would heave no sigh for the subversion +of the original republican government, the purest that the world had +seen, with which the colony began its existence. While reverencing the +grim and stern old Puritans as the founders of his native land, he would +not wish to recall them from their graves, nor to awaken again that +king-resisting spirit, which he imagined to be laid asleep with them +forever. Winthrop, Dudley, Bellingham, Endicott, Leverett, and +Bradstreet! All these had had their day. Ages might come and go, but +never again would the people's suffrages place a republican governor in +their ancient Chair of State! + +Coming down to the epoch of the second charter, Hutchinson thought of +the ship-carpenter Phips, springing from the lowest of the people, and +attaining to the loftiest station in the land. But, he smiled to +perceive that this governor's example would awaken no turbulent ambition +in the lower orders, for it was a king's gracious boon alone that made +the ship-carpenter a ruler. Hutchinson rejoiced to mark the gradual +growth of an aristocratic class, to whom the common people, as in duty +bound, were learning humbly to resign the honors, emoluments, and +authority of state. He saw,--or else deceived himself--that, throughout +this epoch, the people's disposition to self-government had been growing +weaker, through long disuse, and now existed only as a faint +traditionary feeling. + +The Lieutenant-Governor's reverie had now come down to the period at +which he himself was sitting in the historic chair. He endeavored to +throw his glance forward, over the coming years. There, probably, he saw +visions of hereditary rank, for himself and other aristocratic +colonists. He saw the fertile fields of New England, portioned out among +a few great landholders, and descending by entail from generation to +generation. He saw the people a race of tenantry, dependent on their +lords. He saw stars, garters, coronets, and castles. + +"But," added Grandfather, turning to Laurence, "the +Lieutenant-Governor's castles were built nowhere but among the red +embers of the fire, before which he was sitting. And, just as he had +constructed a baronial residence for himself and his posterity, the fire +rolled down upon the hearth, and crumbled it to ashes!" + +Grandfather now looked at his watch, which hung within a beautiful +little ebony Temple, supported by four Ionic columns. He then laid his +hand on the golden locks of little Alice, whose head had sunk down upon +the arm of our illustrious chair. + +"To bed, to bed, dear child!" said he. "Grandfather has put you to +sleep, already, by his stories about these FAMOUS OLD PEOPLE!" + + + + +PART III. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +On the evening of New Year's day, Grandfather was walking to and fro, +across the carpet, listening to the rain which beat hard against the +curtained windows. The riotous blast shook the casement, as if a strong +man were striving to force his entrance into the comfortable room. With +every puff of the wind, the fire leaped upward from the hearth, laughing +and rejoicing at the shrieks of the wintry storm. + +Meanwhile, Grandfather's chair stood in its customary place by the +fireside. The bright blaze gleamed upon the fantastic figures of its +oaken back, and shone through the open-work, so that a complete pattern +was thrown upon the opposite side of the room. Sometimes, for a moment +or two, the shadow remained immovable, as if it were painted on the +wall. Then, all at once, it began to quiver, and leap, and dance, with a +frisky motion. Anon, seeming to remember that these antics were unworthy +of such a dignified and venerable chair, it suddenly stood still. But +soon it began to dance anew. + +"Only see how grandfather's chair is dancing!" cried little Alice. + +And she ran to the wall, and tried to catch hold of the flickering +shadow; for to children of five years old, a shadow seems almost as real +as a substance. + +"I wish," said Clara, "Grandfather would sit down in the chair, and +finish its history." + +If the children had been looking at Grandfather, they would have noticed +that he paused in his walk across the room, when Clara made this remark. +The kind old gentleman was ready and willing to resume his stories of +departed times. But he had resolved to wait till his auditors should +request him to proceed, in order that they might find the instructive +history of the chair a pleasure, and not a task. + +"Grandfather," said Charley, "I am tired to death of this dismal rain, +and of hearing the wind roar in the chimney. I have had no good time all +day. It would be better to hear stories about the chair, than to sit +doing nothing, and thinking of nothing." + +To say the truth, our friend Charley was very much out of humor with the +storm, because it had kept him all day within doors, and hindered him +from making trial of a splendid sled, which Grandfather had given him +for a New Year's gift. As all sleds, now-a-days, must have a name, the +one in question had been honored with the title of Grandfather's Chair, +which was painted in golden letters, on each of the sides. Charley +greatly admired the construction of the new vehicle, and felt certain +that it would outstrip any other sled that ever dashed adown the long +slopes of the Common. + +As for Laurence, he happened to be thinking, just at this moment, about +the history of the chair. Kind old Grandfather had made him a present of +a volume of engraved portraits, representing the features of eminent and +famous people of all countries. Among them Laurence found several who +had formerly occupied our chair, or been connected with its adventures. +While Grandfather walked to and fro across the room, the imaginative boy +was gazing at the historic chair. He endeavored to summon up the +portraits which he had seen in his volume, and to place them, like +living figures, in the empty seat. + +"The old chair has begun another year of its existence, to-day," said +Laurence. "We must make haste, or it will have a new history to be told +before we finish the old one." + +"Yes, my children," replied Grandfather, with a smile and a sigh, +"another year has been added to those of the two centuries, and upward, +which have passed since the Lady Arbella brought this chair over from +England. It is three times as old as your Grandfather; but a year makes +no impression on its oaken frame, while it bends the old man nearer and +nearer to the earth; so let me go on with my stories while I may." + +Accordingly, Grandfather came to the fireside, and seated himself in the +venerable chair. The lion's head looked down with a grimly good-natured +aspect, as the children clustered around the old gentleman's knees. It +almost seemed as if a real lion were peeping over the back of the chair, +and smiling at the group of auditors, with a sort of lion-like +complaisance. Little Alice, whose fancy often inspired her with singular +ideas, exclaimed that the lion's head was nodding at her, and that it +looked as if it were going to open its wide jaws and tell a story. + +But, as the lion's head appeared to be in no haste to speak, and as +there was no record or tradition of its having spoken, during the whole +existence of the chair, Grandfather did not consider it worth while to +wait. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"Charley, my boy," said Grandfather, "do you remember who was the last +occupant of the chair?" + +"It was Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson," answered Charley. "Sir Francis +Bernard, the new governor, had given him the chair, instead of putting +it away in the garret of the Province House. And when we took leave of +Hutchinson, he was sitting by his fireside, and thinking of the past +adventures of the chair, and of what was to come." + +"Very well," said Grandfather; "and you recollect that this was in 1763, +or thereabouts, at the close of the Old French War. Now, that you may +fully comprehend the remaining adventures of the chair, I must make some +brief remarks on the situation and character of the New England colonies +at this period." + +So Grandfather spoke of the earnest loyalty of our fathers during the +Old French War, and after the conquest of Canada had brought that war to +a triumphant close. + +The people loved and reverenced the king of England, even more than if +the ocean had not rolled its waves between him and them; for, at the +distance of three thousand miles, they could not discover his bad +qualities and imperfections. Their love was increased by the dangers +which they had encountered in order to heighten his glory and extend his +dominion. Throughout the war, the American colonists had fought side by +side with the soldiers of Old England; and nearly thirty thousand young +men had laid down their lives for the honor of King George. And the +survivors loved him the better, because they had done and suffered so +much for his sake. + +But, there were some circumstances, that caused America to feel more +independent of England than at an earlier period. Canada and Acadia had +now become British provinces; and our fathers were no longer afraid of +the bands of French and Indians, who used to assault them in old times. +For a century and a half this had been the great terror of New England. +Now, the old French soldier was driven from the north forever. And, even +had it been otherwise the English colonies were growing so populous and +powerful, that they might have felt fully able to protect themselves +without any help from England. + +There were thoughtful and sagacious men, who began to doubt, whether a +great country like America, would always be content to remain under the +government of an island three thousand miles away. This was the more +doubtful, because the English Parliament had long ago made laws which +were intended to be very beneficial to England, at the expense of +America. By these laws, the colonists were forbidden to manufacture +articles for their own use, or to carry on trade with any nation but the +English. + +"Now," continued Grandfather, "if King George the Third and his +counsellors had considered these things wisely, they would have taken +another course than they did. But, when they saw how rich and populous +the colonies had grown, their first thought was, how they might make +more profit out of them than heretofore. England was enormously in debt, +at the close of the Old French War, and it was pretended, that this debt +had been contracted for the defence of the American colonies, and that +therefore a part of it ought to be paid by them." + +"Why, this was nonsense," exclaimed Charley; "did not our fathers spend +their lives and their money too, to get Canada for King George?" + +"True, they did," said Grandfather; "and they told the English rulers +so. But the king and his ministers would not listen to good advice. In +1765, the British Parliament passed a Stamp Act." + +"What was that?" inquired Charley. + +"The Stamp Act," replied Grandfather, "was a law by which all deeds, +bonds, and other papers of the same kind, were ordered to be marked with +the king's stamp; and without this mark, they were declared illegal and +void. Now, in order to get a blank sheet of paper, with the king's stamp +upon it, people were obliged to pay three pence more than the actual +value of the paper. And this extra sum of three pence was a tax, and was +to be paid into the king's treasury." + +"I am sure three pence was not worth quarrelling about!" remarked Clara. + +"It was not for three pence, nor for any amount of money, that America +quarrelled with England," replied Grandfather; "it was for a great +principle. The colonists were determined not to be taxed, except by +their own representatives. They said that neither the king and +Parliament nor any other power on earth, had a right to take their money +out of their pockets, unless they freely gave it. And, rather than pay +three pence when it was unjustly demanded, they resolved to sacrifice +all the wealth of the country, and their lives along with it. They +therefore made a most stubborn resistance to the Stamp Act." + +"That was noble!" exclaimed Laurence. "I understand how it was. If they +had quietly paid this tax of three pence, they would have ceased to be +freemen, and would have become tributaries of England. And so they +contended about a great question of right and wrong, and put every thing +at stake for it." + +"You are right, Laurence," said Grandfather; "and it was really amazing +and terrible to see what a change came over the aspect of the people, +the moment the English Parliament had passed this oppressive act. The +former history of our chair, my children, has given you some idea of +what a harsh, unyielding, stern set of men the old Puritans were. For a +good many years back, however, it had seemed as if these characteristics +were disappearing. But no sooner did England offer wrong to the +colonies, than the descendants of the early settlers proved that they +had the same kind of temper as their forefathers. The moment before, New +England appeared like an humble and loyal subject of the crown; the next +instant, she showed the grim, dark features of an old king-resisting +Puritan." + +Grandfather spoke briefly of the public measures that were taken in +opposition to the Stamp Act. As this law affected all the American +colonies alike, it naturally led them to think of consulting together in +order to procure its repeal. For this purpose, the legislature of +Massachusetts proposed that delegates from every colony should meet in +Congress. Accordingly nine colonies, both northern and southern, sent +delegates to the city of New York. + +"And did they consult about going to war with England?" asked Charley. + +"No, Charley," answered Grandfather; "a great deal of talking was yet to +be done, before England and America could come to blows. The Congress +stated the rights and the grievances of the colonists. They sent an +humble petition to the king, and a memorial to the Parliament, +beseeching that the Stamp Act might be repealed. This was all that the +delegates had it in their power to do." + +"They might as well have staid at home, then," said Charley. + +"By no means," replied Grandfather. "It was a most important and +memorable event--this first coming together of the American people, by +their representatives from the north and south. If England had been +wise, she would have trembled at the first word that was spoken in such +an assembly!" + +These remonstrances and petitions, as Grandfather observed, were the +work of grave, thoughtful, and prudent men. Meantime, the young and +hot-headed people went to work in their own way. It is probable that the +petitions of Congress would have had little or no effect on the British +statesmen, if the violent deeds of the American people had not shown how +much excited the people were. LIBERTY TREE was soon heard of in England. + +"What was Liberty Tree?" inquired Clara. + +"It was an old elm tree," answered Grandfather, "which stood near the +corner of Essex street, opposite the Boylston market. Under the +spreading branches of this great tree, the people used to assemble, +whenever they wished to express their feelings and opinions. Thus, after +a while, it seemed as if the liberty of the country was connected with +Liberty Tree." + +"It was glorious fruit for a tree to bear," remarked Laurence. + +[Illustration] + +"It bore strange fruit, sometimes," said Grandfather. "One morning in +August, 1765, two figures were found hanging on the sturdy branches of +Liberty Tree. They were dressed in square-skirted coats and +small-clothes; and, as their wigs hung down over their faces, they +looked like real men. One was intended to represent the Earl of Bute, +who was supposed to have advised the king to tax America. The other was +meant for the effigy of Andrew Oliver, a gentleman belonging to one of +the most respectable families in Massachusetts." + +"What harm had he done?" inquired Charley. + +"The king had appointed him to be distributor of the stamps," answered +Grandfather. "Mr. Oliver would have made a great deal of money by this +business. But the people frightened him so much by hanging him in +effigy, and afterwards by breaking into his house, that he promised to +have nothing to do with the stamps. And all the king's friends +throughout America were compelled to make the same promise." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson," continued Grandfather, "now began to +be unquiet in our old chair. He had formerly been much respected and +beloved by the people, and had often proved himself a friend to their +interests. But the time was come, when he could not be a friend to the +people, without ceasing to be a friend to the king. It was pretty +generally understood, that Hutchinson would act according to the king's +wishes, right or wrong, like most of the other gentlemen who held +offices under the crown. Besides, as he was brother-in-law of Andrew +Oliver, the people now felt a particular dislike to him." + +"I should think," said Laurence, "as Mr. Hutchinson had written the +history of our Puritan forefathers, he would have known what the temper +of the people was, and so have taken care not to wrong them." + +"He trusted in the might of the king of England," replied Grandfather, +"and thought himself safe under the shelter of the throne. If no dispute +had arisen between the king and the people, Hutchinson would have had +the character of a wise, good, and patriotic magistrate. But, from the +time that he took part against the rights of his country, the people's +love and respect were turned to scorn and hatred; and he never had +another hour of peace." + +In order to show what a fierce and dangerous spirit was now aroused +among the inhabitants, Grandfather related a passage from history, which +we shall call + + +THE HUTCHINSON MOB. + +On the evening of the twenty-sixth of August, 1765, a bonfire was +kindled in King Street. It flamed high upward, and threw a ruddy light +over the front of the town house, on which was displayed a carved +representation of the royal arms. The gilded vane of the cupola +glittered in the blaze. The kindling of this bonfire was the well known +signal for the populace of Boston to assemble in the street. + +Before the tar-barrels, of which the bonfire was made, were half burnt +out, a great crowd had come together. They were chiefly laborers and +seafaring men, together with many young apprentices, and all those idle +people about town who are ready for any kind of mischief. Doubtless some +school-boys were among them. + +While these rough figures stood round the blazing bonfire, you might +hear them speaking bitter words against the high officers of the +province. Governor Bernard, Hutchinson, Oliver, Storey, Hallowell, and +other men whom King George delighted to honor, were reviled as traitors +to the country. Now and then, perhaps, an officer of the crown passed +along the street, wearing the gold-laced hat, white wig, and embroidered +waistcoat, which were the fashion of the day. But, when the people +beheld him, they set up a wild and angry howl, and their faces had an +evil aspect, which was made more terrible by the flickering blaze of the +bonfire. + +"I should like to throw the traitor right into that blaze!" perhaps one +fierce rioter would say. + +"Yes; and all his brethren too!" another might reply; "and the governor +and old Tommy Hutchinson into the hottest of it!" + +"And the Earl of Bute along with them," muttered a third; "and burn the +whole pack of them under King George's nose! No matter if it singed +him!" + +Some such expressions as these, either shouted aloud, or muttered under +the breath, were doubtless heard in King Street. The mob, meanwhile, +were growing fiercer, and fiercer, and seemed ready even to set the town +on fire, for the sake of burning the king's friends out of house and +home. And yet, angry as they were, they sometimes broke into a loud roar +of laughter, as if mischief and destruction were their sport. + +But we must now leave the rioters for a time, and take a peep into the +lieutenant-governor's splendid mansion. It was a large brick house, +decorated with Ionic pilasters, and stood in Garden Court Street, near +the North Square. + +While the angry mob in King Street were shouting his name, +Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson sat quietly in Grandfather's chair, +unsuspicious of the evil that was about to fall upon his head. His +beloved family were in the room with him. He had thrown off his +embroidered coat and powdered wig, and had on a loose flowing gown and +purple velvet cap. He had likewise laid aside the cares of state, and +all the thoughts that had wearied and perplexed him throughout the day. + +Perhaps, in the enjoyment of his home, he had forgotten all about the +Stamp Act, and scarcely remembered that there was a king, across the +ocean, who had resolved to make tributaries of the New Englanders. +Possibly, too, he had forgotten his own ambition, and would not have +exchanged his situation, at that moment, to be governor, or even a lord. + +The wax candles were now lighted, and showed a handsome room, well +provided with rich furniture. On the walls hung the pictures of +Hutchinson's ancestors, who had been eminent men in their day, and were +honorably remembered in the history of the country. Every object served +to mark the residence of a rich, aristocratic gentleman, who held +himself high above the common people, and could have nothing to fear +from them. In a corner of the room, thrown carelessly upon a chair, +were the scarlet robes of the chief justice. This high office, as well +as those of lieutenant-governor, counsellor, and judge of probate, was +filled by Hutchinson. + +Who or what could disturb the domestic quiet of such a great and +powerful personage as now sat in Grandfather's chair. + +The lieutenant-governor's favorite daughter sat by his side. She leaned +on the arm of our great chair, and looked up affectionately into her +father's face, rejoicing to perceive that a quiet smile was on his lips. +But suddenly a shade came across her countenance. She seemed to listen +attentively, as if to catch a distant sound. + +"What is the matter, my child?" inquired Hutchinson. + +"Father, do not you hear a tumult in the streets?" said she. + +The lieutenant-governor listened. But his ears were duller than those of +his daughter; he could hear nothing more terrible than the sound of a +summer breeze, sighing among the tops of the elm trees. + +"No, foolish child!" he replied, playfully patting her cheek. "There is +no tumult. Our Boston mobs are satisfied with what mischief they have +already done. The king's friends need not tremble." + +So Hutchinson resumed his pleasant and peaceful meditations, and again +forgot that there were any troubles in the world. But his family were +alarmed, and could not help straining their ears to catch the slightest +sound. More and more distinctly they heard shouts, and then the +trampling of many feet. While they were listening, one of the neighbors +rushed breathless into the room. + +"A mob!--a terrible mob!" cried he: "they have broken into Mr. Storey's +house, and into Mr. Hallowell's, and have made themselves drunk with the +liquors in his cellar, and now they are coming hither, as wild as so +many tigers. Flee, lieutenant-governor, for your life! for your life!" + +"Father, dear father, make haste!" shrieked his children. + +But Hutchinson would not hearken to them. He was an old lawyer; and he +could not realize that the people would do any thing so utterly lawless +as to assault him in his peaceful home. He was one of King George's +chief officers; and it would be an insult and outrage upon the king +himself, if the lieutenant-governor should suffer any wrong. + +"Have no fears on my account," said he; "I am perfectly safe. The king's +name shall be my protection." + +Yet he bade his family retire into one of the neighboring houses. His +daughter would have remained, but he forced her away. + +The huzzas and riotous uproar of the mob were now heard, close at hand. +The sound was terrible, and struck Hutchinson with the same sort of +dread as if an enraged wild beast had broken loose, and were roaring +for its prey. He crept softly to the window. There he beheld an immense +concourse of people, filling all the street, and rolling onward to his +house. It was like a tempestuous flood, that had swelled beyond its +bounds, and would sweep every thing before it. Hutchinson trembled; he +felt, at that moment, that the wrath of the people was a thousand-fold +more terrible than the wrath of a king. + +That was a moment when a loyalist and an aristocrat, like Hutchinson, +might have learned how powerless are kings, nobles, and great men, when +the low and humble range themselves against them. King George could do +nothing for his servant now. Had King George been there, he could have +done nothing for himself. If Hutchinson had understood this lesson, and +remembered it, he need not, in after years, have been an exile from his +native country, nor finally have laid his bones in a distant land. + +There was now a rush against the doors of the house. The people sent up +a hoarse cry. At this instant, the lieutenant-governor's daughter, whom +he had supposed to be in a place of safety, ran into the room, and threw +her arms around him. She had returned by a private entrance. + +"Father, are you mad!" cried she. "Will the king's name protect you now? +Come with me, or they will have your life." + +"True," muttered Hutchinson to himself; "what care these roarers for the +name of king? I must flee, or they will trample me down, on the door of +my own dwelling!" + +Hurrying away, he and his daughter made their escape by the private +passage, at the moment when the rioters broke into the house. The +foremost of them rushed up the stair-case, and entered the room which +Hutchinson had just quitted. There they beheld our good old chair, +facing them with quiet dignity, while the lion's head seemed to move its +jaws in the unsteady light of their torches. Perhaps the stately aspect +of our venerable friend, which had stood firm through a century and a +half of trouble, arrested them for an instant. But they were thrust +forward by those behind, and the chair lay overthrown. + +Then began the work of destruction. The carved and polished mahogany +tables were shattered with heavy clubs, and hewn to splinters with axes. +The marble hearths and mantel pieces were broken. The volumes of +Hutchinson's library, so precious to a studious man, were torn out of +their covers, and the leaves sent flying out of the windows. +Manuscripts, containing secrets of our country's history, which are now +lost forever, were scattered to the winds. + +The old ancestral portraits, whose fixed countenances looked down on the +wild scene, were rent from the walls. The mob triumphed in their +downfall and destruction, as if these pictures of Hutchinson's +forefathers had committed the same offences as their descendant. A tall +looking-glass, which had hitherto presented a reflection of the enraged +and drunken multitude, was now smashed into a thousand fragments. We +gladly dismiss the scene from the mirror of our fancy. + +Before morning dawned, the walls of the house were all that remained. +The interior was a dismal scene of ruin. A shower pattered in at the +broken windows, and when Hutchinson and his family returned, they stood +shivering in the same room, where the last evening had seen them so +peaceful and happy. + + * * * * * + +"Grandfather," said Laurence indignantly, "if the people acted in this +manner, they were not worthy of even so much liberty as the king of +England was willing to allow them." + +"It was a most unjustifiable act, like many other popular movements at +that time," replied Grandfather. "But we must not decide against the +justice of the people's cause, merely because an excited mob was guilty +of outrageous violence. Besides, all these things were done in the first +fury of resentment. Afterwards, the people grew more calm, and were more +influenced by the counsel of those wise and good men who conducted them +safely and gloriously through the Revolution." + +Little Alice, with tears in her blue eyes, said that she hoped the +neighbors had not let Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson and his family be +homeless in the street, but had taken them into their houses, and been +kind to them. Cousin Clara, recollecting the perilous situation of our +beloved chair, inquired what had become of it. + +"Nothing was heard of our chair for sometime afterwards," answered +Grandfather. "One day in September, the same Andrew Oliver, of whom I +before told you, was summoned to appear at high noon, under Liberty +Tree. This was the strangest summons that had ever been heard of; for it +was issued in the name of the whole people, who thus took upon +themselves the authority of a sovereign power. Mr. Oliver dared not +disobey. Accordingly, at the appointed hour, he went, much against his +will, to Liberty Tree." + +Here Charley interposed a remark that poor Mr. Oliver found but little +liberty under Liberty Tree. Grandfather assented. + +"It was a stormy day," continued he. "The equinoctial gale blew +violently, and scattered the yellow leaves of Liberty Tree all along the +street. Mr. Oliver's wig was dripping with water-drops, and he probably +looked haggard, disconsolate, and humbled to the earth. Beneath the +tree, in Grandfather's chair,--our own venerable chair,--sat Mr. Richard +Dana, a justice of the peace. He administered an oath to Mr. Oliver, +that he would never have any thing to do with distributing the stamps. A +vast concourse of people heard the oath, and shouted when it was taken." + +"There is something grand in this," said Laurence. "I like it, because +the people seem to have acted with thoughtfulness and dignity; and this +proud gentleman, one of his Majesty's high officers, was made to feel +that King George could not protect him in doing wrong." + +"But it was a sad day for poor Mr. Oliver," observed Grandfather. "From +his youth upward, it had probably been the great principle of his life, +to be faithful and obedient to the king. And now, in his old age, it +must have puzzled and distracted him, to find the sovereign people +setting up a claim to his faith and obedience." + +Grandfather closed the evening's conversation by saying that the +discontent of America was so great, that, in 1766, the British +Parliament was compelled to repeal the Stamp Act. The people made great +rejoicings, but took care to keep Liberty Tree well pruned, and free +from caterpillars and canker worms. They foresaw, that there might yet +be occasion for them to assemble under its far projecting shadow. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The next evening, Clara, who remembered that our chair had been left +standing in the rain, under Liberty Tree, earnestly besought Grandfather +to tell when and where it had next found shelter. Perhaps she was afraid +that the venerable chair, by being exposed to the inclemency of a +September gale, might get the rheumatism in its aged joints. + +"The chair," said Grandfather, "after the ceremony of Mr. Oliver's oath, +appears to have been quite forgotten by the multitude. Indeed, being +much bruised and rather rickety, owing to the violent treatment it had +suffered from the Hutchinson mob, most people would have thought that +its days of usefulness were over. Nevertheless, it was conveyed away, +under cover of the night, and committed to the care of a skilful joiner. +He doctored our old friend so successfully, that, in the course of a few +days, it made its appearance in the public room of the British Coffee +House in King Street." + +"But why did not Mr. Hutchinson get possession of it again?" inquired +Charley. + +"I know not," answered Grandfather, "unless he considered it a dishonor +and disgrace to the chair to have stood under Liberty Tree. At all +events, he suffered it to remain at the British Coffee House, which was +the principal hotel in Boston. It could not possibly have found a +situation, where it would be more in the midst of business and bustle, +or would witness more important events, or be occupied by a greater +variety of persons." + +Grandfather went on to tell the proceedings of the despotic king and +ministry of England, after the repeal of the Stamp Act. They could not +bear to think, that their right to tax America should be disputed by the +people. In the year 1767, therefore, they caused Parliament to pass an +act for laying a duty on tea, and some other articles that were in +general use. Nobody could now buy a pound of tea, without paying a tax +to King George. This scheme was pretty craftily contrived; for the women +of America were very fond of tea, and did not like to give up the use of +it. + +But the people were as much opposed to this new act of Parliament, as +they had been to the Stamp Act. England, however, was determined that +they should submit. In order to compel their obedience, two regiments, +consisting of more than seven hundred British soldiers, were sent to +Boston. They arrived in September, 1768, and were landed on Long Wharf. +Thence they marched to the Common, with loaded muskets, fixed bayonets, +and great pomp and parade. So now, at last, the free town of Boston was +guarded and over-awed by red-coats, as it had been in the days of old +Sir Edmund Andros. + +In the month of November, more regiments arrived. There were now four +thousand troops in Boston. The Common was whitened with their tents. +Some of the soldiers were lodged in Faneuil Hall, which the inhabitants +looked upon as a consecrated place, because it had been the scene of a +great many meetings in favor of liberty. One regiment was placed in the +town house, which we now call the Old State House. The lower floor of +this edifice had hitherto been used by the merchants as an exchange. In +the upper stories were the chambers of the judges, the representatives, +and the governor's council. The venerable counsellors could not assemble +to consult about the welfare of the province, without being challenged +by sentinels, and passing among the bayonets of the British soldiers. + +Sentinels, likewise, were posted at the lodgings of the officers, in +many parts of the town. When the inhabitants approached, they were +greeted by the sharp question--"Who goes there?" while the rattle of the +soldier's musket was heard, as he presented it against their breasts. +There was no quiet, even on the Sabbath day. The pious descendants of +the Puritans were shocked by the uproar of military music, the drum, +fife, and bugle, drowning the holy organ peal and the voices of the +singers. It would appear as if the British took every method to insult +the feelings of the people. + +"Grandfather," cried Charley, impatiently, "the people did not go to +fighting half soon enough! These British red-coats ought to have been +driven back to their vessels, the very moment they landed on Long +Wharf." + +"Many a hot-headed young man said the same as you do, Charley," answered +Grandfather. "But the elder and wiser people saw that the time was not +yet come. Meanwhile, let us take another peep at our old chair." + +"Ah, it drooped its head, I know," said Charley, "when it saw how the +province was disgraced. Its old Puritan friends never would have borne +such doings." + +"The chair," proceeded Grandfather, "was now continually occupied by +some of the high tories, as the king's friends were called, who +frequented the British Coffee House. Officers of the custom-house, too, +which stood on the opposite side of King Street, often sat in the chair, +wagging their tongues against John Hancock." + +"Why against him?" asked Charley. + +"Because he was a great merchant, and contended against paying duties to +the king," said Grandfather. + +"Well, frequently, no doubt, the officers of the British regiments, when +not on duty, used to fling themselves into the arms of our venerable +chair. Fancy one of them, a red nosed captain, in his scarlet uniform, +playing with the hilt of his sword, and making a circle of his brother +officers merry with ridiculous jokes at the expense of the poor Yankees. +And perhaps he would call for a bottle of wine, or a steaming bowl of +punch, and drink confusion to all rebels." + +"Our grave old chair must have been scandalized at such scenes," +observed Laurence. "The chair that had been the Lady Arbella's, and +which the holy Apostle Eliot had consecrated." + +"It certainly was little less than sacrilege," replied Grandfather; "but +the time was coming, when even the churches, where hallowed pastors had +long preached the word of God, were to be torn down or desecrated by the +British troops. Some years passed, however, before such things were +done." + +Grandfather now told his auditors, that, in 1769, Sir Francis Bernard +went to England, after having been governor of Massachusetts ten years. +He was a gentleman of many good qualities, an excellent scholar, and a +friend to learning. But he was naturally of an arbitrary disposition; +and he had been bred at the University of Oxford, where young men were +taught that the divine right of kings was the only thing to be regarded +in matters of government. Such ideas were ill adapted to please the +people of Massachusetts. They rejoiced to get rid of Sir Francis +Bernard, but liked his successor, Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, no +better than himself. + +About this period, the people were much incensed at an act, committed by +a person who held an office in the custom-house. Some lads, or young +men, were snow-balling his windows. He fired a musket at them and killed +a poor German boy, only eleven years old. This event made a great noise +in town and country, and much increased the resentment that was already +felt against the servants of the crown. + +"Now, children," said Grandfather, "I wish to make you comprehend the +position of the British troops in King Street. This is the same which we +now call State Street. On the south side of the town-house, or Old State +House, was what military men call a court of guard, defended by two +brass cannons, which pointed directly at one of the doors of the above +edifice. A large party of soldiers were always stationed in the court of +guard. The custom-house stood at a little distance down King Street, +nearly where the Suffolk bank now stands; and a sentinel was continually +pacing before its front." + +"I shall remember this, to-morrow," said Charley; "and I will go to +State Street, so as to see exactly where the British troops were +stationed." + +"And, before long," observed Grandfather, "I shall have to relate an +event, which made King Street sadly famous on both sides of the +Atlantic. The history of our chair will soon bring us to this melancholy +business." + +Here Grandfather described the state of things, which arose from the +ill-will that existed between the inhabitants and the red-coats. The old +and sober part of the town's-people were very angry at the government, +for sending soldiers to overawe them. But those gray-headed men were +cautious, and kept their thoughts and feelings in their own breasts, +without putting themselves in the way of the British bayonets. + +The younger people, however, could hardly be kept within such prudent +limits. They reddened with wrath at the very sight of a soldier, and +would have been willing to come to blows with them, at any moment. For +it was their opinion, that every tap of a British drum within the +peninsula of Boston, was an insult to the brave old town. + +"It was sometimes the case," continued Grandfather, "that affrays +happened between such wild young men as these, and small parties of the +soldiers. No weapons had hitherto been used, except fists or cudgels. +But, when men have loaded muskets in their hands, it is easy to +foretell, that they will soon be turned against the bosoms of those who +provoke their anger." + +"Grandfather," said little Alice, looking fearfully into his face, "your +voice sounds as though you were going to tell us something awful!" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Little Alice, by her last remark, proved herself a good judge of what +was expressed by the tones of Grandfather's voice. He had given the +above description of the enmity between the town's-people and the +soldiers, in order to prepare the minds of his auditors for a very +terrible event. It was one that did more to heighten the quarrel between +England and America, than any thing that had yet occurred. + +Without further preface, Grandfather began the story of + + +THE BOSTON MASSACRE. + +It was now the 3d of March, 1770. The sunset music of the British +regiments was heard, as usual, throughout the town. The shrill fife and +rattling drum awoke the echoes in King Street, while the last ray of +sunshine was lingering on the cupola of the town-house. And now, all the +sentinels were posted. One of them marched up and down before the +custom-house, treading a short path through the snow, and longing for +the time when he would be dismissed to the warm fire-side of the +guard-room. Meanwhile, Captain Preston was perhaps sitting in our great +chair, before the hearth of the British Coffee House. In the course of +the evening, there were two or three slight commotions, which seemed to +indicate that trouble was at hand. Small parties of young men stood at +the corners of the streets, or walked along the narrow pavements. Squads +of soldiers, who were dismissed from duty, passed by them, shoulder to +shoulder, with the regular step which they had learned at the drill. +Whenever these encounters took place, it appeared to be the object of +the young men to treat the soldiers with as much incivility as possible. + +"Turn out, you lobster-backs!" one would say. "Crowd them off the +side-walks!" another would cry. "A red-coat has no right in Boston +streets." + +"Oh, you rebel rascals!" perhaps the soldiers would reply, glaring +fiercely at the young men. "Some day or other, we'll make our way +through Boston streets, at the point of the bayonet!" + +Once or twice, such disputes as these brought on a scuffle; which passed +off, however, without attracting much notice. About eight o'clock, for +some unknown cause, an alarm bell rang loudly and hurriedly. + +At the sound, many people ran out of their houses, supposing it to be an +alarm of fire. But there were no flames to be seen; nor was there any +smell of smoke in the clear, frosty air; so that most of the townsmen +went back to their own fire-sides, and sat talking with their wives and +children about the calamities of the times. Others, who were younger +and less prudent, remained in the streets; for there seems to have been +a presentiment that some strange event was on the eve of taking place. + +Later in the evening, not far from nine o'clock, several young men +passed by the town-house, and walked down King Street. The sentinel was +still on his post, in front of the custom-house, pacing to and fro, +while, as he turned, a gleam of light, from some neighboring window, +glittered on the barrel of his musket. At no great distance were the +barracks and the guard-house, where his comrades were probably telling +stories of battle and bloodshed. + +Down towards the custom-house, as I told you, came a party of wild young +men. When they drew near the sentinel, he halted on his post, and took +his musket from his shoulder, ready to present the bayonet at their +breasts. + +"Who goes there?" he cried, in the gruff, peremptory tones of a +soldier's challenge. + +The young men, being Boston boys, felt as if they had a right to walk +their own streets, without being accountable to a British red-coat, even +though he challenged them in King George's name. They made some rude +answer to the sentinel. There was a dispute, or, perhaps a scuffle. +Other soldiers heard the noise, and ran hastily from the barracks, to +assist their comrade. At the same time, many of the town's-people rushed +into King Street, by various avenues, and gathered in a crowd round +about the custom-house. It seemed wonderful how such a multitude had +started up, all of a sudden. + +The wrongs and insults, which the people had been suffering for many +months, now kindled them into a rage. They threw snow-balls and lumps of +ice at the soldiers. As the tumult grew louder, it reached the ears of +Captain Preston, the officer of the day. He immediately ordered eight +soldiers of the main guard to take their muskets and follow him. They +marched across the street, forcing their way roughly through the crowd, +and pricking the town's-people with their bayonets. + +A gentleman, (it was Henry Knox, afterwards general of the American +artillery,) caught Captain Preston's arm. + +"For Heaven's sake, sir," exclaimed he, take heed what you do, or here +will be bloodshed." + +"Stand aside!" answered Captain Preston, haughtily. "Do not interfere, +sir. Leave me to manage the affair." + +Arriving at the sentinel's post, Captain Preston drew up his men in a +semi-circle, with their faces to the crowd and their rear to the +custom-house. "When the people saw the officer, and beheld the +threatening attitude with which the soldiers fronted them, their rage +became almost uncontrollable. + +"Fire, you lobster-backs!" bellowed some. + +"You dare not fire, you cowardly red-coats," cried others. + +"Rush upon them!" shouted many voices. "Drive the rascals to their +barracks! Down with them! Down with them! Let them fire, if they dare!" + +Amid the uproar, the soldiers stood glaring at the people, with the +fierceness of men whose trade was to shed blood. + +Oh, what a crisis had now arrived! Up to this very moment, the angry +feelings between England and America might have been pacified. England +had but to stretch out the hand of reconciliation, and acknowledge that +she had hitherto mistaken her rights but would do so no more. Then, the +ancient bonds of brotherhood would again have been knit together, as +firmly as in old times. The habit of loyalty, which had grown as strong +as instinct, was not utterly overcome. The perils shared, the victories +won, in the Old French War, when the soldiers of the colonies fought +side by side with their comrades from beyond the sea, were unforgotten +yet. England was still that beloved country which the colonists called +their home. King George, though he had frowned upon America, was still +reverenced as a father. + +But, should the king's soldiers shed one drop of American blood, then it +was a quarrel to the death. Never--never would America rest satisfied, +until she had torn down the royal authority, and trampled it in the +dust. + +"Fire, if you dare, villains!" hoarsely shouted the people, while the +muzzles of the muskets were turned upon them; "you dare not fire!" + +They appeared ready to rush upon the levelled bayonets. Captain Preston +waved his sword, and uttered a command which could not be distinctly +heard, amid the uproar of shouts that issued from a hundred throats. But +his soldiers deemed that he had spoken the fatal mandate--"fire!" The +flash of their muskets lighted up the street, and the report rang loudly +between the edifices. It was said, too, that the figure of a man with a +cloth hanging down over his face, was seen to step into the balcony of +the custom-house, and discharge a musket at the crowd. + +A gush of smoke had overspread the scene. It rose heavily, as if it were +loath to reveal the dreadful spectacle beneath it. Eleven of the sons of +New England lay stretched upon the street. Some, sorely wounded, were +struggling to rise again. Others stirred not, nor groaned, for they were +past all pain. Blood was streaming upon the snow; and that purple stain, +in the midst of King Street, though it melted away in the next day's +sun, was never forgotten nor forgiven by the people. + + * * * * * + +Grandfather was interrupted by the violent sobs of little Alice. In his +earnestness, he had neglected to soften down the narrative, so that it +might not terrify the heart of this unworldly infant. Since Grandfather +began the history of our chair, little Alice had listened to many tales +of war. But, probably, the idea had never really impressed itself upon +her mind, that men have shed the blood of their fellow-creatures. And +now that this idea was forcibly presented to her, it affected the sweet +child with bewilderment and horror. + +"I ought to have remembered our dear little Alice," said Grandfather +reproachfully to himself. "Oh, what a pity! Her heavenly nature has now +received its first impression of earthly sin and violence. Well, Clara, +take her to bed, and comfort her. Heaven grant that she may dream away +the recollection of the Boston Massacre!" + +"Grandfather," said Charley, when Clara and little Alice had retired, +"did not the people rush upon the soldiers, and take revenge?" + +"The town drums beat to arms," replied Grandfather, "the alarm bells +rang, and an immense multitude rushed into King Street. Many of them had +weapons in their hands. The British prepared to defend themselves. A +whole regiment was drawn up in the street, expecting an attack; for the +townsmen appeared ready to throw themselves upon the bayonets." + +"And how did it end?" asked Charley. + +"Governor Hutchinson hurried to the spot," said Grandfather, "and +besought the people to have patience, promising that strict justice +should be done. A day or two afterward, the British troops were +withdrawn from town, and stationed at Castle William. Captain Preston +and the eight soldiers were tried for murder. But none of them were +found guilty. The judges told the jury that the insults and violence +which had been offered to the soldiers, justified them in firing at the +mob." + +"The Revolution," observed Laurence, who had said but little during the +evening, "was not such a calm, majestic movement as I supposed. I do not +love to hear of mobs and broils in the street. These things were +unworthy of the people, when they had such a great object to +accomplish." + +"Nevertheless, the world has seen no grander movement than that of our +Revolution, from first to last," said Grandfather. "The people, to a +man, were full of a great and noble sentiment. True, there may be much +fault to find with their mode of expressing this sentiment; but they +knew no better--the necessity was upon them to act out their feelings, +in the best manner they could. We must forgive what was wrong in their +actions, and look into their hearts and minds for the honorable motives +that impelled them." + +"And I suppose," said Laurence, "there were men who knew how to act +worthily of what they felt." + +"There were many such," replied Grandfather, "and we will speak of some +of them, hereafter." + +Grandfather here made a pause. That night, Charley had a dream about +the Boston Massacre, and thought that he himself was in the crowd, and +struck down Captain Preston with a great club. Laurence dreamed that he +was sitting in our great chair, at the window of the British Coffee +House, and beheld the whole scene which Grandfather had described. It +seemed to him, in his dream, that if the town's-people and the soldiers +would but have heard him speak a single word, all the slaughter might +have been averted. But there was such an uproar that it drowned his +voice. + +The next morning, the two boys went together to State Street, and stood +on the very spot where the first blood of the Revolution had been shed. +The Old State House was still there, presenting almost the same aspect +that it had worn on that memorable evening, one-and-seventy years ago. +It is the sole remaining witness of the Boston Massacre. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +The next evening the astral lamp was lighted earlier than usual, because +Laurence was very much engaged in looking over the collection of +portraits which had been his New Year's gift from Grandfather. + +Among them he found the features of more than one famous personage who +had been connected with the adventures of our old chair. Grandfather +bade him draw the table nearer to the fire-side; and they looked over +the portraits together, while Clara and Charley likewise lent their +attention. As for little Alice, she sat in Grandfather's lap, and seemed +to see the very men alive, whose faces were there represented. + +Turning over the volume, Laurence came to the portrait of a stern, +grim-looking man, in plain attire, of much more modern fashion than that +of the old Puritans. But the face might well have befitted one of those +iron-hearted men. Beneath the portrait was the name of Samuel Adams. + +"He was a man of great note in all the doings that brought about the +Revolution," said Grandfather. "His character was such, that it seemed +as if one of the ancient Puritans had been sent back to earth, to +animate the people's hearts with the same abhorrence of tyranny, that +had distinguished the earliest settlers. He was as religious as they, as +stern and inflexible, and as deeply imbued with democratic principles. +He, better than any one else, may be taken as a representative of the +people of New England, and of the spirit with which they engaged in the +revolutionary struggle. He was a poor man, and earned his bread by an +humble occupation; but with his tongue and pen, he made the king of +England tremble on his throne. Remember him, my children, as one of the +strong men of our country." + +"Here is one whose looks show a very different character," observed +Laurence, turning to the portrait of John Hancock. "I should think, by +his splendid dress and courtly aspect, that he was one of the king's +friends." + +"There never was a greater contrast than between Samuel Adams and John +Hancock," said Grandfather. "Yet they were of the same side in politics, +and had an equal agency in the Revolution. Hancock was born to the +inheritance of the largest fortune in New England. His tastes and habits +were aristocratic. He loved gorgeous attire, a splendid mansion, +magnificent furniture, stately festivals, and all that was glittering +and pompous in external things. His manners were so polished, that there +stood not a nobleman at the footstool of King George's throne, who was a +more skilful courtier than John Hancock might have been. Nevertheless, +he, in his embroidered clothes, and Samuel Adams in his threadbare coat, +wrought together in the cause of liberty. Adams acted from pure and +rigid principle. Hancock, though he loved his country, yet thought quite +as much of his own popularity as he did of the people's rights. It is +remarkable, that these two men, so very different as I describe them, +were the only two exempted from pardon by the king's proclamation." + +On the next leaf of the book, was the portrait of General Joseph Warren. +Charley recognized the name, and said that here was a greater man than +either Hancock or Adams. + +"Warren was an eloquent and able patriot," replied Grandfather. "He +deserves a lasting memory for his zealous efforts in behalf of liberty. +No man's voice was more powerful in Faneuil Hall than Joseph Warren's. +If his death had not happened so early in the contest, he would probably +have gained a high name as a soldier." + +The next portrait was a venerable man, who held his thumb under his +chin, and, through his spectacles, appeared to be attentively reading a +manuscript. + +"Here we see the most illustrious Boston boy that ever lived," said +Grandfather. "This is Benjamin Franklin! But I will not try to compress, +into a few sentences, the character of the sage, who, as a Frenchman +expressed it, snatched the lightning from the sky, and the sceptre from +a tyrant. Mr. Sparks must help you to the knowledge of Franklin." + +The book likewise contained portraits of James Otis and Josiah Quincy. +Both of them, Grandfather observed, were men of wonderful talents and +true patriotism. Their voices were like the stirring tones of a trumpet, +arousing the country to defend its freedom. Heaven seemed to have +provided a greater number of eloquent men than had appeared at any other +period, in order that the people might be fully instructed as to their +wrongs, and the method of resistance. + +"It is marvellous," said Grandfather, "to see how many powerful writers, +orators, and soldiers started up, just at the time when they were +wanted. There was a man for every kind of work. It is equally wonderful, +that men of such different characters were all made to unite in the one +object of establishing the freedom and independence of America. There +was an overruling Providence above them." + +"Here was another great man," remarked Laurence, pointing to the +portrait of John Adams. + +"Yes; an earnest, warm-tempered, honest, and most able man," said +Grandfather. "At the period of which we are now speaking, he was a +lawyer in Boston. He was destined, in after years, to be ruler over the +whole American people, whom he contributed so much to form into a +nation." + +Grandfather here remarked, that many a New Englander, who had passed +his boyhood and youth in obscurity, afterward attained to a fortune, +which he never could have foreseen, even in his most ambitious dreams. +John Adams, the second president of the United States, and the equal of +crowned kings, was once a schoolmaster and country lawyer. Hancock, the +first signer of the Declaration of Independence, served his +apprenticeship with a merchant. Samuel Adams, afterward governor of +Massachusetts, was a small tradesman and a tax-gatherer. General Warren +was a physician, General Lincoln a farmer, and General Knox a +bookbinder. General Nathaniel Greene, the best soldier, except +Washington, in the revolutionary army, was a Quaker and a blacksmith. +All these became illustrious men, and can never be forgotten in American +history. + +"And any boy, who is born in America, may look forward to the same +things," said our ambitious friend Charley. + +After these observations, Grandfather drew the book of portraits towards +him, and showed the children several British peers and members of +Parliament, who had exerted themselves either for or against the rights +of America. There were the Earl of Bute, Mr. Grenville, and Lord North. +These were looked upon as deadly enemies to our country. + +Among the friends of America was Mr. Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham, +who spent so much of his wondrous eloquence in endeavoring to warn +England of the consequences of her injustice. He fell down on the floor +of the House of Lords, after uttering almost his dying words in defence +of our privileges as freemen. There was Edmund Burke, one of the wisest +men and greatest orators that ever the world produced. There was Colonel +Barré, who had been among our fathers, and knew that they had courage +enough to die for their rights. There was Charles James Fox, who never +rested until he had silenced our enemies in the House of Commons. + +"It is very remarkable to observe how many of the ablest orators in the +British Parliament were favorable to America," said Grandfather. "We +ought to remember these great Englishmen with gratitude; for their +speeches encouraged our fathers, almost as much as those of our own +orators, in Faneuil Hall, and under Liberty Tree. Opinions, which might +have been received with doubt, if expressed only by a native American, +were set down as true, beyond dispute, when they came from the lips of +Chatham, Burke, Barré, or Fox." + +"But, Grandfather," asked Laurence, "were there no able and eloquent men +in this country who took the part of King George?" + +"There were many men of talent, who said what they could in defence of +the king's tyrannical proceedings," replied Grandfather. "But they had +the worst side of the argument, and therefore seldom said any thing +worth remembering. Moreover their hearts were faint and feeble; for they +felt that the people scorned and detested them. They had no friends, no +defence, except in the bayonets of the British troops. A blight fell +upon all their faculties, because they were contending against the +rights of their own native land." + +"What were the names of some of them?" inquired Charley. + +"Governor Hutchinson, Chief Justice Oliver, Judge Auchmuty, the Reverend +Mather Byles, and several other clergymen, were among the most noted +loyalists," answered Grandfather. + +"I wish the people had tarred and feathered every man of them!" cried +Charley. + +"That wish is very wrong, Charley," said Grandfather. "You must not +think that there was no integrity and honor, except among those who +stood up for the freedom of America. For aught I know, there was quite +as much of these qualities on one side as on the other. Do you see +nothing admirable in a faithful adherence to an unpopular cause? Can you +not respect that principle of loyalty, which made the royalists give up +country, friends, fortune, every thing, rather than be false to their +king? It was a mistaken principle; but many of them cherished it +honorably, and were martyrs to it." + +"Oh, I was wrong!" said Charley, ingenuously. "And I would risk my life, +rather than one of those good old royalists should be tarred and +feathered." + +"The time is now come, when we may judge fairly of them," continued +Grandfather. "Be the good and true men among them honored; for they were +as much our countrymen as the patriots were. And, thank Heaven! our +country need not be ashamed of her sons--of most of them, at +least--whatever side they took in the revolutionary contest." + +Among the portraits was one of King George the Third. Little Alice +clapped her hands, and seemed pleased with the bluff good nature of his +physiognomy. But Laurence thought it strange, that a man with such a +face, indicating hardly a common share of intellect, should have had +influence enough on human affairs, to convulse the world with war. +Grandfather observed, that this poor king had always appeared to him one +of the most unfortunate persons that ever lived. He was so honest and +conscientious, that, if he had been only a private man, his life would +probably have been blameless and happy. But his was that worst of +fortunes, to be placed in a station far beyond his abilities. + +"And so," said Grandfather, "his life, while he retained what intellect +Heaven had gifted him with, was one long mortification. At last, he grew +crazed with care and trouble. For nearly twenty years, the monarch of +England was confined as a madman. In his old age, too, God took away his +eyesight; so that his royal palace was nothing to him but a dark, +lonesome prison-house." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +"Our old chair," resumed Grandfather, "did not now stand in the midst of +a gay circle of British officers. The troops, as I told you, had been +removed to Castle William, immediately after the Boston Massacre. Still, +however, there were many tories, custom-house officers, and Englishmen, +who used to assemble in the British Coffee House, and talk over the +affairs of the period. Matters grew worse and worse; and in 1773, the +people did a deed, which incensed the king and ministry more than any of +their former doings." + +Grandfather here described the affair, which is known by the name of the +Boston Tea Party. The Americans, for some time past, had left off +importing tea, on account of the oppressive tax. The East India Company, +in London, had a large stock of tea on hand, which they had expected to +sell to the Americans, but could find no market for it. But, after a +while, the government persuaded this company of merchants to send the +tea to America. + +"How odd it is," observed Clara, "that the liberties of America should +have had any thing to do with a cup of tea!" + +Grandfather smiled, and proceeded with his narrative. When the people of +Boston heard that several cargoes of tea were coming across the +Atlantic, they held a great many meetings at Faneuil Hall, in the Old +South church, and under Liberty Tree. In the midst of their debates, +three ships arrived in the harbor with the tea on board. The people +spent more than a fortnight in consulting what should be done. At last, +on the 16th of December, 1773, they demanded of Governor Hutchinson, +that he should immediately send the ships back to England. + +The governor replied that the ships must not leave the harbor, until the +custom-house duties upon the tea should be paid. Now, the payment of +these duties was the very thing, against which the people had set their +faces; because it was a tax, unjustly imposed upon America by the +English government. Therefore, in the dusk of the evening, as soon as +Governor Hutchinson's reply was received, an immense crowd hastened to +Griffin's Wharf, where the tea-ships lay. The place is now called +Liverpool Wharf. + +"When the crowd reached the wharf," said Grandfather, "they saw that a +set of wild-looking figures were already on board of the ships. You +would have imagined that the Indian warriors, of old times, had come +back again; for they wore the Indian dress, and had their faces covered +with red and black paint, like the Indians, when they go to war. These +grim figures hoisted the tea chests on the decks of the vessels, broke +them open, and threw all the contents into the harbor." + +"Grandfather," said little Alice, "I suppose Indians don't love tea; +else they would never waste it so." + +"They were not real Indians, my child," answered Grandfather. "They were +white men, in disguise; because a heavy punishment would have been +inflicted on them, if the king's officers had found who they were. But +it was never known. From that day to this, though the matter has been +talked of by all the world, nobody can tell the names of those Indian +figures. Some people say that there were very famous men among them, who +afterwards became governors and generals. Whether this be true, I cannot +tell." + +When tidings of this bold deed were carried to England, King George was +greatly enraged. Parliament immediately passed an act, by which all +vessels were forbidden to take in or discharge their cargoes at the port +of Boston. In this way, they expected to ruin all the merchants, and +starve the poor people, by depriving them of employment. At the same +time, another act was passed, taking away many rights and privileges +which had been granted in the charter of Massachusetts. + +Governor Hutchinson, soon afterward, was summoned to England, in order +that he might give his advice about the management of American affairs. +General Gage, an officer of the Old French War, and since +commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, was appointed +governor in his stead. One of his first acts, was to make Salem, instead +of Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, by summoning the General +Court to meet there. + +According to Grandfather's description, this was the most gloomy time +that Massachusetts had ever seen. The people groaned under as heavy a +tyranny as in the days of Sir Edmund Andros. Boston looked as if it were +afflicted with some dreadful pestilence,--so sad were the inhabitants, +and so desolate the streets. There was no cheerful hum of business. The +merchants shut up their warehouses, and the laboring men stood idle +about the wharves. But all America felt interested in the good town of +Boston; and contributions were raised, in many places, for the relief of +the poor inhabitants. + +"Our dear old chair!" exclaimed Clara. "How dismal it must have been +now!" + +"Oh," replied Grandfather, "a gay throng of officers had now come back +to the British Coffee House; so that the old chair had no lack of +mirthful company. Soon after General Gage became governor, a great many +troops had arrived, and were encamped upon the Common. Boston was now a +garrisoned and fortified town; for the general had built a battery +across the neck, on the road to Roxbury, and placed guards for its +defence. Every thing looked as if a civil war were close at hand." + +"Did the people make ready to fight?" asked Charley. + +"A continental Congress assembled at Philadelphia," said Grandfather, +"and proposed such measures as they thought most conducive to the +public good. A provincial Congress was likewise chosen in Massachusetts. +They exhorted the people to arm and discipline themselves. A great +number of minute men were enrolled. The Americans called them minute +men, because they engaged to be ready to fight at a minute's warning. +The English officers laughed, and said that the name was a very proper +one, because the minute men would run away the the minute they saw the +enemy. Whether they would fight or run, was soon to be proved." + +Grandfather told the children, that the first open resistance offered to +the British troops, in the province of Massachusetts was at Salem. +Colonel Timothy Pickering, with thirty or forty militia men, prevented +the English colonel, Leslie, with four times as many regular soldiers, +from taking possession of some military stores. No blood was shed on +this occasion; but, soon afterward, it began to flow. + +General Gage sent eight hundred soldiers to Concord, about eighteen +miles from Boston, to destroy some ammunition and provisions which the +colonists had collected there. They set out on their march in the +evening of the 18th of April, 1775. The next morning, the General sent +Lord Percy, with nine hundred men, to strengthen the troops which had +gone before. All that day, the inhabitants of Boston heard various +rumors. Some said, that the British were making great slaughter among +our countrymen. Others affirmed that every man had turned out with his +musket, and that not a single soldier would ever get back to Boston. + +"It was after sunset," continued Grandfather, "when the troops, who had +marched forth so proudly, were seen entering Charlestown. They were +covered with dust, and so hot and weary that their tongues hung out of +their mouths. Many of them were faint with wounds. They had not all +returned. Nearly three hundred were strewn, dead or dying, along the +road from Concord. The yeomanry had risen upon the invaders, and driven +them back." + +"Was this the battle of Lexington?" asked Charley. + +"Yes," replied Grandfather; "it was so called, because the British, +without provocation, had fired upon a party of minute men, near +Lexington meeting-house, and killed eight of them. That fatal volley, +which was fired by order of Major Pitcairn, began the war of the +Revolution." + +About this time, if Grandfather had been correctly informed, our chair +disappeared from the British Coffee House. The manner of its departure +cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. Perhaps the keeper of the Coffee +House turned it out of doors, on account of its old-fashioned aspect. +Perhaps he sold it as a curiosity. Perhaps it was taken, without leave, +by some person who regarded it as public property, because it had once +figured under Liberty Tree. Or, perhaps, the old chair, being of a +peaceable disposition, had made use of its four oaken legs, and run away +from the seat of war. + +"It would have made a terrible clattering over the pavement," said +Charley, laughing. + +"Meanwhile," continued Grandfather, "during the mysterious +non-appearance of our chair, an army of twenty thousand men had started +up, and come to the siege of Boston. General Gage and his troops were +cooped up within the narrow precincts of the peninsula. On the 17th of +June, 1775, the famous battle of Bunker Hill was fought. Here General +Warren fell. The British got the victory, indeed, but with the loss of +more than a thousand officers and men." + +"O, Grandfather," cried Charley, "you must tell us about that famous +battle." + +"No, Charley," said Grandfather, "I am not like other historians. +Battles shall not hold a prominent place in the history of our quiet and +comfortable old chair. But, to-morrow evening, Laurence, Clara, and +yourself, and dear little Alice too, shall visit the Diorama of Bunker +Hill. There you shall see the whole business, the burning of Charlestown +and all, with your own eyes, and hear the cannon and musketry with your +own ears." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The next evening but one, when the children had given Grandfather a full +account of the Diorama of Bunker Hill, they entreated him not to keep +them any longer in suspense about the fate of his chair. The reader will +recollect, that at the last accounts, it had trotted away upon its poor +old legs, nobody knew whither. But, before gratifying their curiosity, +Grandfather found it necessary to say something about public events. + +The continental Congress, which was assembled at Philadelphia, was +composed of delegates from all the colonies. They had now appointed +George Washington, of Virginia, to be commander-in-chief of all the +American armies. He was, at that time, a member of Congress, but +immediately left Philadelphia, and began his journey to Massachusetts. +On the 3d of July, 1775, he arrived at Cambridge, and took command of +the troops which were besieging General Gage. + +"O, Grandfather," exclaimed Laurence, "it makes my heart throb to think +what is coming now. We are to see General Washington himself." + +The children crowded around Grandfather, and looked earnestly into his +face. Even little Alice opened her sweet blue eyes, with her lips +apart, and almost held her breath to listen; so instinctive is the +reverence of childhood for the father of his country. Grandfather paused +a moment; for he felt as if it might be irreverent to introduce the +hallowed shade of Washington into a history, where an ancient elbow +chair occupied the most prominent place. However, he determined to +proceed with his narrative, and speak of the hero when it was needful, +but with an unambitious simplicity. + +So Grandfather told his auditors, that, on General Washington's arrival +at Cambridge, his first care was, to reconnoitre the British troops with +his spy-glass, and to examine the condition of his own army. He found +that the American troops amounted to about fourteen thousand men. They +were extended all round the peninsula of Boston, a space of twelve +miles, from the high grounds of Roxbury on the right, to Mystic river on +the left. Some were living in tents of sail-cloth, some in shanties, +rudely constructed of boards, some in huts of stone or turf, with +curious windows and doors of basket-work. + +In order to be near the centre, and oversee the whole of this +wide-stretched army, the commander-in-chief made his head-quarters at +Cambridge, about half a mile from the colleges. A mansion-house, which +perhaps had been the country-seat of some tory gentleman, was provided +for his residence. + +"When General Washington first entered this mansion," said Grandfather, +"he was ushered up the stair-case, and shown into a handsome apartment. +He sat down in a large chair, which was the most conspicuous object in +the room. The noble figure of Washington would have done honor to a +throne. As he sat there, with his hand resting on the hilt of his +sheathed sword, which was placed between his knees, his whole aspect +well befitted the chosen man on whom his country leaned for the defence +of her dearest rights. America seemed safe, under his protection. His +face was grander than any sculptor had ever wrought in marble; none +could behold him without awe and reverence. Never before had the lion's +head, at the summit of the chair, looked down upon such a face and form +as Washington's!" + +"Why! Grandfather," cried Clara, clasping her hands in amazement, "was +it really so? Did General Washington sit in our great chair?" + +"I knew how it would be," said Laurence; "I foresaw it, the moment +Grandfather began to speak." + +Grandfather smiled. But, turning from the personal and domestic life of +the illustrious leader, he spoke of the methods which Washington adopted +to win back the metropolis of New England from the British. + +The army, when he took command of it, was without any discipline or +order. The privates considered themselves as good as their officers, and +seldom thought it necessary to obey their commands, unless they +understood the why and wherefore. Moreover, they were enlisted for so +short a period, that, as soon as they began to be respectable soldiers, +it was time to discharge them. Then came new recruits, who had to be +taught their duty, before they could be of any service. Such was the +army, with which Washington had to contend against more than twenty +veteran British regiments. + +Some of the men had no muskets, and almost all were without bayonets. +Heavy cannon, for battering the British fortifications, were much +wanted. There was but a small quantity of powder and ball, few tools to +build entrenchments with, and a great deficiency of provisions and +clothes for the soldiers. Yet, in spite of these perplexing +difficulties, the eyes of the whole people were fixed on General +Washington, expecting him to undertake some great enterprise against the +hostile army. + +The first thing that he found necessary, was to bring his own men into +better order and discipline. It is wonderful how soon he transformed +this rough mob of country people into the semblance of a regular army. +One of Washington's most invaluable characteristics, was the faculty of +bringing order out of confusion. All business, with which he had any +concern, seemed to regulate itself, as if by magic. The influence of his +mind was like light, gleaming through an unshaped world. It was this +faculty, more than any other, that made him so fit to ride upon the +storm of the Revolution, when every thing was unfixed, and drifting +about in a troubled sea. + +"Washington had not been long at the head of the army," proceeded +Grandfather, "before his soldiers thought as highly of him, as if he had +led them to a hundred victories. They knew that he was the very man whom +the country needed, and the only one who could bring them safely through +the great contest against the might of England. They put entire +confidence in his courage, wisdom, and integrity." + +"And were not they eager to follow him against the British?" asked +Charley. + +"Doubtless they would have gone whithersoever his sword pointed the +way," answered Grandfather; "and Washington was anxious to make a +decisive assault upon the enemy. But as the enterprise was very +hazardous, he called a council of all the generals in the army. +Accordingly, they came from their different posts, and were ushered into +the reception room. The commander-in-chief arose from our great chair to +greet them." + +"What were their names?" asked Charley. + +"There was General Artemas Ward," replied Grandfather, a "lawyer by +profession. He had commanded the troops before Washington's arrival. +Another was General Charles Lee, who had been a colonel in the English +army, and was thought to possess vast military science. He came to the +council, followed by two or three dogs, who were always at his heels. +There was General Putnam, too, who was known all over New England by the +name of Old Put." + +"Was it he who killed the wolf?" inquired Charley. + +"The same," said Grandfather; "and he had done good service in the Old +French War. His occupation was that of a farmer; but he left his plough +in the furrow, at the news of Lexington battle. Then there was General +Gates, who afterward gained great renown at Saratoga, and lost it again +at Camden. General Greene, of Rhode Island, was likewise at the council. +Washington soon discovered him to be one of the best officers in the +army." + +When the Generals were all assembled, Washington consulted them about a +plan for storming the English batteries. But it was their unanimous +opinion that so perilous an enterprise ought not to be attempted. The +army, therefore, continued to besiege Boston, preventing the enemy from +obtaining supplies of provisions, but without taking any immediate +measures to get possession of the town. In this manner, the summer, +autumn, and winter passed away. + +"Many a night, doubtless," said Grandfather, "after Washington had been +all day on horseback, galloping from one post of the army to another, he +used to sit in our great chair, wrapt in earnest thought. Had you seen +him, you might have supposed that his whole mind was fixed on the blue +china tiles, which adorned the old fashioned fire-place. But, in +reality, he was meditating how to capture the British army, or drive it +out of Boston. Once, when there was a hard frost, he formed a scheme to +cross the Charles River on the ice. But the other Generals could not be +persuaded that there was any prospect of success." + +"What were the British doing, all this time?" inquired Charley. + +"They lay idle in the town," replied Grandfather. "General Gage had been +recalled to England, and was succeeded by Sir William Howe. The British +army, and the inhabitants of Boston, were now in great distress. Being +shut up in the town so long, they had consumed almost all their +provisions, and burnt up all their fuel. The soldiers tore down the Old +North church, and used its rotten boards and timbers for fire-wood. To +heighten their distress, the small pox broke out. They probably lost far +more men by cold, hunger, and sickness, than had been slain at Lexington +and Bunker Hill." + +"What a dismal time for the poor women and children!" exclaimed Clara. + +"At length," continued Grandfather, "in March, 1776, General Washington, +who had now a good supply of powder, began a terrible cannonade and +bombardment from Dorchester heights. One of the cannon balls which he +fired into the town, struck the tower of the Brattle Street church, +where it may still be seen. Sir William Howe made preparations to cross +over in boats, and drive the Americans from their batteries, but was +prevented by a violent gale and storm. General Washington next erected a +battery on Nook's hill, so near the enemy, that it was impossible for +them to remain in Boston any longer." + +"Hurra! Hurra!" cried Charley, clapping his hands triumphantly. "I wish +I had been there, to see how sheepish the Englishmen looked." + +And, as Grandfather thought that Boston had never witnessed a more +interesting period than this, when the royal power was in its death +agony, he determined to take a peep into the town, and imagine the +feelings of those who were quitting it forever. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +"Alas! for the poor tories!" said Grandfather. "Until the very last +morning after Washington's troops had shown themselves on Nook's hill, +these unfortunate persons could not believe that the audacious rebels, +as they called the Americans, would ever prevail against King George's +army. But, when they saw the British soldiers preparing to embark on +board of the ships of war, then they knew that they had lost their +country. Could the patriots have known how bitter were their regrets, +they would have forgiven them all their evil deeds, and sent a blessing +after them as they sailed away from their native shore." + +In order to make the children sensible of the pitiable condition of +these men, Grandfather singled out Peter Oliver, chief justice of +Massachusetts under the crown, and imagined him walking through the +streets of Boston, on the morning before he left it forever. + +This effort of Grandfather's fancy may be called-- + + +THE TORY'S FAREWELL. + +Old Chief Justice Oliver threw on his red cloak, and placed his +three-cornered hat on the top of his white wig. In this garb he intended +to go forth and take a parting look at objects that had been familiar +to him from his youth. Accordingly, he began his walk in the north part +of the town, and soon came to Faneuil Hall. This edifice, the cradle of +liberty, had been used by the British officers as a play-house. + +"Would that I could see its walls crumble to dust!" thought the chief +justice; and, in the bitterness of his heart, he shook his fist at the +famous hall. "There began the mischief which now threatens to rend +asunder the British empire. The seditious harangues of demagogues in +Faneuil Hall, have made rebels of a loyal people, and deprived me of my +country." + +He then passed through a narrow avenue, and found himself in King +Street, almost in the very spot which, six years before, had been +reddened by the blood of the Boston Massacre. The chief justice stept +cautiously, and shuddered, as if he were afraid, that, even now, the +gore of his slaughtered countrymen might stain his feet. + +Before him rose the town house, on the front of which were still +displayed the royal arms. Within that edifice he had dispensed justice +to the people, in the days when his name was never mentioned without +honor. There, too, was the balcony whence the trumpet had been sounded, +and the proclamation read to an assembled multitude, whenever a new king +of England ascended the throne. + +"I remember--I remember," said Chief Justice Oliver to himself, "when +his present most sacred majesty was proclaimed. Then how the people +shouted. Each man would have poured out his life-blood to keep a hair of +King George's head from harm. But now, there is scarcely a tongue in all +New England that does not imprecate curses on his name. It is ruin and +disgrace to love him. Can it be possible that a few fleeting years have +wrought such a change!" + +It did not occur to the chief justice, that nothing but the most +grievous tyranny could so soon have changed the people's hearts. +Hurrying from the spot, he entered Cornhill, as the lower part of +Washington Street was then called. Opposite to the town house was the +waste foundation of the Old North church. The sacrilegious hands of the +British soldiers had torn it down, and kindled their barrack fires with +the fragments. + +Further on, he passed beneath the tower of the Old South. The threshold +of this sacred edifice was worn by the iron tramp of horse's feet: for +the interior had been used as a riding-school and rendezvous, for a +regiment of dragoons. As the chief justice lingered an instant at the +door, a trumpet sounded within, and the regiment came clattering forth, +and galloped down the street. They were proceeding to the place of +embarkation. + +"Let them go!" thought the chief justice, with somewhat of an old +puritan feeling in his breast. "No good can come of men who desecrate +the house of God." + +He went on a few steps further, and paused before the Province House. +No range of brick stores had then sprung up to hide the mansion of the +royal governors from public view. It had a spacious court-yard, bordered +with trees, and enclosed with a wrought-iron fence. On the cupola, that +surmounted the edifice, was the gilded figure of an Indian chief, ready +to let fly an arrow from his bow. Over the wide front door was a +balcony, in which the chief justice had often stood, when the governor +and high officers of the province showed themselves to the people. + +While Chief Justice Oliver gazed sadly at the Province House, before +which a sentinel was pacing, the double leaves of the door were thrown +open, and Sir William Howe made his appearance. Behind him came a throng +of officers, whose steel scabbards clattered against the stones, as they +hastened down the court-yard. Sir William Howe was a dark-complexioned +man, stern and haughty in his deportment. He stepped as proudly, in that +hour of defeat, as if he were going to receive the submission of the +rebel general. + +The chief justice bowed and accosted him. + +"This is a grievous hour for both of us, Sir William," said he. + +"Forward! gentlemen," said Sir William Howe to the officers who attended +him: "we have no time to hear lamentations now!" + +And, coldly bowing, he departed. Thus, the chief justice had a +foretaste of the mortifications which the exiled New Englanders +afterwards suffered from the haughty Britons. They were despised even by +that country which they had served more faithfully than their own. + +A still heavier trial awaited Chief Justice Oliver, as he passed onward +from the Province House. He was recognized by the people in the street. +They had long known him as the descendant of an ancient and honorable +family. They had seen him sitting, in his scarlet robes, upon the +judgment seat. All his life long, either for the sake of his ancestors, +or on account of his own dignified station and unspotted character, he +had been held in high respect. The old gentry of the province were +looked upon almost as noblemen, while Massachusetts was under royal +government. + +But now, all hereditary reverence for birth and rank was gone. The +inhabitants shouted in derision, when they saw the venerable form of the +old chief justice. They laid the wrongs of the country, and their own +sufferings during the siege--their hunger, cold, and sickness--partly to +his charge, and to that of his brother Andrew, and his kinsman +Hutchinson. It was by their advice that the king had acted, in all the +colonial troubles. But the day of recompense was come. + +"See the old tory!" cried the people, with bitter laughter. "He is +taking his last look at us. Let him show his white wig among us an hour +hence, and we'll give him a coat of tar and feathers!" + +The chief justice, however, knew that he need fear no violence, so long +as the British troops were in possession of the town. But alas! it was a +bitter thought, that he should leave no loving memory behind him. His +forefathers, long after their spirits left the earth, had been honored +in the affectionate remembrance of the people. But he, who would +henceforth be dead to his native land, would have no epitaph save +scornful and vindictive words. The old man wept. + +"They curse me--they invoke all kinds of evil on my head!" thought he, +in the midst of his tears. "But, if they could read my heart, they would +know that I love New England well. Heaven bless her, and bring her again +under the rule of our gracious king! A blessing, too, on these poor, +misguided people!" + +The chief justice flung out his hands with a gesture, as if he were +bestowing a parting benediction on his countrymen. He had now reached +the southern portion of the town, and was far within the range of cannon +shot from the American batteries. Close beside him was the broad stump +of a tree, which appeared to have been recently cut down. Being weary +and heavy at heart, he was about to sit down upon the stump. + +Suddenly, it flashed upon his recollection, that this was the stump of +Liberty Tree! The British soldiers had cut it down, vainly boasting that +they could as easily overthrow the liberties of America. Under its +shadowy branches, ten years before, the brother of Chief Justice Oliver +had been compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of the people, by taking +the oath which they prescribed. This tree was connected with all the +events that had severed America from England. + +"Accursed tree!" cried the chief justice, gnashing his teeth: for anger +overcame his sorrow. "Would that thou hadst been left standing, till +Hancock, Adams, and every other traitor, were hanged upon thy branches! +Then fitly mightest thou have been hewn down, and cast into the flames." + +He turned back, hurried to Long Wharf without looking behind him, +embarked with the British troops for Halifax, and never saw his country +more. Throughout the remainder of his days, Chief Justice Oliver was +agitated with those same conflicting emotions, that had tortured him, +while taking his farewell walk through the streets of Boston. Deep love +and fierce resentment burned in one flame within his breast. Anathemas +struggled with benedictions. He felt as if one breath of his native air +would renew his life, yet would have died, rather than breathe the same +air with rebels. + +And such, likewise, were the feelings of the other exiles, a thousand +in number, who departed with the British army. Were they not the most +unfortunate of men? + + * * * * * + +"The misfortunes of these exiled tories," observed Laurence, "must have +made them think of the poor exiles of Acadia." + +"They had a sad time of it, I suppose," said Charley. "But I choose to +rejoice with the patriots, rather than be sorrowful with the tories. +Grandfather, what did General Washington do now?" + +"As the rear of the British army embarked from the wharf," replied +Grandfather, "General Washington's troops marched over the neck, through +the fortification gates, and entered Boston in triumph. And now, for the +first time since the pilgrims landed, Massachusetts was free from the +dominion of England. May she never again be subjected to foreign +rule--never again feel the rod of oppression!" + +"Dear Grandfather," asked little Alice, "did General Washington bring +our chair back to Boston?" + +"I know not how long the chair remained at Cambridge," said Grandfather. +"Had it staid there till this time, it could not have found a better or +more appropriate shelter. The mansion which General Washington occupied +is still standing; and his apartments have since been tenanted by +several eminent men. Governor Everett, while a professor in the +university, resided there. So at an after period, did Mr. Sparks, whose +invaluable labors have connected his name with the immortality of +Washington. And, at this very time, a venerable friend and contemporary +of your Grandfather, after long pilgrimages beyond the sea, has set up +his staff of rest at Washington's head-quarters." + +"You mean Professor Longfellow, Grandfather," said Laurence. "Oh, how I +should love to see the author of those beautiful VOICES OF THE NIGHT!" + +"We will visit him next summer," answered Grandfather, "and take Clara +and little Alice with us--and Charley, too, if he will be quiet." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +When Grandfather resumed his narrative, the next evening, he told the +children that he had some difficulty in tracing the movements of the +chair, during a short period after General Washington's departure from +Cambridge. + +Within a few months, however, it made its appearance at a shop in +Boston, before the door of which was seen a striped pole. In the +interior was displayed a stuffed alligator, a rattlesnake's skin, a +bundle of Indian arrows, an old-fashioned matchlock gun, a walking-stick +of Governor Winthrop's, a wig of old Cotton Mather's, and a colored +print of the Boston Massacre. In short, it was a barber's shop, kept by +a Mr. Pierce, who prided himself on having shaved General Washington, +Old Put, and many other famous persons. + +"This was not a very dignified situation for our venerable chair," +continued Grandfather; "but, you know, there is no better place for +news, than a barber's shop. All the events of the revolutionary war were +heard of there, sooner than anywhere else. People used to sit in the +chair, reading the newspaper or talking, and waiting to be shaved, +while Mr. Pierce with his scissors and razor, was at work upon the +heads or chins of his other customers." + +"I am sorry the chair could not betake itself to some more suitable +place of refuge," said Laurence. "It was old now, and must have longed +for quiet. Besides, after it had held Washington in its arms, it ought +not to have been compelled to receive all the world. It should have been +put into the pulpit of the Old South Church, or some other consecrated +place." + +"Perhaps so," answered Grandfather. "But the chair, in the course of its +varied existence, had grown so accustomed to general intercourse with +society, that I doubt whether it would have contented itself in the +pulpit of the Old South. There it would have stood solitary, or with no +livelier companion than the silent organ, in the opposite gallery, six +days out of seven. I incline to think, that it had seldom been situated +more to its mind, than on the sanded floor of the snug little barber's +shop." + +Then Grandfather amused his children and himself, with fancying all the +different sorts of people who had occupied our chair, while they awaited +the leisure of the barber. + +There was the old clergyman, such as Dr. Chauncey, wearing a white wig, +which the barber took from his head, and placed upon a wig-block. Half +an hour, perhaps, was spent in combing and powdering this reverend +appendage to a clerical skull. There too, were officers of the +continental army, who required their hair to be pomatumed and +plastered, so as to give them a bold and martial aspect. There, once in +a while, was seen the thin, care-worn, melancholy visage of an old tory, +with a wig that, in times long past, had perhaps figured at a Province +House ball. And there, not unfrequently, sat the rough captain of a +privateer, just returned from a successful cruise, in which he had +captured half a dozen richly laden vessels, belonging to King George's +subjects. And, sometimes, a rosy little school-boy climbed into our +chair, and sat staring, with wide-open eyes, at the alligator, the +rattlesnake, and the other curiosities of the barber's shop. His mother +had sent him, with sixpence in his hand, to get his glossy curls cropped +off. The incidents of the Revolution plentifully supplied the barber's +customers with topics of conversation. They talked sorrowfully of the +death of General Montgomery, and the failure of our troops to take +Quebec; for the New Englanders were now as anxious to get Canada from +the English, as they had formerly been to conquer it from the French. + +"But, very soon," said Grandfather, "came news from Philadelphia, the +most important that America had ever heard of. On the 4th of July, 1776, +Congress had signed the Declaration of Independence. The thirteen +colonies were now free and independent states. Dark as our prospects +were, the inhabitants welcomed these glorious tidings, and resolved to +perish, rather than again bear the yoke of England!" + +"And I would perish too!" cried Charley. + +"It was a great day--a glorious deed!" said Laurence, coloring high +with enthusiasm. "And, Grandfather, I love to think that the sages in +Congress showed themselves as bold and true as the soldiers in the +field. For it must have required more courage to sign the Declaration of +Independence, than to fight the enemy in battle." + +Grandfather acquiesced in Laurence's view of the matter. He then touched +briefly and hastily upon the prominent events of the Revolution. The +thunder-storm of war had now rolled southward, and did not again burst +upon Massachusetts, where its first fury had been felt. But she +contributed her full share to the success of the contest. Wherever a +battle was fought--whether at Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, +Princeton, Brandywine, or German-town--some of her brave sons were found +slain upon the field. + +In October, 1777, General Burgoyne surrendered his army, at Saratoga, to +the American general, Gates. The captured troops were sent to +Massachusetts. Not long afterwards, Doctor Franklin and other American +commissioners made a treaty at Paris, by which France bound herself to +assist our countrymen. The gallant Lafayette was already fighting for +our freedom, by the side of Washington. In 1778, a French fleet, +commanded by Count d'Estaing, spent a considerable time in Boston +Harbor. It marks the vicissitudes of human affairs, that the French, our +ancient enemies, should come hither as comrades and brethren, and that +kindred England should be our foe. + +"While the war was raging in the Middle and Southern States," proceeded +Grandfather, "Massachusetts had leisure to settle a new constitution of +government, instead of the royal charter. This was done in 1780. In the +same year, John Hancock, who had been president of Congress, was chosen +governor of the state. He was the first whom the people had elected, +since the days of old Simon Bradstreet." + +"But, Grandfather, who had been governor since the British were driven +away?" inquired Laurence. "General Gage and Sir William Howe were the +last whom you have told us of." + +"There had been no governor for the last four years," replied +Grandfather. "Massachusetts had been ruled by the legislature, to whom +the people paid obedience of their own accord. It is one of the most +remarkable circumstances in our history, that, when the charter +government was overthrown by the war, no anarchy, nor the slightest +confusion ensued. This was a great honor to the people. But now, Hancock +was proclaimed governor by sound of trumpet; and there was again a +settled government." + +Grandfather again adverted to the progress of the war. In 1781, General +Greene drove the British from the Southern States. In October, of the +same year, General Washington compelled Lord Cornwallis to surrender his +army, at Yorktown, in Virginia. This was the last great event of the +revolutionary contest. King George and his ministers perceived, that all +the might of England could not compel America to renew her allegiance to +the crown. After a great deal of discussion, a treaty of peace was +signed, in September, 1783. + +"Now, at last," said Grandfather, "after weary years of war, the +regiments of Massachusetts returned in peace to their families. Now, the +stately and dignified leaders, such as General Lincoln and General Knox, +with their pondered hair and their uniforms of blue and buff, were seen +moving about the streets." + +"And little boys ran after them, I suppose," remarked Charley; "and the +grown people bowed respectfully." + +"They deserved respect, for they were good men, as well as brave," +answered Grandfather. "Now, too, the inferior officers and privates came +home, to seek some peaceful occupation. Their friends remembered them as +slender and smooth-cheeked young men; but they returned with the erect +and rigid mien of disciplined soldiers. Some hobbled on crutches and +wooden legs; others had received wounds, which were still rankling in +their breasts. Many, alas! had fallen in battle, and perhaps were left +unburied on the bloody field." + +"The country must have been sick of war," observed Laurence. + +"One would have thought so," said Grandfather. "Yet only two or three +years elapsed, before the folly of some misguided men caused another +mustering of soldiers. This affair was called Shays' War, because a +Captain Shays was the chief leader of the insurgents." + +"O Grandfather, don't let there be another war!" cried little Alice, +piteously. + +Grandfather comforted his dear little girl, by assuring her that there +was no great mischief done. Shays's War happened in the latter part of +1786, and the beginning of the following year. Its principal cause was +the badness of the times. The State of Massachusetts, in its public +capacity, was very much in debt. So, likewise, were many of the people. +An insurrection took place, the object of which seems to have been, to +interrupt the course of law, and get rid of debts and taxes. + +James Bowdoin, a good and able man, was now governor of Massachusetts. +He sent General Lincoln, at the head of four thousand men, to put down +the insurrection. This general, who had fought through several hard +campaigns in the Revolution, managed matters like an old soldier, and +totally defeated the rebels, at the expense of very little blood. + +"There is but one more public event to be recorded in the history of our +chair," proceeded Grandfather. "In the year 1794, Samuel Adams was +elected governor of Massachusetts. I have told you what a distinguished +patriot he was, and how much he resembled the stern old Puritans. Could +the ancient freemen of Massachusetts, who lived in the days of the first +charter, have arisen from their graves, they would probably have voted +for Samuel Adams to be governor." + +"Well, Grandfather, I hope he sat in our chair!" said Clara. + +"He did," replied Grandfather. "He had long been in the habit of +visiting the barber's shop, where our venerable chair, philosophically +forgetful of its former dignities, had now spent nearly eighteen not +uncomfortable years. Such a remarkable piece of furniture, so evidently +a relic of long-departed times, could not escape the notice of Samuel +Adams. He made minute researches into its history, and ascertained what +a succession of excellent and famous people had occupied it." + +"How did he find it out?" asked Charley. "For I suppose the chair could +not tell its own history." + +"There used to be a vast collection of ancient letters and other +documents, in the tower of the old South Church," answered Grandfather. +"Perhaps the history of our chair was contained among these. At all +events, Samuel Adams appears to have been well acquainted with it. When +he became governor, he felt that he could have no more honorable seat, +than that which had been the ancient Chair of State. He therefore +purchased it for a trifle, and filled it worthily for three years, as +governor of Massachusetts." + +"And what next?" asked Charley. + +"That is all," said Grandfather, heaving a sigh; for he could not help +being a little sad, at the thought that his stories must close here. +"Samuel Adams died in 1803, at the age of above threescore and ten. He +was a great patriot but a poor man. At his death, he left scarcely +property enough to pay the expenses of his funeral. This precious chair, +among his other effects, was sold at auction; and your Grandfather, who +was then in the strength of his years, became the purchaser." + +Laurence, with a mind full of thoughts, that struggled for expression, +but could find none, looked steadfastly at the chair. + +He had now learned all its history, yet was not satisfied. + +"Oh, how I wish that the chair could speak!" cried he. "After its long +intercourse with mankind--after looking upon the world for ages--what +lessons of golden wisdom it might utter! It might teach a private person +how to lead a good and happy life--or a statesman how to make his +country prosperous!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Grandfather was struck by Laurence's idea, that the historic chair +should utter a voice, and thus pour forth the collected wisdom of two +centuries. The old gentleman had once possessed no inconsiderable share +of fancy; and, even now, its fading sunshine occasionally glimmered +among his more sombre reflections. + +As the history of the chair had exhausted all his facts, Grandfather +determined to have recourse to fable. So, after warning the children +that they must not mistake this story for a true one, he related what we +shall call,-- + + +GRANDFATHER'S DREAM. + +Laurence and Clara, where were you last night? Where were you, Charley, +and dear little Alice? You had all gone to rest, and left old +Grandfather to meditate alone, in his great chair. The lamp had grown so +dim, that its light hardly illuminated the alabaster shade. The wood +fire had crumbled into heavy embers, among which the little flames +danced, and quivered, and sported about, like fairies. + +And here sat Grandfather, all by himself. He knew that it was bedtime; +yet he could not help longing to hear your merry voices, or to hold a +comfortable chat with some old friend; because then his pillow would be +visited by pleasant dreams. But, as neither children nor friends were at +hand, Grandfather leaned back in the great chair, and closed his eyes, +for the sake of meditating more profoundly. + +And, when Grandfather's meditations had grown very profound indeed, he +fancied that he heard a sound over his head, as if somebody were +preparing to speak. + +"Hem!" it said, in a dry, husky tone. "H-e-m! Hem!" + +As Grandfather did not know that any person was in the room, he started +up in great surprise, and peeped hither and thither, behind the chair, +and into the recess by the fireside, and at the dark nook yonder, near +the bookcase. Nobody could he see. + +"Pooh!" said Grandfather to himself, "I must have been dreaming." + +But, just as he was going to resume his seat, Grandfather happened to +look at the great chair. The rays of fire-light were flickering upon it +in such a manner that it really seemed as if its oaken frame were all +alive. What! Did it not move its elbow? There, too! It certainly lifted +one of its ponderous fore-legs, as if it had a notion of drawing itself +a little nearer to the fire. Meanwhile, the lion's head nodded at +Grandfather, with as polite and sociable a look as a lion's visage, +carved in oak, could possibly be expected to assume. Well, this is +strange! + +"Good evening, my old friend," said the dry and husky voice, now a +little clearer than before. "We have been intimately acquainted so long, +that I think it high time we have a chat together." + +Grandfather was looking straight at the lion's head, and could not be +mistaken in supposing that it moved its lips. So here the mystery was +all explained. + +"I was not aware," said Grandfather, with a civil salutation to his +oaken companion, "that you possessed the faculty of speech. Otherwise, I +should often have been glad to converse with such a solid, useful, and +substantial, if not brilliant member of society." + +"Oh!" replied the ancient chair, in a quiet and easy tone, for it had +now cleared its throat of the dust of ages. "I am naturally a silent and +incommunicative sort of character. Once or twice, in the course of a +century, I unclose my lips. When the gentle Lady Arbella departed this +life, I uttered a groan. When the honest mint-master weighed his plump +daughter against the pine-tree shillings, I chuckled audibly at the +joke. When old Simon Bradstreet took the place of the tyrant Andros, I +joined in the general huzza, and capered upon my wooden legs, for joy. +To be sure, the bystanders were so fully occupied with their own +feelings, that my sympathy was quite unnoticed." + +"And have you often held a private chat with your friends?" asked +Grandfather. + +"Not often," answered the chair. "I once talked with Sir William Phips, +and communicated my ideas about the witchcraft delusion. Cotton Mather +had several conversations with me, and derived great benefit from my +historical reminiscences. In the days of the Stamp Act, I whispered in +the ear of Hutchinson, bidding him to remember what stock his countrymen +were descended of, and to think whether the spirit of their forefathers +had utterly departed from them. The last man whom I favored with a +colloquy, was that stout old republican, Samuel Adams." + +"And how happens it," inquired Grandfather, "that there is no record nor +tradition of your conversational abilities? It is an uncommon thing to +meet with a chair that can talk." + +"Why, to tell you the truth," said the chair, giving itself a hitch +nearer to the hearth, "I am not apt to choose the most suitable moments +for unclosing my lips. Sometimes I have inconsiderately begun to speak, +when my occupant, lolling back in my arms, was inclined to take an +after-dinner nap. Or, perhaps, the impulse to talk may be felt at +midnight, when the lamp burns dim, and the fire crumbles into decay, and +the studious or thoughtful man finds that his brain is in a mist. +Oftenest, I have unwisely uttered my wisdom in the ears of sick persons, +when the inquietude of fever made them toss about, upon my cushion. And +so it happens, that, though my words make a pretty strong impression at +the moment, yet my auditors invariably remember them only as a dream. I +should not wonder if you, my excellent friend, were to do the same, +to-morrow morning." + +"Nor I either," thought Grandfather to himself. However, he thanked this +respectable old chair for beginning the conversation, and begged to know +whether it had any thing particular to communicate. + +"I have been listening attentively to your narrative of my adventures," +replied the chair, "and it must be owned, that your correctness entitles +you to be held up as a pattern to biographers. Nevertheless, there are a +few omissions, which I should be glad to see supplied. For instance, you +make no mention of the good knight, Sir Richard Saltonstall, nor of the +famous Hugh Peters, nor of those old regicide judges, Whalley, Goffe, +and Dixwell. Yet I have borne the weight of all these distinguished +characters, at one time or another." + +Grandfather promised amendment, if ever he should have an opportunity to +repeat his narrative. The good old chair, which still seemed to retain a +due regard for outward appearance, then reminded him how long a time had +passed, since it had been provided with a new cushion. It likewise +expressed the opinion, that the oaken figures on its back would show to +much better advantage, by the aid of a little varnish. + +"And I have had a complaint in this joint," continued the chair, +endeavoring to lift one of its legs, "ever since Charley trundled his +wheelbarrow against me." + +"It shall be attended to," said Grandfather. "And now, venerable chair, +I have a favor to solicit. During an existence of more than two +centuries, you have had a familiar intercourse with men who were +esteemed the wisest of their day. Doubtless, with your capacious +understanding, you have treasured up many an invaluable lesson of +wisdom. You certainly have had time enough to guess the riddle of life. +Tell us poor mortals, then, how we may be happy!" + +The lion's head fixed its eyes thoughtfully upon the fire, and the whole +chair assumed an aspect of deep meditation. Finally, it beckoned to +Grandfather with its elbow, and made a step sideways towards him, as if +it had a very important secret to communicate. + +"As long as I have stood in the midst of human affairs," said the chair, +with a very oracular enunciation, "I have constantly observed that +JUSTICE, TRUTH, and LOVE, are the chief ingredients of every happy +life." + +"Justice, Truth, and Love!" exclaimed Grandfather. "We need not exist +two centuries to find out that these qualities are essential to our +happiness. This is no secret. Every human being is born with the +instinctive knowledge of it." + +"Ah!" cried the chair, drawing back in surprise. "From what I have +observed of the dealings of man with man, and nation with nation, I +never should have suspected that they knew this all-important secret. +And, with this eternal lesson written in your soul, do you ask me to +sift new wisdom for you, out of my petty existence of two or three +centuries?" + +"But, my dear chair--" said Grandfather. + +"Not a word more," interrupted the chair; "here I close my lips for the +next hundred years. At the end of that period, if I shall have +discovered any new precepts of happiness, better than what Heaven has +already taught you, they shall assuredly be given to the world." + +In the energy of its utterance, the oaken chair seemed to stamp its +foot, and trod, (we hope unintentionally) upon Grandfather's toe. The +old gentleman started, and found that he had been asleep in the great +chair, and that his heavy walking stick had fallen down across his foot. + + * * * * * + +"Grandfather," cried little Alice, clapping her hands, "you must dream a +new dream, every night, about our chair!" + +Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, said the same. But the good old +gentleman shook his head, and declared that here ended the history, real +or fabulous, of GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR. + + + + +BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES + + BENJAMIN WEST, + SIR ISAAC NEWTON, + SAMUEL JOHNSON, + + OLIVER CROMWELL, + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, + QUEEN CHRISTINA. + +This small volume, and others of a similar character, from the same +hand, have not been composed without a deep sense of responsibility. The +author regards children as sacred, and would not, for the world, cast +any thing into the fountain of a young heart, that might embitter and +pollute its waters. And, even in point of the reputation to be aimed at, +juvenile literature is as well worth cultivating as any other. The +writer, if he succeed in pleasing his little readers, may hope to be +remembered by them till their own old age--a far longer period of +literary existence than is generally attained, by those who seek +immortality from the judgments of full grown men. + + + + +BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +When Edward Temple was about eight or nine years old, he was afflicted +with a disorder of the eyes. It was so severe, and his sight was +naturally so delicate, that the surgeon felt some apprehensions lest the +boy should become totally blind. He therefore gave strict directions to +keep him in a darkened chamber, with a bandage over his eyes. Not a ray +of the blessed light of Heaven could be suffered to visit the poor lad. + +This was a sad thing for Edward! It was just the same as if there were +to be no more sunshine, nor moonlight, nor glow of the cheerful fire, +nor light of lamps. A night had begun which was to continue perhaps for +months,--a longer and drearier night than that which voyagers are +compelled to endure, when their ship is ice-bound, throughout the +winter, in the Arctic Ocean. His dear father and mother, his brother +George, and the sweet face of little Emily Robinson, must all vanish, +and leave him in utter darkness and solitude. Their voices and +footsteps, it is true, would be heard around him; he would feel his +mother's embrace, and the kind pressure of all their hands; but still it +would seem as if they were a thousand miles away. + +And then his studies! They were to be entirely given up. This was +another grievous trial; for Edward's memory hardly went back to the +period when he had not known how to read. Many and many a holiday had he +spent at his book, poring over its pages until the deepening twilight +confused the print, and made all the letters run into long words. Then +would he press his hands across his eyes, and wonder why they pained him +so, and, when the candles were lighted, what was the reason that they +burned so dimly, like the moon in a foggy night. Poor little fellow! So +far as his eyes were concerned, he was already an old man, and needed a +pair of spectacles almost as much as his own grandfather did. + +And now, alas! the time was come, when even grandfather's spectacles +could not have assisted Edward to read. After a few bitter tears, which +only pained his eyes the more, the poor boy submitted to the surgeon's +orders. His eyes were bandaged, and, with his mother on one side, and +his little friend Emily on the other, he was led into a darkened +chamber. + +"Mother, I shall be very miserable," said Edward, sobbing. + +"Oh, no, my dear child!" replied his mother, cheerfully. "Your eyesight +was a precious gift of Heaven, it is true; but you would do wrong to be +miserable for its loss, even if there were no hope of regaining it. +There are other enjoyments, besides what come to us through our eyes." + +"None that are worth having," said Edward. + +"Ah! but you will not think so long," rejoined Mrs. Temple, with +tenderness. "All of us--your father, and myself, and George, and our +sweet Emily--will try to find occupation and amusement for you. We will +use all our eyes to make you happy. Will not they be better than a +single pair?" + +"I will sit by you all day long," said Emily, in her low, sweet voice, +putting her hand into that of Edward. + +"And so will I, Ned," said George, his elder brother,--"school time and +all, if my father will permit me." + +Edward's brother George was three or four years older than himself, a +fine, hardy lad, of a bold and ardent temper. He was the leader of his +comrades in all their enterprises and amusements. As to his proficiency +at study, there was not much to be said. He had sense and ability enough +to have made himself a scholar, but found so many pleasanter things to +do, that he seldom took hold of a book with his whole heart. So fond was +George of boisterous sports and exercises, that it was really a great +token of affection and sympathy, when he offered to sit all day long in +a dark chamber, with his poor brother Edward. + +As for little Emily Robinson, she was the daughter of one of Mr. +Temple's dearest friends. Ever since her mother went to Heaven, (which +was soon after Emily's birth,) the little girl had dwelt in the +household where we now find her. Mr. and Mrs. Temple seemed to love her +as well as their own children; for they had no daughter except Emily; +nor would the boys have known the blessing of a sister, had not this +gentle stranger come to teach them what it was. If I could show you +Emily's face, with her dark hair smoothed away from her forehead, you +would be pleased with her look of simplicity and loving-kindness, but +might think that she was somewhat too grave for a child of seven years +old. But you would not love her the less for that. + +So brother George, and this loving little girl, were to be Edward's +companions and playmates, while he should be kept prisoner in the dark +chamber. When the first bitterness of his grief was over, he began to +feel that there might be some comforts and enjoyments in life, even for +a boy whose eyes were covered with a bandage. + +"I thank you, dear mother," said he, with only a few sobs, "and you, +Emily; and you too, George. You will all be very kind to me, I know. And +my father--will not he come and see me, every day?" + +"Yes, my dear boy," said Mr. Temple; for, though invisible to Edward, he +was standing close beside him. "I will spend some hours of every day +with you. And as I have often amused you by relating stories and +adventures, while you had the use of your eyes, I can do the same, now +that you are unable to read. Will this please you, Edward?" + +"Oh, very much!" replied Edward. + +"Well then," said his father, "this evening we will begin the series of +Biographical Stories, which I promised you some time ago." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +When evening came, Mr. Temple found Edward considerably revived in +spirits, and disposed to be resigned to his misfortune. Indeed, the +figure of the boy, as it was dimly seen by the fire-light, reclining in +a well stuffed easy-chair, looked so very comfortable that many people +might have envied him. When a man's eyes have grown old with gazing at +the ways of the world, it does not seem such a terrible misfortune to +have them bandaged. + +Little Emily Robinson sat by Edward's side, with the air of an +accomplished nurse. As well as the duskiness of the chamber would +permit, she watched all his motions, and each varying expression of his +face, and tried to anticipate her patient's wishes, before his tongue +could utter them. Yet it was noticeable, that the child manifested an +indescribable awe and disquietude, whenever she fixed her eyes on the +bandage; for to her simple and affectionate heart, it seemed as if her +dear friend Edward was separated from her, because she could not see his +eyes. A friend's eyes tell us many things, which could never be spoken +by the tongue. + +George, likewise, looked awkward and confused, as stout and healthy boys +are accustomed to do, in the society of the sick or afflicted. Never +having felt pain or sorrow, they are abashed, from not knowing how to +sympathize with the sufferings of others. + +"Well, my dear Edward," inquired Mrs. Temple, "is your chair quite +comfortable? and has your little nurse provided for all your wants? If +so, your father is ready to begin his stories." + +"Oh, I am very well now," answered Edward, with a faint smile. "And my +ears have not forsaken me, though my eyes are good for nothing. So, +pray, dear father, begin!" + +It was Mr. Temple's design to tell the children a series of true +stories, the incidents of which should be taken from the childhood and +early life of eminent people. Thus he hoped to bring George, and Edward, +and Emily, into closer acquaintance with the famous persons who have +lived in other times, by showing that they also had been children once. +Although Mr. Temple was scrupulous to relate nothing but what was +founded on fact, yet he felt himself at liberty to clothe the incidents +of his narrative in a new coloring, so that his auditors might +understand them the better. + +"My first story," said he, "shall be about a painter of pictures." + +"Dear me!" cried Edward, with a sigh. "I am afraid I shall never look at +pictures any more." + +"We will hope for the best," answered his father. "In the mean time, you +must try to see things within your own mind." + +Mr. Temple then began the following story: + + +BENJAMIN WEST. + +BORN 1738. DIED 1820. + + +In the year 1738, there came into the world, in the town of Springfield, +Pennsylvania, a Quaker infant, from whom his parents and neighbors +looked for wonderful things. A famous preacher of the Society of Friends +had prophesied about little Ben, and foretold that he would be one of +the most remarkable characters that had appeared on earth since the days +of William Penn. On this account, the eyes of many people were fixed +upon the boy. Some of his ancestors had won great renown in the old wars +of England and France; but it was probably expected that Ben would +become a preacher, and would convert multitudes to the peaceful +doctrines of the Quakers. Friend West and his wife were thought to be +very fortunate in having such a son. + +Little Ben lived to the ripe age of six years, without doing any thing +that was worthy to be told in history. But, one summer afternoon, in his +seventh year, his mother put a fan into his hand, and bade him keep the +flies away from the face of a little babe, who lay fast asleep in the +cradle. She then left the room. + +The boy waved the fan to-and-fro, and drove away the buzzing flies +whenever they had the impertinence to come near the baby's face. When +they had all flown out of the window, or into distant parts of the +room, he bent over the cradle, and delighted himself with gazing at the +sleeping infant. It was, indeed, a very pretty sight. The little +personage in the cradle slumbered peacefully, with its waxen hands under +its chin, looking as full of blissful quiet as if angels were singing +lullabies in its ear. Indeed, it must have been dreaming about Heaven; +for, while Ben stooped over the cradle, the little baby smiled. + +"How beautiful she looks!" said Ben to himself. "What a pity it is, that +such a pretty smile should not last forever!" + +Now Ben, at this period of his life, had never heard of that wonderful +art, by which a look, that appears and vanishes in a moment, may be made +to last for hundreds of years. But, though nobody had told him of such +an art, he may be said to have invented it for himself. On a table, near +at hand, there were pens and paper, and ink of two colors, black and +red. The boy seized a pen and sheet of paper, and kneeling down beside +the cradle, began to draw a likeness of the infant. While he was busied +in this manner, he heard his mother's step approaching, and hastily +tried to conceal the paper. + +"Benjamin, my son, what hast thou been doing?" inquired his mother, +observing marks of confusion in his face. + +At first, Ben was unwilling to tell; for he felt as if there might be +something wrong in stealing the baby's face, and putting it upon a sheet +of paper. However, as his mother insisted, he finally put the sketch +into her hand, and then hung his head, expecting to be well scolded. But +when the good lady saw what was on the paper, in lines of red and black +ink, she uttered a scream of surprise and joy. + +"Bless me!" cried she. "It is a picture of little Sally!" + +And then she threw her arms round our friend Benjamin, and kissed him so +tenderly, that he never afterwards was afraid to show his performances +to his mother. + +As Ben grew older, he was observed to take vast delight in looking at +the hues and forms of nature. For instance, he was greatly pleased with +the blue violets of spring, the wild roses of summer, and the scarlet +cardinal-flowers of early autumn. In the decline of the year, when the +woods were variegated with all the colors of the rainbow, Ben seemed to +desire nothing better than to gaze at them from morn till night. The +purple and golden clouds of sunset were a joy to him. And he was +continually endeavoring to draw the figures of trees, men, mountains, +houses, cattle, geese, ducks, and turkeys, with a piece of chalk, on +barn-doors, or on the floor. + +In these old times, the Mohawk Indians were still numerous in +Pennsylvania. Every year a party of them used to pay a visit to +Springfield, because the wigwams of their ancestors had formerly stood +there. These wild men grew fond of little Ben, and made him very happy +by giving him some of the red and yellow paint with which they were +accustomed to adorn their faces. His mother, too, presented him with a +piece of indigo. Thus he now had three colors,--red, blue, and +yellow--and could manufacture green, by mixing the yellow with the blue. +Our friend Ben was overjoyed, and doubtless showed his gratitude to the +Indians by taking their likenesses, in the strange dresses which they +wore, with feathers, tomahawks, and bows and arrows. + +But, all this time, the young artist had no paint-brushes, nor were +there any to be bought, unless he had sent to Philadelphia on purpose. +However, he was a very ingenious boy, and resolved to manufacture +paint-brushes for himself. With this design, he laid hold upon--what do +you think? why, upon a respectable old black cat, who was sleeping +quietly by the fireside. + +"Puss," said little Ben to the cat, "pray give me some of the fur from +the tip of thy tail!" + +Though he addressed the black cat so civilly, yet Ben was determined to +have the fur, whether she were willing or not. Puss, who had no great +zeal for the fine arts, would have resisted if she could; but the boy +was armed with his mother's scissors, and very dexterously clipped off +fur enough to make a paint-brush. This was of so much use to him, that +he applied to Madam Puss again and again, until her warm coat of fur had +become so thin and ragged, that she could hardly keep comfortable +through the winter. Poor thing! she was forced to creep close into the +chimney-corner, and eyed Ben with a very rueful physiognomy. But Ben +considered it more necessary that he should have paint-brushes, than +that Puss should be warm. + +About this period, Friend West received a visit from Mr. Pennington, a +merchant of Philadelphia, who was likewise a member of the Society of +Friends. The visitor, on entering the parlor, was surprised to see it +ornamented with drawings of Indian chiefs, and of birds with beautiful +plumage, and of the wild flowers of the forest. Nothing of the kind was +ever seen before in the habitation of a Quaker farmer. + +"Why, Friend West," exclaimed the Philadelphia merchant, "what has +possessed thee to cover thy walls with all these pictures? Where on +earth didst thou get them?" + +Then Friend West explained, that all these pictures were painted by +little Ben, with no better materials than red and yellow ochre and a +piece of indigo, and with brushes made of the black cat's fur. + +"Verily," said Mr. Pennington, "the boy hath a wonderful faculty. Some +of our friends might look upon these matters as vanity; but little +Benjamin appears to have been born a painter; and Providence is wiser +than we are." + +The good merchant patted Benjamin on the head, and evidently considered +him a wonderful boy. When his parents saw how much their son's +performances were admired, they no doubt remembered the prophecy of the +old Quaker preacher, respecting Ben's future eminence. Yet they could +not understand how he was ever to become a very great and useful man, +merely by making pictures. + +One evening, shortly after Mr. Pennington's return to Philadelphia, a +package arrived at Springfield, directed to our little friend Ben. + +"What can it possibly be?" thought Ben, when it was put into his hands. +"Who can have sent me such a great square package as this!" + +On taking off the thick brown paper which enveloped it, behold! there +was a paint-box, with a great many cakes of paint, and brushes of +various sizes. It was the gift of good Mr. Pennington. There were +likewise several squares of canvas, such as artists use for painting +pictures upon, and, in addition to all these treasures, some beautiful +engravings of landscapes. These were the first pictures that Ben had +ever seen, except those of his own drawing. + +What a joyful evening was this for the little artist! At bedtime, he put +the paint-box under his pillow, and got hardly a wink of sleep; for, all +night long, his fancy was painting pictures in the darkness. In the +morning, he hurried to the garret, and was seen no more till the +dinner-hour; nor did he give himself time to eat more than a mouthful or +two of food, before he hurried back to the garret again. The next day, +and the next, he was just as busy as ever; until at last his mother +thought it time to ascertain what he was about. She accordingly followed +him to the garret. + +On opening the door, the first object that presented itself to her eyes +was our friend Benjamin, giving the last touches to a beautiful picture. +He had copied portions of two of the engravings, and made one picture +out of both, with such admirable skill that it was far more beautiful +than the originals. The grass, the trees, the water, the sky, and the +houses, were all painted in their proper colors. There, too, was the +sunshine and the shadow, looking as natural as life. + +"My dear child, thou hast done wonders!" cried his mother. + +The good lady was in an ecstasy of delight. And well might she be proud +of her boy; for there were touches in this picture, which old artists, +who had spent a lifetime in the business, need not have been ashamed of. +Many a year afterwards, this wonderful production was exhibited at the +Royal Academy in London. + +When Benjamin was quite a large lad, he was sent to school at +Philadelphia. Not long after his arrival, he had a slight attack of +fever, which confined him to his bed. The light, which would otherwise +have disturbed him, was excluded from his chamber by means of closed +wooden shutters. At first, it appeared so totally dark, that Ben could +not distinguish any object in the room. By degrees, however, his eyes +became accustomed to the scanty light. + +He was lying on his back, looking up towards the ceiling, when suddenly +he beheld the dim apparition of a white cow, moving slowly over his +head! Ben started, and rubbed his eyes, in the greatest amazement. + +"What can this mean?" thought he. + +The white cow disappeared; and next came several pigs, who trotted along +the ceiling, and vanished into the darkness of the chamber. So lifelike +did these grunters look, that Ben almost seemed to hear them squeak. + +"Well, this is very strange!" said Ben to himself. + +When the people of the house came to see him, Benjamin told them of the +marvellous circumstance which had occurred. But they would not believe +him. + +"Benjamin, thou art surely out of thy senses!" cried they. "How is it +possible that a white cow and a litter of pigs should be visible on the +ceiling of a dark chamber?" + +Ben, however, had great confidence in his own eyesight, and was +determined to search the mystery to the bottom. For this purpose, when +he was again left alone, he got out of bed, and examined the +window-shutters. He soon perceived a small chink in one of them, through +which a ray of light found its passage, and rested upon the ceiling. Now +the science of optics will inform us, that the pictures of the white cow +and the pigs, and of other objects out of doors, came into the dark +chamber, through this narrow chink, and were painted over Benjamin's +head. It is greatly to his credit, that he discovered the scientific +principle of this phenomenon, and, by means of it, constructed a Camera +Obscura, or Magic Lantern, out of a hollow box. This was of great +advantage to him in drawing landscapes. + +Well; time went on, and Benjamin continued to draw and paint pictures, +until he had now reached the age when it was proper that he should +choose a business for life. His father and mother were in considerable +perplexity about him. According to the ideas of the Quakers it is not +right for people to spend their lives in occupations that are of no real +and sensible advantage to the world. Now, what advantage could the world +expect from Benjamin's pictures? This was a difficult question; and, in +order to set their minds at rest, his parents determined to consult the +preachers and wise men of their society. Accordingly, they all assembled +in the meeting-house, and discussed the matter from beginning to end. + +Finally, they came to a very wise decision. It seemed so evident that +Providence had created Benjamin to be a painter, and had given him +abilities which would be thrown away in any other business, that the +Quakers resolved not to oppose his inclination. They even acknowledged +that the sight of a beautiful picture might convey instruction to the +mind, and might benefit the heart, as much as a good book or a wise +discourse. They therefore committed the youth to the direction of God, +being well assured that he best knew what was his proper sphere of +usefulness. The old men laid their hands upon Benjamin's head, and gave +him their blessing, and the women kissed him affectionately. All +consented that he should go forth into the world, and learn to be a +painter, by studying the best pictures of ancient and modern times. + +So our friend Benjamin left the dwelling of his parents, and his native +woods and streams, and the good Quakers of Springfield, and the Indians +who had given him his first colors,--he left all the places and persons +whom he had hitherto known,--and returned to them no more. He went first +to Philadelphia, and afterwards to Europe. Here he was noticed by many +great people, but retained all the sobriety and simplicity which he had +learned among the Quakers. It is related of him, that, when he was +presented at the court of the Prince of Parma, he kept his hat upon his +head, even while kissing the Prince's hand. + +When he was twenty-five years old, he went to London, and established +himself there as an artist. In due course of time, he acquired great +fame by his pictures, and was made chief painter to King George the +Third, and President of the Royal Academy of Arts. When the Quakers of +Pennsylvania heard of his success, they felt that the prophecy of the +old preacher, as to little Ben's future eminence, was now accomplished. +It is true, they shook their heads at his pictures of battle and +bloodshed, such as the Death of Wolfe,--thinking that these terrible +scenes should not be held up to the admiration of the world. + +But they approved of the great paintings in which he represented the +miracles and sufferings of the Redeemer of Mankind. King George employed +him to adorn a large and beautiful chapel, at Windsor Castle, with +pictures of these sacred subjects. He likewise painted a magnificent +picture of Christ Healing the Sick, which he gave to the Hospital at +Philadelphia. It was exhibited to the public, and produced so much +profit that the Hospital was enlarged, so as to accommodate thirty more +patients. If Benjamin West had done no other good deed than this, yet it +would have been enough to entitle him to an honorable remembrance +forever. At this very day, there are thirty poor people in the Hospital, +who owe all their comforts to that same picture. + +We shall mention only a single incident more. The picture of Christ +Healing the Sick was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, where it +covered a vast space, and displayed a multitude of figures as large as +life. On the wall, close beside this admirable picture, hung a small and +faded landscape. It was the same that little Ben had painted in his +father's garret, after receiving the paint-box and engravings from good +Mr. Pennington. + +He lived many years, in peace and honor, and died in 1820, at the age of +eighty-two. The story of his life is almost as wonderful as a fairy +tale; for there are few stranger transformations than that of a little +unknown Quaker boy, in the wilds of America, into the most distinguished +English painter of his day. Let us each make the best use of our natural +abilities, as Benjamin West did; and with the blessing of Providence, we +shall arrive at some good end. As for fame, it is but little matter +whether we acquire it or not. + + * * * * * + +"Thank you for the story, my dear father," said Edward, when it was +finished. "Do you know, that it seems as if I could see things without +the help of my eyes? While you were speaking, I have seen little Ben, +and the baby in its cradle, and the Indians, and the white cow and the +pigs, and kind Mr. Pennington, and all the good old Quakers, almost as +plainly as if they were in this very room." + +"It is because your attention was not disturbed by outward objects," +replied Mr. Temple. "People, when deprived of sight, often have more +vivid ideas than those who possess the perfect use of their eyes. I will +venture to say that George has not attended to the story quite so +closely." + +"No indeed," said George, "but it was a very pretty story for all that. +How I should have laughed to see Ben making a paint-brush out of the +black cat's tail! I intend to try the experiment with Emily's kitten." + +"Oh, no, no, George!" cried Emily, earnestly. "My kitten cannot spare +her tail." + +Edward being an invalid, it was now time for him to retire to bed. When +the family bade him good night, he turned his face towards them, looking +very loth to part. + +"I shall not know when morning comes," said he sorrowfully. "And besides +I want to hear your voices all the time; for, when nobody is speaking, +it seems as if I were alone in a dark world!" + +"You must have faith, my dear child," replied his mother. "Faith is the +soul's eyesight; and when we possess it, the world is never dark nor +lonely." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The next day, Edward began to get accustomed to his new condition of +life. Once, indeed, when his parents were out of the way, and only Emily +was left to take care of him, he could not resist the temptation to +thrust aside the bandage, and peep at the anxious face of his little +nurse. But, in spite of the dimness of the chamber, the experiment +caused him so much pain, that he felt no inclination to take another +look. So, with a deep sigh, he resigned himself to his fate. + +"Emily, pray talk to me!" said he, somewhat impatiently. + +Now, Emily was a remarkably silent little girl, and did not possess that +liveliness of disposition which renders some children such excellent +companions. She seldom laughed, and had not the faculty of making many +words about small matters. But the love and earnestness of her heart +taught her how to amuse poor Edward, in his darkness. She put her +knitting-work into his hands. + +"You must learn how to knit," said she. + +"What! without using my eyes?" cried Edward. + +"I can knit with my eyes shut," replied Emily. + +Then, with her own little hands, she guided Edward's fingers, while he +set about this new occupation. So awkward were his first attempts, that +any other little girl would have laughed heartily. But Emily preserved +her gravity, and showed the utmost patience in taking up the innumerable +stitches which he let down. In the course of an hour or two, his +progress was quite encouraging. + +When evening came, Edward acknowledged that the day had been far less +wearisome than he anticipated. But he was glad, nevertheless, when his +father and mother, and George and Emily, all took their seats around his +chair. He put out his hand to grasp each of their hands, and smiled with +a very bright expression upon his lips. + +"Now I can see you all, with my mind's eye," said he; "and now, father, +pray tell us another story." + +So Mr. Temple began. + + +SIR ISAAC NEWTON. + +BORN 1642. DIED 1727. + +On Christmas-day, in the year 1642, Isaac Newton was born, at the small +village of Woolsthorpe, in England. Little did his mother think, when +she beheld her new-born babe, that he was destined to explain many +matters which had been a mystery ever since the creation of the world. + +Isaac's father being dead, Mrs. Newton was married again to a +clergyman, and went to reside at North Witham. Her son was left to the +care of his good old grandmother, who was very kind to him, and sent him +to school. In his early years, Isaac did not appear to be a very bright +scholar, but was chiefly remarkable for his ingenuity in all mechanical +occupations. He had a set of little tools, and saws of various sizes, +manufactured by himself. With the aid of these, Isaac contrived to make +many curious articles, at which he worked with so much skill, that he +seemed to have been born with a saw or chisel in his hand. + +The neighbors looked with vast admiration at the things which Isaac +manufactured. And his old grandmother, I suppose, was never weary of +talking about him. + +"He'll make a capital workman, one of these days," she would probably +say. "No fear but what Isaac will do well in the world, and be a rich +man before he dies." + +It is amusing to conjecture what were the anticipations of his +grandmother and the neighbors, about Isaac's future life. Some of them, +perhaps, fancied that he would make beautiful furniture of mahogany, +rose-wood, or polished oak, inlaid with ivory and ebony, and +magnificently gilded. And then, doubtless, all the rich people would +purchase these fine things, to adorn their drawing-rooms. Others +probably thought that little Isaac was destined to be an architect, and +would build splendid mansions for the nobility and gentry, and churches +too, with the tallest steeples that had ever been seen in England. + +Some of his friends, no doubt, advised Isaac's grandmother to apprentice +him to a clockmaker; for, besides his mechanical skill, the boy seemed +to have a taste for mathematics, which would be very useful to him in +that profession. And then, in due time, Isaac would set up for himself, +and would manufacture curious clocks, like those that contain sets of +dancing figures, which issue from the dial-plate when the hour is +struck; or like those, where a ship sails across the face of the clock, +and is seen tossing up and down on the waves, as often as the pendulum +vibrates. + +Indeed, there was some ground for supposing that Isaac would devote +himself to the manufacture of clocks; since he had already made one, of +a kind which nobody had ever heard of before. It was set a-going, not by +wheels and weights, like other clocks, but by the dropping of water. +This was an object of great wonderment to all the people roundabout; and +it must be confessed that there are few boys, or men either, who could +contrive to tell what o'clock it is, by means of a bowl of water. + +Besides the water-clock, Isaac made a sun-dial. Thus his grandmother was +never at a loss to know the hour; for the water-clock would tell it in +the shade, and the dial in the sunshine. The sun-dial is said to be +still in existence at Woolsthorpe, on the corner of the house where +Isaac dwelt. If so, it must have marked the passage of every sunny hour +that has elapsed, since Isaac Newton was a boy. It marked all the famous +moments of his life; it marked the hour of his death; and still the +sunshine creeps slowly over it, as regularly as when Isaac first set it +up. + +Yet we must not say that the sun-dial has lasted longer than its maker; +for Isaac Newton will exist, long after the dial--yea, and long after +the sun itself--shall have crumbled to decay. + +Isaac possessed a wonderful faculty of acquiring knowledge by the +simplest means. For instance, what method do you suppose he took, to +find out the strength of the wind? You will never guess how the boy +could compel that unseen, inconstant, and ungovernable wanderer, the +wind, to tell him the measure of its strength. Yet nothing can be more +simple. He jumped against the wind; and by the length of his jump, he +could calculate the force of a gentle breeze, a brisk gale, or a +tempest. Thus, even in his boyish sports, he was continually searching +out the secrets of philosophy. + +Not far from his grandmother's residence there was a windmill, which +operated on a new plan. Isaac was in the habit of going thither +frequently, and would spend whole hours in examining its various parts. +While the mill was at rest, he pryed into its internal machinery. When +its broad sails were set in motion by the wind, he watched the process +by which the mill-stones were made to revolve, and crush the grain that +was put into the hopper. After gaining a thorough knowledge of its +construction, he was observed to be unusually busy with his tools. + +It was not long before his grandmother, and all the neighborhood, knew +what Isaac had been about. He had constructed a model of the windmill. +Though not so large, I suppose as one of the box-traps which boys set to +catch squirrels, yet every part of the mill and its machinery was +complete. Its little sails were neatly made of linen, and whirled round +very swiftly when the mill was placed in a draught of air. Even a puff +of wind from Isaac's mouth, or from a pair of bellows, was sufficient to +set the sails in motion. And--what was most curious--if a handful of +grains of wheat were put into the little hopper, they would soon be +converted into snow-white flour. + +Isaac's playmates were enchanted with his new windmill. They thought +that nothing so pretty, and so wonderful, had ever been seen in the +whole world. + +"But, Isaac," said one of them, "you have forgotten one thing that +belongs to a mill." + +"What is that?" asked Isaac; for he supposed, that, from the roof of the +mill to its foundation, he had forgotten nothing. + +"Why, where is the miller?" said his friend. + +"That is true!--I must look out for one," said Isaac; and he set himself +to consider how the deficiency should be supplied. + +He might easily have made the miniature figure of a man; but then it +would not have been able to move about, and perform the duties of a +miller. As Captain Lemuel Gulliver had not yet discovered the island of +Lilliput, Isaac did not know that there were little men in the world, +whose size was just suited to his windmill. It so happened, however, +that a mouse had just been caught in the trap; and, as no other miller +could be found, Mr. Mouse was appointed to that important office. The +new miller made a very respectable appearance in his dark gray coat. To +be sure, he had not a very good character for honesty, and was suspected +of sometimes stealing a portion of the grain which was given him to +grind. But perhaps some two-legged millers are quite as dishonest as +this small quadruped. + +As Isaac grew older, it was found that he had far more important matters +in his mind than the manufacture of toys, like the little windmill. All +day long, if left to himself, he was either absorbed in thought, or +engaged in some book of mathematics, or natural philosophy. At night, I +think it probable, he looked up with reverential curiosity to the stars, +and wondered whether they were worlds, like our own,--and how great was +their distance from the earth,--and what was the power that kept them in +their courses. Perhaps, even so early in life, Isaac Newton felt a +presentiment that he should be able, hereafter, to answer all these +questions. + +When Isaac was fourteen years old, his mother's second husband being +now dead, she wished her son to leave school, and assist her in managing +the farm at Woolsthorpe. For a year or two, therefore, he tried to turn +his attention to farming. But his mind was so bent on becoming a +scholar, that his mother sent him back to school, and afterwards to the +University of Cambridge. + +I have now finished my anecdotes of Isaac Newton's boyhood. My story +would be far too long, were I to mention all the splendid discoveries +which he made, after he came to be a man. He was the first that found +out the nature of Light; for, before his day, nobody could tell what the +sunshine was composed of. You remember, I suppose, the story of an +apple's falling on his head, and thus leading him to discover the force +of gravitation, which keeps the heavenly bodies in their courses. When +he had once got hold of this idea, he never permitted his mind to rest, +until he had searched out all the laws, by which the planets are guided +through the sky. This he did as thoroughly as if he had gone up among +the stars, and tracked them in their orbits. The boy had found out the +mechanism of a windmill; the man explained to his fellow-men the +mechanism of the universe. + +While making these researches he was accustomed to spend night after +night in a lofty tower, gazing at the heavenly bodies through a +telescope. His mind was lifted far above the things of this world. He +may be said, indeed, to have spent the greater part of his life in +worlds that lie thousands and millions of miles away; for where the +thoughts and the heart are, there is our true existence. + +Did you never hear the story of Newton and his little dog Diamond? One +day, when he was fifty years old, and had been hard at work more than +twenty years, studying the theory of Light, he went out of his chamber, +leaving his little dog asleep before the fire. On the table lay a heap +of manuscript papers, containing all the discoveries which Newton had +made during those twenty years. When his master was gone, up rose little +Diamond, jumped upon the table, and overthrew the lighted candle. The +papers immediately caught fire. + +Just as the destruction was completed, Newton opened the chamber-door, +and perceived that the labors of twenty years were reduced to a heap of +ashes. There stood little Diamond, the author of all the mischief. +Almost any other man would have sentenced the dog to immediate death. +But Newton patted him on the head with his usual kindness, although +grief was at his heart. + +"Oh, Diamond, Diamond," exclaimed he, "thou little knowest the mischief +thou hast done." + +This incident affected his health and spirits for some time afterwards; +but, from his conduct towards the little dog, you may judge what was the +sweetness of his temper. + +Newton lived to be a very old man, and acquired great renown, and was +made a Member of Parliament, and received the honor of knighthood from +the king. But he cared little for earthly fame and honors, and felt no +pride in the vastness of his knowledge. All that he had learned only +made him feel how little he knew in comparison to what remained to be +known. + +"I seem to myself like a child," observed he, "playing on the sea-shore, +and picking up here and there a curious shell or a pretty pebble, while +the boundless ocean of Truth lies undiscovered before me." + +At last, in 1727, when he was fourscore and five years old, Sir Isaac +Newton died,--or rather he ceased to live on earth. We may be permitted +to believe that he is still searching out the infinite wisdom and +goodness of the Creator, as earnestly, and with even more success, than +while his spirit animated a mortal body. He has left a fame behind him, +which will be as endurable as if his name were written in letters of +light, formed by the stars upon the midnight sky. + + * * * * * + +"I love to hear about mechanical contrivances--such as the water-clock +and the little windmill," remarked George. "I suppose if Sir Isaac +Newton had only thought of it, he might have found out the steam-engine, +and railroads, and all the other famous inventions that have come into +use since his day." + +"Very possibly he might," replied Mr. Temple; "and, no doubt, a great +many people would think it more useful to manufacture steam-engines, +than to search out the system of the universe. Other great astronomers, +besides Newton, have been endowed with mechanical genius. There was +David Rittenhouse, an American,--he made a perfect little water-mill, +when he was only seven or eight years old. But this sort of ingenuity is +but a mere trifle in comparison with the other talents of such men." + +"It must have been beautiful," said Edward, "to spend whole nights in a +high tower, as Newton did, gazing at the stars, and the comets, and the +meteors. But what would Newton have done, had he been blind? or if his +eyes had been no better than mine?" + +"Why, even then, my dear child," observed Mrs. Temple, "he would have +found out some way of enlightening his mind, and of elevating his soul. +But, come! little Emily is waiting to bid you good night. You must go to +sleep, and dream of seeing all our faces." + +"But how sad it will be, when I awake!" murmured Edward. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +In the course of the next day, the harmony of our little family was +disturbed by something like a quarrel between George and Edward. + +The former, though he loved his brother dearly, had found it quite too +great a sacrifice of his own enjoyments, to spend all his playtime in a +darkened chamber. Edward, on the other hand, was inclined to be +despotic. He felt as if his bandaged eyes entitled him to demand that +everybody, who enjoyed the blessing of sight, should contribute to his +comfort and amusement. He therefore insisted that George, instead of +going out to play at foot-ball, should join with himself and Emily in a +game of questions and answers. + +George resolutely refused, and ran out of the house. He did not revisit +Edward's chamber till the evening, when he stole in, looking confused, +yet somewhat sullen, and sat down beside his father's chair. It was +evident, by a motion of Edward's head and a slight trembling of his +lips, that he was aware of George's entrance, though his footsteps had +been almost inaudible. Emily, with her serious and earnest little face, +looked from one to the other, as if she longed to be a messenger of +peace between them. + +Mr. Temple, without seeming to notice any of these circumstances, began +a story. + + +SAMUEL JOHNSON. + +BORN 1709. DIED 1784. + +"Sam," said Mr. Michael Johnson of Lichfield, one morning, "I am very +feeble and ailing to-day. You must go to Uttoxeter in my stead, and tend +the bookstall in the market-place there." + +This was spoken, above a hundred years ago, by an elderly man, who had +once been a thriving bookseller at Lichfield, in England. Being now in +reduced circumstances, he was forced to go, every market-day, and sell +books at a stall, in the neighboring village of Uttoxeter. + +His son, to whom Mr. Johnson spoke, was a great boy of very singular +aspect. He had an intelligent face; but it was seamed and distorted by a +scrofulous humor, which affected his eyes so badly, that sometimes he +was almost blind. Owing to the same cause, his head would often shake +with a tremulous motion, as if he were afflicted with the palsy. When +Sam was an infant, the famous Queen Anne had tried to cure him of this +disease, by laying her royal hands upon his head. But though the touch +of a king or Queen was supposed to be a certain remedy for scrofula, it +produced no good effect upon Sam Johnson. + +At the time which we speak of, the poor lad was not very well dressed, +and wore shoes from which his toes peeped out; for his old father had +barely the means of supporting his wife and children. But, poor as the +family were, young Sam Johnson had as much pride as any nobleman's son +in England. The fact was, he felt conscious of uncommon sense and +ability, which, in his own opinion, entitled him to great respect from +the world. Perhaps he would have been glad, if grown people had treated +him as reverentially as his school-fellows did. Three of them were +accustomed to come for him, every morning; and while he sat upon the +back of one, the two others supported him on each side, and thus he rode +to school in triumph! + +Being a personage of so much importance, Sam could not bear the idea of +standing all day in Uttoxeter market, offering books to the rude and +ignorant country-people. Doubtless he felt the more reluctant on account +of his shabby clothes, and the disorder of his eyes, and the tremulous +motion of his head. + +When Mr. Michael Johnson spoke, Sam pouted, and made an indistinct +grumbling in his throat; then he looked his old father in the face, and +answered him loudly and deliberately. + +"Sir," said he, "I will not go to Uttoxeter market!" + +Mr. Johnson had seen a great deal of the lad's obstinacy ever since his +birth; and while Sam was younger, the old gentleman had probably used +the rod, whenever occasion seemed to require. But he was now too +feeble, and too much out of spirits, to contend with this stubborn and +violent-tempered boy. He therefore gave up the point at once, and +prepared to go to Uttoxeter himself. + +"Well Sam," said Mr. Johnson, as he took his hat and staff, "If, for the +sake of your foolish pride, you can suffer your poor sick father to +stand all day in the noise and confusion of the market, when he ought to +be in his bed, I have no more to say. But you will think of this, Sam, +when I am dead and gone!" + +So the poor old man (perhaps with a tear in his eye, but certainly with +sorrow in his heart) set forth towards Uttoxeter. The gray-haired, +feeble, melancholy Michael Johnson! How sad a thing it was, that he +should be forced to go, in his sickness, and toil for the support of an +ungrateful son, who was too proud to do any thing for his father, or his +mother, or himself! Sam looked after Mr. Johnson, with a sullen +countenance, till he was out of sight. + +But when the old man's figure, as he went stooping along the street, was +no more to be seen, the boy's heart began to smite him. He had a vivid +imagination, and it tormented him with the image of his father, standing +in the market-place of Uttoxeter and offering his books to the noisy +crowd around him, Sam seemed to behold him, arranging his literary +merchandise upon the stall in such a way as was best calculated to +attract notice. Here was Addison's Spectator, a long row of little +volumes; here was Pope's translation of the Iliad and Odyssey; here were +Dryden's poems, or those of Prior. Here, likewise, were Gulliver's +Travels, and a variety of little gilt-covered children's books, such as +Tom Thumb, Jack the Giant-queller, Mother Goose's Melodies, and others +which our great-grandparents used to read in their childhood. And here +were sermons for the pious, and pamphlets for the politicians, and +ballads, some merry and some dismal ones, for the country people to +sing. + +Sam, in imagination, saw his father offer these books, pamphlets, and +ballads, now to the rude yeomen, who perhaps could not read a word,--now +to the country squires, who cared for nothing but to hunt hares and +foxes,--now to the children, who chose to spend their coppers for +sugar-plums or gingerbread, rather than for picture-books. And if Mr. +Johnson should sell a book to man, woman, or child, it would cost him an +hour's talk to get a profit of only sixpence. + +"My poor father!" thought Sam to himself. "How his head will ache, and +how heavy his heart will be! I am almost sorry that I did not do as he +bade me!" + +Then the boy went to his mother, who was busy about the house. She did +not know of what had passed between Mr. Johnson and Sam. + +"Mother," said he, "did you think father seemed very ill to-day?" + +"Yes, Sam," answered his mother, turning with a flushed face from the +fire, where she was cooking their scanty dinner. "Your father did look +very ill; and it is a pity he did not send you to Uttoxeter in his +stead. You are a great boy now, and would rejoice, I am sure, to do +something for your poor father, who has done so much for you." + +The lad made no reply. But again his imagination set to work, and +conjured up another picture of poor Michael Johnson. He was standing in +the hot sunshine of the market-place, and looking so weary, sick, and +disconsolate, that the eyes of all the crowd were drawn to him. "Had +this old man no son," the people would say among themselves, "who might +have taken his place at the bookstall, while the father kept his bed?" +And perhaps--but this was a terrible thought for Sam!--perhaps his +father would faint away, and fall down in the market-place, with his +gray hair in the dust, and his venerable face as deathlike as that of a +corpse. And there would be the bystanders gazing earnestly at Mr. +Johnson, and whispering, "Is he dead? Is he dead?" + +And Sam shuddered, as he repeated to himself: "Is he dead?" + +"Oh, I have been a cruel son!" thought he, within his own heart. "God +forgive me! God forgive me!" + +But God could not yet forgive him; for he was not truly penitent. Had he +been so, he would have hastened away that very moment to Uttoxeter, and +have fallen at his father's feet, even in the midst of the crowded +market-place. There he would have confessed his fault, and besought Mr. +Johnson to go home, and leave the rest of the day's work to him. But +such was Sam's pride and natural stubbornness, that he could not bring +himself to this humiliation. Yet he ought to have done so, for his own +sake, and for his father's sake, and for God's sake. + +After sunset, old Michael Johnson came slowly home, and sat down in his +customary chair. He said nothing to Sam; nor do I know that a single +word ever passed between them, on the subject of the son's disobedience. +In a few years, his father died and left Sam to fight his way through +the world by himself. It would make our story much too long were I to +tell you even a few of the remarkable events of Sam's life. Moreover, +there is the less need of this, because many books have been written +about that poor boy, and the fame that he acquired, and all that he did +or talked of doing, after he came to be a man. + +But one thing I must not neglect to say. From his boyhood upward, until +the latest day of his life, he never forgot the story of Uttoxeter +market. Often when he was a scholar of the University of Oxford, or +master of an Academy at Edial, or a writer for the London +booksellers,--in all his poverty and toil, and in all his +success,--while he was walking the streets without a shilling to buy +food, or when the greatest men of England were proud to feast him at +their table,--still that heavy and remorseful thought came back to +him:--"I was cruel to my poor father in his illness!" Many and many a +time, awake or in his dreams, he seemed to see old Michael Johnson, +standing in the dust and confusion of the market-place, and pressing his +withered hand to his forehead as if it ached. + +Alas! my dear children, it is a sad thing to have such a thought as this +to bear us company through life. + + * * * * * + +Though the story was but half finished, yet, as it was longer than +usual, Mr. Temple here made a short pause. He perceived that Emily was +in tears, and Edward turned his half-veiled face towards the speaker, +with an air of great earnestness and interest. As for George he had +withdrawn into the dusky shadow behind his father's chair. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +In a few moments Mr. Temple resumed the story, as follows: + + +SAMUEL JOHNSON. + +CONTINUED. + +Well, my children, fifty years had passed away since young Sam Johnson +had shown himself so hard-hearted towards his father. It was now +market-day in the village of Uttoxeter. + +In the street of the village, you might see cattle-dealers with cows and +oxen for sale, and pig-drovers, with herds of squeaking swine, and +farmers, with cart-loads of cabbages, turnips, onions, and all other +produce of the soil. Now and then a farmer's red-faced wife trotted +along on horseback, with butter and cheese in two large panniers. The +people of the village, with country squires and other visitors from the +neighborhood, walked hither and thither, trading, jesting, quarrelling, +and making just such a bustle as their fathers and grandfathers had made +half a century before. + +In one part of the street, there was a puppet-show, with a ridiculous +Merry-Andrew, who kept both grown people and children in a roar of +laughter. On the opposite side was the old stone church of Uttoxeter, +with ivy climbing up its walls, and partly obscuring its Gothic windows. + +There was a clock in the gray tower of the ancient church; and the hands +on the dial-plate had now almost reached the hour of noon. At this +busiest hour of the market, a strange old gentleman was seen making his +way among the crowd. He was very tall and bulky, and wore a brown coat +and small clothes, with black worsted stockings and buckled shoes. On +his head was a three-cornered hat, beneath which a bushy gray wig thrust +itself out, all in disorder. The old gentleman elbowed the people aside, +and forced his way through the midst of them with a singular kind of +gait, rolling his body hither and thither, so that he needed twice as +much room as any other person there. + +"Make way, sir!" he would cry out, in a loud, harsh voice, when somebody +happened to interrupt his progress.--"Sir, you intrude your person into +the public thoroughfare!" + +"What a queer old fellow this is!" muttered the people among themselves, +hardly knowing whether to laugh or to be angry. + +But, when they looked into the venerable stranger's face, not the most +thoughtless among them dared to offer him the least impertinence. Though +his features were scarred and distorted with the scrofula, and though +his eyes were dim and bleared, yet there was something of authority and +wisdom in his look, which impressed them all with awe. So they stood +aside to let him pass; and the old gentleman made his way across the +market-place, and paused near the corner of the ivy-mantled church. Just +as he reached it, the clock struck twelve. + +On the very spot of ground, where the stranger now stood, some aged +people remembered that old Michael Johnson had formerly kept his +bookstall. The little children, who had once bought picture-books of +him, were grandfathers now. + +"Yes; here is the very spot!" muttered the old gentleman to himself. + +There this unknown personage took his stand, and removed the +three-cornered hat from his head. It was the busiest hour of the day. +What with the hum of human voices, the lowing of cattle, the squeaking +of pigs, and the laughter caused by the Merry-Andrew, the market-place +was in very great confusion. But the stranger seemed not to notice it, +any more than if the silence of a desert were around him. He was wrapt +in his own thoughts. Sometimes he raised his furrowed brow to heaven, as +if in prayer; sometimes he bent his head, as if an insupportable weight +of sorrow were upon him. It increased the awfulness of his aspect that +there was a motion of his head, and an almost continual tremor +throughout his frame, with singular twitchings and contortions of his +features. + +The hot sun blazed upon his unprotected head; but he seemed not to feel +its fervor. A dark cloud swept across the sky, and rain-drops pattered +into the market-place; but the stranger heeded not the shower. The +people began to gaze at the mysterious old gentleman, with superstitious +fear and wonder. Who could he be? Whence did he come? Wherefore was he +standing bare-headed in the market-place? Even the school-boys left the +Merry-Andrew, and came to gaze, with wide open eyes, at this tall, +strange-looking old man. + +There was a cattle-drover in the village, who had recently made a +journey to the Smithfield market, in London. No sooner had this man +thrust his way through the throng, and taken a look at the unknown +personage, than he whispered to one of his acquaintances: + +"I say, neighbor Hutchins, would ye like to know who this old gentleman +is?" + +"Ay, that I would," replied neighbor Hutchins; "for a queerer chap I +never saw in my life! Somehow, it makes me feel small to look at him. +He's more than a common man." + +"You may well say so," answered the cattle-drover. "Why, that's the +famous Doctor Samuel Johnson, who, they say, is the greatest and +learnedest man in England. I saw him in London Streets, walking with one +Mr. Boswell." + +Yes; the poor boy--the friendless Sam--with, whom we began our story, +had become the famous Doctor Samuel Johnson! He was universally +acknowledged as the wisest man and greatest writer in all England. He +had given shape and permanence to his native language, by his +Dictionary. Thousands upon thousands of people had read his Idler, his +Rambler, and his Rasselas. Noble and wealthy men, and beautiful ladies, +deemed it their highest privilege to be his companions. Even the king of +Great Britain had sought his acquaintance, and told him what an honor he +considered it, that such a man had been born in his dominions. He was +now at the summit of literary renown. + +But all his fame could not extinguish the bitter remembrance, which had +tormented him through life. Never, never, had he forgotten his father's +sorrowful and upbraiding look. Never--though the old man's troubles had +been over so many years--had he forgiven himself for inflicting such a +pang upon his heart. And now, in his old age, he had come hither to do +penance, by standing at noon-day in the market-place of Uttoxeter, on +the very spot where Michael Johnson had once kept his bookstall. The +aged and illustrious man had done what the poor boy refused to do. By +thus expressing his deep repentance and humiliation of heart, he hoped +to gain peace of conscience, and the forgiveness of God. + +My dear children, if you have grieved--I will not say, your +parents--but, if you have grieved the heart of any human being, who has +a claim upon your love, then think of Samuel Johnson's penance! Will it +not be better to redeem the error now, than to endure the agony of +remorse for fifty years? Would you not rather say to a brother--"I have +erred! Forgive me!"--than perhaps to go hereafter, and shed bitter tears +upon his grave? + + * * * * * + +Hardly was the story concluded, when George hastily arose, and Edward +likewise, stretching forth his hands into the darkness that surrounded +him, to find his brother. Both accused themselves of unkindness; each +besought the other's forgiveness; and having, done so, the trouble of +their hearts vanished away like a dream. + +"I am glad! I am so glad!" said Emily, in a low, earnest voice. "Now I +shall sleep quietly to-night." + +"My sweet child," thought Mrs. Temple, as she kissed her, "mayest thou +never know how much strife there is on earth! It would cost thee many a +night's rest." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +About this period, Mr. Temple found it necessary to take a journey, +which interrupted the series of Biographical Stories for several +evenings. In the interval, Edward practised various methods of employing +and amusing his mind. + +Sometimes he meditated upon beautiful objects which he had formerly +seen, until the intensity of his recollection seemed to restore him the +gift of sight, and place every thing anew before his eyes. Sometimes he +repeated verses of poetry, which he did not know to be in his memory, +until he found them there, just at the time of need. Sometimes he +attempted to solve arithmetical questions, which had perplexed him while +at school. + +Then, with his mother's assistance, he learned the letters of the +string-alphabet, which is used in some of the Institutions for the +Blind, in Europe. When one of his friends gave him a leaf of Saint +Mark's Gospel, printed in embossed characters, he endeavored to read it +by passing his fingers over the letters, as blind children do. + +His brother George was now very kind, and spent so much time in the +darkened chamber, that Edward often insisted upon his going out to play. +George told him all about the affairs at school, and related many +amusing incidents that happened among his comrades, and informed him +what sports were now in fashion, and whose kite soared the highest, and +whose little ship sailed fleetest on the Frog Pond. As for Emily, she +repeated stories which she had learned from a new book, called THE +FLOWER PEOPLE, in which the snow-drops, the violets, the columbines, the +roses, and all that lovely tribe, are represented as telling their +secrets to a little girl. The flowers talked sweetly, as flowers should; +and Edward almost fancied that he could behold their bloom and smell +their fragrant breath. + +Thus, in one way or another, the dark days of Edward's confinement +passed not unhappily. In due time, his father returned; and the next +evening, when the family were assembled, he began a story. + +"I must first observe, children," said he, "that some writers deny the +truth of the incident which I am about to relate to you. There certainly +is but little evidence in favor of it. Other respectable writers, +however, tell it for a fact; and, at all events, it is an interesting +story, and has an excellent moral." + +So Mr. Temple proceeded to talk about the early days of + + +OLIVER CROMWELL. + +BORN 1599. DIED 1658. + +Not long after King James the First took the place of Queen Elizabeth +on the throne of England, there lived an English knight at a place +called Hinchinbrooke. His name was Sir Oliver Cromwell. He spent his +life, I suppose, pretty much like other English knights and squires in +those days, hunting hares and foxes, and drinking large quantities of +ale and wine. The old house in which he dwelt, had been occupied by his +ancestors before him, for a good many years. In it there was a great +hall, hung round with coats of arms, and helmets, cuirasses and swords +which his forefathers had used in battle, and with horns of deer and +tails of foxes, which they or Sir Oliver himself had killed in the +chase. + +This Sir Oliver Cromwell had a nephew, who had been called Oliver, after +himself, but who was generally known in the family by the name of little +Noll. His father was a younger brother of Sir Oliver. The child was +often sent to visit his uncle, who probably found him a troublesome +little fellow to take care of. He was forever in mischief, and always +running into some danger or other from which he seemed to escape only by +miracle. + +Even while he was an infant in the cradle a strange accident had +befallen him. A huge ape which was kept in the family, snatched up +little Noll in his forepaws and clambered with him to the roof of the +house. There this ugly beast sat grinning at the affrighted spectators, +as if he had done the most praiseworthy thing imaginable. Fortunately, +however, he brought the child safe down again; and the event was +afterwards considered an omen that Noll would reach a very elevated +station in the world. + +One morning, when Noll was five or six years old, a royal messenger +arrived at Hinchinbrooke, with tidings that King James was coming to +dine with Sir Oliver Cromwell. This was a high honor to be sure, but a +very great trouble; for all the lords and ladies, knights, squires, +guards, and yeomen, who waited on the king, were to be feasted as well +as himself; and more provisions would be eaten, and more wine drunk, in +that one day, than generally in a month. However, Sir Oliver expressed +much thankfulness for the king's intended visit, and ordered his butler +and cook to make the best preparations in their power. So a great fire +was kindled in the kitchen; and the neighbors knew by the smoke which +poured out of the chimney, that boiling, baking, stewing, roasting, and +frying, were going on merrily. + +By and by the sound of trumpets was heard, approaching nearer and +nearer; and a heavy, old-fashioned coach, surrounded by guards on +horseback, drove up to the house. Sir Oliver, with his hat in his hand, +stood at the gate to receive the king. His Majesty was dressed in a suit +of green, not very new; he had a feather in his hat, and a triple ruff +round his neck; and over his shoulder was slung a hunting horn, instead +of a sword. Altogether, he had not the most dignified aspect in the +world; but the spectators gazed at him as if there was something +superhuman and divine in his person. They even shaded their eyes with +their hands, as if they were dazzled by the glory of his countenance. + +"How are ye, man?" cried King James, speaking in a Scotch accent; for +Scotland was his native country. "By my crown, Sir Oliver, but I am glad +to see ye!" + +The good knight thanked the king, at the same time kneeling down, while +his Majesty alighted. When King James stood on the ground, he directed +Sir Oliver's attention to a little boy, who had come with him in the +coach. He was six or seven years old, and wore a hat and feather, and +was more richly dressed than the king himself. Though by no means an +ill-looking child; he seemed shy, or even sulky; and his cheeks were +rather pale, as if he had been kept moping within doors, instead of +being sent out to play in the sun and wind. + +"I have brought my son Charlie to see ye," said the king. "I hope, Sir +Oliver, ye have a son of your own, to be his playmate?" + +Sir Oliver Cromwell made a reverential bow to the little prince, whom +one of the attendants had now taken out of the coach. It was wonderful +to see how all the spectators, even the aged men, with their gray +beards, humbled themselves before this child. They bent their bodies +till their beards almost swept the dust. They looked as if they were +ready to kneel down and worship him. + +The poor little prince! From his earliest infancy not a soul had dared +to contradict him; everybody around him had acted as if he were a +superior being; so that, of course, he had imbibed the same opinion of +himself. He naturally supposed that the whole kingdom of Great Britain +and all its inhabitants, had been created solely for his benefit and +amusement. This was a sad mistake; and it cost him dear enough after he +had ascended his father's throne. + +"What a noble little prince he is!" exclaimed Sir Oliver, lifting his +hands in admiration. "No, please your Majesty, I have no son to be the +playmate of his Royal Highness; but there is a nephew of mine, somewhere +about the house. He is near the prince's age, and will be but too happy +to wait upon his Royal Highness." + +"Send for him, man! send for him!" said the king. + +But, as it happened, there was no need of sending for Master Noll. While +King James was speaking, a rugged, bold-faced, sturdy little urchin +thrust himself through the throng of courtiers and attendants, and +greeted the prince with a broad stare. His doublet and hose (which had +been put on new and clean in honor of the king's visit) were already +soiled and torn with the rough play in which he had spent the morning. +He looked no more abashed than if King James were his uncle, and the +prince one of his customary playfellows. + +This was little Noll himself. + +"Here, please your Majesty, is my nephew," said sir Oliver, somewhat +ashamed of Noll's appearance and demeanor. "Oliver, make your obeisance +to the king's Majesty!" + +The boy made a pretty respectful obeisance to the king; for, in those +days, children were taught to pay reverence to their elders. King James, +who prided himself greatly on his scholarship, asked Noll a few +questions in the Latin Grammar, and then introduced him to his son. The +little prince in a very grave and dignified manner, extended his hand, +not for Noll to shake, but that he might kneel down and kiss it. + +"Nephew," said Sir Oliver, "pay your duty to the prince." + +"I owe him no duty," cried Noll, thrusting aside the prince's hand, with +a rude laugh. "Why should I kiss that boy's hand?" + +All the courtiers were amazed and confounded, and Sir Oliver the most of +all. But the king laughed heartily, saying that little Noll had a +stubborn English spirit, and that it was well for his son to learn +betimes what sort of a people he was to rule over. + +So King James and his train entered the house; and the prince, with Noll +and some other children, was sent to play in a separate room while his +Majesty was at dinner. The young people soon became acquainted; for +boys, whether the sons of monarchs or of peasants, all like play, and +are pleased with one another's society. What games they diverted +themselves with, I cannot tell. Perhaps they played at ball--perhaps at +blindman's buff--perhaps at leap-frog--perhaps at prison-bars. Such +games have been in use for hundreds of years; and princes as well as +poor children have spent some of their happiest hours in playing at +them. + +Meanwhile, King James and his nobles were feasting with Sir Oliver, in +the great hall. The king sat in a gilded chair, under a canopy, at the +head of a long table. Whenever any of the company addressed him, it was +with the deepest reverence. If the attendants offered him wine, or the +various delicacies of the festival, it was upon their bended knees. You +would have thought, by these tokens of worship, that the monarch was a +supernatural being; only he seemed to have quite as much need of those +vulgar matters, food and drink, as any other person at the table. But +fate had ordained that good King James should not finish his dinner in +peace. + +All of a sudden, there arose a terrible uproar in the room where the +children were at play. Angry shouts and shrill cries of alarm were mixed +up together; while the voices of elder persons were likewise heard, +trying to restore order among the children. The king, and everybody else +at table, looked aghast; for perhaps the tumult made them think that a +general rebellion had broken out. + +"Mercy on us!" muttered Sir Oliver; "that graceless nephew of mine is in +some mischief or other. The naughty little whelp!" + +Getting up from table, he ran to see what was the matter, followed by +many of the guests, and the king among them. They all crowded to the +door of the play-room. + +On looking in, they beheld the little Prince Charles, with his rich +dress all torn, and covered with the dust of the floor. His royal blood +was streaming from his nose in great abundance. He gazed at Noll with a +mixture of rage and affright, and at the same time a puzzled expression, +as if he could not understand how any mortal boy should dare to give him +a beating. As for Noll, there stood his sturdy little figure, bold as a +lion, looking as if he were ready to fight not only the prince, but the +king and kingdom too. + +"You little villain!" cried his uncle. "What have you been about? Down +on your knees, this instant, and ask the prince's pardon. How dare you +lay your hands on the king's Majesty's royal son?" + +"He struck me first," grumbled the valiant little Noll; "and I've only +given him his due." + +Sir Oliver and the guests lifted up their hands in astonishment and +horror. No punishment seemed severe enough for this wicked little +varlet, who had dared to resent a blow from the king's own son. Some of +the courtiers were of opinion that Noll should be sent prisoner to the +Tower of London, and brought to trial for high treason. Others, in their +great zeal for the king's service, were about to lay hands on the boy, +and chastise him in the royal presence. + +But King James, who sometimes showed a good deal of sagacity, ordered +them to desist. + +"Thou art a bold boy," said he, looking fixedly at little Noll; "and, if +thou live to be a man, my son Charlie would do wisely to be friends with +thee." + +"I never will!" cried the little prince, stamping his foot. + +"Peace, Charlie, peace!" said the king; then addressing Sir Oliver and +the attendants, "Harm not the urchin; for he has taught my son a good +lesson, if Heaven do but give him grace to profit by it. Hereafter, +should he be tempted to tyrannize over the stubborn race of Englishmen, +let him remember little Noll Cromwell, and his own bloody nose!" + +So the king finished his dinner and departed; and, for many a long year, +the childish quarrel between Prince Charles and Noll Cromwell was +forgotten. The prince, indeed, might have lived a happier life, and have +met a more peaceful death, had he remembered that quarrel, and the moral +which his father drew from it. But, when old King James was dead, and +Charles sat upon his throne, he seemed to forget that he was but a man, +and that his meanest subjects were men as well as he. He wished to have +the property and lives of the people of England entirely at his own +disposal. But the Puritans, and all who loved liberty, rose against him, +and beat him in many battles, and pulled him down from his throne. + +Throughout this war between the king and nobles on one side, and the +people of England on the other, there was a famous leader, who did more +towards the ruin of royal authority, than all the rest. The contest +seemed like a wrestling-match between King Charles and this strong man. +And the king was overthrown. + +When the discrowned monarch was brought to trial, that warlike leader +sat in the judgment-hall. Many judges were present, besides himself; but +he alone had the power to save King Charles, or to doom him to the +scaffold. After sentence was pronounced, this victorious general was +entreated by his own children, on their knees, to rescue his Majesty +from death. + +"No!" said he sternly. "Better that one man should perish, than that the +whole country should be ruined for his sake. It is resolved that he +shall die!" + +When Charles, no longer a king, was led to the scaffold, his great enemy +stood at a window of the royal palace of Whitehall. He beheld the poor +victim of pride, and an evil education, and misused power, as he laid +his head upon the block. He looked on, with a steadfast gaze, while a +black-veiled executioner lifted the fatal axe, and smote off that +anointed head at a single blow. + +"It is a righteous deed," perhaps he said to himself. "Now Englishmen +may enjoy their rights." + +At night, when the body of Charles was laid in the coffin, in a gloomy +chamber, the general entered, lighting himself with a torch. Its gleam +showed that he was now growing old; his visage was scarred with the many +battles in which he had led the van; his brow was wrinkled with care, +and with the continual exercise of stern authority. Probably there was +not a single trait, either of aspect or manner, that belonged to the +little Noll, who had battled so stoutly with Prince Charles. Yet this +was he! + +He lifted the coffin-lid, and caused the light of his torch to fall upon +the dead monarch's face. Then, probably, his mind went back over all the +marvellous events, that had brought the hereditary king of England to +this dishonored coffin, and had raised himself, an humble individual, to +the possession of kingly power. He was a king, though without the empty +title, or the glittering crown. + +"Why was it," said Cromwell to himself--or might have said--as he gazed +at the pale features in the coffin,--"Why was it, that this great king +fell, and that poor Noll Cromwell has gained all the power of the +realm?" + +And, indeed, why was it? + +King Charles had fallen, because, in his manhood the same as when a +child, he disdained to feel that every human creature was his brother. +He deemed himself a superior being, and fancied that his subjects were +created only for a king to rule over. And Cromwell rose, because, in +spite of his many faults, he mainly fought for the rights and freedom +of his fellow-men; and therefore the poor and the oppressed all lent +their strength to him. + + * * * * * + +"Dear father, how I should hate to be a king!" exclaimed Edward. + +"And would you like to be a Cromwell?" inquired his father. + +"I should like it well," replied George, "only I would not have put the +poor old king to death. I would have sent him out of the kingdom, or +perhaps have allowed him to live in a small house, near the gate of the +royal palace. It was too severe, to cut off his head." + +"Kings are in such an unfortunate position," said Mr. Temple, "that they +must either be almost deified by their subjects, or else be dethroned +and beheaded. In either case it is a pitiable lot." + +"Oh, I had rather be blind than be a king!" said Edward. + +"Well, my dear Edward," observed his mother, with a smile, "I am glad +you are convinced that your own lot is not the hardest in the world." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +It was a pleasant sight (for those who had eyes) to see how patiently +the blinded little boy now submitted to what he had at first deemed an +intolerable calamity. The beneficent Creator has not allowed our comfort +to depend on the enjoyment of any single sense. Though he has made the +world so very beautiful, yet it is possible to be happy without ever +beholding the blue sky, or the green and flowery earth, or the kind +faces of those whom we love. Thus it appears that all the external +beauty of the universe is a free gift from God, over and above what is +necessary to our comfort. How grateful, then, should we be to that +Divine Benevolence, which showers even superfluous bounties upon us! + +One truth, therefore, which Edward's blindness had taught him, was, that +his mind and soul could dispense with the assistance of his eyes. +Doubtless, however, he would have found this lesson far more difficult +to learn, had it not been for the affection of those around him. His +parents, and George and Emily, aided him to bear his misfortune; if +possible, they would have lent him their own eyes. And this, too, was a +good lesson for him. It taught him how dependent on one another God has +ordained us to be; insomuch that all the necessities of mankind should +incite them to mutual love. + +So Edward loved his friends, and perhaps all the world, better than he +ever did before. And he felt grateful towards his father for spending +the evenings in telling him stories--more grateful, probably, than any +of my little readers will feel towards me for so carefully writing those +same stories down. + +"Come, dear father," said he, the next evening, "now tell us all about +some other little boy, who was destined to be a famous man." + +"How would you like a story of a Boston boy?" asked his father. + +"Oh, pray let us have it!" cried George eagerly. "It will be all the +better if he has been to our schools, and has coasted on the Common, and +sailed boats in the Frog Pond. I shall feel acquainted with him then." + +"Well, then," said Mr. Temple, "I will introduce you to a Boston boy, +whom all the world became acquainted with, after he grew to be a man." + +The story was as follows:-- + + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + +BORN 1706. DIED 1790. + +In the year 1716, or about that period, a boy used to be seen in the +streets of Boston, who was known among his schoolfellows and playmates +by the name of Ben Franklin. Ben was born in 1706; so that he was now +about ten years old. His father, who had come over from England, was a +soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, and resided in Milk Street, not far +from the old South Church. + +Ben was a bright boy at his book, and even a brighter one when at play +with his comrades. He had some remarkable qualities which always seemed +to give him the lead, whether at sport or in more serious matters. I +might tell you a number of amusing anecdotes about him. You are +acquainted, I suppose, with his famous story of the WHISTLE, and how he +bought it with a whole pocketful of coppers, and afterwards repented of +his bargain. But Ben had grown a great boy since those days, and had +gained wisdom by experience; for it was one of his peculiarities, that +no incident ever happened to him without teaching him some valuable +lesson. Thus he generally profited more by his misfortunes, than many +people do by the most favorable events that could befall them. + +Ben's face was already pretty well known to the inhabitants of Boston. +The selectmen, and other people of note, often used to visit his father, +for the sake of talking about the affairs of the town or province. Mr. +Franklin was considered a person of great wisdom and integrity, and was +respected by all who knew him, although he supported his family by the +humble trade of boiling soap, and making tallow-candles. + +While his father and the visitors were holding deep consultations about +public affairs, little Ben would sit on his stool in a corner, +listening with the greatest interest, as if he understood every word. +Indeed, his features were so full of intelligence, that there could be +but little doubt, not only that he understood what was said, but that he +could have expressed some very sagacious opinions out of his own mind. +But, in those days, boys were expected to be silent in the presence of +their elders. However, Ben Franklin was looked upon as a very promising +lad, who would talk and act wisely by and by. + +"Neighbor Franklin," his father's friends would sometimes say, "you +ought to send this boy to college and make a minister of him." + +"I have often thought of it," his father would reply; "and my brother +Benjamin promises to give him a great many volumes of manuscript sermons +in case he should be educated for the church. But I have a large family +to support, and cannot afford the expense." + +In fact, Mr. Franklin found it so difficult to provide bread for his +family, that, when the boy was ten years old, it became necessary to +take him from school. Ben was then employed in cutting candlewicks into +equal lengths, and filling the moulds with tallow; and many families in +Boston spent their evenings by the light of the candles which he had +helped to make. Thus, you see, in his early days, as well as in his +manhood his labors contributed to throw light upon dark matters. + +Busy as his life now was, Ben still found time to keep company with his +former schoolfellows. He and the other boys were very fond of fishing, +and spent any of their leisure hours on the margin of the mill-pond, +catching flounders, perch, eels, and tom-cod, which came up thither with +the tide. The place where they fished is now, probably, covered with +stone-pavements and brick buildings, and thronged with people, and with +vehicles of all kinds. But, at that period, it was a marshy spot on the +outskirts of the town, where gulls flitted and screamed overhead, and +salt meadow-grass grew under foot. On the edge of the water there was a +deep bed of clay, in which the boys were forced to stand, while they +caught their fish. Here they dabbled in mud and mire like a flock of +ducks. + +"This is very uncomfortable," said Ben Franklin one day to his comrades, +while they were standing mid-leg deep in the quagmire. + +"So it is," said the other boys. "What a pity we have no better place to +stand!" + +If it had not been for Ben, nothing more would have been done or said +about the matter. But it was not in his nature to be sensible of an +inconvenience, without using his best efforts to find a remedy. So, as +he and his comrades were returning from the water-side, Ben suddenly +threw down his string of fish with a very determined air: + +"Boys," cried he, "I have thought of a scheme, which will be greatly for +our benefit, and for the public benefit!" + +It was queer enough, to be sure, to hear this little chap--this +rosy-cheeked, ten-year-old boy--talking about schemes for the public +benefit! Nevertheless, his companions were ready to listen, being +assured that Ben's scheme, whatever it was, would be well worth their +attention. They remembered how sagaciously he had conducted all their +enterprises, ever since he had been old enough to wear small-clothes. + +They remembered, too, his wonderful contrivance of sailing across the +mill-pond by lying flat on his back, in the water, and allowing himself +to be drawn along by a paper-kite. If Ben could do that, he might +certainly do any thing. + +"What is your scheme, Ben?--what is it?" cried they all. + +It so happened that they had now come to a spot of ground where a new +house was to be built. Scattered round about lay a great many large +stones, which were to be used for the cellar and foundation. Ben mounted +upon the highest of these stones, so that he might speak with the more +authority. + +"You know, lads," said he, "what a plague it is, to be forced to stand +in the quagmire yonder--over shoes and stockings (if we wear any) in mud +and water. See! I am bedaubed to the knees of my small-clothes, and you +are all in the same pickle. Unless we can find some remedy for this +evil, our fishing-business must be entirely given up. And, surely, this +would be a terrible misfortune!" + +"That it would!--that it would!" said his comrades, sorrowfully. + +"Now I propose," continued Master Benjamin, "that we build a wharf, for +the purpose of carrying on our fisheries. You see these stones. The +workmen mean to use them for the underpinning of a house; but that would +be for only one man's advantage. My plan is to take these same stones, +and carry them to the edge of the water and build a wharf with them. +This will not only enable us to carry on the fishing business with +comfort, and to better advantage, but it will likewise be a great +convenience to boats passing up and down the stream. Thus, instead of +one man, fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand, besides ourselves, may be +benefited by these stones. What say you, lads?--shall we build the +wharf?" + +Ben's proposal was received with one of those uproarious shouts, +wherewith boys usually express their delight at whatever completely +suits their views. Nobody thought of questioning the right and justice +of building a wharf, with stones that belonged to another person. + +"Hurrah, hurrah!" shouted they. "Let's set about it!" + +It was agreed that they should all be on the spot, that evening, and +commence their grand public enterprise by moonlight. Accordingly, at the +appointed time, the whole gang of youthful laborers assembled, and +eagerly began to remove the stones. They had not calculated how much +toil would be requisite, in this important part of their undertaking. +The very first stone which they laid hold of, proved so heavy, that it +almost seemed to be fastened to the ground. Nothing but Ben Franklin's +cheerful and resolute spirit could have induced them to persevere. + +Ben, as might be expected, was the soul of the enterprise. By his +mechanical genius, he contrived methods to lighten the labor of +transporting the stones; so that one boy, under his directions, would +perform as much as half a dozen, if left to themselves. Whenever their +spirits flagged, he had some joke ready, which seemed to renew their +strength by setting them all into a roar of laughter. And when, after an +hour or two of hard work, the stones were transported to the water-side, +Ben Franklin was the engineer, to superintend the construction of the +wharf. + +The boys, like a colony of ants, performed a great deal of labor by +their multitude, though the individual strength of each could have +accomplished but little. Finally, just as the moon sank below the +horizon, the great work was finished. + +"Now, boys," cried Ben, "let's give three cheers, and go home to bed. +To-morrow, we may catch fish at our ease!" "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" +shouted his comrades. + +Then they all went home, in such an ecstasy of delight that they could +hardly get a wink of sleep. + +The story was not yet finished; but George's impatience caused him to +interrupt it. + +"How I wish that I could have helped to build that wharf!" exclaimed +he. "It must have been glorious fun. Ben Franklin for ever, say I!" + +"It was a very pretty piece of work," said Mr. Temple. "But wait till +you hear the end of the story." + +"Father," inquired Edward, "whereabouts in Boston was the mill-pond, on +which Ben built his wharf?" + +"I do not exactly know," answered Mr. Temple; "but I suppose it to have +been on the northern verge of the town, in the vicinity of what are now +called Merrimack and Charlestown streets. That thronged portion of the +city was once a marsh. Some of it, in fact, was covered with water." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +As the children had no more questions to ask, Mr. Temple proceeded to +relate what consequences ensued from the building of Ben Franklin's +wharf. + + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + +CONTINUED. + +In the morning, when the early sunbeams were gleaming on the steeples +and roofs of the town, and gilding the water that surrounded it, the +masons came, rubbing their eyes, to begin their work at the foundation +of the new house. But, on reaching the spot, they rubbed their eyes so +much the harder. What had become of their heap of stones! + +"Why, Sam," said one to another, in great perplexity, "here's been some +witchcraft at work, while we were asleep. The stones must have flown +away through the air!" + +"More likely they have been stolen!" answered Sam. + +"But who on earth would think of stealing a heap of stones?" cried a +third. "Could a man carry them away in his pocket?" + +The master-mason, who was a gruff kind of man, stood scratching his +head, and said nothing, at first. But, looking carefully on the ground, +he discerned innumerable tracks of little feet, some with shoes, and +some barefoot. Following these tracks with his eye, he saw that they +formed a beaten path towards the water-side. + +"Ah, I see what the mischief is," said he, nodding his head. "Those +little rascals, the boys! they have stolen our stones to build a wharf +with!" + +The masons immediately went to examine the new structure. And to say the +truth, it was well worth looking at, so neatly, and with such admirable +skill, had it been planned and finished. The stones were put together so +securely, that there was no danger of their being loosened by the tide, +however swiftly it might sweep along. There was a broad and safe +platform to stand upon, whence the little fishermen might cast their +lines into deep water, and draw up fish in abundance. Indeed, it almost +seemed as if Ben and his comrades might be forgiven for taking the +stones, because they had done their job in such a workmanlike manner. + +"The chaps, that built this wharf, understood their business pretty +well," said one of the masons. "I should not be ashamed of such a piece +of work myself." + +But the master-mason did not seem to enjoy the joke. He was one of those +unreasonable people, who care a great deal more for their own rights and +privileges, than for the convenience of all the rest of the world. + +"Sam," said he, more gruffly than usual, "go call a constable." + +So Sam called a constable, and inquiries were set on foot to discover +the perpetrators of the theft. In the course of the day, warrants were +issued, with the signature of a Justice of the Peace, to take the bodies +of Benjamin Franklin and other evil-disposed persons, who had stolen a +heap of stones. If the owner of the stolen property had not been more +merciful than the master-mason, it might have gone hard with our friend +Benjamin and his fellow-laborers. But, luckily for them, the gentleman +had a respect for Ben's father, and moreover, was amused with the spirit +of the whole affair. He therefore let the culprits off pretty easily. + +But, when the constables were dismissed, the poor boys had to go through +another trial, and receive sentence, and suffer execution too, from +their own fathers. Many a rod I grieve to say, was worn to the stump, on +that unlucky night. + +As for Ben, he was less afraid of a whipping than of his father's +disapprobation. Mr. Franklin, as I have mentioned before, was a +sagacious man, and also an inflexibly upright one. He had read much, for +a person in his rank of life, and had pondered upon the ways of the +world, until he had gained more wisdom than a whole library of books +could have taught him. Ben had a greater reverence for his father, than +for any other person in the world, as well on account of his spotless +integrity, as of his practical sense and deep views of things. + +Consequently, after being released from the clutches of the law, Ben +came into his father's presence, with no small perturbation of mind. + +"Benjamin, come hither," began Mr. Franklin, in his customary solemn and +weighty tone. + +The boy approached, and stood before his father's chair, waiting +reverently to hear what judgment this good man would pass upon his late +offence. He felt that now the right and wrong of the whole matter would +be made to appear. + +"Benjamin," said his father, "what could induce you to take property +which did not belong to you?" + +"Why, father," replied Ben, hanging his head, at first, but then lifting +his eyes to Mr. Franklin's face, "if it had been merely for my own +benefit, I never should have dreamed of it. But I knew that the wharf +would be a public convenience. If the owner of the stones should build a +house with them, nobody will enjoy any advantage except himself. Now, I +made use of them in a way that was for the advantage of many persons. I +thought it right to aim at doing good to the greatest number." + +"My son," said Mr. Franklin, solemnly, "so far as it was in your power, +you have done a greater harm to the public, than to the owner of the +stones." + +"How can that be, father?" asked Ben. + +"Because," answered his father, "in building your wharf with stolen +materials, you have committed a moral wrong. There is no more terrible +mistake, than to violate what is eternally right, for the sake of a +seeming expediency. Those who act upon such a principle, do the utmost +in their power to destroy all that is good in the world." + +"Heaven forbid!" said Benjamin. + +"No act," continued Mr. Franklin, "can possibly be for the benefit of +the public generally, which involves injustice to any individual. It +would be easy to prove this by examples. But, indeed, can we suppose +that our all-wise and just Creator would have so ordered the affairs of +the world, that a wrong act should be the true method of attaining a +right end? It is impious to think so! And I do verily believe, Benjamin, +that almost all the public and private misery of mankind arises from a +neglect of this great truth--that evil can produce only evil--that good +ends must be wrought out by good means." + +"I will never forget it again," said Benjamin, bowing his head. + +"Remember," concluded his father, "that, whenever we vary from the +highest rule of right, just so far we do an injury to the world. It may +seem otherwise for the moment; but, both in Time and in Eternity, it +will be found so." + +To the close of his life, Ben Franklin never forgot this conversation +with his father; and we have reason to suppose, that in most of his +public and private career, he endeavored to act upon the principles +which that good and wise man had then taught him. + +After the great event of building the wharf, Ben continued to cut +wick-yarn and fill candle-moulds for about two years. But, as he had no +love for that occupation, his father often took him to see various +artisans at their work, in order to discover what trade he would prefer. +Thus Ben learned the use of a great many tools, the knowledge of which +afterwards proved very useful to him. But he seemed much inclined to go +to sea. In order to keep him at home, and likewise to gratify his taste +for letters, the lad was bound apprentice to his elder brother, who had +lately set up a printing-office in Boston. + +Here he had many opportunities of reading new books, and of hearing +instructive conversation. He exercised himself so successfully in +writing composition, that, when no more than thirteen or fourteen years +old, he became a contributor to his brother's newspaper. Ben was also a +versifier, if not a poet. He made two doleful ballads; one about the +shipwreck of Captain Worthilake, and the other about the pirate Black +Beard, who not long before, infested the American seas. + +When Ben's verses were printed, his brother sent him to sell them to the +town's-people, wet from the press. "Buy my ballads!" shouted Benjamin, +as he trudged through the streets, with a basketful on his arm. "Who'll +buy a ballad about Black Beard? A penny a piece! a penny a piece! who'll +buy my ballads?" + +If one of those roughly composed and rudely printed ballads could be +discovered now, it would be worth more than its weight in gold. + +In this way our friend Benjamin spent his boyhood and youth, until, on +account of some disagreement with his brother, he left his native town +and went to Philadelphia. He landed in the latter city, a homeless and +hungry young man, and bought three-pence worth of bread to satisfy his +appetite. Not knowing where else to go, he entered a Quaker +meeting-house, sat down, and fell fast asleep. He has not told us +whether his slumbers were visited by any dreams. But it would have been +a strange dream, indeed, and an incredible one, that should have +foretold how great a man he was destined to become, and how much he +would be honored in that very city, where he was now friendless, and +unknown. + +So here we finish our story of the childhood of Benjamin Franklin. One +of these days, if you would know what he was in his manhood, you must +read his own works, and the history of American Independence. + + +"Do let us hear a little more of him!" said Edward; "not that I admire +him so much as many other characters; but he interests me, because he +was a Yankee boy." + +"My dear son," replied Mr. Temple, "it would require a whole volume of +talk, to tell you all that is worth knowing about Benjamin Franklin. +There is a very pretty anecdote of his flying a kite in the midst of a +thunder-storm, and thus drawing down the lightning from the clouds, and +proving that it was the same thing as electricity. His whole life would +be an interesting story, if we had time to tell it." + +"But, pray, dear father, tell us what made him so famous," said George. +"I have seen his portrait a great many times. There is a wooden bust of +him in one of our streets, and marble ones, I suppose, in some other +places. And towns, and ships of war, and steamboats, and banks, and +academies, and children, are often named after Franklin. Why should he +have grown so very famous?" + +"Your question is a reasonable one, George," answered his father. "I +doubt whether Franklin's philosophical discoveries, important as they +were, or even his vast political services, would have given him all the +fame which he acquired. It appears to me that Poor Richard's Almanac did +more than any thing else towards making him familiarly known to the +public. As the writer of those proverbs, which Poor Richard was supposed +to utter, Franklin became the counsellor and household friend of almost +every family in America. Thus, it was the humblest of all his labors +that has done the most for his fame." + +"I have read some of those proverbs," remarked Edward; "but I do not +like them. They are all about getting money, or saving it." + +"Well," said his father, "they were suited to the condition of the +country; and their effect, upon the whole, has doubtless been +good,--although they teach men but a very small portion of their +duties." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Hitherto, Mr. Temple's narratives had all been about boys and men. But, +the next evening, he bethought himself that the quiet little Emily would +perhaps be glad to hear the story of a child of her own sex. He +therefore resolved to narrate the youthful adventures of Christina of +Sweden, who began to be a Queen at the age of no more than six years. If +we have any little girls among our readers, they must not suppose that +Christina is set before them as a pattern of what they ought to be. On +the contrary, the tale of her life is chiefly profitable as showing the +evil effects of a wrong education, which caused this daughter of a king +to be both useless and unhappy. + +Here follows the story. + + +QUEEN CHRISTINA. + +BORN 1626. DIED 1689. + +In the royal palace at Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, there was +born, in 1626, a little princess. The king, her father, gave her the +name of Christina, in memory of a Swedish girl with whom he had been in +love. His own name was Gustavus Adolphus; and he was also called the +Lion of the North, because he had gained greater fame in war than any +other prince or general then alive. With this valiant king for their +commander, the Swedes had made themselves terrible to the Emperor of +Germany and to the King of France, and were looked upon as the chief +defence of the Protestant religion. + +The little Christina was by no means a beautiful child. To confess the +truth, she was remarkably plain. The queen, her mother, did not love her +so much as she ought; partly, perhaps, on account of Christina's want of +beauty, and also, because both the king and queen had wished for a son, +who might have gained as great renown in battle as his father had. + +The king, however, soon became exceedingly fond of the infant princess. +When Christina was very young, she was taken violently sick. Gustavus +Adolphus, who was several hundred miles from Stockholm, travelled night +and day, and never rested until he held the poor child in his arms. On +her recovery, he made a solemn festival, in order to show his joy to the +people of Sweden and express his gratitude to Heaven. After this event, +he took his daughter with him in all the journeys which he made through +his kingdom. + +Christina soon proved herself a bold and sturdy little girl. When she +was two years old, the king and herself, in the course of a journey, +came to the strong fortress of Colmar. On the battlements were soldiers +clad in steel armor, which glittered in the sunshine. There were +likewise great cannons, pointing their black mouths at Gustavus and +little Christina, and ready to belch out their smoke and thunder; for +whenever a king enters a fortress it is customary to receive him with a +royal salute of artillery. + +But the captain of the fortress met Gustavus and his daughter, as they +were about to enter the gateway. + +"May it please your Majesty," said he, taking off his steel cap and +bowing profoundly, "I fear that if we receive you with a salute of +cannon, the little princess will be frightened almost to death." + +Gustavus looked earnestly at his daughter, and was indeed apprehensive +that the thunder of so many cannon might perhaps throw her into +convulsions. He had almost a mind to tell the captain to let them enter +the fortress quietly, as common people might have done, without all this +head-splitting racket. But no; this would not do. + +"Let them fire," said he, waving his hand. "Christina is a soldier's +daughter, and must learn to bear the noise of cannon." + +So the captain uttered the word of command, and immediately there was a +terrible peal of thunder from the cannon, and such a gush of smoke that +it enveloped the whole fortress in its volumes. But, amid all the din +and confusion, Christina was seen clapping her little hands, and +laughing in an ecstasy of delight. Probably nothing ever pleased her +father so much as to see that his daughter promised to be fearless as +himself. He determined to educate her exactly as if she had been a boy, +and to teach her all the knowledge needful to the ruler of a kingdom and +the commander of an army. + +But Gustavus should have remembered that Providence had created her to +be a woman, and that it was not for him to make a man of her. + +However, the king derived great happiness from his beloved Christina. It +must have been a pleasant sight to see the powerful monarch of Sweden +playing in some magnificent hall of the palace with this merry little +girl. Then he forgot that the weight of a kingdom rested upon his +shoulders. He forgot that the wise Chancellor Oxenstiern was waiting to +consult with him how to render Sweden the greatest nation of Europe. He +forgot that the Emperor of Germany and the King of France were plotting +together how they might pull him down from his throne. + +Yes; Gustavus forgot all the perils and cares and pompous irksomeness of +a royal life, and was as happy, while playing with his child, as the +humblest peasant in the realm of Sweden. How gayly did they dance along +the marble floor of the palace, this valiant king, with his upright, +martial figure, his warworn visage, and commanding aspect, and the +small, round form of Christina, with her rosy face of childish +merriment! Her little fingers were clasped in her father's hand, which +had held the leading-staff in many famous victories. His crown and +sceptre were her playthings. She could disarm Gustavus of his sword, +which was so terrible to the princes of Europe. + +But alas! the king was not long permitted to enjoy Christina's society. +When she was four years old, Gustavus was summoned to take command of +the allied armies of Germany, which were fighting against the Emperor. +His greatest affliction was the necessity of parting with his child; but +people in such high stations have but little opportunity for domestic +happiness. He called an assembly of the Senators of Sweden, and confided +Christina to their care, saying that each one of them must be a father +to her, if he himself should fall in battle. + +At the moment of his departure Christina ran towards him, and began to +address him with a speech which somebody had taught her for the +occasion. Gustavus was busied with thoughts about the affairs of the +kingdom, so that he did not immediately attend to the childish voice of +his little girl. Christina, who did not love to be unnoticed, +immediately stopped short, and pulled him by the coat. + +"Father," said she, "why do not you listen to my speech?" + +In a moment, the king forgot every thing, except that he was parting +with what he loved best in all the world. He caught the child in his +arms, pressed her to his bosom, and burst into tears. Yes; though he was +a brave man, and though he wore a steel corselet on his breast, and +though armies were waiting for him to lead them to battle,--still, his +heart melted within him, and he wept. Christina, too, was so afflicted +that her attendants began to fear that she would actually die of grief. +But probably she was soon comforted; for children seldom remember their +parents quite so faithfully as their parents remember them. + +For two years more, Christina remained in the palace at Stockholm. The +queen, her mother, had accompanied Gustavus to the wars. The child, +therefore, was left to the guardianship of five of the wisest men in the +kingdom. But these wise men knew better how to manage the affairs of +state, than how to govern and educate a little girl so as to render her +a good and happy woman. + +When two years had passed away, tidings were brought to Stockholm which +filled everybody with triumph and sorrow at the same time. The Swedes +had won a glorious victory at Lutzen. But alas! the warlike king of +Sweden, the Lion of the North, the father of our little Christina,--had +been slain at the foot of a great stone, which still marks the spot of +that hero's death. + +Soon after this sad event, a General Assembly, or Congress, consisting +of deputations from the nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the +peasants of Sweden was summoned to meet at Stockholm. It was for the +purpose of declaring little Christina to be Queen of Sweden, and giving +her the crown and sceptre of her deceased father. Silence being +proclaimed, the Chancellor Oxenstiern arose. + +"We desire to know," said he, "whether the people of Sweden will take +the daughter of our dead king, Gustavus Adolphus, to be their Queen." + +When the Chancellor had spoken, an old man with white hair, and in +coarse apparel, stood up in the midst of the assembly. He was a peasant, +Lars Larrson by name, and had spent most of his life in laboring on a +farm. + +"Who is this daughter of Gustavus?" asked the old man. "We do not know +her. Let her be shown to us." + +Then Christina was brought into the hall, and placed before the old +peasant. It was strange, no doubt, to see a child--a little girl of six +years old--offered to the Swedes as their ruler, instead of the brave +king, her father, who had led them to victory so many times. Could her +baby fingers wield a sword in war? Could her childish mind govern the +nation wisely in peace? + +But the Swedes do not appear to have asked themselves these questions. +Old Lars Larrson took Christina up in his arms, and gazed earnestly into +her face. He had known the great Gustavus well; and his heart was +touched, when he saw the likeness which the little girl bore to that +heroic monarch. + +"Yes," cried he, with the tears gushing down his furrowed cheeks, "this +is truly the daughter of our Gustavus! Here is her father's brow!--here +is his piercing eye! She is his very picture. This child shall be our +queen!" + +[Illustration] + +Then all the proud nobles of Sweden, and the reverend clergy, and the +burghers, and the peasants, knelt down at the child's feet, and kissed +her hand. + +"Long live Christina, queen of Sweden!" shouted they. + +Even after she was a woman grown, Christina remembered the pleasure +which she felt in seeing all these men at her feet, and hearing them +acknowledge her as their supreme ruler. Poor child! she was yet to learn +that power does not insure happiness. As yet, however, she had not any +real power. All the public business, it is true, was transacted in her +name; but the kingdom was governed by a number of the most experienced +statesmen, who were called a Regency. + +But it was considered necessary that the little queen should be present +at the public ceremonies, and should behave just as if she were in +reality the ruler of the nation. When she was seven years of age, some +ambassadors from the Czar of Muscovy came to the Swedish court. They +wore long beards, and were clad in a strange fashion, with furs, and +other outlandish ornaments; and as they were inhabitants of a +half-civilized country, they did not behave like other people. The +Chancellor Oxenstiern was afraid that the young queen would burst out +a-laughing, at the first sight of these queer ambassadors; or else that +she would be frightened by their unusual aspect. + +"Why should I be frightened?" said the little queen;--"and do you +suppose that I have no better manners than to laugh? Only tell me how I +must behave; and I will do it." + +Accordingly, the Muscovite ambassadors were introduced; and Christina +received them, and answered their speeches, with as much dignity and +propriety as if she had been a grown woman. + +All this time, though Christina was now a queen, you must not suppose +that she was left to act as she pleased. She had a preceptor, named John +Mathias, who was a very learned man, and capable of instructing her in +all the branches of science. But there was nobody to teach her the +delicate graces and gentle virtues of a woman. She was surrounded almost +entirely by men; and had learned to despise the society of her own sex. +At the age of nine years, she was separated from her mother, whom the +Swedes did not consider a proper person to be entrusted with the charge +of her. No little girl, who sits by a New England fireside, has cause to +envy Christina, in the royal palace at Stockholm. + +Yet she made great progress in her studies. She learned to read the +classical authors of Greece and Rome, and became a great admirer of the +heroes and poets of old times. Then, as for active exercises, she could +ride on horseback as well as any man in her kingdom. She was fond of +hunting, and could shoot at a mark with wonderful skill. But dancing was +the only feminine accomplishment with which she had any acquaintance. + +She was so restless in her disposition, that none of her attendants +were sure of a moment's quiet, neither day nor night. She grew up, I am +sorry to say, a very unamiable person, ill-tempered, proud, stubborn, +and, in short, unfit to make those around her happy, or to be happy +herself. Let every little girl, who has been taught self-control, and a +due regard for the rights of others, thank heaven that she has had +better instruction than this poor little queen of Sweden. + +At the age of eighteen, Christina was declared free to govern the +kingdom by herself, without the aid of a regency. At this period of her +life, she was a young woman of striking aspect, a good figure and +intelligent face, but very strangely dressed. She wore a short habit of +gray cloth, with a man's vest over it, and a black scarf around her +neck, but no jewels, nor ornaments of any kind. + +Yet, though Christina was so negligent of her appearance, there was +something in her air and manner that proclaimed her as the ruler of a +kingdom. Her eyes, it is said, had a very fierce and haughty look. Old +General Wrangel, who had often caused the enemies of Sweden to tremble +in battle, actually trembled himself, when he encountered the eyes of +the queen. But it would have been better for Christina if she could have +made people love her, by means of soft and gentle looks, instead of +affrighting them by such terrible glances. + +And now I have told you almost all that is amusing or instructive, in +the childhood of Christina. Only a few more words need be said about +her; for it is neither pleasant nor profitable to think of many things +that she did, after she grew to be a woman. + +When she had worn the crown a few years, she began to consider it +beneath her dignity to be called a queen, because the name implied that +she belonged to the weaker sex. She therefore caused herself to be +proclaimed KING, thus declaring to the world that she despised her own +sex, and was desirous of being ranked among men. But in the +twenty-eighth year of her age, Christina grew tired of royalty, and +resolved to be neither a king nor a queen any longer. She took the crown +from her head, with her own hands, and ceased to be the ruler of Sweden. +The people did not greatly regret her abdication; for she had governed +them ill, and had taken much of their property to supply her +extravagance. + +Having thus given up her hereditary crown, Christina left Sweden and +travelled over many of the countries of Europe. Everywhere, she was +received with great ceremony, because she was the daughter of the +renowned Gustavus, and had herself been a powerful queen. Perhaps you +would like to know something about her personal appearance, in the +latter part of her life. She is described as wearing a man's vest, a +short gray petticoat, embroidered with gold and silver, and a black wig, +which was thrust awry upon her head. She wore no gloves, and so seldom +washed her hands that nobody could tell what had been their original +color. In this strange dress, and, I suppose, without washing her hands +or face, she visited the magnificent court of Louis the Fourteenth. + +She died in 1689. None loved her while she lived, nor regretted her +death, nor planted a single flower upon her grave. Happy are the little +girls of America, who are brought up quietly and tenderly, at the +domestic hearth, and thus become gentle and delicate women! May none of +them ever lose the loveliness of their sex, by receiving such an +education as that of Queen Christina! + + * * * * * + +Emily, timid, quiet, and sensitive, was the very reverse of little +Christina. She seemed shocked at the idea of such a bold and masculine +character as has been described in the foregoing story. + +"I never could have loved her," whispered she to Mrs. Temple; and then +she added, with that love of personal neatness, which generally +accompanies purity of heart:--"It troubles me to think of her unclean +hands!" + +"Christina was a sad specimen of womankind, indeed," said Mrs. Temple. +"But it is very possible for a woman to have a strong mind, and to be +fitted for the active business of life, without losing any of her +natural delicacy. Perhaps, some time or other, Mr. Temple will tell you +a story of such a woman." + +It was now time for Edward to be left to repose. His brother George +shook him heartily by the hand, and hoped, as he had hoped twenty times +before, that to-morrow or the next day, Ned's eyes would be strong +enough to look the sun right in the face. + +"Thank you, George," replied Edward, smiling; "but I am not half so +impatient as at first. If my bodily eyesight were as good as yours, +perhaps I could not see things so distinctly with my mind's eye. But now +there is a light within which shows me the little Quaker artist, Ben +West, and Isaac Newton with his windmill, and stubborn Sam Johnson, and +stout Noll Cromwell, and shrewd Ben Franklin, and little Queen Christina +with the Swedes kneeling at her feet. It seems as if I really saw these +personages face to face. So I can bear the darkness outside of me pretty +well." + +When Edward ceased speaking, Emily put up her mouth and kissed him as +her farewell for the night. + +"Ah, I forgot!" said Edward, with a sigh. "I cannot see any of your +faces. What would it signify to see all the famous people in the world, +if I must be blind to the faces that I love?" + +"You must try to see us with your heart, my dear child," said his +mother. + +Edward went to bed, somewhat dispirited, but quickly falling asleep, was +visited with such a pleasant dream of the sunshine and of his dearest +friends that he felt the happier for it all the next day. And we hope to +find him still happy when we meet again. + + +THE END. + + + + +JUVENILE BOOKS + +PUBLISHED BY + +TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS. + +JUST OUT, + + +_History of my Pets_. +By Grace Greenwood. A beautiful little volume, with fine plates. + 50 cents. + +_Barbauld's (Mrs.) Lessons for Children_. +With a large number of engravings. 16mo. 40 cents. + +_Jonas's Stories. Related to Rollo and Lucy_. +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Jonas a Judge; or Law among the Boys_. +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Jonas on a Farm in Summer_. +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Jonas on a Farm in Winter_. +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Jack Halliard. Voyages and adventures in the +Arctic Ocean_. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Lambert Lilly's History of the New England +Slates_. With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Lambert Lilly's History of the Middle States_. +With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Lambert Lilly's History of the Southern States_, +_Virginia_, _North and South Carolina_, _and Georgia_. +With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Lambert Lilly's History of the Western States_. +With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Lambert Lilly's Story of the American Revolution._ +With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Little Stories for Little Folks_. +Translated from the German. With twelve fine steel engravings. 16mo. + 60 cents. + +_Mary Howitt's Birds and Flowers, and other_ +_Country Things_. With engravings. 12mo. 50 cents. + +_Mother's Lessons, for Little Girls and Boys_. +By a Lady of Boston. With eight beautiful steel engravings. 16mo. + 50 cents. + +_Olympic Games. A Gift for the Holidays_. +By the Author of "Poetry for Home and School," &c. 16mo. 50 cents. + +_Parley's Short Stories for Long Nights_. +With eight colored engravings, 16mo. 50 cents; uncolored engravings, +40 cents. + +_Lights and Shadows of Domestic Life, and other Stories_. +By the authors of "Rose and her Lamb." + + + + +TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS + +HAVE PUBLISHED + +_Greenwood Leaves_. + +A Collection of Stories and Letters, by Grace Greenwood. Second edition. +1 vol. 12mo. $1.25; gilt $1.75. + + +We suppose most of our readers are familiar with the name of Grace +Greenwood. For some half dozen of years she has been one of the most +acceptable contributors to our American monthlies, and she possesses +such liveliness and vivacity that it does one good to read her +productions. There is an ease and _grace_ about her, too, that makes us +feel acquainted with her, although we have never seen her. The volume +before us is filled with tales, sketches, letters, and poems. We predict +that every lady's library will contain this volume.--BOSTON ATLAS. + +The name of Grace Greenwood has now become a household word in the +popular literature of our country and our day. Of the intellectual woman +we are not called to say much, as her writings speak for themselves, and +they have spoken widely. They are eminently characteristic; they are +strictly national; they are likewise decisively individual. All true +individuality is honestly social; and also, in Miss Clarke's writings, +nothing is sectional, and nothing sectarian. There is much in them that +is subjective, much that is drawn from personal experience, but nothing +that is merely vain or selfish. A genuine human being, she is at the +same time a genuine American girl. And the spirit of her country finds +in her utterance a voice that must stir an earnest life in the brothers +and sisters of her nation. She is one of the spiritual products of the +soil, which has of late given evidence of spiritual fertility; and she +promises not to be the least healthy, as she is not the least choice +among them; she is only putting out her spring buds; if no untimely +frost shall nip them, when the summer suns are warm they will be +splendid blossoms, and long before autumn begins to dim the sky with its +mellow shootings they will be luxuriant fruit.--HENRY GILES. + + + + +_Alderbrook_. + +_A Collection of Fanny Forester's Village Sketches, Poems, &c_. With a +fine Mezzotinto Portrait of the Author, engraved by Sartain. Ninth +edition, enlarged. + +2 vols. 12mo, $1.75; gilt $2.50; gilt extra $3.00. The same in 1 vol. +$1.62; gilt $2.25; gilt extra $2.75. + + +Who has not heard of Fanny Forester,--'charming Fanny Forester,' as she +is deservedly called? Her sketches have been more generally read and +admired than those of almost any other periodical writer of our day. +There is a freshness, grace, sprightliness, purity, and actualness about +them, which charms and invigorates; and we are glad to find them +collected and published in a form both elegant and convenient. Miss +Chubbuck, it will be remembered, was married a few months ago to the +Rev. Dr. Judson, and is now on her way, with that devoted missionary, to +the scene of his former labors. The dedicatory preface of these volumes, +to her husband, is one of the most graceful and touching we have ever +seen. A beautifully engraved portrait of the lady, by Sartain, is +prefixed to the first volume. This collection will make a very +acceptable and suitable present in the approaching Holidays.--SALEM +REGISTER. + +This is one of those charming books which well deserves a place in every +family library, and which has already won a place in thousands of +hearts. The Sketches comprised in these beautiful volumes are so full of +grace and tenderness, so pure in their style and so elevated in their +tone, that none can read them without delight and profit. We hazard +little in saying that the touching story of "Grace Linden," which +properly leads the collection, is scarcely surpassed in beauty by any +thing in the works of Maria Edgeworth, or Mary Russell Mitford. There +are a great many other Sketches, in the volumes, that deserve special +praise; but we will not deal in particulars when all are so admirable. + +The authoress of "Alderbrook" is now a self-denying, zealous missionary +of the Cross, in Asia, and, as Mrs. Judson, has written many very +charming things. She is best known, however, under her _nomme de plume_; +and however honored may be the revered name she now bears, that of Fanny +Forester will be cherished with pride and pleasure by her friends and +readers.--So. LIT. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: True Stories of History and Biography + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: April 24, 2005 [EBook #15697] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Internet Archive Children's Library, Joshua +Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="tei tei-text"> +<div class="tei tei-front"> +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<h1 class="tei tei-head">True Stories from History and Biography</h1> +<p class="tei tei-p">by Nathaniel Hawthorne</p> +<p class="tei tei-p">BOSTON:<br /> +TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS.<br /> +MDCCCLI.</p> +<p class="tei tei-p">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court +of the District of Massachusetts.</p> +<p class="tei tei-p">CAMBRIDGE:<br /> +PRINTED BY BOLLES AND HOUGHTON.</p> +</div> +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image01.png" width="480" height="553" alt="" class="tei tei-figure" /></p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div id="toc" class="tei tei-div"><a name="toc_1" id="toc_1"></a><h1 class="tei tei-head">Contents</h1><ul class="toc"> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_1">Contents</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_2">Preface</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_3">Part I</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_4">Chapter I</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_5">Chapter II</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_6">THE LADY ARBELLA</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_7">Chapter III</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_8">Chapter IV</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_9">Chapter V</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_10">Chapter VI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_11">THE PINE-TREE SHILLINGS</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_12">Chapter VII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_13">Chapter VIII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_14">THE INDIAN BIBLE</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_15">Chapter IX</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_16">Chapter X</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_17">THE SUNKEN TREASURE</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_18">Chapter XI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_19">Part II</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_20">Chapter I</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_21">Chapter II</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_22">Chapter III</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_23">THE OLD-FASHIONED SCHOOL</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_24">Chapter IV</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_25">Chapter VI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_26">THE REJECTED BLESSING</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_27">Chapter VII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_28">Chapter VIII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_29">THE PROVINCIAL MUSTER</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_30">Chapter IX</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_31">THE ACADIAN EXILES</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_32">Chapter X</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_33">Chapter XI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_34">Part III</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_35">Chapter I</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_36">Chapter II</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_37">Chapter III</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_38">THE HUTCHINSON MOB</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_39">Chapter IV</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_40">Chapter V</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_41">THE BOSTON MASSACRE</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_42">Chapter VI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_43">Chapter VII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_44">Chapter VIII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_45">Chapter IX</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_46">THE TORY'S FAREWELL</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_47">Chapter X</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_48">Chapter XI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_49">GRANDFATHER'S DREAM</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_50">Biographical Stories</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_51">Chapter I</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_52">Chapter II</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_53">BENJAMIN WEST</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_54">Chapter III</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_55">SIR ISAAC NEWTON</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_56">Chapter IV</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_57">SAMUEL JOHNSON</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_58">Chapter V</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_59">SAMUEL JOHNSON—continued.</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_60">Chapter VI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_61">OLIVER CROMWELL</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_62">Chapter VII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_63">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_64">Chapter VIII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_65">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN—continued</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 2em;"><a href="#toc_66">Chapter IX</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 4em;"><a href="#toc_67">QUEEN CHRISTINA</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_68">JUVENILE BOOKS</a></li> +</ul></div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_2" id="toc_2"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head">Preface</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In writing this ponderous tome, the author's desire +has been to describe the eminent characters and +remarkable events of our annals, in such a form and +style, that the YOUNG might make acquaintance with +them of their own accord. For this purpose, while +ostensibly relating the adventures of a Chair, he has +endeavored to keep a distinct and unbroken thread of +authentic history. The Chair is made to pass from +one to another of those personages, of whom he +thought it most desirable for the young reader to have +vivid and familiar ideas, and whose lives and actions +would best enable him to give picturesque sketches +of the times. On its sturdy oaken legs, it trudges diligently +from one scene to another, and seems always +to thrust itself in the way, with most benign complacency, +whenever a historical personage happens to be +looking round for a seat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There is certainly no method, by which the shadowy +outlines of departed men and women can be made to +assume the hues of life more effectually, than by connecting +their images with the substantial and homely +reality of a fireside chair. It causes us to feel at +once, that these characters of history had a private +and familiar existence, and were not wholly contained +within that cold array of outward action, which we +are compelled to receive as the adequate representation +of their lives. If this impression can be given, +much is accomplished.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Setting aside Grandfather and his auditors, and +excepting the adventures of the Chair, which form the +machinery of the work, nothing in the ensuing pages +can be termed fictitious. The author, it is true, has +sometimes assumed the license of filling up the outline +of history with details, for which he has none but +imaginative authority, but which, he hopes, do not +violate nor give a false coloring to the truth. He +believes that, in this respect, his narrative will not be +found to convey ideas and impressions, of which the +reader may hereafter find it necessary to purge his +mind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The author's great doubt is, whether he has succeeded +in writing a book which will be readable by the +class for whom he intends it. To make a lively and +entertaining narrative for children, with such unmalleable +material as is presented by the sombre, stern, and +rigid characteristics of the Puritans and their descendants, +is quite as difficult an attempt, as to manufacture +delicate playthings out of the granite rocks on which +New England is founded.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-body"> +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<p style="font-weight: 700" class="tei tei-p">THE WHOLE HISTORY OF GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">COMPLETE IN THREE PARTS.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page001">[pg 001]</span> +<a name="Pg001" id="Pg001" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_3" id="toc_3"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head">Part I</h1> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_4" id="toc_4"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter I</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather had been sitting in his old arm-chair, +all that pleasant afternoon, while the children +were pursuing their various sports, far off or near at +hand. Sometimes you would have said, "Grandfather +is asleep;" but still, even when his eyes were +closed, his thoughts were with the young people, +playing among the flowers and shrubbery of the garden.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He heard the voice of Laurence, who had taken possession +of a heap of decayed branches which the gardener +had lopped from the fruit trees, and was building +a little hut for his cousin Clara and himself. He +heard Clara's gladsome voice, too, as she weeded +and watered the flower-bed which had been given +her for her own. He could have counted every +footstep that Charley took, as he trundled his wheelbarrow +<span class="tei-pb" id="page002">[pg 002]</span> +<a name="Pg002" id="Pg002" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +along the gravel walk. And though Grandfather +was old and gray-haired, yet his heart leaped +with joy whenever little Alice came fluttering, like a +butterfly, into the room. She had made each of the +children her playmate in turn, and now made Grandfather +her playmate too, and thought him the merriest +of them all.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At last the children grew weary of their sports; +because a summer afternoon is like a long lifetime +to the young. So they came into the room together, +and clustered round Grandfather's great chair. Little +Alice, who was hardly five years old, took the +privilege of the youngest, and climbed his knee. It +was a pleasant thing to behold that fair and golden-haired +child in the lap of the old man, and to think +that, different as they were, the hearts of both could +be gladdened with the same joys.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," said little Alice, laying her head +back upon his arm, "I am very tired now. You +must tell me a story to make me go to sleep."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That is not what story-tellers like," answered +Grandfather, smiling. "They are better satisfied +when they can keep their auditors awake."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But here are Laurence, and Charley, and I," +cried cousin Clara, who was twice as old as little +Alice. "We will all three keep wide awake. And +pray, Grandfather, tell us a story about this strange-looking +old chair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now, the chair in which Grandfather sat was made +of oak, which had grown dark with age, but had been +<span class="tei-pb" id="page003">[pg 003]</span> +<a name="Pg003" id="Pg003" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +rubbed and polished till it shone as bright as mahogany. +It was very large and heavy, and had a back +that rose high above Grandfather's white head. This +back was curiously carved in open work, so as to +represent flowers and foliage and other devices; +which the children had often gazed at, but could +never understand what they meant. On the very +tiptop of the chair, over the head of Grandfather +himself, was a likeness of a lion's head, which had +such a savage grin that you would almost expect to +hear it growl and snarl.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The children had seen Grandfather sitting in this +chair ever since they could remember any thing. +Perhaps the younger of them supposed that he and +the chair had come into the world together, and that +both had always been as old as they were now. At +this time, however, it happened to be the fashion for +ladies to adorn their drawing-rooms with the oldest +and oddest chairs that could be found. It seemed +to cousin Clara that if these ladies could have seen +Grandfather's old chair, they would have thought it +worth all the rest together. She wondered if it were +not even older than Grandfather himself, and longed +to know all about its history.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Do, Grandfather, talk to us about this chair," +she repeated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, child," said Grandfather, patting Clara's +cheek, "I can tell you a great many stories of my +chair. Perhaps your cousin Laurence would like to +hear them too. They would teach him something +<span class="tei-pb" id="page004">[pg 004]</span> +<a name="Pg004" id="Pg004" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +about the history and distinguished people of his +country, which he has never read in any of his +school-books."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Cousin Laurence was a boy of twelve, a bright +scholar, in whom an early thoughtfulness and sensibility +began to show themselves. His young fancy +kindled at the idea of knowing all the adventures of +this venerable chair. He looked eagerly in Grandfather's +face; and even Charley, a bold, brisk, restless +little fellow of nine, sat himself down on the +carpet, and resolved to be quiet for at least ten minutes, +should the story last so long.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Meantime, little Alice was already asleep; so +Grandfather, being much pleased with such an +attentive audience, began to talk about matters that +had happened long ago.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page005">[pg 005]</span> +<a name="Pg005" id="Pg005" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_5" id="toc_5"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter II</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, before relating the adventures of the chair, +Grandfather found it necessary to speak of the circumstances +that caused the first settlement of New +England. For it will soon be perceived that the +story of this remarkable chair cannot be told without +telling a great deal of the history of the country.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So, Grandfather talked about the Puritans, as +those persons were called who thought it sinful to +practise the religious forms and ceremonies which +the Church of England had borrowed from the +Roman Catholics. These Puritans suffered so much +persecution in England that, in 1607, many of them +went over to Holland, and lived ten or twelve years +at Amsterdam and Leyden. But they feared that, +if they continued there much longer, they should +cease to be English, and should adopt all the manners +and ideas and feelings of the Dutch. For this +and other reasons, in the year 1620, they embarked +on board of the ship Mayflower, and crossed the ocean +to the shores of Cape Cod. There they made a +settlement, and called it Plymouth; which, though +now a part of Massachusetts, was for a long time a +colony by itself. And thus was formed the earliest +settlement of the Puritans in America.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Meantime, those of the Puritans who remained in +<span class="tei-pb" id="page006">[pg 006]</span> +<a name="Pg006" id="Pg006" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +England continued to suffer grievous persecution on +account of their religious opinions. They began to +look around them for some spot where they might +worship God, not as the king and bishops thought fit, +but according to the dictates of their own consciences. +When their brethren had gone from Holland +to America, they bethought themselves that +they likewise might find refuge from persecution +there. Several gentlemen among them purchased a +tract of country on the coast of Massachusetts Bay, +and obtained a charter from King Charles, which authorized +them to make laws for the settlers. In the +year 1628, they sent over a few people, with John +Endicott at their head, to commence a plantation at +Salem. Peter Palfrey, Roger Conant, and one or +two more, had built houses there in 1626, and may +be considered as the first settlers of that ancient +town. Many other Puritans prepared to follow Endicott.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And now we come to the chair, my dear children," +said Grandfather. "This chair is supposed to +have been made of an oak tree which grew in the +park of the English earl of Lincoln, between two and +three centuries ago. In its younger days it used, +probably, to stand in the hall of the earl's castle. +Do not you see the coat of arms of the family of +Lincoln, carved in the open work of the back? But +when his daughter, the Lady Arbella, was married +to a certain Mr. Johnson, the earl gave her this +valuable chair." +<span class="tei-pb" id="page007">[pg 007]</span> +<a name="Pg007" id="Pg007" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Who was Mr. Johnson?" inquired Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He was a gentleman of great wealth, who agreed +with the Puritans in their religious opinions," answered +Grandfather. "And as his belief was the +same as theirs, he resolved that he would live and +die with them. Accordingly, in the month of April, +1630, he left his pleasant abode and all his comforts +in England, and embarked with the Lady Arbella, +on board of a ship bound for America."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As Grandfather was frequently impeded by the +questions and observations of his young auditors, +we deem it advisable to omit all such prattle as is +not essential to the story. We have taken some +pains to find out exactly what Grandfather said, and +here offer to our readers, as nearly as possible in his +own words, the story of</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_6" id="toc_6"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE LADY ARBELLA</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The ship in which Mr. Johnson and his lady embarked, +taking Grandfather's chair along with them, +was called the Arbella, in honor of the lady herself. +A fleet of ten or twelve vessels, with many hundred +passengers, left England about the same time; for +a multitude of people, who were discontented with +the king's government and oppressed by the bishops, +were flocking over to the new world. One of the +vessels in the fleet was that same Mayflower which +had carried the Puritan pilgrims to Plymouth. And +now, my children, I would have you fancy yourselves +in the cabin of the good ship Arbella; because if +<span class="tei-pb" id="page008">[pg 008]</span> +<a name="Pg008" id="Pg008" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +you could behold the passengers aboard that vessel, +you would feel what a blessing and honor it was for +New England to have such settlers. They were the +best men and women of their day.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Among the passengers was John Winthrop, who +had sold the estate of his forefathers, and was going +to prepare a new home for his wife and children in +the wilderness. He had the king's charter in his +keeping, and was appointed the first Governor of +Massachusetts. Imagine him a person of grave and +benevolent aspect, dressed in a black velvet suit, +with a broad ruff around his neck and a peaked +beard upon his chin. There was likewise a minister +of the Gospel, whom the English bishops had +forbidden to preach, but who knew that he should +have liberty both to preach and pray in the forests +of America. He wore a black cloak, called a Geneva +cloak, and had a black velvet cap, fitting close +to his head, as was the fashion of almost all the +Puritan clergymen. In their company came Sir +Richard Saltonstall, who had been one of the five +first projectors of the new colony. He soon returned +to his native country. But his descendants +still remain in New England; and the good old +family name is as much respected in our days as it +was in those of Sir Richard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Not only these, but several other men of wealth +and pious ministers, were in the cabin of the Arbella. +One had banished himself for ever from the old hall +where his ancestors had lived for hundreds of years. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page009">[pg 009]</span> +<a name="Pg009" id="Pg009" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Another had left his quiet parsonage, in a country +town of England. Others had come from the universities +of Oxford or Cambridge, where they had +gained great fame for their learning. And here +they all were, tossing upon the uncertain and dangerous +sea, and bound for a home that was more +dangerous than even the sea itself. In the cabin, +likewise, sat the Lady Arbella in her chair, with a +gentle and sweet expression on her face, but looking +too pale and feeble to endure the hardships of the +wilderness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Every morning and evening the Lady Arbella +gave up her great chair to one of the ministers, who +took his place in it and read passages from the Bible +to his companions. And thus, with prayers and pious +conversation, and frequent singing of hymns, which +the breezes caught from their lips and scattered far +over the desolate waves, they prosecuted their voyage, +and sailed into the harbor of Salem in the +month of June.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At that period there were but six or eight dwellings +in the town; and these were miserable hovels, +with roofs of straw and wooden chimneys. The passengers +in the fleet either built huts with bark and +branches of trees, or erected tents of cloth till they +could provide themselves with better shelter. Many +of them went to form a settlement at Charlestown. +It was thought fit that the Lady Arbella should +tarry in Salem for a time; she was probably received +as a guest into the family of John Endicott. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page010">[pg 010]</span> +<a name="Pg010" id="Pg010" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +He was the chief person in the plantation, and had +the only comfortable house which the new comers +had beheld since they left England. So now, children, +you must imagine Grandfather's chair in the +midst of a new scene.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suppose it a hot summer's day, and the lattice-windows +of a chamber in Mr. Endicott's house thrown +wide open. The Lady Arbella, looking paler than +she did on shipboard, is sitting in her chair, and +thinking mournfully of far-off England. She rises +and goes to the window. There, amid patches of +garden ground and cornfield, she sees the few +wretched hovels of the settlers, with the still ruder +wigwams and cloth tents of the passengers who had +arrived in the same fleet with herself. Far and near +stretches the dismal forest of pine trees, which throw +their black shadows over the whole land, and likewise +over the heart of this poor lady.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">All the inhabitants of the little village are busy. +One is clearing a spot on the verge of the forest for +his homestead; another is hewing the trunk of a +fallen pine tree, in order to build himself a dwelling; +a third is hoeing in his field of Indian corn. Here +comes a huntsman out of the woods, dragging a bear +which he has shot, and shouting to the neighbors to +lend him a hand. There goes a man to the sea-shore, +with a spade and a bucket, to dig a mess of +clams, which were a principal article of food with +the first settlers. Scattered here and there are two +or three dusky figures, clad in mantles of fur, with +<span class="tei-pb" id="page011">[pg 011]</span> +<a name="Pg011" id="Pg011" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +ornaments of bone hanging from their ears, and the +feathers of wild birds in their coal black hair. They +have belts of shell-work slung across their shoulders, +and are armed with bows and arrows and flint-headed +spears. These are an Indian Sagamore and his +attendants, who have come to gaze at the labors of +the white men. And now rises a cry, that a pack +of wolves have seized a young calf in the pasture; +and every man snatches up his gun or pike, and runs +in chase of the marauding beasts.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Poor Lady Arbella watches all these sights, and +feels that this new world is fit only for rough and +hardy people. None should be here but those who +can struggle with wild beasts and wild men, and can +toil in the heat or cold, and can keep their hearts +firm against all difficulties and dangers. But she is +not one of these. Her gentle and timid spirit sinks +within her; and turning away from the window she +sits down in the great chair, and wonders thereabouts +in the wilderness her friends will dig her +grave.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mr. Johnson had gone, with Governor Winthrop +and most of the other passengers, to Boston, where +he intended to build a house for Lady Arbella and +himself. Boston was then covered with wild woods, +and had fewer inhabitants even than Salem. During +her husband's absence, poor Lady Arbella felt herself +growing ill, and was hardly able to stir from the +great chair. Whenever John Endicott noticed her +despondency, he doubtless addressed her with words +<span class="tei-pb" id="page012">[pg 012]</span> +<a name="Pg012" id="Pg012" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of comfort. "Cheer up, my good lady!" he would +say. "In a little time, you will love this rude life +of the wilderness as I do." But Endicott's heart +was as bold and resolute as iron, and he could not +understand why a woman's heart should not be of +iron too.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Still, however, he spoke kindly to the lady, and +then hastened forth to till his corn-field and set out +fruit trees, or to bargain with the Indians for furs, or +perchance to oversee the building of a fort. Also +being a magistrate, he had often to punish some idler +or evil-doer, by ordering him to be set in the stocks +or scourged at the whipping-post. Often, too, as +was the custom of the times, he and Mr. Higginson, +the minister of Salem, held long religious talks +together. Thus John Endicott was a man of multifarious +business, and had no time to look back regretfully +to his native land. He felt himself fit for the +new world, and for the work that he had to do, and +set himself resolutely to accomplish it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">What a contrast, my dear children, between this +bold, rough, active man, and the gentle Lady Arbella, +who was fading away, like a pale English flower, in +the shadow of the forest! And now the great chair +was often empty, because Lady Arbella grew too +weak to arise from bed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Meantime, her husband had pitched upon a spot +for their new home. He returned from Boston to +Salem, travelling through the woods on foot, and +leaning on his pilgrim's staff. His heart yearned +<span class="tei-pb" id="page013">[pg 013]</span> +<a name="Pg013" id="Pg013" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +within him; for he was eager to tell his wife of the +new home which he had chosen. But when he +beheld her pale and hollow cheek, and found how +her strength was wasted, he must have known that +her appointed home was in a better land. Happy +for him then,—happy both for him and her,—if +they remembered that there was a path to heaven, +as well from this heathen wilderness as from the +Christian land whence they had come. And so, in +one short month from her arrival, the gentle Lady +Arbella faded away and died. They dug a grave +for her in the new soil, where the roots of the pine +trees impeded their spades; and when her bones +had rested there nearly two hundred years, and a +city had sprung up around them, a church of stone +was built upon the spot.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Charley, almost at the commencement of the foregoing +narrative, had galloped away with a prodigious +clatter, upon Grandfather's stick, and was not yet +returned. So large a boy should have been ashamed +to ride upon a stick. But Laurence and Clara had +listened attentively, and were affected by this true +story of the gentle lady, who had come so far to die +so soon. Grandfather had supposed that little Alice +was asleep, but, towards the close of the story, happening +to look down upon her, he saw that her blue +eyes were wide open, and fixed earnestly upon his +face. The tears had gathered in them, like dew +upon a delicate flower; but when Grandfather +<span class="tei-pb" id="page014">[pg 014]</span> +<a name="Pg014" id="Pg014" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +ceased to speak, the sunshine of her smile broke +forth again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O, the lady must have been so glad to get to +heaven!" exclaimed little Alice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather, what became of Mr. Johnson?" +asked Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"His heart appears to have been quite broken," +answered Grandfather; "for he died at Boston +within a month after the death of his wife. He was +buried in the very same tract of ground, where he +had intended to build a dwelling for Lady Arbella +and himself. Where their house would have stood +there was his grave.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I never heard any thing so melancholy!" said +Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The people loved and respected Mr. Johnson so +much," continued Grandfather, "that it was the +last request of many of them, when they died, that +they might be buried as near as possible to this good +man's grave. And so the field became the first +burial-ground in Boston. When you pass through +Tremont street, along by King's Chapel, you see a +burial-ground, containing many old grave-stones and +monuments. That was Mr. Johnson's field."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How sad is the thought," observed Clara, "that +one of the first things which the settlers had to do, +when they came to the new world, was to set apart +a burial-ground!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Perhaps," said Laurence, "if they had found +no need of burial-grounds here, they would have +<span class="tei-pb" id="page015">[pg 015]</span> +<a name="Pg015" id="Pg015" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +been glad, after a few years, to go back to England."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather looked at Laurence, to discover +whether he knew how profound and true a thing he +had said.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_7" id="toc_7"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page016">[pg 016]</span> +<a name="Pg016" id="Pg016" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter III</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Not long after Grandfather had told the story of +his great chair, there chanced to be a rainy day. +Our friend Charley, after disturbing the household +with beat of drum and riotous shouts, races up and +down the staircase, overturning of chairs, and much +other uproar, began to feel the quiet and confinement +within doors intolerable. But as the rain came down +in a flood, the little fellow was hopelessly a prisoner, +and now stood with sullen aspect at a window, wondering +whether the sun itself were not extinguished +by so much moisture in the sky.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Charley had already exhausted the less eager +activity of the other children; and they had betaken +themselves to occupations that did not admit +of his companionship. Laurence sat in a recess near +the book-case, reading, not for the first time, the +Midsummer Night's Dream. Clara was making a +rosary of beads for a little figure of a Sister of +Charity, who was to attend the Bunker Hill Fair, and +lend her aid in erecting the Monument. Little Alice +sat on Grandfather's foot-stool, with a picture-book +in her hand; and, for every picture, the child was +telling Grandfather a story. She did not read from +the book, (for little Alice had not much skill in +reading,) but told the story out of her own heart +and mind. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page017">[pg 017]</span> +<a name="Pg017" id="Pg017" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Charley was too big a boy, of course, to care any +thing about little Alice's stories, although Grandfather +appeared to listen with a good deal of interest. +Often, in a young child's ideas and fancies, there is +something which it requires the thought of a lifetime +to comprehend. But Charley was of opinion, that +if a story must be told, it had better be told by +Grandfather, than little Alice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather, I want to hear more about your +chair," said he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now Grandfather remembered that Charley had +galloped away upon a stick, in the midst of the narrative +of poor Lady Arbella, and I know not whether +he would have thought it worth while to tell another +story, merely to gratify such an inattentive auditor +as Charley. But Laurence laid down his book and +seconded the request. Clara drew her chair nearer +to Grandfather, and little Alice immediately closed +her picture-book, and looked up into his face. +Grandfather had not the heart to disappoint them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He mentioned several persons who had a share in +the settlement of our country, and who would be +well worthy of remembrance, if we could find room +to tell about them all. Among the rest, Grandfather +spoke of the famous Hugh Peters, a minister +of the gospel, who did much good to the inhabitants +of Salem. Mr. Peters afterwards went back to England, +and was chaplain to Oliver Cromwell; but +Grandfather did not tell the children what became +of this upright and zealous man, at last. In fact, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page018">[pg 018]</span> +<a name="Pg018" id="Pg018" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +his auditors were growing impatient to hear more +about the history of the chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"After the death of Mr. Johnson," said he, +"Grandfather's chair came into the possession of +Roger Williams. He was a clergyman, who arrived +at Salem, and settled there in 1631. Doubtless the +good man has spent many a studious hour in this +old chair, either penning a sermon, or reading some +abstruse book of theology, till midnight came upon +him unawares. At that period, as there were few +lamps or candles to be had, people used to read or +work by the light of pitchpine torches. These supplied +the place of the "midnight oil," to the learned +men of New England."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather went on to talk about Roger Williams, +and told the children several particulars, +which we have not room to repeat. One incident, +however, which was connected with his life, must be +related, because it will give the reader an idea of +the opinions and feelings of the first settlers of New +England. It was as follows:</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE RED CROSS</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">While Roger Williams sat in Grandfather's chair, +at his humble residence in Salem, John Endicott +would often come to visit him. As the clergy had +great influence in temporal concerns, the minister +and magistrate would talk over the occurrences of +the day, and consult how the people might be governed +according to scriptural laws. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page019">[pg 019]</span> +<a name="Pg019" id="Pg019" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">One thing especially troubled them both. In the +old national banner of England, under which her +soldiers have fought for hundreds of years, there is +a Red Cross, which has been there ever since the +days when England was in subjection to the Pope. +The Cross, though a holy symbol, was abhorred by +the Puritans, because they considered it a relic of +Popish idolatry. Now, whenever the train-band of +Salem was mustered, the soldiers, with Endicott at +their head, had no other flag to march under than +this same old papistical banner of England, with the +Red Cross in the midst of it. The banner of the +Red Cross, likewise, was flying on the walls of the +fort of Salem; and a similar one was displayed in +Boston harbor, from the fortress on Castle Island.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I profess, brother Williams," Captain Endicott +would say, after they had been talking of this matter, +"it distresses a Christian man's heart, to see +this idolatrous Cross flying over our heads. A +stranger beholding it, would think that we had +undergone all our hardships and dangers, by sea +and in the wilderness, only to get new dominions for +the Pope of Rome."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Truly, good Mr. Endicott," Roger Williams +would answer, "you speak as an honest man and +Protestant Christian should. For mine own part, +were it my business to draw a sword, I should reckon +it sinful to fight under such a banner. Neither +can I, in my pulpit, ask the blessing of Heaven +upon it." +<span class="tei-pb" id="page020">[pg 020]</span> +<a name="Pg020" id="Pg020" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Such, probably, was the way in which Roger Williams +and John Endicott used to talk about the banner +of the Red Cross. Endicott, who was a prompt +and resolute man, soon determined that Massachusetts, +if she could not have a banner of her own, +should at least be delivered from that of the Pope of +Rome.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Not long afterwards there was a military muster +at Salem. Every able-bodied man, in the town and +neighborhood, was there. All were well armed, +with steel caps upon their heads, plates of iron upon +their breasts and at their backs, and gorgets of steel +around their necks. When the sun shone upon +these ranks of iron-clad men, they flashed and blazed +with a splendor that bedazzled the wild Indians, who +had come out of the woods to gaze at them. The +soldiers had long pikes, swords, and muskets, which +were fired with matches, and were almost as heavy +as a small cannon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">These men had mostly a stern and rigid aspect. +To judge by their looks, you might have supposed +that there was as much iron in their hearts, as there +was upon their heads and breasts. They were all +devoted Puritans, and of the same temper as those +with whom Oliver Cromwell afterwards overthrew +the throne of England. They hated all the relics of +Popish superstition as much as Endicott himself; +and yet, over their heads, was displayed the banner +of the Red Cross.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Endicott was the captain of the company. While +<span class="tei-pb" id="page021">[pg 021]</span> +<a name="Pg021" id="Pg021" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the soldiers were expecting his orders to begin their +exercise, they saw him take the banner in one hand, +holding his drawn sword in the other. Probably he +addressed them in a speech, and explained how horrible +a thing it was, that men, who had fled from +Popish idolatry into the wilderness, should be compelled +to fight under its symbols here. Perhaps he +concluded his address somewhat in the following +style.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And now, fellow soldiers, you see this old banner +of England. Some of you, I doubt not, may +think it treason for a man to lay violent hands upon +it. But whether or no it be treason to man, I have +good assurance in my conscience that it is no treason +to God. Wherefore I have resolved that we will +rather be God's soldiers, than soldiers of the Pope +of Rome; and in that mind I now cut the Papal +Cross out of this banner."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And so he did. And thus, in a province belonging +to the crown of England, a captain was found +bold enough to deface the King's banner with his +sword.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Winthrop, and the other wise men of Massachusetts, +heard of it, they were disquieted, being +afraid that Endicott's act would bring great trouble +upon himself and them. An account of the matter +was carried to King Charles; but he was then so +much engrossed by dissensions with his people, that +he had no leisure to punish the offender. In other +<span class="tei-pb" id="page022">[pg 022]</span> +<a name="Pg022" id="Pg022" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +times, it might have cost Endicott his life, and Massachusetts +her charter.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I should like to know, Grandfather," said Laurence, +when the story was ended, "whether, when +Endicott cut the Red Cross out of the banner, he +meant to imply that Massachusetts was independent +of England?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A sense of the independence of his adopted +country, must have been in that bold man's heart," +answered Grandfather; "but I doubt whether he +had given the matter much consideration, except in +its religious bearing. However, it was a very remarkable +affair, and a very strong expression of +Puritan character."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather proceeded to speak further of Roger +Williams, and of other persons who sat in the great +chair, as will be seen in the following chapter.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page023">[pg 023]</span> +<a name="Pg023" id="Pg023" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_8" id="toc_8"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter IV</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Roger Williams," said Grandfather, "did not +keep possession of the chair a great while. His +opinions of civil and religious matters differed, in +many respects, from those of the rulers and clergymen +of Massachusetts. Now the wise men of those +days believed, that the country could not be safe, +unless all the inhabitants thought and felt alike."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Does any body believe so in our days Grandfather?" +asked Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Possibly there are some who believe it," said +Grandfather; "but they have not so much power to +act upon their belief, as the magistrates and ministers +had, in the days of Roger Williams. They had +the power to deprive this good man of his home, and +to send him out from the midst of them, in search of +a new place of rest. He was banished in 1634, and +went first to Plymouth colony; but as the people +there held the same opinions as those of Massachusetts, +he was not suffered to remain among them. +However, the wilderness was wide enough; so Roger +Williams took his staff and travelled into the +forest, and made treaties with the Indians, and began +a plantation which he called Providence."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have been to Providence on the railroad," +said Charley. "It is but a two hours' ride." +<span class="tei-pb" id="page024">[pg 024]</span> +<a name="Pg024" id="Pg024" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, Charley," replied Grandfather; "but when +Roger Williams travelled thither, over hills and valleys, +and through the tangled woods, and across +swamps and streams, it was a journey of several +days. Well; his little plantation is now grown to +be a populous city; and the inhabitants have a +great veneration for Roger Williams. His name is +familiar in the mouths of all because they see it on +their bank bills. How it would have perplexed this +good clergyman, if he had been told that he should +give his name to the ROGER WILLIAMS BANK!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"When he was driven from Massachusetts," said +Laurence, "and began his journey into the woods, +he must have felt as if he were burying himself forever +from the sight and knowledge of men. Yet +the whole country has now heard of him, and will +remember him forever."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes," answered Grandfather, "it often happens, +that the outcasts of one generation are those, who +are reverenced as the wisest and best of men by the +next. The securest fame is that which comes after +a man's death. But let us return to our story. +When Roger Williams was banished, he appears to +have given the chair to Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. At +all events it was in her possession in 1637. She +was a very sharp-witted and well-instructed lady, +and was so conscious of her own wisdom and abilities, +that she thought it a pity that the world should +not have the benefit of them. She therefore used +to hold lectures in Boston, once or twice a week, at +<span class="tei-pb" id="page025">[pg 025]</span> +<a name="Pg025" id="Pg025" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +which most of the women attended. Mrs. Hutchinson +presided at these meetings, sitting, with great +state and dignity, in Grandfather's chair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather, was it positively this very chair?" +demanded Clara, laying her hand upon its carved +elbow.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why not, my dear Clara?" said Grandfather. +"Well; Mrs. Hutchinson's lectures soon caused a +great disturbance; for the ministers of Boston did +not think it safe and proper, that a woman should +publicly instruct the people in religious doctrines. +Moreover, she made the matter worse, by declaring +that the Rev. Mr. Cotton was the only sincerely pious +and holy clergyman in New England. Now the +clergy of those days had quite as much share in the +government of the country, though indirectly, as the +magistrates themselves; so you may imagine what a +host of powerful enemies were raised up against Mrs. +Hutchinson. A synod was convened; that is to say, +an assemblage of all the ministers in Massachusetts. +They declared that there were eighty-two erroneous +opinions on religious subjects, diffused among the +people, and that Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions were of +the number."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"If they had eighty-two wrong opinions," observed +Charley, "I don't see how they could have any +right ones."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mrs. Hutchinson had many zealous friends and +converts," continued Grandfather. "She was favored +by young Henry Vane, who had come over +<span class="tei-pb" id="page026">[pg 026]</span> +<a name="Pg026" id="Pg026" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +from England a year or two before, and had since +been chosen governor of the colony, at the age of +twenty-four. But Winthrop, and most of the other +leading men, as well as the ministers, felt an abhorrence +of her doctrines. Thus two opposite parties +were formed; and so fierce were the dissensions, +that it was feared the consequence would be civil +war and bloodshed. But Winthrop and the ministers +being the most powerful, they disarmed and imprisoned +Mrs. Hutchinson's adherents. She, like +Roger Williams, was banished."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dear Grandfather, did they drive the poor woman +into the woods?" exclaimed little Alice, who +contrived to feel a human interest even in these discords +of polemic divinity.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They did, my darling," replied Grandfather; +"and the end of her life was so sad, you must not +hear it. At her departure, it appears from the best +authorities, that she gave the great chair to her +friend, Henry Vane. He was a young man of wonderful +talents and great learning, who had imbibed +the religious opinions of the Puritans, and left England +with the intention of spending his life in Massachusetts. +The people chose him governor; but the +controversy about Mrs. Hutchinson, and other troubles, +caused him to leave the country in 1637. You +may read the subsequent events of his life in the +History of England."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, Grandfather," cried Laurence; "and we +may read them better in Mr. Upham's biography of +<span class="tei-pb" id="page027">[pg 027]</span> +<a name="Pg027" id="Pg027" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Vane. And what a beautiful death he died, long +afterwards! beautiful, though it was on a scaffold."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Many of the most beautiful deaths have been +there," said Grandfather. "The enemies of a great +and good man can in no other way make him so +glorious, as by giving him the crown of martyrdom."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In order that the children might fully understand +the all-important history of the chair, Grandfather +now thought fit to speak of the progress that was +made in settling several colonies. The settlement +of Plymouth, in 1620, has already been mentioned. +In 1635, Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, two ministers, +went on foot from Massachusetts to Connecticut, +through the pathless woods, taking their whole congregation +along with them. They founded the town +of Hartford. In 1638, Mr. Davenport, a very celebrated +minister, went, with other people, and began +a plantation at New Haven. In the same year, +some persons who had been persecuted in Massachusetts, +went to the Isle of Rhodes, since called Rhode +Island, and settled there. About this time, also, +many settlers had gone to Maine, and were living +without any regular government. There were likewise +settlers near Piscataqua River, in the region +which is now called New Hampshire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Thus, at various points along the coast of New +England, there were communities of Englishmen. +Though these communities were independent of one +another, yet they had a common dependence upon +<span class="tei-pb" id="page028">[pg 028]</span> +<a name="Pg028" id="Pg028" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +England; and, at so vast a distance from their native +home, the inhabitants must all have felt like +brethren. They were fitted to become one united +people, at a future period. Perhaps their feelings +of brotherhood were the stronger, because different +nations had formed settlements to the north and to +the south. In Canada and Nova Scotia were colonies +of French. On the banks of the Hudson River +was a colony of Dutch, who had taken possession of +that region many years before, and called it New +Netherlands.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather, for aught I know, might have gone +on to speak of Maryland and Virginia; for the good +old gentleman really seemed to suppose, that the +whole surface of the United States was not too broad +a foundation to place the four legs of his chair upon. +But, happening to glance at Charley, he perceived +that this naughty boy was growing impatient, and +meditating another ride upon a stick. So here, for +the present, Grandfather suspended the history of +his chair.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page029">[pg 029]</span> +<a name="Pg029" id="Pg029" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_9" id="toc_9"></a><h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter V</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The Children had now learned to look upon the +chair with an interest, which was almost the same as +if it were a conscious being, and could remember the +many famous people whom it had held within its +arms.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Even Charley, lawless as he was, seemed to feel +that this venerable chair must not be clambered upon +nor overturned, although he had no scruple in taking +such liberties with every other chair in the house. +Clara treated it with still greater reverence, often +taking occasion to smooth its cushion, and to brush +the dust from the carved flowers and grotesque +figures of its oaken back and arms. Laurence +would sometimes sit a whole hour, especially at twilight, +gazing at the chair, and, by the spell of his +imaginations, summoning up its ancient occupants to +appear in it again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Little Alice evidently employed herself in a similar +way; for once, when Grandfather had gone +abroad, the child was heard talking with the gentle +Lady Arbella, as if she were still sitting in the +chair. So sweet a child as little Alice may fitly +talk with angels, such as the Lady Arbella had long +since become.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather was soon importuned for more stories +<span class="tei-pb" id="page030">[pg 030]</span> +<a name="Pg030" id="Pg030" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +about the chair. He had no difficulty in relating +them; for it really seemed as if every person, noted +in our early history, had, on some occasion or other, +found repose within its comfortable arms. If Grandfather +took pride in any thing, it was in being the +possessor of such an honorable and historic elbow +chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know not precisely who next got possession of +the chair, after Governor Vane went back to England," +said Grandfather. "But there is reason to +believe that President Dunster sat in it, when he +held the first commencement at Harvard College. +You have often heard, children, how careful our +forefathers were, to give their young people a good +education. They had scarcely cut down trees +enough to make room for their own dwellings, before +they began to think of establishing a college. Their +principal object was, to rear up pious and learned +ministers; and hence old writers call Harvard College +a school of the prophets."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Is the college a school of the prophets now?" +asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is a long while since I took my degree, Charley. +You must ask some of the recent graduates," +answered Grandfather. "As I was telling you, +President Dunster sat in Grandfather's chair in +1642, when he conferred the degree of bachelor of +arts on nine young men. They were the first in +America, who had received that honor. And now, +my dear auditors, I must confess that there are contradictory +<span class="tei-pb" id="page031">[pg 031]</span> +<a name="Pg031" id="Pg031" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +statements and some uncertainty about +the adventures of the chair, for a period of almost +ten years. Some say that it was occupied by your +own ancestor, William Hawthorne, first Speaker of +the House of Representatives. I have nearly satisfied +myself, however, that, during most of this questionable +period, it was literally the Chair of State. +It gives me much pleasure to imagine, that several +successive governors of Massachusetts sat in it at +the council board."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, Grandfather," interposed Charley, who +was a matter-of-fact little person, "what reason +have you to imagine so?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Pray do imagine it, Grandfather," said Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"With Charley's permission, I will," replied +Grandfather, smiling. "Let us consider it settled, +therefore, that Winthrop, Bellingham, Dudley, and +Endicott, each of them, when chosen governor, took +his seat in our great chair on election day. In this +chair, likewise, did those excellent governors preside, +while holding consultations with the chief counsellors +of the province, who were styled Assistants. +The governor sat in this chair, too, whenever messages +were brought to him from the chamber of Representatives."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And here Grandfather took occasion to talk, +rather tediously, about the nature and forms of +government that established themselves, almost spontaneously, +in Massachusetts and the other New England +<span class="tei-pb" id="page032">[pg 032]</span> +<a name="Pg032" id="Pg032" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +colonies. Democracies were the natural growth +of the new world. As to Massachusetts, it was at +first intended that the colony should be governed by +a council in London. But, in a little while, the +people had the whole power in their own hands, and +chose annually the governor, the counsellors, and +the representatives. The people of old England +had never enjoyed any thing like the liberties and +privileges, which the settlers of New England now +possessed. And they did not adopt these modes of +government after long study, but in simplicity, as if +there were no other way for people to be ruled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, Laurence," continued Grandfather, "when +you want instruction on these points, you must seek +it in Mr. Bancroft's History. I am merely telling +the history of a chair. To proceed. The period +during which the governors sat in our chair, was not +very full of striking incidents. The province was +now established on a secure foundation; but it did +not increase so rapidly as at first, because the Puritans +were no longer driven from England by persecution. +However, there was still a quiet and natural +growth. The legislature incorporated towns, and +made new purchases of lands from the Indians. A +very memorable event took place in 1643. The +colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, +and New Haven, formed a union, for the purpose of +assisting each other in difficulties, and for mutual +defence against their enemies. They called themselves +the United Colonies of New England."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page033">[pg 033]</span> +<a name="Pg033" id="Pg033" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Were they under a government like that of +the United States?" inquired Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No," replied Grandfather, "the different colonies +did not compose one nation together; it was +merely a confederacy among the governments. It +somewhat resembled the league of the Amphictyons, +which you remember in Grecian history. But to +return to our chair. In 1644 it was highly honored; +for Governor Endicott sat in it, when he gave audience +to an ambassador from the French governor of +Acadie, or Nova Scotia. A treaty of peace, between +Massachusetts and the French colony, was +then signed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did England allow Massachusetts to make war +and peace with foreign countries?" asked Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Massachusetts, and the whole of New England, +was then almost independent of the mother country," +said Grandfather. "There was now a civil +war in England; and the king, as you may well +suppose, had his hands full at home, and could pay +but little attention to these remote colonies. When +the Parliament got the power into their hands, they +likewise had enough to do in keeping down the +Cavaliers. Thus New England, like a young and +hardy lad, whose father and mother neglect it, was +left to take care of itself. In 1649, King Charles +was beheaded. Oliver Cromwell then became Protector +of England; and as he was a Puritan himself, +and had risen by the valor of the English Puritans, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page034">[pg 034]</span> +<a name="Pg034" id="Pg034" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +he showed himself a loving and indulgent father to +the Puritan colonies in America."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather might have continued to talk in this +dull manner, nobody knows how long; but, suspecting +that Charley would find the subject rather dry, +he looked sideways at that vivacious little fellow, +and saw him give an involuntary yawn. Whereupon, +Grandfather proceeded with the history of +the chair, and related a very entertaining incident, +which will be found in the next chapter.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page035">[pg 035]</span> +<a name="Pg035" id="Pg035" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_10" id="toc_10"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VI</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"According to the most authentic records, my +dear children," said Grandfather, "the chair, about +this time, had the misfortune to break its leg. It +was probably on account of this accident, that it +ceased to be the seat of the governors of Massachusetts; +for, assuredly, it would have been ominous of +evil to the commonwealth, if the Chair of State had +tottered upon three legs. Being therefore sold at +auction,—alas! what a vicissitude for a chair that +had figured in such high company, our venerable +friend was knocked down to a certain Captain John +Hull. This old gentleman, on carefully examining +the maimed chair, discovered that its broken leg +might be clamped with iron and made as serviceable +as ever."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Here is the very leg that was broken!" exclaimed +Charley, throwing himself down on the floor +to look at it. "And here are the iron clamps. +How well it was mended!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When they had all sufficiently examined the broken +leg, Grandfather told them a story about Captain +John Hull and</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_11" id="toc_11"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE PINE-TREE SHILLINGS</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The Captain John Hull, aforesaid, was the mint-master +of Massachusetts, and coined all the money +<span class="tei-pb" id="page036">[pg 036]</span> +<a name="Pg036" id="Pg036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +that was made there. This was a new line of business: +for, in the earlier days of the colony, the current +coinage consisted of gold and silver money of +England, Portugal, and Spain. These coins being +scarce, the people were often forced to barter their +commodities, instead of selling them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">For instance, if a man wanted to buy a coat, he +perhaps exchanged a bear-skin for it. If he wished +for a barrel of molasses, he might purchase it with a +pile of pine boards. Musket-bullets were used instead +of farthings. The Indians had a sort of +money, called wampum, which was made of clam-shells; +and this strange sort of specie was likewise +taken in payment of debts, by the English settlers. +Bank-bills had never been heard of. There was +not money enough of any kind, in many parts of +the country, to pay the salaries of the ministers; so +that they sometimes had to take quintals of fish, +bushels of corn, or cords of wood, instead of silver +or gold.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As the people grew more numerous, and their +trade one with another increased, the want of current +money was still more sensibly felt. To supply +the demand, the general court passed a law for +establishing a coinage of shillings, sixpences, and +threepences. Captain John Hull was appointed to +manufacture this money, and was to have about one +shilling out of every twenty to pay him for the +trouble of making them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Hereupon, all the old silver in the colony was +handed over to Captain John Hull. The battered +<span class="tei-pb" id="page037">[pg 037]</span> +<a name="Pg037" id="Pg037" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +silver cans and tankards, I suppose, and silver +buckles, and broken spoons, and silver buttons of +worn-out coats, and silver hilts of swords that had +figured at court, all such curious old articles were +doubtless thrown into the melting-pot together. But +by far the greater part of the silver consisted of +bullion from the mines of South America, which the +English buccaniers—(who were little better than +pirates)—had taken from the Spaniards, and +brought to Massachusetts.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">All this old and new silver being melted down +and coined, the result was an immense amount of +splendid shillings, sixpences, and threepences. +Each had the date, 1652, on the one side, and the +figure of a pine-tree on the other. Hence they +were called pine-tree shillings. And for every +twenty shillings that he coined, you will remember, +Captain John Hull was entitled to put one shilling +into his own pocket.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The magistrates soon began to suspect that the +mint-master would have the best of the bargain. +They offered him a large sum of money, if he would +but give up that twentieth shilling, which he was +continually dropping into his own pocket. But +Captain Hull declared himself perfectly satisfied +with the shilling. And well he might be; for so +diligently did he labor, that, in a few years, his +pockets, his money bags, and his strong box, were +overflowing with pine-tree shillings. This was probably +the case when he came into possession of +Grandfather's chair; and, as he had worked so hard +<span class="tei-pb" id="page038">[pg 038]</span> +<a name="Pg038" id="Pg038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +at the mint, it was certainly proper that he should +have a comfortable chair to rest himself in.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When the mint-master had grown very rich, a +young man, Samuel Sewell by name, came a courting +to his only daughter. His daughter,—whose +name I do not know, but we will call her Betsey,—was +a fine hearty damsel, by no means so slender as +some young ladies of our own days. On the contrary, +having always fed heartily on pumpkin pies, +doughnuts, Indian puddings, and other Puritan +dainties, she was as round and plump as a pudding +herself. With this round, rosy Miss Betsey, did +Samuel Sewell fall in love. As he was a young +man of good character, industrious in his business, +and a member of the church, the mint-master very +readily gave his consent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes—you may take her," said he, in his rough +way; "and you'll find her a heavy burden enough!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On the wedding day, we may suppose that honest +John Hull dressed himself in a plum-colored coat, +all the buttons of which were made of pine-tree +shillings. The buttons of his waistcoat were sixpences; +and the knees of his smallclothes were +buttoned with silver threepences. Thus attired, he +sat with great dignity in Grandfather's chair; and, +being a portly old gentleman, he completely filled it +from elbow to elbow. On the opposite side of the +room, between her bride-maids, sat Miss Betsey. +She was blushing with all her might, and looked like +a full blown pæony, or a great red apple.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There, too, was the bridegroom, dressed in a fine +<span class="tei-pb" id="page039">[pg 039]</span> +<a name="Pg039" id="Pg039" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +purple coat, and gold lace waistcoat, with as much +other finery as the Puritan laws and customs would +allow him to put on. His hair was cropped close to +his head, because Governor Endicott had forbidden +any man to wear it below the ears. But he was a +very personable young man; and so thought the +bride-maids and Miss Betsey herself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The mint-master also was pleased with his new +son-in-law; especially as he had courted Miss Betsey +out of pure love, and had said nothing at all about +her portion. So when the marriage ceremony was +over, Captain Hull whispered a word to two of his +men-servants, who immediately went out, and soon +returned, lugging in a large pair of scales. They +were such a pair as wholesale merchants use, for +weighing bulky commodities; and quite a bulky +commodity was now to be weighed in them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Daughter Betsey," said the mint-master, "get +into one side of these scales."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Miss Betsey,—or Mrs. Sewell, as we must now +call her,—did as she was bid, like a dutiful child, +without any question of the why and wherefore. +But what her father could mean, unless to make her +husband pay for her by the pound, (in which case +she would have been a dear bargain,) she had not +the least idea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And now," said honest John Hull to the servants, +"bring that box hither."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The box, to which the mint-master pointed, was a +huge, square, iron bound, oaken chest; it was big +<span class="tei-pb" id="page040">[pg 040]</span> +<a name="Pg040" id="Pg040" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +enough, my children, for all four of you to play at +hide-and-seek in. The servants tugged with might +and main, but could not lift this enormous receptacle, +and were finally obliged to drag it across the +floor. Captain Hull then took a key from his girdle, +unlocked the chest, and lifted its ponderous lid. +Behold! it was full to the brim of bright pine-tree +shillings, fresh from the mint; and Samuel Sewell +began to think that his father-in-law had got possession +of all the money in the Massachusetts treasury. +But it was only the mint-master's honest share of +the coinage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then the servants, at Captain Hull's command, +heaped double handfulls of shillings into one side of +the scales, while Betsey remained in the other. +Jingle, jingle, went the shillings, as handful after +handful was thrown in, till, plump and ponderous as +she was, they fairly weighed the young lady from +the floor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There, son Sewell!" cried the honest mint-master, +resuming his seat in Grandfather's chair. +"Take these shillings for my daughter's portion. +Use her kindly, and thank Heaven for her. It is +not every wife that's worth her weight in silver!"</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The children laughed heartily at this legend, and +would hardly be convinced but that Grandfather had +made it out of his own head. He assured them +faithfully, however, that he had found it in the +<span class="tei-pb" id="page041">[pg 041]</span> +<a name="Pg041" id="Pg041" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +pages of a grave historian, and had merely tried +to tell it in a somewhat funnier style. As for +Samuel Sewell, he afterwards became Chief Justice +of Massachusetts.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, Grandfather," remarked Clara, "if wedding +portions now-a-days were paid as Miss Betsey's +was, young ladies would not pride themselves upon +an airy figure as many of them do."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page042">[pg 042]</span> +<a name="Pg042" id="Pg042" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_12" id="toc_12"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VII</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When his little audience next assembled round +the chair, Grandfather gave them a doleful history +of the Quaker persecution, which began in 1656, +and raged for about three years in Massachusetts.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He told them how, in the first place, twelve of +the converts of George Fox, the first Quaker in the +world, had come over from England. They seemed +to be impelled by an earnest love for the souls of +men, and a pure desire to make known what they +considered a revelation from Heaven. But the +rulers looked upon them as plotting the downfall of +all government and religion. They were banished +from the colony. In a little while, however, not +only the first twelve had returned, but a multitude +of other Quakers had come to rebuke the rulers, +and to preach against the priests and steeple-houses.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather described the hatred and scorn with +which these enthusiasts were received. They were +thrown into dungeons; they were beaten with many +stripes, women as well as men; they were driven +forth into the wilderness, and left to the tender mercies +of wild beasts and Indians. The children were +amazed to hear, that, the more the Quakers were +scourged, and imprisoned, and banished, the more +did the sect increase, both by the influx of strangers, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page043">[pg 043]</span> +<a name="Pg043" id="Pg043" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and by converts from among the Puritans. But +Grandfather told them, that God had put something +into the soul of man, which always turned the cruelties +of the persecutor to nought.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He went on to relate, that, in 1659, two Quakers, +named William Robinson and Marmaduke Stephenson, +were hanged at Boston. A woman had been +sentenced to die with them, but was reprieved, on +condition of her leaving the colony. Her name was +Mary Dyer. In the year 1660 she returned to +Boston, although she knew death awaited her there; +and, if Grandfather had been correctly informed, an +incident had then taken place, which connects her +with our story. This Mary Dyer had entered the +mint-master's dwelling, clothed in sackcloth and +ashes, and seated herself in our great chair, with a +sort of dignity and state. Then she proceeded to +deliver what she called a message from Heaven; +but in the midst of it, they dragged her to prison.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And was she executed?" asked Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She was," said Grandfather.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," cried Charley, clenching his fist, +"I would have fought for that poor Quaker woman!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ah! but if a sword had been drawn for her," +said Laurence, "it would have taken away all the +beauty of her death."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It seemed as if hardly any of the preceding stories +had thrown such an interest around Grandfather's +chair, as did the fact, that the poor, persecuted, +wandering Quaker woman had rested in it for +<span class="tei-pb" id="page044">[pg 044]</span> +<a name="Pg044" id="Pg044" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +a moment. The children were so much excited, +that Grandfather found it necessary to bring his +account of the persecution to a close.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"In 1660, the same year in which Mary Dyer +was executed," said he, "Charles the Second was +restored to the throne of his fathers. This king had +many vices; but he would not permit blood to be +shed, under pretence of religion, in any part of his +dominions. The Quakers in England told him what +had been done to their brethren in Massachusetts; +and he sent orders to Governor Endicott to forbear +all such proceedings in future. And so ended the +Quaker persecution,—one of the most mournful +passages in the history of our forefathers."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather then told his auditors, that, shortly +after the above incident, the great chair had been +given by the mint-master to the Rev. Mr. John Eliot. +He was the first minister of Roxbury. But besides +attending to his pastoral duties there, he learned the +language of the red men, and often went into the +woods to preach to them. So earnestly did he labor +for their conversion, that he has always been called +the apostle to the Indians. The mention of this +holy man suggested to Grandfather the propriety of +giving a brief sketch of the history of the Indians, +so far as they were connected with the English colonists.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A short period before the arrival of the first Pilgrims +at Plymouth, there had been a very grievous +plague among the red men; and the sages and ministers +<span class="tei-pb" id="page045">[pg 045]</span> +<a name="Pg045" id="Pg045" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of that day were inclined to the opinion, that +Providence had sent this mortality, in order to make +room for the settlement of the English. But I know +not why we should suppose that an Indian's life is +less precious, in the eye of Heaven, than that of a +white man. Be that as it may, death had certainly +been very busy with the savage tribes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In many places the English found the wigwams +deserted, and the corn-fields growing to waste, with +none to harvest the grain. There were heaps of +earth also, which, being dug open, proved to be +Indian graves, containing bows and flint-headed +spears and arrows; for the Indians buried the dead +warrior's weapons along with him. In some spots, +there were skulls and other human bones, lying unburied. +In 1633, and the year afterwards, the +smallpox broke out among the Massachusetts Indians, +multitudes of whom died by this terrible disease of +the old world. These misfortunes made them far +less powerful than they had formerly been.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">For nearly half a century after the arrival of the +English, the red men showed themselves generally +inclined to peace and amity. They often made +submission, when they might have made successful +war. The Plymouth settlers, led by the famous +Captain Miles Standish, slew some of them in 1623, +without any very evident necessity for so doing. In +1636, and the following year, there was the most +dreadful war that had yet occurred between the Indians +and the English. The Connecticut settlers, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page046">[pg 046]</span> +<a name="Pg046" id="Pg046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +assisted by a celebrated Indian chief, named Uncas, +bore the brunt of this war, with but little aid from +Massachusetts. Many hundreds of the hostile Indians +were slain, or burnt in their wigwams. Sassacus, +their sachem, fled to another tribe, after his +own people were defeated; but he was murdered +by them, and his head was sent to his English enemies.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">From that period, down to the time of King +Philip's war, which will be mentioned hereafter, +there was not much trouble with the Indians. But +the colonists were always on their guard, and kept +their weapons ready for the conflict.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have sometimes doubted," said Grandfather, +when he had told these things to the children, "I +have sometimes doubted whether there was more +than a single man, among our forefathers, who realized +that an Indian possesses a mind and a heart, +and an immortal soul. That single man was John +Eliot. All the rest of the early settlers seemed to +think that the Indians were an inferior race of beings, +whom the Creator had merely allowed to keep +possession of this beautiful country, till the white +men should be in want of it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did the pious men of those days never try to +make Christians of them?" asked Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Sometimes, it is true," answered Grandfather, +"the magistrates and ministers would talk about +civilizing and converting the red people. But, at +the bottom of their hearts, they would have had +<span class="tei-pb" id="page047">[pg 047]</span> +<a name="Pg047" id="Pg047" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +almost as much expectation of civilizing a wild bear +of the woods, and making him fit for paradise. +They felt no faith in the success of any such attempts, +because they had no love for the poor Indians. Now +Eliot was full of love for them, and therefore so full +of faith and hope, that he spent the labor of a lifetime +in their behalf."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I would have conquered them first, and then +converted them," said Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ah, Charley, there spoke the very spirit of our +forefathers!" replied Grandfather. "But Mr. +Eliot had a better spirit. He looked upon them as +his brethren. He persuaded as many of them as +he could, to leave off their idle and wandering habits, +and to build houses, and cultivate the earth, as the +English did. He established schools among them, +and taught many of the Indians how to read. He +taught them, likewise, how to pray. Hence they +were called 'praying Indians.' Finally, having +spent the best years of his life for their good, Mr. +Eliot resolved to spend the remainder in doing them +a yet greater benefit."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know what that was!" cried Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He sat down in his study," continued Grandfather, +"and began a translation of the Bible into +the Indian tongue. It was while he was engaged +in this pious work, that the mint-master gave him +our great chair. His toil needed it, and deserved +it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O, Grandfather, tell us all about that Indian +<span class="tei-pb" id="page048">[pg 048]</span> +<a name="Pg048" id="Pg048" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Bible!" exclaimed Laurence. "I have seen it in +the library of the Athenæum; and the tears came +into my eyes, to think that there were no Indians +left to read it."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page049">[pg 049]</span> +<a name="Pg049" id="Pg049" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_13" id="toc_13"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VIII</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As Grandfather was a great admirer of the Apostle +Eliot, he was glad to comply with the earnest request +which Laurence had made, at the close of the +last chapter. So he proceeded to describe how good +Mr. Eliot labored, while he was at work upon</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_14" id="toc_14"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE INDIAN BIBLE</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">My dear children, what a task would you think it, +even with a long lifetime before you, were you bidden +to copy every chapter and verse, and word, in +yonder great family Bible! Would not this be a +heavy toil? But if the task were, not to write off +the English Bible, but to learn a language, utterly +unlike all other tongues,—a language which hitherto +had never been learned, except by the Indians +themselves, from their mothers' lips,—a language +never written, and the strange words of which +seemed inexpressible by letters;—if the task were, +first, to learn this new variety of speech, and then +to translate the Bible into it, and to do it so carefully, +that not one idea throughout the holy book +should be changed,—what would induce you to +undertake this toil? Yet this was what the Apostle +Eliot did.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was a mighty work for a man, now growing old, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page050">[pg 050]</span> +<a name="Pg050" id="Pg050" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +to take upon himself. And what earthly reward +could he expect from it? None; no reward on +earth. But he believed that the red men were the +descendants of those lost tribes of Israel of whom +history has been able to tell us nothing, for thousands +of years. He hoped that God had sent the +English across the ocean, Gentiles as they were, to +enlighten this benighted portion of his once chosen +race. And when he should be summoned hence, he +trusted to meet blessed spirits in another world, +whose bliss would have been earned by his patient +toil, in translating the Word of God. This hope +and trust were far dearer to him, than any thing +that earth could offer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sometimes, while thus at work, he was visited by +learned men, who desired to know what literary undertaking +Mr. Elliot had in hand. They, like himself, +had been bred in the studious cloisters of a university, +and were supposed to possess all the erudition +which mankind has hoarded up from age to age. +Greek and Latin were as familiar to them as the +babble of their childhood. Hebrew was like their +mother tongue. They had grown gray in study; +their eyes were bleared with poring over print and +manuscript by the light of the midnight lamp.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And yet, how much had they left unlearned! +Mr. Eliot would put into their hands some of the +pages, which he had been writing; and behold! the +gray-headed men stammered over the long, strange +words, like a little child in his first attempts to read. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page051">[pg 051]</span> +<a name="Pg051" id="Pg051" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Then would the apostle call to him an Indian boy, +one of his scholars, and show him the manuscript, +which had so puzzled the learned Englishmen.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Read this, my child," said he, "these are some +brethren of mine, who would fain hear the sound of +thy native tongue."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then would the Indian boy cast his eyes over the +mysterious page, and read it so skilfully, that it +sounded like wild music. It seemed as if the forest +leaves were singing in the ears of his auditors, and +as if the roar of distant streams were poured through +the young Indian's voice. Such were the sounds +amid which the language of the red man had been +formed; and they were still heard to echo in it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The lesson being over, Mr. Eliot would give the +Indian boy an apple or a cake, and bid him leap forth +into the open air, which his free nature loved. The +apostle was kind to children, and even shared in +their sports, sometimes. And when his visitors had +bidden him farewell, the good man turned patiently +to his toil again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">No other Englishman had ever understood the +Indian character so well, nor possessed so great an +influence over the New England tribes, as the apostle +did. His advice and assistance must often have +been valuable to his countrymen, in their transactions +with the Indians. Occasionally, perhaps, the governor +and some of the counsellors came to visit Mr. +Eliot. Perchance they were seeking some method +to circumvent the forest people. They inquired, it +<span class="tei-pb" id="page052">[pg 052]</span> +<a name="Pg052" id="Pg052" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +may be, how they could obtain possession of such and +such a tract of their rich land. Or they talked of +making the Indians their servants, as if God had +destined them for perpetual bondage to the more +powerful white man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Perhaps, too, some warlike captain, dressed in his +buff-coat, with a corslet beneath it, accompanied the +governor and counsellors. Laying his hand upon +his sword hilt, he would declare, that the only +method of dealing with the red men was to meet +them with the sword drawn, and the musket presented.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the apostle resisted both the craft of the politician, +and the fierceness of the warrior.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Treat these sons of the forest as men and brethren," +he would say, "and let us endeavor to make +them Christians. Their forefathers were of that +chosen race, whom God delivered from Egyptian +bondage. Perchance he has destined us to deliver +the children from the more cruel bondage of ignorance +and idolatry. Chiefly for this end, it may be, +we were directed across the ocean."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When these other visitors were gone, Mr. Eliot +bent himself again over the half written page. He +dared hardly relax a moment from his toil. He felt +that, in the book which he was translating, there +was a deep human, as well as heavenly wisdom, +which would of itself suffice to civilize and refine the +savage tribes. Let the Bible be diffused among +them, and all earthly good would follow. But how +<span class="tei-pb" id="page053">[pg 053]</span> +<a name="Pg053" id="Pg053" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +slight a consideration was this, when he reflected +that the eternal welfare of a whole race of men depended +upon his accomplishment of the task which +he had set himself! What if his hands should be +palsied? What if his mind should lose its vigor? +What if death should come upon him, ere the work +were done? Then must the red man wander in the +dark wilderness of heathenism for ever.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Impelled by such thoughts as these, he sat writing +in the great chair, when the pleasant summer breeze +came in through his open casement; and also when +the fire of forest logs sent up its blaze and smoke, +through the broad stone chimney, into the wintry +air. Before the earliest bird sang, in the morning, +the apostle's lamp was kindled; and, at midnight, +his weary head was not yet upon its pillow. And at +length, leaning back in the great chair, he could say +to himself, with a holy triumph,—"The work is +finished!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was finished. Here was a Bible for the Indians. +Those long lost descendants of the ten tribes of +Israel would now learn the history of their forefathers. +That grace, which the ancient Israelites had +forfeited, was offered anew to their children.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There is no impiety in believing that, when his +long life was over, the apostle of the Indians was +welcomed to the celestial abodes by the prophets of +ancient days, and by those earliest apostles and evangelists, +who had drawn their inspiration from the +immediate presence of the Saviour. They first had +<span class="tei-pb" id="page054">[pg 054]</span> +<a name="Pg054" id="Pg054" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +preached truth and salvation to the world. And +Eliot, separated from them by many centuries, yet +full of the same spirit, had borne the like message +to the new world of the West. Since the first days +of Christianity, there has been no man more worthy +to be numbered in the brotherhood of the apostles, +than Eliot.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"My heart is not satisfied to think," observed +Laurence, "that Mr. Eliot's labors have done no +good, except to a few Indians of his own time. +Doubtless, he would not have regretted his toil, if it +were the means of saving but a single soul. But it +is a grievous thing to me, that he should have toiled +so hard to translate the Bible, and now the language +and the people are gone! The Indian Bible itself is +almost the only relic of both."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Laurence," said his Grandfather, "if ever you +should doubt that man is capable of disinterested +zeal for his brother's good, then remember how the +apostle Eliot toiled. And if you should feel your +own self-interest pressing upon your heart too closely, +then think of Eliot's Indian Bible. It is good for +the world that such a man has lived, and left this +emblem of his life."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The tears gushed into the eyes of Laurence, and +he acknowledged that Eliot had not toiled in vain. +Little Alice put up her arms to Grandfather, and +<span class="tei-pb" id="page055">[pg 055]</span> +<a name="Pg055" id="Pg055" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +drew down his white head beside her own golden +locks.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," whispered she, "I want to kiss +good Mr. Eliot!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And, doubtless, good Mr. Eliot would gladly +receive the kiss of so sweet a child as little Alice, +and would think it a portion of his reward in heaven.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather now observed, that Dr. Francis had +written a very beautiful Life of Eliot, which he +advised Laurence to peruse. He then spoke of +King Philip's war, which began in 1675, and terminated +with the death of King Philip, in the following +year. Philip was a proud, fierce Indian, whom +Mr. Eliot had vainly endeavored to convert to the +Christian faith.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It must have been a great anguish to the apostle," +continued Grandfather, "to hear of mutual +slaughter and outrage between his own countrymen, +and those for whom he felt the affection of a father. +A few of the praying Indians joined the followers of +King Philip. A greater number fought on the side +of the English. In the course of the war, the little +community of red people whom Mr. Eliot had begun +to civilize, was scattered, and probably never was +restored to a flourishing condition. But his zeal did +not grow cold; and only about five years before his +death he took great pains in preparing a new edition +of the Indian Bible."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I do wish Grandfather," cried Charley, "you +would tell us all about the battles in King Philip's +war."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page056">[pg 056]</span> +<a name="Pg056" id="Pg056" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O, no!" exclaimed Clara. "Who wants to +hear about tomahawks and scalping knives!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Charley," replied Grandfather, "I have no +time to spare in talking about battles. You must +be content with knowing that it was the bloodiest war +that the Indians had ever waged against the white +men; and that, at its close, the English set King +Philip's head upon a pole."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Who was the captain of the English?" asked +Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Their most noted captain was Benjamin Church,—a +very famous warrior," said Grandfather. "But +I assure you, Charley, that neither Captain Church, +nor any of the officers and soldiers who fought in +King Philip's war, did any thing a thousandth part +so glorious, as Mr. Eliot did, when he translated the +Bible for the Indians."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Let Laurence be the apostle," said Charley to +himself, "and I will be the captain."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page057">[pg 057]</span> +<a name="Pg057" id="Pg057" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_15" id="toc_15"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter IX</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The children were now accustomed to assemble +round Grandfather's chair, at all their unoccupied moments; +and often it was a striking picture to behold +the white-headed old sire, with this flowery wreath +of young people around him. When he talked to +them, it was the past speaking to the present,—or +rather to the future, for the children were of a generation +which had not become actual. Their part in +life, thus far, was only to be happy, and to draw +knowledge from a thousand sources. As yet, it was +not their time to do.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sometimes, as Grandfather gazed at their fair, +unworldly countenances, a mist of tears bedimmed +his spectacles. He almost regretted that it was +necessary for them to know any thing of the past, +or to provide aught for the future. He could have +wished that they might be always the happy, youthful +creatures, who had hitherto sported around his +chair, without inquiring whether it had a history. +It grieved him to think that his little Alice, who +was a flower-bud fresh from paradise, must open her +leaves to the rough breezes of the world, or ever +open them in any clime. So sweet a child she was, +that it seemed fit her infancy should be immortal!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But such repinings were merely flitting shadows +<span class="tei-pb" id="page058">[pg 058]</span> +<a name="Pg058" id="Pg058" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +across the old man's heart. He had faith enough to +believe, and wisdom enough to know, that the bloom +of the flower would be even holier and happier than +its bud. Even within himself,—though Grandfather +was now at that period of life, when the veil +of mortality is apt to hang heavily over the soul,—still, +in his inmost being, he was conscious of something +that he would not have exchanged for the best +happiness of childhood. It was a bliss to which +every sort of earthly experience,—all that he had +enjoyed or suffered, or seen, or heard, or acted, with +the broodings of his soul upon the whole,—had +contributed somewhat. In the same manner must a +bliss, of which now they could have no conception, +grow up within these children, and form a part of +their sustenance for immortality.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Grandfather, with renewed cheerfulness, continued +his history of the chair, trusting that a profounder +wisdom than his own would extract, from +these flowers and weeds of Time, a fragrance that +might last beyond all time.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At this period of the story, Grandfather threw a +glance backward, as far as the year 1660. He +spoke of the ill-concealed reluctance with which the +Puritans in America had acknowledged the sway of +Charles the Second, on his restoration to his father's +throne. When death had stricken Oliver Cromwell, +that mighty protector had no sincerer mourners than +in New England. The new king had been more +than a year upon the throne before his accession +<span class="tei-pb" id="page059">[pg 059]</span> +<a name="Pg059" id="Pg059" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +was proclaimed in Boston; although the neglect to +perform the ceremony might have subjected the +rulers to the charge of treason.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">During the reign of Charles the Second, however, +the American colonies had but little reason to complain +of harsh or tyrannical treatment. But when +Charles died, in 1685, and was succeeded by his +brother James, the patriarchs of New England +began to tremble. King James was a bigoted +Roman Catholic, and was known to be of an arbitrary +temper. It was feared by all Protestants, +and chiefly by the Puritians, that he would assume +despotic power, and attempt to establish Popery +throughout his dominions. Our forefathers felt that +they had no security either for their religion or their +liberties.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The result proved that they had reason for their +apprehensions. King James caused the charters of +all the American colonies to be taken away. The +old charter of Massachusetts, which the people +regarded as a holy thing, and as the foundation of +all their liberties, was declared void. The colonists +were now no longer freemen; they were entirely +dependent on the king's pleasure. At first, in +1685, King James appointed Joseph Dudley, a +native of Massachusetts, to be president of New +England. But soon afterwards, Sir Edmund Andros, +an officer of the English army, arrived, with a +commission to be governor-general of New England +and New York.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page060">[pg 060]</span> +<a name="Pg060" id="Pg060" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The king had given such powers to Sir Edmund +Andros, that there was now no liberty, nor scarcely +any law, in the colonies over which he ruled. The +inhabitants were not allowed to choose representatives, +and consequently had no voice whatever in +the government, nor control over the measures that +were adopted. The counsellors, with whom the governor +consulted on matters of state, were appointed +by himself. This sort of government was no better +than an absolute despotism.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The people suffered much wrong, while Sir Edmund +Andros ruled over them," continued Grandfather, +"and they were apprehensive of much more. +He had brought some soldiers with him from England, +who took possession of the old fortress on Castle +Island, and of the fortification on Fort Hill. +Sometimes it was rumored that a general massacre +of the inhabitants was to be perpetrated by these +soldiers. There were reports, too, that all the ministers +were to be slain or imprisoned."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"For what?" inquired Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Because they were the leaders of the people, +Charley," said Grandfather. "A minister was a +more formidable man than a general, in those days. +Well; while these things were going on in America, +King James had so misgoverned the people of England, +that they sent over to Holland for the Prince +of Orange. He had married the king's daughter, +and was therefore considered to have a claim to the +crown. On his arrival in England, the Prince of +<span class="tei-pb" id="page061">[pg 061]</span> +<a name="Pg061" id="Pg061" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Orange was proclaimed king, by the name of William +the Third. Poor old King James made his +escape to France."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather told how, at the first intelligence of +the landing of the Prince of Orange in England, +the people of Massachusetts rose in their strength, +and overthrew the government of Sir Edmund +Andros. He, with Joseph Dudley, Edmund Randolph, +and his other principal adherents, were thrown +into prison. Old Simon Bradstreet, who had been +governor, when King James took away the charter, +was called by the people to govern them again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Governor Bradstreet was a venerable old man, +nearly ninety years of age," said Grandfather. +"He came over with the first settlers, and had been +the intimate companion of all those excellent and +famous men who laid the foundation of our country. +They were all gone before him to the grave; and +Bradstreet was the last of the Puritans."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather paused a moment, and smiled, as if +he had something very interesting to tell his auditors. +He then proceeded:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And now, Laurence,—now, Clara,—now, +Charley,—now, my dear little Alice,—what chair +do you think had been placed in the council chamber, +for old Governor Bradstreet to take his seat +in? Would you believe that it was this very chair +in which grandfather now sits, and of which he is +telling you the history?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am glad to hear it, with all my heart!" cried +<span class="tei-pb" id="page062">[pg 062]</span> +<a name="Pg062" id="Pg062" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Charley, after a shout of delight. "I thought +Grandfather had quite forgotten the chair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was a solemn and affecting sight," said +Grandfather, "when this venerable patriarch, with +his white beard flowing down upon his breast, took +his seat in his Chair of State. Within his remembrance, +and even since his mature age, the site +where now stood the populous town, had been a wild +and forest-covered peninsula. The province, now +so fertile, and spotted with thriving villages, had +been a desert wilderness. He was surrounded by +a shouting multitude, most of whom had been born +in the country which he had helped to found. They +were of one generation, and he of another. As the +old man looked upon them, and beheld new faces +everywhere, he must have felt that it was now time +for him to go, whither his brethren had gone before +him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Were the former governors all dead and gone?" +asked Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"All of them," replied Grandfather. "Winthrop +had been dead forty years. Endicott died, a +very old man, in 1665. Sir Henry Vane was beheaded +in London, at the beginning of the reign of +Charles the Second. And Haynes, Dudley, Bellingham +and Leverett, who had all been governors of +Massachusetts, were now likewise in their graves. +Old Simon Bradstreet was the sole representative of +that departed brotherhood. There was no other +public man remaining to connect the ancient system +<span class="tei-pb" id="page063">[pg 063]</span> +<a name="Pg063" id="Pg063" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of government and manners with the new system, +which was about to take its place. The era of the +Puritans was now completed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am sorry for it," observed Laurence; "for, +though they were so stern, yet it seems to me that +there was something warm and real about them. I +think, Grandfather, that each of these old governors +should have his statue set up in our State House, +sculptured out of the hardest of New England +granite."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It would not be amiss, Laurence," said Grandfather; +"but perhaps clay, or some other perishable +material, might suffice for some of their successors. +But let us go back to our chair. It was occupied by +Governor Bradstreet from April, 1689, until May, +1692. Sir William Phips then arrived in Boston, +with a new charter from King William, and a commission +to be governor."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page064">[pg 064]</span> +<a name="Pg064" id="Pg064" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_16" id="toc_16"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter X</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And what became of the chair," inquired +Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The outward aspect of our chair," replied Grandfather, +"was now somewhat the worse for its long +and arduous services. It was considered hardly +magnificent enough to be allowed to keep its place +in the council chamber of Massachusetts. In fact, +it was banished as an article of useless lumber. +But Sir William Phips happened to see it and being +much pleased with its construction, resolved to take +the good old chair into his private mansion. Accordingly, +with his own gubernatorial hands, he +repaired one of its arms, which had been slightly +damaged".</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, Grandfather, here is the very arm!" +interrupted Charley, in great wonderment. "And +did Sir William Phips put in these screws with his +own hands? I am sure, he did it beautifully! But +how came a governor to know how to mend a chair?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will tell you a story about the early life of Sir +William Phips," said Grandfather. "You will then +perceive, that he well knew how to use his hands."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Grandfather related the wonderful and true +tale of</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page065">[pg 065]</span> +<a name="Pg065" id="Pg065" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_17" id="toc_17"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE SUNKEN TREASURE</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Picture to yourselves, my dear children, a handsome, +old-fashioned room, with a large, open cupboard +at one end, in which is displayed a magnificent +gold cup, with some other splendid articles of gold +and silver plate. In another part of the room, opposite +to a tall looking-glass, stands our beloved +chair, newly polished, and adorned with a gorgeous +cushion of crimson velvet tufted with gold.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the chair sits a man of strong and sturdy +frame, whose face has been roughened by northern +tempests, and blackened by the burning sun of the +West Indies. He wears an immense periwig, flowing +down over his shoulders. His coat has a wide +embroidery of golden foliage; and his waistcoat, +likewise, is all flowered over and bedizened with +gold. His red, rough hands, which have done many +a good day's work with the hammer and adze, are +half covered by the delicate lace ruffles at his wrists. +On a table lies his silver-hilted sword, and in a +corner of the room stands his gold-headed cane, +made of a beautifully polished West Indian wood.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Somewhat such an aspect as this, did Sir William +Phips present, when he sat in Grandfather's chair, +after the king had appointed him governor of Massachusetts. +Truly, there was need that the old +chair should be varnished, and decorated with a +<span class="tei-pb" id="page066">[pg 066]</span> +<a name="Pg066" id="Pg066" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +crimson cushion, in order to make it suitable for such +a magnificent looking personage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But Sir William Phips had not always worn a +gold embroidered coat, nor always sat so much at +his ease as he did in Grandfather's chair. He was +a poor man's son, and was born in the province of +Maine, where he used to tend sheep upon the hills, +in his boyhood and youth. Until he had grown to +be a man, he did not even know how to read and +write. Tired of tending sheep, he next apprenticed +himself to a ship-carpenter, and spent about four +years in hewing the crooked limbs of oak trees into +knees for vessels.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In 1673, when he was twenty-two years old, he +came to Boston, and soon afterwards was married to +a widow lady, who had property enough to set him +up in business. It was not long, however, before he +lost all the money that he had acquired by his marriage, +and became a poor man again. Still, he was +not discouraged. He often told his wife that, some +time or other, he should be very rich, and would +build a "fair brick house" in the Green Lane of +Boston.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Do not suppose, children, that he had been to a +fortune-teller to inquire his destiny. It was his own +energy and spirit of enterprise, and his resolution to +lead an industrious life, that made him look forward +with so much confidence to better days.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Several years passed away; and William Phips +<span class="tei-pb" id="page067">[pg 067]</span> +<a name="Pg067" id="Pg067" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +had not yet gained the riches which he promised to +himself. During this time he had begun to follow +the sea for a living. In the year 1684, he happened +to hear of a Spanish ship, which had been cast away +near the Bahama Islands, and which was supposed +to contain a great deal of gold and silver. Phips +went to the place in a small vessel, hoping that he +should be able to recover some of the treasure from +the wreck. He did not succeed, however, in fishing +up gold and silver enough to pay the expenses of his +voyage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, before he returned, he was told of another +Spanish ship or galleon, which had been cast away +near Porto de la Plata. She had now lain as much +as fifty years beneath the waves. This old ship had +been laden with immense wealth; and, hitherto, +nobody had thought of the possibility of recovering +any part of it from the deep sea, which was rolling +and tossing it about. But though it was now an old +story, and the most aged people had almost forgotten +that such a vessel had been wrecked. William +Phips resolved that the sunken treasure should again +be brought to light.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He went to London, and obtained admittance to +King James, who had not yet been driven from his +throne. He told the king of the vast wealth that +was lying at the bottom of the sea. King James +listened with attention, and thought this a fine opportunity +to fill his treasury with Spanish gold. He +appointed William Phips to be captain of a vessel, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page068">[pg 068]</span> +<a name="Pg068" id="Pg068" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +called the Rose Algier, carrying eighteen guns and +ninety-five men. So now he was Captain Phips of +the English navy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Captain Phips sailed from England in the Rose +Algier, and cruised for nearly two years in the +West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of the +Spanish ship. But the sea is so wide and deep, that +it is no easy matter to discover the exact spot where +a sunken vessel lies. The prospect of success +seemed very small; and most people would have +thought that Captain Phips was as far from having +money enough to build a "fair brick house," as he +was while he tended sheep.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The seamen of the Rose Algier became discouraged, +and gave up all hope of making their fortunes +by discovering the Spanish wreck. They wanted to +compel Captain Phips to turn pirate. There was a +much better prospect, they thought, of growing rich +by plundering vessels, which still sailed the sea, than +by seeking for a ship that had lain beneath the waves +full half a century. They broke out in open mutiny, +but were finally mastered by Phips, and compelled +to obey his orders. It would have been dangerous, +however, to continue much longer at sea +with such a crew of mutinous sailors; and, besides, +the Rose Algier was leaky and unseaworthy. So +Captain Phips judged it best to return to England.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Before leaving the West Indies, he met with a +Spaniard, an old man, who remembered the wreck +of the Spanish ship, and gave him directions how to +<span class="tei-pb" id="page069">[pg 069]</span> +<a name="Pg069" id="Pg069" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +find the very spot. It was on a reef of rocks a few +leagues from Porto de la Plata.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On his arrival in England, therefore, Captain Phips +solicited the king to let him have another vessel, and +send him back again to the West Indies. But King +James, who had probably expected that the Rose +Algier would return laden with gold, refused to have +any thing more to do with the affair. Phips might +never have been able to renew the search, if the +Duke of Albemarle, and some other noblemen had +not lent their assistance. They fitted out a ship +and gave the command to Captain Phips. He +sailed from England, and arrived safely at Porto de +la Plata, where he took an adze and assisted his +men to build a large boat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The boat was intended for the purpose of going +closer to the reef of rocks than a large vessel could +safely venture. When it was finished, the Captain +sent several men in it, to examine the spot where +the Spanish ship was said to have been wrecked. +They were accompanied by some Indians, who were +skilful divers, and could go down a great way into +the depths of the sea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The boat's crew proceeded to the reef of rocks, +and rowed round and round it, a great many times. +They gazed down into the water, which was so transparent +that it seemed as if they could have seen the +gold and silver at the bottom, had there been any of +those precious metals there. Nothing, however, +could they see; nothing more valuable than a curious +<span class="tei-pb" id="page070">[pg 070]</span> +<a name="Pg070" id="Pg070" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +sea shrub, which was growing beneath the water, +in a crevice of the reef of rocks. It flaunted to +and fro with the swell and reflux of the waves, and +looked as bright and beautiful as if its leaves were +gold.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"We won't go back empty-handed," cried an +English sailor; and then he spoke to one of the +Indian divers. "Dive down and bring me that +pretty sea shrub there. That's the only treasure +we shall find!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping +from the water, holding the sea shrub in his hand. +But he had learnt some news at the bottom of the +sea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There are some ship's guns," said he, the moment +he had drawn breath, "some great cannon +among the rocks, near where the shrub was growing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">No sooner had he spoken, than the English sailors +knew that they had found the very spot where +the Spanish galleon had been wrecked so many +years before. The other Indian divers immediately +plunged over the boat's side, and swam headlong +down, groping among the rocks and sunken cannon. +In a few moments one of them rose above the water, +with a heavy lump of silver in his arms. That single +lump was worth more than a thousand dollars. +The sailors took it into the boat, and then rowed +back as speedily as they could, being in haste to +inform Captain Phips of their good luck. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page071">[pg 071]</span> +<a name="Pg071" id="Pg071" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, confidently as the Captain had hoped to find +the Spanish wreck, yet now that it was really found, +the news seemed too good to be true. He could +not believe it till the sailors showed him the lump of +silver.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Thanks be to God!" then cries Captain Phips. +"We shall every man of us make our fortunes!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Hereupon the Captain and all the crew set to +work, with iron rakes and great hooks and lines, fishing +for gold and silver at the bottom of the sea. +Up came the treasure in abundance. Now they +beheld a table of solid silver, once the property of +an old Spanish Grandee. Now they found a sacramental +vessel, which had been destined as a gift to +some Catholic church. Now they drew up a golden +cup, fit for the king of Spain to drink his wine out of. +Perhaps the bony hand of its former owner had been +grasping the precious cup, and was drawn up along +with it. Now their rakes or fishing lines were loaded +with masses of silver bullion. There were also precious +stones among the treasure, glittering and sparkling, +so that it is a wonder how their radiance could +have been concealed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There is something sad and terrible in the idea of +snatching all this wealth from the devouring ocean, +which had possessed it for such a length of years. +It seems as if men had no right to make themselves +rich with it. It ought to have been left with the +skeletons of the ancient Spaniards, who had been +drowned when the ship was wrecked, and whose +<span class="tei-pb" id="page072">[pg 072]</span> +<a name="Pg072" id="Pg072" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +bones were now scattered among the gold and +silver.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But Captain Phips and his crew were troubled +with no such thoughts as these. After a day or +two they lighted on another part of the wreck, where +they found a great many bags of silver dollars. +But nobody could have guessed that these were +money-bags. By remaining so long in the salt-water, +they had become covered over with a crust which +had the appearance of stone, so that it was necessary +to break them in pieces with hammers and axes. +When this was done, a stream of silver dollars +gushed out upon the deck of the vessel.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The whole value of the recovered treasure, plate, +bullion, precious stones, and all, was estimated at +more than two millions of dollars. It was dangerous +even to look at such a vast amount of wealth. +A sea captain, who had assisted Phips in the enterprise, +utterly lost his reason at the sight of it. He +died two years afterwards, still raving about the +treasures that lie at the bottom of the sea. It would +have been better for this man, if he had left the +skeletons of the shipwrecked Spaniards in quiet +possession of their wealth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Captain Phips and his men continued to fish up +plate, bullion, and dollars, as plentifully as ever, till +their provisions grew short. Then, as they could +not feed upon gold and silver any more than old +King Midas could, they found it necessary to go +in search of better sustenance. Phips resolved +<span class="tei-pb" id="page073">[pg 073]</span> +<a name="Pg073" id="Pg073" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +to return to England. He arrived there in 1687, +and was received with great joy by the Duke +of Albemarle and the other English lords, who had +fitted out the vessel. Well they might rejoice; for +they took by far the greater part of the treasure to +themselves.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The Captain's share, however, was enough to +make him comfortable for the rest of his days. It +also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his wife, by +building a "fair brick house," in the Green Lane of +Boston. The Duke of Albemarle sent Mrs. Phips a +magnificent gold cup, worth at least five thousand +dollars. Before Captain Phips left London, King +James made him a knight; so that, instead of the +obscure ship-carpenter who had formerly dwelt +among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed +him on his return, as the rich and famous Sir William +Phips.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page074">[pg 074]</span> +<a name="Pg074" id="Pg074" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_18" id="toc_18"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter XI</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Sir William Phips," continued Grandfather, +"was too active and adventurous a man to sit still +in the quiet enjoyment of his good fortune. In the +year 1690, he went on a military expedition against +the French colonies in America, conquered the +whole province of Acadie, and returned to Boston +with a great deal of plunder."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, grandfather, he was the greatest man +that ever sat in the chair!" cried Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ask Laurence what he thinks," replied Grandfather +with a smile. "Well; in the same year, Sir +William took command of an expedition against +Quebec, but did not succeed in capturing the city. +In 1692, being then in London, King William the +Third appointed him governor of Massachusetts. +And now, my dear children, having followed Sir +William Phips through all his adventures and hardships, +till we find him comfortably seated in Grandfather's +chair, we will here bid him farewell. May +he be as happy in ruling a people, as he was while +he tended sheep!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Charley, whose fancy had been greatly taken by +the adventurous disposition of Sir William Phips, +was eager to know how he had acted, and what happened +<span class="tei-pb" id="page075">[pg 075]</span> +<a name="Pg075" id="Pg075" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +to him while he held the office of governor. +But Grandfather had made up his mind to tell no +more stories for the present.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Possibly, one of these days, I may go on with +the adventures of the chair," said he. "But its +history becomes very obscure just at this point; and +I must search into some old books and manuscripts, +before proceeding further. Besides, it is now a +good time to pause in our narrative; because the +new charter, which Sir William Phips brought over +from England, formed a very important epoch in the +history of the province."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Really, Grandfather," observed Laurence, "this +seems to be the most remarkable chair in the world. +Its history cannot be told without intertwining it +with the lives of distinguished men, and the great +events that have befallen the country."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"True, Laurence," replied Grandfather, smiling, +"We must write a book, with some such title as +this,—<span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Memoirs of my own Times, by Grandfather's +Chair</span>."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That would be beautiful!" exclaimed Laurence, +clapping his hands.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, after all," continued Grandfather, "any +other old chair, if it possessed memory, and a hand +to write its recollections, could record stranger stories +than any that I have told you. From generation +to generation, a chair sits familiarly in the midst +of human interests, and is witness to the most secret +and confidential intercourse, that mortal man can +<span class="tei-pb" id="page076">[pg 076]</span> +<a name="Pg076" id="Pg076" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +hold with his fellow. The human heart may best +be read in the fireside chair. And as to external +events, Grief and Joy keep a continual vicissitude +around it and within it. Now we see the glad face +and glowing form of Joy, sitting merrily in the old +chair, and throwing a warm fire-light radiance over +all the household. Now, while we thought not of it, +the dark clad mourner, Grief, has stolen into the +place of Joy, but not to retain it long. The imagination +can hardly grasp so wide a subject, as is embraced +in the experience of a family chair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It makes my breath flutter,—my heart thrill,—to +think of it," said Laurence. "Yes; a family +chair must have a deeper history than a Chair of +State."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O, yes!" cried Clara, expressing a woman's +feeling on the point in question, "The history of a +country is not nearly so interesting as that of a single +family would be."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But the history of a country is more easily told," +said Grandfather. "So, if we proceed with our +narrative of the chair, I shall still confine myself to +its connection with public events."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Good old Grandfather now rose and quitted the +room, while the children remained gazing at the +chair. Laurence, so vivid was his conception of +past times, would hardly have deemed it strange, if +its former occupants, one after another, had resumed +the seat which they had each left vacant, such a +dim length of years ago. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page077">[pg 077]</span> +<a name="Pg077" id="Pg077" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">First, the gentle and lovely lady Arbella would +have been seen in the old chair, almost sinking out +of its arms, for very weakness; then Roger Williams, +in his cloak and band, earnest, energetic, and benevolent; +then the figure of Anne Hutchinson, with the +like gesture as when she presided at the assemblages +of women; then the dark, intellectual face of Vane, +"young in years, but in sage counsel old." Next +would have appeared the successive governors, Winthrop, +Dudley, Bellingham, and Endicott, who sat in +the chair, while it was a Chair of State. Then its +ample seat would have been pressed by the comfortable, +rotund corporation of the honest mint-master. +Then the half-frenzied shape of Mary Dyer, the persecuted +Quaker woman, clad in sackcloth and ashes, +would have rested in it for a moment. Then the +holy apostolic form of Eliot would have sanctified it. +Then would have arisen, like the shade of departed +Puritanism, the venerable dignity of the white-bearded +Governor Bradstreet. Lastly, on the gorgeous +crimson cushion of Grandfather's chair, would +have shone the purple and golden magnificence of +Sir William Phips.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, all these, with the other historic personages, +in the midst of whom the chair had so often stood, +had passed, both in substance and shadow, from the +scene of ages. Yet here stood the chair, with the +old Lincoln coat of arms, and the oaken flowers and +foliage, and the fierce lion's head at the summit, the +whole, apparently, in as perfect preservation as when +<span class="tei-pb" id="page078">[pg 078]</span> +<a name="Pg078" id="Pg078" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +it had first been placed in the Earl of Lincoln's Hall. +And what vast changes of society and of nations had +been wrought by sudden convulsions or by slow +degrees, since that era!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"This chair has stood firm when the thrones of +kings were overturned!" thought Laurence. "Its +oaken frame has proved stronger than many frames +of government!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">More the thoughtful and imaginative boy might +have mused; but now a large yellow cat, a great +favorite with all the children, leaped in at the open +window. Perceiving that Grandfather's chair was +empty, and having often before experienced its comforts, +puss laid herself quietly down upon the cushion. +Laurence, Clara, Charley, and little Alice, all +laughed at the idea of such a successor to the worthies +of old times.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Pussy," said little Alice, putting out her hand, +into which the cat laid a velvet paw, "you look very +wise. Do tell us a story about <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Grandfather's +Chair</span>!"</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page079">[pg 079]</span> +<a name="Pg079" id="Pg079" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_19" id="toc_19"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head">Part II</h1> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_20" id="toc_20"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter I</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O Grandfather," dear Grandfather, cried little +Alice, "pray tell us some more stories about your +chair!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">How long a time had fled, since the children had +felt any curiosity to hear the sequel of this venerable +chair's adventures! Summer was now past and +gone, and the better part of Autumn likewise. +Dreary, chill November was howling, out of doors, +and vexing the atmosphere with sudden showers of +wintry rain, or sometimes with gusts of snow, that +rattled like small pebbles against the windows.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When the weather began to grow cool, Grandfather's +chair had been removed from the summer +parlor into a smaller and snugger room. It now +stood by the side of a bright blazing wood-fire. +Grandfather loved a wood-fire, far better than a +<span class="tei-pb" id="page080">[pg 080]</span> +<a name="Pg080" id="Pg080" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +grate of glowing anthracite, or than the dull heat of +an invisible furnace, which seems to think that it +has done its duty in merely warming the house. +But the wood-fire is a kindly, cheerful, sociable +spirit, sympathizing with mankind, and knowing +that to create warmth is but one of the good offices +which are expected from it. Therefore it dances +on the hearth, and laughs broadly through the room, +and plays a thousand antics, and throws a joyous +glow over all the faces that encircle it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the twilight of the evening, the fire grew +brighter and more cheerful. And thus, perhaps, +there was something in Grandfather's heart, that +cheered him most with its warmth and comfort in +the gathering twilight of old age. He had been +gazing at the red embers, as intently as if his past +life were all pictured there, or as if it were a prospect +of the future world, when little Alice's voice +aroused him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dear Grandfather," repeated the little girl, +more earnestly, "do talk to us again about your +chair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, and little +Alice, had been attracted to other objects, for two +or three months past. They had sported in the +gladsome sunshine of the present, and so had forgotten +the shadowy region of the past, in the midst +of which stood Grandfather's chair. But now, in +the autumnal twilight, illuminated by the flickering +blaze of the wood-fire, they looked at the old chair +<span class="tei-pb" id="page081">[pg 081]</span> +<a name="Pg081" id="Pg081" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and thought that it had never before worn such an +interesting aspect. There it stood, in the venerable +majesty of more than two hundred years. The light +from the hearth quivered upon the flowers and foliage, +that were wrought into its oaken back; and +the lion's head at the summit seemed almost to +move its jaws and shake its mane.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Does little Alice speak for all of you?" asked +Grandfather. "Do you wish me to go on with the +adventures of the chair?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, yes, yes, Grandfather!" cried Clara. +"The dear old chair! How strange that we should +have forgotten it so long!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, pray begin, Grandfather," said Laurence; +"for I think, when we talk about old times, it should +be in the early evening before the candles are lighted. +The shapes of the famous persons, who once sat in +the chair, will be more apt to come back, and be +seen among us, in this glimmer and pleasant gloom, +than they would in the vulgar daylight. And, +besides, we can make pictures of all that you tell us, +among the glowing embers and white ashes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Our friend Charley, too, thought the evening the +best time to hear Grandfather's stories, because he +could not then be playing out of doors. So, finding +his young auditors unanimous in their petition, the +good old gentleman took up the narrative of the historic +chair, at the point where he had dropt it.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page082">[pg 082]</span> +<a name="Pg082" id="Pg082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_21" id="toc_21"></a><h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter II</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You recollect, my dear children," said Grandfather, +"that we took leave of the chair in 1692, +while it was occupied by Sir William Phips. This +fortunate treasure-seeker, you will remember, had +come over from England, with King William's commission +to be Governor of Massachusetts. Within +the limits of this province were now included the +old colony of Plymouth, and the territories of Maine +and Nova Scotia. Sir William Phips had likewise +brought a new charter from the king, which served +instead of a constitution, and set forth the method in +which the province was to be governed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did the new charter allow the people all their +former liberties?" inquired Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No," replied Grandfather. "Under the first +charter, the people had been the source of all power. +Winthrop, Endicott, Bradstreet, and the rest of +them, had been governors by the choice of the people, +without any interference of the king. But henceforth +the governor was to hold his station solely by +the king's appointment, and during his pleasure; and +the same was the case with the lieutenant-governor, +and some other high officers. The people, however, +were still allowed to choose representatives; and the +governor's council was chosen by the general court."</p> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page083">[pg 083]</span> +<a name="Pg083" id="Pg083" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Would the inhabitants have elected Sir William +Phips," asked Laurence, "if the choice of governor +had been left to them?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He might probably have been a successful candidate," +answered Grandfather; "for his adventures +and military enterprises had gained him a sort of +renown, which always goes a great way with the +people. And he had many popular characteristics, +being a kind, warm-hearted man, not ashamed of +his low origin, nor haughty in his present elevation. +Soon after his arrival, he proved that he did not +blush to recognize his former associates."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How was that?" inquired Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He made a grand festival at his new brick +house," said Grandfather, "and invited all the +ship-carpenters of Boston to be his guests. At the +head of the table, in our great chair, sat Sir William +Phips himself, treating these hard handed men +as his brethren, cracking jokes with them, and talking +familiarly about old times. I know not whether +he wore his embroidered dress, but I rather choose +to imagine that he had on a suit of rough clothes, +such as he used to labor in, while he was Phips the +ship-carpenter."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"An aristocrat need not be ashamed of the +trade," observed Laurence; "for the czar Peter +the Great once served an apprenticeship to it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did Sir William Phips make as good a governor +as he was a ship-carpenter?" asked Charley.</p> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page084">[pg 084]</span> +<a name="Pg084" id="Pg084" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"History says but little about his merits as a +ship-carpenter," answered Grandfather; "but, as +a governor, a great deal of fault was found with +him. Almost as soon as he assumed the government, +he became engaged in a very frightful business, +which might have perplexed a wiser and better +cultivated head than his. This was the witchcraft +delusion."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And here Grandfather gave his auditors such +details of this melancholy affair, as he thought it fit +for them to know. They shuddered to hear that a +frenzy, which led to the death of many innocent persons, +had originated in the wicked arts of a few +children. They belonged to the Rev. Mr. Parris, +minister of Salem. These children complained of +being pinched, and pricked with pins, and otherwise +tormented by the shapes of men and women, +who were supposed to have power to haunt them +invisibly, both in darkness and daylight. Often, +in the midst of their family and friends, the children +would pretend to be seized with strange convulsions, +and would cry out that the witches were +afflicting them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">These stories spread abroad, and caused great +tumult and alarm. From the foundation of New +England, it had been the custom of the inhabitants, +in all matters of doubt and difficulty, to look to their +ministers for council. So they did now; but, unfortunately, +the ministers and wise men were more +deluded than the illiterate people. Cotton Mather, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page085">[pg 085]</span> +<a name="Pg085" id="Pg085" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +a very learned and eminent clergyman, believed +that the whole country was full of witches and wizards, +who had given up their hopes of heaven, and +signed a covenant with the Evil One.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Nobody could be certain that his nearest neighbor, +or most intimate friend, was not guilty of this +imaginary crime. The number of those who pretended +to be afflicted by witchcraft, grew daily +more numerous; and they bore testimony against +many of the best and worthiest people. A minister, +named George Burroughs, was among the +accused. In the months of August and September, +1692, he, and nineteen other innocent men +and women, were put to death. The place of execution +was a high hill, on the outskirts of Salem; +so that many of the sufferers, as they stood beneath +the gallows, could discern their own habitations in +the town.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed +only to increase the madness. The afflicted now +grew bolder in their accusations. Many people of +rank and wealth were either thrown into prison, or +compelled to flee for their lives. Among these +were two sons of old Simon Bradstreet, the last of +the Puritan governors. Mr. Willard, a pious minister +of Boston, was cried out upon as a wizard, in +open court. Mrs. Hale, the wife of the minister of +Beverly, was likewise accused. Philip English, a +rich merchant of Salem, found it necessary to take +flight, leaving his property and business in confusion. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page086">[pg 086]</span> +<a name="Pg086" id="Pg086" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +But a short time afterwards, the Salem people were +glad to invite him back.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The boldest thing that the accusers did," continued +Grandfather, "was to cry out against the +governor's own beloved wife. Yes; the lady of +Sir William Phips was accused of being a witch, +and of flying through the air to attend witch meetings. +When the governor heard this, he probably +trembled, so that our great chair shook beneath +him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dear Grandfather," cried little Alice, clinging +closer to his knee, "is it true that witches ever +come in the night-time to frighten little children?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, no, dear little Alice," replied Grandfather. +"Even if there were any witches, they would flee +away from the presence of a pure-hearted child. +But there are none; and our forefathers soon +became convinced, that they had been led into a +terrible delusion. All the prisoners on account of +witchcraft were set free. But the innocent dead +could not be restored to life; and the hill where +they were executed, will always remind people of +the saddest and most humiliating passage in our +history."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather then said, that the next remarkable +event, while Sir William Phips remained in the +chair, was the arrival at Boston of an English fleet, +in 1693. It brought an army, which was intended +for the conquest of Canada. But a malignant disease, +more fatal than the small-pox, broke out +<span class="tei-pb" id="page087">[pg 087]</span> +<a name="Pg087" id="Pg087" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +among the soldiers and sailors, and destroyed the +greater part of them. The infection spread into +the town of Boston, and made much havoc there. +This dreadful sickness caused the governor, and +Sir Francis Wheeler, who was commander of the +British forces, to give up all thoughts of attacking +Canada.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Soon after this," said Grandfather, "Sir William +Phips quarrelled with the captain of an English +frigate, and also with the Collector of Boston. +Being a man of violent temper, he gave each of +them a sound beating with his cane."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He was a bold fellow," observed Charley, who +was himself somewhat addicted to a similar mode of +settling disputes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"More bold than wise," replied Grandfather; +"for complaints were carried to the king, and Sir +William Phips was summoned to England, to make +the best answer he could. Accordingly he went +to London, where, in 1695, he was seized with a +malignant fever, of which he died. Had he lived +longer, he would probably have gone again in +search of sunken treasure. He had heard of a +Spanish ship, which was cast away in 1502, during +the lifetime of Columbus. Bovadilla, Roldan, and +many other Spaniards, were lost in her, together +with the immense wealth of which they had robbed +the South American kings."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, Grandfather," exclaimed Laurence, +"what magnificent ideas the governor had! Only +<span class="tei-pb" id="page088">[pg 088]</span> +<a name="Pg088" id="Pg088" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +think of recovering all that old treasure, which had +lain almost two centuries under the sea! Me thinks +Sir William Phips ought to have been buried in the +ocean, when he died; so that he might have gone +down among the sunken ships, and cargoes of treasure, +which he was always dreaming about in his +lifetime."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He was buried in one of the crowded cemeteries +of London," said Grandfather. "As he left +no children, his estate was inherited by his nephew, +from whom is descended the present Marquis of +Normandy. The noble Marquis is not aware, perhaps, +that the prosperity of his family originated in +the successful enterprise of a New England ship +carpenter."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page089">[pg 089]</span> +<a name="Pg089" id="Pg089" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_22" id="toc_22"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter III</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"At the death of Sir William Phips," proceeded +Grandfather, "our chair was bequeathed to Mr. +Ezekiel Cheever, a famous school-master in Boston. +This old gentleman came from London in 1637, and +had been teaching school ever since; so that there +were now aged men, grandfathers like myself, to +whom Master Cheever had taught their alphabet. +He was a person of venerable aspect, and wore a +long white beard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was the chair placed in his school?" asked +Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, in his school," answered Grandfather; +"and we may safely say that it had never before +been regarded with such awful reverence—no, not +even when the old governors of Massachusetts sat in +it. Even you, Charley, my boy, would have felt +some respect for the chair, if you had seen it occupied +by this famous school-master."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And here Grandfather endeavored to give his +auditors an idea how matters were managed in +schools above a hundred years ago. As this will +probably be an interesting subject to our readers, +we shall make a separate sketch of it, and call it</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_23" id="toc_23"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE OLD-FASHIONED SCHOOL</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now imagine yourselves, my children, in Master +<span class="tei-pb" id="page090">[pg 090]</span> +<a name="Pg090" id="Pg090" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Ezekiel Cheever's school-room. It is a large, dingy +room, with a sanded floor, and is lighted by windows +that turn on hinges, and have little diamond shaped +panes of glass. The scholars sit on long benches, +with desks before them. At one end of the room is +a great fire-place, so very spacious, that there is +room enough for three or four boys to stand in each +of the chimney corners. This was the good old +fashion of fire-places, when there was wood enough +in the forests to keep people warm, without their +digging into the bowels of the earth for coal.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It is a winter's day when we take our peep into +the school-room. See what great logs of wood have +been rolled into the fire-place, and what a broad, +bright blaze goes leaping up the chimney! And +every few moments, a vast cloud of smoke is puffed +into the room, which sails slowly over the heads of +the scholars, until it gradually settles upon the walls +and ceiling. They are blackened with the smoke of +many years already.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image02.png" width="480" height="566" alt="" class="tei tei-figure" /></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Next, look at our old historic chair! It is placed, +you perceive, in the most comfortable part of the +room, where the generous glow of the fire is sufficiently +felt, without being too intensely hot. How +stately the old chair looks, as if it remembered its +many famous occupants, but yet were conscious that +a greater man is sitting in it now! Do you see the +venerable school-master, severe in aspect, with a +black scull-cap on his head, like an ancient Puritan, +and the snow of his white beard drifting down to his +<span class="tei-pb" id="page091">[pg 091]</span> +<a name="Pg091" id="Pg091" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +very girdle? What boy would dare to play, or +whisper, or even glance aside from his book, while +Master Cheever is on the look-out, behind his spectacles! +For such offenders, if any such there be, a +rod of birch is hanging over the fire-place, and a +heavy ferule lies on the master's desk.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And now school is begun. What a murmur of +multitudinous tongues, like the whispering leaves of +a wind-stirred oak, as the scholars con over their various +tasks! Buz, buz, buz! Amid just such a murmur +has Master Cheever spent above sixty years: +and long habit has made it as pleasant to him as the +hum of a bee-hive, when the insects are busy in the +sunshine.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now a class in Latin is called to recite. Forth +steps a row of queer-looking little fellows, wearing +square-skirted coats, and small clothes, with buttons +at the knee. They look like so many grandfathers +in their second childhood. These lads are to be sent +to Cambridge, and educated for the learned professions. +Old Master Cheever has lived so long, and +seen so many generations of school-boys grow up to +be men, that now he can almost prophesy what sort +of a man each boy will be. One urchin shall hereafter +be a doctor, and administer pills and potions, +and stalk gravely through life, perfumed with assaf[oe]tida. +Another shall wrangle at the bar, and fight +his way to wealth and honors, and in his declining +age, shall be a worshipful member of his Majesty's +council. A third—and he is the Master's favorite—shall +<span class="tei-pb" id="page092">[pg 092]</span> +<a name="Pg092" id="Pg092" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +be a worthy successor to the old Puritan +ministers, now in their graves; he shall preach with +great unction and effect, and leave volumes of sermons, +in print and manuscript, for the benefit of +future generations.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, as they are merely school-boys now, their +business is to construe Virgil. Poor Virgil, whose +verses, which he took so much pains to polish, have +been mis-scanned, and mis-parsed, and mis-interpreted, +by so many generations of idle school-boys! +There, sit down, ye Latinists. Two or three of you, +I fear, are doomed to feel the master's ferule.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Next comes a class in Arithmetic. These boys +are to be the merchants, shop-keepers, and mechanics, +of a future period. Hitherto, they have traded only +in marbles and apples. Hereafter, some will send +vessels to England for broadcloths and all sorts of +manufactured wares, and to the West Indies for +sugar, and rum, and coffee. Others will stand behind +counters, and measure tape, and ribbon, and +cambric, by the yard. Others will upheave the +blacksmith's hammer, or drive the plane over the +carpenter's bench, or take the lapstone and the awl, +and learn the trade of shoe-making. Many will follow +the sea, and become bold, rough sea-captains.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This class of boys, in short, must supply the world +with those active, skilful hands, and clear, sagacious +heads, without which the affairs of life would be +thrown into confusion, by the theories of studious +and visionary men. Wherefore, teach them their +<span class="tei-pb" id="page093">[pg 093]</span> +<a name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +multiplication table, good Master Cheever, and whip +them well, when they deserve it; for much of the +country's welfare depends on these boys!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, alas! while we have been thinking of other +matters, Master Cheever's watchful eye has caught +two boys at play. Now we shall see awful times! +The two malefactors are summoned before the master's +chair, wherein he sits, with the terror of a +judge upon his brow. Our old chair is now a judgment-seat. +Ah, Master Cheever has taken down +that terrible birch-rod! Short is the trial—the +sentence quickly passed—and now the judge prepares +to execute it in person. Thwack! thwack! +thwack! In those good old times, a school-master's +blows were well laid on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">See! the birch-rod has lost several of its twigs, +and will hardly serve for another execution. Mercy +on us, what a bellowing the urchins make! My +ears are almost deafened, though the clamor comes +through the far length of a hundred and fifty years. +There, go to your seats, poor boys; and do not cry, +sweet little Alice; for they have ceased to feel the +pain, a long time since.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And thus the forenoon passes away. Now it is +twelve o'clock. The master looks at his great silver +watch, and then with tiresome deliberation, puts the +ferule into his desk. The little multitude await the +word of dismissal, with almost irrepressible impatience.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are dismissed," says Master Cheever. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page094">[pg 094]</span> +<a name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The boys retire, treading softly until they have +passed the threshold; but, fairly out of the school-room, +lo, what a joyous shout!—what a scampering +and trampling of feet!—what a sense of recovered +freedom, expressed in the merry uproar of all their +voices! What care they for the ferule and birch-rod +now? Were boys created merely to study Latin +and Arithmetic? No; the better purposes of their +being are to sport, to leap, to run, to shout, to slide +upon the ice, to snow-ball!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Happy boys! Enjoy your play-time now, and +come again to study, and to feel the birch-rod and +the ferule, to-morrow; not till to-morrow, for to-day +is Thursday-lecture; and ever since the settlement +of Massachusetts, there has been no school on Thursday +afternoons. Therefore, sport, boys, while you +may; for the morrow cometh, with the birch-rod and +the ferule; and after that, another Morrow, with +troubles of its own.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now the master has set every thing to rights, and +is ready to go home to dinner. Yet he goes reluctantly. +The old man has spent so much of his life +in the smoky, noisy, buzzing school-room, that, when +he has a holiday, he feels as if his place were lost, +and himself a stranger in the world. But, forth he +goes; and there stands our old chair, vacant and +solitary, till good Master Cheever resumes his seat +in it to-morrow morning.</p> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page095">[pg 095]</span> +<a name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," said Charley, "I wonder whether +the boys did not use to upset the old chair, when the +school-master was out?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There is a tradition," replied Grandfather, "that +one of its arms was dislocated, in some such manner. +But I cannot believe that any school-boy would behave +so naughtily."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As it was now later than little Alice's usual bedtime, +Grandfather broke off his narrative, promising +to talk more about Master Cheever and his scholars, +some other evening.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page096">[pg 096]</span> +<a name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_24" id="toc_24"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter IV</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Accordingly the next evening, Grandfather resumed +the history of his beloved chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Master Ezekiel Cheever," said he, "died in +1707, after having taught school about seventy +years. It would require a pretty good scholar in +arithmetic to tell how many stripes he had inflicted, +and how many birch-rods he had worn out, during +all that time, in his fatherly tenderness for his pupils. +Almost all the great men of that period, and for +many years back, had been whipt into eminence by +Master Cheever. Moreover, he had written a Latin +Accidence, which was used in schools more than half +a century after his death; so that the good old man, +even in his grave, was still the cause of trouble and +stripes to idle school-boys."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather proceeded to say, that, when Master +Cheever died, he bequeathed the chair to the most +learned man that was educated at his school, or that +had ever been born in America. This was the renowned +Cotton Mather, minister of the Old North +Church in Boston.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And author of the Magnalia, Grandfather, which +we sometimes see you reading," said Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, Laurence," replied Grandfather. "The +Magnalia is a strange, pedantic history, in which +<span class="tei-pb" id="page097">[pg 097]</span> +<a name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +true events and real personages move before the +reader, with the dreamy aspect which they wore in +Cotton Mather's singular mind. This huge volume, +however, was written and published before our chair +came into his possession. But, as he was the author of +more books than there are days in the year, we may +conclude that he wrote a great deal, while sitting in +this chair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am tired of these school-masters and learned +men," said Charley. "I wish some stirring man, +that knew how to do something in the world, like Sir +William Phips, would set in the chair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Such men seldom have leisure to sit quietly in +a chair," said Grandfather. "We must make the +best of such people as we have."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As Cotton Mather was a very distinguished man, +Grandfather took some pains to give the children a +lively conception of his character. Over the door +of his library were painted these words—BE SHORT—as +a warning to visitors that they must not do the +world so much harm, as needlessly to interrupt this +great man's wonderful labors. On entering the +room you would probably behold it crowded, and +piled, and heaped with books. There were huge, +ponderous folios and quartos, and little duodecimos, +in English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldaic, and all +other languages, that either originated at the confusion +of Babel, or have since come into use.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">All these books, no doubt, were tossed about in confusion, +thus forming a visible emblem of the manner +<span class="tei-pb" id="page098">[pg 098]</span> +<a name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +in which their contents were crowded into Cotton +Mather's brain. And in the middle of the room stood a +table, on which, besides printed volumes, were strewn +manuscript sermons, historical tracts, and political +pamphlets, all written in such a queer, blind, crabbed, +fantastical hand, that a writing-master would have +gone raving mad at the sight of them. By this table +stood Grandfather's chair, which seemed already to +have contracted an air of deep erudition, as if its +cushion were stuffed with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, +and other hard matters.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In this chair, from one year's end to another, sat +that prodigious book-worm, Cotton Mather, sometimes +devouring a great book, and sometimes scribbling +one as big. In Grandfather's younger days, +there used to be a wax figure of him in one of the +Boston museums, representing a solemn, dark-visaged +person, in a minister's black gown, and with a +black-letter volume before him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is difficult, my children," observed Grandfather, +"to make you understand such a character +as Cotton Mather's, in whom there was so much good, +and yet so many failings and frailties. Undoubtedly, +he was a pious man. Often he kept fasts; +and once, for three whole days, he allowed himself +not a morsel of food, but spent the time in prayer +and religious meditation. Many a live-long night +did he watch and pray. These fasts and vigils made +him meagre and haggard, and probably caused him +to appear as if he hardly belonged to the world."</p> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page099">[pg 099]</span> +<a name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was not the witchcraft delusion partly caused +by Cotton Mather?" inquired Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He was the chief agent of the mischief," answered +Grandfather; "but we will not suppose that +he acted otherwise than conscientiously. He believed +that there were evil spirits all about the +world. Doubtless he imagined that they were hidden +in the corners and crevices of his library, and +that they peeped out from among the leaves of many +of his books, as he turned them over, at midnight. +He supposed that these unlovely demons were everywhere, +in the sunshine as well as in the darkness, and +that they were hidden in men's hearts, and stole into +their most secret thoughts."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Here Grandfather was interrupted by little Alice, +who hid her face in his lap, and murmured a wish +that he would not talk any more about Cotton Mather +and the evil spirits. Grandfather kissed her, +and told her that angels were the only spirits whom +she had any thing to do with. He then spoke of the +public affairs of the period.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A new war between France and England had +broken out in 1702, and had been raging ever since. +In the course of it, New England suffered much injury +from the French and Indians, who often came +through the woods from Canada, and assaulted the +frontier towns. Villages were sometimes burnt, and +the inhabitants slaughtered, within a day's ride of +Boston. The people of New England had a bitter +hatred against the French, not only for the mischief +<span class="tei-pb" id="page100">[pg 100]</span> +<a name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +which they did with their own hands, but because +they incited the Indians to hostility.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The New Englanders knew that they could never +dwell in security, until the provinces of France +should be subdued, and brought under the English +government. They frequently, in time of war, undertook +military expeditions against Acadia and +Canada, and sometimes besieged the fortresses, by +which those territories were defended. But the +most earnest wish of their hearts was, to take Quebec, +and so get possession of the whole province of +Canada. Sir William Phips had once attempted it, +but without success.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Fleets and soldiers were often sent from England, +to assist the colonists in their warlike undertakings. +In 1710, Port Royal, a fortress of Acadia, was +taken by the English. The next year, in the month +of June, a fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir Hovenden +Walker, arrived in Boston Harbor. On board +of this fleet was the English General Hill, with seven +regiments of soldiers, who had been fighting under +the Duke of Marlborough, in Flanders. The government +of Massachusetts was called upon to find +provisions for the army and fleet, and to raise more +men to assist in taking Canada.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">What with recruiting and drilling of soldiers, there +was now nothing but warlike bustle in the streets of +Boston. The drum and fife, the rattle of arms, and +the shouts of boys, were heard from morning till +night. In about a month, the fleet set sail, carrying +<span class="tei-pb" id="page101">[pg 101]</span> +<a name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +four regiments from New England and New York, +besides the English soldiers. The whole army +amounted to at least seven thousand men. They +steered for the mouth of the river St. Lawrence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Cotton Mather prayed most fervently for their +success," continued Grandfather, "both in his pulpit, +and when he kneeled down in the solitude of his +library, resting his face on our old chair. But +Providence ordered the result otherwise. In a few +weeks, tidings were received, that eight or nine of +the vessels had been wrecked in the St. Lawrence, +and that above a thousand drowned soldiers had been +washed ashore, on the banks of that mighty river. +After this misfortune, Sir Hovenden Walker set sail +for England; and many pious people began to think +it a sin, even to wish for the conquest of Canada."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I would never give it up so," cried Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nor did they, as we shall see," replied Grandfather. +"However, no more attempts were made +during this war, which came to a close in 1713. +The people of New England were probably glad of +some repose; for their young men had been made +soldiers, till many of them were fit for nothing else. +And those, who remained at home, had been heavily +taxed to pay for the arms, ammunition, fortifications, +and all the other endless expenses of a war. There +was great need of the prayers of Cotton Mather, and +of all pious men, not only on account of the sufferings +of the people, but because the old moral and religious +character of New England was in danger of +being utterly lost." +<span class="tei-pb" id="page102">[pg 102]</span> +<a name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How glorious it would have been," remarked +Laurence, "if our forefathers could have kept the +country unspotted with blood."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes," said Grandfather; "but there was a stern +warlike spirit in them, from the beginning. They +seem never to have thought of questioning either +the morality or piety of war."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next event, which Grandfather spoke of, was +one that Cotton Mather, as well as most of the other +inhabitants of New England, heartily rejoiced at. +This was the accession of the Elector of Hanover to +the throne of England, in 1714, on the death of +Queen Anne. Hitherto, the people had been in +continual dread that the male line of the Stuarts, +who were descended from the beheaded King +Charles and the banished King James, would be +restored to the throne. In that case, as the Stuart +family were Roman Catholics, it was supposed that +they would attempt to establish their own religion +throughout the British dominions. But the Elector +of Hanover, and all his race, were Protestants; so +that now the descendants of the old Puritans were +relieved from many fears and disquietudes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The importance of this event," observed Grandfather, +"was a thousand times greater than that of +a Presidential Election, in our own days. If the +people dislike their president, they may get rid of +him in four years; whereas, a dynasty of kings may +wear the crown for an unlimited period."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The German elector was proclaimed king from +<span class="tei-pb" id="page103">[pg 103]</span> +<a name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the balcony of the town-house, in Boston, by the title +of George the First, while the trumpets sounded, +and the people cried Amen. That night, the town +was illuminated; and Cotton Mather threw aside +book and pen, and left Grandfather's chair vacant, +while he walked hither and thither to witness the +rejoicings.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page104">[pg 104]</span> +<a name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_25" id="toc_25"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VI</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Cotton Mather," continued Grandfather, +"was a bitter enemy to Governor Dudley; and +nobody exulted more than he, when that crafty politician +was removed from the government, and succeeded +by Colonel Shute. This took place in 1716. +The new governor had been an officer in the renowned +Duke of Marlborough's army, and had +fought in some of the great battles in Flanders."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now, I hope," said Charley, "we shall hear of +his doing great things."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am afraid you will be disappointed, Charley," +answered Grandfather. "It is true, that Colonel +Shute had probably never led so unquiet a life while +fighting the French, as he did now, while governing +this province of Massachusetts Bay. But his troubles +consisted almost entirely of dissensions with the +legislature. The king had ordered him to lay claim +to a fixed salary; but the representatives of the +people insisted upon paying him only such sums, +from year to year, as they saw fit."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather here explained some of the circumstances, +that made the situation of a colonial governor +so difficult and irksome. There was not the +same feeling towards the chief magistrate, now, +that had existed, while he was chosen by the free +<span class="tei-pb" id="page105">[pg 105]</span> +<a name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +suffrages of the people. It was felt, that, as the +king appointed the governor, and as he held his +office during the king's pleasure, it would be his +great object to please the king. But the people +thought, that a governor ought to have nothing in +view, but the best interests of those whom he +governed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The governor," remarked Grandfather, "had +two masters to serve—the king, who appointed +him, and the people, on whom he depended for his +pay. Few men, in this position, would have ingenuity +enough to satisfy either party. Colonel +Shute, though a good-natured, well-meaning man, +succeeded so ill with the people, that in 1722, he +suddenly went away to England, and made complaint +to King George. In the mean time, Lieutenant-Governor +Dummer directed the affairs of the province, +and carried on a long and bloody war with the +Indians."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But where was our chair, all this time?" asked +Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It still remained in Cotton Mather's library," +replied Grandfather; "and I must not omit to tell +you an incident, which is very much to the honor of +this celebrated man. It is the more proper, too, +that you should hear it, because it will show you +what a terrible calamity the small pox was to our +forefathers. The history of the province, (and, of +course, the history of our chair,) would be incomplete, +without particular mention of it." +<span class="tei-pb" id="page106">[pg 106]</span> +<a name="Pg106" id="Pg106" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Accordingly, Grandfather told the children a +story, to which, for want of a better title, we shall +give that of</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_26" id="toc_26"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE REJECTED BLESSING</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">One day, in 1721, Doctor Cotton Mather sat +in his library, reading a book that had been published +by the Royal Society of London. But, every +few moments, he laid the book upon the table, and +leaned back in Grandfather's chair, with an aspect +of deep care and disquietude. There were certain +things which troubled him exceedingly, so that he +could hardly fix his thoughts upon what he read.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was now a gloomy time in Boston. That terrible +disease, the small pox, had recently made its +appearance in the town. Ever since the first settlement +of the country, this awful pestilence had +come, at intervals, and swept away multitudes of the +inhabitants. Whenever it commenced its ravages, +nothing seemed to stay its progress, until there were +no more victims for it to seize upon. Oftentimes, +hundreds of people, at once, lay groaning with its +agony; and when it departed, its deep footsteps +were always to be traced in many graves.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The people never felt secure from this calamity. +Sometimes, perhaps, it was brought into the country +by a poor sailor, who had caught the infection in foreign +parts, and came hither to die, and to be the +cause of many deaths. Sometimes, no doubt, it +<span class="tei-pb" id="page107">[pg 107]</span> +<a name="Pg107" id="Pg107" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +followed in the train of the pompous governors, when +they came over from England. Sometimes, the disease +lay hidden in the cargoes of ships, among silks +and brocades, and other costly merchandise, which +was imported for the rich people to wear. And, +sometimes, it started up, seemingly of its own accord; +and nobody could tell whence it came. The +physician, being called to attend the sick person, +would look at him, and say,—"It is the small pox! +let the patient be carried to the hospital."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And now, this dreadful sickness had shown itself +again in Boston. Cotton Mather was greatly +afflicted, for the sake of the whole province. He +had children, too, who were exposed to the danger. +At that very moment, he heard the voice of his +youngest son, for whom his heart was moved with +apprehension.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Alas! I fear for that poor child," said Cotton +Mather to himself. "What shall I do for my son +Samuel?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Again, he attempted to drive away these thoughts, +by taking up the book which he had been reading. +And now, all of a sudden, his attention became fixed. +The book contained a printed letter that an Italian +physician had written upon the very subject, about +which Cotton Mather was so anxiously meditating. +He ran his eye eagerly over the pages; and, behold! +a method was disclosed to him, by which the small +pox might be robbed of its worst terrors. Such a +method was known in Greece. The physicians of +<span class="tei-pb" id="page108">[pg 108]</span> +<a name="Pg108" id="Pg108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Turkey, too, those long-bearded Eastern sages, had +been acquainted with it for many years. The negroes +of Africa, ignorant as they were, had likewise +practised it, and thus had shown themselves wiser +than the white men.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of a truth," ejaculated Cotton Mather, clasping +his hands and looking up to Heaven, "it was a +merciful Providence that brought this book under +mine eye! I will procure a consultation of physicians, +and see whether this wondrous Inoculation +may not stay the progress of the Destroyer."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So he arose from Grandfather's chair, and went +out of the library. Near the door he met his son +Samuel, who seemed downcast and out of spirits. +The boy had heard, probably, that some of his playmates +were taken ill with the small pox. But, as his +father looked cheerfully at him, Samuel took courage, +trusting that either the wisdom of so learned a +minister would find some remedy for the danger, +or else that his prayers would secure protection from +on high.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Meanwhile, Cotton Mather took his staff and three-cornered +hat, and walked about the streets, calling +at the houses of all the physicians in Boston. They +were a very wise fraternity; and their huge wigs, +and black dresses, and solemn visages, made their +wisdom appear even profounder than it was. One +after another, he acquainted them with the discovery +which he had hit upon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But these grave and sagacious personages would +<span class="tei-pb" id="page109">[pg 109]</span> +<a name="Pg109" id="Pg109" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +scarcely listen to him. The oldest doctor in town +contented himself with remarking, that no such thing +as inoculation was mentioned by Galen or Hippocrates, +and it was impossible that modern physicians +should be wiser than those old sages. A second +held up his hands in dumb astonishment and horror, +at the madness of what Cotton Mather proposed to +do. A third told him, in pretty plain terms, that he +knew not what he was talking about. A fourth requested, +in the name of the whole medical fraternity, +that Cotton Mather would confine his attention to +people's souls, and leave the physicians to take care +of their bodies.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In short, there was but a single doctor among +them all, who would grant the poor minister so +much as a patient hearing. This was Doctor Zabdiel +Boylston. He looked into the matter like a +man of sense, and finding, beyond a doubt, that inoculation +had rescued many from death, he resolved +to try the experiment in his own family.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And so he did. But, when the other physicians +heard of it, they arose in great fury, and began a +war of words, written, printed, and spoken, against +Cotton Mather and Doctor Boylston. To hear +them talk, you would have supposed that these two +harmless and benevolent men had plotted the ruin +of the country.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The people, also, took the alarm. Many, who +thought themselves more pious than their neighbors, +contended, that, if Providence had ordained +<span class="tei-pb" id="page110">[pg 110]</span> +<a name="Pg110" id="Pg110" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +them to die of the small pox, it was sinful to aim +at preventing it. The strangest reports were in +circulation. Some said, that Doctor Boylston had +contrived a method for conveying the gout, rheumatism, +sick headache, asthma, and all other diseases, +from one person to another, and diffusing them +through the whole community. Others flatly affirmed +that the Evil One had got possession of Cotton +Mather, and was at the bottom of the whole business.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">You must observe, children, that Cotton Mather's +fellow citizens were generally inclined to doubt the +wisdom of any measure, which he might propose +to them. They recollected how he had led them +astray in the old witchcraft delusion; and now, if +he thought and acted ever so wisely, it was difficult +for him to get the credit of it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The people's wrath grew so hot at his attempt to +guard them from the small pox, that he could not +walk the streets in peace. Whenever the venerable +form of the old minister, meagre and haggard with +fasts and vigils, was seen approaching, hisses were +heard, and shouts of derision, and scornful and bitter +laughter. The women snatched away their children +from his path, lest he should do them a mischief. +Still, however, bending his head meekly, +and perhaps stretching out his hands to bless those +who reviled him, he pursued his way. But the +tears came into his eyes, to think how blindly the +people rejected the means of safety, that were offered +them.</p> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page111">[pg 111]</span> +<a name="Pg111" id="Pg111" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Indeed, there were melancholy sights enough in the +streets of Boston, to draw forth the tears of a compassionate +man. Over the door of almost every +dwelling, a red flag was fluttering in the air. This +was the signal that the small pox had entered the +house, and attacked some member of the family; +or perhaps the whole family, old and young, were +struggling at once with the pestilence. Friends +and relatives, when they met one another in the +streets, would hurry onward without a grasp of the +hand, or scarcely a word of greeting, lest they should +catch or communicate the contagion. And, often a +coffin was borne hastily along.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Alas, alas!" said Cotton Mather to himself. +"What shall be done for this poor, misguided people? +Oh, that Providence would open their eyes, +and enable them to discern good from evil!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So furious, however, were the people, that they +threatened vengeance against any person who should +dare to practise inoculation, though it were only in +his own family. This was a hard case for Cotton +Mather, who saw no other way to rescue his poor +child Samuel from the disease. But he resolved to +save him, even if his house should be burnt over his +head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will not be turned aside," said he. "My +townsmen shall see that I have faith in this thing, +when I make the experiment on my beloved son, +whose life is dearer to me than my own. And when +<span class="tei-pb" id="page112">[pg 112]</span> +<a name="Pg112" id="Pg112" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I have saved Samuel, peradventure they will be persuaded +to save themselves."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Accordingly, Samuel was inoculated; and so was +Mr. Walter, a son-in-law of Cotton Mather. Doctor +Boylston, likewise, inoculated many persons; +and while hundreds died, who had caught the +contagion from the garments of the sick, almost all +were preserved, who followed the wise physician's +advice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the people were not yet convinced of their +mistake. One night, a destructive little instrument, +called a hand-grenade, was thrown into Cotton Mather's +window, and rolled under Grandfather's chair. +It was supposed to be filled with gunpowder, the +explosion of which would have blown the poor minister +to atoms. But the best-informed historians are of +opinion, that the grenade contained only brimstone +and assaf[oe]tida, and was meant to plague Cotton +Mather with a very evil perfume.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This is no strange thing in human experience. +Men, who attempt to do the world more good, than +the world is able entirely to comprehend, are almost +invariably held in bad odor. But yet, if the wise +and good man can wait awhile, either the present +generation or posterity, will do him justice. So it +proved, in the case which we have been speaking of. +In after years, when inoculation was universally +practised, and thousands were saved from death by it, +the people remembered old Cotton Mather, then +<span class="tei-pb" id="page113">[pg 113]</span> +<a name="Pg113" id="Pg113" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +sleeping in his grave. They acknowledged that +the very thing, for which they had so reviled and +persecuted him, was the best and wisest thing he +ever did.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather, this is not an agreeable story," +observed Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Clara," replied Grandfather. "But it is +right that you should know what a dark shadow this +disease threw over the times of our forefathers. And +now, if you wish to learn more about Cotton Mather, +you must read his biography, written by Mr. Peabody, +of Springfield. You will find it very entertaining +and instructive; but perhaps the writer is +somewhat too harsh in his judgment of this singular +man. He estimates him fairly, indeed, and understands +him well; but he unriddles his character +rather by acuteness than by sympathy. Now, his +life should have been written by one, who, knowing +all his faults, would nevertheless love him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Grandfather made an end of Cotton Mather, +telling his auditors that he died in 1728, at the age +of sixty-five, and bequeathed the chair to Elisha +Cooke. This gentleman was a famous advocate of +the people's rights.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The same year, William Burnet, a son of the celebrated +Bishop Burnet, arrived in Boston, with the +commission of governor. He was the first that had +been appointed since the departure of Colonel Shute. +Governor Burnet took up his residence with Mr. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page114">[pg 114]</span> +<a name="Pg114" id="Pg114" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Cooke, while the Province House was undergoing +repairs. During this period, he was always complimented +with a seat in Grandfather's chair; and so +comfortable did he find it, that on removing to the +Province House, he could not bear to leave it behind +him. Mr. Cooke, therefore, requested his acceptance +of it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I should think," said Laurence, "that the +people would have petitioned the king always to +appoint a native-born New Englander to govern +them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Undoubtedly it was a grievance," answered +Grandfather, "to see men placed in this station, +who perhaps had neither talents nor virtues to fit +them for it, and who certainly could have no natural +affection for the country. The king generally bestowed +the governorships of the American colonies +upon needy noblemen, or hangers-on at court, or disbanded +officers. The people knew that such persons +would be very likely to make the good of the country +subservient to the wishes of the king. The legislature, +therefore, endeavored to keep as much power +as possible in their own hands, by refusing to settle +a fixed salary upon the governors. It was thought +better to pay them according to their deserts."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did Governor Burnet work well for his money?" +asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather could not help smiling at the simplicity +of Charley's question. Nevertheless, it put +the matter in a very plain point of view.</p> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page115">[pg 115]</span> +<a name="Pg115" id="Pg115" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He then described the character of Governor +Burnet, representing him as a good scholar, possessed +of much ability, and likewise of unspotted integrity. +His story affords a striking example, how +unfortunate it is for a man, who is placed as ruler +over a country, to be compelled to aim at any thing +but the good of the people. Governor Burnet was +so chained down by his instructions from the king, +that he could not act as he might otherwise have +wished. Consequently, his whole term of office was +wasted in quarrels with the legislature.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am afraid, children," said Grandfather, "that +Governor Burnet found but little rest or comfort in +our old chair. Here he used to sit, dressed in a +coat which was made of rough, shaggy cloth outside, +but of smooth velvet within. It was said that his +own character resembled that coat, for his outward +manner was rough, but his inward disposition soft +and kind. It is a pity that such a man could not +have been kept free from trouble. But so harassing +were his disputes with the representatives of the +people, that he fell into a fever, of which he died, +in 1720. The legislature had refused him a salary, +while alive; but they appropriated money enough +to give him a splendid and pompous funeral."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And now Grandfather perceived that little Alice +had fallen fast asleep, with her head upon his footstool. +Indeed, as Clara observed, she had been +sleeping from the time of Sir Hovenden Walker's +expedition against Quebec, until the death of Governor +<span class="tei-pb" id="page116">[pg 116]</span> +<a name="Pg116" id="Pg116" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Burnet—a period of about eighteen years. +And yet, after so long a nap, sweet little Alice was +a golden-haired child, of scarcely five years old.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It puts me in mind," said Laurence, "of the +story of the enchanted princess, who slept many a +hundred years, and awoke as young and beautiful +as ever."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page117">[pg 117]</span> +<a name="Pg117" id="Pg117" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_27" id="toc_27"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VII</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A few evenings afterwards, cousin Clara happened +to inquire of Grandfather, whether the old +chair had never been present at a ball. At the +same time, little Alice brought forward a doll, with +whom she had been holding a long conversation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"See, Grandfather," cried she. "Did such a +pretty lady as this ever sit in your great chair?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">These questions led Grandfather to talk about the +fashions and manners, which now began to be introduced +from England into the provinces. The simplicity +of the good old Puritan times was fast disappearing. +This was partly owing to the increasing +number and wealth of the inhabitants, and to the +additions which they continually received, by the +arrival and settlement of people from beyond the +sea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Another cause of a pompous and artificial mode +of life, among those who could afford it, was, that the +example was set by the royal governors. Under +the old charter, the governors were the representatives +of the people, and therefore their way of living +had probably been marked by a popular simplicity. +But now, as they represented the person of the king, +they thought it necessary to preserve the dignity of +<span class="tei-pb" id="page118">[pg 118]</span> +<a name="Pg118" id="Pg118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +their station, by the practice of high and gorgeous +ceremonials. And, besides, the profitable offices +under the government were filled by men who had +lived in London, and had there contracted fashionable +and luxurious habits of living, which they would +not now lay aside. The wealthy people of the province +imitated them; and thus began a general +change in social life.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"So, my dear Clara," said Grandfather, "after +our chair had entered the Province House, it must +often have been present at balls and festivals, though +I cannot give you a description of any particular +one. But I doubt not that they were very magnificent; +and slaves in gorgeous liveries waited on the +guests, and offered them wine in goblets of massive +silver."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Were there slaves in those days?" exclaimed +Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes; black slaves and white," replied Grandfather. +"Our ancestors not only bought negroes +from Africa, but Indians from South America, and +white people from Ireland. These last were sold, +not for life, but for a certain number of years, in +order to pay the expenses of their voyage across the +Atlantic. Nothing was more common than to see a +lot of likely Irish girls, advertised for sale in the +newspapers. As for the little negro babies, they +were offered to be given away, like young kittens."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Perhaps Alice would have liked one to play +with, instead of her doll," said Charley, laughing. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page119">[pg 119]</span> +<a name="Pg119" id="Pg119" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But little Alice clasped the waxen doll closer to +her bosom.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now, as for this pretty doll, my little Alice," +said Grandfather, "I wish you could have seen +what splendid dresses the ladies wore in those times. +They had silks, and satins, and damasks, and brocades, +and high head-dresses, and all sorts of fine +things. And they used to wear hooped-petticoats, +of such enormous size that it was quite a journey to +walk round them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And how did the gentlemen dress?" asked +Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"With full as much magnificence as the ladies," +answered Grandfather. "For their holiday suits, +they had coats of figured velvet, crimson, green, +blue, and all other gay colors, embroidered with +gold or silver lace. Their waistcoats, which were +five times as large as modern ones, were very +splendid. Sometimes, the whole waistcoat, which +came down almost to the knees, was made of gold +brocade."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, the wearer must have shone like a golden +image!" said Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And, then," continued Grandfather, "they +wore various sorts of periwigs, such as the Tie, the +Spencer, the Brigadier, the Major, the Albemarle, +the Ramilies, the Feather-top, and the Full-bottom! +Their three-cornered hats were laced with gold or +silver. They had shining buckles at the knees of +their small clothes, and buckles likewise in their +<span class="tei-pb" id="page120">[pg 120]</span> +<a name="Pg120" id="Pg120" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +shoes. They wore swords, with beautiful hilts, +either of silver, or sometimes of polished steel, +inlaid with gold."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, I should like to wear a sword!" cried +Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And an embroidered crimson velvet coat," said +Clara, laughing, "and a gold brocade waistcoat +down to your knees!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And knee-buckles and shoe-buckles," said Laurence, +laughing also.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And a periwig," added little Alice, soberly, +not knowing what was the article of dress, which +she recommended to our friend Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather smiled at the idea of Charley's +sturdy little figure in such a grotesque caparison. +He then went on with the history of the chair, and +told the children, that, in 1730, King George the +Second appointed Jonathan Belcher to be governor +of Massachusetts, in place of the deceased Governor +Burnet. Mr. Belcher was a native of the province, +but had spent much of his life in Europe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The new governor found Grandfather's chair in +the Province House, he was struck with its noble +and stately aspect, but was of opinion, that age and +hard services had made it scarcely so fit for courtly +company, as when it stood in the Earl of Lincoln's +hall. Wherefore, as Governor Belcher was fond of +splendor, he employed a skilful artist to beautify +the chair. This was done by polishing and varnishing +it, and by gilding the carved work of the elbows, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page121">[pg 121]</span> +<a name="Pg121" id="Pg121" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and likewise the oaken flowers of the back. The +lion's head now shone like a veritable lump of gold. +Finally, Governor Belcher gave the chair a cushion +of blue damask, with a rich golden fringe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Our good old chair being thus glorified," proceeded +Grandfather, "it glittered with a great deal +more splendor than it had exhibited just a century +before, when the Lady Arbella brought it over from +England. Most people mistook it for a chair of the +latest London fashion. And this may serve for an +example, that there is almost always an old and +time-worn substance under all the glittering show +of new invention."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather, I cannot see any of the gilding," +remarked Charley, who had been examining the +chair very minutely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You will not wonder that it has been rubbed +off," replied Grandfather, "when you hear all the +adventures that have since befallen the chair. +Gilded it was; and the handsomest room in the +Province House was adorned by it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There was not much to interest the children, in +what happened during the years that Governor Belcher +remained in the chair. At first, like Colonel +Shute and Governor Burnet, he was engaged in +disputing with the legislature about his salary. +But, as he found it impossible to get a fixed sum, +he finally obtained the king's leave to accept whatever +the legislature chose to give him. And thus +the people triumphed, after this long contest for the +<span class="tei-pb" id="page122">[pg 122]</span> +<a name="Pg122" id="Pg122" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +privilege of expending their own money as they +saw fit.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The remainder of Governor Belcher's term of +office was principally taken up in endeavoring to +settle the currency. Honest John Hull's pine-tree +shillings had long ago been worn out, or lost, or +melted down again, and their place was supplied by +bills of paper or parchment, which were nominally +valued at three pence and upwards. The value of +these bills kept continually sinking, because the +real hard money could not be obtained for them. +They were a great deal worse than the old Indian +currency of clam-shells. These disorders of the +circulating medium were a source of endless plague +and perplexity to the rulers and legislators, not only +in Governor Belcher's days, but for many years +before and afterwards.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Finally, the people suspected that Governor Belcher +was secretly endeavoring to establish the Episcopal +mode of worship in the provinces. There was +enough of the old Puritan spirit remaining, to cause +most of the true sons of New England to look with +horror upon such an attempt. Great exertions +were made, to induce the king to remove the governor. +Accordingly, in 1740, he was compelled to +resign his office, and Grandfather's chair into the +bargain, to Mr. Shirley.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page123">[pg 123]</span> +<a name="Pg123" id="Pg123" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_28" id="toc_28"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VIII</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"William Shirley," said Grandfather, "had +come from England a few years before, and begun +to practise law in Boston. You will think, perhaps, +that, as he had been a lawyer, the new governor +used to sit in our great chair, reading heavy law-books +from morning till night. On the contrary, +he was as stirring and active a governor as Massachusetts +ever had. Even Sir William Phips hardly +equalled him. The first year or two of his administration +was spent in trying to regulate the currency. +But, in 1744, after a peace of more than thirty +years, war broke out between France and England."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And I suppose," said Charley, "the governor +went to take Canada."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not exactly, Charley," said Grandfather, +"though you have made a pretty shrewd conjecture. +He planned, in 1745, an expedition against +Louisbourg. This was a fortified city, on the +Island of Cape Breton, near Nova Scotia. Its +walls were of immense height and strength, and +were defended by hundreds of heavy cannon. It +was the strongest fortress which the French possessed +in America; and if the king of France had +<span class="tei-pb" id="page124">[pg 124]</span> +<a name="Pg124" id="Pg124" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +guessed Governor Shirley's intentions, he would +have sent all the ships he could muster, to protect +it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As the siege of Louisbourg was one of the most +remarkable events that ever the inhabitants of New +England were engaged in, Grandfather endeavored +to give his auditors a lively idea of the spirit with +which they set about it. We shall call his description</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_29" id="toc_29"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE PROVINCIAL MUSTER</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The expedition against Louisbourg first began to +be thought of in the month of January. From that +time, the governor's chair was continually surrounded +by counsellors, representatives, clergymen, +captains, pilots, and all manner of people, with +whom he consulted about this wonderful project.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">First of all, it was necessary to provide men and +arms. The legislature immediately sent out a huge +quantity of paper money, with which, as if by magic +spell, the governor hoped to get possession of all +the old cannon, powder and balls, rusty swords and +muskets, and every thing else that would be serviceable +in killing Frenchmen. Drums were beaten in +all the villages of Massachusetts, to enlist soldiers for +the service. Messages were sent to the other governors +of New England, and to New York and Pennsylvania, +entreating them to unite in this crusade +against the French. All these provinces agreed to +give what assistance they could. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page125">[pg 125]</span> +<a name="Pg125" id="Pg125" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But there was one very important thing to be +decided. Who shall be the General of this great +army? Peace had continued such an unusual +length of time, that there was now less military +experience among the colonists, than at any former +period. The old Puritans had always kept their +weapons bright, and were never destitute of warlike +captains, who were skilful in assault or defence. +But the swords of their descendants had grown +rusty by disuse. There was nobody in New England +that knew any thing about sieges, or any +other regular fighting. The only persons, at all acquainted +with warlike business, were a few elderly +men, who had hunted Indians through the underbrush +of the forest, in old Governor Dummer's war.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In this dilemma, Governor Shirley fixed upon a +wealthy merchant, named William Pepperell, who +was pretty well known and liked among the people. +As to military skill, he had no more of it than his +neighbors. But, as the governor urged him very +pressingly, Mr. Pepperell consented to shut up his +leger, gird on a sword, and assume the title of +General.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Meantime, what a hubbub was raised by this +scheme! Rub-a-dub-dub! Rub-a-dub-dub! The rattle +of drums, beaten out of all manner of time, was +heard above every other sound.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Nothing now was so valuable as arms, of whatever +style and fashion they might be. The bellows blew, +and the hammer clanged continually upon the anvil, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page126">[pg 126]</span> +<a name="Pg126" id="Pg126" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +while the blacksmiths were repairing the broken +weapons of other wars. Doubtless, some of the soldiers +lugged out those enormous, heavy muskets, +which used to be fired with rests, in the time of the +early Puritans. Great horse-pistols, too, were found, +which would go off with a bang like a cannon. Old +cannon, with touch-holes almost as big as their muzzles, +were looked upon as inestimable treasures. +Pikes, which perhaps, had been handled by Miles +Standish's soldiers, now made their appearance +again. Many a young man ransacked the garret, +and brought forth his great-grandfather's sword, corroded +with rust, and stained with the blood of King +Philip's war.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Never had there been seen such an arming as this, +when a people, so long peaceful, rose to the war, +with the best weapons that they could lay their +hands upon. And still the drums were heard—Rub-a-dub-dub! +Rub-a-dub-dub!—in all the towns +and villages; and louder and more numerous grew +the trampling footsteps of the recruits that marched +behind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And now the army began to gather into Boston. +Tall, lanky, awkward, fellows, came in squads, and +companies, and regiments, swaggering along, dressed +in their brown homespun clothes and blue yarn stockings. +They stooped, as if they still had hold of the +plough-handles, and marched without any time or +tune. Hither they came, from the corn-fields, from +the clearing in the forest, from the blacksmith's +<span class="tei-pb" id="page127">[pg 127]</span> +<a name="Pg127" id="Pg127" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +forge, from the carpenter's workshop, and from the +shoemaker's seat. They were an army of rough +faces and sturdy frames. A trained officer of Europe +would have laughed at them, till his sides had +ached. But there was a spirit in their bosoms, +which is more essential to soldiership than to wear +red coats, and march in stately ranks to the sound +of regular music.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Still was heard the beat of the drum—rub-a-dub-dub!—and +now a host of three or four thousand +men had found their way to Boston. Little quiet +was there then! Forth scampered the school-boys, +shouting behind the drums. The whole town—the +whole land—was on fire with war.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After the arrival of the troops, they were probably +reviewed upon the Common. We may imagine +Governor Shirley and General Pepperell riding +slowly along the line, while the drummers beat +strange old tunes, like psalm-tunes, and all the officers +and soldiers put on their most warlike looks. It +would have been a terrible sight for the Frenchmen, +could they but have witnessed it!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At length, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1745, +the army gave a parting shout, and set sail from +Boston in ten or twelve vessels, which had been +hired by the governor. A few days afterwards, an +English fleet, commanded by Commodore Peter +Warren, sailed also for Louisbourg, to assist the +provincial army. So, now, after all this bustle of +preparation, the town and province were left in stillness +and repose. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page128">[pg 128]</span> +<a name="Pg128" id="Pg128" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, stillness and repose, at such a time of anxious +expectation, are hard to bear. The hearts of +the old people and women sunk within them, when +they reflected what perils they had sent their sons, +and husbands, and brothers, to encounter. The +boys loitered heavily to school, missing the rub-a-dub-dub, +and the trampling march, in the rear of +which they had so lately run and shouted. All the +ministers prayed earnestly, in their pulpits, for a +blessing on the army of New England. In every +family, when the good man lifted up his heart in +domestic worship, the burthen of his petition was +for the safety of those dear ones, who were fighting +under the walls of Louisbourg.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Governor Shirley, all this time, was probably in +an ecstasy of impatience. He could not sit still a +moment. He found no quiet, not even in Grandfather's +chair, but hurried to-and-fro, and up and +down the staircase of the Province House. Now, +he mounted to the cupola, and looked sea-ward, +straining his eyes to discover if there were a sail +upon the horizon. Now, he hastened down the +stairs, and stood beneath the portal, on the red freestone +steps, to receive some mud-bespattered courtier, +from whom he hoped to hear tidings of the +army.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A few weeks after the departure of the troops, +Commodore Warren sent a small vessel to Boston, +with two French prisoners. One of them was Monsieur +Bouladrie, who had been commander of a battery, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page129">[pg 129]</span> +<a name="Pg129" id="Pg129" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +outside of the walls of Louisbourg. The other +was the Marquis de la Maison Forte, captain of a +French frigate, which had been taken by Commodore +Warren's fleet. These prisoners assured Governor +Shirley, that the fortifications of Louisbourg +were far too strong ever to be stormed by the provincial +army.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Day after day, and week after week, went on. +The people grew almost heart-sick with anxiety; +for the flower of the country was at peril in this +adventurous expedition. It was now day-break, on +the morning of the third of July.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, hark! what sound is this? The hurried +clang of a bell! There is the Old North, pealing +suddenly out!—there, the Old South strikes in!—now, +the peal comes from the church in Brattle +street!—the bells of nine or ten steeples are all +flinging their iron voices, at once, upon the morning +breeze! Is it joy or alarm? There goes the roar +of a cannon, too! A royal salute is thundered +forth. And, now, we hear the loud exulting shout +of a multitude, assembled in the street. Huzza, +Huzza! Louisbourg has surrendered! Huzza!</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O Grandfather, how glad I should have been +to live in those times!" cried Charley. "And +what reward did the king give to General Pepperell +and Governor Shirley?" +<span class="tei-pb" id="page130">[pg 130]</span> +<a name="Pg130" id="Pg130" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He made Pepperell a baronet; so that he was +now to be called Sir William Pepperell," replied +Grandfather. "He likewise appointed both Pepperell +and Shirley to be colonels in the royal army. +These rewards, and higher ones, were well deserved; +for this was the greatest triumph that the English +met with, in the whole course of that war. General +Pepperell became a man of great fame. I have +seen a full length portrait of him, representing him +in a splendid scarlet uniform, standing before the +walls of Louisbourg, while several bombs are falling +through the air."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, did the country gain any real good by the +conquest of Louisbourg?" asked Laurence. "Or +was all the benefit reaped by Pepperell and Shirley?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The English Parliament," said Grandfather, +"agreed to pay the colonists for all the expenses of +the siege. Accordingly, in 1749, two hundred and +fifteen chests of Spanish dollars, and one hundred +casks of copper coin, were brought from England to +Boston. The whole amount was about a million of +dollars. Twenty-seven carts and trucks carried this +money from the wharf to the provincial treasury. +Was not this a pretty liberal reward?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The mothers of the young men, who were killed +at the siege of Louisbourg, would not have thought +it so," said Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Laurence," rejoined Grandfather; "and +every warlike achievement involves an amount of +physical and moral evil, for which all the gold in the +<span class="tei-pb" id="page131">[pg 131]</span> +<a name="Pg131" id="Pg131" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Spanish mines would not be the slightest recompense. +But, we are to consider that this siege was one of +the occasions, on which the colonists tested their +ability for war, and thus were prepared for the great +contest of the Revolution. In that point of view, the +valor of our forefathers was its own reward."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather went on to say, that the success of +the expedition against Louisbourg, induced Shirley +and Pepperell to form a scheme for conquering Canada. +This plan, however, was not carried into execution.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the year 1746, great terror was excited by the +arrival of a formidable French fleet upon the coast. +It was commanded by the Duke d'Anville, and consisted +of forty ships of war, besides vessels with soldiers +on board. With this force, the French intended +to retake Louisbourg, and afterwards to ravage the +whole of New England. Many people were ready +to give up the country for lost.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the hostile fleet met with so many disasters +and losses, by storm and shipwreck, that the Duke +d'Anville is said to have poisoned himself in despair. +The officer next in command threw himself upon his +sword and perished. Thus deprived of their commanders, +the remainder of the ships returned to +France. This was as great a deliverance for New +England, as that which old England had experienced +in the days of Queen Elizabeth, when the Spanish +Armada was wrecked upon her coast.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"In 1747," proceeded Grandfather, "Governor +<span class="tei-pb" id="page132">[pg 132]</span> +<a name="Pg132" id="Pg132" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Shirley was driven from the Province House, not by +a hostile fleet and army, but by a mob of the Boston +people. They were so incensed at the conduct of +the British Commodore Knowles, who had impressed +some of their fellow-citizens, that several thousands +of them surrounded the council-chamber, and threw +stones and brick-bats into the windows. The governor +attempted to pacify them; but, not succeeding, +he thought it necessary to leave the town, and take +refuge within the walls of Castle William. Quiet +was not restored, until Commodore Knowles had +sent back the impressed men. This affair was a +flash of spirit, that might have warned the English +not to venture upon any oppressive measures against +their colonial brethren."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Peace being declared between France and England +in 1748, the governor had now an opportunity +to sit at his ease in Grandfather's chair. Such repose, +however, appears not to have suited his disposition; +for, in the following year, he went to England, +and thence was dispatched to France, on public business. +Meanwhile, as Shirley had not resigned his +office, Lieutenant-Governor Phips acted as chief +magistrate in his stead.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page133">[pg 133]</span> +<a name="Pg133" id="Pg133" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc_30" id="toc_30"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter IX</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the early twilight of Thanksgiving eve, came +Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, and little Alice, +hand in hand, and stood in a semi-circle round Grandfather's +chair. They had been joyous, throughout +that day of festivity, mingling together in all kinds +of play, so that the house had echoed with their airy +mirth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather, too, had been happy, though not +mirthful. He felt that this was to be set down as +one of the good Thanksgivings of his life. In truth, +all his former Thanksgivings had borne their part in +the present one; for, his years of infancy, and youth, +and manhood with their blessings and their griefs, +had flitted before him, while he sat silently in the +great chair. Vanished scenes had been pictured in +the air. The forms of departed friends had visited +him. Voices, to be heard no more on earth, had +sent an echo from the infinite and the eternal. +These shadows, if such they were, seemed almost as +real to him, as what was actually present—as the +merry shouts and laughter of the children—as their +figures, dancing like sunshine before his eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He felt that the past was not taken from him. +The happiness of former days was a possession forever. +And there was something in the mingled +<span class="tei-pb" id="page134">[pg 134]</span> +<a name="Pg134" id="Pg134" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +sorrow of his lifetime, that became akin to happiness, +after being long treasured in the depths of his heart. +There it underwent a change, and grew more precious +than pure gold.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And now came the children, somewhat aweary with +their wild play, and sought the quiet enjoyment of +Grandfather's talk. The good old gentleman rubbed +his eyes, and smiled round upon them all. He was +glad, as most aged people are, to find that he was +yet of consequence, and could give pleasure to the +world. After being so merry, all day long, did +these children desire to hear his sober talk? Oh, +then, old Grandfather had yet a place to fill among +living men,—or at least among boys and girls!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Begin quick, Grandfather," cried little Alice; +"for Pussy wants to hear you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And, truly, our yellow friend, the cat, lay upon +the hearth rug, basking in the warmth of the fire, +pricking up her ears, and turning her head from the +children to Grandfather, and from Grandfather to +the children, as if she felt herself very sympathetic +with them all. A loud purr, like the singing of a +tea-kettle, or the hum of a spinning-wheel, testified +that she was as comfortable and happy as a cat could +be. For Puss had feasted, and therefore, like Grandfather +and the children, had kept a good Thanksgiving.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Does Pussy want to hear me?" said Grandfather, +smiling. "Well; we must please Pussy, if +we can!" +<span class="tei-pb" id="page135">[pg 135]</span> +<a name="Pg135" id="Pg135" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And so he took up the history of the chair, from +the epoch of the peace of 1748. By one of the +provisions of the treaty, Louisbourg, which the New +Englanders had been at so much pains to take, was +restored to the king of France.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The French were afraid, that, unless their colonies +should be better defended than heretofore, +another war might deprive them of the whole. Almost +as soon as peace was declared, therefore, they +began to build strong fortifications in the interior of +North America. It was strange to behold these +warlike castles, on the banks of solitary lakes, and +far in the midst of woods. The Indian, paddling +his birch-canoe on Lake Champlain, looked up at the +high ramparts of Ticonderoga, stone piled on stone, +bristling with cannon, and the white flag of France +floating above. There were similar fortifications on +Lake Ontario, and near the great Falls of Niagara, +and at the sources of the Ohio River. And all +around these forts and castles lay the eternal +forest; and the roll of the drum died away in those +deep solitudes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The truth was, that the French intended to build +forts, all the way from Canada to Louisiana. They +would then have had a wall of military strength, +at the back of the English settlements, so as completely +to hem them in. The king of England +considered the building of these forts as a sufficient +cause of war, which was accordingly commenced in +1754. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page136">[pg 136]</span> +<a name="Pg136" id="Pg136" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Governor Shirley," said Grandfather, "had returned +to Boston in 1753. While in Paris, he had +married a second wife, a young French girl, and +now brought her to the Province House. But, when +war was breaking out, it was impossible for such a +bustling man to stay quietly at home, sitting in our +old chair, with his wife and children round about him. +He therefore obtained a command in the English +forces."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And what did Sir William Pepperell do?" +asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He staid at home," said Grandfather, "and was +general of the militia. The veteran regiments of the +English army, which were now sent across the Atlantic, +would have scorned to fight under the orders +of an old American merchant. And now began what +aged people call the Old French War. It would be +going too far astray from the history of our chair, to +tell you one half of the battles that were fought. I +cannot even allow myself to describe the bloody defeat +of General Braddock, near the sources of the +Ohio River, in 1755. But, I must not omit to mention, +that when the English general was mortally +wounded, and his army routed, the remains of it +were preserved by the skill and valor of <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">George +Washington</span>."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At the mention of this illustrious name, the children +started, as if a sudden sunlight had gleamed +upon the history of their country, now that the +great Deliverer had arisen above the horizon. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page137">[pg 137]</span> +<a name="Pg137" id="Pg137" class="tei tei-anchor"></a></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Among all the events of the Old French War, +Grandfather thought that there was none more interesting +than the removal of the inhabitants of Acadia. +From the first settlement of this ancient province of +the French, in 1604, until the present time, its people +could scarcely ever know what kingdom held +dominion over them. They were a peaceful race, +taking no delight in warfare, and caring nothing for +military renown. And yet, in every war, their +region was infested with iron-hearted soldiers, both +French and English, who fought one another for the +privilege of ill treating these poor harmless Acadians. +Sometimes the treaty of peace made them +subjects of one king, sometimes of another.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At the peace of 1748, Acadia had been ceded to +England. But the French still claimed a large +portion of it, and built forts for its defence. In +1755, these forts were taken, and the whole of +Acadia was conquered, by three thousand men from +Massachusetts, under the command of General Winslow. +The inhabitants were accused of supplying +the French with provisions, and of doing other +things that violated their neutrality.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"These accusations were probably true," observed +Grandfather; "for the Acadians were descended +from the French, and had the same friendly +feelings towards them, that the people of Massachusetts +had for the English. But their punishment +was severe. The English determined to tear these +poor people from their native homes and scatter +them abroad."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The Acadians were about seven thousand in number. +A considerable part of them were made prisoners, +and transported to the English colonies. All +their dwellings and churches were burnt, their cattle +were killed, and the whole country was laid +waste, so that none of them might find shelter or +food in their old homes, after the departure of the +English. One thousand of the prisoners were sent +to Massachusetts; and Grandfather allowed his +fancy to follow them thither, and tried to give his +auditors an idea of their situation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">We shall call this passage the story of</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_31" id="toc_31"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE ACADIAN EXILES</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A sad day it was for the poor Acadians, when +the armed soldiers drove them, at the point of the +bayonet, down to the sea-shore. Very sad were +they, likewise, while tossing upon the ocean, in the +crowded transport vessels. But, methinks, it must +have been sadder still, when they were landed on +the Long Wharf, in Boston, and left to themselves, +on a foreign strand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then, probably, they huddled together, and +looked into one another's faces for the comfort +which was not there. Hitherto, they had been confined +on board of separate vessels, so that they +could not tell whether their relatives and friends +were prisoners along with them. But, now, at +least, they could tell that many had been left behind, +or transported to other regions.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now, a desolate wife might be heard calling for +her husband. He, alas! had gone, she knew not +whither, or perhaps had fled into the woods of Acadia, +and had now returned to weep over the ashes +of their dwelling. An aged widow was crying out, +in a querulous, lamentable tone, for her son, whose +affectionate toil had supported her for many a year. +He was not in the crowd of exiles; and what could +this aged widow do but sink down and die? Young +men and maidens, whose hearts had been torn asunder +by separation, had hoped, during the voyage, +to meet their beloved ones at its close. Now, they +began to feel that they were separated forever. +And, perhaps, a lonesome little girl, a golden-haired +child of five years old, the very picture of our little +Alice, was weeping and wailing for her mother, and +found not a soul to give her a kind word.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Oh, how many broken bonds of affection were +here! Country lost!—friends lost!—their rural +wealth of cottage, field, and herds, all lost together! +Every tie between these poor exiles and the world +seemed to be cut off at once. They must have +regretted that they had not died before their exile; +for even the English would not have been so pitiless +as to deny them graves in their native soil. The +dead were happy; for they were not exiles!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">While they thus stood upon the wharf, the curiosity +and inquisitiveness of the New England people +would naturally lead them into the midst of the +poor Acadians. Prying busy-bodies thrust their +heads into the circle, wherever two or three of the +exiles were conversing together. How puzzled did +they look, at the outlandish sound of the French +tongue! There were seen the New England +women, too. They had just come out of their warm, +safe homes, where every thing was regular and comfortable, +and where their husbands and children +would be with them at night-fall. Surely, they +could pity the wretched wives and mothers of Acadia! +Or, did the sign of the cross, which the Acadians +continually made upon their breasts, and +which was abhorred by the descendants of the Puritans—did +that sign exclude all pity?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Among the spectators, too, was the noisy brood +of Boston school-boys, who came running, with +laughter and shouts, to gaze at this crowd of oddly +dressed foreigners. At first they danced and capered +around them, full of merriment and mischief. +But the despair of the Acadians soon had its effect +upon these thoughtless lads, and melted them into +tearful sympathy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At a little distance from the throng, might be +seen the wealthy and pompous merchants, whose +warehouses stood on Long Wharf. It was difficult +to touch these rich men's hearts; for they had all +the comforts of the world at their command; and +when they walked abroad, their feelings were seldom +moved, except by the roughness of the pavement, +irritating their gouty toes. Leaning upon +their gold-headed canes, they watched the scene +with an aspect of composure. But, let us hope, +they distributed some of their superfluous coin +among these hapless exiles, to purchase food and a +night's lodging.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After standing a long time at the end of the +wharf, gazing seaward, as if to catch a glimpse of +their lost Acadia, the strangers began to stray into +the town.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They went, we will suppose, in parties and groups, +here a hundred, there a score, there ten, there +three or four, who possessed some bond of unity +among themselves. Here and there was one, who, +utterly desolate, stole away by himself, seeking no +companionship.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Whither did they go? I imagine them wandering +about the streets, telling the town's-people, in +outlandish, unintelligible words, that no earthly +affliction ever equalled what had befallen them. +Man's brotherhood with man was sufficient to make +the New Englanders understand this language. +The strangers wanted food. Some of them sought +hospitality at the doors of the stately mansions, +which then stood in the vicinity of Hanover Street +and the North Square. Others were applicants at +the humble wooden tenements, where dwelt the +petty shop-keepers and mechanics. Pray Heaven, +that no family in Boston turned one of these poor +exiles from their door! It would be a reproach +upon New England—a crime worthy of heavy +retribution—if the aged women and children, or +even the strong men, were allowed to feel the pinch +of hunger.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Perhaps some of the Acadians, in their aimless +wanderings through the town, found themselves near +a large brick edifice, which was fenced in from the +street by an iron railing, wrought with fantastic +figures. They saw a flight of red freestone steps, +ascending to a portal, above which was a balcony +and balustrade. Misery and desolation give men +the right of free passage everywhere. Let us suppose, +then, that they mounted the flight of steps, +and passed into the Province House. Making their +way into one of the apartments, they beheld a richly +clad gentleman, seated in a stately chair, with gilding +upon the carved work of its back, and a gilded +lion's head at the summit. This was Governor +Shirley, meditating upon matters of war and state, +in Grandfather's chair!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">If such an incident did happen, Shirley, reflecting +what a ruin of peaceful and humble hopes had +been wrought by the cold policy of the statesman, +and the iron hand of the warrior, might have drawn +a deep moral from it. It should have taught him +that the poor man's hearth is sacred, and that +armies and nations have no right to violate it. It +should have made him feel, that England's triumph, +and increased dominion, could not compensate to +mankind, nor atone to Heaven, for the ashes of a +single Acadian cottage. But it is not thus that +statesmen and warriors moralize.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," cried Laurence, with emotion +trembling in his voice, "did iron-hearted War itself +ever do so hard and cruel a thing as this before?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You have rend in history, Laurence, of whole +regions wantonly laid waste," said Grandfather. +"In the removal of the Acadians, the troops were +guilty of no cruelty or outrage, except what was +inseparable from the measure."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Little Alice, whose eyes had, all along, been brimming +full of tears, now burst forth a-sobbing; for +Grandfather had touched her sympathies more than +he intended.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"To think of a whole people, homeless in the +world!" said Clara, with moistened eyes. "There +never was any thing so sad!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was their own fault," cried Charley, energetically. +"Why did not they fight for the country +where they were born? Then, if the worst had +happened to them they could only have been killed +and buried there. They would not have been exiles +then!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Certainly, their lot was as hard as death," said +Grandfather. "All that could be done for them, in +the English provinces, was to send them to the alms-houses, +or bind them out to task-masters. And this +was the fate of persons, who had possessed a comfortable +property in their native country. Some of +them found means to embark for France; but though +it was the land of their forefathers, it must have been +a foreign land to them. Those, who remained behind, +always cherished a belief, that the king of +France would never make peace with England, till +his poor Acadians were restored their country and +their homes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And did he?" inquired Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Alas, my dear Clara," said Grandfather, "it +is improbable that the slightest whisper of the woes +of Acadia ever reached the ears of Louis the Fifteenth. +The exiles grew old in the British provinces, +and never saw Acadia again. Their descendants +remain among us, to this day. They have forgotten +the language of their ancestors, and probably retain +no tradition of their misfortunes. But, methinks, if +I were an American poet, I would choose Acadia +for the subject of my song."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Since Grandfather first spoke these words, the +most famous of American poets has drawn sweet +tears from all of us, by his beautiful poem of Evangeline.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And now, having thrown a gentle gloom around +the Thanksgiving fire-side, by a story that made the +children feel the blessing of a secure and peaceful +hearth, Grandfather put off the other events of the +Old French War till the next evening.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_32" id="toc_32"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter X</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the twilight of the succeeding eve, when the +red beams of the fire were dancing upon the wall, +the children besought Grandfather to tell them what +had next happened to the old chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Our chair," said Grandfather, "stood all this +time in the Province House. But, Governor Shirley +had seldom an opportunity to repose within its +arms. He was loading his troops through the forest, +or sailing in a flat-boat on Lake Ontario, or sleeping +in his tent, while the awful cataract of Niagara sent +its roar through his dreams. At one period, in the +early part of the war, Shirley had the chief command +of all the king's forces in America."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did his young wife go with him to the war?" +asked Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I rather imagine," replied Grandfather, "that +she remained in Boston. This lady, I suppose, had +our chair all to herself, and used to sit in it, during +those brief intervals when a young French woman +can be quiet enough to sit in a chair. The people +of Massachusetts were never fond of Governor Shirley's +young French wife. They had a suspicion that +she betrayed the military plans of the English to the +generals of the French armies."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And was it true?" inquired Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Probably not," said Grandfather. "But the +mere suspicion did Shirley a great deal of harm. +Partly, perhaps, for this reason, but much more on +account of his inefficiency as a general, he was deprived +of his command, in 1756, and recalled to +England. He never afterwards made any figure in +public life."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As Grandfather's chair had no locomotive properties, +and did not even run on castors, it cannot be +supposed to have marched in person to the Old +French War. But Grandfather delayed its momentous +history, while he touched briefly upon some of +the bloody battles, sieges, and onslaughts, the tidings +of which kept continually coming to the ears of the +old inhabitants of Boston. The woods of the north +were populous with fighting men. All the Indian +tribes uplifted their tomahawks, and took part either +with the French or English. The rattle of musketry +and roar of cannon disturbed the ancient quiet of the +forest, and actually drove the bears and other wild +beasts to the more cultivated portion of the country +in the vicinity of the sea-ports. The children felt as +if they were transported back to those forgotten +times, and that the couriers from the army, with the +news of a battle lost or won, might even now be +heard galloping through the streets. Grandfather +told them about the battle of Lake George, in 1755, +when the gallant Colonel Williams, a Massachusetts +officer, was slain, with many of his countrymen. +But General Johnson and General Lyman, with their +army, drove back the enemy, and mortally wounded +the French leader, who was called the Baron Dieskau. +A gold watch, pilfered from the poor Baron, is still +in existence, and still marks each moment of time, +without complaining of weariness, although its hands +have been in motion ever since the hour of battle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the first years of the war, there were many +disasters on the English side. Among these was +the loss of Fort Oswego, in 1756, and of Fort William +Henry, in the following year. But the greatest +misfortune that befell the English, during the whole +war, was the repulse of General Abercrombie, with +his army, from the ramparts of Ticonderoga, in +1758. He attempted to storm the walls; but a +terrible conflict ensued, in which more than two +thousand Englishmen and New Englanders were +killed or wounded. The slain soldiers now lie buried +around that ancient fortress. When the plough +passes over the soil, it turns up here and there a +mouldering bone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Up to this period, none of the English generals +had shown any military talent. Shirley, the Earl +of Loudon, and General Abercrombie, had each held +the chief command, at different times; but not one +of them had won a single important triumph for the +British arms. This ill success was not owing to the +want of means; for, in 1758, General Abercrombie +had fifty thousand soldiers under his command. But +the French general, the famous Marquis de Montcalm, +possessed a great genius for war, and had +something within him, that taught him how battles +were to be won.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At length, in 1759, Sir Jeffrey Amherst was appointed +commander-in-chief of all the British forces +in America. He was a man of ability, and a skilful +soldier. A plan was now formed for accomplishing +that object, which had so long been the darling wish +of the New Englanders, and which their fathers had +so many times attempted. This was the conquest +of Canada.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Three separate armies were to enter Canada, from +different quarters. One of the three, commanded +by General Prideaux, was to embark on Lake Ontario, +and proceed to Montreal. The second, at the +head of which was Sir Jeffrey Amherst himself, was +destined to reach the River St. Lawrence, by the +way of Lake Champlain, and then go down the river +to meet the third army. This last, led by General +Wolfe, was to enter the St. Lawrence from the sea, +and ascend the river to Quebec. It is to Wolfe and +his army that England owes one of the most splendid +triumphs, ever written in her history.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather described the siege of Quebec, and +told how Wolfe led his soldiers up a rugged and +lofty precipice, that rose from the shore of the river +to the plain on which the city stood. This bold adventure +was achieved in the darkness of night. At +day-break, tidings were carried to the Marquis de +Montcalm, that the English army was waiting to give +him battle on the plains of Abraham. This brave +French general ordered his drums to strike up, and +immediately marched to encounter Wolfe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He marched to his own death. The battle was +the most fierce and terrible, that had ever been +fought in America. General Wolfe was at the head +of his soldiers, and while encouraging them onward, +received a mortal wound. He reclined against a +stone, in the agonies of death; but it seemed as if +his spirit could not pass away, while the fight yet +raged so doubtfully. Suddenly, a shout came pealing +across the battle-field—"They flee! they flee!" +and, for a moment, Wolfe lifted his languid head. +"Who flee?" he inquired. "The French," replied +an officer. "Then I die satisfied!" said Wolfe, and +expired in the arms of victory.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"If ever a warrior's death were glorious, Wolfe's +was so!" said Grandfather; and his eye kindled, +though he was a man of peaceful thoughts, and gentle +spirit. "His life-blood streamed to baptize the soil +which he had added to the dominion of Britain! +His dying breath was mingled with his army's shout +of victory!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, it was a good death to die!" cried Charley, +with glistening eyes. "Was it not a good death, +Laurence?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Laurence made no reply; for his heart burned +within him, as the picture of Wolfe, dying on the +blood-stained field of victory, arose to his imagination; +and yet, he had a deep inward consciousness, +that, after all, there was a truer glory than could +thus be won.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There were other battles in Canada, after Wolfe's +victory," resumed Grandfather; "but we may consider +the Old French War as having terminated with +this great event. The treaty of peace, however, was +not signed until 1763. The terms of the treaty +were very disadvantageous to the French; for all +Canada, and all Acadia, and the island of Cape +Breton, in short, all the territories that France +and England had been fighting about, for nearly +a hundred years—were surrendered to the English."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"So, now, at last," said Laurence, "New England +had gained her wish. Canada was taken!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And now there was nobody to fight with, but +the Indians," said Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather mentioned two other important +events. The first was the great fire of Boston, +in 1700, when the glare from nearly three hundred +buildings, all in flames at once, shone through the +windows of the Province House, and threw a fierce +lustre upon the gilded foliage and lion's head of our +old chair. The second event was the proclamation, +in the same year, of George the Third as king of +Great Britain. The blast of the trumpet sounded +from the balcony of the Town House, and awoke the +echoes far and wide, as if to challenge all mankind +to dispute King George's title.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Seven times, as the successive monarchs of Britain +ascended the throne, the trumpet-peal of proclamation +had been heard by those who sat in our venerable +chair. But, when the next king put on his +father's crown, no trumpet-peal proclaimed it to +New England! Long before that day, America had +shaken off the royal government.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_33" id="toc_33"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter XI</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now that Grandfather had fought through the +Old French War, in which our chair made no very +distinguished figure, he thought it high time to tell +the children some of the more private history of that +praiseworthy old piece of furniture.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"In 1757," said Grandfather, "after Shirley +had been summoned to England, Thomas Pownall +was appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was +a gay and fashionable English gentleman, who had +spent much of his life in London, but had a considerable +acquaintance with America. The new governor +appears to have taken no active part in the +war that was going on; although, at one period, he +talked of marching against the enemy, at the head +of his company of cadets. But, on the whole, he +probably concluded that it was more befitting a +governor to remain quietly in our chair, reading the +newspapers and official documents."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did the people like Pownall?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They found no fault with him," replied Grandfather. +"It was no time to quarrel with the governor, +when the utmost harmony was required, in +order to defend the country against the French. +But Pownall did not remain long in Massachusetts. +In 1759, he was sent to be governor of South Carolina. +In thus exchanging one government for +another, I suppose he felt no regret, except at the +necessity of leaving Grandfather's chair behind +him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He might have taken it to South Carolina," +observed Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It appears to me," said Laurence, giving the +rein to his fancy, "that the fate of this ancient +chair was, somehow or other, mysteriously connected +with the fortunes of old Massachusetts. If Governor +Pownall had put it aboard the vessel in which he +sailed for South Carolina, she would probably have +lain wind-bound in Boston harbor. It was ordained +that the chair should not be taken away. Don't you +think so, Grandfather?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was kept here for Grandfather and me to sit +in together," said little Alice, "and for Grandfather +to tell stories about."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And Grandfather is very glad of such a companion, +and such a theme," said the old gentleman, +with a smile. "Well, Laurence, if our oaken chair, +like the wooden Palladium of Troy, was connected +with the country's fate, yet there appears to have +been no supernatural obstacle to its removal from +the Province House. In 1760, Sir Francis Bernard, +who had been governor of New Jersey, was +appointed to the same office in Massachusetts. +He looked at the old chair, and thought it quite too +shabby to keep company with a new set of mahogany +chairs, and an aristocratic sofa, which had just arrived +from London. He therefore ordered it to be +put away in the garret."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The children were loud in their exclamations +against this irreverent conduct of Sir Francis Bernard. +But Grandfather defended him, as well as +he could. He observed, that it was then thirty years +since the chair had been beautified by Governor +Belcher. Most of the gilding was worn off by the +frequent scourings which it had undergone, beneath +the hands of a black slave. The damask cushion, +once so splendid, was now squeezed out of all shape, +and absolutely in tatters, so many were the ponderous +gentlemen who had deposited their weight upon +it, during these thirty years.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Moreover, at a council held by the Earl of Loudon +with the governors of New England, in 1757, +his lordship, in a moment of passion, had kicked over +the chair with his military boot. By this unprovoked +and unjustifiable act, our venerable friend +had suffered a fracture of one of its rungs.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But," said Grandfather, "our chair, after all, +was not destined to spend the remainder of its days +in the inglorious obscurity of a garret. Thomas +Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor of the province, was +told of Sir Francis Bernard's design. This gentleman +was more familiar with the history of New +England than any other man alive. He knew all +the adventures and vicissitudes through which the +old chair had passed, and could have told, as accurately +as your own Grandfather, who were the personages +that had occupied it. Often, while visiting +at the Province House, he had eyed the chair with +admiration, and felt a longing desire to become the +possessor of it. He now waited upon Sir Francis +Bernard, and easily obtained leave to carry it +home."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And I hope," said Clara, "he had it varnished +and gilded anew."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No," answered Grandfather. "What Mr. +Hutchinson desired was to restore the chair, as +much as possible, to its original aspect, such as it +had appeared, when it was first made out of the Earl +of Lincoln's oak-tree. For this purpose he ordered +it to be well scoured with soap and sand and polished +with wax, and then provided it with a substantial +leather cushion. When all was completed to his +mind, he sat down in the old chair, and began to +write his History of Massachusetts."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, that was a bright thought in Mr. Hutchinson!" +exclaimed Laurence. "And, no doubt, the +dim figures of the former possessors of the chair +flitted around him, as he wrote, and inspired him +with a knowledge of all that they had done and +suffered while on earth."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, my dear Laurence," replied Grandfather, +smiling, "if Mr. Hutchinson was favored with any +such extraordinary inspiration, he made but a poor +use of it in his History; for a duller piece of composition +never came from any man's pen. However, +he was accurate, at least, though far from possessing +the brilliancy or philosophy of Mr. Bancroft."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, if Hutchinson knew the history of the +chair," rejoined Laurence, "his heart must have +been stirred by it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It must, indeed," said Grandfather. "It would +be entertaining and instructive, at the present day, +to imagine what were Mr. Hutchinson's thoughts, as +he looked back upon the long vista of events with +which this chair was so remarkably connected."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And Grandfather allowed his fancy to shape out +an image of Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, sitting +in an evening reverie by his fireside, and meditating +on the changes that had slowly passed around the +chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A devoted monarchist, Hutchinson would heave +no sigh for the subversion of the original republican +government, the purest that the world had seen, +with which the colony began its existence. While +reverencing the grim and stern old Puritans as the +founders of his native land, he would not wish to +recall them from their graves, nor to awaken again +that king-resisting spirit, which he imagined to be +laid asleep with them forever. Winthrop, Dudley, +Bellingham, Endicott, Leverett, and Bradstreet! +All these had had their day. Ages might come and +go, but never again would the people's suffrages +place a republican governor in their ancient Chair +of State!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Coming down to the epoch of the second charter, +Hutchinson thought of the ship-carpenter Phips, +springing from the lowest of the people, and attaining +to the loftiest station in the land. But, he +smiled to perceive that this governor's example +would awaken no turbulent ambition in the lower +orders, for it was a king's gracious boon alone that +made the ship-carpenter a ruler. Hutchinson rejoiced +to mark the gradual growth of an aristocratic +class, to whom the common people, as in duty bound, +were learning humbly to resign the honors, emoluments, +and authority of state. He saw,—or else +deceived himself—that, throughout this epoch, the +people's disposition to self-government had been +growing weaker, through long disuse, and now existed +only as a faint traditionary feeling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The Lieutenant-Governor's reverie had now come +down to the period at which he himself was sitting in +the historic chair. He endeavored to throw his +glance forward, over the coming years. There, +probably, he saw visions of hereditary rank, for himself +and other aristocratic colonists. He saw the +fertile fields of New England, portioned out among +a few great landholders, and descending by entail +from generation to generation. He saw the people +a race of tenantry, dependent on their lords. He +saw stars, garters, coronets, and castles.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But," added Grandfather, turning to Laurence, +"the Lieutenant-Governor's castles were built nowhere +but among the red embers of the fire, before +which he was sitting. And, just as he had constructed +a baronial residence for himself and his posterity, +the fire rolled down upon the hearth, and +crumbled it to ashes!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather now looked at his watch, which hung +within a beautiful little ebony Temple, supported by +four Ionic columns. He then laid his hand on the +golden locks of little Alice, whose head had sunk +down upon the arm of our illustrious chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"To bed, to bed, dear child!" said he. "Grandfather +has put you to sleep, already, by his stories +about these <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Famous Old People</span>!"</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_34" id="toc_34"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head">Part III</h1> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_35" id="toc_35"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter I</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On the evening of New Year's day, Grandfather +was walking to and fro, across the carpet, listening +to the rain which beat hard against the curtained +windows. The riotous blast shook the casement, as +if a strong man were striving to force his entrance +into the comfortable room. With every puff of the +wind, the fire leaped upward from the hearth, +laughing and rejoicing at the shrieks of the wintry +storm.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Meanwhile, Grandfather's chair stood in its customary +place by the fireside. The bright blaze +gleamed upon the fantastic figures of its oaken back, +and shone through the open-work, so that a complete +pattern was thrown upon the opposite side of +the room. Sometimes, for a moment or two, the +shadow remained immovable, as if it were painted +on the wall. Then, all at once, it began to quiver, +and leap, and dance, with a frisky motion. Anon, +seeming to remember that these antics were unworthy +of such a dignified and venerable chair, it suddenly +stood still. But soon it began to dance anew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Only see how grandfather's chair is dancing!" +cried little Alice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And she ran to the wall, and tried to catch hold +of the flickering shadow; for to children of five +years old, a shadow seems almost as real as a substance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I wish," said Clara, "Grandfather would sit +down in the chair, and finish its history."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">If the children had been looking at Grandfather, +they would have noticed that he paused in his walk +across the room, when Clara made this remark. +The kind old gentleman was ready and willing to +resume his stories of departed times. But he had +resolved to wait till his auditors should request him +to proceed, in order that they might find the instructive +history of the chair a pleasure, and not a +task.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," said Charley, "I am tired to +death of this dismal rain, and of hearing the wind +roar in the chimney. I have had no good time all +day. It would be better to hear stories about the +chair, than to sit doing nothing, and thinking of +nothing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">To say the truth, our friend Charley was very +much out of humor with the storm, because it had +kept him all day within doors, and hindered him from +making trial of a splendid sled, which Grandfather +had given him for a New Year's gift. As all sleds, +now-a-days, must have a name, the one in question +had been honored with the title of Grandfather's +Chair, which was painted in golden letters, on each +of the sides. Charley greatly admired the construction +of the new vehicle, and felt certain that it +would outstrip any other sled that ever dashed +adown the long slopes of the Common.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As for Laurence, he happened to be thinking, +just at this moment, about the history of the chair. +Kind old Grandfather had made him a present of a +volume of engraved portraits, representing the features +of eminent and famous people of all countries. +Among them Laurence found several who had formerly +occupied our chair, or been connected with +its adventures. While Grandfather walked to and +fro across the room, the imaginative boy was gazing +at the historic chair. He endeavored to summon +up the portraits which he had seen in his volume, +and to place them, like living figures, in the empty +seat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The old chair has begun another year of its +existence, to-day," said Laurence. "We must +make haste, or it will have a new history to be told +before we finish the old one."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, my children," replied Grandfather, with a +smile and a sigh, "another year has been added to +those of the two centuries, and upward, which have +passed since the Lady Arbella brought this chair +over from England. It is three times as old as +your Grandfather; but a year makes no impression +on its oaken frame, while it bends the old man +nearer and nearer to the earth; so let me go on +with my stories while I may."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Accordingly, Grandfather came to the fireside, +and seated himself in the venerable chair. The +lion's head looked down with a grimly good-natured +aspect, as the children clustered around the old +gentleman's knees. It almost seemed as if a real +lion were peeping over the back of the chair, and +smiling at the group of auditors, with a sort of lion-like +complaisance. Little Alice, whose fancy often +inspired her with singular ideas, exclaimed that the +lion's head was nodding at her, and that it looked +as if it were going to open its wide jaws and tell a +story.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, as the lion's head appeared to be in no +haste to speak, and as there was no record or tradition +of its having spoken, during the whole existence +of the chair, Grandfather did not consider it +worth while to wait.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_36" id="toc_36"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter II</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Charley, my boy," said Grandfather, "do +you remember who was the last occupant of the +chair?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson," answered +Charley. "Sir Francis Bernard, the new +governor, had given him the chair, instead of putting +it away in the garret of the Province House. +And when we took leave of Hutchinson, he was sitting +by his fireside, and thinking of the past adventures +of the chair, and of what was to come."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Very well," said Grandfather; "and you +recollect that this was in 1763, or thereabouts, at +the close of the Old French War. Now, that you +may fully comprehend the remaining adventures of +the chair, I must make some brief remarks on the +situation and character of the New England colonies +at this period."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Grandfather spoke of the earnest loyalty of +our fathers during the Old French War, and after +the conquest of Canada had brought that war to a +triumphant close.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The people loved and reverenced the king of +England, even more than if the ocean had not rolled +its waves between him and them; for, at the distance +of three thousand miles, they could not discover +his bad qualities and imperfections. Their +love was increased by the dangers which they had +encountered in order to heighten his glory and +extend his dominion. Throughout the war, the +American colonists had fought side by side with the +soldiers of Old England; and nearly thirty thousand +young men had laid down their lives for the +honor of King George. And the survivors loved +him the better, because they had done and suffered +so much for his sake.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, there were some circumstances, that caused +America to feel more independent of England than +at an earlier period. Canada and Acadia had now +become British provinces; and our fathers were no +longer afraid of the bands of French and Indians, +who used to assault them in old times. For a century +and a half this had been the great terror of +New England. Now, the old French soldier was +driven from the north forever. And, even had it +been otherwise the English colonies were growing +so populous and powerful, that they might have felt +fully able to protect themselves without any help +from England.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There were thoughtful and sagacious men, who +began to doubt, whether a great country like America, +would always be content to remain under the +government of an island three thousand miles away. +This was the more doubtful, because the English +Parliament had long ago made laws which were +intended to be very beneficial to England, at the +expense of America. By these laws, the colonists +were forbidden to manufacture articles for their +own use, or to carry on trade with any nation but +the English.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now," continued Grandfather, "if King George +the Third and his counsellors had considered these +things wisely, they would have taken another course +than they did. But, when they saw how rich and +populous the colonies had grown, their first thought +was, how they might make more profit out of them +than heretofore. England was enormously in debt, +at the close of the Old French War, and it was pretended, +that this debt had been contracted for the +defence of the American colonies, and that therefore +a part of it ought to be paid by them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, this was nonsense," exclaimed Charley; +"did not our fathers spend their lives and their +money too, to get Canada for King George?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"True, they did," said Grandfather; "and they +told the English rulers so. But the king and his +ministers would not listen to good advice. In 1765, +the British Parliament passed a Stamp Act."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What was that?" inquired Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The Stamp Act," replied Grandfather, "was a +law by which all deeds, bonds, and other papers of +the same kind, were ordered to be marked with the +king's stamp; and without this mark, they were +declared illegal and void. Now, in order to get a +blank sheet of paper, with the king's stamp upon it, +people were obliged to pay three pence more than +the actual value of the paper. And this extra sum +of three pence was a tax, and was to be paid into +the king's treasury."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am sure three pence was not worth quarrelling +about!" remarked Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was not for three pence, nor for any amount +of money, that America quarrelled with England," +replied Grandfather; "it was for a great principle. +The colonists were determined not to be taxed, +except by their own representatives. They said +that neither the king and Parliament nor any other +power on earth, had a right to take their money out +of their pockets, unless they freely gave it. And, +rather than pay three pence when it was unjustly +demanded, they resolved to sacrifice all the wealth +of the country, and their lives along with it. They +therefore made a most stubborn resistance to the +Stamp Act."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That was noble!" exclaimed Laurence. "I +understand how it was. If they had quietly paid +this tax of three pence, they would have ceased to +be freemen, and would have become tributaries of +England. And so they contended about a great +question of right and wrong, and put every thing at +stake for it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are right, Laurence," said Grandfather; +"and it was really amazing and terrible to see what +a change came over the aspect of the people, the +moment the English Parliament had passed this +oppressive act. The former history of our chair, +my children, has given you some idea of what a +harsh, unyielding, stern set of men the old Puritans +were. For a good many years back, however, it +had seemed as if these characteristics were disappearing. +But no sooner did England offer wrong +to the colonies, than the descendants of the early +settlers proved that they had the same kind of temper +as their forefathers. The moment before, New +England appeared like an humble and loyal subject +of the crown; the next instant, she showed the +grim, dark features of an old king-resisting Puritan."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather spoke briefly of the public measures +that were taken in opposition to the Stamp Act. +As this law affected all the American colonies alike, +it naturally led them to think of consulting together +in order to procure its repeal. For this purpose, +the legislature of Massachusetts proposed that delegates +from every colony should meet in Congress. +Accordingly nine colonies, both northern and southern, +sent delegates to the city of New York.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And did they consult about going to war with +England?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Charley," answered Grandfather; "a +great deal of talking was yet to be done, before +England and America could come to blows. The +Congress stated the rights and the grievances of the +colonists. They sent an humble petition to the +king, and a memorial to the Parliament, beseeching +that the Stamp Act might be repealed. This +was all that the delegates had it in their power to +do."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They might as well have staid at home, then," +said Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"By no means," replied Grandfather. "It was +a most important and memorable event—this first +coming together of the American people, by their +representatives from the north and south. If England +had been wise, she would have trembled at the +first word that was spoken in such an assembly!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">These remonstrances and petitions, as Grandfather +observed, were the work of grave, thoughtful, and +prudent men. Meantime, the young and hot-headed +people went to work in their own way. It is probable +that the petitions of Congress would have had +little or no effect on the British statesmen, if the violent +deeds of the American people had not shown +how much excited the people were. <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Liberty Tree</span> +was soon heard of in England.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What was Liberty Tree?" inquired Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was an old elm tree," answered Grandfather, +"which stood near the corner of Essex street, opposite +the Boylston market. Under the spreading +branches of this great tree, the people used to assemble, +whenever they wished to express their feelings +and opinions. Thus, after a while, it seemed as if +the liberty of the country was connected with Liberty +Tree."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was glorious fruit for a tree to bear," +remarked Laurence.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image03.png" width="480" height="552" alt="" class="tei tei-figure" /></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It bore strange fruit, sometimes," said Grandfather. +"One morning in August, 1765, two figures +were found hanging on the sturdy branches of Liberty +Tree. They were dressed in square-skirted +coats and small-clothes; and, as their wigs hung +down over their faces, they looked like real men. +One was intended to represent the Earl of Bute, +who was supposed to have advised the king to tax +America. The other was meant for the effigy of +Andrew Oliver, a gentleman belonging to one of the +most respectable families in Massachusetts."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What harm had he done?" inquired Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The king had appointed him to be distributor of +the stamps," answered Grandfather. "Mr. Oliver +would have made a great deal of money by this +business. But the people frightened him so much +by hanging him in effigy, and afterwards by breaking +into his house, that he promised to have nothing +to do with the stamps. And all the king's friends +throughout America were compelled to make the +same promise."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_37" id="toc_37"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter III</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson," continued +Grandfather, "now began to be unquiet in our old +chair. He had formerly been much respected and +beloved by the people, and had often proved himself +a friend to their interests. But the time was come, +when he could not be a friend to the people, without +ceasing to be a friend to the king. It was pretty +generally understood, that Hutchinson would act +according to the king's wishes, right or wrong, +like most of the other gentlemen who held offices +under the crown. Besides, as he was brother-in-law +of Andrew Oliver, the people now felt a particular +dislike to him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I should think," said Laurence, "as Mr. +Hutchinson had written the history of our Puritan +forefathers, he would have known what the temper +of the people was, and so have taken care not to +wrong them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He trusted in the might of the king of England," +replied Grandfather, "and thought himself +safe under the shelter of the throne. If no dispute +had arisen between the king and the people, Hutchinson +would have had the character of a wise, +good, and patriotic magistrate. But, from the time +that he took part against the rights of his country, +the people's love and respect were turned to scorn +and hatred; and he never had another hour of +peace."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In order to show what a fierce and dangerous +spirit was now aroused among the inhabitants, +Grandfather related a passage from history, which +we shall call</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_38" id="toc_38"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE HUTCHINSON MOB</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On the evening of the twenty-sixth of August, +1765, a bonfire was kindled in King Street. It +flamed high upward, and threw a ruddy light over +the front of the town house, on which was displayed +a carved representation of the royal arms. The +gilded vane of the cupola glittered in the blaze. +The kindling of this bonfire was the well known +signal for the populace of Boston to assemble in the +street.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Before the tar-barrels, of which the bonfire was +made, were half burnt out, a great crowd had come +together. They were chiefly laborers and seafaring +men, together with many young apprentices, and all +those idle people about town who are ready for any +kind of mischief. Doubtless some school-boys were +among them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">While these rough figures stood round the blazing +bonfire, you might hear them speaking bitter words +against the high officers of the province. Governor +Bernard, Hutchinson, Oliver, Storey, Hallowell, and +other men whom King George delighted to honor, +were reviled as traitors to the country. Now and +then, perhaps, an officer of the crown passed along +the street, wearing the gold-laced hat, white wig, +and embroidered waistcoat, which were the fashion +of the day. But, when the people beheld him, they +set up a wild and angry howl, and their faces had +an evil aspect, which was made more terrible by the +flickering blaze of the bonfire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I should like to throw the traitor right into that +blaze!" perhaps one fierce rioter would say.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes; and all his brethren too!" another might +reply; "and the governor and old Tommy Hutchinson +into the hottest of it!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And the Earl of Bute along with them," muttered +a third; "and burn the whole pack of them +under King George's nose! No matter if it singed +him!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Some such expressions as these, either shouted +aloud, or muttered under the breath, were doubtless +heard in King Street. The mob, meanwhile, were +growing fiercer, and fiercer, and seemed ready even +to set the town on fire, for the sake of burning the +king's friends out of house and home. And yet, +angry as they were, they sometimes broke into a loud +roar of laughter, as if mischief and destruction were +their sport.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But we must now leave the rioters for a time, and +take a peep into the lieutenant-governor's splendid +mansion. It was a large brick house, decorated +with Ionic pilasters, and stood in Garden Court +Street, near the North Square.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">While the angry mob in King Street were shouting +his name, Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson sat +quietly in Grandfather's chair, unsuspicious of the +evil that was about to fall upon his head. His beloved +family were in the room with him. He had +thrown off his embroidered coat and powdered wig, +and had on a loose flowing gown and purple velvet +cap. He had likewise laid aside the cares of state, +and all the thoughts that had wearied and perplexed +him throughout the day.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Perhaps, in the enjoyment of his home, he had +forgotten all about the Stamp Act, and scarcely remembered +that there was a king, across the ocean, +who had resolved to make tributaries of the New +Englanders. Possibly, too, he had forgotten his +own ambition, and would not have exchanged his +situation, at that moment, to be governor, or even a +lord.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The wax candles were now lighted, and showed a +handsome room, well provided with rich furniture. +On the walls hung the pictures of Hutchinson's ancestors, +who had been eminent men in their day, and +were honorably remembered in the history of the +country. Every object served to mark the residence +of a rich, aristocratic gentleman, who held himself +high above the common people, and could have nothing +to fear from them. In a corner of the room, +thrown carelessly upon a chair, were the scarlet +robes of the chief justice. This high office, as well +as those of lieutenant-governor, counsellor, and judge +of probate, was filled by Hutchinson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Who or what could disturb the domestic quiet of +such a great and powerful personage as now sat in +Grandfather's chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The lieutenant-governor's favorite daughter sat +by his side. She leaned on the arm of our great +chair, and looked up affectionately into her father's +face, rejoicing to perceive that a quiet smile was on +his lips. But suddenly a shade came across her +countenance. She seemed to listen attentively, as +if to catch a distant sound.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What is the matter, my child?" inquired +Hutchinson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Father, do not you hear a tumult in the +streets?" said she.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The lieutenant-governor listened. But his ears +were duller than those of his daughter; he could +hear nothing more terrible than the sound of a summer +breeze, sighing among the tops of the elm trees.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, foolish child!" he replied, playfully patting +her cheek. "There is no tumult. Our Boston +mobs are satisfied with what mischief they +have already done. The king's friends need not +tremble."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Hutchinson resumed his pleasant and peaceful +meditations, and again forgot that there were any +troubles in the world. But his family were alarmed, +and could not help straining their ears to catch the +slightest sound. More and more distinctly they +heard shouts, and then the trampling of many feet. +While they were listening, one of the neighbors +rushed breathless into the room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A mob!—a terrible mob!" cried he: "they +have broken into Mr. Storey's house, and into Mr. +Hallowell's, and have made themselves drunk with +the liquors in his cellar, and now they are coming +hither, as wild as so many tigers. Flee, lieutenant-governor, +for your life! for your life!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Father, dear father, make haste!" shrieked his +children.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But Hutchinson would not hearken to them. He +was an old lawyer; and he could not realize that +the people would do any thing so utterly lawless as +to assault him in his peaceful home. He was one of +King George's chief officers; and it would be an insult +and outrage upon the king himself, if the lieutenant-governor +should suffer any wrong.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Have no fears on my account," said he; "I +am perfectly safe. The king's name shall be my +protection."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Yet he bade his family retire into one of the +neighboring houses. His daughter would have remained, +but he forced her away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The huzzas and riotous uproar of the mob were +now heard, close at hand. The sound was terrible, +and struck Hutchinson with the same sort of dread +as if an enraged wild beast had broken loose, and +were roaring for its prey. He crept softly to the +window. There he beheld an immense concourse +of people, filling all the street, and rolling onward to +his house. It was like a tempestuous flood, that +had swelled beyond its bounds, and would sweep +every thing before it. Hutchinson trembled; he +felt, at that moment, that the wrath of the people +was a thousand-fold more terrible than the wrath of +a king.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">That was a moment when a loyalist and an aristocrat, +like Hutchinson, might have learned how powerless +are kings, nobles, and great men, when the +low and humble range themselves against them. +King George could do nothing for his servant now. +Had King George been there, he could have done +nothing for himself. If Hutchinson had understood +this lesson, and remembered it, he need not, in after +years, have been an exile from his native country, +nor finally have laid his bones in a distant land.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There was now a rush against the doors of the +house. The people sent up a hoarse cry. At this +instant, the lieutenant-governor's daughter, whom +he had supposed to be in a place of safety, ran into +the room, and threw her arms around him. She +had returned by a private entrance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Father, are you mad!" cried she. "Will the +king's name protect you now? Come with me, or +they will have your life."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"True," muttered Hutchinson to himself; "what +care these roarers for the name of king? I must +flee, or they will trample me down, on the door of +my own dwelling!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Hurrying away, he and his daughter made their +escape by the private passage, at the moment when +the rioters broke into the house. The foremost of +them rushed up the stair-case, and entered the room +which Hutchinson had just quitted. There they beheld +our good old chair, facing them with quiet dignity, +while the lion's head seemed to move its jaws +in the unsteady light of their torches. Perhaps the +stately aspect of our venerable friend, which had +stood firm through a century and a half of trouble, +arrested them for an instant. But they were thrust +forward by those behind, and the chair lay overthrown.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then began the work of destruction. The carved +and polished mahogany tables were shattered with +heavy clubs, and hewn to splinters with axes. The +marble hearths and mantel pieces were broken. The +volumes of Hutchinson's library, so precious to a +studious man, were torn out of their covers, and the +leaves sent flying out of the windows. Manuscripts, +containing secrets of our country's history, which are +now lost forever, were scattered to the winds.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The old ancestral portraits, whose fixed countenances +looked down on the wild scene, were rent +from the walls. The mob triumphed in their downfall +and destruction, as if these pictures of Hutchinson's +forefathers had committed the same offences as +their descendant. A tall looking-glass, which had +hitherto presented a reflection of the enraged and +drunken multitude, was now smashed into a thousand +fragments. We gladly dismiss the scene from the +mirror of our fancy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Before morning dawned, the walls of the house +were all that remained. The interior was a dismal +scene of ruin. A shower pattered in at the broken +windows, and when Hutchinson and his family +returned, they stood shivering in the same room, +where the last evening had seen them so peaceful +and happy.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," said Laurence indignantly, "if +the people acted in this manner, they were not worthy +of even so much liberty as the king of England +was willing to allow them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was a most unjustifiable act, like many other +popular movements at that time," replied Grandfather. +"But we must not decide against the justice +of the people's cause, merely because an excited +mob was guilty of outrageous violence. Besides, all +these things were done in the first fury of resentment. +Afterwards, the people grew more calm, and +were more influenced by the counsel of those wise +and good men who conducted them safely and gloriously +through the Revolution."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Little Alice, with tears in her blue eyes, said that +she hoped the neighbors had not let Lieutenant-Governor +Hutchinson and his family be homeless in the +street, but had taken them into their houses, and +been kind to them. Cousin Clara, recollecting the +perilous situation of our beloved chair, inquired what +had become of it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing was heard of our chair for sometime +afterwards," answered Grandfather. "One day in +September, the same Andrew Oliver, of whom I before +told you, was summoned to appear at high noon, +under Liberty Tree. This was the strangest summons +that had ever been heard of; for it was issued +in the name of the whole people, who thus took upon +themselves the authority of a sovereign power. Mr. +Oliver dared not disobey. Accordingly, at the appointed +hour, he went, much against his will, to +Liberty Tree."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Here Charley interposed a remark that poor Mr. +Oliver found but little liberty under Liberty Tree. +Grandfather assented.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was a stormy day," continued he. "The +equinoctial gale blew violently, and scattered the yellow +leaves of Liberty Tree all along the street. Mr. +Oliver's wig was dripping with water-drops, and he +probably looked haggard, disconsolate, and humbled +to the earth. Beneath the tree, in Grandfather's +chair,—our own venerable chair,—sat Mr. Richard +Dana, a justice of the peace. He administered an +oath to Mr. Oliver, that he would never have any +thing to do with distributing the stamps. A vast +concourse of people heard the oath, and shouted +when it was taken."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There is something grand in this," said Laurence. +"I like it, because the people seem to have +acted with thoughtfulness and dignity; and this +proud gentleman, one of his Majesty's high officers, +was made to feel that King George could not protect +him in doing wrong."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But it was a sad day for poor Mr. Oliver," observed +Grandfather. "From his youth upward, it +had probably been the great principle of his life, to +be faithful and obedient to the king. And now, in +his old age, it must have puzzled and distracted him, +to find the sovereign people setting up a claim to his +faith and obedience."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather closed the evening's conversation by +saying that the discontent of America was so great, +that, in 1766, the British Parliament was compelled +to repeal the Stamp Act. The people made great +rejoicings, but took care to keep Liberty Tree well +pruned, and free from caterpillars and canker worms. +They foresaw, that there might yet be occasion for +them to assemble under its far projecting shadow.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_39" id="toc_39"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter IV</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next evening, Clara, who remembered that +our chair had been left standing in the rain, under +Liberty Tree, earnestly besought Grandfather to tell +when and where it had next found shelter. Perhaps +she was afraid that the venerable chair, by being +exposed to the inclemency of a September gale, +might get the rheumatism in its aged joints.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The chair," said Grandfather, "after the ceremony +of Mr. Oliver's oath, appears to have been +quite forgotten by the multitude. Indeed, being +much bruised and rather rickety, owing to the violent +treatment it had suffered from the Hutchinson +mob, most people would have thought that its days +of usefulness were over. Nevertheless, it was conveyed +away, under cover of the night, and committed +to the care of a skilful joiner. He doctored our old +friend so successfully, that, in the course of a few +days, it made its appearance in the public room of +the British Coffee House in King Street."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But why did not Mr. Hutchinson get possession +of it again?" inquired Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know not," answered Grandfather, "unless +he considered it a dishonor and disgrace to the chair +to have stood under Liberty Tree. At all events, +he suffered it to remain at the British Coffee House, +which was the principal hotel in Boston. It could +not possibly have found a situation, where it would +be more in the midst of business and bustle, or would +witness more important events, or be occupied by a +greater variety of persons."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather went on to tell the proceedings of the +despotic king and ministry of England, after the repeal +of the Stamp Act. They could not bear to +think, that their right to tax America should be +disputed by the people. In the year 1767, therefore, +they caused Parliament to pass an act for laying +a duty on tea, and some other articles that were in +general use. Nobody could now buy a pound of tea, +without paying a tax to King George. This scheme +was pretty craftily contrived; for the women of +America were very fond of tea, and did not like to +give up the use of it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the people were as much opposed to this new +act of Parliament, as they had been to the Stamp +Act. England, however, was determined that they +should submit. In order to compel their obedience, +two regiments, consisting of more than seven hundred +British soldiers, were sent to Boston. They +arrived in September, 1768, and were landed on Long +Wharf. Thence they marched to the Common, with +loaded muskets, fixed bayonets, and great pomp and +parade. So now, at last, the free town of Boston was +guarded and over-awed by red-coats, as it had been +in the days of old Sir Edmund Andros.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the month of November, more regiments +arrived. There were now four thousand troops in +Boston. The Common was whitened with their +tents. Some of the soldiers were lodged in Faneuil +Hall, which the inhabitants looked upon as a consecrated +place, because it had been the scene of a +great many meetings in favor of liberty. One regiment +was placed in the town house, which we now +call the Old State House. The lower floor of this +edifice had hitherto been used by the merchants as +an exchange. In the upper stories were the chambers +of the judges, the representatives, and the governor's +council. The venerable counsellors could +not assemble to consult about the welfare of the +province, without being challenged by sentinels, and +passing among the bayonets of the British soldiers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sentinels, likewise, were posted at the lodgings +of the officers, in many parts of the town. When +the inhabitants approached, they were greeted by +the sharp question—"Who goes there?" while +the rattle of the soldier's musket was heard, as he +presented it against their breasts. There was no +quiet, even on the Sabbath day. The pious descendants +of the Puritans were shocked by the uproar of +military music, the drum, fife, and bugle, drowning +the holy organ peal and the voices of the singers. +It would appear as if the British took every method +to insult the feelings of the people.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," cried Charley, impatiently, "the +people did not go to fighting half soon enough! +These British red-coats ought to have been driven +back to their vessels, the very moment they landed +on Long Wharf."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Many a hot-headed young man said the same as +you do, Charley," answered Grandfather. "But +the elder and wiser people saw that the time was not +yet come. Meanwhile, let us take another peep at +our old chair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ah, it drooped its head, I know," said Charley, +"when it saw how the province was disgraced. Its +old Puritan friends never would have borne such +doings."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The chair," proceeded Grandfather, "was now +continually occupied by some of the high tories, as +the king's friends were called, who frequented the +British Coffee House. Officers of the custom-house, +too, which stood on the opposite side of King Street, +often sat in the chair, wagging their tongues against +John Hancock."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why against him?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Because he was a great merchant, and contended +against paying duties to the king," said Grandfather.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, frequently, no doubt, the officers of the +British regiments, when not on duty, used to fling +themselves into the arms of our venerable chair. +Fancy one of them, a red nosed captain, in his +scarlet uniform, playing with the hilt of his sword, +and making a circle of his brother officers merry +with ridiculous jokes at the expense of the poor Yankees. +And perhaps he would call for a bottle of +wine, or a steaming bowl of punch, and drink confusion +to all rebels."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Our grave old chair must have been scandalized +at such scenes," observed Laurence. "The chair +that had been the Lady Arbella's, and which the +holy Apostle Eliot had consecrated."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It certainly was little less than sacrilege," replied +Grandfather; "but the time was coming, when +even the churches, where hallowed pastors had long +preached the word of God, were to be torn down or +desecrated by the British troops. Some years +passed, however, before such things were done."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather now told his auditors, that, in 1769, +Sir Francis Bernard went to England, after having +been governor of Massachusetts ten years. He was +a gentleman of many good qualities, an excellent +scholar, and a friend to learning. But he was naturally +of an arbitrary disposition; and he had been +bred at the University of Oxford, where young men +were taught that the divine right of kings was the +only thing to be regarded in matters of government. +Such ideas were ill adapted to please the people of +Massachusetts. They rejoiced to get rid of Sir +Francis Bernard, but liked his successor, Lieutenant-Governor +Hutchinson, no better than himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">About this period, the people were much incensed +at an act, committed by a person who held an office +in the custom-house. Some lads, or young men, +were snow-balling his windows. He fired a musket +at them and killed a poor German boy, only eleven +years old. This event made a great noise in town +and country, and much increased the resentment +that was already felt against the servants of the +crown.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now, children," said Grandfather, "I wish to +make you comprehend the position of the British +troops in King Street. This is the same which we +now call State Street. On the south side of the +town-house, or Old State House, was what military +men call a court of guard, defended by two brass +cannons, which pointed directly at one of the doors +of the above edifice. A large party of soldiers were +always stationed in the court of guard. The custom-house +stood at a little distance down King Street, +nearly where the Suffolk bank now stands; and a +sentinel was continually pacing before its front."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I shall remember this, to-morrow," said Charley; +"and I will go to State Street, so as to see exactly +where the British troops were stationed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And, before long," observed Grandfather, "I +shall have to relate an event, which made King +Street sadly famous on both sides of the Atlantic. +The history of our chair will soon bring us to this +melancholy business."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Here Grandfather described the state of things, +which arose from the ill-will that existed between the +inhabitants and the red-coats. The old and sober +part of the town's-people were very angry at the +government, for sending soldiers to overawe them. +But those gray-headed men were cautious, and kept +their thoughts and feelings in their own breasts, +without putting themselves in the way of the British +bayonets.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The younger people, however, could hardly be +kept within such prudent limits. They reddened +with wrath at the very sight of a soldier, and would +have been willing to come to blows with them, at any +moment. For it was their opinion, that every tap of +a British drum within the peninsula of Boston, was an +insult to the brave old town.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was sometimes the case," continued Grandfather, +"that affrays happened between such wild +young men as these, and small parties of the soldiers. +No weapons had hitherto been used, except fists or +cudgels. But, when men have loaded muskets in +their hands, it is easy to foretell, that they will soon +be turned against the bosoms of those who provoke +their anger."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," said little Alice, looking fearfully +into his face, "your voice sounds as though you +were going to tell us something awful!"</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_40" id="toc_40"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter V</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Little Alice, by her last remark, proved herself +a good judge of what was expressed by the tones of +Grandfather's voice. He had given the above description +of the enmity between the town's-people +and the soldiers, in order to prepare the minds of +his auditors for a very terrible event. It was one +that did more to heighten the quarrel between England +and America, than any thing that had yet +occurred.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Without further preface, Grandfather began the +story of</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_41" id="toc_41"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE BOSTON MASSACRE</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was now the 3d of March, 1770. The sunset +music of the British regiments was heard, as usual, +throughout the town. The shrill fife and rattling +drum awoke the echoes in King Street, while the +last ray of sunshine was lingering on the cupola of +the town-house. And now, all the sentinels were +posted. One of them marched up and down before +the custom-house, treading a short path through the +snow, and longing for the time when he would be +dismissed to the warm fire-side of the guard-room. +Meanwhile, Captain Preston was perhaps sitting in +our great chair, before the hearth of the British Coffee +House. In the course of the evening, there +were two or three slight commotions, which seemed +to indicate that trouble was at hand. Small parties +of young men stood at the corners of the streets, or +walked along the narrow pavements. Squads of +soldiers, who were dismissed from duty, passed by +them, shoulder to shoulder, with the regular step +which they had learned at the drill. Whenever +these encounters took place, it appeared to be the +object of the young men to treat the soldiers with as +much incivility as possible.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Turn out, you lobster-backs!" one would say. +"Crowd them off the side-walks!" another would +cry. "A red-coat has no right in Boston streets."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, you rebel rascals!" perhaps the soldiers +would reply, glaring fiercely at the young men. +"Some day or other, we'll make our way through +Boston streets, at the point of the bayonet!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Once or twice, such disputes as these brought on +a scuffle; which passed off, however, without attracting +much notice. About eight o'clock, for some +unknown cause, an alarm bell rang loudly and hurriedly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At the sound, many people ran out of their houses, +supposing it to be an alarm of fire. But there were +no flames to be seen; nor was there any smell of +smoke in the clear, frosty air; so that most of the +townsmen went back to their own fire-sides, and sat +talking with their wives and children about the +calamities of the times. Others, who were younger +and less prudent, remained in the streets; for there +seems to have been a presentiment that some strange +event was on the eve of taking place.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Later in the evening, not far from nine o'clock, +several young men passed by the town-house, and +walked down King Street. The sentinel was still on +his post, in front of the custom-house, pacing to and +fro, while, as he turned, a gleam of light, from +some neighboring window, glittered on the barrel of +his musket. At no great distance were the barracks +and the guard-house, where his comrades +were probably telling stories of battle and bloodshed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Down towards the custom-house, as I told you, +came a party of wild young men. When they drew +near the sentinel, he halted on his post, and took +his musket from his shoulder, ready to present the +bayonet at their breasts.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Who goes there?" he cried, in the gruff, peremptory +tones of a soldier's challenge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The young men, being Boston boys, felt as if they +had a right to walk their own streets, without being +accountable to a British red-coat, even though he +challenged them in King George's name. They +made some rude answer to the sentinel. There was +a dispute, or, perhaps a scuffle. Other soldiers +heard the noise, and ran hastily from the barracks, +to assist their comrade. At the same time, many of +the town's-people rushed into King Street, by various +avenues, and gathered in a crowd round about +the custom-house. It seemed wonderful how such +a multitude had started up, all of a sudden.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The wrongs and insults, which the people had +been suffering for many months, now kindled them +into a rage. They threw snow-balls and lumps of +ice at the soldiers. As the tumult grew louder, it +reached the ears of Captain Preston, the officer of +the day. He immediately ordered eight soldiers of +the main guard to take their muskets and follow +him. They marched across the street, forcing their +way roughly through the crowd, and pricking the +town's-people with their bayonets.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A gentleman, (it was Henry Knox, afterwards +general of the American artillery,) caught Captain +Preston's arm.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"For Heaven's sake, sir," exclaimed he, take +heed what you do, or here will be bloodshed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Stand aside!" answered Captain Preston, +haughtily. "Do not interfere, sir. Leave me to +manage the affair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Arriving at the sentinel's post, Captain Preston +drew up his men in a semi-circle, with their faces +to the crowd and their rear to the custom-house. +"When the people saw the officer, and beheld the +threatening attitude with which the soldiers fronted +them, their rage became almost uncontrollable.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Fire, you lobster-backs!" bellowed some.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You dare not fire, you cowardly red-coats," +cried others.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Rush upon them!" shouted many voices. +"Drive the rascals to their barracks! Down +with them! Down with them! Let them fire, if +they dare!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Amid the uproar, the soldiers stood glaring at the +people, with the fierceness of men whose trade was +to shed blood.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Oh, what a crisis had now arrived! Up to this +very moment, the angry feelings between England +and America might have been pacified. England +had but to stretch out the hand of reconciliation, +and acknowledge that she had hitherto mistaken +her rights but would do so no more. Then, the +ancient bonds of brotherhood would again have +been knit together, as firmly as in old times. The +habit of loyalty, which had grown as strong as +instinct, was not utterly overcome. The perils +shared, the victories won, in the Old French War, +when the soldiers of the colonies fought side by side +with their comrades from beyond the sea, were +unforgotten yet. England was still that beloved +country which the colonists called their home. +King George, though he had frowned upon America, +was still reverenced as a father.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, should the king's soldiers shed one drop of +American blood, then it was a quarrel to the death. +Never—never would America rest satisfied, until +she had torn down the royal authority, and trampled +it in the dust.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Fire, if you dare, villains!" hoarsely shouted +the people, while the muzzles of the muskets were +turned upon them; "you dare not fire!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They appeared ready to rush upon the levelled +bayonets. Captain Preston waved his sword, and +uttered a command which could not be distinctly +heard, amid the uproar of shouts that issued from +a hundred throats. But his soldiers deemed that +he had spoken the fatal mandate—"fire!" The +flash of their muskets lighted up the street, and the +report rang loudly between the edifices. It was +said, too, that the figure of a man with a cloth hanging +down over his face, was seen to step into the +balcony of the custom-house, and discharge a musket +at the crowd.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A gush of smoke had overspread the scene. It +rose heavily, as if it were loath to reveal the dreadful +spectacle beneath it. Eleven of the sons of +New England lay stretched upon the street. Some, +sorely wounded, were struggling to rise again. +Others stirred not, nor groaned, for they were past +all pain. Blood was streaming upon the snow; and +that purple stain, in the midst of King Street, though +it melted away in the next day's sun, was never +forgotten nor forgiven by the people.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather was interrupted by the violent sobs +of little Alice. In his earnestness, he had neglected +to soften down the narrative, so that it might +not terrify the heart of this unworldly infant. Since +Grandfather began the history of our chair, little +Alice had listened to many tales of war. But, probably, +the idea had never really impressed itself +upon her mind, that men have shed the blood of +their fellow-creatures. And now that this idea was +forcibly presented to her, it affected the sweet child +with bewilderment and horror.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I ought to have remembered our dear little +Alice," said Grandfather reproachfully to himself. +"Oh, what a pity! Her heavenly nature has now +received its first impression of earthly sin and violence. +Well, Clara, take her to bed, and comfort +her. Heaven grant that she may dream away the +recollection of the Boston Massacre!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," said Charley, when Clara and +little Alice had retired, "did not the people rush +upon the soldiers, and take revenge?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The town drums beat to arms," replied Grandfather, +"the alarm bells rang, and an immense multitude +rushed into King Street. Many of them had +weapons in their hands. The British prepared to +defend themselves. A whole regiment was drawn +up in the street, expecting an attack; for the townsmen +appeared ready to throw themselves upon the +bayonets."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And how did it end?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Governor Hutchinson hurried to the spot," said +Grandfather, "and besought the people to have +patience, promising that strict justice should be +done. A day or two afterward, the British troops +were withdrawn from town, and stationed at Castle +William. Captain Preston and the eight soldiers +were tried for murder. But none of them were +found guilty. The judges told the jury that the +insults and violence which had been offered to the +soldiers, justified them in firing at the mob."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The Revolution," observed Laurence, who had +said but little during the evening, "was not such a +calm, majestic movement as I supposed. I do not +love to hear of mobs and broils in the street. These +things were unworthy of the people, when they had +such a great object to accomplish."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nevertheless, the world has seen no grander +movement than that of our Revolution, from first to +last," said Grandfather. "The people, to a man, +were full of a great and noble sentiment. True, +there may be much fault to find with their mode of +expressing this sentiment; but they knew no better—the +necessity was upon them to act out their +feelings, in the best manner they could. We must +forgive what was wrong in their actions, and look +into their hearts and minds for the honorable motives +that impelled them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And I suppose," said Laurence, "there were +men who knew how to act worthily of what they +felt."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There were many such," replied Grandfather, +"and we will speak of some of them, hereafter."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather here made a pause. That night, +Charley had a dream about the Boston Massacre, +and thought that he himself was in the crowd, and +struck down Captain Preston with a great club. +Laurence dreamed that he was sitting in our great +chair, at the window of the British Coffee House, +and beheld the whole scene which Grandfather had +described. It seemed to him, in his dream, that if +the town's-people and the soldiers would but have +heard him speak a single word, all the slaughter +might have been averted. But there was such an +uproar that it drowned his voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next morning, the two boys went together to +State Street, and stood on the very spot where the +first blood of the Revolution had been shed. The +Old State House was still there, presenting almost +the same aspect that it had worn on that memorable +evening, one-and-seventy years ago. It is the +sole remaining witness of the Boston Massacre.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_42" id="toc_42"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VI</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next evening the astral lamp was lighted +earlier than usual, because Laurence was very much +engaged in looking over the collection of portraits +which had been his New Year's gift from Grandfather.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Among them he found the features of more than +one famous personage who had been connected with +the adventures of our old chair. Grandfather bade +him draw the table nearer to the fire-side; and +they looked over the portraits together, while Clara +and Charley likewise lent their attention. As for +little Alice, she sat in Grandfather's lap, and seemed +to see the very men alive, whose faces were there +represented.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Turning over the volume, Laurence came to the +portrait of a stern, grim-looking man, in plain attire, +of much more modern fashion than that of the old +Puritans. But the face might well have befitted +one of those iron-hearted men. Beneath the portrait +was the name of Samuel Adams.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He was a man of great note in all the doings +that brought about the Revolution," said Grandfather. +"His character was such, that it seemed as +if one of the ancient Puritans had been sent back to +earth, to animate the people's hearts with the same +abhorrence of tyranny, that had distinguished the +earliest settlers. He was as religious as they, as +stern and inflexible, and as deeply imbued with democratic +principles. He, better than any one else, +may be taken as a representative of the people of +New England, and of the spirit with which they engaged +in the revolutionary struggle. He was a poor +man, and earned his bread by an humble occupation; +but with his tongue and pen, he made the +king of England tremble on his throne. Remember +him, my children, as one of the strong men of our +country."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Here is one whose looks show a very different +character," observed Laurence, turning to the portrait +of John Hancock. "I should think, by his +splendid dress and courtly aspect, that he was one +of the king's friends."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There never was a greater contrast than between +Samuel Adams and John Hancock," said +Grandfather. "Yet they were of the same side in +politics, and had an equal agency in the Revolution. +Hancock was born to the inheritance of the largest +fortune in New England. His tastes and habits +were aristocratic. He loved gorgeous attire, a +splendid mansion, magnificent furniture, stately festivals, +and all that was glittering and pompous in +external things. His manners were so polished, that +there stood not a nobleman at the footstool of King +George's throne, who was a more skilful courtier +than John Hancock might have been. Nevertheless, +he, in his embroidered clothes, and Samuel +Adams in his threadbare coat, wrought together in +the cause of liberty. Adams acted from pure and +rigid principle. Hancock, though he loved his +country, yet thought quite as much of his own popularity +as he did of the people's rights. It is remarkable, +that these two men, so very different as I +describe them, were the only two exempted from +pardon by the king's proclamation."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On the next leaf of the book, was the portrait of +General Joseph Warren. Charley recognized the +name, and said that here was a greater man than +either Hancock or Adams.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Warren was an eloquent and able patriot," replied +Grandfather. "He deserves a lasting memory +for his zealous efforts in behalf of liberty. No +man's voice was more powerful in Faneuil Hall than +Joseph Warren's. If his death had not happened +so early in the contest, he would probably have +gained a high name as a soldier."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next portrait was a venerable man, who held +his thumb under his chin, and, through his spectacles, +appeared to be attentively reading a manuscript.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Here we see the most illustrious Boston boy +that ever lived," said Grandfather. "This is Benjamin +Franklin! But I will not try to compress, +into a few sentences, the character of the sage, who, +as a Frenchman expressed it, snatched the lightning +from the sky, and the sceptre from a tyrant. Mr. +Sparks must help you to the knowledge of Franklin."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The book likewise contained portraits of James +Otis and Josiah Quincy. Both of them, Grandfather +observed, were men of wonderful talents and true +patriotism. Their voices were like the stirring tones +of a trumpet, arousing the country to defend its freedom. +Heaven seemed to have provided a greater +number of eloquent men than had appeared at any +other period, in order that the people might be fully +instructed as to their wrongs, and the method of +resistance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is marvellous," said Grandfather, "to see +how many powerful writers, orators, and soldiers +started up, just at the time when they were wanted. +There was a man for every kind of work. It is +equally wonderful, that men of such different characters +were all made to unite in the one object of +establishing the freedom and independence of America. +There was an overruling Providence above +them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Here was another great man," remarked Laurence, +pointing to the portrait of John Adams.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes; an earnest, warm-tempered, honest, and +most able man," said Grandfather. "At the period +of which we are now speaking, he was a lawyer in +Boston. He was destined, in after years, to be +ruler over the whole American people, whom he +contributed so much to form into a nation."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather here remarked, that many a New +Englander, who had passed his boyhood and youth +in obscurity, afterward attained to a fortune, which +he never could have foreseen, even in his most ambitious +dreams. John Adams, the second president +of the United States, and the equal of crowned +kings, was once a schoolmaster and country lawyer. +Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, +served his apprenticeship with a merchant. +Samuel Adams, afterward governor of Massachusetts, +was a small tradesman and a tax-gatherer. +General Warren was a physician, General Lincoln +a farmer, and General Knox a bookbinder. General +Nathaniel Greene, the best soldier, except Washington, +in the revolutionary army, was a Quaker and a +blacksmith. All these became illustrious men, and +can never be forgotten in American history.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And any boy, who is born in America, may +look forward to the same things," said our ambitious +friend Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After these observations, Grandfather drew the +book of portraits towards him, and showed the children +several British peers and members of Parliament, +who had exerted themselves either for or against the +rights of America. There were the Earl of Bute, +Mr. Grenville, and Lord North. These were looked +upon as deadly enemies to our country.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Among the friends of America was Mr. Pitt, afterward +Earl of Chatham, who spent so much of his +wondrous eloquence in endeavoring to warn England +of the consequences of her injustice. He fell down +on the floor of the House of Lords, after uttering +almost his dying words in defence of our privileges +as freemen. There was Edmund Burke, one of the +wisest men and greatest orators that ever the world +produced. There was Colonel Barré, who had been +among our fathers, and knew that they had courage +enough to die for their rights. There was Charles +James Fox, who never rested until he had silenced +our enemies in the House of Commons.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is very remarkable to observe how many of +the ablest orators in the British Parliament were favorable +to America," said Grandfather. "We ought +to remember these great Englishmen with gratitude; +for their speeches encouraged our fathers, almost as +much as those of our own orators, in Faneuil Hall, +and under Liberty Tree. Opinions, which might +have been received with doubt, if expressed only by +a native American, were set down as true, beyond +dispute, when they came from the lips of Chatham, +Burke, Barré, or Fox."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, Grandfather," asked Laurence, "were +there no able and eloquent men in this country who +took the part of King George?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There were many men of talent, who said what +they could in defence of the king's tyrannical proceedings," +replied Grandfather. "But they had +the worst side of the argument, and therefore seldom +said any thing worth remembering. Moreover their +hearts were faint and feeble; for they felt that the +people scorned and detested them. They had no +friends, no defence, except in the bayonets of the +British troops. A blight fell upon all their faculties, +because they were contending against the rights of +their own native land."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What were the names of some of them?" inquired +Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Governor Hutchinson, Chief Justice Oliver, +Judge Auchmuty, the Reverend Mather Byles, and +several other clergymen, were among the most noted +loyalists," answered Grandfather.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I wish the people had tarred and feathered every +man of them!" cried Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That wish is very wrong, Charley," said Grandfather. +"You must not think that there was no +integrity and honor, except among those who stood +up for the freedom of America. For aught I know, +there was quite as much of these qualities on one +side as on the other. Do you see nothing admirable +in a faithful adherence to an unpopular cause? Can +you not respect that principle of loyalty, which made +the royalists give up country, friends, fortune, every +thing, rather than be false to their king? It was a +mistaken principle; but many of them cherished it +honorably, and were martyrs to it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, I was wrong!" said Charley, ingenuously. +"And I would risk my life, rather than one of those +good old royalists should be tarred and feathered."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The time is now come, when we may judge fairly +of them," continued Grandfather. "Be the good +and true men among them honored; for they were +as much our countrymen as the patriots were. And, +thank Heaven! our country need not be ashamed +of her sons—of most of them, at least—whatever +side they took in the revolutionary contest."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Among the portraits was one of King George the +Third. Little Alice clapped her hands, and seemed +pleased with the bluff good nature of his physiognomy. +But Laurence thought it strange, that a +man with such a face, indicating hardly a common +share of intellect, should have had influence enough +on human affairs, to convulse the world with war. +Grandfather observed, that this poor king had always +appeared to him one of the most unfortunate persons +that ever lived. He was so honest and conscientious, +that, if he had been only a private man, his life would +probably have been blameless and happy. But his +was that worst of fortunes, to be placed in a station +far beyond his abilities.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And so," said Grandfather, "his life, while he +retained what intellect Heaven had gifted him with, +was one long mortification. At last, he grew crazed +with care and trouble. For nearly twenty years, +the monarch of England was confined as a madman. +In his old age, too, God took away his eyesight; so +that his royal palace was nothing to him but a dark, +lonesome prison-house."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_43" id="toc_43"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VII</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Our old chair," resumed Grandfather, "did not +now stand in the midst of a gay circle of British +officers. The troops, as I told you, had been removed +to Castle William, immediately after the Boston +Massacre. Still, however, there were many +tories, custom-house officers, and Englishmen, who +used to assemble in the British Coffee House, and +talk over the affairs of the period. Matters grew +worse and worse; and in 1773, the people did a +deed, which incensed the king and ministry more +than any of their former doings."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather here described the affair, which is +known by the name of the Boston Tea Party. The +Americans, for some time past, had left off importing +tea, on account of the oppressive tax. The East +India Company, in London, had a large stock of tea +on hand, which they had expected to sell to the +Americans, but could find no market for it. But, +after a while, the government persuaded this company +of merchants to send the tea to America.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How odd it is," observed Clara, "that the liberties +of America should have had any thing to do +with a cup of tea!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather smiled, and proceeded with his narrative. +When the people of Boston heard that +several cargoes of tea were coming across the Atlantic, +they held a great many meetings at Faneuil +Hall, in the Old South church, and under Liberty +Tree. In the midst of their debates, three ships +arrived in the harbor with the tea on board. The +people spent more than a fortnight in consulting +what should be done. At last, on the 16th of December, +1773, they demanded of Governor Hutchinson, +that he should immediately send the ships +back to England.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The governor replied that the ships must not leave +the harbor, until the custom-house duties upon the +tea should be paid. Now, the payment of these +duties was the very thing, against which the people +had set their faces; because it was a tax, unjustly +imposed upon America by the English government. +Therefore, in the dusk of the evening, as soon as +Governor Hutchinson's reply was received, an immense +crowd hastened to Griffin's Wharf, where the +tea-ships lay. The place is now called Liverpool +Wharf.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"When the crowd reached the wharf," said Grandfather, +"they saw that a set of wild-looking figures +were already on board of the ships. You would +have imagined that the Indian warriors, of old times, +had come back again; for they wore the Indian +dress, and had their faces covered with red and +black paint, like the Indians, when they go to war. +These grim figures hoisted the tea chests on the +decks of the vessels, broke them open, and threw all +the contents into the harbor."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," said little Alice, "I suppose Indians +don't love tea; else they would never waste +it so."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They were not real Indians, my child," answered +Grandfather. "They were white men, in disguise; +because a heavy punishment would have been inflicted +on them, if the king's officers had found who they +were. But it was never known. From that day to +this, though the matter has been talked of by all the +world, nobody can tell the names of those Indian +figures. Some people say that there were very famous +men among them, who afterwards became governors +and generals. Whether this be true, I cannot tell."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When tidings of this bold deed were carried to +England, King George was greatly enraged. Parliament +immediately passed an act, by which all vessels +were forbidden to take in or discharge their cargoes at +the port of Boston. In this way, they expected to ruin +all the merchants, and starve the poor people, by +depriving them of employment. At the same time, +another act was passed, taking away many rights +and privileges which had been granted in the charter +of Massachusetts.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Governor Hutchinson, soon afterward, was summoned +to England, in order that he might give his +advice about the management of American affairs. +General Gage, an officer of the Old French War, +and since commander-in-chief of the British forces in +America, was appointed governor in his stead. One +of his first acts, was to make Salem, instead of Boston, +the metropolis of Massachusetts, by summoning +the General Court to meet there.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">According to Grandfather's description, this was +the most gloomy time that Massachusetts had ever +seen. The people groaned under as heavy a tyranny +as in the days of Sir Edmund Andros. Boston +looked as if it were afflicted with some dreadful +pestilence,—so sad were the inhabitants, and so +desolate the streets. There was no cheerful hum of +business. The merchants shut up their warehouses, +and the laboring men stood idle about the wharves. +But all America felt interested in the good town of +Boston; and contributions were raised, in many +places, for the relief of the poor inhabitants.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Our dear old chair!" exclaimed Clara. "How +dismal it must have been now!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh," replied Grandfather, "a gay throng of +officers had now come back to the British Coffee +House; so that the old chair had no lack of mirthful +company. Soon after General Gage became governor, +a great many troops had arrived, and were +encamped upon the Common. Boston was now a +garrisoned and fortified town; for the general had +built a battery across the neck, on the road to Roxbury, +and placed guards for its defence. Every +thing looked as if a civil war were close at hand."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did the people make ready to fight?" asked +Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A continental Congress assembled at Philadelphia," +said Grandfather, "and proposed such measures +as they thought most conducive to the public +good. A provincial Congress was likewise chosen in +Massachusetts. They exhorted the people to arm +and discipline themselves. A great number of +minute men were enrolled. The Americans called +them minute men, because they engaged to be ready +to fight at a minute's warning. The English officers +laughed, and said that the name was a very proper +one, because the minute men would run away the +the minute they saw the enemy. Whether they +would fight or run, was soon to be proved."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather told the children, that the first open +resistance offered to the British troops, in the province +of Massachusetts was at Salem. Colonel Timothy +Pickering, with thirty or forty militia men, prevented +the English colonel, Leslie, with four times as many +regular soldiers, from taking possession of some military +stores. No blood was shed on this occasion; +but, soon afterward, it began to flow.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">General Gage sent eight hundred soldiers to +Concord, about eighteen miles from Boston, to +destroy some ammunition and provisions which the +colonists had collected there. They set out on their +march in the evening of the 18th of April, 1775. +The next morning, the General sent Lord Percy, +with nine hundred men, to strengthen the troops +which had gone before. All that day, the inhabitants +of Boston heard various rumors. Some said, +that the British were making great slaughter among +our countrymen. Others affirmed that every man +had turned out with his musket, and that not a single +soldier would ever get back to Boston.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was after sunset," continued Grandfather, +"when the troops, who had marched forth so proudly, +were seen entering Charlestown. They were +covered with dust, and so hot and weary that their +tongues hung out of their mouths. Many of them +were faint with wounds. They had not all returned. +Nearly three hundred were strewn, dead or dying, +along the road from Concord. The yeomanry had +risen upon the invaders, and driven them back."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was this the battle of Lexington?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes," replied Grandfather; "it was so called, +because the British, without provocation, had fired +upon a party of minute men, near Lexington meeting-house, +and killed eight of them. That fatal volley, +which was fired by order of Major Pitcairn, +began the war of the Revolution."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">About this time, if Grandfather had been correctly +informed, our chair disappeared from the +British Coffee House. The manner of its departure +cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. Perhaps the +keeper of the Coffee House turned it out of doors, +on account of its old-fashioned aspect. Perhaps he +sold it as a curiosity. Perhaps it was taken, without +leave, by some person who regarded it as public +property, because it had once figured under Liberty +Tree. Or, perhaps, the old chair, being of a +peaceable disposition, had made use of its four +oaken legs, and run away from the seat of war.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It would have made a terrible clattering over +the pavement," said Charley, laughing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Meanwhile," continued Grandfather, "during +the mysterious non-appearance of our chair, an +army of twenty thousand men had started up, and +come to the siege of Boston. General Gage and +his troops were cooped up within the narrow precincts +of the peninsula. On the 17th of June, +1775, the famous battle of Bunker Hill was fought. +Here General Warren fell. The British got the +victory, indeed, but with the loss of more than a +thousand officers and men."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O, Grandfather," cried Charley, "you must +tell us about that famous battle."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Charley," said Grandfather, "I am not +like other historians. Battles shall not hold a prominent +place in the history of our quiet and comfortable +old chair. But, to-morrow evening, Laurence, +Clara, and yourself, and dear little Alice too, shall +visit the Diorama of Bunker Hill. There you shall +see the whole business, the burning of Charlestown +and all, with your own eyes, and hear the cannon +and musketry with your own ears."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_44" id="toc_44"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VIII</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next evening but one, when the children had +given Grandfather a full account of the Diorama of +Bunker Hill, they entreated him not to keep them +any longer in suspense about the fate of his chair. +The reader will recollect, that at the last accounts, +it had trotted away upon its poor old legs, nobody +knew whither. But, before gratifying their +curiosity, Grandfather found it necessary to say +something about public events.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The continental Congress, which was assembled +at Philadelphia, was composed of delegates from all +the colonies. They had now appointed George +Washington, of Virginia, to be commander-in-chief +of all the American armies. He was, at that time, +a member of Congress, but immediately left Philadelphia, +and began his journey to Massachusetts. +On the 3d of July, 1775, he arrived at Cambridge, +and took command of the troops which were besieging +General Gage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O, Grandfather," exclaimed Laurence, "it +makes my heart throb to think what is coming now. +We are to see General Washington himself."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The children crowded around Grandfather, and +looked earnestly into his face. Even little Alice +opened her sweet blue eyes, with her lips apart, +and almost held her breath to listen; so instinctive +is the reverence of childhood for the father of his +country. Grandfather paused a moment; for he +felt as if it might be irreverent to introduce the hallowed +shade of Washington into a history, where an +ancient elbow chair occupied the most prominent +place. However, he determined to proceed with +his narrative, and speak of the hero when it was +needful, but with an unambitious simplicity.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Grandfather told his auditors, that, on General +Washington's arrival at Cambridge, his first +care was, to reconnoitre the British troops with his +spy-glass, and to examine the condition of his own +army. He found that the American troops amounted +to about fourteen thousand men. They were +extended all round the peninsula of Boston, a space +of twelve miles, from the high grounds of Roxbury +on the right, to Mystic river on the left. Some +were living in tents of sail-cloth, some in shanties, +rudely constructed of boards, some in huts of stone +or turf, with curious windows and doors of basket-work.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In order to be near the centre, and oversee the +whole of this wide-stretched army, the commander-in-chief +made his head-quarters at Cambridge, about +half a mile from the colleges. A mansion-house, +which perhaps had been the country-seat of some +tory gentleman, was provided for his residence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"When General Washington first entered this +mansion," said Grandfather, "he was ushered up +the stair-case, and shown into a handsome apartment. +He sat down in a large chair, which was +the most conspicuous object in the room. The noble +figure of Washington would have done honor to a +throne. As he sat there, with his hand resting on +the hilt of his sheathed sword, which was placed +between his knees, his whole aspect well befitted +the chosen man on whom his country leaned for the +defence of her dearest rights. America seemed +safe, under his protection. His face was grander +than any sculptor had ever wrought in marble; +none could behold him without awe and reverence. +Never before had the lion's head, at the summit of +the chair, looked down upon such a face and form +as Washington's!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why! Grandfather," cried Clara, clasping her +hands in amazement, "was it really so? Did General +Washington sit in our great chair?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I knew how it would be," said Laurence; +"I foresaw it, the moment Grandfather began to +speak."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather smiled. But, turning from the personal +and domestic life of the illustrious leader, he +spoke of the methods which Washington adopted to +win back the metropolis of New England from the +British.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The army, when he took command of it, was +without any discipline or order. The privates considered +themselves as good as their officers, and seldom +thought it necessary to obey their commands, +unless they understood the why and wherefore. +Moreover, they were enlisted for so short a period, +that, as soon as they began to be respectable soldiers, +it was time to discharge them. Then came +new recruits, who had to be taught their duty, +before they could be of any service. Such was the +army, with which Washington had to contend +against more than twenty veteran British regiments.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Some of the men had no muskets, and almost all +were without bayonets. Heavy cannon, for battering +the British fortifications, were much wanted. +There was but a small quantity of powder and ball, +few tools to build entrenchments with, and a great +deficiency of provisions and clothes for the soldiers. +Yet, in spite of these perplexing difficulties, the +eyes of the whole people were fixed on General +Washington, expecting him to undertake some great +enterprise against the hostile army.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The first thing that he found necessary, was to +bring his own men into better order and discipline. +It is wonderful how soon he transformed this rough +mob of country people into the semblance of a regular +army. One of Washington's most invaluable +characteristics, was the faculty of bringing order +out of confusion. All business, with which he had +any concern, seemed to regulate itself, as if by +magic. The influence of his mind was like light, +gleaming through an unshaped world. It was this +faculty, more than any other, that made him so fit +to ride upon the storm of the Revolution, when +every thing was unfixed, and drifting about in a +troubled sea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Washington had not been long at the head of +the army," proceeded Grandfather, "before his +soldiers thought as highly of him, as if he had led +them to a hundred victories. They knew that he +was the very man whom the country needed, and +the only one who could bring them safely through +the great contest against the might of England. +They put entire confidence in his courage, wisdom, +and integrity."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And were not they eager to follow him against +the British?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doubtless they would have gone whithersoever +his sword pointed the way," answered Grandfather; +"and Washington was anxious to make a decisive +assault upon the enemy. But as the enterprise was +very hazardous, he called a council of all the generals +in the army. Accordingly, they came from +their different posts, and were ushered into the +reception room. The commander-in-chief arose from +our great chair to greet them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What were their names?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There was General Artemas Ward," replied +Grandfather, a "lawyer by profession. He had +commanded the troops before Washington's arrival. +Another was General Charles Lee, who had been a +colonel in the English army, and was thought to possess +vast military science. He came to the council, +followed by two or three dogs, who were always at +his heels. There was General Putnam, too, who +was known all over New England by the name of +Old Put."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was it he who killed the wolf?" inquired +Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The same," said Grandfather; "and he had +done good service in the Old French War. His +occupation was that of a farmer; but he left his +plough in the furrow, at the news of Lexington +battle. Then there was General Gates, who afterward +gained great renown at Saratoga, and lost it +again at Camden. General Greene, of Rhode +Island, was likewise at the council. Washington +soon discovered him to be one of the best officers in +the army."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When the Generals were all assembled, Washington +consulted them about a plan for storming the +English batteries. But it was their unanimous +opinion that so perilous an enterprise ought not to +be attempted. The army, therefore, continued to +besiege Boston, preventing the enemy from obtaining +supplies of provisions, but without taking any +immediate measures to get possession of the town. +In this manner, the summer, autumn, and winter +passed away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Many a night, doubtless," said Grandfather, +"after Washington had been all day on horseback, +galloping from one post of the army to another, he +used to sit in our great chair, wrapt in earnest +thought. Had you seen him, you might have supposed +that his whole mind was fixed on the blue +china tiles, which adorned the old fashioned fire-place. +But, in reality, he was meditating how to +capture the British army, or drive it out of Boston. +Once, when there was a hard frost, he formed a +scheme to cross the Charles River on the ice. But +the other Generals could not be persuaded that there +was any prospect of success."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What were the British doing, all this time?" +inquired Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They lay idle in the town," replied Grandfather. +"General Gage had been recalled to England, and +was succeeded by Sir William Howe. The British +army, and the inhabitants of Boston, were now in great +distress. Being shut up in the town so long, they +had consumed almost all their provisions, and burnt +up all their fuel. The soldiers tore down the Old +North church, and used its rotten boards and timbers +for fire-wood. To heighten their distress, the small +pox broke out. They probably lost far more men by +cold, hunger, and sickness, than had been slain at +Lexington and Bunker Hill."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What a dismal time for the poor women and +children!" exclaimed Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"At length," continued Grandfather, "in March, +1776, General Washington, who had now a good +supply of powder, began a terrible cannonade and +bombardment from Dorchester heights. One of the +cannon balls which he fired into the town, struck the +tower of the Brattle Street church, where it may +still be seen. Sir William Howe made preparations +to cross over in boats, and drive the Americans from +their batteries, but was prevented by a violent gale +and storm. General Washington next erected a +battery on Nook's hill, so near the enemy, that it +was impossible for them to remain in Boston any +longer."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hurra! Hurra!" cried Charley, clapping his +hands triumphantly. "I wish I had been there, to +see how sheepish the Englishmen looked."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And, as Grandfather thought that Boston had +never witnessed a more interesting period than this, +when the royal power was in its death agony, he determined +to take a peep into the town, and imagine +the feelings of those who were quitting it forever.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_45" id="toc_45"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter IX</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Alas! for the poor tories!" said Grandfather. +"Until the very last morning after Washington's +troops had shown themselves on Nook's hill, these +unfortunate persons could not believe that the audacious +rebels, as they called the Americans, would +ever prevail against King George's army. But, +when they saw the British soldiers preparing to embark +on board of the ships of war, then they knew +that they had lost their country. Could the patriots +have known how bitter were their regrets, they would +have forgiven them all their evil deeds, and sent a +blessing after them as they sailed away from their +native shore."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In order to make the children sensible of the +pitiable condition of these men, Grandfather singled +out Peter Oliver, chief justice of Massachusetts under +the crown, and imagined him walking through +the streets of Boston, on the morning before he left +it forever.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This effort of Grandfather's fancy may be called—</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_46" id="toc_46"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">THE TORY'S FAREWELL</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Old Chief Justice Oliver threw on his red cloak, +and placed his three-cornered hat on the top of his +white wig. In this garb he intended to go forth and +take a parting look at objects that had been familiar +to him from his youth. Accordingly, he began his +walk in the north part of the town, and soon came to +Faneuil Hall. This edifice, the cradle of liberty, +had been used by the British officers as a play-house.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Would that I could see its walls crumble to +dust!" thought the chief justice; and, in the bitterness +of his heart, he shook his fist at the famous hall. +"There began the mischief which now threatens +to rend asunder the British empire. The seditious +harangues of demagogues in Faneuil Hall, have +made rebels of a loyal people, and deprived me of +my country."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He then passed through a narrow avenue, and +found himself in King Street, almost in the very +spot which, six years before, had been reddened by +the blood of the Boston Massacre. The chief justice +stept cautiously, and shuddered, as if he were afraid, +that, even now, the gore of his slaughtered countrymen +might stain his feet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Before him rose the town house, on the front of +which were still displayed the royal arms. Within +that edifice he had dispensed justice to the people, +in the days when his name was never mentioned +without honor. There, too, was the balcony whence +the trumpet had been sounded, and the proclamation +read to an assembled multitude, whenever a new +king of England ascended the throne.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I remember—I remember," said Chief Justice +Oliver to himself, "when his present most sacred +majesty was proclaimed. Then how the people +shouted. Each man would have poured out his life-blood +to keep a hair of King George's head from +harm. But now, there is scarcely a tongue in all +New England that does not imprecate curses on his +name. It is ruin and disgrace to love him. Can +it be possible that a few fleeting years have wrought +such a change!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It did not occur to the chief justice, that nothing +but the most grievous tyranny could so soon have +changed the people's hearts. Hurrying from the +spot, he entered Cornhill, as the lower part of Washington +Street was then called. Opposite to the town +house was the waste foundation of the Old North +church. The sacrilegious hands of the British soldiers +had torn it down, and kindled their barrack +fires with the fragments.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Further on, he passed beneath the tower of the +Old South. The threshold of this sacred edifice was +worn by the iron tramp of horse's feet: for the interior +had been used as a riding-school and rendezvous, +for a regiment of dragoons. As the chief +justice lingered an instant at the door, a trumpet +sounded within, and the regiment came clattering +forth, and galloped down the street. They were +proceeding to the place of embarkation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Let them go!" thought the chief justice, with +somewhat of an old puritan feeling in his breast. +"No good can come of men who desecrate the house +of God."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He went on a few steps further, and paused before +the Province House. No range of brick stores +had then sprung up to hide the mansion of the royal +governors from public view. It had a spacious court-yard, +bordered with trees, and enclosed with a +wrought-iron fence. On the cupola, that surmounted +the edifice, was the gilded figure of an Indian chief, +ready to let fly an arrow from his bow. Over the +wide front door was a balcony, in which the chief +justice had often stood, when the governor and high +officers of the province showed themselves to the +people.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">While Chief Justice Oliver gazed sadly at the +Province House, before which a sentinel was pacing, +the double leaves of the door were thrown open, and +Sir William Howe made his appearance. Behind +him came a throng of officers, whose steel scabbards +clattered against the stones, as they hastened down +the court-yard. Sir William Howe was a dark-complexioned +man, stern and haughty in his deportment. +He stepped as proudly, in that hour of defeat, as if +he were going to receive the submission of the rebel +general.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The chief justice bowed and accosted him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"This is a grievous hour for both of us, Sir William," +said he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Forward! gentlemen," said Sir William Howe +to the officers who attended him: "we have no time +to hear lamentations now!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And, coldly bowing, he departed. Thus, the +chief justice had a foretaste of the mortifications +which the exiled New Englanders afterwards suffered +from the haughty Britons. They were despised +even by that country which they had served +more faithfully than their own.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A still heavier trial awaited Chief Justice Oliver, +as he passed onward from the Province House. +He was recognized by the people in the street. +They had long known him as the descendant of an +ancient and honorable family. They had seen him +sitting, in his scarlet robes, upon the judgment seat. +All his life long, either for the sake of his ancestors, +or on account of his own dignified station and +unspotted character, he had been held in high +respect. The old gentry of the province were +looked upon almost as noblemen, while Massachusetts +was under royal government.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But now, all hereditary reverence for birth and +rank was gone. The inhabitants shouted in derision, +when they saw the venerable form of the old +chief justice. They laid the wrongs of the country, +and their own sufferings during the siege—their +hunger, cold, and sickness—partly to his charge, +and to that of his brother Andrew, and his kinsman +Hutchinson. It was by their advice that the +king had acted, in all the colonial troubles. But +the day of recompense was come.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"See the old tory!" cried the people, with bitter +laughter. "He is taking his last look at us. +Let him show his white wig among us an hour +hence, and we'll give him a coat of tar and feathers!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The chief justice, however, knew that he need +fear no violence, so long as the British troops were +in possession of the town. But alas! it was a bitter +thought, that he should leave no loving memory +behind him. His forefathers, long after their spirits +left the earth, had been honored in the affectionate +remembrance of the people. But he, who would +henceforth be dead to his native land, would have +no epitaph save scornful and vindictive words. The +old man wept.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They curse me—they invoke all kinds of evil +on my head!" thought he, in the midst of his tears. +"But, if they could read my heart, they would +know that I love New England well. Heaven bless +her, and bring her again under the rule of our gracious +king! A blessing, too, on these poor, misguided +people!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The chief justice flung out his hands with a gesture, +as if he were bestowing a parting benediction +on his countrymen. He had now reached the southern +portion of the town, and was far within the +range of cannon shot from the American batteries. +Close beside him was the broad stump of a tree, +which appeared to have been recently cut down. +Being weary and heavy at heart, he was about to +sit down upon the stump.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suddenly, it flashed upon his recollection, that +this was the stump of Liberty Tree! The British +soldiers had cut it down, vainly boasting that +they could as easily overthrow the liberties of America. +Under its shadowy branches, ten years before, +the brother of Chief Justice Oliver had been compelled +to acknowledge the supremacy of the people, +by taking the oath which they prescribed. This +tree was connected with all the events that had severed +America from England.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Accursed tree!" cried the chief justice, +gnashing his teeth: for anger overcame his sorrow. +"Would that thou hadst been left standing, +till Hancock, Adams, and every other traitor, were +hanged upon thy branches! Then fitly mightest +thou have been hewn down, and cast into the +flames."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He turned back, hurried to Long Wharf without +looking behind him, embarked with the British +troops for Halifax, and never saw his country more. +Throughout the remainder of his days, Chief Justice +Oliver was agitated with those same conflicting +emotions, that had tortured him, while taking his +farewell walk through the streets of Boston. Deep +love and fierce resentment burned in one flame +within his breast. Anathemas struggled with benedictions. +He felt as if one breath of his native +air would renew his life, yet would have died, rather +than breathe the same air with rebels.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And such, likewise, were the feelings of the other +exiles, a thousand in number, who departed with the +British army. Were they not the most unfortunate +of men?</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The misfortunes of these exiled tories," observed +Laurence, "must have made them think of +the poor exiles of Acadia."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They had a sad time of it, I suppose," said +Charley. "But I choose to rejoice with the patriots, +rather than be sorrowful with the tories. +Grandfather, what did General Washington do +now?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"As the rear of the British army embarked from +the wharf," replied Grandfather, "General Washington's +troops marched over the neck, through the +fortification gates, and entered Boston in triumph. +And now, for the first time since the pilgrims landed, +Massachusetts was free from the dominion of England. +May she never again be subjected to foreign +rule—never again feel the rod of oppression!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dear Grandfather," asked little Alice, "did +General Washington bring our chair back to Boston?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know not how long the chair remained at +Cambridge," said Grandfather. "Had it staid +there till this time, it could not have found a better +or more appropriate shelter. The mansion which +General Washington occupied is still standing; +and his apartments have since been tenanted by +several eminent men. Governor Everett, while a +professor in the university, resided there. So at an +after period, did Mr. Sparks, whose invaluable +labors have connected his name with the immortality +of Washington. And, at this very time, a venerable +friend and contemporary of your Grandfather, +after long pilgrimages beyond the sea, has +set up his staff of rest at Washington's head-quarters."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You mean Professor Longfellow, Grandfather," +said Laurence. "Oh, how I should love to see the +author of those beautiful <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Voices Of The Night</span>!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"We will visit him next summer," answered +Grandfather, "and take Clara and little Alice with +us—and Charley, too, if he will be quiet."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_47" id="toc_47"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter X</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Grandfather resumed his narrative, the +next evening, he told the children that he had some +difficulty in tracing the movements of the chair, +during a short period after General Washington's +departure from Cambridge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Within a few months, however, it made its appearance +at a shop in Boston, before the door of +which was seen a striped pole. In the interior was +displayed a stuffed alligator, a rattlesnake's skin, a +bundle of Indian arrows, an old-fashioned matchlock +gun, a walking-stick of Governor Winthrop's, a wig +of old Cotton Mather's, and a colored print of the +Boston Massacre. In short, it was a barber's shop, +kept by a Mr. Pierce, who prided himself on having +shaved General Washington, Old Put, and +many other famous persons.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"This was not a very dignified situation for our +venerable chair," continued Grandfather; "but, +you know, there is no better place for news, than a +barber's shop. All the events of the revolutionary +war were heard of there, sooner than anywhere else. +People used to sit in the chair, reading the newspaper +or talking, and waiting to be shaved, while +Mr. Pierce with his scissors and razor, was at work +upon the heads or chins of his other customers."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am sorry the chair could not betake itself to +some more suitable place of refuge," said Laurence. +"It was old now, and must have longed for quiet. +Besides, after it had held Washington in its arms, +it ought not to have been compelled to receive all +the world. It should have been put into the pulpit +of the Old South Church, or some other consecrated +place."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Perhaps so," answered Grandfather. "But the +chair, in the course of its varied existence, had grown +so accustomed to general intercourse with society, +that I doubt whether it would have contented itself +in the pulpit of the Old South. There it would have +stood solitary, or with no livelier companion than the +silent organ, in the opposite gallery, six days out of +seven. I incline to think, that it had seldom been +situated more to its mind, than on the sanded floor +of the snug little barber's shop."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then Grandfather amused his children and himself, +with fancying all the different sorts of people +who had occupied our chair, while they awaited the +leisure of the barber.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There was the old clergyman, such as Dr. Chauncey, +wearing a white wig, which the barber took from +his head, and placed upon a wig-block. Half an hour, +perhaps, was spent in combing and powdering this +reverend appendage to a clerical skull. There too, +were officers of the continental army, who required +their hair to be pomatumed and plastered, so as to give +them a bold and martial aspect. There, once in a +while, was seen the thin, care-worn, melancholy visage +of an old tory, with a wig that, in times long past, +had perhaps figured at a Province House ball. And +there, not unfrequently, sat the rough captain of a +privateer, just returned from a successful cruise, in +which he had captured half a dozen richly laden +vessels, belonging to King George's subjects. And, +sometimes, a rosy little school-boy climbed into our +chair, and sat staring, with wide-open eyes, at the +alligator, the rattlesnake, and the other curiosities +of the barber's shop. His mother had sent him, with +sixpence in his hand, to get his glossy curls cropped +off. The incidents of the Revolution plentifully supplied +the barber's customers with topics of conversation. +They talked sorrowfully of the death of General +Montgomery, and the failure of our troops to take +Quebec; for the New Englanders were now as +anxious to get Canada from the English, as they had +formerly been to conquer it from the French.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, very soon," said Grandfather, "came news +from Philadelphia, the most important that America +had ever heard of. On the 4th of July, 1776, Congress +had signed the Declaration of Independence. +The thirteen colonies were now free and independent +states. Dark as our prospects were, the inhabitants +welcomed these glorious tidings, and resolved to perish, +rather than again bear the yoke of England!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And I would perish too!" cried Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was a great day—a glorious deed!" said +Laurence, coloring high with enthusiasm. "And, +Grandfather, I love to think that the sages in Congress +showed themselves as bold and true as the +soldiers in the field. For it must have required +more courage to sign the Declaration of Independence, +than to fight the enemy in battle."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather acquiesced in Laurence's view of +the matter. He then touched briefly and hastily +upon the prominent events of the Revolution. The +thunder-storm of war had now rolled southward, and +did not again burst upon Massachusetts, where its +first fury had been felt. But she contributed her +full share to the success of the contest. Wherever +a battle was fought—whether at Long Island, White +Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, or German-town—some +of her brave sons were found slain +upon the field.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In October, 1777, General Burgoyne surrendered +his army, at Saratoga, to the American general, +Gates. The captured troops were sent to Massachusetts. +Not long afterwards, Doctor Franklin +and other American commissioners made a treaty at +Paris, by which France bound herself to assist our +countrymen. The gallant Lafayette was already +fighting for our freedom, by the side of Washington. +In 1778, a French fleet, commanded by Count +d'Estaing, spent a considerable time in Boston Harbor. +It marks the vicissitudes of human affairs, +that the French, our ancient enemies, should come +hither as comrades and brethren, and that kindred +England should be our foe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"While the war was raging in the Middle and +Southern States," proceeded Grandfather, "Massachusetts +had leisure to settle a new constitution of +government, instead of the royal charter. This was +done in 1780. In the same year, John Hancock, +who had been president of Congress, was chosen +governor of the state. He was the first whom the +people had elected, since the days of old Simon +Bradstreet."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, Grandfather, who had been governor since +the British were driven away?" inquired Laurence. +"General Gage and Sir William Howe were the +last whom you have told us of."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There had been no governor for the last four +years," replied Grandfather. "Massachusetts had +been ruled by the legislature, to whom the people +paid obedience of their own accord. It is one of the +most remarkable circumstances in our history, that, +when the charter government was overthrown by the +war, no anarchy, nor the slightest confusion ensued. +This was a great honor to the people. But now, +Hancock was proclaimed governor by sound of trumpet; +and there was again a settled government."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather again adverted to the progress of the +war. In 1781, General Greene drove the British +from the Southern States. In October, of the same +year, General Washington compelled Lord Cornwallis +to surrender his army, at Yorktown, in Virginia. +This was the last great event of the revolutionary +contest. King George and his ministers perceived, +that all the might of England could not compel +America to renew her allegiance to the crown. +After a great deal of discussion, a treaty of peace +was signed, in September, 1783.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now, at last," said Grandfather, "after weary +years of war, the regiments of Massachusetts returned +in peace to their families. Now, the stately +and dignified leaders, such as General Lincoln +and General Knox, with their pondered hair and +their uniforms of blue and buff, were seen moving +about the streets."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And little boys ran after them, I suppose," remarked +Charley; "and the grown people bowed +respectfully."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They deserved respect, for they were good men, +as well as brave," answered Grandfather. "Now, +too, the inferior officers and privates came home, to +seek some peaceful occupation. Their friends remembered +them as slender and smooth-cheeked +young men; but they returned with the erect and +rigid mien of disciplined soldiers. Some hobbled +on crutches and wooden legs; others had received +wounds, which were still rankling in their breasts. +Many, alas! had fallen in battle, and perhaps were +left unburied on the bloody field."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The country must have been sick of war," observed +Laurence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"One would have thought so," said Grandfather. +"Yet only two or three years elapsed, before the +folly of some misguided men caused another mustering +of soldiers. This affair was called Shays' War, +because a Captain Shays was the chief leader of the +insurgents."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"O Grandfather, don't let there be another +war!" cried little Alice, piteously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather comforted his dear little girl, by +assuring her that there was no great mischief done. +Shays's War happened in the latter part of 1786, +and the beginning of the following year. Its principal +cause was the badness of the times. The +State of Massachusetts, in its public capacity, was +very much in debt. So, likewise, were many of +the people. An insurrection took place, the object +of which seems to have been, to interrupt the course +of law, and get rid of debts and taxes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James Bowdoin, a good and able man, was now +governor of Massachusetts. He sent General Lincoln, +at the head of four thousand men, to put down +the insurrection. This general, who had fought +through several hard campaigns in the Revolution, +managed matters like an old soldier, and totally +defeated the rebels, at the expense of very little +blood.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There is but one more public event to be +recorded in the history of our chair," proceeded +Grandfather. "In the year 1794, Samuel Adams +was elected governor of Massachusetts. I have +told you what a distinguished patriot he was, and +how much he resembled the stern old Puritans. +Could the ancient freemen of Massachusetts, who +lived in the days of the first charter, have arisen +from their graves, they would probably have voted +for Samuel Adams to be governor."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, Grandfather, I hope he sat in our +chair!" said Clara.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He did," replied Grandfather. "He had +long been in the habit of visiting the barber's shop, +where our venerable chair, philosophically forgetful +of its former dignities, had now spent nearly eighteen +not uncomfortable years. Such a remarkable +piece of furniture, so evidently a relic of long-departed +times, could not escape the notice of Samuel +Adams. He made minute researches into its history, +and ascertained what a succession of excellent +and famous people had occupied it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How did he find it out?" asked Charley. "For +I suppose the chair could not tell its own history."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There used to be a vast collection of ancient +letters and other documents, in the tower of the old +South Church," answered Grandfather. "Perhaps +the history of our chair was contained among these. +At all events, Samuel Adams appears to have been +well acquainted with it. When he became governor, +he felt that he could have no more honorable seat, +than that which had been the ancient Chair of State. +He therefore purchased it for a trifle, and filled it +worthily for three years, as governor of Massachusetts."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And what next?" asked Charley.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That is all," said Grandfather, heaving a sigh; +for he could not help being a little sad, at the thought +that his stories must close here. "Samuel Adams +died in 1803, at the age of above threescore and +ten. He was a great patriot but a poor man. At +his death, he left scarcely property enough to pay +the expenses of his funeral. This precious chair, +among his other effects, was sold at auction; and +your Grandfather, who was then in the strength of +his years, became the purchaser."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Laurence, with a mind full of thoughts, that +struggled for expression, but could find none, looked +steadfastly at the chair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He had now learned all its history, yet was not +satisfied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, how I wish that the chair could speak!" +cried he. "After its long intercourse with mankind—after +looking upon the world for ages—what +lessons of golden wisdom it might utter! It might +teach a private person how to lead a good and happy +life—or a statesman how to make his country prosperous!"</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_48" id="toc_48"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter XI</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather was struck by Laurence's idea, that +the historic chair should utter a voice, and thus pour +forth the collected wisdom of two centuries. The +old gentleman had once possessed no inconsiderable +share of fancy; and, even now, its fading sunshine +occasionally glimmered among his more sombre reflections.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As the history of the chair had exhausted all his +facts, Grandfather determined to have recourse to +fable. So, after warning the children that they must +not mistake this story for a true one, he related what +we shall call,—</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_49" id="toc_49"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">GRANDFATHER'S DREAM</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Laurence and Clara, where were you last night? +Where were you, Charley, and dear little Alice? +You had all gone to rest, and left old Grandfather +to meditate alone, in his great chair. The lamp had +grown so dim, that its light hardly illuminated the +alabaster shade. The wood fire had crumbled into +heavy embers, among which the little flames danced, +and quivered, and sported about, like fairies.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And here sat Grandfather, all by himself. He +knew that it was bedtime; yet he could not help +longing to hear your merry voices, or to hold a comfortable +chat with some old friend; because then his +pillow would be visited by pleasant dreams. But, +as neither children nor friends were at hand, Grandfather +leaned back in the great chair, and closed his +eyes, for the sake of meditating more profoundly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And, when Grandfather's meditations had grown +very profound indeed, he fancied that he heard a +sound over his head, as if somebody were preparing +to speak.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hem!" it said, in a dry, husky tone. "H-e-m! +Hem!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As Grandfather did not know that any person was +in the room, he started up in great surprise, and +peeped hither and thither, behind the chair, and +into the recess by the fireside, and at the dark nook +yonder, near the bookcase. Nobody could he see.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Pooh!" said Grandfather to himself, "I must +have been dreaming."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, just as he was going to resume his seat, +Grandfather happened to look at the great chair. +The rays of fire-light were flickering upon it in such +a manner that it really seemed as if its oaken frame +were all alive. What! Did it not move its elbow? +There, too! It certainly lifted one of its ponderous +fore-legs, as if it had a notion of drawing itself a little +nearer to the fire. Meanwhile, the lion's head nodded +at Grandfather, with as polite and sociable a +look as a lion's visage, carved in oak, could possibly +be expected to assume. Well, this is strange!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Good evening, my old friend," said the dry and +husky voice, now a little clearer than before. "We +have been intimately acquainted so long, that I think +it high time we have a chat together."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather was looking straight at the lion's +head, and could not be mistaken in supposing that +it moved its lips. So here the mystery was all +explained.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I was not aware," said Grandfather, with a civil +salutation to his oaken companion, "that you possessed +the faculty of speech. Otherwise, I should +often have been glad to converse with such a solid, +useful, and substantial, if not brilliant member of +society."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh!" replied the ancient chair, in a quiet and +easy tone, for it had now cleared its throat of the +dust of ages. "I am naturally a silent and incommunicative +sort of character. Once or twice, in the +course of a century, I unclose my lips. When the +gentle Lady Arbella departed this life, I uttered a +groan. When the honest mint-master weighed his +plump daughter against the pine-tree shillings, I +chuckled audibly at the joke. When old Simon +Bradstreet took the place of the tyrant Andros, I +joined in the general huzza, and capered upon my +wooden legs, for joy. To be sure, the bystanders +were so fully occupied with their own feelings, that +my sympathy was quite unnoticed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And have you often held a private chat with your +friends?" asked Grandfather.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not often," answered the chair. "I once +talked with Sir William Phips, and communicated +my ideas about the witchcraft delusion. Cotton +Mather had several conversations with me, and derived +great benefit from my historical reminiscences. +In the days of the Stamp Act, I whispered in the +ear of Hutchinson, bidding him to remember what +stock his countrymen were descended of, and to +think whether the spirit of their forefathers had utterly +departed from them. The last man whom I +favored with a colloquy, was that stout old republican, +Samuel Adams."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And how happens it," inquired Grandfather, +"that there is no record nor tradition of your conversational +abilities? It is an uncommon thing to +meet with a chair that can talk."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, to tell you the truth," said the chair, giving +itself a hitch nearer to the hearth, "I am not +apt to choose the most suitable moments for unclosing +my lips. Sometimes I have inconsiderately begun +to speak, when my occupant, lolling back in my +arms, was inclined to take an after-dinner nap. Or, +perhaps, the impulse to talk may be felt at midnight, +when the lamp burns dim, and the fire crumbles into +decay, and the studious or thoughtful man finds that +his brain is in a mist. Oftenest, I have unwisely +uttered my wisdom in the ears of sick persons, when +the inquietude of fever made them toss about, upon +my cushion. And so it happens, that, though my +words make a pretty strong impression at the moment, +yet my auditors invariably remember them only +as a dream. I should not wonder if you, my excellent +friend, were to do the same, to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nor I either," thought Grandfather to himself. +However, he thanked this respectable old chair for +beginning the conversation, and begged to know +whether it had any thing particular to communicate.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have been listening attentively to your narrative +of my adventures," replied the chair, "and it +must be owned, that your correctness entitles you to +be held up as a pattern to biographers. Nevertheless, +there are a few omissions, which I should be +glad to see supplied. For instance, you make no +mention of the good knight, Sir Richard Saltonstall, +nor of the famous Hugh Peters, nor of those old +regicide judges, Whalley, Goffe, and Dixwell. Yet +I have borne the weight of all these distinguished +characters, at one time or another."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Grandfather promised amendment, if ever he +should have an opportunity to repeat his narrative. +The good old chair, which still seemed to retain a +due regard for outward appearance, then reminded +him how long a time had passed, since it had been +provided with a new cushion. It likewise expressed +the opinion, that the oaken figures on its back would +show to much better advantage, by the aid of a little +varnish.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And I have had a complaint in this joint," continued +the chair, endeavoring to lift one of its legs, +"ever since Charley trundled his wheelbarrow +against me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It shall be attended to," said Grandfather. +"And now, venerable chair, I have a favor to solicit. +During an existence of more than two centuries, you +have had a familiar intercourse with men who were +esteemed the wisest of their day. Doubtless, with +your capacious understanding, you have treasured +up many an invaluable lesson of wisdom. You certainly +have had time enough to guess the riddle of +life. Tell us poor mortals, then, how we may be +happy!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The lion's head fixed its eyes thoughtfully upon +the fire, and the whole chair assumed an aspect of +deep meditation. Finally, it beckoned to Grandfather +with its elbow, and made a step sideways towards +him, as if it had a very important secret to +communicate.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"As long as I have stood in the midst of human +affairs," said the chair, with a very oracular enunciation, +"I have constantly observed that JUSTICE, +TRUTH, and LOVE, are the chief ingredients of every +happy life."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Justice, Truth, and Love!" exclaimed Grandfather. +"We need not exist two centuries to find +out that these qualities are essential to our happiness. +This is no secret. Every human being is born with +the instinctive knowledge of it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ah!" cried the chair, drawing back in surprise. +"From what I have observed of the dealings of man +with man, and nation with nation, I never should +have suspected that they knew this all-important secret. +And, with this eternal lesson written in your +soul, do you ask me to sift new wisdom for you, out +of my petty existence of two or three centuries?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, my dear chair—" said Grandfather.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not a word more," interrupted the chair; "here +I close my lips for the next hundred years. At the +end of that period, if I shall have discovered any +new precepts of happiness, better than what Heaven +has already taught you, they shall assuredly be given +to the world."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the energy of its utterance, the oaken chair +seemed to stamp its foot, and trod, (we hope unintentionally) +upon Grandfather's toe. The old gentleman +started, and found that he had been asleep in +the great chair, and that his heavy walking stick had +fallen down across his foot.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Grandfather," cried little Alice, clapping her +hands, "you must dream a new dream, every night, +about our chair!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, said the same. +But the good old gentleman shook his head, and declared +that here ended the history, real or fabulous, +of <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Grandfather's Chair</span>.</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_50" id="toc_50"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head">Biographical Stories</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">BENJAMIN WEST,<br /> +SIR ISAAC NEWTON,<br /> +SAMUEL JOHNSON<br /> +OLIVER CROMWELL,<br /> +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,<br /> +QUEEN CHRISTINA.</p> + +<blockquote style="margin: 2em 4em" class="tei tei-quote"> +<p class="tei tei-p">This small volume, and others of a similar character, from the +same hand, have not been composed without a deep sense of +responsibility. The author regards children as sacred, and would +not, for the world, cast any thing into the fountain of a young +heart, that might embitter and pollute its waters. And, even in +point of the reputation to be aimed at, juvenile literature is as +well worth cultivating as any other. The writer, if he succeed in +pleasing his little readers, may hope to be remembered by them +till their own old age—a far longer period of literary existence +than is generally attained, by those who seek immortality from +the judgments of full grown men.</p> +</blockquote> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_51" id="toc_51"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter I</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Edward Temple was about eight or nine +years old, he was afflicted with a disorder of the eyes. +It was so severe, and his sight was naturally so delicate, +that the surgeon felt some apprehensions lest +the boy should become totally blind. He therefore +gave strict directions to keep him in a darkened +chamber, with a bandage over his eyes. Not a ray +of the blessed light of Heaven could be suffered to +visit the poor lad.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This was a sad thing for Edward! It was just +the same as if there were to be no more sunshine, +nor moonlight, nor glow of the cheerful fire, nor light +of lamps. A night had begun which was to continue +perhaps for months,—a longer and drearier night +than that which voyagers are compelled to endure, +when their ship is ice-bound, throughout the winter, +in the Arctic Ocean. His dear father and mother, +his brother George, and the sweet face of little Emily +Robinson, must all vanish, and leave him in utter +darkness and solitude. Their voices and footsteps, +it is true, would be heard around him; he would feel +his mother's embrace, and the kind pressure of all +their hands; but still it would seem as if they were +a thousand miles away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And then his studies! They were to be entirely +given up. This was another grievous trial; for Edward's +memory hardly went back to the period when +he had not known how to read. Many and many a +holiday had he spent at his book, poring over its +pages until the deepening twilight confused the print, +and made all the letters run into long words. Then +would he press his hands across his eyes, and wonder +why they pained him so, and, when the candles +were lighted, what was the reason that they burned +so dimly, like the moon in a foggy night. Poor little +fellow! So far as his eyes were concerned, he +was already an old man, and needed a pair of spectacles +almost as much as his own grandfather did.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And now, alas! the time was come, when even +grandfather's spectacles could not have assisted Edward +to read. After a few bitter tears, which only +pained his eyes the more, the poor boy submitted to +the surgeon's orders. His eyes were bandaged, and, +with his mother on one side, and his little friend +Emily on the other, he was led into a darkened +chamber.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mother, I shall be very miserable," said Edward, +sobbing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, no, my dear child!" replied his mother, +cheerfully. "Your eyesight was a precious gift of +Heaven, it is true; but you would do wrong to be +miserable for its loss, even if there were no hope of +regaining it. There are other enjoyments, besides +what come to us through our eyes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"None that are worth having," said Edward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ah! but you will not think so long," rejoined +Mrs. Temple, with tenderness. "All of us—your +father, and myself, and George, and our sweet Emily—will +try to find occupation and amusement for +you. We will use all our eyes to make you happy. +Will not they be better than a single pair?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will sit by you all day long," said Emily, in +her low, sweet voice, putting her hand into that of +Edward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And so will I, Ned," said George, his elder +brother,—"school time and all, if my father will +permit me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Edward's brother George was three or four years +older than himself, a fine, hardy lad, of a bold and +ardent temper. He was the leader of his comrades +in all their enterprises and amusements. As to his +proficiency at study, there was not much to be said. +He had sense and ability enough to have made himself +a scholar, but found so many pleasanter things +to do, that he seldom took hold of a book with his +whole heart. So fond was George of boisterous +sports and exercises, that it was really a great token +of affection and sympathy, when he offered to sit all +day long in a dark chamber, with his poor brother +Edward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As for little Emily Robinson, she was the daughter +of one of Mr. Temple's dearest friends. Ever since +her mother went to Heaven, (which was soon after +Emily's birth,) the little girl had dwelt in the household +where we now find her. Mr. and Mrs. Temple +seemed to love her as well as their own children; for +they had no daughter except Emily; nor would the +boys have known the blessing of a sister, had not this +gentle stranger come to teach them what it was. If +I could show you Emily's face, with her dark hair +smoothed away from her forehead, you would be +pleased with her look of simplicity and loving-kindness, +but might think that she was somewhat too +grave for a child of seven years old. But you would +not love her the less for that.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So brother George, and this loving little girl, +were to be Edward's companions and playmates, +while he should be kept prisoner in the dark chamber. +When the first bitterness of his grief was +over, he began to feel that there might be some +comforts and enjoyments in life, even for a boy +whose eyes were covered with a bandage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I thank you, dear mother," said he, with only +a few sobs, "and you, Emily; and you too, George. +You will all be very kind to me, I know. And my +father—will not he come and see me, every day?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, my dear boy," said Mr. Temple; for, +though invisible to Edward, he was standing close +beside him. "I will spend some hours of every day +with you. And as I have often amused you by relating +stories and adventures, while you had the use +of your eyes, I can do the same, now that you are +unable to read. Will this please you, Edward?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, very much!" replied Edward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well then," said his father, "this evening we +will begin the series of Biographical Stories, which +I promised you some time ago."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_52" id="toc_52"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter II</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When evening came, Mr. Temple found Edward +considerably revived in spirits, and disposed to be resigned +to his misfortune. Indeed, the figure of the +boy, as it was dimly seen by the fire-light, reclining +in a well stuffed easy-chair, looked so very comfortable +that many people might have envied him. +When a man's eyes have grown old with gazing at +the ways of the world, it does not seem such a terrible +misfortune to have them bandaged.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Little Emily Robinson sat by Edward's side, with +the air of an accomplished nurse. As well as the +duskiness of the chamber would permit, she watched +all his motions, and each varying expression of his +face, and tried to anticipate her patient's wishes, before +his tongue could utter them. Yet it was noticeable, +that the child manifested an indescribable awe +and disquietude, whenever she fixed her eyes on the +bandage; for to her simple and affectionate heart, it +seemed as if her dear friend Edward was separated +from her, because she could not see his eyes. A +friend's eyes tell us many things, which could never +be spoken by the tongue.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">George, likewise, looked awkward and confused, +as stout and healthy boys are accustomed to do, in +the society of the sick or afflicted. Never having +felt pain or sorrow, they are abashed, from not +knowing how to sympathize with the sufferings of +others.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, my dear Edward," inquired Mrs. Temple, +"is your chair quite comfortable? and has your little +nurse provided for all your wants? If so, your +father is ready to begin his stories."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, I am very well now," answered Edward, +with a faint smile. "And my ears have not forsaken +me, though my eyes are good for nothing. So, +pray, dear father, begin!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was Mr. Temple's design to tell the children a +series of true stories, the incidents of which should +be taken from the childhood and early life of eminent +people. Thus he hoped to bring George, and Edward, +and Emily, into closer acquaintance with the +famous persons who have lived in other times, by +showing that they also had been children once. Although +Mr. Temple was scrupulous to relate nothing +but what was founded on fact, yet he felt himself at +liberty to clothe the incidents of his narrative in a +new coloring, so that his auditors might understand +them the better.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"My first story," said he, "shall be about a +painter of pictures."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dear me!" cried Edward, with a sigh. "I +am afraid I shall never look at pictures any more."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"We will hope for the best," answered his father. +"In the mean time, you must try to see things within +your own mind."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mr. Temple then began the following story:</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_53" id="toc_53"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">BENJAMIN WEST</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Born</span> 1738. <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Died</span> 1820.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the year 1738, there came into the world, in +the town of Springfield, Pennsylvania, a Quaker infant, +from whom his parents and neighbors looked +for wonderful things. A famous preacher of the +Society of Friends had prophesied about little Ben, +and foretold that he would be one of the most remarkable +characters that had appeared on earth since the +days of William Penn. On this account, the eyes +of many people were fixed upon the boy. Some of +his ancestors had won great renown in the old wars +of England and France; but it was probably expected +that Ben would become a preacher, and +would convert multitudes to the peaceful doctrines +of the Quakers. Friend West and his wife were +thought to be very fortunate in having such a son.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Little Ben lived to the ripe age of six years, without +doing any thing that was worthy to be told in +history. But, one summer afternoon, in his seventh +year, his mother put a fan into his hand, and bade +him keep the flies away from the face of a little babe, +who lay fast asleep in the cradle. She then left the +room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The boy waved the fan to-and-fro, and drove away +the buzzing flies whenever they had the impertinence +to come near the baby's face. When they had all +flown out of the window, or into distant parts of the +room, he bent over the cradle, and delighted himself +with gazing at the sleeping infant. It was, indeed, +a very pretty sight. The little personage in the +cradle slumbered peacefully, with its waxen hands +under its chin, looking as full of blissful quiet as if +angels were singing lullabies in its ear. Indeed, it +must have been dreaming about Heaven; for, while +Ben stooped over the cradle, the little baby smiled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How beautiful she looks!" said Ben to himself. +"What a pity it is, that such a pretty smile should +not last forever!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now Ben, at this period of his life, had never +heard of that wonderful art, by which a look, that +appears and vanishes in a moment, may be made to +last for hundreds of years. But, though nobody had +told him of such an art, he may be said to have invented +it for himself. On a table, near at hand, +there were pens and paper, and ink of two colors, +black and red. The boy seized a pen and sheet of +paper, and kneeling down beside the cradle, began +to draw a likeness of the infant. While he was +busied in this manner, he heard his mother's step +approaching, and hastily tried to conceal the paper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Benjamin, my son, what hast thou been doing?" +inquired his mother, observing marks of confusion in +his face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At first, Ben was unwilling to tell; for he felt as +if there might be something wrong in stealing the +baby's face, and putting it upon a sheet of paper. +However, as his mother insisted, he finally put the +sketch into her hand, and then hung his head, expecting +to be well scolded. But when the good lady +saw what was on the paper, in lines of red and black +ink, she uttered a scream of surprise and joy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Bless me!" cried she. "It is a picture of +little Sally!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And then she threw her arms round our friend +Benjamin, and kissed him so tenderly, that he never +afterwards was afraid to show his performances to +his mother.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As Ben grew older, he was observed to take vast +delight in looking at the hues and forms of nature. +For instance, he was greatly pleased with the blue +violets of spring, the wild roses of summer, and the +scarlet cardinal-flowers of early autumn. In the decline +of the year, when the woods were variegated +with all the colors of the rainbow, Ben seemed to +desire nothing better than to gaze at them from +morn till night. The purple and golden clouds of +sunset were a joy to him. And he was continually +endeavoring to draw the figures of trees, men, mountains, +houses, cattle, geese, ducks, and turkeys, with +a piece of chalk, on barn-doors, or on the floor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In these old times, the Mohawk Indians were +still numerous in Pennsylvania. Every year a party +of them used to pay a visit to Springfield, because +the wigwams of their ancestors had formerly stood +there. These wild men grew fond of little Ben, +and made him very happy by giving him some of +the red and yellow paint with which they were +accustomed to adorn their faces. His mother, too, +presented him with a piece of indigo. Thus he now +had three colors,—red, blue, and yellow—and could +manufacture green, by mixing the yellow with the +blue. Our friend Ben was overjoyed, and doubtless +showed his gratitude to the Indians by taking their +likenesses, in the strange dresses which they wore, +with feathers, tomahawks, and bows and arrows.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, all this time, the young artist had no paint-brushes, +nor were there any to be bought, unless he +had sent to Philadelphia on purpose. However, he +was a very ingenious boy, and resolved to manufacture +paint-brushes for himself. With this design, he +laid hold upon—what do you think? why, upon a +respectable old black cat, who was sleeping quietly +by the fireside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Puss," said little Ben to the cat, "pray give me +some of the fur from the tip of thy tail!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Though he addressed the black cat so civilly, yet +Ben was determined to have the fur, whether she were +willing or not. Puss, who had no great zeal for the +fine arts, would have resisted if she could; but the +boy was armed with his mother's scissors, and very +dexterously clipped off fur enough to make a paint-brush. +This was of so much use to him, that he applied +to Madam Puss again and again, until her +warm coat of fur had become so thin and ragged, +that she could hardly keep comfortable through the +winter. Poor thing! she was forced to creep close +into the chimney-corner, and eyed Ben with a very +rueful physiognomy. But Ben considered it more +necessary that he should have paint-brushes, than +that Puss should be warm.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">About this period, Friend West received a visit +from Mr. Pennington, a merchant of Philadelphia, +who was likewise a member of the Society of Friends. +The visitor, on entering the parlor, was surprised to +see it ornamented with drawings of Indian chiefs, +and of birds with beautiful plumage, and of the wild +flowers of the forest. Nothing of the kind was ever +seen before in the habitation of a Quaker farmer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, Friend West," exclaimed the Philadelphia +merchant, "what has possessed thee to cover thy +walls with all these pictures? Where on earth didst +thou get them?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then Friend West explained, that all these +pictures were painted by little Ben, with no better +materials than red and yellow ochre and a piece of +indigo, and with brushes made of the black cat's fur.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Verily," said Mr. Pennington, "the boy hath +a wonderful faculty. Some of our friends might +look upon these matters as vanity; but little Benjamin +appears to have been born a painter; and Providence +is wiser than we are."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The good merchant patted Benjamin on the head, +and evidently considered him a wonderful boy. +When his parents saw how much their son's performances +were admired, they no doubt remembered +the prophecy of the old Quaker preacher, respecting +Ben's future eminence. Yet they could not understand +how he was ever to become a very great and +useful man, merely by making pictures.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">One evening, shortly after Mr. Pennington's return +to Philadelphia, a package arrived at Springfield, +directed to our little friend Ben.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What can it possibly be?" thought Ben, when +it was put into his hands. "Who can have sent me +such a great square package as this!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On taking off the thick brown paper which enveloped +it, behold! there was a paint-box, with a great +many cakes of paint, and brushes of various sizes. +It was the gift of good Mr. Pennington. There +were likewise several squares of canvas, such as +artists use for painting pictures upon, and, in addition +to all these treasures, some beautiful engravings +of landscapes. These were the first pictures that +Ben had ever seen, except those of his own drawing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">What a joyful evening was this for the little artist! +At bedtime, he put the paint-box under his pillow, +and got hardly a wink of sleep; for, all night long, +his fancy was painting pictures in the darkness. In +the morning, he hurried to the garret, and was seen +no more till the dinner-hour; nor did he give himself +time to eat more than a mouthful or two of food, +before he hurried back to the garret again. The +next day, and the next, he was just as busy as ever; +until at last his mother thought it time to ascertain +what he was about. She accordingly followed him +to the garret.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On opening the door, the first object that presented +itself to her eyes was our friend Benjamin, giving the +last touches to a beautiful picture. He had copied +portions of two of the engravings, and made one picture +out of both, with such admirable skill that it +was far more beautiful than the originals. The +grass, the trees, the water, the sky, and the houses, +were all painted in their proper colors. There, too, +was the sunshine and the shadow, looking as natural +as life.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"My dear child, thou hast done wonders!" cried +his mother.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The good lady was in an ecstasy of delight. And +well might she be proud of her boy; for there were +touches in this picture, which old artists, who had +spent a lifetime in the business, need not have been +ashamed of. Many a year afterwards, this wonderful +production was exhibited at the Royal Academy +in London.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Benjamin was quite a large lad, he was +sent to school at Philadelphia. Not long after his +arrival, he had a slight attack of fever, which confined +him to his bed. The light, which would otherwise +have disturbed him, was excluded from his +chamber by means of closed wooden shutters. At +first, it appeared so totally dark, that Ben could not +distinguish any object in the room. By degrees, +however, his eyes became accustomed to the scanty +light.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He was lying on his back, looking up towards the +ceiling, when suddenly he beheld the dim apparition +of a white cow, moving slowly over his head! Ben +started, and rubbed his eyes, in the greatest amazement.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What can this mean?" thought he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The white cow disappeared; and next came several +pigs, who trotted along the ceiling, and vanished +into the darkness of the chamber. So lifelike did +these grunters look, that Ben almost seemed to hear +them squeak.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, this is very strange!" said Ben to himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When the people of the house came to see him, +Benjamin told them of the marvellous circumstance +which had occurred. But they would not believe +him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Benjamin, thou art surely out of thy senses!" +cried they. "How is it possible that a white cow +and a litter of pigs should be visible on the ceiling +of a dark chamber?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Ben, however, had great confidence in his own +eyesight, and was determined to search the mystery +to the bottom. For this purpose, when he was again +left alone, he got out of bed, and examined the window-shutters. +He soon perceived a small chink in +one of them, through which a ray of light found its +passage, and rested upon the ceiling. Now the +science of optics will inform us, that the pictures of +the white cow and the pigs, and of other objects out +of doors, came into the dark chamber, through this +narrow chink, and were painted over Benjamin's +head. It is greatly to his credit, that he discovered +the scientific principle of this phenomenon, and, by +means of it, constructed a Camera Obscura, or Magic +Lantern, out of a hollow box. This was of great +advantage to him in drawing landscapes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Well; time went on, and Benjamin continued to +draw and paint pictures, until he had now reached +the age when it was proper that he should choose a +business for life. His father and mother were in +considerable perplexity about him. According to +the ideas of the Quakers it is not right for people to +spend their lives in occupations that are of no real +and sensible advantage to the world. Now, what +advantage could the world expect from Benjamin's +pictures? This was a difficult question; and, in +order to set their minds at rest, his parents determined +to consult the preachers and wise men of their +society. Accordingly, they all assembled in the +meeting-house, and discussed the matter from beginning +to end.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Finally, they came to a very wise decision. It +seemed so evident that Providence had created Benjamin +to be a painter, and had given him abilities +which would be thrown away in any other business, +that the Quakers resolved not to oppose his inclination. +They even acknowledged that the sight of a +beautiful picture might convey instruction to the +mind, and might benefit the heart, as much as a +good book or a wise discourse. They therefore committed +the youth to the direction of God, being well +assured that he best knew what was his proper sphere +of usefulness. The old men laid their hands upon +Benjamin's head, and gave him their blessing, and +the women kissed him affectionately. All consented +that he should go forth into the world, and learn to +be a painter, by studying the best pictures of ancient +and modern times.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So our friend Benjamin left the dwelling of his +parents, and his native woods and streams, and the +good Quakers of Springfield, and the Indians who +had given him his first colors,—he left all the +places and persons whom he had hitherto known,—and +returned to them no more. He went first to +Philadelphia, and afterwards to Europe. Here he +was noticed by many great people, but retained all +the sobriety and simplicity which he had learned +among the Quakers. It is related of him, that, +when he was presented at the court of the Prince of +Parma, he kept his hat upon his head, even while +kissing the Prince's hand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When he was twenty-five years old, he went to +London, and established himself there as an artist. +In due course of time, he acquired great fame by +his pictures, and was made chief painter to King +George the Third, and President of the Royal Academy +of Arts. When the Quakers of Pennsylvania +heard of his success, they felt that the prophecy +of the old preacher, as to little Ben's future eminence, +was now accomplished. It is true, they +shook their heads at his pictures of battle and bloodshed, +such as the Death of Wolfe,—thinking that +these terrible scenes should not be held up to the +admiration of the world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But they approved of the great paintings in which +he represented the miracles and sufferings of the Redeemer +of Mankind. King George employed him +to adorn a large and beautiful chapel, at Windsor +Castle, with pictures of these sacred subjects. He +likewise painted a magnificent picture of Christ +Healing the Sick, which he gave to the Hospital at +Philadelphia. It was exhibited to the public, and +produced so much profit that the Hospital was enlarged, +so as to accommodate thirty more patients. +If Benjamin West had done no other good deed than +this, yet it would have been enough to entitle him to +an honorable remembrance forever. At this very +day, there are thirty poor people in the Hospital, +who owe all their comforts to that same picture.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">We shall mention only a single incident more. +The picture of Christ Healing the Sick was exhibited +at the Royal Academy in London, where it covered +a vast space, and displayed a multitude of figures as +large as life. On the wall, close beside this admirable +picture, hung a small and faded landscape. It +was the same that little Ben had painted in his +father's garret, after receiving the paint-box and +engravings from good Mr. Pennington.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He lived many years, in peace and honor, and +died in 1820, at the age of eighty-two. The story +of his life is almost as wonderful as a fairy tale; for +there are few stranger transformations than that of a +little unknown Quaker boy, in the wilds of America, +into the most distinguished English painter of his +day. Let us each make the best use of our natural +abilities, as Benjamin West did; and with the blessing +of Providence, we shall arrive at some good end. +As for fame, it is but little matter whether we +acquire it or not.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Thank you for the story, my dear father," said +Edward, when it was finished. "Do you know, that +it seems as if I could see things without the help of +my eyes? While you were speaking, I have seen +little Ben, and the baby in its cradle, and the Indians, +and the white cow and the pigs, and kind Mr. Pennington, +and all the good old Quakers, almost as +plainly as if they were in this very room."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is because your attention was not disturbed +by outward objects," replied Mr. Temple. "People, +when deprived of sight, often have more vivid ideas +than those who possess the perfect use of their eyes. +I will venture to say that George has not attended +to the story quite so closely."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No indeed," said George, "but it was a very +pretty story for all that. How I should have laughed +to see Ben making a paint-brush out of the black +cat's tail! I intend to try the experiment with +Emily's kitten."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, no, no, George!" cried Emily, earnestly. +"My kitten cannot spare her tail."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Edward being an invalid, it was now time for him +to retire to bed. When the family bade him good +night, he turned his face towards them, looking very +loth to part.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I shall not know when morning comes," said he +sorrowfully. "And besides I want to hear your +voices all the time; for, when nobody is speaking, it +seems as if I were alone in a dark world!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You must have faith, my dear child," replied +his mother. "Faith is the soul's eyesight; and +when we possess it, the world is never dark nor +lonely."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_54" id="toc_54"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter III</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next day, Edward began to get accustomed +to his new condition of life. Once, indeed, when +his parents were out of the way, and only Emily +was left to take care of him, he could not resist the +temptation to thrust aside the bandage, and peep at +the anxious face of his little nurse. But, in spite of +the dimness of the chamber, the experiment caused +him so much pain, that he felt no inclination to take +another look. So, with a deep sigh, he resigned +himself to his fate.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Emily, pray talk to me!" said he, somewhat +impatiently.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Now, Emily was a remarkably silent little girl, +and did not possess that liveliness of disposition +which renders some children such excellent companions. +She seldom laughed, and had not the +faculty of making many words about small matters. +But the love and earnestness of her heart taught her +how to amuse poor Edward, in his darkness. She +put her knitting-work into his hands.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You must learn how to knit," said she.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What! without using my eyes?" cried Edward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can knit with my eyes shut," replied Emily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then, with her own little hands, she guided Edward's +fingers, while he set about this new occupation. +So awkward were his first attempts, that any other +little girl would have laughed heartily. But Emily +preserved her gravity, and showed the utmost patience +in taking up the innumerable stitches which +he let down. In the course of an hour or two, his +progress was quite encouraging.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When evening came, Edward acknowledged that +the day had been far less wearisome than he anticipated. +But he was glad, nevertheless, when his +father and mother, and George and Emily, all +took their seats around his chair. He put out his +hand to grasp each of their hands, and smiled with +a very bright expression upon his lips.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now I can see you all, with my mind's eye," +said he; "and now, father, pray tell us another +story."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Mr. Temple began.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_55" id="toc_55"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">SIR ISAAC NEWTON</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Born</span> 1642. <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Died</span> 1727.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On Christmas-day, in the year 1642, Isaac Newton +was born, at the small village of Woolsthorpe, in +England. Little did his mother think, when she +beheld her new-born babe, that he was destined to +explain many matters which had been a mystery +ever since the creation of the world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Isaac's father being dead, Mrs. Newton was married +again to a clergyman, and went to reside at +North Witham. Her son was left to the care of his +good old grandmother, who was very kind to him, +and sent him to school. In his early years, Isaac +did not appear to be a very bright scholar, but was +chiefly remarkable for his ingenuity in all mechanical +occupations. He had a set of little tools, and +saws of various sizes, manufactured by himself. +With the aid of these, Isaac contrived to make +many curious articles, at which he worked with so +much skill, that he seemed to have been born with a +saw or chisel in his hand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The neighbors looked with vast admiration at the +things which Isaac manufactured. And his old +grandmother, I suppose, was never weary of talking +about him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He'll make a capital workman, one of these +days," she would probably say. "No fear but +what Isaac will do well in the world, and be a rich +man before he dies."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It is amusing to conjecture what were the anticipations +of his grandmother and the neighbors, about +Isaac's future life. Some of them, perhaps, fancied +that he would make beautiful furniture of mahogany, +rose-wood, or polished oak, inlaid with ivory and +ebony, and magnificently gilded. And then, doubtless, +all the rich people would purchase these fine +things, to adorn their drawing-rooms. Others probably +thought that little Isaac was destined to be +an architect, and would build splendid mansions for +the nobility and gentry, and churches too, with the +tallest steeples that had ever been seen in England.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Some of his friends, no doubt, advised Isaac's +grandmother to apprentice him to a clockmaker; +for, besides his mechanical skill, the boy seemed to +have a taste for mathematics, which would be very +useful to him in that profession. And then, in due +time, Isaac would set up for himself, and would manufacture +curious clocks, like those that contain sets +of dancing figures, which issue from the dial-plate +when the hour is struck; or like those, where a ship +sails across the face of the clock, and is seen tossing +up and down on the waves, as often as the pendulum +vibrates.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Indeed, there was some ground for supposing that +Isaac would devote himself to the manufacture of +clocks; since he had already made one, of a kind +which nobody had ever heard of before. It was set +a-going, not by wheels and weights, like other clocks, +but by the dropping of water. This was an object +of great wonderment to all the people roundabout; +and it must be confessed that there are few boys, or +men either, who could contrive to tell what o'clock +it is, by means of a bowl of water.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Besides the water-clock, Isaac made a sun-dial. +Thus his grandmother was never at a loss to know +the hour; for the water-clock would tell it in the +shade, and the dial in the sunshine. The sun-dial +is said to be still in existence at Woolsthorpe, on the +corner of the house where Isaac dwelt. If so, it +must have marked the passage of every sunny hour +that has elapsed, since Isaac Newton was a boy. It +marked all the famous moments of his life; it marked +the hour of his death; and still the sunshine creeps +slowly over it, as regularly as when Isaac first set +it up.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Yet we must not say that the sun-dial has lasted +longer than its maker; for Isaac Newton will exist, +long after the dial—yea, and long after the sun +itself—shall have crumbled to decay.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Isaac possessed a wonderful faculty of acquiring +knowledge by the simplest means. For instance, +what method do you suppose he took, to find out the +strength of the wind? You will never guess how +the boy could compel that unseen, inconstant, and +ungovernable wanderer, the wind, to tell him the +measure of its strength. Yet nothing can be more +simple. He jumped against the wind; and by the +length of his jump, he could calculate the force of a +gentle breeze, a brisk gale, or a tempest. Thus, +even in his boyish sports, he was continually searching +out the secrets of philosophy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Not far from his grandmother's residence there +was a windmill, which operated on a new plan. +Isaac was in the habit of going thither frequently, +and would spend whole hours in examining its various +parts. While the mill was at rest, he pryed +into its internal machinery. When its broad sails +were set in motion by the wind, he watched the process +by which the mill-stones were made to revolve, +and crush the grain that was put into the hopper. +After gaining a thorough knowledge of its construction, +he was observed to be unusually busy with his +tools.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was not long before his grandmother, and all +the neighborhood, knew what Isaac had been about. +He had constructed a model of the windmill. +Though not so large, I suppose as one of the box-traps +which boys set to catch squirrels, yet every part +of the mill and its machinery was complete. Its little +sails were neatly made of linen, and whirled round +very swiftly when the mill was placed in a draught +of air. Even a puff of wind from Isaac's mouth, or +from a pair of bellows, was sufficient to set the sails +in motion. And—what was most curious—if a +handful of grains of wheat were put into the little +hopper, they would soon be converted into snow-white +flour.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Isaac's playmates were enchanted with his new +windmill. They thought that nothing so pretty, and +so wonderful, had ever been seen in the whole world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, Isaac," said one of them, "you have forgotten +one thing that belongs to a mill."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What is that?" asked Isaac; for he supposed, +that, from the roof of the mill to its foundation, he +had forgotten nothing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, where is the miller?" said his friend.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That is true!—I must look out for one," said +Isaac; and he set himself to consider how the deficiency +should be supplied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He might easily have made the miniature figure +of a man; but then it would not have been able to +move about, and perform the duties of a miller. As +Captain Lemuel Gulliver had not yet discovered the +island of Lilliput, Isaac did not know that there were +little men in the world, whose size was just suited +to his windmill. It so happened, however, that a +mouse had just been caught in the trap; and, as no +other miller could be found, Mr. Mouse was appointed +to that important office. The new miller made a +very respectable appearance in his dark gray coat. +To be sure, he had not a very good character for +honesty, and was suspected of sometimes stealing a +portion of the grain which was given him to grind. +But perhaps some two-legged millers are quite as +dishonest as this small quadruped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As Isaac grew older, it was found that he had far +more important matters in his mind than the manufacture +of toys, like the little windmill. All day +long, if left to himself, he was either absorbed in +thought, or engaged in some book of mathematics, +or natural philosophy. At night, I think it probable, +he looked up with reverential curiosity to the stars, +and wondered whether they were worlds, like our +own,—and how great was their distance from the +earth,—and what was the power that kept them in +their courses. Perhaps, even so early in life, Isaac +Newton felt a presentiment that he should be able, +hereafter, to answer all these questions.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Isaac was fourteen years old, his mother's +second husband being now dead, she wished her son +to leave school, and assist her in managing the farm +at Woolsthorpe. For a year or two, therefore, he +tried to turn his attention to farming. But his mind +was so bent on becoming a scholar, that his mother +sent him back to school, and afterwards to the University +of Cambridge.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">I have now finished my anecdotes of Isaac Newton's +boyhood. My story would be far too long, +were I to mention all the splendid discoveries which +he made, after he came to be a man. He was the +first that found out the nature of Light; for, before +his day, nobody could tell what the sunshine was +composed of. You remember, I suppose, the story +of an apple's falling on his head, and thus leading +him to discover the force of gravitation, which keeps +the heavenly bodies in their courses. When he had +once got hold of this idea, he never permitted his +mind to rest, until he had searched out all the laws, +by which the planets are guided through the sky. +This he did as thoroughly as if he had gone up +among the stars, and tracked them in their orbits. +The boy had found out the mechanism of a windmill; +the man explained to his fellow-men the mechanism +of the universe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">While making these researches he was accustomed +to spend night after night in a lofty tower, gazing at +the heavenly bodies through a telescope. His mind +was lifted far above the things of this world. He +may be said, indeed, to have spent the greater part +of his life in worlds that lie thousands and millions +of miles away; for where the thoughts and the +heart are, there is our true existence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Did you never hear the story of Newton and his +little dog Diamond? One day, when he was fifty +years old, and had been hard at work more than +twenty years, studying the theory of Light, he went +out of his chamber, leaving his little dog asleep before +the fire. On the table lay a heap of manuscript +papers, containing all the discoveries which Newton +had made during those twenty years. When his +master was gone, up rose little Diamond, jumped +upon the table, and overthrew the lighted candle. +The papers immediately caught fire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Just as the destruction was completed, Newton +opened the chamber-door, and perceived that the +labors of twenty years were reduced to a heap of +ashes. There stood little Diamond, the author of all +the mischief. Almost any other man would have +sentenced the dog to immediate death. But Newton +patted him on the head with his usual kindness, +although grief was at his heart.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, Diamond, Diamond," exclaimed he, "thou +little knowest the mischief thou hast done."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This incident affected his health and spirits for +some time afterwards; but, from his conduct towards +the little dog, you may judge what was the sweetness +of his temper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Newton lived to be a very old man, and acquired +great renown, and was made a Member of Parliament, +and received the honor of knighthood from +the king. But he cared little for earthly fame and +honors, and felt no pride in the vastness of his +knowledge. All that he had learned only made him +feel how little he knew in comparison to what remained +to be known.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I seem to myself like a child," observed he, +"playing on the sea-shore, and picking up here and +there a curious shell or a pretty pebble, while the +boundless ocean of Truth lies undiscovered before +me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At last, in 1727, when he was fourscore and five +years old, Sir Isaac Newton died,—or rather he +ceased to live on earth. We may be permitted to +believe that he is still searching out the infinite wisdom +and goodness of the Creator, as earnestly, and +with even more success, than while his spirit animated +a mortal body. He has left a fame behind him, +which will be as endurable as if his name were +written in letters of light, formed by the stars upon +the midnight sky.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I love to hear about mechanical contrivances—such +as the water-clock and the little windmill," remarked +George. "I suppose if Sir Isaac Newton +had only thought of it, he might have found out the +steam-engine, and railroads, and all the other famous +inventions that have come into use since his day."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Very possibly he might," replied Mr. Temple; +"and, no doubt, a great many people would think it +more useful to manufacture steam-engines, than to +search out the system of the universe. Other great +astronomers, besides Newton, have been endowed +with mechanical genius. There was David Rittenhouse, +an American,—he made a perfect little +water-mill, when he was only seven or eight years +old. But this sort of ingenuity is but a mere trifle +in comparison with the other talents of such men."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It must have been beautiful," said Edward, "to +spend whole nights in a high tower, as Newton did, +gazing at the stars, and the comets, and the meteors. +But what would Newton have done, had he been +blind? or if his eyes had been no better than +mine?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, even then, my dear child," observed Mrs. +Temple, "he would have found out some way of +enlightening his mind, and of elevating his soul. +But, come! little Emily is waiting to bid you good +night. You must go to sleep, and dream of seeing +all our faces."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But how sad it will be, when I awake!" murmured +Edward.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_56" id="toc_56"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter IV</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the course of the next day, the harmony of our +little family was disturbed by something like a quarrel +between George and Edward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The former, though he loved his brother dearly, +had found it quite too great a sacrifice of his own +enjoyments, to spend all his playtime in a darkened +chamber. Edward, on the other hand, was inclined +to be despotic. He felt as if his bandaged eyes +entitled him to demand that everybody, who enjoyed +the blessing of sight, should contribute to his +comfort and amusement. He therefore insisted that +George, instead of going out to play at foot-ball, should +join with himself and Emily in a game of questions +and answers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">George resolutely refused, and ran out of the +house. He did not revisit Edward's chamber till +the evening, when he stole in, looking confused, yet +somewhat sullen, and sat down beside his father's +chair. It was evident, by a motion of Edward's +head and a slight trembling of his lips, that he was +aware of George's entrance, though his footsteps had +been almost inaudible. Emily, with her serious and +earnest little face, looked from one to the other, as +if she longed to be a messenger of peace between +them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mr. Temple, without seeming to notice any of +these circumstances, began a story.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_57" id="toc_57"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">SAMUEL JOHNSON</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Born</span> 1709. <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Died</span> 1784.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Sam," said Mr. Michael Johnson of Lichfield, +one morning, "I am very feeble and ailing to-day. +You must go to Uttoxeter in my stead, and tend the +bookstall in the market-place there."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This was spoken, above a hundred years ago, by +an elderly man, who had once been a thriving bookseller +at Lichfield, in England. Being now in reduced +circumstances, he was forced to go, every +market-day, and sell books at a stall, in the neighboring +village of Uttoxeter.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">His son, to whom Mr. Johnson spoke, was a great +boy of very singular aspect. He had an intelligent +face; but it was seamed and distorted by a scrofulous +humor, which affected his eyes so badly, that +sometimes he was almost blind. Owing to the same +cause, his head would often shake with a tremulous +motion, as if he were afflicted with the palsy. When +Sam was an infant, the famous Queen Anne had +tried to cure him of this disease, by laying her royal +hands upon his head. But though the touch of a +king or Queen was supposed to be a certain remedy +for scrofula, it produced no good effect upon Sam +Johnson.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At the time which we speak of, the poor lad was +not very well dressed, and wore shoes from which his +toes peeped out; for his old father had barely the +means of supporting his wife and children. But, +poor as the family were, young Sam Johnson had as +much pride as any nobleman's son in England. The +fact was, he felt conscious of uncommon sense and +ability, which, in his own opinion, entitled him to +great respect from the world. Perhaps he would +have been glad, if grown people had treated him as +reverentially as his school-fellows did. Three of +them were accustomed to come for him, every morning; +and while he sat upon the back of one, the two +others supported him on each side, and thus he rode +to school in triumph!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Being a personage of so much importance, Sam +could not bear the idea of standing all day in Uttoxeter +market, offering books to the rude and ignorant +country-people. Doubtless he felt the more reluctant +on account of his shabby clothes, and the disorder of +his eyes, and the tremulous motion of his head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Mr. Michael Johnson spoke, Sam pouted, +and made an indistinct grumbling in his throat; then +he looked his old father in the face, and answered +him loudly and deliberately.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Sir," said he, "I will not go to Uttoxeter +market!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mr. Johnson had seen a great deal of the lad's +obstinacy ever since his birth; and while Sam was +younger, the old gentleman had probably used the +rod, whenever occasion seemed to require. But he +was now too feeble, and too much out of spirits, to +contend with this stubborn and violent-tempered boy. +He therefore gave up the point at once, and prepared +to go to Uttoxeter himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well Sam," said Mr. Johnson, as he took his +hat and staff, "If, for the sake of your foolish pride, +you can suffer your poor sick father to stand all day +in the noise and confusion of the market, when he +ought to be in his bed, I have no more to say. But +you will think of this, Sam, when I am dead and +gone!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So the poor old man (perhaps with a tear in his +eye, but certainly with sorrow in his heart) set forth +towards Uttoxeter. The gray-haired, feeble, melancholy +Michael Johnson! How sad a thing it was, +that he should be forced to go, in his sickness, and +toil for the support of an ungrateful son, who was +too proud to do any thing for his father, or his mother, +or himself! Sam looked after Mr. Johnson, +with a sullen countenance, till he was out of sight.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But when the old man's figure, as he went stooping +along the street, was no more to be seen, the +boy's heart began to smite him. He had a vivid +imagination, and it tormented him with the image of +his father, standing in the market-place of Uttoxeter +and offering his books to the noisy crowd around him, +Sam seemed to behold him, arranging his literary +merchandise upon the stall in such a way as was best +calculated to attract notice. Here was Addison's +Spectator, a long row of little volumes; here was +Pope's translation of the Iliad and Odyssey; here +were Dryden's poems, or those of Prior. Here, +likewise, were Gulliver's Travels, and a variety of +little gilt-covered children's books, such as Tom +Thumb, Jack the Giant-queller, Mother Goose's +Melodies, and others which our great-grandparents +used to read in their childhood. And here were +sermons for the pious, and pamphlets for the politicians, +and ballads, some merry and some dismal +ones, for the country people to sing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sam, in imagination, saw his father offer these +books, pamphlets, and ballads, now to the rude yeomen, +who perhaps could not read a word,—now to +the country squires, who cared for nothing but to +hunt hares and foxes,—now to the children, who +chose to spend their coppers for sugar-plums or +gingerbread, rather than for picture-books. And if +Mr. Johnson should sell a book to man, woman, or +child, it would cost him an hour's talk to get a profit +of only sixpence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"My poor father!" thought Sam to himself. +"How his head will ache, and how heavy his heart +will be! I am almost sorry that I did not do as he +bade me!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then the boy went to his mother, who was busy +about the house. She did not know of what had +passed between Mr. Johnson and Sam.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mother," said he, "did you think father seemed +very ill to-day?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, Sam," answered his mother, turning with +a flushed face from the fire, where she was cooking +their scanty dinner. "Your father did look very +ill; and it is a pity he did not send you to Uttoxeter +in his stead. You are a great boy now, and would +rejoice, I am sure, to do something for your poor +father, who has done so much for you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The lad made no reply. But again his imagination +set to work, and conjured up another picture of +poor Michael Johnson. He was standing in the hot +sunshine of the market-place, and looking so weary, +sick, and disconsolate, that the eyes of all the crowd +were drawn to him. "Had this old man no son," +the people would say among themselves, "who +might have taken his place at the bookstall, while +the father kept his bed?" And perhaps—but +this was a terrible thought for Sam!—perhaps his +father would faint away, and fall down in the +market-place, with his gray hair in the dust, and his +venerable face as deathlike as that of a corpse. +And there would be the bystanders gazing earnestly +at Mr. Johnson, and whispering, "Is he dead? Is +he dead?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And Sam shuddered, as he repeated to himself: +"Is he dead?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, I have been a cruel son!" thought he, +within his own heart. "God forgive me! God +forgive me!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But God could not yet forgive him; for he was +not truly penitent. Had he been so, he would have +hastened away that very moment to Uttoxeter, and +have fallen at his father's feet, even in the midst of +the crowded market-place. There he would have +confessed his fault, and besought Mr. Johnson to go +home, and leave the rest of the day's work to him. +But such was Sam's pride and natural stubbornness, +that he could not bring himself to this humiliation. +Yet he ought to have done so, for his own sake, and +for his father's sake, and for God's sake.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After sunset, old Michael Johnson came slowly +home, and sat down in his customary chair. He +said nothing to Sam; nor do I know that a single +word ever passed between them, on the subject of +the son's disobedience. In a few years, his father +died and left Sam to fight his way through the world +by himself. It would make our story much too long +were I to tell you even a few of the remarkable +events of Sam's life. Moreover, there is the less +need of this, because many books have been written +about that poor boy, and the fame that he acquired, +and all that he did or talked of doing, after he came +to be a man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But one thing I must not neglect to say. From +his boyhood upward, until the latest day of his life, he +never forgot the story of Uttoxeter market. Often +when he was a scholar of the University of Oxford, +or master of an Academy at Edial, or a writer for +the London booksellers,—in all his poverty and toil, +and in all his success,—while he was walking the +streets without a shilling to buy food, or when the +greatest men of England were proud to feast him at +their table,—still that heavy and remorseful thought +came back to him:—"I was cruel to my poor father +in his illness!" Many and many a time, awake or +in his dreams, he seemed to see old Michael Johnson, +standing in the dust and confusion of the market-place, +and pressing his withered hand to his forehead +as if it ached.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Alas! my dear children, it is a sad thing to have +such a thought as this to bear us company through +life.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Though the story was but half finished, yet, as it +was longer than usual, Mr. Temple here made a +short pause. He perceived that Emily was in tears, +and Edward turned his half-veiled face towards the +speaker, with an air of great earnestness and interest. +As for George he had withdrawn into the dusky +shadow behind his father's chair.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_58" id="toc_58"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter V</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In a few moments Mr. Temple resumed the story, +as follows:</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_59" id="toc_59"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">SAMUEL JOHNSON—<span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">continued.</span></h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Well, my children, fifty years had passed away +since young Sam Johnson had shown himself so +hard-hearted towards his father. It was now market-day +in the village of Uttoxeter.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the street of the village, you might see cattle-dealers +with cows and oxen for sale, and pig-drovers, +with herds of squeaking swine, and farmers, with +cart-loads of cabbages, turnips, onions, and all other +produce of the soil. Now and then a farmer's red-faced +wife trotted along on horseback, with butter +and cheese in two large panniers. The people of +the village, with country squires and other visitors +from the neighborhood, walked hither and thither, +trading, jesting, quarrelling, and making just such a +bustle as their fathers and grandfathers had made +half a century before.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In one part of the street, there was a puppet-show, +with a ridiculous Merry-Andrew, who kept both +grown people and children in a roar of laughter. +On the opposite side was the old stone church of +Uttoxeter, with ivy climbing up its walls, and partly +obscuring its Gothic windows.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There was a clock in the gray tower of the ancient +church; and the hands on the dial-plate had now +almost reached the hour of noon. At this busiest +hour of the market, a strange old gentleman was +seen making his way among the crowd. He was +very tall and bulky, and wore a brown coat and +small clothes, with black worsted stockings and +buckled shoes. On his head was a three-cornered +hat, beneath which a bushy gray wig thrust itself +out, all in disorder. The old gentleman elbowed +the people aside, and forced his way through the +midst of them with a singular kind of gait, rolling +his body hither and thither, so that he needed twice +as much room as any other person there.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Make way, sir!" he would cry out, in a loud, +harsh voice, when somebody happened to interrupt +his progress.—"Sir, you intrude your person into +the public thoroughfare!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What a queer old fellow this is!" muttered the +people among themselves, hardly knowing whether +to laugh or to be angry.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, when they looked into the venerable stranger's +face, not the most thoughtless among them dared +to offer him the least impertinence. Though his +features were scarred and distorted with the scrofula, +and though his eyes were dim and bleared, yet there +was something of authority and wisdom in his look, +which impressed them all with awe. So they stood +aside to let him pass; and the old gentleman made +his way across the market-place, and paused near +the corner of the ivy-mantled church. Just as he +reached it, the clock struck twelve.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On the very spot of ground, where the stranger +now stood, some aged people remembered that old +Michael Johnson had formerly kept his bookstall. +The little children, who had once bought picture-books +of him, were grandfathers now.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes; here is the very spot!" muttered the old +gentleman to himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There this unknown personage took his stand, and +removed the three-cornered hat from his head. It +was the busiest hour of the day. What with the +hum of human voices, the lowing of cattle, the +squeaking of pigs, and the laughter caused by the +Merry-Andrew, the market-place was in very great +confusion. But the stranger seemed not to notice +it, any more than if the silence of a desert were +around him. He was wrapt in his own thoughts. +Sometimes he raised his furrowed brow to heaven, +as if in prayer; sometimes he bent his head, as if an +insupportable weight of sorrow were upon him. It +increased the awfulness of his aspect that there was +a motion of his head, and an almost continual tremor +throughout his frame, with singular twitchings and +contortions of his features.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The hot sun blazed upon his unprotected head; +but he seemed not to feel its fervor. A dark cloud +swept across the sky, and rain-drops pattered into +the market-place; but the stranger heeded not the +shower. The people began to gaze at the mysterious +old gentleman, with superstitious fear and wonder. +Who could he be? Whence did he come? Wherefore +was he standing bare-headed in the market-place? +Even the school-boys left the Merry-Andrew, +and came to gaze, with wide open eyes, at +this tall, strange-looking old man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There was a cattle-drover in the village, who had +recently made a journey to the Smithfield market, +in London. No sooner had this man thrust his way +through the throng, and taken a look at the unknown +personage, than he whispered to one of his acquaintances:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I say, neighbor Hutchins, would ye like to know +who this old gentleman is?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ay, that I would," replied neighbor Hutchins; +"for a queerer chap I never saw in my life! Somehow, +it makes me feel small to look at him. He's +more than a common man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You may well say so," answered the cattle-drover. +"Why, that's the famous Doctor Samuel +Johnson, who, they say, is the greatest and learnedest +man in England. I saw him in London Streets, +walking with one Mr. Boswell."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Yes; the poor boy—the friendless Sam—with, +whom we began our story, had become the famous +Doctor Samuel Johnson! He was universally acknowledged +as the wisest man and greatest writer in +all England. He had given shape and permanence +to his native language, by his Dictionary. Thousands +upon thousands of people had read his Idler, +his Rambler, and his Rasselas. Noble and wealthy +men, and beautiful ladies, deemed it their highest +privilege to be his companions. Even the king of +Great Britain had sought his acquaintance, and told +him what an honor he considered it, that such a man +had been born in his dominions. He was now at +the summit of literary renown.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But all his fame could not extinguish the bitter +remembrance, which had tormented him through +life. Never, never, had he forgotten his father's +sorrowful and upbraiding look. Never—though +the old man's troubles had been over so many +years—had he forgiven himself for inflicting such +a pang upon his heart. And now, in his old +age, he had come hither to do penance, by +standing at noon-day in the market-place of Uttoxeter, +on the very spot where Michael Johnson +had once kept his bookstall. The aged and illustrious +man had done what the poor boy refused +to do. By thus expressing his deep repentance +and humiliation of heart, he hoped to gain peace +of conscience, and the forgiveness of God.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">My dear children, if you have grieved—I will +not say, your parents—but, if you have grieved the +heart of any human being, who has a claim upon +your love, then think of Samuel Johnson's penance! +Will it not be better to redeem the error now, than +to endure the agony of remorse for fifty years? +Would you not rather say to a brother—"I have +erred! Forgive me!"—than perhaps to go hereafter, +and shed bitter tears upon his grave?</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Hardly was the story concluded, when George hastily +arose, and Edward likewise, stretching forth his +hands into the darkness that surrounded him, to find +his brother. Both accused themselves of unkindness; +each besought the other's forgiveness; and having, +done so, the trouble of their hearts vanished away +like a dream.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am glad! I am so glad!" said Emily, in +a low, earnest voice. "Now I shall sleep quietly +to-night."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"My sweet child," thought Mrs. Temple, as she +kissed her, "mayest thou never know how much +strife there is on earth! It would cost thee many +a night's rest."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_60" id="toc_60"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VI</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">About this period, Mr. Temple found it necessary +to take a journey, which interrupted the series of +Biographical Stories for several evenings. In the +interval, Edward practised various methods of employing +and amusing his mind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sometimes he meditated upon beautiful objects +which he had formerly seen, until the intensity of +his recollection seemed to restore him the gift of +sight, and place every thing anew before his eyes. +Sometimes he repeated verses of poetry, which he +did not know to be in his memory, until he found +them there, just at the time of need. Sometimes +he attempted to solve arithmetical questions, which +had perplexed him while at school.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then, with his mother's assistance, he learned the +letters of the string-alphabet, which is used in some +of the Institutions for the Blind, in Europe. When +one of his friends gave him a leaf of Saint Mark's +Gospel, printed in embossed characters, he endeavored +to read it by passing his fingers over the letters, +as blind children do.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">His brother George was now very kind, and spent +so much time in the darkened chamber, that Edward +often insisted upon his going out to play. George +told him all about the affairs at school, and related +many amusing incidents that happened among his +comrades, and informed him what sports were now +in fashion, and whose kite soared the highest, and +whose little ship sailed fleetest on the Frog Pond. +As for Emily, she repeated stories which she had +learned from a new book, called THE FLOWER PEOPLE, +in which the snow-drops, the violets, the columbines, +the roses, and all that lovely tribe, are represented +as telling their secrets to a little girl. The flowers +talked sweetly, as flowers should; and Edward +almost fancied that he could behold their bloom +and smell their fragrant breath.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Thus, in one way or another, the dark days of +Edward's confinement passed not unhappily. In due +time, his father returned; and the next evening, +when the family were assembled, he began a story.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I must first observe, children," said he, "that +some writers deny the truth of the incident which I +am about to relate to you. There certainly is but +little evidence in favor of it. Other respectable +writers, however, tell it for a fact; and, at all +events, it is an interesting story, and has an excellent +moral."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Mr. Temple proceeded to talk about the early +days of</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_61" id="toc_61"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">OLIVER CROMWELL</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Born</span> 1599. <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Died</span> 1658.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Not long after King James the First took the place +of Queen Elizabeth on the throne of England, there +lived an English knight at a place called Hinchinbrooke. +His name was Sir Oliver Cromwell. He +spent his life, I suppose, pretty much like other +English knights and squires in those days, hunting +hares and foxes, and drinking large quantities of ale +and wine. The old house in which he dwelt, had +been occupied by his ancestors before him, for a +good many years. In it there was a great hall, +hung round with coats of arms, and helmets, cuirasses +and swords which his forefathers had used in +battle, and with horns of deer and tails of foxes, +which they or Sir Oliver himself had killed in the +chase.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This Sir Oliver Cromwell had a nephew, who had +been called Oliver, after himself, but who was generally +known in the family by the name of little Noll. +His father was a younger brother of Sir Oliver. +The child was often sent to visit his uncle, who +probably found him a troublesome little fellow to +take care of. He was forever in mischief, and +always running into some danger or other from +which he seemed to escape only by miracle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Even while he was an infant in the cradle a strange +accident had befallen him. A huge ape which was +kept in the family, snatched up little Noll in his +forepaws and clambered with him to the roof of the +house. There this ugly beast sat grinning at the +affrighted spectators, as if he had done the most +praiseworthy thing imaginable. Fortunately, however, +he brought the child safe down again; and +the event was afterwards considered an omen that +Noll would reach a very elevated station in the +world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">One morning, when Noll was five or six years old, +a royal messenger arrived at Hinchinbrooke, with +tidings that King James was coming to dine with Sir +Oliver Cromwell. This was a high honor to be sure, +but a very great trouble; for all the lords and ladies, +knights, squires, guards, and yeomen, who waited on +the king, were to be feasted as well as himself; and +more provisions would be eaten, and more wine +drunk, in that one day, than generally in a month. +However, Sir Oliver expressed much thankfulness +for the king's intended visit, and ordered his butler +and cook to make the best preparations in their +power. So a great fire was kindled in the kitchen; +and the neighbors knew by the smoke which poured +out of the chimney, that boiling, baking, stewing, +roasting, and frying, were going on merrily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">By and by the sound of trumpets was heard, +approaching nearer and nearer; and a heavy, old-fashioned +coach, surrounded by guards on horseback, +drove up to the house. Sir Oliver, with his hat in +his hand, stood at the gate to receive the king. His +Majesty was dressed in a suit of green, not very +new; he had a feather in his hat, and a triple ruff +round his neck; and over his shoulder was slung a +hunting horn, instead of a sword. Altogether, he +had not the most dignified aspect in the world; but +the spectators gazed at him as if there was something +superhuman and divine in his person. They +even shaded their eyes with their hands, as if they +were dazzled by the glory of his countenance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How are ye, man?" cried King James, speaking +in a Scotch accent; for Scotland was his native +country. "By my crown, Sir Oliver, but I am glad +to see ye!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The good knight thanked the king, at the same +time kneeling down, while his Majesty alighted. +When King James stood on the ground, he directed +Sir Oliver's attention to a little boy, who had come +with him in the coach. He was six or seven years +old, and wore a hat and feather, and was more richly +dressed than the king himself. Though by no means +an ill-looking child; he seemed shy, or even sulky; +and his cheeks were rather pale, as if he had been +kept moping within doors, instead of being sent out +to play in the sun and wind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have brought my son Charlie to see ye," said +the king. "I hope, Sir Oliver, ye have a son of +your own, to be his playmate?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sir Oliver Cromwell made a reverential bow to +the little prince, whom one of the attendants had +now taken out of the coach. It was wonderful to +see how all the spectators, even the aged men, with +their gray beards, humbled themselves before this +child. They bent their bodies till their beards +almost swept the dust. They looked as if they +were ready to kneel down and worship him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The poor little prince! From his earliest infancy +not a soul had dared to contradict him; everybody +around him had acted as if he were a superior being; +so that, of course, he had imbibed the same opinion +of himself. He naturally supposed that the whole +kingdom of Great Britain and all its inhabitants, had +been created solely for his benefit and amusement. +This was a sad mistake; and it cost him dear +enough after he had ascended his father's throne.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What a noble little prince he is!" exclaimed +Sir Oliver, lifting his hands in admiration. "No, +please your Majesty, I have no son to be the playmate +of his Royal Highness; but there is a nephew +of mine, somewhere about the house. He is near +the prince's age, and will be but too happy to wait +upon his Royal Highness."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Send for him, man! send for him!" said the +king.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, as it happened, there was no need of sending +for Master Noll. While King James was speaking, +a rugged, bold-faced, sturdy little urchin thrust +himself through the throng of courtiers and attendants, +and greeted the prince with a broad stare. +His doublet and hose (which had been put on new +and clean in honor of the king's visit) were already +soiled and torn with the rough play in which he had +spent the morning. He looked no more abashed +than if King James were his uncle, and the prince +one of his customary playfellows.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This was little Noll himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Here, please your Majesty, is my nephew," +said sir Oliver, somewhat ashamed of Noll's appearance +and demeanor. "Oliver, make your obeisance +to the king's Majesty!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The boy made a pretty respectful obeisance to the +king; for, in those days, children were taught to +pay reverence to their elders. King James, who +prided himself greatly on his scholarship, asked Noll +a few questions in the Latin Grammar, and then +introduced him to his son. The little prince in a +very grave and dignified manner, extended his hand, +not for Noll to shake, but that he might kneel down +and kiss it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nephew," said Sir Oliver, "pay your duty to +the prince."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I owe him no duty," cried Noll, thrusting aside +the prince's hand, with a rude laugh. "Why should +I kiss that boy's hand?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">All the courtiers were amazed and confounded, +and Sir Oliver the most of all. But the king laughed +heartily, saying that little Noll had a stubborn English +spirit, and that it was well for his son to learn +betimes what sort of a people he was to rule over.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So King James and his train entered the house; +and the prince, with Noll and some other children, +was sent to play in a separate room while his Majesty +was at dinner. The young people soon became +acquainted; for boys, whether the sons of monarchs +or of peasants, all like play, and are pleased with +one another's society. What games they diverted +themselves with, I cannot tell. Perhaps they played +at ball—perhaps at blindman's buff—perhaps +at leap-frog—perhaps at prison-bars. Such games +have been in use for hundreds of years; and princes +as well as poor children have spent some of their +happiest hours in playing at them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Meanwhile, King James and his nobles were feasting +with Sir Oliver, in the great hall. The king sat +in a gilded chair, under a canopy, at the head of a +long table. Whenever any of the company addressed +him, it was with the deepest reverence. If the attendants +offered him wine, or the various delicacies of +the festival, it was upon their bended knees. You +would have thought, by these tokens of worship, +that the monarch was a supernatural being; only +he seemed to have quite as much need of those +vulgar matters, food and drink, as any other person +at the table. But fate had ordained that good King +James should not finish his dinner in peace.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">All of a sudden, there arose a terrible uproar in +the room where the children were at play. Angry +shouts and shrill cries of alarm were mixed up +together; while the voices of elder persons were +likewise heard, trying to restore order among the +children. The king, and everybody else at table, +looked aghast; for perhaps the tumult made them +think that a general rebellion had broken out.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mercy on us!" muttered Sir Oliver; "that +graceless nephew of mine is in some mischief or +other. The naughty little whelp!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Getting up from table, he ran to see what was +the matter, followed by many of the guests, and the +king among them. They all crowded to the door of +the play-room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On looking in, they beheld the little Prince +Charles, with his rich dress all torn, and covered +with the dust of the floor. His royal blood was +streaming from his nose in great abundance. He +gazed at Noll with a mixture of rage and affright, +and at the same time a puzzled expression, as if he +could not understand how any mortal boy should +dare to give him a beating. As for Noll, there +stood his sturdy little figure, bold as a lion, looking +as if he were ready to fight not only the prince, but +the king and kingdom too.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You little villain!" cried his uncle. "What +have you been about? Down on your knees, this +instant, and ask the prince's pardon. How dare +you lay your hands on the king's Majesty's royal +son?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He struck me first," grumbled the valiant little +Noll; "and I've only given him his due."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sir Oliver and the guests lifted up their hands in +astonishment and horror. No punishment seemed +severe enough for this wicked little varlet, who had +dared to resent a blow from the king's own son. +Some of the courtiers were of opinion that Noll +should be sent prisoner to the Tower of London, and +brought to trial for high treason. Others, in their +great zeal for the king's service, were about to lay +hands on the boy, and chastise him in the royal +presence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But King James, who sometimes showed a good +deal of sagacity, ordered them to desist.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Thou art a bold boy," said he, looking fixedly at +little Noll; "and, if thou live to be a man, my son +Charlie would do wisely to be friends with thee."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I never will!" cried the little prince, stamping +his foot.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Peace, Charlie, peace!" said the king; then +addressing Sir Oliver and the attendants, "Harm +not the urchin; for he has taught my son a good +lesson, if Heaven do but give him grace to profit +by it. Hereafter, should he be tempted to tyrannize +over the stubborn race of Englishmen, let him remember +little Noll Cromwell, and his own bloody +nose!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So the king finished his dinner and departed; +and, for many a long year, the childish quarrel +between Prince Charles and Noll Cromwell was forgotten. +The prince, indeed, might have lived a happier +life, and have met a more peaceful death, had he +remembered that quarrel, and the moral which his +father drew from it. But, when old King James +was dead, and Charles sat upon his throne, he seemed +to forget that he was but a man, and that his meanest +subjects were men as well as he. He wished to have +the property and lives of the people of England entirely +at his own disposal. But the Puritans, and +all who loved liberty, rose against him, and beat him +in many battles, and pulled him down from his +throne.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Throughout this war between the king and nobles +on one side, and the people of England on the other, +there was a famous leader, who did more towards +the ruin of royal authority, than all the rest. The +contest seemed like a wrestling-match between King +Charles and this strong man. And the king was +overthrown.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When the discrowned monarch was brought to +trial, that warlike leader sat in the judgment-hall. +Many judges were present, besides himself; but he +alone had the power to save King Charles, or to +doom him to the scaffold. After sentence was pronounced, +this victorious general was entreated by +his own children, on their knees, to rescue his Majesty +from death.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No!" said he sternly. "Better that one man +should perish, than that the whole country should be +ruined for his sake. It is resolved that he shall die!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Charles, no longer a king, was led to the +scaffold, his great enemy stood at a window of the +royal palace of Whitehall. He beheld the poor +victim of pride, and an evil education, and misused +power, as he laid his head upon the block. He +looked on, with a steadfast gaze, while a black-veiled +executioner lifted the fatal axe, and smote off that +anointed head at a single blow.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is a righteous deed," perhaps he said to himself. +"Now Englishmen may enjoy their rights."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At night, when the body of Charles was laid in +the coffin, in a gloomy chamber, the general entered, +lighting himself with a torch. Its gleam showed +that he was now growing old; his visage was scarred +with the many battles in which he had led the van; +his brow was wrinkled with care, and with the continual +exercise of stern authority. Probably there +was not a single trait, either of aspect or manner, +that belonged to the little Noll, who had battled so +stoutly with Prince Charles. Yet this was he!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He lifted the coffin-lid, and caused the light of his +torch to fall upon the dead monarch's face. Then, +probably, his mind went back over all the marvellous +events, that had brought the hereditary king of England +to this dishonored coffin, and had raised himself, +an humble individual, to the possession of kingly +power. He was a king, though without the empty +title, or the glittering crown.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why was it," said Cromwell to himself—or +might have said—as he gazed at the pale features +in the coffin,—"Why was it, that this great king +fell, and that poor Noll Cromwell has gained all the +power of the realm?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And, indeed, why was it?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">King Charles had fallen, because, in his manhood +the same as when a child, he disdained to feel that +every human creature was his brother. He deemed +himself a superior being, and fancied that his subjects +were created only for a king to rule over. And +Cromwell rose, because, in spite of his many faults, +he mainly fought for the rights and freedom of his +fellow-men; and therefore the poor and the oppressed +all lent their strength to him.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dear father, how I should hate to be a king!" +exclaimed Edward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And would you like to be a Cromwell?" inquired +his father.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I should like it well," replied George, "only +I would not have put the poor old king to death. I +would have sent him out of the kingdom, or perhaps +have allowed him to live in a small house, near the +gate of the royal palace. It was too severe, to cut +off his head."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Kings are in such an unfortunate position," said +Mr. Temple, "that they must either be almost deified +by their subjects, or else be dethroned and beheaded. +In either case it is a pitiable lot."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, I had rather be blind than be a king!" +said Edward.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, my dear Edward," observed his mother, +with a smile, "I am glad you are convinced that +your own lot is not the hardest in the world."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_62" id="toc_62"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VII</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was a pleasant sight (for those who had eyes) +to see how patiently the blinded little boy now submitted +to what he had at first deemed an intolerable +calamity. The beneficent Creator has not allowed +our comfort to depend on the enjoyment of any single +sense. Though he has made the world so very beautiful, +yet it is possible to be happy without ever beholding +the blue sky, or the green and flowery earth, or +the kind faces of those whom we love. Thus it appears +that all the external beauty of the universe is +a free gift from God, over and above what is necessary +to our comfort. How grateful, then, should we +be to that Divine Benevolence, which showers even +superfluous bounties upon us!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">One truth, therefore, which Edward's blindness +had taught him, was, that his mind and soul could +dispense with the assistance of his eyes. Doubtless, +however, he would have found this lesson far more +difficult to learn, had it not been for the affection of +those around him. His parents, and George and +Emily, aided him to bear his misfortune; if possible, +they would have lent him their own eyes. And +this, too, was a good lesson for him. It taught him +how dependent on one another God has ordained us +to be; insomuch that all the necessities of mankind +should incite them to mutual love.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Edward loved his friends, and perhaps all the +world, better than he ever did before. And he felt +grateful towards his father for spending the evenings +in telling him stories—more grateful, probably, than +any of my little readers will feel towards me for so +carefully writing those same stories down.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Come, dear father," said he, the next evening, +"now tell us all about some other little boy, who was +destined to be a famous man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How would you like a story of a Boston boy?" +asked his father.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, pray let us have it!" cried George eagerly. +"It will be all the better if he has been to our +schools, and has coasted on the Common, and sailed +boats in the Frog Pond. I shall feel acquainted +with him then."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, then," said Mr. Temple, "I will introduce +you to a Boston boy, whom all the world became +acquainted with, after he grew to be a man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The story was as follows:—</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_63" id="toc_63"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Born</span> 1706. <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Died</span> 1790.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the year 1716, or about that period, a boy +used to be seen in the streets of Boston, who was +known among his schoolfellows and playmates by the +name of Ben Franklin. Ben was born in 1706; so +that he was now about ten years old. His father, +who had come over from England, was a soap-boiler +and tallow-chandler, and resided in Milk Street, not +far from the old South Church.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Ben was a bright boy at his book, and even a +brighter one when at play with his comrades. He +had some remarkable qualities which always seemed +to give him the lead, whether at sport or in more +serious matters. I might tell you a number of +amusing anecdotes about him. You are acquainted, +I suppose, with his famous story of the WHISTLE, +and how he bought it with a whole pocketful of +coppers, and afterwards repented of his bargain. +But Ben had grown a great boy since those days, +and had gained wisdom by experience; for it was +one of his peculiarities, that no incident ever happened +to him without teaching him some valuable +lesson. Thus he generally profited more by his +misfortunes, than many people do by the most favorable +events that could befall them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Ben's face was already pretty well known to the +inhabitants of Boston. The selectmen, and other +people of note, often used to visit his father, for the +sake of talking about the affairs of the town or +province. Mr. Franklin was considered a person of +great wisdom and integrity, and was respected by +all who knew him, although he supported his family +by the humble trade of boiling soap, and making +tallow-candles.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">While his father and the visitors were holding +deep consultations about public affairs, little Ben +would sit on his stool in a corner, listening with the +greatest interest, as if he understood every word. +Indeed, his features were so full of intelligence, that +there could be but little doubt, not only that he +understood what was said, but that he could have +expressed some very sagacious opinions out of his +own mind. But, in those days, boys were expected +to be silent in the presence of their elders. However, +Ben Franklin was looked upon as a very promising +lad, who would talk and act wisely by and by.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Neighbor Franklin," his father's friends would +sometimes say, "you ought to send this boy to +college and make a minister of him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have often thought of it," his father would +reply; "and my brother Benjamin promises to give +him a great many volumes of manuscript sermons in +case he should be educated for the church. But I +have a large family to support, and cannot afford the +expense."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In fact, Mr. Franklin found it so difficult to provide +bread for his family, that, when the boy was ten +years old, it became necessary to take him from +school. Ben was then employed in cutting candlewicks +into equal lengths, and filling the moulds with +tallow; and many families in Boston spent their +evenings by the light of the candles which he had +helped to make. Thus, you see, in his early days, +as well as in his manhood his labors contributed to +throw light upon dark matters.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Busy as his life now was, Ben still found time to +keep company with his former schoolfellows. He +and the other boys were very fond of fishing, and +spent any of their leisure hours on the margin of +the mill-pond, catching flounders, perch, eels, and +tom-cod, which came up thither with the tide. The +place where they fished is now, probably, covered +with stone-pavements and brick buildings, and +thronged with people, and with vehicles of all kinds. +But, at that period, it was a marshy spot on the +outskirts of the town, where gulls flitted and screamed +overhead, and salt meadow-grass grew under foot. +On the edge of the water there was a deep bed +of clay, in which the boys were forced to stand, +while they caught their fish. Here they dabbled in +mud and mire like a flock of ducks.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"This is very uncomfortable," said Ben Franklin +one day to his comrades, while they were standing +mid-leg deep in the quagmire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"So it is," said the other boys. "What a pity +we have no better place to stand!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">If it had not been for Ben, nothing more would +have been done or said about the matter. But it +was not in his nature to be sensible of an inconvenience, +without using his best efforts to find a remedy. +So, as he and his comrades were returning from the +water-side, Ben suddenly threw down his string of +fish with a very determined air:</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Boys," cried he, "I have thought of a scheme, +which will be greatly for our benefit, and for the +public benefit!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was queer enough, to be sure, to hear this little +chap—this rosy-cheeked, ten-year-old boy—talking +about schemes for the public benefit! Nevertheless, +his companions were ready to listen, being assured +that Ben's scheme, whatever it was, would be well +worth their attention. They remembered how sagaciously +he had conducted all their enterprises, ever +since he had been old enough to wear small-clothes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They remembered, too, his wonderful contrivance +of sailing across the mill-pond by lying flat on his +back, in the water, and allowing himself to be drawn +along by a paper-kite. If Ben could do that, he +might certainly do any thing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What is your scheme, Ben?—what is it?" +cried they all.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It so happened that they had now come to a spot +of ground where a new house was to be built. Scattered +round about lay a great many large stones, +which were to be used for the cellar and foundation. +Ben mounted upon the highest of these stones, so +that he might speak with the more authority.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You know, lads," said he, "what a plague it is, +to be forced to stand in the quagmire yonder—over +shoes and stockings (if we wear any) in mud and +water. See! I am bedaubed to the knees of my +small-clothes, and you are all in the same pickle. +Unless we can find some remedy for this evil, our +fishing-business must be entirely given up. And, +surely, this would be a terrible misfortune!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That it would!—that it would!" said his +comrades, sorrowfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now I propose," continued Master Benjamin, +"that we build a wharf, for the purpose of carrying +on our fisheries. You see these stones. The workmen +mean to use them for the underpinning of a +house; but that would be for only one man's advantage. +My plan is to take these same stones, and +carry them to the edge of the water and build a +wharf with them. This will not only enable us to +carry on the fishing business with comfort, and to +better advantage, but it will likewise be a great convenience +to boats passing up and down the stream. +Thus, instead of one man, fifty, or a hundred, or a +thousand, besides ourselves, may be benefited by +these stones. What say you, lads?—shall we build +the wharf?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Ben's proposal was received with one of those +uproarious shouts, wherewith boys usually express +their delight at whatever completely suits their +views. Nobody thought of questioning the right +and justice of building a wharf, with stones that belonged +to another person.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hurrah, hurrah!" shouted they. "Let's set +about it!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was agreed that they should all be on the spot, +that evening, and commence their grand public enterprise +by moonlight. Accordingly, at the appointed +time, the whole gang of youthful laborers assembled, +and eagerly began to remove the stones. They had +not calculated how much toil would be requisite, in +this important part of their undertaking. The very +first stone which they laid hold of, proved so heavy, +that it almost seemed to be fastened to the ground. +Nothing but Ben Franklin's cheerful and resolute +spirit could have induced them to persevere.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Ben, as might be expected, was the soul of the +enterprise. By his mechanical genius, he contrived +methods to lighten the labor of transporting the +stones; so that one boy, under his directions, would +perform as much as half a dozen, if left to themselves. +Whenever their spirits flagged, he had some joke +ready, which seemed to renew their strength by setting +them all into a roar of laughter. And when, +after an hour or two of hard work, the stones were +transported to the water-side, Ben Franklin was the +engineer, to superintend the construction of the wharf.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The boys, like a colony of ants, performed a great +deal of labor by their multitude, though the individual +strength of each could have accomplished but +little. Finally, just as the moon sank below the +horizon, the great work was finished.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now, boys," cried Ben, "let's give three cheers, +and go home to bed. To-morrow, we may catch fish +at our ease!" "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" +shouted his comrades.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then they all went home, in such an ecstasy of +delight that they could hardly get a wink of sleep.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The story was not yet finished; but George's +impatience caused him to interrupt it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How I wish that I could have helped to build +that wharf!" exclaimed he. "It must have been +glorious fun. Ben Franklin for ever, say I!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was a very pretty piece of work," said Mr. +Temple. "But wait till you hear the end of the +story."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Father," inquired Edward, "whereabouts in +Boston was the mill-pond, on which Ben built his +wharf?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I do not exactly know," answered Mr. Temple; +"but I suppose it to have been on the northern verge +of the town, in the vicinity of what are now called +Merrimack and Charlestown streets. That thronged +portion of the city was once a marsh. Some of it, +in fact, was covered with water."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_64" id="toc_64"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter VIII</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As the children had no more questions to ask, Mr. +Temple proceeded to relate what consequences ensued +from the building of Ben Franklin's wharf.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_65" id="toc_65"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN—<span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">continued</span></h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the morning, when the early sunbeams were +gleaming on the steeples and roofs of the town, and +gilding the water that surrounded it, the masons +came, rubbing their eyes, to begin their work at the +foundation of the new house. But, on reaching the +spot, they rubbed their eyes so much the harder. +What had become of their heap of stones!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, Sam," said one to another, in great perplexity, +"here's been some witchcraft at work, while +we were asleep. The stones must have flown away +through the air!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"More likely they have been stolen!" answered +Sam.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But who on earth would think of stealing a heap +of stones?" cried a third. "Could a man carry +them away in his pocket?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The master-mason, who was a gruff kind of man, +stood scratching his head, and said nothing, at first. +But, looking carefully on the ground, he discerned +innumerable tracks of little feet, some with shoes, +and some barefoot. Following these tracks with his +eye, he saw that they formed a beaten path towards +the water-side.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ah, I see what the mischief is," said he, nodding +his head. "Those little rascals, the boys! +they have stolen our stones to build a wharf with!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The masons immediately went to examine the new +structure. And to say the truth, it was well worth +looking at, so neatly, and with such admirable skill, +had it been planned and finished. The stones were +put together so securely, that there was no danger +of their being loosened by the tide, however swiftly +it might sweep along. There was a broad and safe +platform to stand upon, whence the little fishermen +might cast their lines into deep water, and draw up +fish in abundance. Indeed, it almost seemed as if +Ben and his comrades might be forgiven for taking +the stones, because they had done their job in such +a workmanlike manner.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The chaps, that built this wharf, understood their +business pretty well," said one of the masons. "I +should not be ashamed of such a piece of work myself."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the master-mason did not seem to enjoy the +joke. He was one of those unreasonable people, +who care a great deal more for their own rights and +privileges, than for the convenience of all the rest of +the world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Sam," said he, more gruffly than usual, "go +call a constable."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So Sam called a constable, and inquiries were +set on foot to discover the perpetrators of the theft. +In the course of the day, warrants were issued, with +the signature of a Justice of the Peace, to take the +bodies of Benjamin Franklin and other evil-disposed +persons, who had stolen a heap of stones. If the +owner of the stolen property had not been more +merciful than the master-mason, it might have gone +hard with our friend Benjamin and his fellow-laborers. +But, luckily for them, the gentleman had a +respect for Ben's father, and moreover, was amused +with the spirit of the whole affair. He therefore let +the culprits off pretty easily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But, when the constables were dismissed, the poor +boys had to go through another trial, and receive +sentence, and suffer execution too, from their own +fathers. Many a rod I grieve to say, was worn to +the stump, on that unlucky night.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As for Ben, he was less afraid of a whipping than +of his father's disapprobation. Mr. Franklin, as I +have mentioned before, was a sagacious man, and +also an inflexibly upright one. He had read much, +for a person in his rank of life, and had pondered +upon the ways of the world, until he had gained +more wisdom than a whole library of books could +have taught him. Ben had a greater reverence for +his father, than for any other person in the world, as +well on account of his spotless integrity, as of his +practical sense and deep views of things.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Consequently, after being released from the clutches +of the law, Ben came into his father's presence, +with no small perturbation of mind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Benjamin, come hither," began Mr. Franklin, +in his customary solemn and weighty tone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The boy approached, and stood before his father's +chair, waiting reverently to hear what judgment this +good man would pass upon his late offence. He felt +that now the right and wrong of the whole matter +would be made to appear.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Benjamin," said his father, "what could induce +you to take property which did not belong to you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, father," replied Ben, hanging his head, at +first, but then lifting his eyes to Mr. Franklin's face, +"if it had been merely for my own benefit, I never +should have dreamed of it. But I knew that the +wharf would be a public convenience. If the owner +of the stones should build a house with them, nobody +will enjoy any advantage except himself. Now, I +made use of them in a way that was for the advantage +of many persons. I thought it right to aim at +doing good to the greatest number."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"My son," said Mr. Franklin, solemnly, "so far +as it was in your power, you have done a greater +harm to the public, than to the owner of the stones."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How can that be, father?" asked Ben.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Because," answered his father, "in building +your wharf with stolen materials, you have committed +a moral wrong. There is no more terrible mistake, +than to violate what is eternally right, for the +sake of a seeming expediency. Those who act upon +such a principle, do the utmost in their power to +destroy all that is good in the world."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Heaven forbid!" said Benjamin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No act," continued Mr. Franklin, "can possibly +be for the benefit of the public generally, which involves +injustice to any individual. It would be easy +to prove this by examples. But, indeed, can we +suppose that our all-wise and just Creator would have +so ordered the affairs of the world, that a wrong act +should be the true method of attaining a right end? +It is impious to think so! And I do verily believe, +Benjamin, that almost all the public and private +misery of mankind arises from a neglect of this great +truth—that evil can produce only evil—that good +ends must be wrought out by good means."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will never forget it again," said Benjamin, +bowing his head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Remember," concluded his father, "that, whenever +we vary from the highest rule of right, just so +far we do an injury to the world. It may seem +otherwise for the moment; but, both in Time and +in Eternity, it will be found so."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">To the close of his life, Ben Franklin never forgot +this conversation with his father; and we have reason +to suppose, that in most of his public and private +career, he endeavored to act upon the principles +which that good and wise man had then taught +him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After the great event of building the wharf, Ben +continued to cut wick-yarn and fill candle-moulds for +about two years. But, as he had no love for that +occupation, his father often took him to see various +artisans at their work, in order to discover what +trade he would prefer. Thus Ben learned the use +of a great many tools, the knowledge of which afterwards +proved very useful to him. But he seemed +much inclined to go to sea. In order to keep him +at home, and likewise to gratify his taste for letters, +the lad was bound apprentice to his elder brother, +who had lately set up a printing-office in Boston.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Here he had many opportunities of reading new +books, and of hearing instructive conversation. He +exercised himself so successfully in writing composition, +that, when no more than thirteen or fourteen +years old, he became a contributor to his brother's +newspaper. Ben was also a versifier, if not a poet. +He made two doleful ballads; one about the shipwreck +of Captain Worthilake, and the other about +the pirate Black Beard, who not long before, infested +the American seas.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Ben's verses were printed, his brother sent +him to sell them to the town's-people, wet from the +press. "Buy my ballads!" shouted Benjamin, as +he trudged through the streets, with a basketful +on his arm. "Who'll buy a ballad about Black +Beard? A penny a piece! a penny a piece! who'll +buy my ballads?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">If one of those roughly composed and rudely +printed ballads could be discovered now, it would be +worth more than its weight in gold.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In this way our friend Benjamin spent his boyhood +and youth, until, on account of some disagreement +with his brother, he left his native town and went to +Philadelphia. He landed in the latter city, a homeless +and hungry young man, and bought three-pence +worth of bread to satisfy his appetite. Not knowing +where else to go, he entered a Quaker meeting-house, +sat down, and fell fast asleep. He has not told us +whether his slumbers were visited by any dreams. +But it would have been a strange dream, indeed, +and an incredible one, that should have foretold how +great a man he was destined to become, and how +much he would be honored in that very city, where +he was now friendless, and unknown.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So here we finish our story of the childhood of +Benjamin Franklin. One of these days, if you +would know what he was in his manhood, you must +read his own works, and the history of American +Independence.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Do let us hear a little more of him!" said +Edward; "not that I admire him so much as many +other characters; but he interests me, because he +was a Yankee boy."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"My dear son," replied Mr. Temple, "it would +require a whole volume of talk, to tell you all that is +worth knowing about Benjamin Franklin. There is +a very pretty anecdote of his flying a kite in the +midst of a thunder-storm, and thus drawing down the +lightning from the clouds, and proving that it was +the same thing as electricity. His whole life would +be an interesting story, if we had time to tell it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But, pray, dear father, tell us what made him +so famous," said George. "I have seen his portrait +a great many times. There is a wooden bust of him +in one of our streets, and marble ones, I suppose, in +some other places. And towns, and ships of war, +and steamboats, and banks, and academies, and +children, are often named after Franklin. Why +should he have grown so very famous?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Your question is a reasonable one, George," +answered his father. "I doubt whether Franklin's +philosophical discoveries, important as they were, or +even his vast political services, would have given +him all the fame which he acquired. It appears to +me that Poor Richard's Almanac did more than any +thing else towards making him familiarly known to +the public. As the writer of those proverbs, which +Poor Richard was supposed to utter, Franklin became +the counsellor and household friend of almost +every family in America. Thus, it was the humblest +of all his labors that has done the most for his fame."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have read some of those proverbs," remarked +Edward; "but I do not like them. They are all +about getting money, or saving it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well," said his father, "they were suited to +the condition of the country; and their effect, upon +the whole, has doubtless been good,—although they +teach men but a very small portion of their duties."</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_66" id="toc_66"></a> +<h2 class="tei tei-head">Chapter IX</h2> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Hitherto, Mr. Temple's narratives had all been +about boys and men. But, the next evening, he +bethought himself that the quiet little Emily would +perhaps be glad to hear the story of a child of her +own sex. He therefore resolved to narrate the +youthful adventures of Christina of Sweden, who +began to be a Queen at the age of no more than six +years. If we have any little girls among our readers, +they must not suppose that Christina is set before +them as a pattern of what they ought to be. On the +contrary, the tale of her life is chiefly profitable as +showing the evil effects of a wrong education, which +caused this daughter of a king to be both useless and +unhappy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Here follows the story.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_67" id="toc_67"></a> +<h3 class="tei tei-head">QUEEN CHRISTINA</h3> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Born</span> 1626. <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="tei tei-hi">Died</span> 1689.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In the royal palace at Stockholm, the capital city +of Sweden, there was born, in 1626, a little princess. +The king, her father, gave her the name of Christina, +in memory of a Swedish girl with whom he had been +in love. His own name was Gustavus Adolphus; +and he was also called the Lion of the North, because +he had gained greater fame in war than any other +prince or general then alive. With this valiant king +for their commander, the Swedes had made themselves +terrible to the Emperor of Germany and to +the King of France, and were looked upon as the +chief defence of the Protestant religion.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The little Christina was by no means a beautiful +child. To confess the truth, she was remarkably +plain. The queen, her mother, did not love her so +much as she ought; partly, perhaps, on account of +Christina's want of beauty, and also, because both +the king and queen had wished for a son, who might +have gained as great renown in battle as his father +had.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The king, however, soon became exceedingly fond +of the infant princess. When Christina was very +young, she was taken violently sick. Gustavus +Adolphus, who was several hundred miles from +Stockholm, travelled night and day, and never +rested until he held the poor child in his arms. On +her recovery, he made a solemn festival, in order to +show his joy to the people of Sweden and express +his gratitude to Heaven. After this event, he took +his daughter with him in all the journeys which he +made through his kingdom.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Christina soon proved herself a bold and sturdy +little girl. When she was two years old, the king +and herself, in the course of a journey, came to the +strong fortress of Colmar. On the battlements were +soldiers clad in steel armor, which glittered in the +sunshine. There were likewise great cannons, pointing +their black mouths at Gustavus and little Christina, +and ready to belch out their smoke and thunder; +for whenever a king enters a fortress it is customary +to receive him with a royal salute of artillery.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the captain of the fortress met Gustavus and +his daughter, as they were about to enter the gateway.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"May it please your Majesty," said he, taking +off his steel cap and bowing profoundly, "I fear +that if we receive you with a salute of cannon, the +little princess will be frightened almost to death."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gustavus looked earnestly at his daughter, and +was indeed apprehensive that the thunder of so +many cannon might perhaps throw her into convulsions. +He had almost a mind to tell the captain to +let them enter the fortress quietly, as common people +might have done, without all this head-splitting +racket. But no; this would not do.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Let them fire," said he, waving his hand. +"Christina is a soldier's daughter, and must learn +to bear the noise of cannon."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">So the captain uttered the word of command, and +immediately there was a terrible peal of thunder +from the cannon, and such a gush of smoke that it +enveloped the whole fortress in its volumes. But, +amid all the din and confusion, Christina was seen +clapping her little hands, and laughing in an ecstasy +of delight. Probably nothing ever pleased her +father so much as to see that his daughter promised +to be fearless as himself. He determined to educate +her exactly as if she had been a boy, and to +teach her all the knowledge needful to the ruler +of a kingdom and the commander of an army.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But Gustavus should have remembered that Providence +had created her to be a woman, and that it +was not for him to make a man of her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">However, the king derived great happiness from +his beloved Christina. It must have been a pleasant +sight to see the powerful monarch of Sweden playing +in some magnificent hall of the palace with this merry +little girl. Then he forgot that the weight of a kingdom +rested upon his shoulders. He forgot that the +wise Chancellor Oxenstiern was waiting to consult +with him how to render Sweden the greatest nation +of Europe. He forgot that the Emperor of Germany +and the King of France were plotting together +how they might pull him down from his throne.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Yes; Gustavus forgot all the perils and cares +and pompous irksomeness of a royal life, and was as +happy, while playing with his child, as the humblest +peasant in the realm of Sweden. How gayly did +they dance along the marble floor of the palace, this +valiant king, with his upright, martial figure, his warworn +visage, and commanding aspect, and the small, +round form of Christina, with her rosy face of childish +merriment! Her little fingers were clasped in +her father's hand, which had held the leading-staff +in many famous victories. His crown and sceptre +were her playthings. She could disarm Gustavus +of his sword, which was so terrible to the princes of +Europe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But alas! the king was not long permitted to enjoy +Christina's society. When she was four years +old, Gustavus was summoned to take command of +the allied armies of Germany, which were fighting +against the Emperor. His greatest affliction was +the necessity of parting with his child; but people +in such high stations have but little opportunity for +domestic happiness. He called an assembly of the +Senators of Sweden, and confided Christina to their +care, saying that each one of them must be a father +to her, if he himself should fall in battle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At the moment of his departure Christina ran towards +him, and began to address him with a speech +which somebody had taught her for the occasion. +Gustavus was busied with thoughts about the affairs +of the kingdom, so that he did not immediately attend +to the childish voice of his little girl. Christina, who +did not love to be unnoticed, immediately stopped +short, and pulled him by the coat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Father," said she, "why do not you listen to my +speech?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">In a moment, the king forgot every thing, except +that he was parting with what he loved best in all +the world. He caught the child in his arms, pressed +her to his bosom, and burst into tears. Yes; though +he was a brave man, and though he wore a steel +corselet on his breast, and though armies were waiting +for him to lead them to battle,—still, his heart +melted within him, and he wept. Christina, too, +was so afflicted that her attendants began to fear +that she would actually die of grief. But probably +she was soon comforted; for children seldom remember +their parents quite so faithfully as their parents +remember them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">For two years more, Christina remained in the +palace at Stockholm. The queen, her mother, had +accompanied Gustavus to the wars. The child, therefore, +was left to the guardianship of five of the wisest +men in the kingdom. But these wise men knew +better how to manage the affairs of state, than how +to govern and educate a little girl so as to render +her a good and happy woman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When two years had passed away, tidings were +brought to Stockholm which filled everybody with +triumph and sorrow at the same time. The Swedes +had won a glorious victory at Lutzen. But alas! +the warlike king of Sweden, the Lion of the North, +the father of our little Christina,—had been slain +at the foot of a great stone, which still marks the +spot of that hero's death.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Soon after this sad event, a General Assembly, or +Congress, consisting of deputations from the nobles, +the clergy, the burghers, and the peasants of Sweden +was summoned to meet at Stockholm. It was +for the purpose of declaring little Christina to be +Queen of Sweden, and giving her the crown and +sceptre of her deceased father. Silence being proclaimed, +the Chancellor Oxenstiern arose.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"We desire to know," said he, "whether the people +of Sweden will take the daughter of our dead +king, Gustavus Adolphus, to be their Queen."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When the Chancellor had spoken, an old man with +white hair, and in coarse apparel, stood up in the +midst of the assembly. He was a peasant, Lars +Larrson by name, and had spent most of his life in +laboring on a farm.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Who is this daughter of Gustavus?" asked the +old man. "We do not know her. Let her be shown +to us."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then Christina was brought into the hall, and +placed before the old peasant. It was strange, no +doubt, to see a child—a little girl of six years old—offered +to the Swedes as their ruler, instead of +the brave king, her father, who had led them to +victory so many times. Could her baby fingers +wield a sword in war? Could her childish mind +govern the nation wisely in peace?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the Swedes do not appear to have asked themselves +these questions. Old Lars Larrson took Christina +up in his arms, and gazed earnestly into her face. +He had known the great Gustavus well; and his +heart was touched, when he saw the likeness which +the little girl bore to that heroic monarch.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes," cried he, with the tears gushing down his +furrowed cheeks, "this is truly the daughter of our +Gustavus! Here is her father's brow!—here is +his piercing eye! She is his very picture. This +child shall be our queen!"</p> + +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image04.png" width="480" height="533" alt="" class="tei tei-figure" /></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then all the proud nobles of Sweden, and the +reverend clergy, and the burghers, and the peasants, +knelt down at the child's feet, and kissed her hand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Long live Christina, queen of Sweden!" shouted +they.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Even after she was a woman grown, Christina +remembered the pleasure which she felt in seeing all +these men at her feet, and hearing them acknowledge +her as their supreme ruler. Poor child! she was +yet to learn that power does not insure happiness. +As yet, however, she had not any real power. All +the public business, it is true, was transacted in her +name; but the kingdom was governed by a number +of the most experienced statesmen, who were called +a Regency.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But it was considered necessary that the little +queen should be present at the public ceremonies, +and should behave just as if she were in reality the +ruler of the nation. When she was seven years of +age, some ambassadors from the Czar of Muscovy +came to the Swedish court. They wore long beards, +and were clad in a strange fashion, with furs, and +other outlandish ornaments; and as they were inhabitants +of a half-civilized country, they did not +behave like other people. The Chancellor Oxenstiern +was afraid that the young queen would burst +out a-laughing, at the first sight of these queer +ambassadors; or else that she would be frightened +by their unusual aspect.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why should I be frightened?" said the little +queen;—"and do you suppose that I have no better +manners than to laugh? Only tell me how I +must behave; and I will do it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Accordingly, the Muscovite ambassadors were +introduced; and Christina received them, and +answered their speeches, with as much dignity and +propriety as if she had been a grown woman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">All this time, though Christina was now a queen, +you must not suppose that she was left to act as she +pleased. She had a preceptor, named John Mathias, +who was a very learned man, and capable of instructing +her in all the branches of science. But there +was nobody to teach her the delicate graces and +gentle virtues of a woman. She was surrounded +almost entirely by men; and had learned to despise +the society of her own sex. At the age of nine +years, she was separated from her mother, whom +the Swedes did not consider a proper person to be +entrusted with the charge of her. No little girl, +who sits by a New England fireside, has cause to +envy Christina, in the royal palace at Stockholm.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Yet she made great progress in her studies. She +learned to read the classical authors of Greece and +Rome, and became a great admirer of the heroes +and poets of old times. Then, as for active exercises, +she could ride on horseback as well as any man +in her kingdom. She was fond of hunting, and +could shoot at a mark with wonderful skill. But +dancing was the only feminine accomplishment with +which she had any acquaintance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She was so restless in her disposition, that none +of her attendants were sure of a moment's quiet, +neither day nor night. She grew up, I am sorry to +say, a very unamiable person, ill-tempered, proud, +stubborn, and, in short, unfit to make those around +her happy, or to be happy herself. Let every little +girl, who has been taught self-control, and a due regard +for the rights of others, thank heaven that she +has had better instruction than this poor little queen +of Sweden.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At the age of eighteen, Christina was declared +free to govern the kingdom by herself, without the +aid of a regency. At this period of her life, she +was a young woman of striking aspect, a good figure +and intelligent face, but very strangely dressed. +She wore a short habit of gray cloth, with a man's +vest over it, and a black scarf around her neck, but +no jewels, nor ornaments of any kind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Yet, though Christina was so negligent of her +appearance, there was something in her air and +manner that proclaimed her as the ruler of a kingdom. +Her eyes, it is said, had a very fierce and +haughty look. Old General Wrangel, who had +often caused the enemies of Sweden to tremble in +battle, actually trembled himself, when he encountered +the eyes of the queen. But it would have +been better for Christina if she could have made +people love her, by means of soft and gentle looks, +instead of affrighting them by such terrible glances.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And now I have told you almost all that is amusing +or instructive, in the childhood of Christina. Only +a few more words need be said about her; for it is +neither pleasant nor profitable to think of many +things that she did, after she grew to be a woman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When she had worn the crown a few years, she +began to consider it beneath her dignity to be called +a queen, because the name implied that she belonged +to the weaker sex. She therefore caused herself to +be proclaimed KING, thus declaring to the world +that she despised her own sex, and was desirous of +being ranked among men. But in the twenty-eighth +year of her age, Christina grew tired of royalty, and +resolved to be neither a king nor a queen any longer. +She took the crown from her head, with her own +hands, and ceased to be the ruler of Sweden. The +people did not greatly regret her abdication; for she +had governed them ill, and had taken much of their +property to supply her extravagance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Having thus given up her hereditary crown, Christina +left Sweden and travelled over many of the +countries of Europe. Everywhere, she was received +with great ceremony, because she was the daughter +of the renowned Gustavus, and had herself been a +powerful queen. Perhaps you would like to know +something about her personal appearance, in the +latter part of her life. She is described as wearing +a man's vest, a short gray petticoat, embroidered +with gold and silver, and a black wig, which was +thrust awry upon her head. She wore no gloves, +and so seldom washed her hands that nobody could +tell what had been their original color. In this +strange dress, and, I suppose, without washing her +hands or face, she visited the magnificent court of +Louis the Fourteenth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She died in 1689. None loved her while she +lived, nor regretted her death, nor planted a single +flower upon her grave. Happy are the little girls of +America, who are brought up quietly and tenderly, +at the domestic hearth, and thus become gentle and +delicate women! May none of them ever lose the +loveliness of their sex, by receiving such an education +as that of Queen Christina!</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Emily, timid, quiet, and sensitive, was the very +reverse of little Christina. She seemed shocked at +the idea of such a bold and masculine character as +has been described in the foregoing story.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I never could have loved her," whispered she +to Mrs. Temple; and then she added, with that love +of personal neatness, which generally accompanies +purity of heart:—"It troubles me to think of her +unclean hands!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Christina was a sad specimen of womankind, +indeed," said Mrs. Temple. "But it is very possible +for a woman to have a strong mind, and to be +fitted for the active business of life, without losing +any of her natural delicacy. Perhaps, some time +or other, Mr. Temple will tell you a story of such a +woman."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was now time for Edward to be left to repose. +His brother George shook him heartily by the hand, +and hoped, as he had hoped twenty times before, +that to-morrow or the next day, Ned's eyes would +be strong enough to look the sun right in the face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Thank you, George," replied Edward, smiling; +"but I am not half so impatient as at first. If my +bodily eyesight were as good as yours, perhaps I +could not see things so distinctly with my mind's +eye. But now there is a light within which shows +me the little Quaker artist, Ben West, and Isaac +Newton with his windmill, and stubborn Sam Johnson, +and stout Noll Cromwell, and shrewd Ben +Franklin, and little Queen Christina with the Swedes +kneeling at her feet. It seems as if I really saw +these personages face to face. So I can bear the +darkness outside of me pretty well."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Edward ceased speaking, Emily put up her +mouth and kissed him as her farewell for the night.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ah, I forgot!" said Edward, with a sigh. "I +cannot see any of your faces. What would it signify +to see all the famous people in the world, if I +must be blind to the faces that I love?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You must try to see us with your heart, my +dear child," said his mother.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Edward went to bed, somewhat dispirited, but +quickly falling asleep, was visited with such a pleasant +dream of the sunshine and of his dearest friends +that he felt the happier for it all the next day. And +we hope to find him still happy when we meet again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE END.</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-back"> +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_68" id="toc_68"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head">JUVENILE BOOKS</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">PUBLISHED BY</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">JUST OUT,</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">History of my Pets</span>.<br /> +By Grace Greenwood. A beautiful little volume, with fine plates. + 50 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Barbauld's (Mrs.) Lessons for Children</span>.<br /> +With a large number of engravings. 16mo. 40 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Jonas's Stories. Related to Rollo and Lucy</span>.<br /> +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Jonas a Judge; or Law among the Boys</span>.<br /> +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Jonas on a Farm in Summer</span>.<br /> +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Jonas on a Farm in Winter</span>.<br /> +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Jack Halliard. Voyages and adventures in the +Arctic Ocean</span>.<br /> + With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Lambert Lilly's History of the New England +States</span>.<br /> + With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Lambert Lilly's History of the Middle States</span>. +With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Lambert Lilly's History of the Southern States</span>, +<span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Virginia</span>, <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">North and South Carolina</span>, <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">and Georgia</span>.<br /> +With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Lambert Lilly's History of the Western States</span>.<br /> +With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Lambert Lilly's Story of the American Revolution.</span><br /> +With numerous engravings. 18mo. 38 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Little Stories for Little Folks</span>.<br /> +Translated from the German. With twelve fine steel engravings. 16mo. + 60 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Mary Howitt's Birds and Flowers, and other</span> +<span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Country Things</span>.<br /> + With engravings. 12mo. 50 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Mother's Lessons, for Little Girls and Boys</span>.<br /> +By a Lady of Boston. With eight beautiful steel engravings. 16mo. + 50 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Olympic Games. A Gift for the Holidays</span>.<br /> +By the Author of "Poetry for Home and School," &c. 16mo. 50 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Parley's Short Stories for Long Nights</span>.<br /> +With eight colored engravings, 16mo. 50 cents; uncolored engravings, +40 cents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Lights and Shadows of Domestic Life, and other Stories</span>.<br /> +By the authors of "Rose and her Lamb."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">HAVE PUBLISHED</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Greenwood Leaves</span>.<br /> +A Collection of Stories and Letters, by Grace Greenwood. +Second edition. 1 vol. 12mo. $1.25; gilt $1.75.</p> + +<blockquote style="margin: 2em 4em" class="tei tei-quote"> +<p class="tei tei-p">We suppose most of our readers are familiar with the name of +Grace Greenwood. For some half dozen of years she has been one +of the most acceptable contributors to our American monthlies, and +she possesses such liveliness and vivacity that it does one good to +read her productions. There is an ease and <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">grace</span> about her, too, +that makes us feel acquainted with her, although we have never seen +her. The volume before us is filled with tales, sketches, letters, +and poems. We predict that every lady's library will contain this +volume.—BOSTON ATLAS.</p> +</blockquote> + +<blockquote style="margin: 2em 4em" class="tei tei-quote"> +<p class="tei tei-p">The name of Grace Greenwood has now become a household word in the +popular literature of our country and our day. Of the intellectual woman +we are not called to say much, as her writings speak for themselves, and +they have spoken widely. They are eminently characteristic; they are +strictly national; they are likewise decisively individual. All true +individuality is honestly social; and also, in Miss Clarke's writings, +nothing is sectional, and nothing sectarian. There is much in them that +is subjective, much that is drawn from personal experience, but nothing +that is merely vain or selfish. A genuine human being, she is at the +same time a genuine American girl. And the spirit of her country finds +in her utterance a voice that must stir an earnest life in the brothers +and sisters of her nation. She is one of the spiritual products of the +soil, which has of late given evidence of spiritual fertility; and she +promises not to be the least healthy, as she is not the least choice +among them; she is only putting out her spring buds; if no untimely +frost shall nip them, when the summer suns are warm they will be +splendid blossoms, and long before autumn begins to dim the sky with its +mellow shootings they will be luxuriant fruit.—HENRY GILES.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Alderbrook</span>.<br /> +<span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">A Collection of Fanny Forester's Village Sketches, Poems, +&c</span>. With a fine Mezzotinto Portrait of the Author, +engraved by Sartain. Ninth edition, enlarged.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">2 vols. 12mo, $1.75; gilt $2.50; gilt extra $3.00. +The same in 1 vol. $1.62; gilt $2.25; gilt extra $2.75.</p> + +<blockquote style="margin: 2em 4em" class="tei tei-quote"> +<p class="tei tei-p">Who has not heard of Fanny Forester,—'charming Fanny Forester,' +as she is deservedly called? Her sketches have been more +generally read and admired than those of almost any other periodical +writer of our day. There is a freshness, grace, sprightliness, +purity, and actualness about them, which charms and invigorates; +and we are glad to find them collected and published in a form +both elegant and convenient. Miss Chubbuck, it will be remembered, +was married a few months ago to the Rev. Dr. Judson, and +is now on her way, with that devoted missionary, to the scene of +his former labors. The dedicatory preface of these volumes, to +her husband, is one of the most graceful and touching we have +ever seen. A beautifully engraved portrait of the lady, by Sartain, +is prefixed to the first volume. This collection will make a +very acceptable and suitable present in the approaching Holidays.—SALEM +REGISTER.</p> +</blockquote> + +<blockquote style="margin: 2em 4em" class="tei tei-quote"> +<p class="tei tei-p">This is one of those charming books which well deserves a place +in every family library, and which has already won a place in thousands +of hearts. The Sketches comprised in these beautiful volumes +are so full of grace and tenderness, so pure in their style and +so elevated in their tone, that none can read them without delight +and profit. We hazard little in saying that the touching story of +"Grace Linden," which properly leads the collection, is scarcely +surpassed in beauty by any thing in the works of Maria Edgeworth, +or Mary Russell Mitford. There are a great many other +Sketches, in the volumes, that deserve special praise; but we will +not deal in particulars when all are so admirable.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The authoress of "Alderbrook" is now a self-denying, zealous +missionary of the Cross, in Asia, and, as Mrs. Judson, has written +many very charming things. She is best known, however, under +her <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">nomme de plume</span>; and however honored may be the revered +name she now bears, that of Fanny Forester will be cherished +with pride and pleasure by her friends and readers.—So. LIT. +GAZETTE.</p> +</blockquote> +</div> + + </div> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of True Stories of History and Biography +by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 15697-h.htm or 15697-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/6/9/15697/ + +Produced by Internet Archive Children's Library, Joshua +Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: True Stories of History and Biography + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: April 24, 2005 [EBook #15697] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Internet Archive Children's Library, Joshua +Hutchinson, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +TRUE STORIES + +FROM + +HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. + +BY + +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE + +BOSTON: +TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS. +MDCCCLI. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by NATHANIEL +HAWTHORNE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District +of Massachusetts. + +CAMBRIDGE: +PRINTED BY BOLLES AND HOUGHTON. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In writing this ponderous tome, the author's desire has been to describe +the eminent characters and remarkable events of our annals, in such a +form and style, that the YOUNG might make acquaintance with them of +their own accord. For this purpose, while ostensibly relating the +adventures of a Chair, he has endeavored to keep a distinct and unbroken +thread of authentic history. The Chair is made to pass from one to +another of those personages, of whom he thought it most desirable for +the young reader to have vivid and familiar ideas, and whose lives and +actions would best enable him to give picturesque sketches of the times. +On its sturdy oaken legs, it trudges diligently from one scene to +another, and seems always to thrust itself in the way, with most benign +complacency, whenever a historical personage happens to be looking round +for a seat. + +There is certainly no method, by which the shadowy outlines of departed +men and women can be made to assume the hues of life more effectually, +than by connecting their images with the substantial and homely reality +of a fireside chair. It causes us to feel at once, that these characters +of history had a private and familiar existence, and were not wholly +contained within that cold array of outward action, which we are +compelled to receive as the adequate representation of their lives. If +this impression can be given, much is accomplished. + +Setting aside Grandfather and his auditors, and excepting the adventures +of the Chair, which form the machinery of the work, nothing in the +ensuing pages can be termed fictitious. The author, it is true, has +sometimes assumed the license of filling up the outline of history with +details, for which he has none but imaginative authority, but which, he +hopes, do not violate nor give a false coloring to the truth. He +believes that, in this respect, his narrative will not be found to +convey ideas and impressions, of which the reader may hereafter find it +necessary to purge his mind. + +The author's great doubt is, whether he has succeeded in writing a book +which will be readable by the class for whom he intends it. To make a +lively and entertaining narrative for children, with such unmalleable +material as is presented by the sombre, stern, and rigid characteristics +of the Puritans and their descendants, is quite as difficult an attempt, +as to manufacture delicate playthings out of the granite rocks on which +New England is founded. + + + + +THE WHOLE HISTORY + +OF + +GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR. + +COMPLETE IN THREE PARTS. + + + + +PART I. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +Grandfather had been sitting in his old arm-chair, all that pleasant +afternoon, while the children were pursuing their various sports, far +off or near at hand. Sometimes you would have said, "Grandfather is +asleep;" but still, even when his eyes were closed, his thoughts were +with the young people, playing among the flowers and shrubbery of the +garden. + +He heard the voice of Laurence, who had taken possession of a heap of +decayed branches which the gardener had lopped from the fruit trees, and +was building a little hut for his cousin Clara and himself. He heard +Clara's gladsome voice, too, as she weeded and watered the flower-bed +which had been given her for her own. He could have counted every +footstep that Charley took, as he trundled his wheelbarrow along the +gravel walk. And though Grandfather was old and gray-haired, yet his +heart leaped with joy whenever little Alice came fluttering, like a +butterfly, into the room. She had made each of the children her playmate +in turn, and now made Grandfather her playmate too, and thought him the +merriest of them all. + +At last the children grew weary of their sports; because a summer +afternoon is like a long lifetime to the young. So they came into the +room together, and clustered round Grandfather's great chair. Little +Alice, who was hardly five years old, took the privilege of the +youngest, and climbed his knee. It was a pleasant thing to behold that +fair and golden-haired child in the lap of the old man, and to think +that, different as they were, the hearts of both could be gladdened with +the same joys. + +"Grandfather," said little Alice, laying her head back upon his arm, "I +am very tired now. You must tell me a story to make me go to sleep." + +"That is not what story-tellers like," answered Grandfather, smiling. +"They are better satisfied when they can keep their auditors awake." + +"But here are Laurence, and Charley, and I," cried cousin Clara, who was +twice as old as little Alice. "We will all three keep wide awake. And +pray, Grandfather, tell us a story about this strange-looking old +chair." + +Now, the chair in which Grandfather sat was made of oak, which had grown +dark with age, but had been rubbed and polished till it shone as bright +as mahogany. It was very large and heavy, and had a back that rose high +above Grandfather's white head. This back was curiously carved in open +work, so as to represent flowers and foliage and other devices; which +the children had often gazed at, but could never understand what they +meant. On the very tiptop of the chair, over the head of Grandfather +himself, was a likeness of a lion's head, which had such a savage grin +that you would almost expect to hear it growl and snarl. + +The children had seen Grandfather sitting in this chair ever since they +could remember any thing. Perhaps the younger of them supposed that he +and the chair had come into the world together, and that both had always +been as old as they were now. At this time, however, it happened to be +the fashion for ladies to adorn their drawing-rooms with the oldest and +oddest chairs that could be found. It seemed to cousin Clara that if +these ladies could have seen Grandfather's old chair, they would have +thought it worth all the rest together. She wondered if it were not even +older than Grandfather himself, and longed to know all about its +history. + +"Do, Grandfather, talk to us about this chair," she repeated. + +"Well, child," said Grandfather, patting Clara's cheek, "I can tell you +a great many stories of my chair. Perhaps your cousin Laurence would +like to hear them too. They would teach him something about the history +and distinguished people of his country, which he has never read in any +of his school-books." + +Cousin Laurence was a boy of twelve, a bright scholar, in whom an early +thoughtfulness and sensibility began to show themselves. His young fancy +kindled at the idea of knowing all the adventures of this venerable +chair. He looked eagerly in Grandfather's face; and even Charley, a +bold, brisk, restless little fellow of nine, sat himself down on the +carpet, and resolved to be quiet for at least ten minutes, should the +story last so long. + +Meantime, little Alice was already asleep; so Grandfather, being much +pleased with such an attentive audience, began to talk about matters +that had happened long ago. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +But, before relating the adventures of the chair, Grandfather found it +necessary to speak of the circumstances that caused the first settlement +of New England. For it will soon be perceived that the story of this +remarkable chair cannot be told without telling a great deal of the +history of the country. + +So, Grandfather talked about the Puritans, as those persons were called +who thought it sinful to practise the religious forms and ceremonies +which the Church of England had borrowed from the Roman Catholics. These +Puritans suffered so much persecution in England that, in 1607, many of +them went over to Holland, and lived ten or twelve years at Amsterdam +and Leyden. But they feared that, if they continued there much longer, +they should cease to be English, and should adopt all the manners and +ideas and feelings of the Dutch. For this and other reasons, in the year +1620, they embarked on board of the ship Mayflower, and crossed the +ocean to the shores of Cape Cod. There they made a settlement, and +called it Plymouth; which, though now a part of Massachusetts, was for a +long time a colony by itself. And thus was formed the earliest +settlement of the Puritans in America. + +Meantime, those of the Puritans who remained in England continued to +suffer grievous persecution on account of their religious opinions. They +began to look around them for some spot where they might worship God, +not as the king and bishops thought fit, but according to the dictates +of their own consciences. When their brethren had gone from Holland to +America, they bethought themselves that they likewise might find refuge +from persecution there. Several gentlemen among them purchased a tract +of country on the coast of Massachusetts Bay, and obtained a charter +from King Charles, which authorized them to make laws for the settlers. +In the year 1628, they sent over a few people, with John Endicott at +their head, to commence a plantation at Salem. Peter Palfrey, Roger +Conant, and one or two more, had built houses there in 1626, and may be +considered as the first settlers of that ancient town. Many other +Puritans prepared to follow Endicott. + +"And now we come to the chair, my dear children," said Grandfather. +"This chair is supposed to have been made of an oak tree which grew in +the park of the English earl of Lincoln, between two and three centuries +ago. In its younger days it used, probably, to stand in the hall of the +earl's castle. Do not you see the coat of arms of the family of Lincoln, +carved in the open work of the back? But when his daughter, the Lady +Arbella, was married to a certain Mr. Johnson, the earl gave her this +valuable chair." + +"Who was Mr. Johnson?" inquired Clara. + +"He was a gentleman of great wealth, who agreed with the Puritans in +their religious opinions," answered Grandfather. "And as his belief was +the same as theirs, he resolved that he would live and die with them. +Accordingly, in the month of April, 1630, he left his pleasant abode and +all his comforts in England, and embarked with the Lady Arbella, on +board of a ship bound for America." + +As Grandfather was frequently impeded by the questions and observations +of his young auditors, we deem it advisable to omit all such prattle as +is not essential to the story. We have taken some pains to find out +exactly what Grandfather said, and here offer to our readers, as nearly +as possible in his own words, the story of + + +THE LADY ARBELLA. + +The ship in which Mr. Johnson and his lady embarked, taking +Grandfather's chair along with them, was called the Arbella, in honor of +the lady herself. A fleet of ten or twelve vessels, with many hundred +passengers, left England about the same time; for a multitude of people, +who were discontented with the king's government and oppressed by the +bishops, were flocking over to the new world. One of the vessels in the +fleet was that same Mayflower which had carried the Puritan pilgrims to +Plymouth. And now, my children, I would have you fancy yourselves in the +cabin of the good ship Arbella; because if you could behold the +passengers aboard that vessel, you would feel what a blessing and honor +it was for New England to have such settlers. They were the best men and +women of their day. + +Among the passengers was John Winthrop, who had sold the estate of his +forefathers, and was going to prepare a new home for his wife and +children in the wilderness. He had the king's charter in his keeping, +and was appointed the first Governor of Massachusetts. Imagine him a +person of grave and benevolent aspect, dressed in a black velvet suit, +with a broad ruff around his neck and a peaked beard upon his chin. +There was likewise a minister of the Gospel, whom the English bishops +had forbidden to preach, but who knew that he should have liberty both +to preach and pray in the forests of America. He wore a black cloak, +called a Geneva cloak, and had a black velvet cap, fitting close to his +head, as was the fashion of almost all the Puritan clergymen. In their +company came Sir Richard Saltonstall, who had been one of the five first +projectors of the new colony. He soon returned to his native country. +But his descendants still remain in New England; and the good old family +name is as much respected in our days as it was in those of Sir Richard. + +Not only these, but several other men of wealth and pious ministers, +were in the cabin of the Arbella. One had banished himself for ever from +the old hall where his ancestors had lived for hundreds of years. +Another had left his quiet parsonage, in a country town of England. +Others had come from the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, where they +had gained great fame for their learning. And here they all were, +tossing upon the uncertain and dangerous sea, and bound for a home that +was more dangerous than even the sea itself. In the cabin, likewise, sat +the Lady Arbella in her chair, with a gentle and sweet expression on her +face, but looking too pale and feeble to endure the hardships of the +wilderness. + +Every morning and evening the Lady Arbella gave up her great chair to +one of the ministers, who took his place in it and read passages from +the Bible to his companions. And thus, with prayers and pious +conversation, and frequent singing of hymns, which the breezes caught +from their lips and scattered far over the desolate waves, they +prosecuted their voyage, and sailed into the harbor of Salem in the +month of June. + +At that period there were but six or eight dwellings in the town; and +these were miserable hovels, with roofs of straw and wooden chimneys. +The passengers in the fleet either built huts with bark and branches of +trees, or erected tents of cloth till they could provide themselves with +better shelter. Many of them went to form a settlement at Charlestown. +It was thought fit that the Lady Arbella should tarry in Salem for a +time; she was probably received as a guest into the family of John +Endicott. He was the chief person in the plantation, and had the only +comfortable house which the new comers had beheld since they left +England. So now, children, you must imagine Grandfather's chair in the +midst of a new scene. + +Suppose it a hot summer's day, and the lattice-windows of a chamber in +Mr. Endicott's house thrown wide open. The Lady Arbella, looking paler +than she did on shipboard, is sitting in her chair, and thinking +mournfully of far-off England. She rises and goes to the window. There, +amid patches of garden ground and cornfield, she sees the few wretched +hovels of the settlers, with the still ruder wigwams and cloth tents of +the passengers who had arrived in the same fleet with herself. Far and +near stretches the dismal forest of pine trees, which throw their black +shadows over the whole land, and likewise over the heart of this poor +lady. + +All the inhabitants of the little village are busy. One is clearing a +spot on the verge of the forest for his homestead; another is hewing the +trunk of a fallen pine tree, in order to build himself a dwelling; a +third is hoeing in his field of Indian corn. Here comes a huntsman out +of the woods, dragging a bear which he has shot, and shouting to the +neighbors to lend him a hand. There goes a man to the sea-shore, with a +spade and a bucket, to dig a mess of clams, which were a principal +article of food with the first settlers. Scattered here and there are +two or three dusky figures, clad in mantles of fur, with ornaments of +bone hanging from their ears, and the feathers of wild birds in their +coal black hair. They have belts of shell-work slung across their +shoulders, and are armed with bows and arrows and flint-headed spears. +These are an Indian Sagamore and his attendants, who have come to gaze +at the labors of the white men. And now rises a cry, that a pack of +wolves have seized a young calf in the pasture; and every man snatches +up his gun or pike, and runs in chase of the marauding beasts. + +Poor Lady Arbella watches all these sights, and feels that this new +world is fit only for rough and hardy people. None should be here but +those who can struggle with wild beasts and wild men, and can toil in +the heat or cold, and can keep their hearts firm against all +difficulties and dangers. But she is not one of these. Her gentle and +timid spirit sinks within her; and turning away from the window she sits +down in the great chair, and wonders thereabouts in the wilderness her +friends will dig her grave. + +Mr. Johnson had gone, with Governor Winthrop and most of the other +passengers, to Boston, where he intended to build a house for Lady +Arbella and himself. Boston was then covered with wild woods, and had +fewer inhabitants even than Salem. During her husband's absence, poor +Lady Arbella felt herself growing ill, and was hardly able to stir from +the great chair. Whenever John Endicott noticed her despondency, he +doubtless addressed her with words of comfort. "Cheer up, my good +lady!" he would say. "In a little time, you will love this rude life of +the wilderness as I do." But Endicott's heart was as bold and resolute +as iron, and he could not understand why a woman's heart should not be +of iron too. + +Still, however, he spoke kindly to the lady, and then hastened forth to +till his corn-field and set out fruit trees, or to bargain with the +Indians for furs, or perchance to oversee the building of a fort. Also +being a magistrate, he had often to punish some idler or evil-doer, by +ordering him to be set in the stocks or scourged at the whipping-post. +Often, too, as was the custom of the times, he and Mr. Higginson, the +minister of Salem, held long religious talks together. Thus John +Endicott was a man of multifarious business, and had no time to look +back regretfully to his native land. He felt himself fit for the new +world, and for the work that he had to do, and set himself resolutely to +accomplish it. + +What a contrast, my dear children, between this bold, rough, active man, +and the gentle Lady Arbella, who was fading away, like a pale English +flower, in the shadow of the forest! And now the great chair was often +empty, because Lady Arbella grew too weak to arise from bed. + +Meantime, her husband had pitched upon a spot for their new home. He +returned from Boston to Salem, travelling through the woods on foot, and +leaning on his pilgrim's staff. His heart yearned within him; for he +was eager to tell his wife of the new home which he had chosen. But when +he beheld her pale and hollow cheek, and found how her strength was +wasted, he must have known that her appointed home was in a better land. +Happy for him then,--happy both for him and her,--if they remembered +that there was a path to heaven, as well from this heathen wilderness as +from the Christian land whence they had come. And so, in one short month +from her arrival, the gentle Lady Arbella faded away and died. They dug +a grave for her in the new soil, where the roots of the pine trees +impeded their spades; and when her bones had rested there nearly two +hundred years, and a city had sprung up around them, a church of stone +was built upon the spot. + + * * * * * + +Charley, almost at the commencement of the foregoing narrative, had +galloped away with a prodigious clatter, upon Grandfather's stick, and +was not yet returned. So large a boy should have been ashamed to ride +upon a stick. But Laurence and Clara had listened attentively, and were +affected by this true story of the gentle lady, who had come so far to +die so soon. Grandfather had supposed that little Alice was asleep, but, +towards the close of the story, happening to look down upon her, he saw +that her blue eyes were wide open, and fixed earnestly upon his face. +The tears had gathered in them, like dew upon a delicate flower; but +when Grandfather ceased to speak, the sunshine of her smile broke forth +again. + +"O, the lady must have been so glad to get to heaven!" exclaimed little +Alice. + +"Grandfather, what became of Mr. Johnson?" asked Clara. + +"His heart appears to have been quite broken," answered Grandfather; +"for he died at Boston within a month after the death of his wife. He +was buried in the very same tract of ground, where he had intended to +build a dwelling for Lady Arbella and himself. Where their house would +have stood there was his grave. + +"I never heard any thing so melancholy!" said Clara. + +"The people loved and respected Mr. Johnson so much," continued +Grandfather, "that it was the last request of many of them, when they +died, that they might be buried as near as possible to this good man's +grave. And so the field became the first burial-ground in Boston. When +you pass through Tremont street, along by King's Chapel, you see a +burial-ground, containing many old grave-stones and monuments. That was +Mr. Johnson's field." + +"How sad is the thought," observed Clara, "that one of the first things +which the settlers had to do, when they came to the new world, was to +set apart a burial-ground!" + +"Perhaps," said Laurence, "if they had found no need of burial-grounds +here, they would have been glad, after a few years, to go back to +England." + +Grandfather looked at Laurence, to discover whether he knew how profound +and true a thing he had said. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Not long after Grandfather had told the story of his great chair, there +chanced to be a rainy day. Our friend Charley, after disturbing the +household with beat of drum and riotous shouts, races up and down the +staircase, overturning of chairs, and much other uproar, began to feel +the quiet and confinement within doors intolerable. But as the rain came +down in a flood, the little fellow was hopelessly a prisoner, and now +stood with sullen aspect at a window, wondering whether the sun itself +were not extinguished by so much moisture in the sky. + +Charley had already exhausted the less eager activity of the other +children; and they had betaken themselves to occupations that did not +admit of his companionship. Laurence sat in a recess near the book-case, +reading, not for the first time, the Midsummer Night's Dream. Clara was +making a rosary of beads for a little figure of a Sister of Charity, who +was to attend the Bunker Hill Fair, and lend her aid in erecting the +Monument. Little Alice sat on Grandfather's foot-stool, with a +picture-book in her hand; and, for every picture, the child was telling +Grandfather a story. She did not read from the book, (for little Alice +had not much skill in reading,) but told the story out of her own heart +and mind. + +Charley was too big a boy, of course, to care any thing about little +Alice's stories, although Grandfather appeared to listen with a good +deal of interest. Often, in a young child's ideas and fancies, there is +something which it requires the thought of a lifetime to comprehend. But +Charley was of opinion, that if a story must be told, it had better be +told by Grandfather, than little Alice. + +"Grandfather, I want to hear more about your chair," said he. + +Now Grandfather remembered that Charley had galloped away upon a stick, +in the midst of the narrative of poor Lady Arbella, and I know not +whether he would have thought it worth while to tell another story, +merely to gratify such an inattentive auditor as Charley. But Laurence +laid down his book and seconded the request. Clara drew her chair nearer +to Grandfather, and little Alice immediately closed her picture-book, +and looked up into his face. Grandfather had not the heart to disappoint +them. + +He mentioned several persons who had a share in the settlement of our +country, and who would be well worthy of remembrance, if we could find +room to tell about them all. Among the rest, Grandfather spoke of the +famous Hugh Peters, a minister of the gospel, who did much good to the +inhabitants of Salem. Mr. Peters afterwards went back to England, and +was chaplain to Oliver Cromwell; but Grandfather did not tell the +children what became of this upright and zealous man, at last. In fact, +his auditors were growing impatient to hear more about the history of +the chair. + +"After the death of Mr. Johnson," said he, "Grandfather's chair came +into the possession of Roger Williams. He was a clergyman, who arrived +at Salem, and settled there in 1631. Doubtless the good man has spent +many a studious hour in this old chair, either penning a sermon, or +reading some abstruse book of theology, till midnight came upon him +unawares. At that period, as there were few lamps or candles to be had, +people used to read or work by the light of pitchpine torches. These +supplied the place of the "midnight oil," to the learned men of New +England." + +Grandfather went on to talk about Roger Williams, and told the children +several particulars, which we have not room to repeat. One incident, +however, which was connected with his life, must be related, because it +will give the reader an idea of the opinions and feelings of the first +settlers of New England. It was as follows: + + +THE RED CROSS. + +While Roger Williams sat in Grandfather's chair, at his humble residence +in Salem, John Endicott would often come to visit him. As the clergy had +great influence in temporal concerns, the minister and magistrate would +talk over the occurrences of the day, and consult how the people might +be governed according to scriptural laws. + +One thing especially troubled them both. In the old national banner of +England, under which her soldiers have fought for hundreds of years, +there is a Red Cross, which has been there ever since the days when +England was in subjection to the Pope. The Cross, though a holy symbol, +was abhorred by the Puritans, because they considered it a relic of +Popish idolatry. Now, whenever the train-band of Salem was mustered, the +soldiers, with Endicott at their head, had no other flag to march under +than this same old papistical banner of England, with the Red Cross in +the midst of it. The banner of the Red Cross, likewise, was flying on +the walls of the fort of Salem; and a similar one was displayed in +Boston harbor, from the fortress on Castle Island. + +"I profess, brother Williams," Captain Endicott would say, after they +had been talking of this matter, "it distresses a Christian man's heart, +to see this idolatrous Cross flying over our heads. A stranger beholding +it, would think that we had undergone all our hardships and dangers, by +sea and in the wilderness, only to get new dominions for the Pope of +Rome." + +"Truly, good Mr. Endicott," Roger Williams would answer, "you speak as +an honest man and Protestant Christian should. For mine own part, were +it my business to draw a sword, I should reckon it sinful to fight under +such a banner. Neither can I, in my pulpit, ask the blessing of Heaven +upon it." + +Such, probably, was the way in which Roger Williams and John Endicott +used to talk about the banner of the Red Cross. Endicott, who was a +prompt and resolute man, soon determined that Massachusetts, if she +could not have a banner of her own, should at least be delivered from +that of the Pope of Rome. + +Not long afterwards there was a military muster at Salem. Every +able-bodied man, in the town and neighborhood, was there. All were well +armed, with steel caps upon their heads, plates of iron upon their +breasts and at their backs, and gorgets of steel around their necks. +When the sun shone upon these ranks of iron-clad men, they flashed and +blazed with a splendor that bedazzled the wild Indians, who had come out +of the woods to gaze at them. The soldiers had long pikes, swords, and +muskets, which were fired with matches, and were almost as heavy as a +small cannon. + +These men had mostly a stern and rigid aspect. To judge by their looks, +you might have supposed that there was as much iron in their hearts, as +there was upon their heads and breasts. They were all devoted Puritans, +and of the same temper as those with whom Oliver Cromwell afterwards +overthrew the throne of England. They hated all the relics of Popish +superstition as much as Endicott himself; and yet, over their heads, was +displayed the banner of the Red Cross. + +Endicott was the captain of the company. While the soldiers were +expecting his orders to begin their exercise, they saw him take the +banner in one hand, holding his drawn sword in the other. Probably he +addressed them in a speech, and explained how horrible a thing it was, +that men, who had fled from Popish idolatry into the wilderness, should +be compelled to fight under its symbols here. Perhaps he concluded his +address somewhat in the following style. + +"And now, fellow soldiers, you see this old banner of England. Some of +you, I doubt not, may think it treason for a man to lay violent hands +upon it. But whether or no it be treason to man, I have good assurance +in my conscience that it is no treason to God. Wherefore I have resolved +that we will rather be God's soldiers, than soldiers of the Pope of +Rome; and in that mind I now cut the Papal Cross out of this banner." + +And so he did. And thus, in a province belonging to the crown of +England, a captain was found bold enough to deface the King's banner +with his sword. + +When Winthrop, and the other wise men of Massachusetts, heard of it, +they were disquieted, being afraid that Endicott's act would bring great +trouble upon himself and them. An account of the matter was carried to +King Charles; but he was then so much engrossed by dissensions with his +people, that he had no leisure to punish the offender. In other times, +it might have cost Endicott his life, and Massachusetts her charter. + + * * * * * + +"I should like to know, Grandfather," said Laurence, when the story was +ended, "whether, when Endicott cut the Red Cross out of the banner, he +meant to imply that Massachusetts was independent of England?" + +"A sense of the independence of his adopted country, must have been in +that bold man's heart," answered Grandfather; "but I doubt whether he +had given the matter much consideration, except in its religious +bearing. However, it was a very remarkable affair, and a very strong +expression of Puritan character." + +Grandfather proceeded to speak further of Roger Williams, and of other +persons who sat in the great chair, as will be seen in the following +chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"Roger Williams," said Grandfather, "did not keep possession of the +chair a great while. His opinions of civil and religious matters +differed, in many respects, from those of the rulers and clergymen of +Massachusetts. Now the wise men of those days believed, that the country +could not be safe, unless all the inhabitants thought and felt alike." + +"Does any body believe so in our days Grandfather?" asked Laurence. + +"Possibly there are some who believe it," said Grandfather; "but they +have not so much power to act upon their belief, as the magistrates and +ministers had, in the days of Roger Williams. They had the power to +deprive this good man of his home, and to send him out from the midst of +them, in search of a new place of rest. He was banished in 1634, and +went first to Plymouth colony; but as the people there held the same +opinions as those of Massachusetts, he was not suffered to remain among +them. However, the wilderness was wide enough; so Roger Williams took +his staff and travelled into the forest, and made treaties with the +Indians, and began a plantation which he called Providence." + +"I have been to Providence on the railroad," said Charley. "It is but a +two hours' ride." + +"Yes, Charley," replied Grandfather; "but when Roger Williams travelled +thither, over hills and valleys, and through the tangled woods, and +across swamps and streams, it was a journey of several days. Well; his +little plantation is now grown to be a populous city; and the +inhabitants have a great veneration for Roger Williams. His name is +familiar in the mouths of all because they see it on their bank bills. +How it would have perplexed this good clergyman, if he had been told +that he should give his name to the ROGER WILLIAMS BANK!" + +"When he was driven from Massachusetts," said Laurence, "and began his +journey into the woods, he must have felt as if he were burying himself +forever from the sight and knowledge of men. Yet the whole country has +now heard of him, and will remember him forever." + +"Yes," answered Grandfather, "it often happens, that the outcasts of one +generation are those, who are reverenced as the wisest and best of men +by the next. The securest fame is that which comes after a man's death. +But let us return to our story. When Roger Williams was banished, he +appears to have given the chair to Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. At all events +it was in her possession in 1637. She was a very sharp-witted and +well-instructed lady, and was so conscious of her own wisdom and +abilities, that she thought it a pity that the world should not have the +benefit of them. She therefore used to hold lectures in Boston, once or +twice a week, at which most of the women attended. Mrs. Hutchinson +presided at these meetings, sitting, with great state and dignity, in +Grandfather's chair." + +"Grandfather, was it positively this very chair?" demanded Clara, laying +her hand upon its carved elbow. + +"Why not, my dear Clara?" said Grandfather. "Well; Mrs. Hutchinson's +lectures soon caused a great disturbance; for the ministers of Boston +did not think it safe and proper, that a woman should publicly instruct +the people in religious doctrines. Moreover, she made the matter worse, +by declaring that the Rev. Mr. Cotton was the only sincerely pious and +holy clergyman in New England. Now the clergy of those days had quite as +much share in the government of the country, though indirectly, as the +magistrates themselves; so you may imagine what a host of powerful +enemies were raised up against Mrs. Hutchinson. A synod was convened; +that is to say, an assemblage of all the ministers in Massachusetts. +They declared that there were eighty-two erroneous opinions on religious +subjects, diffused among the people, and that Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions +were of the number." + +"If they had eighty-two wrong opinions," observed Charley, "I don't see +how they could have any right ones." + +"Mrs. Hutchinson had many zealous friends and converts," continued +Grandfather. "She was favored by young Henry Vane, who had come over +from England a year or two before, and had since been chosen governor +of the colony, at the age of twenty-four. But Winthrop, and most of the +other leading men, as well as the ministers, felt an abhorrence of her +doctrines. Thus two opposite parties were formed; and so fierce were the +dissensions, that it was feared the consequence would be civil war and +bloodshed. But Winthrop and the ministers being the most powerful, they +disarmed and imprisoned Mrs. Hutchinson's adherents. She, like Roger +Williams, was banished." + +"Dear Grandfather, did they drive the poor woman into the woods?" +exclaimed little Alice, who contrived to feel a human interest even in +these discords of polemic divinity. + +"They did, my darling," replied Grandfather; "and the end of her life +was so sad, you must not hear it. At her departure, it appears from the +best authorities, that she gave the great chair to her friend, Henry +Vane. He was a young man of wonderful talents and great learning, who +had imbibed the religious opinions of the Puritans, and left England +with the intention of spending his life in Massachusetts. The people +chose him governor; but the controversy about Mrs. Hutchinson, and other +troubles, caused him to leave the country in 1637. You may read the +subsequent events of his life in the History of England." + +"Yes, Grandfather," cried Laurence; "and we may read them better in Mr. +Upham's biography of Vane. And what a beautiful death he died, long +afterwards! beautiful, though it was on a scaffold." + +"Many of the most beautiful deaths have been there," said Grandfather. +"The enemies of a great and good man can in no other way make him so +glorious, as by giving him the crown of martyrdom." + +In order that the children might fully understand the all-important +history of the chair, Grandfather now thought fit to speak of the +progress that was made in settling several colonies. The settlement of +Plymouth, in 1620, has already been mentioned. In 1635, Mr. Hooker and +Mr. Stone, two ministers, went on foot from Massachusetts to +Connecticut, through the pathless woods, taking their whole congregation +along with them. They founded the town of Hartford. In 1638, Mr. +Davenport, a very celebrated minister, went, with other people, and +began a plantation at New Haven. In the same year, some persons who had +been persecuted in Massachusetts, went to the Isle of Rhodes, since +called Rhode Island, and settled there. About this time, also, many +settlers had gone to Maine, and were living without any regular +government. There were likewise settlers near Piscataqua River, in the +region which is now called New Hampshire. + +Thus, at various points along the coast of New England, there were +communities of Englishmen. Though these communities were independent of +one another, yet they had a common dependence upon England; and, at so +vast a distance from their native home, the inhabitants must all have +felt like brethren. They were fitted to become one united people, at a +future period. Perhaps their feelings of brotherhood were the stronger, +because different nations had formed settlements to the north and to the +south. In Canada and Nova Scotia were colonies of French. On the banks +of the Hudson River was a colony of Dutch, who had taken possession of +that region many years before, and called it New Netherlands. + +Grandfather, for aught I know, might have gone on to speak of Maryland +and Virginia; for the good old gentleman really seemed to suppose, that +the whole surface of the United States was not too broad a foundation to +place the four legs of his chair upon. But, happening to glance at +Charley, he perceived that this naughty boy was growing impatient, and +meditating another ride upon a stick. So here, for the present, +Grandfather suspended the history of his chair. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The Children had now learned to look upon the chair with an interest, +which was almost the same as if it were a conscious being, and could +remember the many famous people whom it had held within its arms. + +Even Charley, lawless as he was, seemed to feel that this venerable +chair must not be clambered upon nor overturned, although he had no +scruple in taking such liberties with every other chair in the house. +Clara treated it with still greater reverence, often taking occasion to +smooth its cushion, and to brush the dust from the carved flowers and +grotesque figures of its oaken back and arms. Laurence would sometimes +sit a whole hour, especially at twilight, gazing at the chair, and, by +the spell of his imaginations, summoning up its ancient occupants to +appear in it again. + +Little Alice evidently employed herself in a similar way; for once, when +Grandfather had gone abroad, the child was heard talking with the gentle +Lady Arbella, as if she were still sitting in the chair. So sweet a +child as little Alice may fitly talk with angels, such as the Lady +Arbella had long since become. + +Grandfather was soon importuned for more stories about the chair. He +had no difficulty in relating them; for it really seemed as if every +person, noted in our early history, had, on some occasion or other, +found repose within its comfortable arms. If Grandfather took pride in +any thing, it was in being the possessor of such an honorable and +historic elbow chair. + +"I know not precisely who next got possession of the chair, after +Governor Vane went back to England," said Grandfather. "But there is +reason to believe that President Dunster sat in it, when he held the +first commencement at Harvard College. You have often heard, children, +how careful our forefathers were, to give their young people a good +education. They had scarcely cut down trees enough to make room for +their own dwellings, before they began to think of establishing a +college. Their principal object was, to rear up pious and learned +ministers; and hence old writers call Harvard College a school of the +prophets." + +"Is the college a school of the prophets now?" asked Charley. + +"It is a long while since I took my degree, Charley. You must ask some +of the recent graduates," answered Grandfather. "As I was telling you, +President Dunster sat in Grandfather's chair in 1642, when he conferred +the degree of bachelor of arts on nine young men. They were the first in +America, who had received that honor. And now, my dear auditors, I must +confess that there are contradictory statements and some uncertainty +about the adventures of the chair, for a period of almost ten years. +Some say that it was occupied by your own ancestor, William Hawthorne, +first Speaker of the House of Representatives. I have nearly satisfied +myself, however, that, during most of this questionable period, it was +literally the Chair of State. It gives me much pleasure to imagine, that +several successive governors of Massachusetts sat in it at the council +board." + +"But, Grandfather," interposed Charley, who was a matter-of-fact little +person, "what reason have you to imagine so?" + +"Pray do imagine it, Grandfather," said Laurence. + +"With Charley's permission, I will," replied Grandfather, smiling. "Let +us consider it settled, therefore, that Winthrop, Bellingham, Dudley, +and Endicott, each of them, when chosen governor, took his seat in our +great chair on election day. In this chair, likewise, did those +excellent governors preside, while holding consultations with the chief +counsellors of the province, who were styled Assistants. The governor +sat in this chair, too, whenever messages were brought to him from the +chamber of Representatives." + +And here Grandfather took occasion to talk, rather tediously, about the +nature and forms of government that established themselves, almost +spontaneously, in Massachusetts and the other New England colonies. +Democracies were the natural growth of the new world. As to +Massachusetts, it was at first intended that the colony should be +governed by a council in London. But, in a little while, the people had +the whole power in their own hands, and chose annually the governor, the +counsellors, and the representatives. The people of old England had +never enjoyed any thing like the liberties and privileges, which the +settlers of New England now possessed. And they did not adopt these +modes of government after long study, but in simplicity, as if there +were no other way for people to be ruled. + +"But, Laurence," continued Grandfather, "when you want instruction on +these points, you must seek it in Mr. Bancroft's History. I am merely +telling the history of a chair. To proceed. The period during which the +governors sat in our chair, was not very full of striking incidents. The +province was now established on a secure foundation; but it did not +increase so rapidly as at first, because the Puritans were no longer +driven from England by persecution. However, there was still a quiet and +natural growth. The legislature incorporated towns, and made new +purchases of lands from the Indians. A very memorable event took place +in 1643. The colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New +Haven, formed a union, for the purpose of assisting each other in +difficulties, and for mutual defence against their enemies. They called +themselves the United Colonies of New England." + +"Were they under a government like that of the United States?" inquired +Laurence. + +"No," replied Grandfather, "the different colonies did not compose one +nation together; it was merely a confederacy among the governments. It +somewhat resembled the league of the Amphictyons, which you remember in +Grecian history. But to return to our chair. In 1644 it was highly +honored; for Governor Endicott sat in it, when he gave audience to an +ambassador from the French governor of Acadie, or Nova Scotia. A treaty +of peace, between Massachusetts and the French colony, was then signed." + +"Did England allow Massachusetts to make war and peace with foreign +countries?" asked Laurence. + +"Massachusetts, and the whole of New England, was then almost +independent of the mother country," said Grandfather. "There was now a +civil war in England; and the king, as you may well suppose, had his +hands full at home, and could pay but little attention to these remote +colonies. When the Parliament got the power into their hands, they +likewise had enough to do in keeping down the Cavaliers. Thus New +England, like a young and hardy lad, whose father and mother neglect it, +was left to take care of itself. In 1649, King Charles was beheaded. +Oliver Cromwell then became Protector of England; and as he was a +Puritan himself, and had risen by the valor of the English Puritans, he +showed himself a loving and indulgent father to the Puritan colonies in +America." + +Grandfather might have continued to talk in this dull manner, nobody +knows how long; but, suspecting that Charley would find the subject +rather dry, he looked sideways at that vivacious little fellow, and saw +him give an involuntary yawn. Whereupon, Grandfather proceeded with the +history of the chair, and related a very entertaining incident, which +will be found in the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +"According to the most authentic records, my dear children," said +Grandfather, "the chair, about this time, had the misfortune to break +its leg. It was probably on account of this accident, that it ceased to +be the seat of the governors of Massachusetts; for, assuredly, it would +have been ominous of evil to the commonwealth, if the Chair of State had +tottered upon three legs. Being therefore sold at auction,--alas! what a +vicissitude for a chair that had figured in such high company, our +venerable friend was knocked down to a certain Captain John Hull. This +old gentleman, on carefully examining the maimed chair, discovered that +its broken leg might be clamped with iron and made as serviceable as +ever." + +"Here is the very leg that was broken!" exclaimed Charley, throwing +himself down on the floor to look at it. "And here are the iron clamps. +How well it was mended!" + +When they had all sufficiently examined the broken leg, Grandfather told +them a story about Captain John Hull and + + +THE PINE-TREE SHILLINGS. + +The Captain John Hull, aforesaid, was the mint-master of Massachusetts, +and coined all the money that was made there. This was a new line of +business: for, in the earlier days of the colony, the current coinage +consisted of gold and silver money of England, Portugal, and Spain. +These coins being scarce, the people were often forced to barter their +commodities, instead of selling them. + +For instance, if a man wanted to buy a coat, he perhaps exchanged a +bear-skin for it. If he wished for a barrel of molasses, he might +purchase it with a pile of pine boards. Musket-bullets were used instead +of farthings. The Indians had a sort of money, called wampum, which was +made of clam-shells; and this strange sort of specie was likewise taken +in payment of debts, by the English settlers. Bank-bills had never been +heard of. There was not money enough of any kind, in many parts of the +country, to pay the salaries of the ministers; so that they sometimes +had to take quintals of fish, bushels of corn, or cords of wood, instead +of silver or gold. + +As the people grew more numerous, and their trade one with another +increased, the want of current money was still more sensibly felt. To +supply the demand, the general court passed a law for establishing a +coinage of shillings, sixpences, and threepences. Captain John Hull was +appointed to manufacture this money, and was to have about one shilling +out of every twenty to pay him for the trouble of making them. + +Hereupon, all the old silver in the colony was handed over to Captain +John Hull. The battered silver cans and tankards, I suppose, and silver +buckles, and broken spoons, and silver buttons of worn-out coats, and +silver hilts of swords that had figured at court, all such curious old +articles were doubtless thrown into the melting-pot together. But by far +the greater part of the silver consisted of bullion from the mines of +South America, which the English buccaniers--(who were little better +than pirates)--had taken from the Spaniards, and brought to +Massachusetts. + +All this old and new silver being melted down and coined, the result was +an immense amount of splendid shillings, sixpences, and threepences. +Each had the date, 1652, on the one side, and the figure of a pine-tree +on the other. Hence they were called pine-tree shillings. And for every +twenty shillings that he coined, you will remember, Captain John Hull +was entitled to put one shilling into his own pocket. + +The magistrates soon began to suspect that the mint-master would have +the best of the bargain. They offered him a large sum of money, if he +would but give up that twentieth shilling, which he was continually +dropping into his own pocket. But Captain Hull declared himself +perfectly satisfied with the shilling. And well he might be; for so +diligently did he labor, that, in a few years, his pockets, his money +bags, and his strong box, were overflowing with pine-tree shillings. +This was probably the case when he came into possession of Grandfather's +chair; and, as he had worked so hard at the mint, it was certainly +proper that he should have a comfortable chair to rest himself in. + +When the mint-master had grown very rich, a young man, Samuel Sewell by +name, came a courting to his only daughter. His daughter,--whose name I +do not know, but we will call her Betsey,--was a fine hearty damsel, by +no means so slender as some young ladies of our own days. On the +contrary, having always fed heartily on pumpkin pies, doughnuts, Indian +puddings, and other Puritan dainties, she was as round and plump as a +pudding herself. With this round, rosy Miss Betsey, did Samuel Sewell +fall in love. As he was a young man of good character, industrious in +his business, and a member of the church, the mint-master very readily +gave his consent. + +"Yes--you may take her," said he, in his rough way; "and you'll find her +a heavy burden enough!" + +On the wedding day, we may suppose that honest John Hull dressed himself +in a plum-colored coat, all the buttons of which were made of pine-tree +shillings. The buttons of his waistcoat were sixpences; and the knees of +his smallclothes were buttoned with silver threepences. Thus attired, he +sat with great dignity in Grandfather's chair; and, being a portly old +gentleman, he completely filled it from elbow to elbow. On the opposite +side of the room, between her bride-maids, sat Miss Betsey. She was +blushing with all her might, and looked like a full blown paeony, or a +great red apple. + +There, too, was the bridegroom, dressed in a fine purple coat, and gold +lace waistcoat, with as much other finery as the Puritan laws and +customs would allow him to put on. His hair was cropped close to his +head, because Governor Endicott had forbidden any man to wear it below +the ears. But he was a very personable young man; and so thought the +bride-maids and Miss Betsey herself. + +The mint-master also was pleased with his new son-in-law; especially as +he had courted Miss Betsey out of pure love, and had said nothing at all +about her portion. So when the marriage ceremony was over, Captain Hull +whispered a word to two of his men-servants, who immediately went out, +and soon returned, lugging in a large pair of scales. They were such a +pair as wholesale merchants use, for weighing bulky commodities; and +quite a bulky commodity was now to be weighed in them. + +"Daughter Betsey," said the mint-master, "get into one side of these +scales." + +Miss Betsey,--or Mrs. Sewell, as we must now call her,--did as she was +bid, like a dutiful child, without any question of the why and +wherefore. But what her father could mean, unless to make her husband +pay for her by the pound, (in which case she would have been a dear +bargain,) she had not the least idea. + +"And now," said honest John Hull to the servants, "bring that box +hither." + +The box, to which the mint-master pointed, was a huge, square, iron +bound, oaken chest; it was big enough, my children, for all four of you +to play at hide-and-seek in. The servants tugged with might and main, +but could not lift this enormous receptacle, and were finally obliged to +drag it across the floor. Captain Hull then took a key from his girdle, +unlocked the chest, and lifted its ponderous lid. Behold! it was full to +the brim of bright pine-tree shillings, fresh from the mint; and Samuel +Sewell began to think that his father-in-law had got possession of all +the money in the Massachusetts treasury. But it was only the +mint-master's honest share of the coinage. + +Then the servants, at Captain Hull's command, heaped double handfulls of +shillings into one side of the scales, while Betsey remained in the +other. Jingle, jingle, went the shillings, as handful after handful was +thrown in, till, plump and ponderous as she was, they fairly weighed the +young lady from the floor. + +"There, son Sewell!" cried the honest mint-master, resuming his seat in +Grandfather's chair. "Take these shillings for my daughter's portion. +Use her kindly, and thank Heaven for her. It is not every wife that's +worth her weight in silver!" + + * * * * * + +The children laughed heartily at this legend, and would hardly be +convinced but that Grandfather had made it out of his own head. He +assured them faithfully, however, that he had found it in the pages of +a grave historian, and had merely tried to tell it in a somewhat funnier +style. As for Samuel Sewell, he afterwards became Chief Justice of +Massachusetts. + +"Well, Grandfather," remarked Clara, "if wedding portions now-a-days +were paid as Miss Betsey's was, young ladies would not pride themselves +upon an airy figure as many of them do." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +When his little audience next assembled round the chair, Grandfather +gave them a doleful history of the Quaker persecution, which began in +1656, and raged for about three years in Massachusetts. + +He told them how, in the first place, twelve of the converts of George +Fox, the first Quaker in the world, had come over from England. They +seemed to be impelled by an earnest love for the souls of men, and a +pure desire to make known what they considered a revelation from Heaven. +But the rulers looked upon them as plotting the downfall of all +government and religion. They were banished from the colony. In a little +while, however, not only the first twelve had returned, but a multitude +of other Quakers had come to rebuke the rulers, and to preach against +the priests and steeple-houses. + +Grandfather described the hatred and scorn with which these enthusiasts +were received. They were thrown into dungeons; they were beaten with +many stripes, women as well as men; they were driven forth into the +wilderness, and left to the tender mercies of wild beasts and Indians. +The children were amazed to hear, that, the more the Quakers were +scourged, and imprisoned, and banished, the more did the sect increase, +both by the influx of strangers, and by converts from among the +Puritans. But Grandfather told them, that God had put something into the +soul of man, which always turned the cruelties of the persecutor to +nought. + +He went on to relate, that, in 1659, two Quakers, named William Robinson +and Marmaduke Stephenson, were hanged at Boston. A woman had been +sentenced to die with them, but was reprieved, on condition of her +leaving the colony. Her name was Mary Dyer. In the year 1660 she +returned to Boston, although she knew death awaited her there; and, if +Grandfather had been correctly informed, an incident had then taken +place, which connects her with our story. This Mary Dyer had entered the +mint-master's dwelling, clothed in sackcloth and ashes, and seated +herself in our great chair, with a sort of dignity and state. Then she +proceeded to deliver what she called a message from Heaven; but in the +midst of it, they dragged her to prison. + +"And was she executed?" asked Laurence. + +"She was," said Grandfather. + +"Grandfather," cried Charley, clenching his fist, "I would have fought +for that poor Quaker woman!" + +"Ah! but if a sword had been drawn for her," said Laurence, "it would +have taken away all the beauty of her death." + +It seemed as if hardly any of the preceding stories had thrown such an +interest around Grandfather's chair, as did the fact, that the poor, +persecuted, wandering Quaker woman had rested in it for a moment. The +children were so much excited, that Grandfather found it necessary to +bring his account of the persecution to a close. + +"In 1660, the same year in which Mary Dyer was executed," said he, +"Charles the Second was restored to the throne of his fathers. This king +had many vices; but he would not permit blood to be shed, under pretence +of religion, in any part of his dominions. The Quakers in England told +him what had been done to their brethren in Massachusetts; and he sent +orders to Governor Endicott to forbear all such proceedings in future. +And so ended the Quaker persecution,--one of the most mournful passages +in the history of our forefathers." + +Grandfather then told his auditors, that, shortly after the above +incident, the great chair had been given by the mint-master to the Rev. +Mr. John Eliot. He was the first minister of Roxbury. But besides +attending to his pastoral duties there, he learned the language of the +red men, and often went into the woods to preach to them. So earnestly +did he labor for their conversion, that he has always been called the +apostle to the Indians. The mention of this holy man suggested to +Grandfather the propriety of giving a brief sketch of the history of the +Indians, so far as they were connected with the English colonists. + +A short period before the arrival of the first Pilgrims at Plymouth, +there had been a very grievous plague among the red men; and the sages +and ministers of that day were inclined to the opinion, that Providence +had sent this mortality, in order to make room for the settlement of the +English. But I know not why we should suppose that an Indian's life is +less precious, in the eye of Heaven, than that of a white man. Be that +as it may, death had certainly been very busy with the savage tribes. + +In many places the English found the wigwams deserted, and the +corn-fields growing to waste, with none to harvest the grain. There were +heaps of earth also, which, being dug open, proved to be Indian graves, +containing bows and flint-headed spears and arrows; for the Indians +buried the dead warrior's weapons along with him. In some spots, there +were skulls and other human bones, lying unburied. In 1633, and the year +afterwards, the smallpox broke out among the Massachusetts Indians, +multitudes of whom died by this terrible disease of the old world. These +misfortunes made them far less powerful than they had formerly been. + +For nearly half a century after the arrival of the English, the red men +showed themselves generally inclined to peace and amity. They often made +submission, when they might have made successful war. The Plymouth +settlers, led by the famous Captain Miles Standish, slew some of them in +1623, without any very evident necessity for so doing. In 1636, and the +following year, there was the most dreadful war that had yet occurred +between the Indians and the English. The Connecticut settlers, assisted +by a celebrated Indian chief, named Uncas, bore the brunt of this war, +with but little aid from Massachusetts. Many hundreds of the hostile +Indians were slain, or burnt in their wigwams. Sassacus, their sachem, +fled to another tribe, after his own people were defeated; but he was +murdered by them, and his head was sent to his English enemies. + +From that period, down to the time of King Philip's war, which will be +mentioned hereafter, there was not much trouble with the Indians. But +the colonists were always on their guard, and kept their weapons ready +for the conflict. + +"I have sometimes doubted," said Grandfather, when he had told these +things to the children, "I have sometimes doubted whether there was more +than a single man, among our forefathers, who realized that an Indian +possesses a mind and a heart, and an immortal soul. That single man was +John Eliot. All the rest of the early settlers seemed to think that the +Indians were an inferior race of beings, whom the Creator had merely +allowed to keep possession of this beautiful country, till the white men +should be in want of it. + +"Did the pious men of those days never try to make Christians of them?" +asked Laurence. + +"Sometimes, it is true," answered Grandfather, "the magistrates and +ministers would talk about civilizing and converting the red people. +But, at the bottom of their hearts, they would have had almost as much +expectation of civilizing a wild bear of the woods, and making him fit +for paradise. They felt no faith in the success of any such attempts, +because they had no love for the poor Indians. Now Eliot was full of +love for them, and therefore so full of faith and hope, that he spent +the labor of a lifetime in their behalf." + +"I would have conquered them first, and then converted them," said +Charley. + +"Ah, Charley, there spoke the very spirit of our forefathers!" replied +Grandfather. "But Mr. Eliot had a better spirit. He looked upon them as +his brethren. He persuaded as many of them as he could, to leave off +their idle and wandering habits, and to build houses, and cultivate the +earth, as the English did. He established schools among them, and taught +many of the Indians how to read. He taught them, likewise, how to pray. +Hence they were called 'praying Indians.' Finally, having spent the best +years of his life for their good, Mr. Eliot resolved to spend the +remainder in doing them a yet greater benefit." + +"I know what that was!" cried Laurence. + +"He sat down in his study," continued Grandfather, "and began a +translation of the Bible into the Indian tongue. It was while he was +engaged in this pious work, that the mint-master gave him our great +chair. His toil needed it, and deserved it." + +"O, Grandfather, tell us all about that Indian Bible!" exclaimed +Laurence. "I have seen it in the library of the Athenaeum; and the tears +came into my eyes, to think that there were no Indians left to read it." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +As Grandfather was a great admirer of the Apostle Eliot, he was glad to +comply with the earnest request which Laurence had made, at the close of +the last chapter. So he proceeded to describe how good Mr. Eliot +labored, while he was at work upon + + +THE INDIAN BIBLE + +My dear children, what a task would you think it, even with a long +lifetime before you, were you bidden to copy every chapter and verse, +and word, in yonder great family Bible! Would not this be a heavy toil? +But if the task were, not to write off the English Bible, but to learn a +language, utterly unlike all other tongues,--a language which hitherto +had never been learned, except by the Indians themselves, from their +mothers' lips,--a language never written, and the strange words of which +seemed inexpressible by letters;--if the task were, first, to learn this +new variety of speech, and then to translate the Bible into it, and to +do it so carefully, that not one idea throughout the holy book should be +changed,--what would induce you to undertake this toil? Yet this was +what the Apostle Eliot did. + +It was a mighty work for a man, now growing old, to take upon himself. +And what earthly reward could he expect from it? None; no reward on +earth. But he believed that the red men were the descendants of those +lost tribes of Israel of whom history has been able to tell us nothing, +for thousands of years. He hoped that God had sent the English across +the ocean, Gentiles as they were, to enlighten this benighted portion of +his once chosen race. And when he should be summoned hence, he trusted +to meet blessed spirits in another world, whose bliss would have been +earned by his patient toil, in translating the Word of God. This hope +and trust were far dearer to him, than any thing that earth could offer. + +Sometimes, while thus at work, he was visited by learned men, who +desired to know what literary undertaking Mr. Elliot had in hand. They, +like himself, had been bred in the studious cloisters of a university, +and were supposed to possess all the erudition which mankind has hoarded +up from age to age. Greek and Latin were as familiar to them as the +babble of their childhood. Hebrew was like their mother tongue. They had +grown gray in study; their eyes were bleared with poring over print and +manuscript by the light of the midnight lamp. + +And yet, how much had they left unlearned! Mr. Eliot would put into +their hands some of the pages, which he had been writing; and behold! +the gray-headed men stammered over the long, strange words, like a +little child in his first attempts to read. Then would the apostle call +to him an Indian boy, one of his scholars, and show him the manuscript, +which had so puzzled the learned Englishmen. + +"Read this, my child," said he, "these are some brethren of mine, who +would fain hear the sound of thy native tongue." + +Then would the Indian boy cast his eyes over the mysterious page, and +read it so skilfully, that it sounded like wild music. It seemed as if +the forest leaves were singing in the ears of his auditors, and as if +the roar of distant streams were poured through the young Indian's +voice. Such were the sounds amid which the language of the red man had +been formed; and they were still heard to echo in it. + +The lesson being over, Mr. Eliot would give the Indian boy an apple or a +cake, and bid him leap forth into the open air, which his free nature +loved. The apostle was kind to children, and even shared in their +sports, sometimes. And when his visitors had bidden him farewell, the +good man turned patiently to his toil again. + +No other Englishman had ever understood the Indian character so well, +nor possessed so great an influence over the New England tribes, as the +apostle did. His advice and assistance must often have been valuable to +his countrymen, in their transactions with the Indians. Occasionally, +perhaps, the governor and some of the counsellors came to visit Mr. +Eliot. Perchance they were seeking some method to circumvent the forest +people. They inquired, it may be, how they could obtain possession of +such and such a tract of their rich land. Or they talked of making the +Indians their servants, as if God had destined them for perpetual +bondage to the more powerful white man. + +Perhaps, too, some warlike captain, dressed in his buff-coat, with a +corslet beneath it, accompanied the governor and counsellors. Laying his +hand upon his sword hilt, he would declare, that the only method of +dealing with the red men was to meet them with the sword drawn, and the +musket presented. + +But the apostle resisted both the craft of the politician, and the +fierceness of the warrior. + +"Treat these sons of the forest as men and brethren," he would say, "and +let us endeavor to make them Christians. Their forefathers were of that +chosen race, whom God delivered from Egyptian bondage. Perchance he has +destined us to deliver the children from the more cruel bondage of +ignorance and idolatry. Chiefly for this end, it may be, we were +directed across the ocean." + +When these other visitors were gone, Mr. Eliot bent himself again over +the half written page. He dared hardly relax a moment from his toil. He +felt that, in the book which he was translating, there was a deep human, +as well as heavenly wisdom, which would of itself suffice to civilize +and refine the savage tribes. Let the Bible be diffused among them, and +all earthly good would follow. But how slight a consideration was this, +when he reflected that the eternal welfare of a whole race of men +depended upon his accomplishment of the task which he had set himself! +What if his hands should be palsied? What if his mind should lose its +vigor? What if death should come upon him, ere the work were done? Then +must the red man wander in the dark wilderness of heathenism for ever. + +Impelled by such thoughts as these, he sat writing in the great chair, +when the pleasant summer breeze came in through his open casement; and +also when the fire of forest logs sent up its blaze and smoke, through +the broad stone chimney, into the wintry air. Before the earliest bird +sang, in the morning, the apostle's lamp was kindled; and, at midnight, +his weary head was not yet upon its pillow. And at length, leaning back +in the great chair, he could say to himself, with a holy triumph,--"The +work is finished!" + +It was finished. Here was a Bible for the Indians. Those long lost +descendants of the ten tribes of Israel would now learn the history of +their forefathers. That grace, which the ancient Israelites had +forfeited, was offered anew to their children. + +There is no impiety in believing that, when his long life was over, the +apostle of the Indians was welcomed to the celestial abodes by the +prophets of ancient days, and by those earliest apostles and +evangelists, who had drawn their inspiration from the immediate presence +of the Saviour. They first had preached truth and salvation to the +world. And Eliot, separated from them by many centuries, yet full of the +same spirit, had borne the like message to the new world of the West. +Since the first days of Christianity, there has been no man more worthy +to be numbered in the brotherhood of the apostles, than Eliot. + + * * * * * + +"My heart is not satisfied to think," observed Laurence, "that Mr. +Eliot's labors have done no good, except to a few Indians of his own +time. Doubtless, he would not have regretted his toil, if it were the +means of saving but a single soul. But it is a grievous thing to me, +that he should have toiled so hard to translate the Bible, and now the +language and the people are gone! The Indian Bible itself is almost the +only relic of both." + +"Laurence," said his Grandfather, "if ever you should doubt that man is +capable of disinterested zeal for his brother's good, then remember how +the apostle Eliot toiled. And if you should feel your own self-interest +pressing upon your heart too closely, then think of Eliot's Indian +Bible. It is good for the world that such a man has lived, and left this +emblem of his life." + +The tears gushed into the eyes of Laurence, and he acknowledged that +Eliot had not toiled in vain. Little Alice put up her arms to +Grandfather, and drew down his white head beside her own golden locks. + +"Grandfather," whispered she, "I want to kiss good Mr. Eliot!" + +And, doubtless, good Mr. Eliot would gladly receive the kiss of so sweet +a child as little Alice, and would think it a portion of his reward in +heaven. + +Grandfather now observed, that Dr. Francis had written a very beautiful +Life of Eliot, which he advised Laurence to peruse. He then spoke of +King Philip's war, which began in 1675, and terminated with the death of +King Philip, in the following year. Philip was a proud, fierce Indian, +whom Mr. Eliot had vainly endeavored to convert to the Christian faith. + +"It must have been a great anguish to the apostle," continued +Grandfather, "to hear of mutual slaughter and outrage between his own +countrymen, and those for whom he felt the affection of a father. A few +of the praying Indians joined the followers of King Philip. A greater +number fought on the side of the English. In the course of the war, the +little community of red people whom Mr. Eliot had begun to civilize, was +scattered, and probably never was restored to a flourishing condition. +But his zeal did not grow cold; and only about five years before his +death he took great pains in preparing a new edition of the Indian +Bible." + +"I do wish Grandfather," cried Charley, "you would tell us all about the +battles in King Philip's war." + +"O, no!" exclaimed Clara. "Who wants to hear about tomahawks and +scalping knives!" + +"No, Charley," replied Grandfather, "I have no time to spare in talking +about battles. You must be content with knowing that it was the +bloodiest war that the Indians had ever waged against the white men; and +that, at its close, the English set King Philip's head upon a pole." + +"Who was the captain of the English?" asked Charley. + +"Their most noted captain was Benjamin Church,--a very famous warrior," +said Grandfather. "But I assure you, Charley, that neither Captain +Church, nor any of the officers and soldiers who fought in King Philip's +war, did any thing a thousandth part so glorious, as Mr. Eliot did, when +he translated the Bible for the Indians." + +"Let Laurence be the apostle," said Charley to himself, "and I will be +the captain." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The children were now accustomed to assemble round Grandfather's chair, +at all their unoccupied moments; and often it was a striking picture to +behold the white-headed old sire, with this flowery wreath of young +people around him. When he talked to them, it was the past speaking to +the present,--or rather to the future, for the children were of a +generation which had not become actual. Their part in life, thus far, +was only to be happy, and to draw knowledge from a thousand sources. As +yet, it was not their time to do. + +Sometimes, as Grandfather gazed at their fair, unworldly countenances, a +mist of tears bedimmed his spectacles. He almost regretted that it was +necessary for them to know any thing of the past, or to provide aught +for the future. He could have wished that they might be always the +happy, youthful creatures, who had hitherto sported around his chair, +without inquiring whether it had a history. It grieved him to think that +his little Alice, who was a flower-bud fresh from paradise, must open +her leaves to the rough breezes of the world, or ever open them in any +clime. So sweet a child she was, that it seemed fit her infancy should +be immortal! + +But such repinings were merely flitting shadows across the old man's +heart. He had faith enough to believe, and wisdom enough to know, that +the bloom of the flower would be even holier and happier than its bud. +Even within himself,--though Grandfather was now at that period of life, +when the veil of mortality is apt to hang heavily over the soul,--still, +in his inmost being, he was conscious of something that he would not +have exchanged for the best happiness of childhood. It was a bliss to +which every sort of earthly experience,--all that he had enjoyed or +suffered, or seen, or heard, or acted, with the broodings of his soul +upon the whole,--had contributed somewhat. In the same manner must a +bliss, of which now they could have no conception, grow up within these +children, and form a part of their sustenance for immortality. + +So Grandfather, with renewed cheerfulness, continued his history of the +chair, trusting that a profounder wisdom than his own would extract, +from these flowers and weeds of Time, a fragrance that might last beyond +all time. + +At this period of the story, Grandfather threw a glance backward, as far +as the year 1660. He spoke of the ill-concealed reluctance with which +the Puritans in America had acknowledged the sway of Charles the Second, +on his restoration to his father's throne. When death had stricken +Oliver Cromwell, that mighty protector had no sincerer mourners than in +New England. The new king had been more than a year upon the throne +before his accession was proclaimed in Boston; although the neglect to +perform the ceremony might have subjected the rulers to the charge of +treason. + +During the reign of Charles the Second, however, the American colonies +had but little reason to complain of harsh or tyrannical treatment. But +when Charles died, in 1685, and was succeeded by his brother James, the +patriarchs of New England began to tremble. King James was a bigoted +Roman Catholic, and was known to be of an arbitrary temper. It was +feared by all Protestants, and chiefly by the Puritians, that he would +assume despotic power, and attempt to establish Popery throughout his +dominions. Our forefathers felt that they had no security either for +their religion or their liberties. + +The result proved that they had reason for their apprehensions. King +James caused the charters of all the American colonies to be taken away. +The old charter of Massachusetts, which the people regarded as a holy +thing, and as the foundation of all their liberties, was declared void. +The colonists were now no longer freemen; they were entirely dependent +on the king's pleasure. At first, in 1685, King James appointed Joseph +Dudley, a native of Massachusetts, to be president of New England. But +soon afterwards, Sir Edmund Andros, an officer of the English army, +arrived, with a commission to be governor-general of New England and New +York. + +The king had given such powers to Sir Edmund Andros, that there was now +no liberty, nor scarcely any law, in the colonies over which he ruled. +The inhabitants were not allowed to choose representatives, and +consequently had no voice whatever in the government, nor control over +the measures that were adopted. The counsellors, with whom the governor +consulted on matters of state, were appointed by himself. This sort of +government was no better than an absolute despotism. + +"The people suffered much wrong, while Sir Edmund Andros ruled over +them," continued Grandfather, "and they were apprehensive of much more. +He had brought some soldiers with him from England, who took possession +of the old fortress on Castle Island, and of the fortification on Fort +Hill. Sometimes it was rumored that a general massacre of the +inhabitants was to be perpetrated by these soldiers. There were reports, +too, that all the ministers were to be slain or imprisoned." + +"For what?" inquired Charley. + +"Because they were the leaders of the people, Charley," said +Grandfather. "A minister was a more formidable man than a general, in +those days. Well; while these things were going on in America, King +James had so misgoverned the people of England, that they sent over to +Holland for the Prince of Orange. He had married the king's daughter, +and was therefore considered to have a claim to the crown. On his +arrival in England, the Prince of Orange was proclaimed king, by the +name of William the Third. Poor old King James made his escape to +France." + +Grandfather told how, at the first intelligence of the landing of the +Prince of Orange in England, the people of Massachusetts rose in their +strength, and overthrew the government of Sir Edmund Andros. He, with +Joseph Dudley, Edmund Randolph, and his other principal adherents, were +thrown into prison. Old Simon Bradstreet, who had been governor, when +King James took away the charter, was called by the people to govern +them again. + +"Governor Bradstreet was a venerable old man, nearly ninety years of +age," said Grandfather. "He came over with the first settlers, and had +been the intimate companion of all those excellent and famous men who +laid the foundation of our country. They were all gone before him to the +grave; and Bradstreet was the last of the Puritans." + +Grandfather paused a moment, and smiled, as if he had something very +interesting to tell his auditors. He then proceeded: + +"And now, Laurence,--now, Clara,--now, Charley,--now, my dear little +Alice,--what chair do you think had been placed in the council chamber, +for old Governor Bradstreet to take his seat in? Would you believe that +it was this very chair in which grandfather now sits, and of which he is +telling you the history?" + +"I am glad to hear it, with all my heart!" cried Charley, after a shout +of delight. "I thought Grandfather had quite forgotten the chair." + +"It was a solemn and affecting sight," said Grandfather, "when this +venerable patriarch, with his white beard flowing down upon his breast, +took his seat in his Chair of State. Within his remembrance, and even +since his mature age, the site where now stood the populous town, had +been a wild and forest-covered peninsula. The province, now so fertile, +and spotted with thriving villages, had been a desert wilderness. He was +surrounded by a shouting multitude, most of whom had been born in the +country which he had helped to found. They were of one generation, and +he of another. As the old man looked upon them, and beheld new faces +everywhere, he must have felt that it was now time for him to go, +whither his brethren had gone before him." + +"Were the former governors all dead and gone?" asked Laurence. + +"All of them," replied Grandfather. "Winthrop had been dead forty years. +Endicott died, a very old man, in 1665. Sir Henry Vane was beheaded in +London, at the beginning of the reign of Charles the Second. And Haynes, +Dudley, Bellingham and Leverett, who had all been governors of +Massachusetts, were now likewise in their graves. Old Simon Bradstreet +was the sole representative of that departed brotherhood. There was no +other public man remaining to connect the ancient system of government +and manners with the new system, which was about to take its place. The +era of the Puritans was now completed." + +"I am sorry for it," observed Laurence; "for, though they were so stern, +yet it seems to me that there was something warm and real about them. I +think, Grandfather, that each of these old governors should have his +statue set up in our State House, sculptured out of the hardest of New +England granite." + +"It would not be amiss, Laurence," said Grandfather; "but perhaps clay, +or some other perishable material, might suffice for some of their +successors. But let us go back to our chair. It was occupied by Governor +Bradstreet from April, 1689, until May, 1692. Sir William Phips then +arrived in Boston, with a new charter from King William, and a +commission to be governor." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +"And what became of the chair," inquired Clara. + +"The outward aspect of our chair," replied Grandfather, "was now +somewhat the worse for its long and arduous services. It was considered +hardly magnificent enough to be allowed to keep its place in the council +chamber of Massachusetts. In fact, it was banished as an article of +useless lumber. But Sir William Phips happened to see it and being much +pleased with its construction, resolved to take the good old chair into +his private mansion. Accordingly, with his own gubernatorial hands, he +repaired one of its arms, which had been slightly damaged". + +"Why, Grandfather, here is the very arm!" interrupted Charley, in great +wonderment. "And did Sir William Phips put in these screws with his own +hands? I am sure, he did it beautifully! But how came a governor to know +how to mend a chair?" + +"I will tell you a story about the early life of Sir William Phips," +said Grandfather. "You will then perceive, that he well knew how to use +his hands." + +So Grandfather related the wonderful and true tale of + + +THE SUNKEN TREASURE. + +Picture to yourselves, my dear children, a handsome, old-fashioned room, +with a large, open cupboard at one end, in which is displayed a +magnificent gold cup, with some other splendid articles of gold and +silver plate. In another part of the room, opposite to a tall +looking-glass, stands our beloved chair, newly polished, and adorned +with a gorgeous cushion of crimson velvet tufted with gold. + +In the chair sits a man of strong and sturdy frame, whose face has been +roughened by northern tempests, and blackened by the burning sun of the +West Indies. He wears an immense periwig, flowing down over his +shoulders. His coat has a wide embroidery of golden foliage; and his +waistcoat, likewise, is all flowered over and bedizened with gold. His +red, rough hands, which have done many a good day's work with the hammer +and adze, are half covered by the delicate lace ruffles at his wrists. +On a table lies his silver-hilted sword, and in a corner of the room +stands his gold-headed cane, made of a beautifully polished West Indian +wood. + +Somewhat such an aspect as this, did Sir William Phips present, when he +sat in Grandfather's chair, after the king had appointed him governor of +Massachusetts. Truly, there was need that the old chair should be +varnished, and decorated with a crimson cushion, in order to make it +suitable for such a magnificent looking personage. + +But Sir William Phips had not always worn a gold embroidered coat, nor +always sat so much at his ease as he did in Grandfather's chair. He was +a poor man's son, and was born in the province of Maine, where he used +to tend sheep upon the hills, in his boyhood and youth. Until he had +grown to be a man, he did not even know how to read and write. Tired of +tending sheep, he next apprenticed himself to a ship-carpenter, and +spent about four years in hewing the crooked limbs of oak trees into +knees for vessels. + +In 1673, when he was twenty-two years old, he came to Boston, and soon +afterwards was married to a widow lady, who had property enough to set +him up in business. It was not long, however, before he lost all the +money that he had acquired by his marriage, and became a poor man again. +Still, he was not discouraged. He often told his wife that, some time or +other, he should be very rich, and would build a "fair brick house" in +the Green Lane of Boston. + +Do not suppose, children, that he had been to a fortune-teller to +inquire his destiny. It was his own energy and spirit of enterprise, and +his resolution to lead an industrious life, that made him look forward +with so much confidence to better days. + +Several years passed away; and William Phips had not yet gained the +riches which he promised to himself. During this time he had begun to +follow the sea for a living. In the year 1684, he happened to hear of a +Spanish ship, which had been cast away near the Bahama Islands, and +which was supposed to contain a great deal of gold and silver. Phips +went to the place in a small vessel, hoping that he should be able to +recover some of the treasure from the wreck. He did not succeed, +however, in fishing up gold and silver enough to pay the expenses of his +voyage. + +But, before he returned, he was told of another Spanish ship or galleon, +which had been cast away near Porto de la Plata. She had now lain as +much as fifty years beneath the waves. This old ship had been laden with +immense wealth; and, hitherto, nobody had thought of the possibility of +recovering any part of it from the deep sea, which was rolling and +tossing it about. But though it was now an old story, and the most aged +people had almost forgotten that such a vessel had been wrecked. William +Phips resolved that the sunken treasure should again be brought to +light. + +He went to London, and obtained admittance to King James, who had not +yet been driven from his throne. He told the king of the vast wealth +that was lying at the bottom of the sea. King James listened with +attention, and thought this a fine opportunity to fill his treasury with +Spanish gold. He appointed William Phips to be captain of a vessel, +called the Rose Algier, carrying eighteen guns and ninety-five men. So +now he was Captain Phips of the English navy. + +Captain Phips sailed from England in the Rose Algier, and cruised for +nearly two years in the West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of +the Spanish ship. But the sea is so wide and deep, that it is no easy +matter to discover the exact spot where a sunken vessel lies. The +prospect of success seemed very small; and most people would have +thought that Captain Phips was as far from having money enough to build +a "fair brick house," as he was while he tended sheep. + +The seamen of the Rose Algier became discouraged, and gave up all hope +of making their fortunes by discovering the Spanish wreck. They wanted +to compel Captain Phips to turn pirate. There was a much better +prospect, they thought, of growing rich by plundering vessels, which +still sailed the sea, than by seeking for a ship that had lain beneath +the waves full half a century. They broke out in open mutiny, but were +finally mastered by Phips, and compelled to obey his orders. It would +have been dangerous, however, to continue much longer at sea with such a +crew of mutinous sailors; and, besides, the Rose Algier was leaky and +unseaworthy. So Captain Phips judged it best to return to England. + +Before leaving the West Indies, he met with a Spaniard, an old man, who +remembered the wreck of the Spanish ship, and gave him directions how to +find the very spot. It was on a reef of rocks a few leagues from Porto +de la Plata. + +On his arrival in England, therefore, Captain Phips solicited the king +to let him have another vessel, and send him back again to the West +Indies. But King James, who had probably expected that the Rose Algier +would return laden with gold, refused to have any thing more to do with +the affair. Phips might never have been able to renew the search, if the +Duke of Albemarle, and some other noblemen had not lent their +assistance. They fitted out a ship and gave the command to Captain +Phips. He sailed from England, and arrived safely at Porto de la Plata, +where he took an adze and assisted his men to build a large boat. + +The boat was intended for the purpose of going closer to the reef of +rocks than a large vessel could safely venture. When it was finished, +the Captain sent several men in it, to examine the spot where the +Spanish ship was said to have been wrecked. They were accompanied by +some Indians, who were skilful divers, and could go down a great way +into the depths of the sea. + +The boat's crew proceeded to the reef of rocks, and rowed round and +round it, a great many times. They gazed down into the water, which was +so transparent that it seemed as if they could have seen the gold and +silver at the bottom, had there been any of those precious metals there. +Nothing, however, could they see; nothing more valuable than a curious +sea shrub, which was growing beneath the water, in a crevice of the +reef of rocks. It flaunted to and fro with the swell and reflux of the +waves, and looked as bright and beautiful as if its leaves were gold. + +"We won't go back empty-handed," cried an English sailor; and then he +spoke to one of the Indian divers. "Dive down and bring me that pretty +sea shrub there. That's the only treasure we shall find!" + +Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping from the water, holding +the sea shrub in his hand. But he had learnt some news at the bottom of +the sea. + +"There are some ship's guns," said he, the moment he had drawn breath, +"some great cannon among the rocks, near where the shrub was growing." + +No sooner had he spoken, than the English sailors knew that they had +found the very spot where the Spanish galleon had been wrecked so many +years before. The other Indian divers immediately plunged over the +boat's side, and swam headlong down, groping among the rocks and sunken +cannon. In a few moments one of them rose above the water, with a heavy +lump of silver in his arms. That single lump was worth more than a +thousand dollars. The sailors took it into the boat, and then rowed back +as speedily as they could, being in haste to inform Captain Phips of +their good luck. + +But, confidently as the Captain had hoped to find the Spanish wreck, +yet now that it was really found, the news seemed too good to be true. +He could not believe it till the sailors showed him the lump of silver. + +"Thanks be to God!" then cries Captain Phips. "We shall every man of us +make our fortunes!" + +Hereupon the Captain and all the crew set to work, with iron rakes and +great hooks and lines, fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the +sea. Up came the treasure in abundance. Now they beheld a table of solid +silver, once the property of an old Spanish Grandee. Now they found a +sacramental vessel, which had been destined as a gift to some Catholic +church. Now they drew up a golden cup, fit for the king of Spain to +drink his wine out of. Perhaps the bony hand of its former owner had +been grasping the precious cup, and was drawn up along with it. Now +their rakes or fishing lines were loaded with masses of silver bullion. +There were also precious stones among the treasure, glittering and +sparkling, so that it is a wonder how their radiance could have been +concealed. + +There is something sad and terrible in the idea of snatching all this +wealth from the devouring ocean, which had possessed it for such a +length of years. It seems as if men had no right to make themselves rich +with it. It ought to have been left with the skeletons of the ancient +Spaniards, who had been drowned when the ship was wrecked, and whose +bones were now scattered among the gold and silver. + +But Captain Phips and his crew were troubled with no such thoughts as +these. After a day or two they lighted on another part of the wreck, +where they found a great many bags of silver dollars. But nobody could +have guessed that these were money-bags. By remaining so long in the +salt-water, they had become covered over with a crust which had the +appearance of stone, so that it was necessary to break them in pieces +with hammers and axes. When this was done, a stream of silver dollars +gushed out upon the deck of the vessel. + +The whole value of the recovered treasure, plate, bullion, precious +stones, and all, was estimated at more than two millions of dollars. It +was dangerous even to look at such a vast amount of wealth. A sea +captain, who had assisted Phips in the enterprise, utterly lost his +reason at the sight of it. He died two years afterwards, still raving +about the treasures that lie at the bottom of the sea. It would have +been better for this man, if he had left the skeletons of the +shipwrecked Spaniards in quiet possession of their wealth. + +Captain Phips and his men continued to fish up plate, bullion, and +dollars, as plentifully as ever, till their provisions grew short. Then, +as they could not feed upon gold and silver any more than old King Midas +could, they found it necessary to go in search of better sustenance. +Phips resolved to return to England. He arrived there in 1687, and was +received with great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and the other English +lords, who had fitted out the vessel. Well they might rejoice; for they +took by far the greater part of the treasure to themselves. + +The Captain's share, however, was enough to make him comfortable for the +rest of his days. It also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his wife, +by building a "fair brick house," in the Green Lane of Boston. The Duke +of Albemarle sent Mrs. Phips a magnificent gold cup, worth at least five +thousand dollars. Before Captain Phips left London, King James made him +a knight; so that, instead of the obscure ship-carpenter who had +formerly dwelt among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed him on his +return, as the rich and famous Sir William Phips. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +"Sir William Phips," continued Grandfather, "was too active and +adventurous a man to sit still in the quiet enjoyment of his good +fortune. In the year 1690, he went on a military expedition against the +French colonies in America, conquered the whole province of Acadie, and +returned to Boston with a great deal of plunder." + +"Why, grandfather, he was the greatest man that ever sat in the chair!" +cried Charley. + +"Ask Laurence what he thinks," replied Grandfather with a smile. "Well; +in the same year, Sir William took command of an expedition against +Quebec, but did not succeed in capturing the city. In 1692, being then +in London, King William the Third appointed him governor of +Massachusetts. And now, my dear children, having followed Sir William +Phips through all his adventures and hardships, till we find him +comfortably seated in Grandfather's chair, we will here bid him +farewell. May he be as happy in ruling a people, as he was while he +tended sheep!" + +Charley, whose fancy had been greatly taken by the adventurous +disposition of Sir William Phips, was eager to know how he had acted, +and what happened to him while he held the office of governor. But +Grandfather had made up his mind to tell no more stories for the +present. + +"Possibly, one of these days, I may go on with the adventures of the +chair," said he. "But its history becomes very obscure just at this +point; and I must search into some old books and manuscripts, before +proceeding further. Besides, it is now a good time to pause in our +narrative; because the new charter, which Sir William Phips brought over +from England, formed a very important epoch in the history of the +province." + +"Really, Grandfather," observed Laurence, "this seems to be the most +remarkable chair in the world. Its history cannot be told without +intertwining it with the lives of distinguished men, and the great +events that have befallen the country." + +"True, Laurence," replied Grandfather, smiling, "We must write a book, +with some such title as this,--MEMOIRS OF MY OWN TIMES, BY GRANDFATHER'S +CHAIR." + +"That would be beautiful!" exclaimed Laurence, clapping his hands. + +"But, after all," continued Grandfather, "any other old chair, if it +possessed memory, and a hand to write its recollections, could record +stranger stories than any that I have told you. From generation to +generation, a chair sits familiarly in the midst of human interests, and +is witness to the most secret and confidential intercourse, that mortal +man can hold with his fellow. The human heart may best be read in the +fireside chair. And as to external events, Grief and Joy keep a +continual vicissitude around it and within it. Now we see the glad face +and glowing form of Joy, sitting merrily in the old chair, and throwing +a warm fire-light radiance over all the household. Now, while we thought +not of it, the dark clad mourner, Grief, has stolen into the place of +Joy, but not to retain it long. The imagination can hardly grasp so wide +a subject, as is embraced in the experience of a family chair." + +"It makes my breath flutter,--my heart thrill,--to think of it," said +Laurence. "Yes; a family chair must have a deeper history than a Chair +of State." + +"O, yes!" cried Clara, expressing a woman's feeling on the point in +question, "The history of a country is not nearly so interesting as that +of a single family would be." + +"But the history of a country is more easily told," said Grandfather. +"So, if we proceed with our narrative of the chair, I shall still +confine myself to its connection with public events." + +Good old Grandfather now rose and quitted the room, while the children +remained gazing at the chair. Laurence, so vivid was his conception of +past times, would hardly have deemed it strange, if its former +occupants, one after another, had resumed the seat which they had each +left vacant, such a dim length of years ago. + +First, the gentle and lovely lady Arbella would have been seen in the +old chair, almost sinking out of its arms, for very weakness; then Roger +Williams, in his cloak and band, earnest, energetic, and benevolent; +then the figure of Anne Hutchinson, with the like gesture as when she +presided at the assemblages of women; then the dark, intellectual face +of Vane, "young in years, but in sage counsel old." Next would have +appeared the successive governors, Winthrop, Dudley, Bellingham, and +Endicott, who sat in the chair, while it was a Chair of State. Then its +ample seat would have been pressed by the comfortable, rotund +corporation of the honest mint-master. Then the half-frenzied shape of +Mary Dyer, the persecuted Quaker woman, clad in sackcloth and ashes, +would have rested in it for a moment. Then the holy apostolic form of +Eliot would have sanctified it. Then would have arisen, like the shade +of departed Puritanism, the venerable dignity of the white-bearded +Governor Bradstreet. Lastly, on the gorgeous crimson cushion of +Grandfather's chair, would have shone the purple and golden magnificence +of Sir William Phips. + +But, all these, with the other historic personages, in the midst of whom +the chair had so often stood, had passed, both in substance and shadow, +from the scene of ages. Yet here stood the chair, with the old Lincoln +coat of arms, and the oaken flowers and foliage, and the fierce lion's +head at the summit, the whole, apparently, in as perfect preservation as +when it had first been placed in the Earl of Lincoln's Hall. And what +vast changes of society and of nations had been wrought by sudden +convulsions or by slow degrees, since that era! + +"This chair has stood firm when the thrones of kings were overturned!" +thought Laurence. "Its oaken frame has proved stronger than many frames +of government!" + +More the thoughtful and imaginative boy might have mused; but now a +large yellow cat, a great favorite with all the children, leaped in at +the open window. Perceiving that Grandfather's chair was empty, and +having often before experienced its comforts, puss laid herself quietly +down upon the cushion. Laurence, Clara, Charley, and little Alice, all +laughed at the idea of such a successor to the worthies of old times. + +"Pussy," said little Alice, putting out her hand, into which the cat +laid a velvet paw, "you look very wise. Do tell us a story about +GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR!" + + + + +PART II. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"O Grandfather," dear Grandfather, cried little Alice, "pray tell us +some more stories about your chair!" + +How long a time had fled, since the children had felt any curiosity to +hear the sequel of this venerable chair's adventures! Summer was now +past and gone, and the better part of Autumn likewise. Dreary, chill +November was howling, out of doors, and vexing the atmosphere with +sudden showers of wintry rain, or sometimes with gusts of snow, that +rattled like small pebbles against the windows. + +When the weather began to grow cool, Grandfather's chair had been +removed from the summer parlor into a smaller and snugger room. It now +stood by the side of a bright blazing wood-fire. Grandfather loved a +wood-fire, far better than a grate of glowing anthracite, or than the +dull heat of an invisible furnace, which seems to think that it has done +its duty in merely warming the house. But the wood-fire is a kindly, +cheerful, sociable spirit, sympathizing with mankind, and knowing that +to create warmth is but one of the good offices which are expected from +it. Therefore it dances on the hearth, and laughs broadly through the +room, and plays a thousand antics, and throws a joyous glow over all the +faces that encircle it. + +In the twilight of the evening, the fire grew brighter and more +cheerful. And thus, perhaps, there was something in Grandfather's heart, +that cheered him most with its warmth and comfort in the gathering +twilight of old age. He had been gazing at the red embers, as intently +as if his past life were all pictured there, or as if it were a prospect +of the future world, when little Alice's voice aroused him. + +"Dear Grandfather," repeated the little girl, more earnestly, "do talk +to us again about your chair." + +Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, and little Alice, had been attracted +to other objects, for two or three months past. They had sported in the +gladsome sunshine of the present, and so had forgotten the shadowy +region of the past, in the midst of which stood Grandfather's chair. But +now, in the autumnal twilight, illuminated by the flickering blaze of +the wood-fire, they looked at the old chair and thought that it had +never before worn such an interesting aspect. There it stood, in the +venerable majesty of more than two hundred years. The light from the +hearth quivered upon the flowers and foliage, that were wrought into its +oaken back; and the lion's head at the summit seemed almost to move its +jaws and shake its mane. + +"Does little Alice speak for all of you?" asked Grandfather. "Do you +wish me to go on with the adventures of the chair?" + +"Oh, yes, yes, Grandfather!" cried Clara. "The dear old chair! How +strange that we should have forgotten it so long!" + +"Oh, pray begin, Grandfather," said Laurence; "for I think, when we talk +about old times, it should be in the early evening before the candles +are lighted. The shapes of the famous persons, who once sat in the +chair, will be more apt to come back, and be seen among us, in this +glimmer and pleasant gloom, than they would in the vulgar daylight. And, +besides, we can make pictures of all that you tell us, among the glowing +embers and white ashes." + +Our friend Charley, too, thought the evening the best time to hear +Grandfather's stories, because he could not then be playing out of +doors. So, finding his young auditors unanimous in their petition, the +good old gentleman took up the narrative of the historic chair, at the +point where he had dropt it. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"You recollect, my dear children," said Grandfather, "that we took leave +of the chair in 1692, while it was occupied by Sir William Phips. This +fortunate treasure-seeker, you will remember, had come over from +England, with King William's commission to be Governor of Massachusetts. +Within the limits of this province were now included the old colony of +Plymouth, and the territories of Maine and Nova Scotia. Sir William +Phips had likewise brought a new charter from the king, which served +instead of a constitution, and set forth the method in which the +province was to be governed." + +"Did the new charter allow the people all their former liberties?" +inquired Laurence. + +"No," replied Grandfather. "Under the first charter, the people had been +the source of all power. Winthrop, Endicott, Bradstreet, and the rest of +them, had been governors by the choice of the people, without any +interference of the king. But henceforth the governor was to hold his +station solely by the king's appointment, and during his pleasure; and +the same was the case with the lieutenant-governor, and some other high +officers. The people, however, were still allowed to choose +representatives; and the governor's council was chosen by the general +court." + +"Would the inhabitants have elected Sir William Phips," asked Laurence, +"if the choice of governor had been left to them?" + +"He might probably have been a successful candidate," answered +Grandfather; "for his adventures and military enterprises had gained him +a sort of renown, which always goes a great way with the people. And he +had many popular characteristics, being a kind, warm-hearted man, not +ashamed of his low origin, nor haughty in his present elevation. Soon +after his arrival, he proved that he did not blush to recognize his +former associates." + +"How was that?" inquired Charley. + +"He made a grand festival at his new brick house," said Grandfather, +"and invited all the ship-carpenters of Boston to be his guests. At the +head of the table, in our great chair, sat Sir William Phips himself, +treating these hard handed men as his brethren, cracking jokes with +them, and talking familiarly about old times. I know not whether he wore +his embroidered dress, but I rather choose to imagine that he had on a +suit of rough clothes, such as he used to labor in, while he was Phips +the ship-carpenter." + +"An aristocrat need not be ashamed of the trade," observed Laurence; +"for the czar Peter the Great once served an apprenticeship to it." + +"Did Sir William Phips make as good a governor as he was a +ship-carpenter?" asked Charley. + +"History says but little about his merits as a ship-carpenter," +answered Grandfather; "but, as a governor, a great deal of fault was +found with him. Almost as soon as he assumed the government, he became +engaged in a very frightful business, which might have perplexed a wiser +and better cultivated head than his. This was the witchcraft delusion." + +And here Grandfather gave his auditors such details of this melancholy +affair, as he thought it fit for them to know. They shuddered to hear +that a frenzy, which led to the death of many innocent persons, had +originated in the wicked arts of a few children. They belonged to the +Rev. Mr. Parris, minister of Salem. These children complained of being +pinched, and pricked with pins, and otherwise tormented by the shapes of +men and women, who were supposed to have power to haunt them invisibly, +both in darkness and daylight. Often, in the midst of their family and +friends, the children would pretend to be seized with strange +convulsions, and would cry out that the witches were afflicting them. + +These stories spread abroad, and caused great tumult and alarm. From the +foundation of New England, it had been the custom of the inhabitants, in +all matters of doubt and difficulty, to look to their ministers for +council. So they did now; but, unfortunately, the ministers and wise men +were more deluded than the illiterate people. Cotton Mather, a very +learned and eminent clergyman, believed that the whole country was full +of witches and wizards, who had given up their hopes of heaven, and +signed a covenant with the Evil One. + +Nobody could be certain that his nearest neighbor, or most intimate +friend, was not guilty of this imaginary crime. The number of those who +pretended to be afflicted by witchcraft, grew daily more numerous; and +they bore testimony against many of the best and worthiest people. A +minister, named George Burroughs, was among the accused. In the months +of August and September, 1692, he, and nineteen other innocent men and +women, were put to death. The place of execution was a high hill, on the +outskirts of Salem; so that many of the sufferers, as they stood beneath +the gallows, could discern their own habitations in the town. + +The martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed only to increase the +madness. The afflicted now grew bolder in their accusations. Many people +of rank and wealth were either thrown into prison, or compelled to flee +for their lives. Among these were two sons of old Simon Bradstreet, the +last of the Puritan governors. Mr. Willard, a pious minister of Boston, +was cried out upon as a wizard, in open court. Mrs. Hale, the wife of +the minister of Beverly, was likewise accused. Philip English, a rich +merchant of Salem, found it necessary to take flight, leaving his +property and business in confusion. But a short time afterwards, the +Salem people were glad to invite him back. + +"The boldest thing that the accusers did," continued Grandfather, "was +to cry out against the governor's own beloved wife. Yes; the lady of Sir +William Phips was accused of being a witch, and of flying through the +air to attend witch meetings. When the governor heard this, he probably +trembled, so that our great chair shook beneath him." + +"Dear Grandfather," cried little Alice, clinging closer to his knee, "is +it true that witches ever come in the night-time to frighten little +children?" + +"No, no, dear little Alice," replied Grandfather. "Even if there were +any witches, they would flee away from the presence of a pure-hearted +child. But there are none; and our forefathers soon became convinced, +that they had been led into a terrible delusion. All the prisoners on +account of witchcraft were set free. But the innocent dead could not be +restored to life; and the hill where they were executed, will always +remind people of the saddest and most humiliating passage in our +history." + +Grandfather then said, that the next remarkable event, while Sir William +Phips remained in the chair, was the arrival at Boston of an English +fleet, in 1693. It brought an army, which was intended for the conquest +of Canada. But a malignant disease, more fatal than the small-pox, broke +out among the soldiers and sailors, and destroyed the greater part of +them. The infection spread into the town of Boston, and made much havoc +there. This dreadful sickness caused the governor, and Sir Francis +Wheeler, who was commander of the British forces, to give up all +thoughts of attacking Canada. + +"Soon after this," said Grandfather, "Sir William Phips quarrelled with +the captain of an English frigate, and also with the Collector of +Boston. Being a man of violent temper, he gave each of them a sound +beating with his cane." + +"He was a bold fellow," observed Charley, who was himself somewhat +addicted to a similar mode of settling disputes. + +"More bold than wise," replied Grandfather; "for complaints were carried +to the king, and Sir William Phips was summoned to England, to make the +best answer he could. Accordingly he went to London, where, in 1695, he +was seized with a malignant fever, of which he died. Had he lived +longer, he would probably have gone again in search of sunken treasure. +He had heard of a Spanish ship, which was cast away in 1502, during the +lifetime of Columbus. Bovadilla, Roldan, and many other Spaniards, were +lost in her, together with the immense wealth of which they had robbed +the South American kings." + +"Why, Grandfather," exclaimed Laurence, "what magnificent ideas the +governor had! Only think of recovering all that old treasure, which had +lain almost two centuries under the sea! Me thinks Sir William Phips +ought to have been buried in the ocean, when he died; so that he might +have gone down among the sunken ships, and cargoes of treasure, which he +was always dreaming about in his lifetime." + +"He was buried in one of the crowded cemeteries of London," said +Grandfather. "As he left no children, his estate was inherited by his +nephew, from whom is descended the present Marquis of Normandy. The +noble Marquis is not aware, perhaps, that the prosperity of his family +originated in the successful enterprise of a New England ship +carpenter." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"At the death of Sir William Phips," proceeded Grandfather, "our chair +was bequeathed to Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, a famous school-master in Boston. +This old gentleman came from London in 1637, and had been teaching +school ever since; so that there were now aged men, grandfathers like +myself, to whom Master Cheever had taught their alphabet. He was a +person of venerable aspect, and wore a long white beard. + +"Was the chair placed in his school?" asked Charley. + +"Yes, in his school," answered Grandfather; "and we may safely say that +it had never before been regarded with such awful reverence--no, not +even when the old governors of Massachusetts sat in it. Even you, +Charley, my boy, would have felt some respect for the chair, if you had +seen it occupied by this famous school-master." + +And here Grandfather endeavored to give his auditors an idea how matters +were managed in schools above a hundred years ago. As this will probably +be an interesting subject to our readers, we shall make a separate +sketch of it, and call it + + +THE OLD-FASHIONED SCHOOL. + +Now imagine yourselves, my children, in Master Ezekiel Cheever's +school-room. It is a large, dingy room, with a sanded floor, and is +lighted by windows that turn on hinges, and have little diamond shaped +panes of glass. The scholars sit on long benches, with desks before +them. At one end of the room is a great fire-place, so very spacious, +that there is room enough for three or four boys to stand in each of the +chimney corners. This was the good old fashion of fire-places, when +there was wood enough in the forests to keep people warm, without their +digging into the bowels of the earth for coal. + +It is a winter's day when we take our peep into the school-room. See +what great logs of wood have been rolled into the fire-place, and what a +broad, bright blaze goes leaping up the chimney! And every few moments, +a vast cloud of smoke is puffed into the room, which sails slowly over +the heads of the scholars, until it gradually settles upon the walls and +ceiling. They are blackened with the smoke of many years already. + +[Illustration] + +Next, look at our old historic chair! It is placed, you perceive, in the +most comfortable part of the room, where the generous glow of the fire +is sufficiently felt, without being too intensely hot. How stately the +old chair looks, as if it remembered its many famous occupants, but yet +were conscious that a greater man is sitting in it now! Do you see the +venerable school-master, severe in aspect, with a black scull-cap on his +head, like an ancient Puritan, and the snow of his white beard drifting +down to his very girdle? What boy would dare to play, or whisper, or +even glance aside from his book, while Master Cheever is on the +look-out, behind his spectacles! For such offenders, if any such there +be, a rod of birch is hanging over the fire-place, and a heavy ferule +lies on the master's desk. + +And now school is begun. What a murmur of multitudinous tongues, like +the whispering leaves of a wind-stirred oak, as the scholars con over +their various tasks! Buz, buz, buz! Amid just such a murmur has Master +Cheever spent above sixty years: and long habit has made it as pleasant +to him as the hum of a bee-hive, when the insects are busy in the +sunshine. + +Now a class in Latin is called to recite. Forth steps a row of +queer-looking little fellows, wearing square-skirted coats, and small +clothes, with buttons at the knee. They look like so many grandfathers +in their second childhood. These lads are to be sent to Cambridge, and +educated for the learned professions. Old Master Cheever has lived so +long, and seen so many generations of school-boys grow up to be men, +that now he can almost prophesy what sort of a man each boy will be. One +urchin shall hereafter be a doctor, and administer pills and potions, +and stalk gravely through life, perfumed with assafoetida. Another +shall wrangle at the bar, and fight his way to wealth and honors, and in +his declining age, shall be a worshipful member of his Majesty's +council. A third--and he is the Master's favorite--shall be a worthy +successor to the old Puritan ministers, now in their graves; he shall +preach with great unction and effect, and leave volumes of sermons, in +print and manuscript, for the benefit of future generations. + +But, as they are merely school-boys now, their business is to construe +Virgil. Poor Virgil, whose verses, which he took so much pains to +polish, have been mis-scanned, and mis-parsed, and mis-interpreted, by +so many generations of idle school-boys! There, sit down, ye Latinists. +Two or three of you, I fear, are doomed to feel the master's ferule. + +Next comes a class in Arithmetic. These boys are to be the merchants, +shop-keepers, and mechanics, of a future period. Hitherto, they have +traded only in marbles and apples. Hereafter, some will send vessels to +England for broadcloths and all sorts of manufactured wares, and to the +West Indies for sugar, and rum, and coffee. Others will stand behind +counters, and measure tape, and ribbon, and cambric, by the yard. Others +will upheave the blacksmith's hammer, or drive the plane over the +carpenter's bench, or take the lapstone and the awl, and learn the trade +of shoe-making. Many will follow the sea, and become bold, rough +sea-captains. + +This class of boys, in short, must supply the world with those active, +skilful hands, and clear, sagacious heads, without which the affairs of +life would be thrown into confusion, by the theories of studious and +visionary men. Wherefore, teach them their multiplication table, good +Master Cheever, and whip them well, when they deserve it; for much of +the country's welfare depends on these boys! + +But, alas! while we have been thinking of other matters, Master +Cheever's watchful eye has caught two boys at play. Now we shall see +awful times! The two malefactors are summoned before the master's chair, +wherein he sits, with the terror of a judge upon his brow. Our old chair +is now a judgment-seat. Ah, Master Cheever has taken down that terrible +birch-rod! Short is the trial--the sentence quickly passed--and now the +judge prepares to execute it in person. Thwack! thwack! thwack! In those +good old times, a school-master's blows were well laid on. + +See! the birch-rod has lost several of its twigs, and will hardly serve +for another execution. Mercy on us, what a bellowing the urchins make! +My ears are almost deafened, though the clamor comes through the far +length of a hundred and fifty years. There, go to your seats, poor boys; +and do not cry, sweet little Alice; for they have ceased to feel the +pain, a long time since. + +And thus the forenoon passes away. Now it is twelve o'clock. The master +looks at his great silver watch, and then with tiresome deliberation, +puts the ferule into his desk. The little multitude await the word of +dismissal, with almost irrepressible impatience. + +"You are dismissed," says Master Cheever. + +The boys retire, treading softly until they have passed the threshold; +but, fairly out of the school-room, lo, what a joyous shout!--what a +scampering and trampling of feet!--what a sense of recovered freedom, +expressed in the merry uproar of all their voices! What care they for +the ferule and birch-rod now? Were boys created merely to study Latin +and Arithmetic? No; the better purposes of their being are to sport, to +leap, to run, to shout, to slide upon the ice, to snow-ball! + +Happy boys! Enjoy your play-time now, and come again to study, and to +feel the birch-rod and the ferule, to-morrow; not till to-morrow, for +to-day is Thursday-lecture; and ever since the settlement of +Massachusetts, there has been no school on Thursday afternoons. +Therefore, sport, boys, while you may; for the morrow cometh, with the +birch-rod and the ferule; and after that, another Morrow, with troubles +of its own. + +Now the master has set every thing to rights, and is ready to go home to +dinner. Yet he goes reluctantly. The old man has spent so much of his +life in the smoky, noisy, buzzing school-room, that, when he has a +holiday, he feels as if his place were lost, and himself a stranger in +the world. But, forth he goes; and there stands our old chair, vacant +and solitary, till good Master Cheever resumes his seat in it to-morrow +morning. + + * * * * * + +"Grandfather," said Charley, "I wonder whether the boys did not use to +upset the old chair, when the school-master was out?" + +"There is a tradition," replied Grandfather, "that one of its arms was +dislocated, in some such manner. But I cannot believe that any +school-boy would behave so naughtily." + +As it was now later than little Alice's usual bedtime, Grandfather broke +off his narrative, promising to talk more about Master Cheever and his +scholars, some other evening. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Accordingly the next evening, Grandfather resumed the history of his +beloved chair. + +"Master Ezekiel Cheever," said he, "died in 1707, after having taught +school about seventy years. It would require a pretty good scholar in +arithmetic to tell how many stripes he had inflicted, and how many +birch-rods he had worn out, during all that time, in his fatherly +tenderness for his pupils. Almost all the great men of that period, and +for many years back, had been whipt into eminence by Master Cheever. +Moreover, he had written a Latin Accidence, which was used in schools +more than half a century after his death; so that the good old man, even +in his grave, was still the cause of trouble and stripes to idle +school-boys." + +Grandfather proceeded to say, that, when Master Cheever died, he +bequeathed the chair to the most learned man that was educated at his +school, or that had ever been born in America. This was the renowned +Cotton Mather, minister of the Old North Church in Boston. + +"And author of the Magnalia, Grandfather, which we sometimes see you +reading," said Laurence. + +"Yes, Laurence," replied Grandfather. "The Magnalia is a strange, +pedantic history, in which true events and real personages move before +the reader, with the dreamy aspect which they wore in Cotton Mather's +singular mind. This huge volume, however, was written and published +before our chair came into his possession. But, as he was the author of +more books than there are days in the year, we may conclude that he +wrote a great deal, while sitting in this chair." + +"I am tired of these school-masters and learned men," said Charley. "I +wish some stirring man, that knew how to do something in the world, like +Sir William Phips, would set in the chair." + +"Such men seldom have leisure to sit quietly in a chair," said +Grandfather. "We must make the best of such people as we have." + +As Cotton Mather was a very distinguished man, Grandfather took some +pains to give the children a lively conception of his character. Over +the door of his library were painted these words--BE SHORT--as a warning +to visitors that they must not do the world so much harm, as needlessly +to interrupt this great man's wonderful labors. On entering the room you +would probably behold it crowded, and piled, and heaped with books. +There were huge, ponderous folios and quartos, and little duodecimos, in +English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldaic, and all other languages, that +either originated at the confusion of Babel, or have since come into +use. + +All these books, no doubt, were tossed about in confusion, thus forming +a visible emblem of the manner in which their contents were crowded +into Cotton Mather's brain. And in the middle of the room stood a table, +on which, besides printed volumes, were strewn manuscript sermons, +historical tracts, and political pamphlets, all written in such a queer, +blind, crabbed, fantastical hand, that a writing-master would have gone +raving mad at the sight of them. By this table stood Grandfather's +chair, which seemed already to have contracted an air of deep erudition, +as if its cushion were stuffed with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and other +hard matters. + +In this chair, from one year's end to another, sat that prodigious +book-worm, Cotton Mather, sometimes devouring a great book, and +sometimes scribbling one as big. In Grandfather's younger days, there +used to be a wax figure of him in one of the Boston museums, +representing a solemn, dark-visaged person, in a minister's black gown, +and with a black-letter volume before him. + +"It is difficult, my children," observed Grandfather, "to make you +understand such a character as Cotton Mather's, in whom there was so +much good, and yet so many failings and frailties. Undoubtedly, he was a +pious man. Often he kept fasts; and once, for three whole days, he +allowed himself not a morsel of food, but spent the time in prayer and +religious meditation. Many a live-long night did he watch and pray. +These fasts and vigils made him meagre and haggard, and probably caused +him to appear as if he hardly belonged to the world." + +"Was not the witchcraft delusion partly caused by Cotton Mather?" +inquired Laurence. + +"He was the chief agent of the mischief," answered Grandfather; "but we +will not suppose that he acted otherwise than conscientiously. He +believed that there were evil spirits all about the world. Doubtless he +imagined that they were hidden in the corners and crevices of his +library, and that they peeped out from among the leaves of many of his +books, as he turned them over, at midnight. He supposed that these +unlovely demons were everywhere, in the sunshine as well as in the +darkness, and that they were hidden in men's hearts, and stole into +their most secret thoughts." + +Here Grandfather was interrupted by little Alice, who hid her face in +his lap, and murmured a wish that he would not talk any more about +Cotton Mather and the evil spirits. Grandfather kissed her, and told her +that angels were the only spirits whom she had any thing to do with. He +then spoke of the public affairs of the period. + +A new war between France and England had broken out in 1702, and had +been raging ever since. In the course of it, New England suffered much +injury from the French and Indians, who often came through the woods +from Canada, and assaulted the frontier towns. Villages were sometimes +burnt, and the inhabitants slaughtered, within a day's ride of Boston. +The people of New England had a bitter hatred against the French, not +only for the mischief which they did with their own hands, but because +they incited the Indians to hostility. + +The New Englanders knew that they could never dwell in security, until +the provinces of France should be subdued, and brought under the English +government. They frequently, in time of war, undertook military +expeditions against Acadia and Canada, and sometimes besieged the +fortresses, by which those territories were defended. But the most +earnest wish of their hearts was, to take Quebec, and so get possession +of the whole province of Canada. Sir William Phips had once attempted +it, but without success. + +Fleets and soldiers were often sent from England, to assist the +colonists in their warlike undertakings. In 1710, Port Royal, a fortress +of Acadia, was taken by the English. The next year, in the month of +June, a fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker, arrived in +Boston Harbor. On board of this fleet was the English General Hill, with +seven regiments of soldiers, who had been fighting under the Duke of +Marlborough, in Flanders. The government of Massachusetts was called +upon to find provisions for the army and fleet, and to raise more men to +assist in taking Canada. + +What with recruiting and drilling of soldiers, there was now nothing but +warlike bustle in the streets of Boston. The drum and fife, the rattle +of arms, and the shouts of boys, were heard from morning till night. In +about a month, the fleet set sail, carrying four regiments from New +England and New York, besides the English soldiers. The whole army +amounted to at least seven thousand men. They steered for the mouth of +the river St. Lawrence. + +"Cotton Mather prayed most fervently for their success," continued +Grandfather, "both in his pulpit, and when he kneeled down in the +solitude of his library, resting his face on our old chair. But +Providence ordered the result otherwise. In a few weeks, tidings were +received, that eight or nine of the vessels had been wrecked in the St. +Lawrence, and that above a thousand drowned soldiers had been washed +ashore, on the banks of that mighty river. After this misfortune, Sir +Hovenden Walker set sail for England; and many pious people began to +think it a sin, even to wish for the conquest of Canada." + +"I would never give it up so," cried Charley. + +"Nor did they, as we shall see," replied Grandfather. "However, no more +attempts were made during this war, which came to a close in 1713. The +people of New England were probably glad of some repose; for their young +men had been made soldiers, till many of them were fit for nothing else. +And those, who remained at home, had been heavily taxed to pay for the +arms, ammunition, fortifications, and all the other endless expenses of +a war. There was great need of the prayers of Cotton Mather, and of all +pious men, not only on account of the sufferings of the people, but +because the old moral and religious character of New England was in +danger of being utterly lost." + +"How glorious it would have been," remarked Laurence, "if our +forefathers could have kept the country unspotted with blood." + +"Yes," said Grandfather; "but there was a stern warlike spirit in them, +from the beginning. They seem never to have thought of questioning +either the morality or piety of war." + +The next event, which Grandfather spoke of, was one that Cotton Mather, +as well as most of the other inhabitants of New England, heartily +rejoiced at. This was the accession of the Elector of Hanover to the +throne of England, in 1714, on the death of Queen Anne. Hitherto, the +people had been in continual dread that the male line of the Stuarts, +who were descended from the beheaded King Charles and the banished King +James, would be restored to the throne. In that case, as the Stuart +family were Roman Catholics, it was supposed that they would attempt to +establish their own religion throughout the British dominions. But the +Elector of Hanover, and all his race, were Protestants; so that now the +descendants of the old Puritans were relieved from many fears and +disquietudes. + +"The importance of this event," observed Grandfather, "was a thousand +times greater than that of a Presidential Election, in our own days. If +the people dislike their president, they may get rid of him in four +years; whereas, a dynasty of kings may wear the crown for an unlimited +period." + +The German elector was proclaimed king from the balcony of the +town-house, in Boston, by the title of George the First, while the +trumpets sounded, and the people cried Amen. That night, the town was +illuminated; and Cotton Mather threw aside book and pen, and left +Grandfather's chair vacant, while he walked hither and thither to +witness the rejoicings. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +"Cotton Mather," continued Grandfather, "was a bitter enemy to Governor +Dudley; and nobody exulted more than he, when that crafty politician was +removed from the government, and succeeded by Colonel Shute. This took +place in 1716. The new governor had been an officer in the renowned Duke +of Marlborough's army, and had fought in some of the great battles in +Flanders." + +"Now, I hope," said Charley, "we shall hear of his doing great things." + +"I am afraid you will be disappointed, Charley," answered Grandfather. +"It is true, that Colonel Shute had probably never led so unquiet a life +while fighting the French, as he did now, while governing this province +of Massachusetts Bay. But his troubles consisted almost entirely of +dissensions with the legislature. The king had ordered him to lay claim +to a fixed salary; but the representatives of the people insisted upon +paying him only such sums, from year to year, as they saw fit." + +Grandfather here explained some of the circumstances, that made the +situation of a colonial governor so difficult and irksome. There was not +the same feeling towards the chief magistrate, now, that had existed, +while he was chosen by the free suffrages of the people. It was felt, +that, as the king appointed the governor, and as he held his office +during the king's pleasure, it would be his great object to please the +king. But the people thought, that a governor ought to have nothing in +view, but the best interests of those whom he governed. + +"The governor," remarked Grandfather, "had two masters to serve--the +king, who appointed him, and the people, on whom he depended for his +pay. Few men, in this position, would have ingenuity enough to satisfy +either party. Colonel Shute, though a good-natured, well-meaning man, +succeeded so ill with the people, that in 1722, he suddenly went away to +England, and made complaint to King George. In the mean time, +Lieutenant-Governor Dummer directed the affairs of the province, and +carried on a long and bloody war with the Indians." + +"But where was our chair, all this time?" asked Clara. + +"It still remained in Cotton Mather's library," replied Grandfather; +"and I must not omit to tell you an incident, which is very much to the +honor of this celebrated man. It is the more proper, too, that you +should hear it, because it will show you what a terrible calamity the +small pox was to our forefathers. The history of the province, (and, of +course, the history of our chair,) would be incomplete, without +particular mention of it." Accordingly, Grandfather told the children a +story, to which, for want of a better title, we shall give that of + + +THE REJECTED BLESSING. + +One day, in 1721, Doctor Cotton Mather sat in his library, reading a +book that had been published by the Royal Society of London. But, every +few moments, he laid the book upon the table, and leaned back in +Grandfather's chair, with an aspect of deep care and disquietude. There +were certain things which troubled him exceedingly, so that he could +hardly fix his thoughts upon what he read. + +It was now a gloomy time in Boston. That terrible disease, the small +pox, had recently made its appearance in the town. Ever since the first +settlement of the country, this awful pestilence had come, at intervals, +and swept away multitudes of the inhabitants. Whenever it commenced its +ravages, nothing seemed to stay its progress, until there were no more +victims for it to seize upon. Oftentimes, hundreds of people, at once, +lay groaning with its agony; and when it departed, its deep footsteps +were always to be traced in many graves. + +The people never felt secure from this calamity. Sometimes, perhaps, it +was brought into the country by a poor sailor, who had caught the +infection in foreign parts, and came hither to die, and to be the cause +of many deaths. Sometimes, no doubt, it followed in the train of the +pompous governors, when they came over from England. Sometimes, the +disease lay hidden in the cargoes of ships, among silks and brocades, +and other costly merchandise, which was imported for the rich people to +wear. And, sometimes, it started up, seemingly of its own accord; and +nobody could tell whence it came. The physician, being called to attend +the sick person, would look at him, and say,--"It is the small pox! let +the patient be carried to the hospital." + +And now, this dreadful sickness had shown itself again in Boston. Cotton +Mather was greatly afflicted, for the sake of the whole province. He had +children, too, who were exposed to the danger. At that very moment, he +heard the voice of his youngest son, for whom his heart was moved with +apprehension. + +"Alas! I fear for that poor child," said Cotton Mather to himself. "What +shall I do for my son Samuel?" + +Again, he attempted to drive away these thoughts, by taking up the book +which he had been reading. And now, all of a sudden, his attention +became fixed. The book contained a printed letter that an Italian +physician had written upon the very subject, about which Cotton Mather +was so anxiously meditating. He ran his eye eagerly over the pages; and, +behold! a method was disclosed to him, by which the small pox might be +robbed of its worst terrors. Such a method was known in Greece. The +physicians of Turkey, too, those long-bearded Eastern sages, had been +acquainted with it for many years. The negroes of Africa, ignorant as +they were, had likewise practised it, and thus had shown themselves +wiser than the white men. + +"Of a truth," ejaculated Cotton Mather, clasping his hands and looking +up to Heaven, "it was a merciful Providence that brought this book under +mine eye! I will procure a consultation of physicians, and see whether +this wondrous Inoculation may not stay the progress of the Destroyer." + +So he arose from Grandfather's chair, and went out of the library. Near +the door he met his son Samuel, who seemed downcast and out of spirits. +The boy had heard, probably, that some of his playmates were taken ill +with the small pox. But, as his father looked cheerfully at him, Samuel +took courage, trusting that either the wisdom of so learned a minister +would find some remedy for the danger, or else that his prayers would +secure protection from on high. + +Meanwhile, Cotton Mather took his staff and three-cornered hat, and +walked about the streets, calling at the houses of all the physicians in +Boston. They were a very wise fraternity; and their huge wigs, and black +dresses, and solemn visages, made their wisdom appear even profounder +than it was. One after another, he acquainted them with the discovery +which he had hit upon. + +But these grave and sagacious personages would scarcely listen to him. +The oldest doctor in town contented himself with remarking, that no such +thing as inoculation was mentioned by Galen or Hippocrates, and it was +impossible that modern physicians should be wiser than those old sages. +A second held up his hands in dumb astonishment and horror, at the +madness of what Cotton Mather proposed to do. A third told him, in +pretty plain terms, that he knew not what he was talking about. A fourth +requested, in the name of the whole medical fraternity, that Cotton +Mather would confine his attention to people's souls, and leave the +physicians to take care of their bodies. + +In short, there was but a single doctor among them all, who would grant +the poor minister so much as a patient hearing. This was Doctor Zabdiel +Boylston. He looked into the matter like a man of sense, and finding, +beyond a doubt, that inoculation had rescued many from death, he +resolved to try the experiment in his own family. + +And so he did. But, when the other physicians heard of it, they arose in +great fury, and began a war of words, written, printed, and spoken, +against Cotton Mather and Doctor Boylston. To hear them talk, you would +have supposed that these two harmless and benevolent men had plotted the +ruin of the country. + +The people, also, took the alarm. Many, who thought themselves more +pious than their neighbors, contended, that, if Providence had ordained +them to die of the small pox, it was sinful to aim at preventing it. +The strangest reports were in circulation. Some said, that Doctor +Boylston had contrived a method for conveying the gout, rheumatism, sick +headache, asthma, and all other diseases, from one person to another, +and diffusing them through the whole community. Others flatly affirmed +that the Evil One had got possession of Cotton Mather, and was at the +bottom of the whole business. + +You must observe, children, that Cotton Mather's fellow citizens were +generally inclined to doubt the wisdom of any measure, which he might +propose to them. They recollected how he had led them astray in the old +witchcraft delusion; and now, if he thought and acted ever so wisely, it +was difficult for him to get the credit of it. + +The people's wrath grew so hot at his attempt to guard them from the +small pox, that he could not walk the streets in peace. Whenever the +venerable form of the old minister, meagre and haggard with fasts and +vigils, was seen approaching, hisses were heard, and shouts of derision, +and scornful and bitter laughter. The women snatched away their children +from his path, lest he should do them a mischief. Still, however, +bending his head meekly, and perhaps stretching out his hands to bless +those who reviled him, he pursued his way. But the tears came into his +eyes, to think how blindly the people rejected the means of safety, that +were offered them. + +Indeed, there were melancholy sights enough in the streets of Boston, to +draw forth the tears of a compassionate man. Over the door of almost +every dwelling, a red flag was fluttering in the air. This was the +signal that the small pox had entered the house, and attacked some +member of the family; or perhaps the whole family, old and young, were +struggling at once with the pestilence. Friends and relatives, when they +met one another in the streets, would hurry onward without a grasp of +the hand, or scarcely a word of greeting, lest they should catch or +communicate the contagion. And, often a coffin was borne hastily along. + +"Alas, alas!" said Cotton Mather to himself. "What shall be done for +this poor, misguided people? Oh, that Providence would open their eyes, +and enable them to discern good from evil!" + +So furious, however, were the people, that they threatened vengeance +against any person who should dare to practise inoculation, though it +were only in his own family. This was a hard case for Cotton Mather, who +saw no other way to rescue his poor child Samuel from the disease. But +he resolved to save him, even if his house should be burnt over his +head. + +"I will not be turned aside," said he. "My townsmen shall see that I +have faith in this thing, when I make the experiment on my beloved son, +whose life is dearer to me than my own. And when I have saved Samuel, +peradventure they will be persuaded to save themselves." + +Accordingly, Samuel was inoculated; and so was Mr. Walter, a son-in-law +of Cotton Mather. Doctor Boylston, likewise, inoculated many persons; +and while hundreds died, who had caught the contagion from the garments +of the sick, almost all were preserved, who followed the wise +physician's advice. + +But the people were not yet convinced of their mistake. One night, a +destructive little instrument, called a hand-grenade, was thrown into +Cotton Mather's window, and rolled under Grandfather's chair. It was +supposed to be filled with gunpowder, the explosion of which would have +blown the poor minister to atoms. But the best-informed historians are +of opinion, that the grenade contained only brimstone and assafoetida, +and was meant to plague Cotton Mather with a very evil perfume. + +This is no strange thing in human experience. Men, who attempt to do the +world more good, than the world is able entirely to comprehend, are +almost invariably held in bad odor. But yet, if the wise and good man +can wait awhile, either the present generation or posterity, will do him +justice. So it proved, in the case which we have been speaking of. In +after years, when inoculation was universally practised, and thousands +were saved from death by it, the people remembered old Cotton Mather, +then sleeping in his grave. They acknowledged that the very thing, for +which they had so reviled and persecuted him, was the best and wisest +thing he ever did. + + * * * * * + +"Grandfather, this is not an agreeable story," observed Clara. + +"No, Clara," replied Grandfather. "But it is right that you should know +what a dark shadow this disease threw over the times of our forefathers. +And now, if you wish to learn more about Cotton Mather, you must read +his biography, written by Mr. Peabody, of Springfield. You will find it +very entertaining and instructive; but perhaps the writer is somewhat +too harsh in his judgment of this singular man. He estimates him fairly, +indeed, and understands him well; but he unriddles his character rather +by acuteness than by sympathy. Now, his life should have been written by +one, who, knowing all his faults, would nevertheless love him." + +So Grandfather made an end of Cotton Mather, telling his auditors that +he died in 1728, at the age of sixty-five, and bequeathed the chair to +Elisha Cooke. This gentleman was a famous advocate of the people's +rights. + +The same year, William Burnet, a son of the celebrated Bishop Burnet, +arrived in Boston, with the commission of governor. He was the first +that had been appointed since the departure of Colonel Shute. Governor +Burnet took up his residence with Mr. Cooke, while the Province House +was undergoing repairs. During this period, he was always complimented +with a seat in Grandfather's chair; and so comfortable did he find it, +that on removing to the Province House, he could not bear to leave it +behind him. Mr. Cooke, therefore, requested his acceptance of it. + +"I should think," said Laurence, "that the people would have petitioned +the king always to appoint a native-born New Englander to govern them." + +"Undoubtedly it was a grievance," answered Grandfather, "to see men +placed in this station, who perhaps had neither talents nor virtues to +fit them for it, and who certainly could have no natural affection for +the country. The king generally bestowed the governorships of the +American colonies upon needy noblemen, or hangers-on at court, or +disbanded officers. The people knew that such persons would be very +likely to make the good of the country subservient to the wishes of the +king. The legislature, therefore, endeavored to keep as much power as +possible in their own hands, by refusing to settle a fixed salary upon +the governors. It was thought better to pay them according to their +deserts." + +"Did Governor Burnet work well for his money?" asked Charley. + +Grandfather could not help smiling at the simplicity of Charley's +question. Nevertheless, it put the matter in a very plain point of +view. + +He then described the character of Governor Burnet, representing him as +a good scholar, possessed of much ability, and likewise of unspotted +integrity. His story affords a striking example, how unfortunate it is +for a man, who is placed as ruler over a country, to be compelled to aim +at any thing but the good of the people. Governor Burnet was so chained +down by his instructions from the king, that he could not act as he +might otherwise have wished. Consequently, his whole term of office was +wasted in quarrels with the legislature. + +"I am afraid, children," said Grandfather, "that Governor Burnet found +but little rest or comfort in our old chair. Here he used to sit, +dressed in a coat which was made of rough, shaggy cloth outside, but of +smooth velvet within. It was said that his own character resembled that +coat, for his outward manner was rough, but his inward disposition soft +and kind. It is a pity that such a man could not have been kept free +from trouble. But so harassing were his disputes with the +representatives of the people, that he fell into a fever, of which he +died, in 1720. The legislature had refused him a salary, while alive; +but they appropriated money enough to give him a splendid and pompous +funeral." + +And now Grandfather perceived that little Alice had fallen fast asleep, +with her head upon his footstool. Indeed, as Clara observed, she had +been sleeping from the time of Sir Hovenden Walker's expedition against +Quebec, until the death of Governor Burnet--a period of about eighteen +years. And yet, after so long a nap, sweet little Alice was a +golden-haired child, of scarcely five years old. + +"It puts me in mind," said Laurence, "of the story of the enchanted +princess, who slept many a hundred years, and awoke as young and +beautiful as ever." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +A few evenings afterwards, cousin Clara happened to inquire of +Grandfather, whether the old chair had never been present at a ball. At +the same time, little Alice brought forward a doll, with whom she had +been holding a long conversation. + +"See, Grandfather," cried she. "Did such a pretty lady as this ever sit +in your great chair?" + +These questions led Grandfather to talk about the fashions and manners, +which now began to be introduced from England into the provinces. The +simplicity of the good old Puritan times was fast disappearing. This was +partly owing to the increasing number and wealth of the inhabitants, and +to the additions which they continually received, by the arrival and +settlement of people from beyond the sea. + +Another cause of a pompous and artificial mode of life, among those who +could afford it, was, that the example was set by the royal governors. +Under the old charter, the governors were the representatives of the +people, and therefore their way of living had probably been marked by a +popular simplicity. But now, as they represented the person of the king, +they thought it necessary to preserve the dignity of their station, by +the practice of high and gorgeous ceremonials. And, besides, the +profitable offices under the government were filled by men who had lived +in London, and had there contracted fashionable and luxurious habits of +living, which they would not now lay aside. The wealthy people of the +province imitated them; and thus began a general change in social life. + +"So, my dear Clara," said Grandfather, "after our chair had entered the +Province House, it must often have been present at balls and festivals, +though I cannot give you a description of any particular one. But I +doubt not that they were very magnificent; and slaves in gorgeous +liveries waited on the guests, and offered them wine in goblets of +massive silver." + +"Were there slaves in those days?" exclaimed Clara. + +"Yes; black slaves and white," replied Grandfather. "Our ancestors not +only bought negroes from Africa, but Indians from South America, and +white people from Ireland. These last were sold, not for life, but for a +certain number of years, in order to pay the expenses of their voyage +across the Atlantic. Nothing was more common than to see a lot of likely +Irish girls, advertised for sale in the newspapers. As for the little +negro babies, they were offered to be given away, like young kittens." + +"Perhaps Alice would have liked one to play with, instead of her doll," +said Charley, laughing. + +But little Alice clasped the waxen doll closer to her bosom. + +"Now, as for this pretty doll, my little Alice," said Grandfather, "I +wish you could have seen what splendid dresses the ladies wore in those +times. They had silks, and satins, and damasks, and brocades, and high +head-dresses, and all sorts of fine things. And they used to wear +hooped-petticoats, of such enormous size that it was quite a journey to +walk round them." + +"And how did the gentlemen dress?" asked Charley. + +"With full as much magnificence as the ladies," answered Grandfather. +"For their holiday suits, they had coats of figured velvet, crimson, +green, blue, and all other gay colors, embroidered with gold or silver +lace. Their waistcoats, which were five times as large as modern ones, +were very splendid. Sometimes, the whole waistcoat, which came down +almost to the knees, was made of gold brocade." + +"Why, the wearer must have shone like a golden image!" said Clara. + +"And, then," continued Grandfather, "they wore various sorts of +periwigs, such as the Tie, the Spencer, the Brigadier, the Major, the +Albemarle, the Ramilies, the Feather-top, and the Full-bottom! Their +three-cornered hats were laced with gold or silver. They had shining +buckles at the knees of their small clothes, and buckles likewise in +their shoes. They wore swords, with beautiful hilts, either of silver, +or sometimes of polished steel, inlaid with gold." + +"Oh, I should like to wear a sword!" cried Charley. + +"And an embroidered crimson velvet coat," said Clara, laughing, "and a +gold brocade waistcoat down to your knees!" + +"And knee-buckles and shoe-buckles," said Laurence, laughing also. + +"And a periwig," added little Alice, soberly, not knowing what was the +article of dress, which she recommended to our friend Charley. + +Grandfather smiled at the idea of Charley's sturdy little figure in such +a grotesque caparison. He then went on with the history of the chair, +and told the children, that, in 1730, King George the Second appointed +Jonathan Belcher to be governor of Massachusetts, in place of the +deceased Governor Burnet. Mr. Belcher was a native of the province, but +had spent much of his life in Europe. + +The new governor found Grandfather's chair in the Province House, he was +struck with its noble and stately aspect, but was of opinion, that age +and hard services had made it scarcely so fit for courtly company, as +when it stood in the Earl of Lincoln's hall. Wherefore, as Governor +Belcher was fond of splendor, he employed a skilful artist to beautify +the chair. This was done by polishing and varnishing it, and by gilding +the carved work of the elbows, and likewise the oaken flowers of the +back. The lion's head now shone like a veritable lump of gold. Finally, +Governor Belcher gave the chair a cushion of blue damask, with a rich +golden fringe. + +"Our good old chair being thus glorified," proceeded Grandfather, "it +glittered with a great deal more splendor than it had exhibited just a +century before, when the Lady Arbella brought it over from England. Most +people mistook it for a chair of the latest London fashion. And this may +serve for an example, that there is almost always an old and time-worn +substance under all the glittering show of new invention." + +"Grandfather, I cannot see any of the gilding," remarked Charley, who +had been examining the chair very minutely. + +"You will not wonder that it has been rubbed off," replied Grandfather, +"when you hear all the adventures that have since befallen the chair. +Gilded it was; and the handsomest room in the Province House was adorned +by it." + +There was not much to interest the children, in what happened during the +years that Governor Belcher remained in the chair. At first, like +Colonel Shute and Governor Burnet, he was engaged in disputing with the +legislature about his salary. But, as he found it impossible to get a +fixed sum, he finally obtained the king's leave to accept whatever the +legislature chose to give him. And thus the people triumphed, after this +long contest for the privilege of expending their own money as they saw +fit. + +The remainder of Governor Belcher's term of office was principally taken +up in endeavoring to settle the currency. Honest John Hull's pine-tree +shillings had long ago been worn out, or lost, or melted down again, and +their place was supplied by bills of paper or parchment, which were +nominally valued at three pence and upwards. The value of these bills +kept continually sinking, because the real hard money could not be +obtained for them. They were a great deal worse than the old Indian +currency of clam-shells. These disorders of the circulating medium were +a source of endless plague and perplexity to the rulers and legislators, +not only in Governor Belcher's days, but for many years before and +afterwards. + +Finally, the people suspected that Governor Belcher was secretly +endeavoring to establish the Episcopal mode of worship in the provinces. +There was enough of the old Puritan spirit remaining, to cause most of +the true sons of New England to look with horror upon such an attempt. +Great exertions were made, to induce the king to remove the governor. +Accordingly, in 1740, he was compelled to resign his office, and +Grandfather's chair into the bargain, to Mr. Shirley. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +"William Shirley," said Grandfather, "had come from England a few years +before, and begun to practise law in Boston. You will think, perhaps, +that, as he had been a lawyer, the new governor used to sit in our great +chair, reading heavy law-books from morning till night. On the contrary, +he was as stirring and active a governor as Massachusetts ever had. Even +Sir William Phips hardly equalled him. The first year or two of his +administration was spent in trying to regulate the currency. But, in +1744, after a peace of more than thirty years, war broke out between +France and England." + +"And I suppose," said Charley, "the governor went to take Canada." + +"Not exactly, Charley," said Grandfather, "though you have made a pretty +shrewd conjecture. He planned, in 1745, an expedition against +Louisbourg. This was a fortified city, on the Island of Cape Breton, +near Nova Scotia. Its walls were of immense height and strength, and +were defended by hundreds of heavy cannon. It was the strongest fortress +which the French possessed in America; and if the king of France had +guessed Governor Shirley's intentions, he would have sent all the ships +he could muster, to protect it." + +As the siege of Louisbourg was one of the most remarkable events that +ever the inhabitants of New England were engaged in, Grandfather +endeavored to give his auditors a lively idea of the spirit with which +they set about it. We shall call his description + + +THE PROVINCIAL MUSTER. + +The expedition against Louisbourg first began to be thought of in the +month of January. From that time, the governor's chair was continually +surrounded by counsellors, representatives, clergymen, captains, pilots, +and all manner of people, with whom he consulted about this wonderful +project. + +First of all, it was necessary to provide men and arms. The legislature +immediately sent out a huge quantity of paper money, with which, as if +by magic spell, the governor hoped to get possession of all the old +cannon, powder and balls, rusty swords and muskets, and every thing else +that would be serviceable in killing Frenchmen. Drums were beaten in all +the villages of Massachusetts, to enlist soldiers for the service. +Messages were sent to the other governors of New England, and to New +York and Pennsylvania, entreating them to unite in this crusade against +the French. All these provinces agreed to give what assistance they +could. + +But there was one very important thing to be decided. Who shall be the +General of this great army? Peace had continued such an unusual length +of time, that there was now less military experience among the +colonists, than at any former period. The old Puritans had always kept +their weapons bright, and were never destitute of warlike captains, who +were skilful in assault or defence. But the swords of their descendants +had grown rusty by disuse. There was nobody in New England that knew any +thing about sieges, or any other regular fighting. The only persons, at +all acquainted with warlike business, were a few elderly men, who had +hunted Indians through the underbrush of the forest, in old Governor +Dummer's war. + +In this dilemma, Governor Shirley fixed upon a wealthy merchant, named +William Pepperell, who was pretty well known and liked among the people. +As to military skill, he had no more of it than his neighbors. But, as +the governor urged him very pressingly, Mr. Pepperell consented to shut +up his leger, gird on a sword, and assume the title of General. + +Meantime, what a hubbub was raised by this scheme! Rub-a-dub-dub! +Rub-a-dub-dub! The rattle of drums, beaten out of all manner of time, +was heard above every other sound. + +Nothing now was so valuable as arms, of whatever style and fashion they +might be. The bellows blew, and the hammer clanged continually upon the +anvil, while the blacksmiths were repairing the broken weapons of other +wars. Doubtless, some of the soldiers lugged out those enormous, heavy +muskets, which used to be fired with rests, in the time of the early +Puritans. Great horse-pistols, too, were found, which would go off with +a bang like a cannon. Old cannon, with touch-holes almost as big as +their muzzles, were looked upon as inestimable treasures. Pikes, which +perhaps, had been handled by Miles Standish's soldiers, now made their +appearance again. Many a young man ransacked the garret, and brought +forth his great-grandfather's sword, corroded with rust, and stained +with the blood of King Philip's war. + +Never had there been seen such an arming as this, when a people, so long +peaceful, rose to the war, with the best weapons that they could lay +their hands upon. And still the drums were heard--Rub-a-dub-dub! +Rub-a-dub-dub!--in all the towns and villages; and louder and more +numerous grew the trampling footsteps of the recruits that marched +behind. + +And now the army began to gather into Boston. Tall, lanky, awkward, +fellows, came in squads, and companies, and regiments, swaggering along, +dressed in their brown homespun clothes and blue yarn stockings. They +stooped, as if they still had hold of the plough-handles, and marched +without any time or tune. Hither they came, from the corn-fields, from +the clearing in the forest, from the blacksmith's forge, from the +carpenter's workshop, and from the shoemaker's seat. They were an army +of rough faces and sturdy frames. A trained officer of Europe would have +laughed at them, till his sides had ached. But there was a spirit in +their bosoms, which is more essential to soldiership than to wear red +coats, and march in stately ranks to the sound of regular music. + +Still was heard the beat of the drum--rub-a-dub-dub!--and now a host of +three or four thousand men had found their way to Boston. Little quiet +was there then! Forth scampered the school-boys, shouting behind the +drums. The whole town--the whole land--was on fire with war. + +After the arrival of the troops, they were probably reviewed upon the +Common. We may imagine Governor Shirley and General Pepperell riding +slowly along the line, while the drummers beat strange old tunes, like +psalm-tunes, and all the officers and soldiers put on their most warlike +looks. It would have been a terrible sight for the Frenchmen, could they +but have witnessed it! + +At length, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1745, the army gave a parting +shout, and set sail from Boston in ten or twelve vessels, which had been +hired by the governor. A few days afterwards, an English fleet, +commanded by Commodore Peter Warren, sailed also for Louisbourg, to +assist the provincial army. So, now, after all this bustle of +preparation, the town and province were left in stillness and repose. + +But, stillness and repose, at such a time of anxious expectation, are +hard to bear. The hearts of the old people and women sunk within them, +when they reflected what perils they had sent their sons, and husbands, +and brothers, to encounter. The boys loitered heavily to school, missing +the rub-a-dub-dub, and the trampling march, in the rear of which they +had so lately run and shouted. All the ministers prayed earnestly, in +their pulpits, for a blessing on the army of New England. In every +family, when the good man lifted up his heart in domestic worship, the +burthen of his petition was for the safety of those dear ones, who were +fighting under the walls of Louisbourg. + +Governor Shirley, all this time, was probably in an ecstasy of +impatience. He could not sit still a moment. He found no quiet, not even +in Grandfather's chair, but hurried to-and-fro, and up and down the +staircase of the Province House. Now, he mounted to the cupola, and +looked sea-ward, straining his eyes to discover if there were a sail +upon the horizon. Now, he hastened down the stairs, and stood beneath +the portal, on the red freestone steps, to receive some mud-bespattered +courtier, from whom he hoped to hear tidings of the army. + +A few weeks after the departure of the troops, Commodore Warren sent a +small vessel to Boston, with two French prisoners. One of them was +Monsieur Bouladrie, who had been commander of a battery, outside of the +walls of Louisbourg. The other was the Marquis de la Maison Forte, +captain of a French frigate, which had been taken by Commodore Warren's +fleet. These prisoners assured Governor Shirley, that the fortifications +of Louisbourg were far too strong ever to be stormed by the provincial +army. + +Day after day, and week after week, went on. The people grew almost +heart-sick with anxiety; for the flower of the country was at peril in +this adventurous expedition. It was now day-break, on the morning of the +third of July. + +But, hark! what sound is this? The hurried clang of a bell! There is the +Old North, pealing suddenly out!--there, the Old South strikes in!--now, +the peal comes from the church in Brattle street!--the bells of nine or +ten steeples are all flinging their iron voices, at once, upon the +morning breeze! Is it joy or alarm? There goes the roar of a cannon, +too! A royal salute is thundered forth. And, now, we hear the loud +exulting shout of a multitude, assembled in the street. Huzza, Huzza! +Louisbourg has surrendered! Huzza! + + * * * * * + +"O Grandfather, how glad I should have been to live in those times!" +cried Charley. "And what reward did the king give to General Pepperell +and Governor Shirley?" + +"He made Pepperell a baronet; so that he was now to be called Sir +William Pepperell," replied Grandfather. "He likewise appointed both +Pepperell and Shirley to be colonels in the royal army. These rewards, +and higher ones, were well deserved; for this was the greatest triumph +that the English met with, in the whole course of that war. General +Pepperell became a man of great fame. I have seen a full length portrait +of him, representing him in a splendid scarlet uniform, standing before +the walls of Louisbourg, while several bombs are falling through the +air." + +"But, did the country gain any real good by the conquest of Louisbourg?" +asked Laurence. "Or was all the benefit reaped by Pepperell and +Shirley?" + +"The English Parliament," said Grandfather, "agreed to pay the colonists +for all the expenses of the siege. Accordingly, in 1749, two hundred and +fifteen chests of Spanish dollars, and one hundred casks of copper coin, +were brought from England to Boston. The whole amount was about a +million of dollars. Twenty-seven carts and trucks carried this money +from the wharf to the provincial treasury. Was not this a pretty liberal +reward?" + +"The mothers of the young men, who were killed at the siege of +Louisbourg, would not have thought it so," said Laurence. + +"No, Laurence," rejoined Grandfather; "and every warlike achievement +involves an amount of physical and moral evil, for which all the gold in +the Spanish mines would not be the slightest recompense. But, we are to +consider that this siege was one of the occasions, on which the +colonists tested their ability for war, and thus were prepared for the +great contest of the Revolution. In that point of view, the valor of our +forefathers was its own reward." + +Grandfather went on to say, that the success of the expedition against +Louisbourg, induced Shirley and Pepperell to form a scheme for +conquering Canada. This plan, however, was not carried into execution. + +In the year 1746, great terror was excited by the arrival of a +formidable French fleet upon the coast. It was commanded by the Duke +d'Anville, and consisted of forty ships of war, besides vessels with +soldiers on board. With this force, the French intended to retake +Louisbourg, and afterwards to ravage the whole of New England. Many +people were ready to give up the country for lost. + +But the hostile fleet met with so many disasters and losses, by storm +and shipwreck, that the Duke d'Anville is said to have poisoned himself +in despair. The officer next in command threw himself upon his sword and +perished. Thus deprived of their commanders, the remainder of the ships +returned to France. This was as great a deliverance for New England, as +that which old England had experienced in the days of Queen Elizabeth, +when the Spanish Armada was wrecked upon her coast. + +"In 1747," proceeded Grandfather, "Governor Shirley was driven from the +Province House, not by a hostile fleet and army, but by a mob of the +Boston people. They were so incensed at the conduct of the British +Commodore Knowles, who had impressed some of their fellow-citizens, that +several thousands of them surrounded the council-chamber, and threw +stones and brick-bats into the windows. The governor attempted to pacify +them; but, not succeeding, he thought it necessary to leave the town, +and take refuge within the walls of Castle William. Quiet was not +restored, until Commodore Knowles had sent back the impressed men. This +affair was a flash of spirit, that might have warned the English not to +venture upon any oppressive measures against their colonial brethren." + +Peace being declared between France and England in 1748, the governor +had now an opportunity to sit at his ease in Grandfather's chair. Such +repose, however, appears not to have suited his disposition; for, in the +following year, he went to England, and thence was dispatched to France, +on public business. Meanwhile, as Shirley had not resigned his office, +Lieutenant-Governor Phips acted as chief magistrate in his stead. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +In the early twilight of Thanksgiving eve, came Laurence, and Clara, and +Charley, and little Alice, hand in hand, and stood in a semi-circle +round Grandfather's chair. They had been joyous, throughout that day of +festivity, mingling together in all kinds of play, so that the house had +echoed with their airy mirth. + +Grandfather, too, had been happy, though not mirthful. He felt that this +was to be set down as one of the good Thanksgivings of his life. In +truth, all his former Thanksgivings had borne their part in the present +one; for, his years of infancy, and youth, and manhood with their +blessings and their griefs, had flitted before him, while he sat +silently in the great chair. Vanished scenes had been pictured in the +air. The forms of departed friends had visited him. Voices, to be heard +no more on earth, had sent an echo from the infinite and the eternal. +These shadows, if such they were, seemed almost as real to him, as what +was actually present--as the merry shouts and laughter of the +children--as their figures, dancing like sunshine before his eyes. + +He felt that the past was not taken from him. The happiness of former +days was a possession forever. And there was something in the mingled +sorrow of his lifetime, that became akin to happiness, after being long +treasured in the depths of his heart. There it underwent a change, and +grew more precious than pure gold. + +And now came the children, somewhat aweary with their wild play, and +sought the quiet enjoyment of Grandfather's talk. The good old gentleman +rubbed his eyes, and smiled round upon them all. He was glad, as most +aged people are, to find that he was yet of consequence, and could give +pleasure to the world. After being so merry, all day long, did these +children desire to hear his sober talk? Oh, then, old Grandfather had +yet a place to fill among living men,--or at least among boys and girls! + +"Begin quick, Grandfather," cried little Alice; "for Pussy wants to hear +you." + +And, truly, our yellow friend, the cat, lay upon the hearth rug, basking +in the warmth of the fire, pricking up her ears, and turning her head +from the children to Grandfather, and from Grandfather to the children, +as if she felt herself very sympathetic with them all. A loud purr, like +the singing of a tea-kettle, or the hum of a spinning-wheel, testified +that she was as comfortable and happy as a cat could be. For Puss had +feasted, and therefore, like Grandfather and the children, had kept a +good Thanksgiving. + +"Does Pussy want to hear me?" said Grandfather, smiling. "Well; we must +please Pussy, if we can!" + +And so he took up the history of the chair, from the epoch of the peace +of 1748. By one of the provisions of the treaty, Louisbourg, which the +New Englanders had been at so much pains to take, was restored to the +king of France. + +The French were afraid, that, unless their colonies should be better +defended than heretofore, another war might deprive them of the whole. +Almost as soon as peace was declared, therefore, they began to build +strong fortifications in the interior of North America. It was strange +to behold these warlike castles, on the banks of solitary lakes, and far +in the midst of woods. The Indian, paddling his birch-canoe on Lake +Champlain, looked up at the high ramparts of Ticonderoga, stone piled on +stone, bristling with cannon, and the white flag of France floating +above. There were similar fortifications on Lake Ontario, and near the +great Falls of Niagara, and at the sources of the Ohio River. And all +around these forts and castles lay the eternal forest; and the roll of +the drum died away in those deep solitudes. + +The truth was, that the French intended to build forts, all the way from +Canada to Louisiana. They would then have had a wall of military +strength, at the back of the English settlements, so as completely to +hem them in. The king of England considered the building of these forts +as a sufficient cause of war, which was accordingly commenced in 1754. + +"Governor Shirley," said Grandfather, "had returned to Boston in 1753. +While in Paris, he had married a second wife, a young French girl, and +now brought her to the Province House. But, when war was breaking out, +it was impossible for such a bustling man to stay quietly at home, +sitting in our old chair, with his wife and children round about him. He +therefore obtained a command in the English forces." + +"And what did Sir William Pepperell do?" asked Charley. + +"He staid at home," said Grandfather, "and was general of the militia. +The veteran regiments of the English army, which were now sent across +the Atlantic, would have scorned to fight under the orders of an old +American merchant. And now began what aged people call the Old French +War. It would be going too far astray from the history of our chair, to +tell you one half of the battles that were fought. I cannot even allow +myself to describe the bloody defeat of General Braddock, near the +sources of the Ohio River, in 1755. But, I must not omit to mention, +that when the English general was mortally wounded, and his army routed, +the remains of it were preserved by the skill and valor of GEORGE +WASHINGTON." + +At the mention of this illustrious name, the children started, as if a +sudden sunlight had gleamed upon the history of their country, now that +the great Deliverer had arisen above the horizon. + +Among all the events of the Old French War, Grandfather thought that +there was none more interesting than the removal of the inhabitants of +Acadia. From the first settlement of this ancient province of the +French, in 1604, until the present time, its people could scarcely ever +know what kingdom held dominion over them. They were a peaceful race, +taking no delight in warfare, and caring nothing for military renown. +And yet, in every war, their region was infested with iron-hearted +soldiers, both French and English, who fought one another for the +privilege of ill treating these poor harmless Acadians. Sometimes the +treaty of peace made them subjects of one king, sometimes of another. + +At the peace of 1748, Acadia had been ceded to England. But the French +still claimed a large portion of it, and built forts for its defence. In +1755, these forts were taken, and the whole of Acadia was conquered, by +three thousand men from Massachusetts, under the command of General +Winslow. The inhabitants were accused of supplying the French with +provisions, and of doing other things that violated their neutrality. + +"These accusations were probably true," observed Grandfather; "for the +Acadians were descended from the French, and had the same friendly +feelings towards them, that the people of Massachusetts had for the +English. But their punishment was severe. The English determined to tear +these poor people from their native homes and scatter them abroad." + +The Acadians were about seven thousand in number. A considerable part of +them were made prisoners, and transported to the English colonies. All +their dwellings and churches were burnt, their cattle were killed, and +the whole country was laid waste, so that none of them might find +shelter or food in their old homes, after the departure of the English. +One thousand of the prisoners were sent to Massachusetts; and +Grandfather allowed his fancy to follow them thither, and tried to give +his auditors an idea of their situation. + +We shall call this passage the story of + + +THE ACADIAN EXILES. + +A sad day it was for the poor Acadians, when the armed soldiers drove +them, at the point of the bayonet, down to the sea-shore. Very sad were +they, likewise, while tossing upon the ocean, in the crowded transport +vessels. But, methinks, it must have been sadder still, when they were +landed on the Long Wharf, in Boston, and left to themselves, on a +foreign strand. + +Then, probably, they huddled together, and looked into one another's +faces for the comfort which was not there. Hitherto, they had been +confined on board of separate vessels, so that they could not tell +whether their relatives and friends were prisoners along with them. But, +now, at least, they could tell that many had been left behind, or +transported to other regions. + +Now, a desolate wife might be heard calling for her husband. He, alas! +had gone, she knew not whither, or perhaps had fled into the woods of +Acadia, and had now returned to weep over the ashes of their dwelling. +An aged widow was crying out, in a querulous, lamentable tone, for her +son, whose affectionate toil had supported her for many a year. He was +not in the crowd of exiles; and what could this aged widow do but sink +down and die? Young men and maidens, whose hearts had been torn asunder +by separation, had hoped, during the voyage, to meet their beloved ones +at its close. Now, they began to feel that they were separated forever. +And, perhaps, a lonesome little girl, a golden-haired child of five +years old, the very picture of our little Alice, was weeping and wailing +for her mother, and found not a soul to give her a kind word. + +Oh, how many broken bonds of affection were here! Country lost!--friends +lost!--their rural wealth of cottage, field, and herds, all lost +together! Every tie between these poor exiles and the world seemed to be +cut off at once. They must have regretted that they had not died before +their exile; for even the English would not have been so pitiless as to +deny them graves in their native soil. The dead were happy; for they +were not exiles! + +While they thus stood upon the wharf, the curiosity and inquisitiveness +of the New England people would naturally lead them into the midst of +the poor Acadians. Prying busy-bodies thrust their heads into the +circle, wherever two or three of the exiles were conversing together. +How puzzled did they look, at the outlandish sound of the French tongue! +There were seen the New England women, too. They had just come out of +their warm, safe homes, where every thing was regular and comfortable, +and where their husbands and children would be with them at night-fall. +Surely, they could pity the wretched wives and mothers of Acadia! Or, +did the sign of the cross, which the Acadians continually made upon +their breasts, and which was abhorred by the descendants of the +Puritans--did that sign exclude all pity? + +Among the spectators, too, was the noisy brood of Boston school-boys, +who came running, with laughter and shouts, to gaze at this crowd of +oddly dressed foreigners. At first they danced and capered around them, +full of merriment and mischief. But the despair of the Acadians soon had +its effect upon these thoughtless lads, and melted them into tearful +sympathy. + +At a little distance from the throng, might be seen the wealthy and +pompous merchants, whose warehouses stood on Long Wharf. It was +difficult to touch these rich men's hearts; for they had all the +comforts of the world at their command; and when they walked abroad, +their feelings were seldom moved, except by the roughness of the +pavement, irritating their gouty toes. Leaning upon their gold-headed +canes, they watched the scene with an aspect of composure. But, let us +hope, they distributed some of their superfluous coin among these +hapless exiles, to purchase food and a night's lodging. + +After standing a long time at the end of the wharf, gazing seaward, as +if to catch a glimpse of their lost Acadia, the strangers began to stray +into the town. + +They went, we will suppose, in parties and groups, here a hundred, there +a score, there ten, there three or four, who possessed some bond of +unity among themselves. Here and there was one, who, utterly desolate, +stole away by himself, seeking no companionship. + +Whither did they go? I imagine them wandering about the streets, telling +the town's-people, in outlandish, unintelligible words, that no earthly +affliction ever equalled what had befallen them. Man's brotherhood with +man was sufficient to make the New Englanders understand this language. +The strangers wanted food. Some of them sought hospitality at the doors +of the stately mansions, which then stood in the vicinity of Hanover +Street and the North Square. Others were applicants at the humble wooden +tenements, where dwelt the petty shop-keepers and mechanics. Pray +Heaven, that no family in Boston turned one of these poor exiles from +their door! It would be a reproach upon New England--a crime worthy of +heavy retribution--if the aged women and children, or even the strong +men, were allowed to feel the pinch of hunger. + +Perhaps some of the Acadians, in their aimless wanderings through the +town, found themselves near a large brick edifice, which was fenced in +from the street by an iron railing, wrought with fantastic figures. They +saw a flight of red freestone steps, ascending to a portal, above which +was a balcony and balustrade. Misery and desolation give men the right +of free passage everywhere. Let us suppose, then, that they mounted the +flight of steps, and passed into the Province House. Making their way +into one of the apartments, they beheld a richly clad gentleman, seated +in a stately chair, with gilding upon the carved work of its back, and a +gilded lion's head at the summit. This was Governor Shirley, meditating +upon matters of war and state, in Grandfather's chair! + +If such an incident did happen, Shirley, reflecting what a ruin of +peaceful and humble hopes had been wrought by the cold policy of the +statesman, and the iron hand of the warrior, might have drawn a deep +moral from it. It should have taught him that the poor man's hearth is +sacred, and that armies and nations have no right to violate it. It +should have made him feel, that England's triumph, and increased +dominion, could not compensate to mankind, nor atone to Heaven, for the +ashes of a single Acadian cottage. But it is not thus that statesmen and +warriors moralize. + +"Grandfather," cried Laurence, with emotion trembling in his voice, "did +iron-hearted War itself ever do so hard and cruel a thing as this +before?" + +"You have rend in history, Laurence, of whole regions wantonly laid +waste," said Grandfather. "In the removal of the Acadians, the troops +were guilty of no cruelty or outrage, except what was inseparable from +the measure." + +Little Alice, whose eyes had, all along, been brimming full of tears, +now burst forth a-sobbing; for Grandfather had touched her sympathies +more than he intended. + +"To think of a whole people, homeless in the world!" said Clara, with +moistened eyes. "There never was any thing so sad!" + +"It was their own fault," cried Charley, energetically. "Why did not +they fight for the country where they were born? Then, if the worst had +happened to them they could only have been killed and buried there. They +would not have been exiles then!" + +"Certainly, their lot was as hard as death," said Grandfather. "All that +could be done for them, in the English provinces, was to send them to +the alms-houses, or bind them out to task-masters. And this was the fate +of persons, who had possessed a comfortable property in their native +country. Some of them found means to embark for France; but though it +was the land of their forefathers, it must have been a foreign land to +them. Those, who remained behind, always cherished a belief, that the +king of France would never make peace with England, till his poor +Acadians were restored their country and their homes." + +"And did he?" inquired Clara. + +"Alas, my dear Clara," said Grandfather, "it is improbable that the +slightest whisper of the woes of Acadia ever reached the ears of Louis +the Fifteenth. The exiles grew old in the British provinces, and never +saw Acadia again. Their descendants remain among us, to this day. They +have forgotten the language of their ancestors, and probably retain no +tradition of their misfortunes. But, methinks, if I were an American +poet, I would choose Acadia for the subject of my song." + +Since Grandfather first spoke these words, the most famous of American +poets has drawn sweet tears from all of us, by his beautiful poem of +Evangeline. + +And now, having thrown a gentle gloom around the Thanksgiving fire-side, +by a story that made the children feel the blessing of a secure and +peaceful hearth, Grandfather put off the other events of the Old French +War till the next evening. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +In the twilight of the succeeding eve, when the red beams of the fire +were dancing upon the wall, the children besought Grandfather to tell +them what had next happened to the old chair. + +"Our chair," said Grandfather, "stood all this time in the Province +House. But, Governor Shirley had seldom an opportunity to repose within +its arms. He was loading his troops through the forest, or sailing in a +flat-boat on Lake Ontario, or sleeping in his tent, while the awful +cataract of Niagara sent its roar through his dreams. At one period, in +the early part of the war, Shirley had the chief command of all the +king's forces in America." + +"Did his young wife go with him to the war?" asked Clara. + +"I rather imagine," replied Grandfather, "that she remained in Boston. +This lady, I suppose, had our chair all to herself, and used to sit in +it, during those brief intervals when a young French woman can be quiet +enough to sit in a chair. The people of Massachusetts were never fond of +Governor Shirley's young French wife. They had a suspicion that she +betrayed the military plans of the English to the generals of the French +armies." + +"And was it true?" inquired Clara. + +"Probably not," said Grandfather. "But the mere suspicion did Shirley a +great deal of harm. Partly, perhaps, for this reason, but much more on +account of his inefficiency as a general, he was deprived of his +command, in 1756, and recalled to England. He never afterwards made any +figure in public life." + +As Grandfather's chair had no locomotive properties, and did not even +run on castors, it cannot be supposed to have marched in person to the +Old French War. But Grandfather delayed its momentous history, while he +touched briefly upon some of the bloody battles, sieges, and onslaughts, +the tidings of which kept continually coming to the ears of the old +inhabitants of Boston. The woods of the north were populous with +fighting men. All the Indian tribes uplifted their tomahawks, and took +part either with the French or English. The rattle of musketry and roar +of cannon disturbed the ancient quiet of the forest, and actually drove +the bears and other wild beasts to the more cultivated portion of the +country in the vicinity of the sea-ports. The children felt as if they +were transported back to those forgotten times, and that the couriers +from the army, with the news of a battle lost or won, might even now be +heard galloping through the streets. Grandfather told them about the +battle of Lake George, in 1755, when the gallant Colonel Williams, a +Massachusetts officer, was slain, with many of his countrymen. But +General Johnson and General Lyman, with their army, drove back the +enemy, and mortally wounded the French leader, who was called the Baron +Dieskau. A gold watch, pilfered from the poor Baron, is still in +existence, and still marks each moment of time, without complaining of +weariness, although its hands have been in motion ever since the hour of +battle. + +In the first years of the war, there were many disasters on the English +side. Among these was the loss of Fort Oswego, in 1756, and of Fort +William Henry, in the following year. But the greatest misfortune that +befell the English, during the whole war, was the repulse of General +Abercrombie, with his army, from the ramparts of Ticonderoga, in 1758. +He attempted to storm the walls; but a terrible conflict ensued, in +which more than two thousand Englishmen and New Englanders were killed +or wounded. The slain soldiers now lie buried around that ancient +fortress. When the plough passes over the soil, it turns up here and +there a mouldering bone. + +Up to this period, none of the English generals had shown any military +talent. Shirley, the Earl of Loudon, and General Abercrombie, had each +held the chief command, at different times; but not one of them had won +a single important triumph for the British arms. This ill success was +not owing to the want of means; for, in 1758, General Abercrombie had +fifty thousand soldiers under his command. But the French general, the +famous Marquis de Montcalm, possessed a great genius for war, and had +something within him, that taught him how battles were to be won. + +At length, in 1759, Sir Jeffrey Amherst was appointed commander-in-chief +of all the British forces in America. He was a man of ability, and a +skilful soldier. A plan was now formed for accomplishing that object, +which had so long been the darling wish of the New Englanders, and which +their fathers had so many times attempted. This was the conquest of +Canada. + +Three separate armies were to enter Canada, from different quarters. One +of the three, commanded by General Prideaux, was to embark on Lake +Ontario, and proceed to Montreal. The second, at the head of which was +Sir Jeffrey Amherst himself, was destined to reach the River St. +Lawrence, by the way of Lake Champlain, and then go down the river to +meet the third army. This last, led by General Wolfe, was to enter the +St. Lawrence from the sea, and ascend the river to Quebec. It is to +Wolfe and his army that England owes one of the most splendid triumphs, +ever written in her history. + +Grandfather described the siege of Quebec, and told how Wolfe led his +soldiers up a rugged and lofty precipice, that rose from the shore of +the river to the plain on which the city stood. This bold adventure was +achieved in the darkness of night. At day-break, tidings were carried to +the Marquis de Montcalm, that the English army was waiting to give him +battle on the plains of Abraham. This brave French general ordered his +drums to strike up, and immediately marched to encounter Wolfe. + +He marched to his own death. The battle was the most fierce and +terrible, that had ever been fought in America. General Wolfe was at the +head of his soldiers, and while encouraging them onward, received a +mortal wound. He reclined against a stone, in the agonies of death; but +it seemed as if his spirit could not pass away, while the fight yet +raged so doubtfully. Suddenly, a shout came pealing across the +battle-field--"They flee! they flee!" and, for a moment, Wolfe lifted +his languid head. "Who flee?" he inquired. "The French," replied an +officer. "Then I die satisfied!" said Wolfe, and expired in the arms of +victory. + +"If ever a warrior's death were glorious, Wolfe's was so!" said +Grandfather; and his eye kindled, though he was a man of peaceful +thoughts, and gentle spirit. "His life-blood streamed to baptize the +soil which he had added to the dominion of Britain! His dying breath was +mingled with his army's shout of victory!" + +"Oh, it was a good death to die!" cried Charley, with glistening eyes. +"Was it not a good death, Laurence?" + +Laurence made no reply; for his heart burned within him, as the picture +of Wolfe, dying on the blood-stained field of victory, arose to his +imagination; and yet, he had a deep inward consciousness, that, after +all, there was a truer glory than could thus be won. + +"There were other battles in Canada, after Wolfe's victory," resumed +Grandfather; "but we may consider the Old French War as having +terminated with this great event. The treaty of peace, however, was not +signed until 1763. The terms of the treaty were very disadvantageous to +the French; for all Canada, and all Acadia, and the island of Cape +Breton, in short, all the territories that France and England had been +fighting about, for nearly a hundred years--were surrendered to the +English." + +"So, now, at last," said Laurence, "New England had gained her wish. +Canada was taken!" + +"And now there was nobody to fight with, but the Indians," said Charley. + +Grandfather mentioned two other important events. The first was the +great fire of Boston, in 1700, when the glare from nearly three hundred +buildings, all in flames at once, shone through the windows of the +Province House, and threw a fierce lustre upon the gilded foliage and +lion's head of our old chair. The second event was the proclamation, in +the same year, of George the Third as king of Great Britain. The blast +of the trumpet sounded from the balcony of the Town House, and awoke the +echoes far and wide, as if to challenge all mankind to dispute King +George's title. + +Seven times, as the successive monarchs of Britain ascended the throne, +the trumpet-peal of proclamation had been heard by those who sat in our +venerable chair. But, when the next king put on his father's crown, no +trumpet-peal proclaimed it to New England! Long before that day, America +had shaken off the royal government. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Now that Grandfather had fought through the Old French War, in which our +chair made no very distinguished figure, he thought it high time to tell +the children some of the more private history of that praiseworthy old +piece of furniture. + +"In 1757," said Grandfather, "after Shirley had been summoned to +England, Thomas Pownall was appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was +a gay and fashionable English gentleman, who had spent much of his life +in London, but had a considerable acquaintance with America. The new +governor appears to have taken no active part in the war that was going +on; although, at one period, he talked of marching against the enemy, at +the head of his company of cadets. But, on the whole, he probably +concluded that it was more befitting a governor to remain quietly in our +chair, reading the newspapers and official documents." + +"Did the people like Pownall?" asked Charley. + +"They found no fault with him," replied Grandfather. "It was no time to +quarrel with the governor, when the utmost harmony was required, in +order to defend the country against the French. But Pownall did not +remain long in Massachusetts. In 1759, he was sent to be governor of +South Carolina. In thus exchanging one government for another, I +suppose he felt no regret, except at the necessity of leaving +Grandfather's chair behind him." + +"He might have taken it to South Carolina," observed Clara. + +"It appears to me," said Laurence, giving the rein to his fancy, "that +the fate of this ancient chair was, somehow or other, mysteriously +connected with the fortunes of old Massachusetts. If Governor Pownall +had put it aboard the vessel in which he sailed for South Carolina, she +would probably have lain wind-bound in Boston harbor. It was ordained +that the chair should not be taken away. Don't you think so, +Grandfather?" + +"It was kept here for Grandfather and me to sit in together," said +little Alice, "and for Grandfather to tell stories about." + +"And Grandfather is very glad of such a companion, and such a theme," +said the old gentleman, with a smile. "Well, Laurence, if our oaken +chair, like the wooden Palladium of Troy, was connected with the +country's fate, yet there appears to have been no supernatural obstacle +to its removal from the Province House. In 1760, Sir Francis Bernard, +who had been governor of New Jersey, was appointed to the same office in +Massachusetts. He looked at the old chair, and thought it quite too +shabby to keep company with a new set of mahogany chairs, and an +aristocratic sofa, which had just arrived from London. He therefore +ordered it to be put away in the garret." + +The children were loud in their exclamations against this irreverent +conduct of Sir Francis Bernard. But Grandfather defended him, as well as +he could. He observed, that it was then thirty years since the chair had +been beautified by Governor Belcher. Most of the gilding was worn off by +the frequent scourings which it had undergone, beneath the hands of a +black slave. The damask cushion, once so splendid, was now squeezed out +of all shape, and absolutely in tatters, so many were the ponderous +gentlemen who had deposited their weight upon it, during these thirty +years. + +Moreover, at a council held by the Earl of Loudon with the governors of +New England, in 1757, his lordship, in a moment of passion, had kicked +over the chair with his military boot. By this unprovoked and +unjustifiable act, our venerable friend had suffered a fracture of one +of its rungs. + +"But," said Grandfather, "our chair, after all, was not destined to +spend the remainder of its days in the inglorious obscurity of a garret. +Thomas Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor of the province, was told of Sir +Francis Bernard's design. This gentleman was more familiar with the +history of New England than any other man alive. He knew all the +adventures and vicissitudes through which the old chair had passed, and +could have told, as accurately as your own Grandfather, who were the +personages that had occupied it. Often, while visiting at the Province +House, he had eyed the chair with admiration, and felt a longing desire +to become the possessor of it. He now waited upon Sir Francis Bernard, +and easily obtained leave to carry it home." + +"And I hope," said Clara, "he had it varnished and gilded anew." + +"No," answered Grandfather. "What Mr. Hutchinson desired was to restore +the chair, as much as possible, to its original aspect, such as it had +appeared, when it was first made out of the Earl of Lincoln's oak-tree. +For this purpose he ordered it to be well scoured with soap and sand and +polished with wax, and then provided it with a substantial leather +cushion. When all was completed to his mind, he sat down in the old +chair, and began to write his History of Massachusetts." + +"Oh, that was a bright thought in Mr. Hutchinson!" exclaimed Laurence. +"And, no doubt, the dim figures of the former possessors of the chair +flitted around him, as he wrote, and inspired him with a knowledge of +all that they had done and suffered while on earth." + +"Why, my dear Laurence," replied Grandfather, smiling, "if Mr. +Hutchinson was favored with any such extraordinary inspiration, he made +but a poor use of it in his History; for a duller piece of composition +never came from any man's pen. However, he was accurate, at least, +though far from possessing the brilliancy or philosophy of Mr. +Bancroft." + +"But, if Hutchinson knew the history of the chair," rejoined Laurence, +"his heart must have been stirred by it." + +"It must, indeed," said Grandfather. "It would be entertaining and +instructive, at the present day, to imagine what were Mr. Hutchinson's +thoughts, as he looked back upon the long vista of events with which +this chair was so remarkably connected." + +And Grandfather allowed his fancy to shape out an image of +Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, sitting in an evening reverie by his +fireside, and meditating on the changes that had slowly passed around +the chair. + +A devoted monarchist, Hutchinson would heave no sigh for the subversion +of the original republican government, the purest that the world had +seen, with which the colony began its existence. While reverencing the +grim and stern old Puritans as the founders of his native land, he would +not wish to recall them from their graves, nor to awaken again that +king-resisting spirit, which he imagined to be laid asleep with them +forever. Winthrop, Dudley, Bellingham, Endicott, Leverett, and +Bradstreet! All these had had their day. Ages might come and go, but +never again would the people's suffrages place a republican governor in +their ancient Chair of State! + +Coming down to the epoch of the second charter, Hutchinson thought of +the ship-carpenter Phips, springing from the lowest of the people, and +attaining to the loftiest station in the land. But, he smiled to +perceive that this governor's example would awaken no turbulent ambition +in the lower orders, for it was a king's gracious boon alone that made +the ship-carpenter a ruler. Hutchinson rejoiced to mark the gradual +growth of an aristocratic class, to whom the common people, as in duty +bound, were learning humbly to resign the honors, emoluments, and +authority of state. He saw,--or else deceived himself--that, throughout +this epoch, the people's disposition to self-government had been growing +weaker, through long disuse, and now existed only as a faint +traditionary feeling. + +The Lieutenant-Governor's reverie had now come down to the period at +which he himself was sitting in the historic chair. He endeavored to +throw his glance forward, over the coming years. There, probably, he saw +visions of hereditary rank, for himself and other aristocratic +colonists. He saw the fertile fields of New England, portioned out among +a few great landholders, and descending by entail from generation to +generation. He saw the people a race of tenantry, dependent on their +lords. He saw stars, garters, coronets, and castles. + +"But," added Grandfather, turning to Laurence, "the +Lieutenant-Governor's castles were built nowhere but among the red +embers of the fire, before which he was sitting. And, just as he had +constructed a baronial residence for himself and his posterity, the fire +rolled down upon the hearth, and crumbled it to ashes!" + +Grandfather now looked at his watch, which hung within a beautiful +little ebony Temple, supported by four Ionic columns. He then laid his +hand on the golden locks of little Alice, whose head had sunk down upon +the arm of our illustrious chair. + +"To bed, to bed, dear child!" said he. "Grandfather has put you to +sleep, already, by his stories about these FAMOUS OLD PEOPLE!" + + + + +PART III. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +On the evening of New Year's day, Grandfather was walking to and fro, +across the carpet, listening to the rain which beat hard against the +curtained windows. The riotous blast shook the casement, as if a strong +man were striving to force his entrance into the comfortable room. With +every puff of the wind, the fire leaped upward from the hearth, laughing +and rejoicing at the shrieks of the wintry storm. + +Meanwhile, Grandfather's chair stood in its customary place by the +fireside. The bright blaze gleamed upon the fantastic figures of its +oaken back, and shone through the open-work, so that a complete pattern +was thrown upon the opposite side of the room. Sometimes, for a moment +or two, the shadow remained immovable, as if it were painted on the +wall. Then, all at once, it began to quiver, and leap, and dance, with a +frisky motion. Anon, seeming to remember that these antics were unworthy +of such a dignified and venerable chair, it suddenly stood still. But +soon it began to dance anew. + +"Only see how grandfather's chair is dancing!" cried little Alice. + +And she ran to the wall, and tried to catch hold of the flickering +shadow; for to children of five years old, a shadow seems almost as real +as a substance. + +"I wish," said Clara, "Grandfather would sit down in the chair, and +finish its history." + +If the children had been looking at Grandfather, they would have noticed +that he paused in his walk across the room, when Clara made this remark. +The kind old gentleman was ready and willing to resume his stories of +departed times. But he had resolved to wait till his auditors should +request him to proceed, in order that they might find the instructive +history of the chair a pleasure, and not a task. + +"Grandfather," said Charley, "I am tired to death of this dismal rain, +and of hearing the wind roar in the chimney. I have had no good time all +day. It would be better to hear stories about the chair, than to sit +doing nothing, and thinking of nothing." + +To say the truth, our friend Charley was very much out of humor with the +storm, because it had kept him all day within doors, and hindered him +from making trial of a splendid sled, which Grandfather had given him +for a New Year's gift. As all sleds, now-a-days, must have a name, the +one in question had been honored with the title of Grandfather's Chair, +which was painted in golden letters, on each of the sides. Charley +greatly admired the construction of the new vehicle, and felt certain +that it would outstrip any other sled that ever dashed adown the long +slopes of the Common. + +As for Laurence, he happened to be thinking, just at this moment, about +the history of the chair. Kind old Grandfather had made him a present of +a volume of engraved portraits, representing the features of eminent and +famous people of all countries. Among them Laurence found several who +had formerly occupied our chair, or been connected with its adventures. +While Grandfather walked to and fro across the room, the imaginative boy +was gazing at the historic chair. He endeavored to summon up the +portraits which he had seen in his volume, and to place them, like +living figures, in the empty seat. + +"The old chair has begun another year of its existence, to-day," said +Laurence. "We must make haste, or it will have a new history to be told +before we finish the old one." + +"Yes, my children," replied Grandfather, with a smile and a sigh, +"another year has been added to those of the two centuries, and upward, +which have passed since the Lady Arbella brought this chair over from +England. It is three times as old as your Grandfather; but a year makes +no impression on its oaken frame, while it bends the old man nearer and +nearer to the earth; so let me go on with my stories while I may." + +Accordingly, Grandfather came to the fireside, and seated himself in the +venerable chair. The lion's head looked down with a grimly good-natured +aspect, as the children clustered around the old gentleman's knees. It +almost seemed as if a real lion were peeping over the back of the chair, +and smiling at the group of auditors, with a sort of lion-like +complaisance. Little Alice, whose fancy often inspired her with singular +ideas, exclaimed that the lion's head was nodding at her, and that it +looked as if it were going to open its wide jaws and tell a story. + +But, as the lion's head appeared to be in no haste to speak, and as +there was no record or tradition of its having spoken, during the whole +existence of the chair, Grandfather did not consider it worth while to +wait. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"Charley, my boy," said Grandfather, "do you remember who was the last +occupant of the chair?" + +"It was Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson," answered Charley. "Sir Francis +Bernard, the new governor, had given him the chair, instead of putting +it away in the garret of the Province House. And when we took leave of +Hutchinson, he was sitting by his fireside, and thinking of the past +adventures of the chair, and of what was to come." + +"Very well," said Grandfather; "and you recollect that this was in 1763, +or thereabouts, at the close of the Old French War. Now, that you may +fully comprehend the remaining adventures of the chair, I must make some +brief remarks on the situation and character of the New England colonies +at this period." + +So Grandfather spoke of the earnest loyalty of our fathers during the +Old French War, and after the conquest of Canada had brought that war to +a triumphant close. + +The people loved and reverenced the king of England, even more than if +the ocean had not rolled its waves between him and them; for, at the +distance of three thousand miles, they could not discover his bad +qualities and imperfections. Their love was increased by the dangers +which they had encountered in order to heighten his glory and extend his +dominion. Throughout the war, the American colonists had fought side by +side with the soldiers of Old England; and nearly thirty thousand young +men had laid down their lives for the honor of King George. And the +survivors loved him the better, because they had done and suffered so +much for his sake. + +But, there were some circumstances, that caused America to feel more +independent of England than at an earlier period. Canada and Acadia had +now become British provinces; and our fathers were no longer afraid of +the bands of French and Indians, who used to assault them in old times. +For a century and a half this had been the great terror of New England. +Now, the old French soldier was driven from the north forever. And, even +had it been otherwise the English colonies were growing so populous and +powerful, that they might have felt fully able to protect themselves +without any help from England. + +There were thoughtful and sagacious men, who began to doubt, whether a +great country like America, would always be content to remain under the +government of an island three thousand miles away. This was the more +doubtful, because the English Parliament had long ago made laws which +were intended to be very beneficial to England, at the expense of +America. By these laws, the colonists were forbidden to manufacture +articles for their own use, or to carry on trade with any nation but the +English. + +"Now," continued Grandfather, "if King George the Third and his +counsellors had considered these things wisely, they would have taken +another course than they did. But, when they saw how rich and populous +the colonies had grown, their first thought was, how they might make +more profit out of them than heretofore. England was enormously in debt, +at the close of the Old French War, and it was pretended, that this debt +had been contracted for the defence of the American colonies, and that +therefore a part of it ought to be paid by them." + +"Why, this was nonsense," exclaimed Charley; "did not our fathers spend +their lives and their money too, to get Canada for King George?" + +"True, they did," said Grandfather; "and they told the English rulers +so. But the king and his ministers would not listen to good advice. In +1765, the British Parliament passed a Stamp Act." + +"What was that?" inquired Charley. + +"The Stamp Act," replied Grandfather, "was a law by which all deeds, +bonds, and other papers of the same kind, were ordered to be marked with +the king's stamp; and without this mark, they were declared illegal and +void. Now, in order to get a blank sheet of paper, with the king's stamp +upon it, people were obliged to pay three pence more than the actual +value of the paper. And this extra sum of three pence was a tax, and was +to be paid into the king's treasury." + +"I am sure three pence was not worth quarrelling about!" remarked Clara. + +"It was not for three pence, nor for any amount of money, that America +quarrelled with England," replied Grandfather; "it was for a great +principle. The colonists were determined not to be taxed, except by +their own representatives. They said that neither the king and +Parliament nor any other power on earth, had a right to take their money +out of their pockets, unless they freely gave it. And, rather than pay +three pence when it was unjustly demanded, they resolved to sacrifice +all the wealth of the country, and their lives along with it. They +therefore made a most stubborn resistance to the Stamp Act." + +"That was noble!" exclaimed Laurence. "I understand how it was. If they +had quietly paid this tax of three pence, they would have ceased to be +freemen, and would have become tributaries of England. And so they +contended about a great question of right and wrong, and put every thing +at stake for it." + +"You are right, Laurence," said Grandfather; "and it was really amazing +and terrible to see what a change came over the aspect of the people, +the moment the English Parliament had passed this oppressive act. The +former history of our chair, my children, has given you some idea of +what a harsh, unyielding, stern set of men the old Puritans were. For a +good many years back, however, it had seemed as if these characteristics +were disappearing. But no sooner did England offer wrong to the +colonies, than the descendants of the early settlers proved that they +had the same kind of temper as their forefathers. The moment before, New +England appeared like an humble and loyal subject of the crown; the next +instant, she showed the grim, dark features of an old king-resisting +Puritan." + +Grandfather spoke briefly of the public measures that were taken in +opposition to the Stamp Act. As this law affected all the American +colonies alike, it naturally led them to think of consulting together in +order to procure its repeal. For this purpose, the legislature of +Massachusetts proposed that delegates from every colony should meet in +Congress. Accordingly nine colonies, both northern and southern, sent +delegates to the city of New York. + +"And did they consult about going to war with England?" asked Charley. + +"No, Charley," answered Grandfather; "a great deal of talking was yet to +be done, before England and America could come to blows. The Congress +stated the rights and the grievances of the colonists. They sent an +humble petition to the king, and a memorial to the Parliament, +beseeching that the Stamp Act might be repealed. This was all that the +delegates had it in their power to do." + +"They might as well have staid at home, then," said Charley. + +"By no means," replied Grandfather. "It was a most important and +memorable event--this first coming together of the American people, by +their representatives from the north and south. If England had been +wise, she would have trembled at the first word that was spoken in such +an assembly!" + +These remonstrances and petitions, as Grandfather observed, were the +work of grave, thoughtful, and prudent men. Meantime, the young and +hot-headed people went to work in their own way. It is probable that the +petitions of Congress would have had little or no effect on the British +statesmen, if the violent deeds of the American people had not shown how +much excited the people were. LIBERTY TREE was soon heard of in England. + +"What was Liberty Tree?" inquired Clara. + +"It was an old elm tree," answered Grandfather, "which stood near the +corner of Essex street, opposite the Boylston market. Under the +spreading branches of this great tree, the people used to assemble, +whenever they wished to express their feelings and opinions. Thus, after +a while, it seemed as if the liberty of the country was connected with +Liberty Tree." + +"It was glorious fruit for a tree to bear," remarked Laurence. + +[Illustration] + +"It bore strange fruit, sometimes," said Grandfather. "One morning in +August, 1765, two figures were found hanging on the sturdy branches of +Liberty Tree. They were dressed in square-skirted coats and +small-clothes; and, as their wigs hung down over their faces, they +looked like real men. One was intended to represent the Earl of Bute, +who was supposed to have advised the king to tax America. The other was +meant for the effigy of Andrew Oliver, a gentleman belonging to one of +the most respectable families in Massachusetts." + +"What harm had he done?" inquired Charley. + +"The king had appointed him to be distributor of the stamps," answered +Grandfather. "Mr. Oliver would have made a great deal of money by this +business. But the people frightened him so much by hanging him in +effigy, and afterwards by breaking into his house, that he promised to +have nothing to do with the stamps. And all the king's friends +throughout America were compelled to make the same promise." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson," continued Grandfather, "now began to +be unquiet in our old chair. He had formerly been much respected and +beloved by the people, and had often proved himself a friend to their +interests. But the time was come, when he could not be a friend to the +people, without ceasing to be a friend to the king. It was pretty +generally understood, that Hutchinson would act according to the king's +wishes, right or wrong, like most of the other gentlemen who held +offices under the crown. Besides, as he was brother-in-law of Andrew +Oliver, the people now felt a particular dislike to him." + +"I should think," said Laurence, "as Mr. Hutchinson had written the +history of our Puritan forefathers, he would have known what the temper +of the people was, and so have taken care not to wrong them." + +"He trusted in the might of the king of England," replied Grandfather, +"and thought himself safe under the shelter of the throne. If no dispute +had arisen between the king and the people, Hutchinson would have had +the character of a wise, good, and patriotic magistrate. But, from the +time that he took part against the rights of his country, the people's +love and respect were turned to scorn and hatred; and he never had +another hour of peace." + +In order to show what a fierce and dangerous spirit was now aroused +among the inhabitants, Grandfather related a passage from history, which +we shall call + + +THE HUTCHINSON MOB. + +On the evening of the twenty-sixth of August, 1765, a bonfire was +kindled in King Street. It flamed high upward, and threw a ruddy light +over the front of the town house, on which was displayed a carved +representation of the royal arms. The gilded vane of the cupola +glittered in the blaze. The kindling of this bonfire was the well known +signal for the populace of Boston to assemble in the street. + +Before the tar-barrels, of which the bonfire was made, were half burnt +out, a great crowd had come together. They were chiefly laborers and +seafaring men, together with many young apprentices, and all those idle +people about town who are ready for any kind of mischief. Doubtless some +school-boys were among them. + +While these rough figures stood round the blazing bonfire, you might +hear them speaking bitter words against the high officers of the +province. Governor Bernard, Hutchinson, Oliver, Storey, Hallowell, and +other men whom King George delighted to honor, were reviled as traitors +to the country. Now and then, perhaps, an officer of the crown passed +along the street, wearing the gold-laced hat, white wig, and embroidered +waistcoat, which were the fashion of the day. But, when the people +beheld him, they set up a wild and angry howl, and their faces had an +evil aspect, which was made more terrible by the flickering blaze of the +bonfire. + +"I should like to throw the traitor right into that blaze!" perhaps one +fierce rioter would say. + +"Yes; and all his brethren too!" another might reply; "and the governor +and old Tommy Hutchinson into the hottest of it!" + +"And the Earl of Bute along with them," muttered a third; "and burn the +whole pack of them under King George's nose! No matter if it singed +him!" + +Some such expressions as these, either shouted aloud, or muttered under +the breath, were doubtless heard in King Street. The mob, meanwhile, +were growing fiercer, and fiercer, and seemed ready even to set the town +on fire, for the sake of burning the king's friends out of house and +home. And yet, angry as they were, they sometimes broke into a loud roar +of laughter, as if mischief and destruction were their sport. + +But we must now leave the rioters for a time, and take a peep into the +lieutenant-governor's splendid mansion. It was a large brick house, +decorated with Ionic pilasters, and stood in Garden Court Street, near +the North Square. + +While the angry mob in King Street were shouting his name, +Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson sat quietly in Grandfather's chair, +unsuspicious of the evil that was about to fall upon his head. His +beloved family were in the room with him. He had thrown off his +embroidered coat and powdered wig, and had on a loose flowing gown and +purple velvet cap. He had likewise laid aside the cares of state, and +all the thoughts that had wearied and perplexed him throughout the day. + +Perhaps, in the enjoyment of his home, he had forgotten all about the +Stamp Act, and scarcely remembered that there was a king, across the +ocean, who had resolved to make tributaries of the New Englanders. +Possibly, too, he had forgotten his own ambition, and would not have +exchanged his situation, at that moment, to be governor, or even a lord. + +The wax candles were now lighted, and showed a handsome room, well +provided with rich furniture. On the walls hung the pictures of +Hutchinson's ancestors, who had been eminent men in their day, and were +honorably remembered in the history of the country. Every object served +to mark the residence of a rich, aristocratic gentleman, who held +himself high above the common people, and could have nothing to fear +from them. In a corner of the room, thrown carelessly upon a chair, +were the scarlet robes of the chief justice. This high office, as well +as those of lieutenant-governor, counsellor, and judge of probate, was +filled by Hutchinson. + +Who or what could disturb the domestic quiet of such a great and +powerful personage as now sat in Grandfather's chair. + +The lieutenant-governor's favorite daughter sat by his side. She leaned +on the arm of our great chair, and looked up affectionately into her +father's face, rejoicing to perceive that a quiet smile was on his lips. +But suddenly a shade came across her countenance. She seemed to listen +attentively, as if to catch a distant sound. + +"What is the matter, my child?" inquired Hutchinson. + +"Father, do not you hear a tumult in the streets?" said she. + +The lieutenant-governor listened. But his ears were duller than those of +his daughter; he could hear nothing more terrible than the sound of a +summer breeze, sighing among the tops of the elm trees. + +"No, foolish child!" he replied, playfully patting her cheek. "There is +no tumult. Our Boston mobs are satisfied with what mischief they have +already done. The king's friends need not tremble." + +So Hutchinson resumed his pleasant and peaceful meditations, and again +forgot that there were any troubles in the world. But his family were +alarmed, and could not help straining their ears to catch the slightest +sound. More and more distinctly they heard shouts, and then the +trampling of many feet. While they were listening, one of the neighbors +rushed breathless into the room. + +"A mob!--a terrible mob!" cried he: "they have broken into Mr. Storey's +house, and into Mr. Hallowell's, and have made themselves drunk with the +liquors in his cellar, and now they are coming hither, as wild as so +many tigers. Flee, lieutenant-governor, for your life! for your life!" + +"Father, dear father, make haste!" shrieked his children. + +But Hutchinson would not hearken to them. He was an old lawyer; and he +could not realize that the people would do any thing so utterly lawless +as to assault him in his peaceful home. He was one of King George's +chief officers; and it would be an insult and outrage upon the king +himself, if the lieutenant-governor should suffer any wrong. + +"Have no fears on my account," said he; "I am perfectly safe. The king's +name shall be my protection." + +Yet he bade his family retire into one of the neighboring houses. His +daughter would have remained, but he forced her away. + +The huzzas and riotous uproar of the mob were now heard, close at hand. +The sound was terrible, and struck Hutchinson with the same sort of +dread as if an enraged wild beast had broken loose, and were roaring +for its prey. He crept softly to the window. There he beheld an immense +concourse of people, filling all the street, and rolling onward to his +house. It was like a tempestuous flood, that had swelled beyond its +bounds, and would sweep every thing before it. Hutchinson trembled; he +felt, at that moment, that the wrath of the people was a thousand-fold +more terrible than the wrath of a king. + +That was a moment when a loyalist and an aristocrat, like Hutchinson, +might have learned how powerless are kings, nobles, and great men, when +the low and humble range themselves against them. King George could do +nothing for his servant now. Had King George been there, he could have +done nothing for himself. If Hutchinson had understood this lesson, and +remembered it, he need not, in after years, have been an exile from his +native country, nor finally have laid his bones in a distant land. + +There was now a rush against the doors of the house. The people sent up +a hoarse cry. At this instant, the lieutenant-governor's daughter, whom +he had supposed to be in a place of safety, ran into the room, and threw +her arms around him. She had returned by a private entrance. + +"Father, are you mad!" cried she. "Will the king's name protect you now? +Come with me, or they will have your life." + +"True," muttered Hutchinson to himself; "what care these roarers for the +name of king? I must flee, or they will trample me down, on the door of +my own dwelling!" + +Hurrying away, he and his daughter made their escape by the private +passage, at the moment when the rioters broke into the house. The +foremost of them rushed up the stair-case, and entered the room which +Hutchinson had just quitted. There they beheld our good old chair, +facing them with quiet dignity, while the lion's head seemed to move its +jaws in the unsteady light of their torches. Perhaps the stately aspect +of our venerable friend, which had stood firm through a century and a +half of trouble, arrested them for an instant. But they were thrust +forward by those behind, and the chair lay overthrown. + +Then began the work of destruction. The carved and polished mahogany +tables were shattered with heavy clubs, and hewn to splinters with axes. +The marble hearths and mantel pieces were broken. The volumes of +Hutchinson's library, so precious to a studious man, were torn out of +their covers, and the leaves sent flying out of the windows. +Manuscripts, containing secrets of our country's history, which are now +lost forever, were scattered to the winds. + +The old ancestral portraits, whose fixed countenances looked down on the +wild scene, were rent from the walls. The mob triumphed in their +downfall and destruction, as if these pictures of Hutchinson's +forefathers had committed the same offences as their descendant. A tall +looking-glass, which had hitherto presented a reflection of the enraged +and drunken multitude, was now smashed into a thousand fragments. We +gladly dismiss the scene from the mirror of our fancy. + +Before morning dawned, the walls of the house were all that remained. +The interior was a dismal scene of ruin. A shower pattered in at the +broken windows, and when Hutchinson and his family returned, they stood +shivering in the same room, where the last evening had seen them so +peaceful and happy. + + * * * * * + +"Grandfather," said Laurence indignantly, "if the people acted in this +manner, they were not worthy of even so much liberty as the king of +England was willing to allow them." + +"It was a most unjustifiable act, like many other popular movements at +that time," replied Grandfather. "But we must not decide against the +justice of the people's cause, merely because an excited mob was guilty +of outrageous violence. Besides, all these things were done in the first +fury of resentment. Afterwards, the people grew more calm, and were more +influenced by the counsel of those wise and good men who conducted them +safely and gloriously through the Revolution." + +Little Alice, with tears in her blue eyes, said that she hoped the +neighbors had not let Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson and his family be +homeless in the street, but had taken them into their houses, and been +kind to them. Cousin Clara, recollecting the perilous situation of our +beloved chair, inquired what had become of it. + +"Nothing was heard of our chair for sometime afterwards," answered +Grandfather. "One day in September, the same Andrew Oliver, of whom I +before told you, was summoned to appear at high noon, under Liberty +Tree. This was the strangest summons that had ever been heard of; for it +was issued in the name of the whole people, who thus took upon +themselves the authority of a sovereign power. Mr. Oliver dared not +disobey. Accordingly, at the appointed hour, he went, much against his +will, to Liberty Tree." + +Here Charley interposed a remark that poor Mr. Oliver found but little +liberty under Liberty Tree. Grandfather assented. + +"It was a stormy day," continued he. "The equinoctial gale blew +violently, and scattered the yellow leaves of Liberty Tree all along the +street. Mr. Oliver's wig was dripping with water-drops, and he probably +looked haggard, disconsolate, and humbled to the earth. Beneath the +tree, in Grandfather's chair,--our own venerable chair,--sat Mr. Richard +Dana, a justice of the peace. He administered an oath to Mr. Oliver, +that he would never have any thing to do with distributing the stamps. A +vast concourse of people heard the oath, and shouted when it was taken." + +"There is something grand in this," said Laurence. "I like it, because +the people seem to have acted with thoughtfulness and dignity; and this +proud gentleman, one of his Majesty's high officers, was made to feel +that King George could not protect him in doing wrong." + +"But it was a sad day for poor Mr. Oliver," observed Grandfather. "From +his youth upward, it had probably been the great principle of his life, +to be faithful and obedient to the king. And now, in his old age, it +must have puzzled and distracted him, to find the sovereign people +setting up a claim to his faith and obedience." + +Grandfather closed the evening's conversation by saying that the +discontent of America was so great, that, in 1766, the British +Parliament was compelled to repeal the Stamp Act. The people made great +rejoicings, but took care to keep Liberty Tree well pruned, and free +from caterpillars and canker worms. They foresaw, that there might yet +be occasion for them to assemble under its far projecting shadow. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The next evening, Clara, who remembered that our chair had been left +standing in the rain, under Liberty Tree, earnestly besought Grandfather +to tell when and where it had next found shelter. Perhaps she was afraid +that the venerable chair, by being exposed to the inclemency of a +September gale, might get the rheumatism in its aged joints. + +"The chair," said Grandfather, "after the ceremony of Mr. Oliver's oath, +appears to have been quite forgotten by the multitude. Indeed, being +much bruised and rather rickety, owing to the violent treatment it had +suffered from the Hutchinson mob, most people would have thought that +its days of usefulness were over. Nevertheless, it was conveyed away, +under cover of the night, and committed to the care of a skilful joiner. +He doctored our old friend so successfully, that, in the course of a few +days, it made its appearance in the public room of the British Coffee +House in King Street." + +"But why did not Mr. Hutchinson get possession of it again?" inquired +Charley. + +"I know not," answered Grandfather, "unless he considered it a dishonor +and disgrace to the chair to have stood under Liberty Tree. At all +events, he suffered it to remain at the British Coffee House, which was +the principal hotel in Boston. It could not possibly have found a +situation, where it would be more in the midst of business and bustle, +or would witness more important events, or be occupied by a greater +variety of persons." + +Grandfather went on to tell the proceedings of the despotic king and +ministry of England, after the repeal of the Stamp Act. They could not +bear to think, that their right to tax America should be disputed by the +people. In the year 1767, therefore, they caused Parliament to pass an +act for laying a duty on tea, and some other articles that were in +general use. Nobody could now buy a pound of tea, without paying a tax +to King George. This scheme was pretty craftily contrived; for the women +of America were very fond of tea, and did not like to give up the use of +it. + +But the people were as much opposed to this new act of Parliament, as +they had been to the Stamp Act. England, however, was determined that +they should submit. In order to compel their obedience, two regiments, +consisting of more than seven hundred British soldiers, were sent to +Boston. They arrived in September, 1768, and were landed on Long Wharf. +Thence they marched to the Common, with loaded muskets, fixed bayonets, +and great pomp and parade. So now, at last, the free town of Boston was +guarded and over-awed by red-coats, as it had been in the days of old +Sir Edmund Andros. + +In the month of November, more regiments arrived. There were now four +thousand troops in Boston. The Common was whitened with their tents. +Some of the soldiers were lodged in Faneuil Hall, which the inhabitants +looked upon as a consecrated place, because it had been the scene of a +great many meetings in favor of liberty. One regiment was placed in the +town house, which we now call the Old State House. The lower floor of +this edifice had hitherto been used by the merchants as an exchange. In +the upper stories were the chambers of the judges, the representatives, +and the governor's council. The venerable counsellors could not assemble +to consult about the welfare of the province, without being challenged +by sentinels, and passing among the bayonets of the British soldiers. + +Sentinels, likewise, were posted at the lodgings of the officers, in +many parts of the town. When the inhabitants approached, they were +greeted by the sharp question--"Who goes there?" while the rattle of the +soldier's musket was heard, as he presented it against their breasts. +There was no quiet, even on the Sabbath day. The pious descendants of +the Puritans were shocked by the uproar of military music, the drum, +fife, and bugle, drowning the holy organ peal and the voices of the +singers. It would appear as if the British took every method to insult +the feelings of the people. + +"Grandfather," cried Charley, impatiently, "the people did not go to +fighting half soon enough! These British red-coats ought to have been +driven back to their vessels, the very moment they landed on Long +Wharf." + +"Many a hot-headed young man said the same as you do, Charley," answered +Grandfather. "But the elder and wiser people saw that the time was not +yet come. Meanwhile, let us take another peep at our old chair." + +"Ah, it drooped its head, I know," said Charley, "when it saw how the +province was disgraced. Its old Puritan friends never would have borne +such doings." + +"The chair," proceeded Grandfather, "was now continually occupied by +some of the high tories, as the king's friends were called, who +frequented the British Coffee House. Officers of the custom-house, too, +which stood on the opposite side of King Street, often sat in the chair, +wagging their tongues against John Hancock." + +"Why against him?" asked Charley. + +"Because he was a great merchant, and contended against paying duties to +the king," said Grandfather. + +"Well, frequently, no doubt, the officers of the British regiments, when +not on duty, used to fling themselves into the arms of our venerable +chair. Fancy one of them, a red nosed captain, in his scarlet uniform, +playing with the hilt of his sword, and making a circle of his brother +officers merry with ridiculous jokes at the expense of the poor Yankees. +And perhaps he would call for a bottle of wine, or a steaming bowl of +punch, and drink confusion to all rebels." + +"Our grave old chair must have been scandalized at such scenes," +observed Laurence. "The chair that had been the Lady Arbella's, and +which the holy Apostle Eliot had consecrated." + +"It certainly was little less than sacrilege," replied Grandfather; "but +the time was coming, when even the churches, where hallowed pastors had +long preached the word of God, were to be torn down or desecrated by the +British troops. Some years passed, however, before such things were +done." + +Grandfather now told his auditors, that, in 1769, Sir Francis Bernard +went to England, after having been governor of Massachusetts ten years. +He was a gentleman of many good qualities, an excellent scholar, and a +friend to learning. But he was naturally of an arbitrary disposition; +and he had been bred at the University of Oxford, where young men were +taught that the divine right of kings was the only thing to be regarded +in matters of government. Such ideas were ill adapted to please the +people of Massachusetts. They rejoiced to get rid of Sir Francis +Bernard, but liked his successor, Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, no +better than himself. + +About this period, the people were much incensed at an act, committed by +a person who held an office in the custom-house. Some lads, or young +men, were snow-balling his windows. He fired a musket at them and killed +a poor German boy, only eleven years old. This event made a great noise +in town and country, and much increased the resentment that was already +felt against the servants of the crown. + +"Now, children," said Grandfather, "I wish to make you comprehend the +position of the British troops in King Street. This is the same which we +now call State Street. On the south side of the town-house, or Old State +House, was what military men call a court of guard, defended by two +brass cannons, which pointed directly at one of the doors of the above +edifice. A large party of soldiers were always stationed in the court of +guard. The custom-house stood at a little distance down King Street, +nearly where the Suffolk bank now stands; and a sentinel was continually +pacing before its front." + +"I shall remember this, to-morrow," said Charley; "and I will go to +State Street, so as to see exactly where the British troops were +stationed." + +"And, before long," observed Grandfather, "I shall have to relate an +event, which made King Street sadly famous on both sides of the +Atlantic. The history of our chair will soon bring us to this melancholy +business." + +Here Grandfather described the state of things, which arose from the +ill-will that existed between the inhabitants and the red-coats. The old +and sober part of the town's-people were very angry at the government, +for sending soldiers to overawe them. But those gray-headed men were +cautious, and kept their thoughts and feelings in their own breasts, +without putting themselves in the way of the British bayonets. + +The younger people, however, could hardly be kept within such prudent +limits. They reddened with wrath at the very sight of a soldier, and +would have been willing to come to blows with them, at any moment. For +it was their opinion, that every tap of a British drum within the +peninsula of Boston, was an insult to the brave old town. + +"It was sometimes the case," continued Grandfather, "that affrays +happened between such wild young men as these, and small parties of the +soldiers. No weapons had hitherto been used, except fists or cudgels. +But, when men have loaded muskets in their hands, it is easy to +foretell, that they will soon be turned against the bosoms of those who +provoke their anger." + +"Grandfather," said little Alice, looking fearfully into his face, "your +voice sounds as though you were going to tell us something awful!" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Little Alice, by her last remark, proved herself a good judge of what +was expressed by the tones of Grandfather's voice. He had given the +above description of the enmity between the town's-people and the +soldiers, in order to prepare the minds of his auditors for a very +terrible event. It was one that did more to heighten the quarrel between +England and America, than any thing that had yet occurred. + +Without further preface, Grandfather began the story of + + +THE BOSTON MASSACRE. + +It was now the 3d of March, 1770. The sunset music of the British +regiments was heard, as usual, throughout the town. The shrill fife and +rattling drum awoke the echoes in King Street, while the last ray of +sunshine was lingering on the cupola of the town-house. And now, all the +sentinels were posted. One of them marched up and down before the +custom-house, treading a short path through the snow, and longing for +the time when he would be dismissed to the warm fire-side of the +guard-room. Meanwhile, Captain Preston was perhaps sitting in our great +chair, before the hearth of the British Coffee House. In the course of +the evening, there were two or three slight commotions, which seemed to +indicate that trouble was at hand. Small parties of young men stood at +the corners of the streets, or walked along the narrow pavements. Squads +of soldiers, who were dismissed from duty, passed by them, shoulder to +shoulder, with the regular step which they had learned at the drill. +Whenever these encounters took place, it appeared to be the object of +the young men to treat the soldiers with as much incivility as possible. + +"Turn out, you lobster-backs!" one would say. "Crowd them off the +side-walks!" another would cry. "A red-coat has no right in Boston +streets." + +"Oh, you rebel rascals!" perhaps the soldiers would reply, glaring +fiercely at the young men. "Some day or other, we'll make our way +through Boston streets, at the point of the bayonet!" + +Once or twice, such disputes as these brought on a scuffle; which passed +off, however, without attracting much notice. About eight o'clock, for +some unknown cause, an alarm bell rang loudly and hurriedly. + +At the sound, many people ran out of their houses, supposing it to be an +alarm of fire. But there were no flames to be seen; nor was there any +smell of smoke in the clear, frosty air; so that most of the townsmen +went back to their own fire-sides, and sat talking with their wives and +children about the calamities of the times. Others, who were younger +and less prudent, remained in the streets; for there seems to have been +a presentiment that some strange event was on the eve of taking place. + +Later in the evening, not far from nine o'clock, several young men +passed by the town-house, and walked down King Street. The sentinel was +still on his post, in front of the custom-house, pacing to and fro, +while, as he turned, a gleam of light, from some neighboring window, +glittered on the barrel of his musket. At no great distance were the +barracks and the guard-house, where his comrades were probably telling +stories of battle and bloodshed. + +Down towards the custom-house, as I told you, came a party of wild young +men. When they drew near the sentinel, he halted on his post, and took +his musket from his shoulder, ready to present the bayonet at their +breasts. + +"Who goes there?" he cried, in the gruff, peremptory tones of a +soldier's challenge. + +The young men, being Boston boys, felt as if they had a right to walk +their own streets, without being accountable to a British red-coat, even +though he challenged them in King George's name. They made some rude +answer to the sentinel. There was a dispute, or, perhaps a scuffle. +Other soldiers heard the noise, and ran hastily from the barracks, to +assist their comrade. At the same time, many of the town's-people rushed +into King Street, by various avenues, and gathered in a crowd round +about the custom-house. It seemed wonderful how such a multitude had +started up, all of a sudden. + +The wrongs and insults, which the people had been suffering for many +months, now kindled them into a rage. They threw snow-balls and lumps of +ice at the soldiers. As the tumult grew louder, it reached the ears of +Captain Preston, the officer of the day. He immediately ordered eight +soldiers of the main guard to take their muskets and follow him. They +marched across the street, forcing their way roughly through the crowd, +and pricking the town's-people with their bayonets. + +A gentleman, (it was Henry Knox, afterwards general of the American +artillery,) caught Captain Preston's arm. + +"For Heaven's sake, sir," exclaimed he, take heed what you do, or here +will be bloodshed." + +"Stand aside!" answered Captain Preston, haughtily. "Do not interfere, +sir. Leave me to manage the affair." + +Arriving at the sentinel's post, Captain Preston drew up his men in a +semi-circle, with their faces to the crowd and their rear to the +custom-house. "When the people saw the officer, and beheld the +threatening attitude with which the soldiers fronted them, their rage +became almost uncontrollable. + +"Fire, you lobster-backs!" bellowed some. + +"You dare not fire, you cowardly red-coats," cried others. + +"Rush upon them!" shouted many voices. "Drive the rascals to their +barracks! Down with them! Down with them! Let them fire, if they dare!" + +Amid the uproar, the soldiers stood glaring at the people, with the +fierceness of men whose trade was to shed blood. + +Oh, what a crisis had now arrived! Up to this very moment, the angry +feelings between England and America might have been pacified. England +had but to stretch out the hand of reconciliation, and acknowledge that +she had hitherto mistaken her rights but would do so no more. Then, the +ancient bonds of brotherhood would again have been knit together, as +firmly as in old times. The habit of loyalty, which had grown as strong +as instinct, was not utterly overcome. The perils shared, the victories +won, in the Old French War, when the soldiers of the colonies fought +side by side with their comrades from beyond the sea, were unforgotten +yet. England was still that beloved country which the colonists called +their home. King George, though he had frowned upon America, was still +reverenced as a father. + +But, should the king's soldiers shed one drop of American blood, then it +was a quarrel to the death. Never--never would America rest satisfied, +until she had torn down the royal authority, and trampled it in the +dust. + +"Fire, if you dare, villains!" hoarsely shouted the people, while the +muzzles of the muskets were turned upon them; "you dare not fire!" + +They appeared ready to rush upon the levelled bayonets. Captain Preston +waved his sword, and uttered a command which could not be distinctly +heard, amid the uproar of shouts that issued from a hundred throats. But +his soldiers deemed that he had spoken the fatal mandate--"fire!" The +flash of their muskets lighted up the street, and the report rang loudly +between the edifices. It was said, too, that the figure of a man with a +cloth hanging down over his face, was seen to step into the balcony of +the custom-house, and discharge a musket at the crowd. + +A gush of smoke had overspread the scene. It rose heavily, as if it were +loath to reveal the dreadful spectacle beneath it. Eleven of the sons of +New England lay stretched upon the street. Some, sorely wounded, were +struggling to rise again. Others stirred not, nor groaned, for they were +past all pain. Blood was streaming upon the snow; and that purple stain, +in the midst of King Street, though it melted away in the next day's +sun, was never forgotten nor forgiven by the people. + + * * * * * + +Grandfather was interrupted by the violent sobs of little Alice. In his +earnestness, he had neglected to soften down the narrative, so that it +might not terrify the heart of this unworldly infant. Since Grandfather +began the history of our chair, little Alice had listened to many tales +of war. But, probably, the idea had never really impressed itself upon +her mind, that men have shed the blood of their fellow-creatures. And +now that this idea was forcibly presented to her, it affected the sweet +child with bewilderment and horror. + +"I ought to have remembered our dear little Alice," said Grandfather +reproachfully to himself. "Oh, what a pity! Her heavenly nature has now +received its first impression of earthly sin and violence. Well, Clara, +take her to bed, and comfort her. Heaven grant that she may dream away +the recollection of the Boston Massacre!" + +"Grandfather," said Charley, when Clara and little Alice had retired, +"did not the people rush upon the soldiers, and take revenge?" + +"The town drums beat to arms," replied Grandfather, "the alarm bells +rang, and an immense multitude rushed into King Street. Many of them had +weapons in their hands. The British prepared to defend themselves. A +whole regiment was drawn up in the street, expecting an attack; for the +townsmen appeared ready to throw themselves upon the bayonets." + +"And how did it end?" asked Charley. + +"Governor Hutchinson hurried to the spot," said Grandfather, "and +besought the people to have patience, promising that strict justice +should be done. A day or two afterward, the British troops were +withdrawn from town, and stationed at Castle William. Captain Preston +and the eight soldiers were tried for murder. But none of them were +found guilty. The judges told the jury that the insults and violence +which had been offered to the soldiers, justified them in firing at the +mob." + +"The Revolution," observed Laurence, who had said but little during the +evening, "was not such a calm, majestic movement as I supposed. I do not +love to hear of mobs and broils in the street. These things were +unworthy of the people, when they had such a great object to +accomplish." + +"Nevertheless, the world has seen no grander movement than that of our +Revolution, from first to last," said Grandfather. "The people, to a +man, were full of a great and noble sentiment. True, there may be much +fault to find with their mode of expressing this sentiment; but they +knew no better--the necessity was upon them to act out their feelings, +in the best manner they could. We must forgive what was wrong in their +actions, and look into their hearts and minds for the honorable motives +that impelled them." + +"And I suppose," said Laurence, "there were men who knew how to act +worthily of what they felt." + +"There were many such," replied Grandfather, "and we will speak of some +of them, hereafter." + +Grandfather here made a pause. That night, Charley had a dream about +the Boston Massacre, and thought that he himself was in the crowd, and +struck down Captain Preston with a great club. Laurence dreamed that he +was sitting in our great chair, at the window of the British Coffee +House, and beheld the whole scene which Grandfather had described. It +seemed to him, in his dream, that if the town's-people and the soldiers +would but have heard him speak a single word, all the slaughter might +have been averted. But there was such an uproar that it drowned his +voice. + +The next morning, the two boys went together to State Street, and stood +on the very spot where the first blood of the Revolution had been shed. +The Old State House was still there, presenting almost the same aspect +that it had worn on that memorable evening, one-and-seventy years ago. +It is the sole remaining witness of the Boston Massacre. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +The next evening the astral lamp was lighted earlier than usual, because +Laurence was very much engaged in looking over the collection of +portraits which had been his New Year's gift from Grandfather. + +Among them he found the features of more than one famous personage who +had been connected with the adventures of our old chair. Grandfather +bade him draw the table nearer to the fire-side; and they looked over +the portraits together, while Clara and Charley likewise lent their +attention. As for little Alice, she sat in Grandfather's lap, and seemed +to see the very men alive, whose faces were there represented. + +Turning over the volume, Laurence came to the portrait of a stern, +grim-looking man, in plain attire, of much more modern fashion than that +of the old Puritans. But the face might well have befitted one of those +iron-hearted men. Beneath the portrait was the name of Samuel Adams. + +"He was a man of great note in all the doings that brought about the +Revolution," said Grandfather. "His character was such, that it seemed +as if one of the ancient Puritans had been sent back to earth, to +animate the people's hearts with the same abhorrence of tyranny, that +had distinguished the earliest settlers. He was as religious as they, as +stern and inflexible, and as deeply imbued with democratic principles. +He, better than any one else, may be taken as a representative of the +people of New England, and of the spirit with which they engaged in the +revolutionary struggle. He was a poor man, and earned his bread by an +humble occupation; but with his tongue and pen, he made the king of +England tremble on his throne. Remember him, my children, as one of the +strong men of our country." + +"Here is one whose looks show a very different character," observed +Laurence, turning to the portrait of John Hancock. "I should think, by +his splendid dress and courtly aspect, that he was one of the king's +friends." + +"There never was a greater contrast than between Samuel Adams and John +Hancock," said Grandfather. "Yet they were of the same side in politics, +and had an equal agency in the Revolution. Hancock was born to the +inheritance of the largest fortune in New England. His tastes and habits +were aristocratic. He loved gorgeous attire, a splendid mansion, +magnificent furniture, stately festivals, and all that was glittering +and pompous in external things. His manners were so polished, that there +stood not a nobleman at the footstool of King George's throne, who was a +more skilful courtier than John Hancock might have been. Nevertheless, +he, in his embroidered clothes, and Samuel Adams in his threadbare coat, +wrought together in the cause of liberty. Adams acted from pure and +rigid principle. Hancock, though he loved his country, yet thought quite +as much of his own popularity as he did of the people's rights. It is +remarkable, that these two men, so very different as I describe them, +were the only two exempted from pardon by the king's proclamation." + +On the next leaf of the book, was the portrait of General Joseph Warren. +Charley recognized the name, and said that here was a greater man than +either Hancock or Adams. + +"Warren was an eloquent and able patriot," replied Grandfather. "He +deserves a lasting memory for his zealous efforts in behalf of liberty. +No man's voice was more powerful in Faneuil Hall than Joseph Warren's. +If his death had not happened so early in the contest, he would probably +have gained a high name as a soldier." + +The next portrait was a venerable man, who held his thumb under his +chin, and, through his spectacles, appeared to be attentively reading a +manuscript. + +"Here we see the most illustrious Boston boy that ever lived," said +Grandfather. "This is Benjamin Franklin! But I will not try to compress, +into a few sentences, the character of the sage, who, as a Frenchman +expressed it, snatched the lightning from the sky, and the sceptre from +a tyrant. Mr. Sparks must help you to the knowledge of Franklin." + +The book likewise contained portraits of James Otis and Josiah Quincy. +Both of them, Grandfather observed, were men of wonderful talents and +true patriotism. Their voices were like the stirring tones of a trumpet, +arousing the country to defend its freedom. Heaven seemed to have +provided a greater number of eloquent men than had appeared at any other +period, in order that the people might be fully instructed as to their +wrongs, and the method of resistance. + +"It is marvellous," said Grandfather, "to see how many powerful writers, +orators, and soldiers started up, just at the time when they were +wanted. There was a man for every kind of work. It is equally wonderful, +that men of such different characters were all made to unite in the one +object of establishing the freedom and independence of America. There +was an overruling Providence above them." + +"Here was another great man," remarked Laurence, pointing to the +portrait of John Adams. + +"Yes; an earnest, warm-tempered, honest, and most able man," said +Grandfather. "At the period of which we are now speaking, he was a +lawyer in Boston. He was destined, in after years, to be ruler over the +whole American people, whom he contributed so much to form into a +nation." + +Grandfather here remarked, that many a New Englander, who had passed +his boyhood and youth in obscurity, afterward attained to a fortune, +which he never could have foreseen, even in his most ambitious dreams. +John Adams, the second president of the United States, and the equal of +crowned kings, was once a schoolmaster and country lawyer. Hancock, the +first signer of the Declaration of Independence, served his +apprenticeship with a merchant. Samuel Adams, afterward governor of +Massachusetts, was a small tradesman and a tax-gatherer. General Warren +was a physician, General Lincoln a farmer, and General Knox a +bookbinder. General Nathaniel Greene, the best soldier, except +Washington, in the revolutionary army, was a Quaker and a blacksmith. +All these became illustrious men, and can never be forgotten in American +history. + +"And any boy, who is born in America, may look forward to the same +things," said our ambitious friend Charley. + +After these observations, Grandfather drew the book of portraits towards +him, and showed the children several British peers and members of +Parliament, who had exerted themselves either for or against the rights +of America. There were the Earl of Bute, Mr. Grenville, and Lord North. +These were looked upon as deadly enemies to our country. + +Among the friends of America was Mr. Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham, +who spent so much of his wondrous eloquence in endeavoring to warn +England of the consequences of her injustice. He fell down on the floor +of the House of Lords, after uttering almost his dying words in defence +of our privileges as freemen. There was Edmund Burke, one of the wisest +men and greatest orators that ever the world produced. There was Colonel +Barre, who had been among our fathers, and knew that they had courage +enough to die for their rights. There was Charles James Fox, who never +rested until he had silenced our enemies in the House of Commons. + +"It is very remarkable to observe how many of the ablest orators in the +British Parliament were favorable to America," said Grandfather. "We +ought to remember these great Englishmen with gratitude; for their +speeches encouraged our fathers, almost as much as those of our own +orators, in Faneuil Hall, and under Liberty Tree. Opinions, which might +have been received with doubt, if expressed only by a native American, +were set down as true, beyond dispute, when they came from the lips of +Chatham, Burke, Barre, or Fox." + +"But, Grandfather," asked Laurence, "were there no able and eloquent men +in this country who took the part of King George?" + +"There were many men of talent, who said what they could in defence of +the king's tyrannical proceedings," replied Grandfather. "But they had +the worst side of the argument, and therefore seldom said any thing +worth remembering. Moreover their hearts were faint and feeble; for they +felt that the people scorned and detested them. They had no friends, no +defence, except in the bayonets of the British troops. A blight fell +upon all their faculties, because they were contending against the +rights of their own native land." + +"What were the names of some of them?" inquired Charley. + +"Governor Hutchinson, Chief Justice Oliver, Judge Auchmuty, the Reverend +Mather Byles, and several other clergymen, were among the most noted +loyalists," answered Grandfather. + +"I wish the people had tarred and feathered every man of them!" cried +Charley. + +"That wish is very wrong, Charley," said Grandfather. "You must not +think that there was no integrity and honor, except among those who +stood up for the freedom of America. For aught I know, there was quite +as much of these qualities on one side as on the other. Do you see +nothing admirable in a faithful adherence to an unpopular cause? Can you +not respect that principle of loyalty, which made the royalists give up +country, friends, fortune, every thing, rather than be false to their +king? It was a mistaken principle; but many of them cherished it +honorably, and were martyrs to it." + +"Oh, I was wrong!" said Charley, ingenuously. "And I would risk my life, +rather than one of those good old royalists should be tarred and +feathered." + +"The time is now come, when we may judge fairly of them," continued +Grandfather. "Be the good and true men among them honored; for they were +as much our countrymen as the patriots were. And, thank Heaven! our +country need not be ashamed of her sons--of most of them, at +least--whatever side they took in the revolutionary contest." + +Among the portraits was one of King George the Third. Little Alice +clapped her hands, and seemed pleased with the bluff good nature of his +physiognomy. But Laurence thought it strange, that a man with such a +face, indicating hardly a common share of intellect, should have had +influence enough on human affairs, to convulse the world with war. +Grandfather observed, that this poor king had always appeared to him one +of the most unfortunate persons that ever lived. He was so honest and +conscientious, that, if he had been only a private man, his life would +probably have been blameless and happy. But his was that worst of +fortunes, to be placed in a station far beyond his abilities. + +"And so," said Grandfather, "his life, while he retained what intellect +Heaven had gifted him with, was one long mortification. At last, he grew +crazed with care and trouble. For nearly twenty years, the monarch of +England was confined as a madman. In his old age, too, God took away his +eyesight; so that his royal palace was nothing to him but a dark, +lonesome prison-house." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +"Our old chair," resumed Grandfather, "did not now stand in the midst of +a gay circle of British officers. The troops, as I told you, had been +removed to Castle William, immediately after the Boston Massacre. Still, +however, there were many tories, custom-house officers, and Englishmen, +who used to assemble in the British Coffee House, and talk over the +affairs of the period. Matters grew worse and worse; and in 1773, the +people did a deed, which incensed the king and ministry more than any of +their former doings." + +Grandfather here described the affair, which is known by the name of the +Boston Tea Party. The Americans, for some time past, had left off +importing tea, on account of the oppressive tax. The East India Company, +in London, had a large stock of tea on hand, which they had expected to +sell to the Americans, but could find no market for it. But, after a +while, the government persuaded this company of merchants to send the +tea to America. + +"How odd it is," observed Clara, "that the liberties of America should +have had any thing to do with a cup of tea!" + +Grandfather smiled, and proceeded with his narrative. When the people of +Boston heard that several cargoes of tea were coming across the +Atlantic, they held a great many meetings at Faneuil Hall, in the Old +South church, and under Liberty Tree. In the midst of their debates, +three ships arrived in the harbor with the tea on board. The people +spent more than a fortnight in consulting what should be done. At last, +on the 16th of December, 1773, they demanded of Governor Hutchinson, +that he should immediately send the ships back to England. + +The governor replied that the ships must not leave the harbor, until the +custom-house duties upon the tea should be paid. Now, the payment of +these duties was the very thing, against which the people had set their +faces; because it was a tax, unjustly imposed upon America by the +English government. Therefore, in the dusk of the evening, as soon as +Governor Hutchinson's reply was received, an immense crowd hastened to +Griffin's Wharf, where the tea-ships lay. The place is now called +Liverpool Wharf. + +"When the crowd reached the wharf," said Grandfather, "they saw that a +set of wild-looking figures were already on board of the ships. You +would have imagined that the Indian warriors, of old times, had come +back again; for they wore the Indian dress, and had their faces covered +with red and black paint, like the Indians, when they go to war. These +grim figures hoisted the tea chests on the decks of the vessels, broke +them open, and threw all the contents into the harbor." + +"Grandfather," said little Alice, "I suppose Indians don't love tea; +else they would never waste it so." + +"They were not real Indians, my child," answered Grandfather. "They were +white men, in disguise; because a heavy punishment would have been +inflicted on them, if the king's officers had found who they were. But +it was never known. From that day to this, though the matter has been +talked of by all the world, nobody can tell the names of those Indian +figures. Some people say that there were very famous men among them, who +afterwards became governors and generals. Whether this be true, I cannot +tell." + +When tidings of this bold deed were carried to England, King George was +greatly enraged. Parliament immediately passed an act, by which all +vessels were forbidden to take in or discharge their cargoes at the port +of Boston. In this way, they expected to ruin all the merchants, and +starve the poor people, by depriving them of employment. At the same +time, another act was passed, taking away many rights and privileges +which had been granted in the charter of Massachusetts. + +Governor Hutchinson, soon afterward, was summoned to England, in order +that he might give his advice about the management of American affairs. +General Gage, an officer of the Old French War, and since +commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, was appointed +governor in his stead. One of his first acts, was to make Salem, instead +of Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, by summoning the General +Court to meet there. + +According to Grandfather's description, this was the most gloomy time +that Massachusetts had ever seen. The people groaned under as heavy a +tyranny as in the days of Sir Edmund Andros. Boston looked as if it were +afflicted with some dreadful pestilence,--so sad were the inhabitants, +and so desolate the streets. There was no cheerful hum of business. The +merchants shut up their warehouses, and the laboring men stood idle +about the wharves. But all America felt interested in the good town of +Boston; and contributions were raised, in many places, for the relief of +the poor inhabitants. + +"Our dear old chair!" exclaimed Clara. "How dismal it must have been +now!" + +"Oh," replied Grandfather, "a gay throng of officers had now come back +to the British Coffee House; so that the old chair had no lack of +mirthful company. Soon after General Gage became governor, a great many +troops had arrived, and were encamped upon the Common. Boston was now a +garrisoned and fortified town; for the general had built a battery +across the neck, on the road to Roxbury, and placed guards for its +defence. Every thing looked as if a civil war were close at hand." + +"Did the people make ready to fight?" asked Charley. + +"A continental Congress assembled at Philadelphia," said Grandfather, +"and proposed such measures as they thought most conducive to the +public good. A provincial Congress was likewise chosen in Massachusetts. +They exhorted the people to arm and discipline themselves. A great +number of minute men were enrolled. The Americans called them minute +men, because they engaged to be ready to fight at a minute's warning. +The English officers laughed, and said that the name was a very proper +one, because the minute men would run away the the minute they saw the +enemy. Whether they would fight or run, was soon to be proved." + +Grandfather told the children, that the first open resistance offered to +the British troops, in the province of Massachusetts was at Salem. +Colonel Timothy Pickering, with thirty or forty militia men, prevented +the English colonel, Leslie, with four times as many regular soldiers, +from taking possession of some military stores. No blood was shed on +this occasion; but, soon afterward, it began to flow. + +General Gage sent eight hundred soldiers to Concord, about eighteen +miles from Boston, to destroy some ammunition and provisions which the +colonists had collected there. They set out on their march in the +evening of the 18th of April, 1775. The next morning, the General sent +Lord Percy, with nine hundred men, to strengthen the troops which had +gone before. All that day, the inhabitants of Boston heard various +rumors. Some said, that the British were making great slaughter among +our countrymen. Others affirmed that every man had turned out with his +musket, and that not a single soldier would ever get back to Boston. + +"It was after sunset," continued Grandfather, "when the troops, who had +marched forth so proudly, were seen entering Charlestown. They were +covered with dust, and so hot and weary that their tongues hung out of +their mouths. Many of them were faint with wounds. They had not all +returned. Nearly three hundred were strewn, dead or dying, along the +road from Concord. The yeomanry had risen upon the invaders, and driven +them back." + +"Was this the battle of Lexington?" asked Charley. + +"Yes," replied Grandfather; "it was so called, because the British, +without provocation, had fired upon a party of minute men, near +Lexington meeting-house, and killed eight of them. That fatal volley, +which was fired by order of Major Pitcairn, began the war of the +Revolution." + +About this time, if Grandfather had been correctly informed, our chair +disappeared from the British Coffee House. The manner of its departure +cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. Perhaps the keeper of the Coffee +House turned it out of doors, on account of its old-fashioned aspect. +Perhaps he sold it as a curiosity. Perhaps it was taken, without leave, +by some person who regarded it as public property, because it had once +figured under Liberty Tree. Or, perhaps, the old chair, being of a +peaceable disposition, had made use of its four oaken legs, and run away +from the seat of war. + +"It would have made a terrible clattering over the pavement," said +Charley, laughing. + +"Meanwhile," continued Grandfather, "during the mysterious +non-appearance of our chair, an army of twenty thousand men had started +up, and come to the siege of Boston. General Gage and his troops were +cooped up within the narrow precincts of the peninsula. On the 17th of +June, 1775, the famous battle of Bunker Hill was fought. Here General +Warren fell. The British got the victory, indeed, but with the loss of +more than a thousand officers and men." + +"O, Grandfather," cried Charley, "you must tell us about that famous +battle." + +"No, Charley," said Grandfather, "I am not like other historians. +Battles shall not hold a prominent place in the history of our quiet and +comfortable old chair. But, to-morrow evening, Laurence, Clara, and +yourself, and dear little Alice too, shall visit the Diorama of Bunker +Hill. There you shall see the whole business, the burning of Charlestown +and all, with your own eyes, and hear the cannon and musketry with your +own ears." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The next evening but one, when the children had given Grandfather a full +account of the Diorama of Bunker Hill, they entreated him not to keep +them any longer in suspense about the fate of his chair. The reader will +recollect, that at the last accounts, it had trotted away upon its poor +old legs, nobody knew whither. But, before gratifying their curiosity, +Grandfather found it necessary to say something about public events. + +The continental Congress, which was assembled at Philadelphia, was +composed of delegates from all the colonies. They had now appointed +George Washington, of Virginia, to be commander-in-chief of all the +American armies. He was, at that time, a member of Congress, but +immediately left Philadelphia, and began his journey to Massachusetts. +On the 3d of July, 1775, he arrived at Cambridge, and took command of +the troops which were besieging General Gage. + +"O, Grandfather," exclaimed Laurence, "it makes my heart throb to think +what is coming now. We are to see General Washington himself." + +The children crowded around Grandfather, and looked earnestly into his +face. Even little Alice opened her sweet blue eyes, with her lips +apart, and almost held her breath to listen; so instinctive is the +reverence of childhood for the father of his country. Grandfather paused +a moment; for he felt as if it might be irreverent to introduce the +hallowed shade of Washington into a history, where an ancient elbow +chair occupied the most prominent place. However, he determined to +proceed with his narrative, and speak of the hero when it was needful, +but with an unambitious simplicity. + +So Grandfather told his auditors, that, on General Washington's arrival +at Cambridge, his first care was, to reconnoitre the British troops with +his spy-glass, and to examine the condition of his own army. He found +that the American troops amounted to about fourteen thousand men. They +were extended all round the peninsula of Boston, a space of twelve +miles, from the high grounds of Roxbury on the right, to Mystic river on +the left. Some were living in tents of sail-cloth, some in shanties, +rudely constructed of boards, some in huts of stone or turf, with +curious windows and doors of basket-work. + +In order to be near the centre, and oversee the whole of this +wide-stretched army, the commander-in-chief made his head-quarters at +Cambridge, about half a mile from the colleges. A mansion-house, which +perhaps had been the country-seat of some tory gentleman, was provided +for his residence. + +"When General Washington first entered this mansion," said Grandfather, +"he was ushered up the stair-case, and shown into a handsome apartment. +He sat down in a large chair, which was the most conspicuous object in +the room. The noble figure of Washington would have done honor to a +throne. As he sat there, with his hand resting on the hilt of his +sheathed sword, which was placed between his knees, his whole aspect +well befitted the chosen man on whom his country leaned for the defence +of her dearest rights. America seemed safe, under his protection. His +face was grander than any sculptor had ever wrought in marble; none +could behold him without awe and reverence. Never before had the lion's +head, at the summit of the chair, looked down upon such a face and form +as Washington's!" + +"Why! Grandfather," cried Clara, clasping her hands in amazement, "was +it really so? Did General Washington sit in our great chair?" + +"I knew how it would be," said Laurence; "I foresaw it, the moment +Grandfather began to speak." + +Grandfather smiled. But, turning from the personal and domestic life of +the illustrious leader, he spoke of the methods which Washington adopted +to win back the metropolis of New England from the British. + +The army, when he took command of it, was without any discipline or +order. The privates considered themselves as good as their officers, and +seldom thought it necessary to obey their commands, unless they +understood the why and wherefore. Moreover, they were enlisted for so +short a period, that, as soon as they began to be respectable soldiers, +it was time to discharge them. Then came new recruits, who had to be +taught their duty, before they could be of any service. Such was the +army, with which Washington had to contend against more than twenty +veteran British regiments. + +Some of the men had no muskets, and almost all were without bayonets. +Heavy cannon, for battering the British fortifications, were much +wanted. There was but a small quantity of powder and ball, few tools to +build entrenchments with, and a great deficiency of provisions and +clothes for the soldiers. Yet, in spite of these perplexing +difficulties, the eyes of the whole people were fixed on General +Washington, expecting him to undertake some great enterprise against the +hostile army. + +The first thing that he found necessary, was to bring his own men into +better order and discipline. It is wonderful how soon he transformed +this rough mob of country people into the semblance of a regular army. +One of Washington's most invaluable characteristics, was the faculty of +bringing order out of confusion. All business, with which he had any +concern, seemed to regulate itself, as if by magic. The influence of his +mind was like light, gleaming through an unshaped world. It was this +faculty, more than any other, that made him so fit to ride upon the +storm of the Revolution, when every thing was unfixed, and drifting +about in a troubled sea. + +"Washington had not been long at the head of the army," proceeded +Grandfather, "before his soldiers thought as highly of him, as if he had +led them to a hundred victories. They knew that he was the very man whom +the country needed, and the only one who could bring them safely through +the great contest against the might of England. They put entire +confidence in his courage, wisdom, and integrity." + +"And were not they eager to follow him against the British?" asked +Charley. + +"Doubtless they would have gone whithersoever his sword pointed the +way," answered Grandfather; "and Washington was anxious to make a +decisive assault upon the enemy. But as the enterprise was very +hazardous, he called a council of all the generals in the army. +Accordingly, they came from their different posts, and were ushered into +the reception room. The commander-in-chief arose from our great chair to +greet them." + +"What were their names?" asked Charley. + +"There was General Artemas Ward," replied Grandfather, a "lawyer by +profession. He had commanded the troops before Washington's arrival. +Another was General Charles Lee, who had been a colonel in the English +army, and was thought to possess vast military science. He came to the +council, followed by two or three dogs, who were always at his heels. +There was General Putnam, too, who was known all over New England by the +name of Old Put." + +"Was it he who killed the wolf?" inquired Charley. + +"The same," said Grandfather; "and he had done good service in the Old +French War. His occupation was that of a farmer; but he left his plough +in the furrow, at the news of Lexington battle. Then there was General +Gates, who afterward gained great renown at Saratoga, and lost it again +at Camden. General Greene, of Rhode Island, was likewise at the council. +Washington soon discovered him to be one of the best officers in the +army." + +When the Generals were all assembled, Washington consulted them about a +plan for storming the English batteries. But it was their unanimous +opinion that so perilous an enterprise ought not to be attempted. The +army, therefore, continued to besiege Boston, preventing the enemy from +obtaining supplies of provisions, but without taking any immediate +measures to get possession of the town. In this manner, the summer, +autumn, and winter passed away. + +"Many a night, doubtless," said Grandfather, "after Washington had been +all day on horseback, galloping from one post of the army to another, he +used to sit in our great chair, wrapt in earnest thought. Had you seen +him, you might have supposed that his whole mind was fixed on the blue +china tiles, which adorned the old fashioned fire-place. But, in +reality, he was meditating how to capture the British army, or drive it +out of Boston. Once, when there was a hard frost, he formed a scheme to +cross the Charles River on the ice. But the other Generals could not be +persuaded that there was any prospect of success." + +"What were the British doing, all this time?" inquired Charley. + +"They lay idle in the town," replied Grandfather. "General Gage had been +recalled to England, and was succeeded by Sir William Howe. The British +army, and the inhabitants of Boston, were now in great distress. Being +shut up in the town so long, they had consumed almost all their +provisions, and burnt up all their fuel. The soldiers tore down the Old +North church, and used its rotten boards and timbers for fire-wood. To +heighten their distress, the small pox broke out. They probably lost far +more men by cold, hunger, and sickness, than had been slain at Lexington +and Bunker Hill." + +"What a dismal time for the poor women and children!" exclaimed Clara. + +"At length," continued Grandfather, "in March, 1776, General Washington, +who had now a good supply of powder, began a terrible cannonade and +bombardment from Dorchester heights. One of the cannon balls which he +fired into the town, struck the tower of the Brattle Street church, +where it may still be seen. Sir William Howe made preparations to cross +over in boats, and drive the Americans from their batteries, but was +prevented by a violent gale and storm. General Washington next erected a +battery on Nook's hill, so near the enemy, that it was impossible for +them to remain in Boston any longer." + +"Hurra! Hurra!" cried Charley, clapping his hands triumphantly. "I wish +I had been there, to see how sheepish the Englishmen looked." + +And, as Grandfather thought that Boston had never witnessed a more +interesting period than this, when the royal power was in its death +agony, he determined to take a peep into the town, and imagine the +feelings of those who were quitting it forever. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +"Alas! for the poor tories!" said Grandfather. "Until the very last +morning after Washington's troops had shown themselves on Nook's hill, +these unfortunate persons could not believe that the audacious rebels, +as they called the Americans, would ever prevail against King George's +army. But, when they saw the British soldiers preparing to embark on +board of the ships of war, then they knew that they had lost their +country. Could the patriots have known how bitter were their regrets, +they would have forgiven them all their evil deeds, and sent a blessing +after them as they sailed away from their native shore." + +In order to make the children sensible of the pitiable condition of +these men, Grandfather singled out Peter Oliver, chief justice of +Massachusetts under the crown, and imagined him walking through the +streets of Boston, on the morning before he left it forever. + +This effort of Grandfather's fancy may be called-- + + +THE TORY'S FAREWELL. + +Old Chief Justice Oliver threw on his red cloak, and placed his +three-cornered hat on the top of his white wig. In this garb he intended +to go forth and take a parting look at objects that had been familiar +to him from his youth. Accordingly, he began his walk in the north part +of the town, and soon came to Faneuil Hall. This edifice, the cradle of +liberty, had been used by the British officers as a play-house. + +"Would that I could see its walls crumble to dust!" thought the chief +justice; and, in the bitterness of his heart, he shook his fist at the +famous hall. "There began the mischief which now threatens to rend +asunder the British empire. The seditious harangues of demagogues in +Faneuil Hall, have made rebels of a loyal people, and deprived me of my +country." + +He then passed through a narrow avenue, and found himself in King +Street, almost in the very spot which, six years before, had been +reddened by the blood of the Boston Massacre. The chief justice stept +cautiously, and shuddered, as if he were afraid, that, even now, the +gore of his slaughtered countrymen might stain his feet. + +Before him rose the town house, on the front of which were still +displayed the royal arms. Within that edifice he had dispensed justice +to the people, in the days when his name was never mentioned without +honor. There, too, was the balcony whence the trumpet had been sounded, +and the proclamation read to an assembled multitude, whenever a new king +of England ascended the throne. + +"I remember--I remember," said Chief Justice Oliver to himself, "when +his present most sacred majesty was proclaimed. Then how the people +shouted. Each man would have poured out his life-blood to keep a hair of +King George's head from harm. But now, there is scarcely a tongue in all +New England that does not imprecate curses on his name. It is ruin and +disgrace to love him. Can it be possible that a few fleeting years have +wrought such a change!" + +It did not occur to the chief justice, that nothing but the most +grievous tyranny could so soon have changed the people's hearts. +Hurrying from the spot, he entered Cornhill, as the lower part of +Washington Street was then called. Opposite to the town house was the +waste foundation of the Old North church. The sacrilegious hands of the +British soldiers had torn it down, and kindled their barrack fires with +the fragments. + +Further on, he passed beneath the tower of the Old South. The threshold +of this sacred edifice was worn by the iron tramp of horse's feet: for +the interior had been used as a riding-school and rendezvous, for a +regiment of dragoons. As the chief justice lingered an instant at the +door, a trumpet sounded within, and the regiment came clattering forth, +and galloped down the street. They were proceeding to the place of +embarkation. + +"Let them go!" thought the chief justice, with somewhat of an old +puritan feeling in his breast. "No good can come of men who desecrate +the house of God." + +He went on a few steps further, and paused before the Province House. +No range of brick stores had then sprung up to hide the mansion of the +royal governors from public view. It had a spacious court-yard, bordered +with trees, and enclosed with a wrought-iron fence. On the cupola, that +surmounted the edifice, was the gilded figure of an Indian chief, ready +to let fly an arrow from his bow. Over the wide front door was a +balcony, in which the chief justice had often stood, when the governor +and high officers of the province showed themselves to the people. + +While Chief Justice Oliver gazed sadly at the Province House, before +which a sentinel was pacing, the double leaves of the door were thrown +open, and Sir William Howe made his appearance. Behind him came a throng +of officers, whose steel scabbards clattered against the stones, as they +hastened down the court-yard. Sir William Howe was a dark-complexioned +man, stern and haughty in his deportment. He stepped as proudly, in that +hour of defeat, as if he were going to receive the submission of the +rebel general. + +The chief justice bowed and accosted him. + +"This is a grievous hour for both of us, Sir William," said he. + +"Forward! gentlemen," said Sir William Howe to the officers who attended +him: "we have no time to hear lamentations now!" + +And, coldly bowing, he departed. Thus, the chief justice had a +foretaste of the mortifications which the exiled New Englanders +afterwards suffered from the haughty Britons. They were despised even by +that country which they had served more faithfully than their own. + +A still heavier trial awaited Chief Justice Oliver, as he passed onward +from the Province House. He was recognized by the people in the street. +They had long known him as the descendant of an ancient and honorable +family. They had seen him sitting, in his scarlet robes, upon the +judgment seat. All his life long, either for the sake of his ancestors, +or on account of his own dignified station and unspotted character, he +had been held in high respect. The old gentry of the province were +looked upon almost as noblemen, while Massachusetts was under royal +government. + +But now, all hereditary reverence for birth and rank was gone. The +inhabitants shouted in derision, when they saw the venerable form of the +old chief justice. They laid the wrongs of the country, and their own +sufferings during the siege--their hunger, cold, and sickness--partly to +his charge, and to that of his brother Andrew, and his kinsman +Hutchinson. It was by their advice that the king had acted, in all the +colonial troubles. But the day of recompense was come. + +"See the old tory!" cried the people, with bitter laughter. "He is +taking his last look at us. Let him show his white wig among us an hour +hence, and we'll give him a coat of tar and feathers!" + +The chief justice, however, knew that he need fear no violence, so long +as the British troops were in possession of the town. But alas! it was a +bitter thought, that he should leave no loving memory behind him. His +forefathers, long after their spirits left the earth, had been honored +in the affectionate remembrance of the people. But he, who would +henceforth be dead to his native land, would have no epitaph save +scornful and vindictive words. The old man wept. + +"They curse me--they invoke all kinds of evil on my head!" thought he, +in the midst of his tears. "But, if they could read my heart, they would +know that I love New England well. Heaven bless her, and bring her again +under the rule of our gracious king! A blessing, too, on these poor, +misguided people!" + +The chief justice flung out his hands with a gesture, as if he were +bestowing a parting benediction on his countrymen. He had now reached +the southern portion of the town, and was far within the range of cannon +shot from the American batteries. Close beside him was the broad stump +of a tree, which appeared to have been recently cut down. Being weary +and heavy at heart, he was about to sit down upon the stump. + +Suddenly, it flashed upon his recollection, that this was the stump of +Liberty Tree! The British soldiers had cut it down, vainly boasting that +they could as easily overthrow the liberties of America. Under its +shadowy branches, ten years before, the brother of Chief Justice Oliver +had been compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of the people, by taking +the oath which they prescribed. This tree was connected with all the +events that had severed America from England. + +"Accursed tree!" cried the chief justice, gnashing his teeth: for anger +overcame his sorrow. "Would that thou hadst been left standing, till +Hancock, Adams, and every other traitor, were hanged upon thy branches! +Then fitly mightest thou have been hewn down, and cast into the flames." + +He turned back, hurried to Long Wharf without looking behind him, +embarked with the British troops for Halifax, and never saw his country +more. Throughout the remainder of his days, Chief Justice Oliver was +agitated with those same conflicting emotions, that had tortured him, +while taking his farewell walk through the streets of Boston. Deep love +and fierce resentment burned in one flame within his breast. Anathemas +struggled with benedictions. He felt as if one breath of his native air +would renew his life, yet would have died, rather than breathe the same +air with rebels. + +And such, likewise, were the feelings of the other exiles, a thousand +in number, who departed with the British army. Were they not the most +unfortunate of men? + + * * * * * + +"The misfortunes of these exiled tories," observed Laurence, "must have +made them think of the poor exiles of Acadia." + +"They had a sad time of it, I suppose," said Charley. "But I choose to +rejoice with the patriots, rather than be sorrowful with the tories. +Grandfather, what did General Washington do now?" + +"As the rear of the British army embarked from the wharf," replied +Grandfather, "General Washington's troops marched over the neck, through +the fortification gates, and entered Boston in triumph. And now, for the +first time since the pilgrims landed, Massachusetts was free from the +dominion of England. May she never again be subjected to foreign +rule--never again feel the rod of oppression!" + +"Dear Grandfather," asked little Alice, "did General Washington bring +our chair back to Boston?" + +"I know not how long the chair remained at Cambridge," said Grandfather. +"Had it staid there till this time, it could not have found a better or +more appropriate shelter. The mansion which General Washington occupied +is still standing; and his apartments have since been tenanted by +several eminent men. Governor Everett, while a professor in the +university, resided there. So at an after period, did Mr. Sparks, whose +invaluable labors have connected his name with the immortality of +Washington. And, at this very time, a venerable friend and contemporary +of your Grandfather, after long pilgrimages beyond the sea, has set up +his staff of rest at Washington's head-quarters." + +"You mean Professor Longfellow, Grandfather," said Laurence. "Oh, how I +should love to see the author of those beautiful VOICES OF THE NIGHT!" + +"We will visit him next summer," answered Grandfather, "and take Clara +and little Alice with us--and Charley, too, if he will be quiet." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +When Grandfather resumed his narrative, the next evening, he told the +children that he had some difficulty in tracing the movements of the +chair, during a short period after General Washington's departure from +Cambridge. + +Within a few months, however, it made its appearance at a shop in +Boston, before the door of which was seen a striped pole. In the +interior was displayed a stuffed alligator, a rattlesnake's skin, a +bundle of Indian arrows, an old-fashioned matchlock gun, a walking-stick +of Governor Winthrop's, a wig of old Cotton Mather's, and a colored +print of the Boston Massacre. In short, it was a barber's shop, kept by +a Mr. Pierce, who prided himself on having shaved General Washington, +Old Put, and many other famous persons. + +"This was not a very dignified situation for our venerable chair," +continued Grandfather; "but, you know, there is no better place for +news, than a barber's shop. All the events of the revolutionary war were +heard of there, sooner than anywhere else. People used to sit in the +chair, reading the newspaper or talking, and waiting to be shaved, +while Mr. Pierce with his scissors and razor, was at work upon the +heads or chins of his other customers." + +"I am sorry the chair could not betake itself to some more suitable +place of refuge," said Laurence. "It was old now, and must have longed +for quiet. Besides, after it had held Washington in its arms, it ought +not to have been compelled to receive all the world. It should have been +put into the pulpit of the Old South Church, or some other consecrated +place." + +"Perhaps so," answered Grandfather. "But the chair, in the course of its +varied existence, had grown so accustomed to general intercourse with +society, that I doubt whether it would have contented itself in the +pulpit of the Old South. There it would have stood solitary, or with no +livelier companion than the silent organ, in the opposite gallery, six +days out of seven. I incline to think, that it had seldom been situated +more to its mind, than on the sanded floor of the snug little barber's +shop." + +Then Grandfather amused his children and himself, with fancying all the +different sorts of people who had occupied our chair, while they awaited +the leisure of the barber. + +There was the old clergyman, such as Dr. Chauncey, wearing a white wig, +which the barber took from his head, and placed upon a wig-block. Half +an hour, perhaps, was spent in combing and powdering this reverend +appendage to a clerical skull. There too, were officers of the +continental army, who required their hair to be pomatumed and +plastered, so as to give them a bold and martial aspect. There, once in +a while, was seen the thin, care-worn, melancholy visage of an old tory, +with a wig that, in times long past, had perhaps figured at a Province +House ball. And there, not unfrequently, sat the rough captain of a +privateer, just returned from a successful cruise, in which he had +captured half a dozen richly laden vessels, belonging to King George's +subjects. And, sometimes, a rosy little school-boy climbed into our +chair, and sat staring, with wide-open eyes, at the alligator, the +rattlesnake, and the other curiosities of the barber's shop. His mother +had sent him, with sixpence in his hand, to get his glossy curls cropped +off. The incidents of the Revolution plentifully supplied the barber's +customers with topics of conversation. They talked sorrowfully of the +death of General Montgomery, and the failure of our troops to take +Quebec; for the New Englanders were now as anxious to get Canada from +the English, as they had formerly been to conquer it from the French. + +"But, very soon," said Grandfather, "came news from Philadelphia, the +most important that America had ever heard of. On the 4th of July, 1776, +Congress had signed the Declaration of Independence. The thirteen +colonies were now free and independent states. Dark as our prospects +were, the inhabitants welcomed these glorious tidings, and resolved to +perish, rather than again bear the yoke of England!" + +"And I would perish too!" cried Charley. + +"It was a great day--a glorious deed!" said Laurence, coloring high +with enthusiasm. "And, Grandfather, I love to think that the sages in +Congress showed themselves as bold and true as the soldiers in the +field. For it must have required more courage to sign the Declaration of +Independence, than to fight the enemy in battle." + +Grandfather acquiesced in Laurence's view of the matter. He then touched +briefly and hastily upon the prominent events of the Revolution. The +thunder-storm of war had now rolled southward, and did not again burst +upon Massachusetts, where its first fury had been felt. But she +contributed her full share to the success of the contest. Wherever a +battle was fought--whether at Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, +Princeton, Brandywine, or German-town--some of her brave sons were found +slain upon the field. + +In October, 1777, General Burgoyne surrendered his army, at Saratoga, to +the American general, Gates. The captured troops were sent to +Massachusetts. Not long afterwards, Doctor Franklin and other American +commissioners made a treaty at Paris, by which France bound herself to +assist our countrymen. The gallant Lafayette was already fighting for +our freedom, by the side of Washington. In 1778, a French fleet, +commanded by Count d'Estaing, spent a considerable time in Boston +Harbor. It marks the vicissitudes of human affairs, that the French, our +ancient enemies, should come hither as comrades and brethren, and that +kindred England should be our foe. + +"While the war was raging in the Middle and Southern States," proceeded +Grandfather, "Massachusetts had leisure to settle a new constitution of +government, instead of the royal charter. This was done in 1780. In the +same year, John Hancock, who had been president of Congress, was chosen +governor of the state. He was the first whom the people had elected, +since the days of old Simon Bradstreet." + +"But, Grandfather, who had been governor since the British were driven +away?" inquired Laurence. "General Gage and Sir William Howe were the +last whom you have told us of." + +"There had been no governor for the last four years," replied +Grandfather. "Massachusetts had been ruled by the legislature, to whom +the people paid obedience of their own accord. It is one of the most +remarkable circumstances in our history, that, when the charter +government was overthrown by the war, no anarchy, nor the slightest +confusion ensued. This was a great honor to the people. But now, Hancock +was proclaimed governor by sound of trumpet; and there was again a +settled government." + +Grandfather again adverted to the progress of the war. In 1781, General +Greene drove the British from the Southern States. In October, of the +same year, General Washington compelled Lord Cornwallis to surrender his +army, at Yorktown, in Virginia. This was the last great event of the +revolutionary contest. King George and his ministers perceived, that all +the might of England could not compel America to renew her allegiance to +the crown. After a great deal of discussion, a treaty of peace was +signed, in September, 1783. + +"Now, at last," said Grandfather, "after weary years of war, the +regiments of Massachusetts returned in peace to their families. Now, the +stately and dignified leaders, such as General Lincoln and General Knox, +with their pondered hair and their uniforms of blue and buff, were seen +moving about the streets." + +"And little boys ran after them, I suppose," remarked Charley; "and the +grown people bowed respectfully." + +"They deserved respect, for they were good men, as well as brave," +answered Grandfather. "Now, too, the inferior officers and privates came +home, to seek some peaceful occupation. Their friends remembered them as +slender and smooth-cheeked young men; but they returned with the erect +and rigid mien of disciplined soldiers. Some hobbled on crutches and +wooden legs; others had received wounds, which were still rankling in +their breasts. Many, alas! had fallen in battle, and perhaps were left +unburied on the bloody field." + +"The country must have been sick of war," observed Laurence. + +"One would have thought so," said Grandfather. "Yet only two or three +years elapsed, before the folly of some misguided men caused another +mustering of soldiers. This affair was called Shays' War, because a +Captain Shays was the chief leader of the insurgents." + +"O Grandfather, don't let there be another war!" cried little Alice, +piteously. + +Grandfather comforted his dear little girl, by assuring her that there +was no great mischief done. Shays's War happened in the latter part of +1786, and the beginning of the following year. Its principal cause was +the badness of the times. The State of Massachusetts, in its public +capacity, was very much in debt. So, likewise, were many of the people. +An insurrection took place, the object of which seems to have been, to +interrupt the course of law, and get rid of debts and taxes. + +James Bowdoin, a good and able man, was now governor of Massachusetts. +He sent General Lincoln, at the head of four thousand men, to put down +the insurrection. This general, who had fought through several hard +campaigns in the Revolution, managed matters like an old soldier, and +totally defeated the rebels, at the expense of very little blood. + +"There is but one more public event to be recorded in the history of our +chair," proceeded Grandfather. "In the year 1794, Samuel Adams was +elected governor of Massachusetts. I have told you what a distinguished +patriot he was, and how much he resembled the stern old Puritans. Could +the ancient freemen of Massachusetts, who lived in the days of the first +charter, have arisen from their graves, they would probably have voted +for Samuel Adams to be governor." + +"Well, Grandfather, I hope he sat in our chair!" said Clara. + +"He did," replied Grandfather. "He had long been in the habit of +visiting the barber's shop, where our venerable chair, philosophically +forgetful of its former dignities, had now spent nearly eighteen not +uncomfortable years. Such a remarkable piece of furniture, so evidently +a relic of long-departed times, could not escape the notice of Samuel +Adams. He made minute researches into its history, and ascertained what +a succession of excellent and famous people had occupied it." + +"How did he find it out?" asked Charley. "For I suppose the chair could +not tell its own history." + +"There used to be a vast collection of ancient letters and other +documents, in the tower of the old South Church," answered Grandfather. +"Perhaps the history of our chair was contained among these. At all +events, Samuel Adams appears to have been well acquainted with it. When +he became governor, he felt that he could have no more honorable seat, +than that which had been the ancient Chair of State. He therefore +purchased it for a trifle, and filled it worthily for three years, as +governor of Massachusetts." + +"And what next?" asked Charley. + +"That is all," said Grandfather, heaving a sigh; for he could not help +being a little sad, at the thought that his stories must close here. +"Samuel Adams died in 1803, at the age of above threescore and ten. He +was a great patriot but a poor man. At his death, he left scarcely +property enough to pay the expenses of his funeral. This precious chair, +among his other effects, was sold at auction; and your Grandfather, who +was then in the strength of his years, became the purchaser." + +Laurence, with a mind full of thoughts, that struggled for expression, +but could find none, looked steadfastly at the chair. + +He had now learned all its history, yet was not satisfied. + +"Oh, how I wish that the chair could speak!" cried he. "After its long +intercourse with mankind--after looking upon the world for ages--what +lessons of golden wisdom it might utter! It might teach a private person +how to lead a good and happy life--or a statesman how to make his +country prosperous!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Grandfather was struck by Laurence's idea, that the historic chair +should utter a voice, and thus pour forth the collected wisdom of two +centuries. The old gentleman had once possessed no inconsiderable share +of fancy; and, even now, its fading sunshine occasionally glimmered +among his more sombre reflections. + +As the history of the chair had exhausted all his facts, Grandfather +determined to have recourse to fable. So, after warning the children +that they must not mistake this story for a true one, he related what we +shall call,-- + + +GRANDFATHER'S DREAM. + +Laurence and Clara, where were you last night? Where were you, Charley, +and dear little Alice? You had all gone to rest, and left old +Grandfather to meditate alone, in his great chair. The lamp had grown so +dim, that its light hardly illuminated the alabaster shade. The wood +fire had crumbled into heavy embers, among which the little flames +danced, and quivered, and sported about, like fairies. + +And here sat Grandfather, all by himself. He knew that it was bedtime; +yet he could not help longing to hear your merry voices, or to hold a +comfortable chat with some old friend; because then his pillow would be +visited by pleasant dreams. But, as neither children nor friends were at +hand, Grandfather leaned back in the great chair, and closed his eyes, +for the sake of meditating more profoundly. + +And, when Grandfather's meditations had grown very profound indeed, he +fancied that he heard a sound over his head, as if somebody were +preparing to speak. + +"Hem!" it said, in a dry, husky tone. "H-e-m! Hem!" + +As Grandfather did not know that any person was in the room, he started +up in great surprise, and peeped hither and thither, behind the chair, +and into the recess by the fireside, and at the dark nook yonder, near +the bookcase. Nobody could he see. + +"Pooh!" said Grandfather to himself, "I must have been dreaming." + +But, just as he was going to resume his seat, Grandfather happened to +look at the great chair. The rays of fire-light were flickering upon it +in such a manner that it really seemed as if its oaken frame were all +alive. What! Did it not move its elbow? There, too! It certainly lifted +one of its ponderous fore-legs, as if it had a notion of drawing itself +a little nearer to the fire. Meanwhile, the lion's head nodded at +Grandfather, with as polite and sociable a look as a lion's visage, +carved in oak, could possibly be expected to assume. Well, this is +strange! + +"Good evening, my old friend," said the dry and husky voice, now a +little clearer than before. "We have been intimately acquainted so long, +that I think it high time we have a chat together." + +Grandfather was looking straight at the lion's head, and could not be +mistaken in supposing that it moved its lips. So here the mystery was +all explained. + +"I was not aware," said Grandfather, with a civil salutation to his +oaken companion, "that you possessed the faculty of speech. Otherwise, I +should often have been glad to converse with such a solid, useful, and +substantial, if not brilliant member of society." + +"Oh!" replied the ancient chair, in a quiet and easy tone, for it had +now cleared its throat of the dust of ages. "I am naturally a silent and +incommunicative sort of character. Once or twice, in the course of a +century, I unclose my lips. When the gentle Lady Arbella departed this +life, I uttered a groan. When the honest mint-master weighed his plump +daughter against the pine-tree shillings, I chuckled audibly at the +joke. When old Simon Bradstreet took the place of the tyrant Andros, I +joined in the general huzza, and capered upon my wooden legs, for joy. +To be sure, the bystanders were so fully occupied with their own +feelings, that my sympathy was quite unnoticed." + +"And have you often held a private chat with your friends?" asked +Grandfather. + +"Not often," answered the chair. "I once talked with Sir William Phips, +and communicated my ideas about the witchcraft delusion. Cotton Mather +had several conversations with me, and derived great benefit from my +historical reminiscences. In the days of the Stamp Act, I whispered in +the ear of Hutchinson, bidding him to remember what stock his countrymen +were descended of, and to think whether the spirit of their forefathers +had utterly departed from them. The last man whom I favored with a +colloquy, was that stout old republican, Samuel Adams." + +"And how happens it," inquired Grandfather, "that there is no record nor +tradition of your conversational abilities? It is an uncommon thing to +meet with a chair that can talk." + +"Why, to tell you the truth," said the chair, giving itself a hitch +nearer to the hearth, "I am not apt to choose the most suitable moments +for unclosing my lips. Sometimes I have inconsiderately begun to speak, +when my occupant, lolling back in my arms, was inclined to take an +after-dinner nap. Or, perhaps, the impulse to talk may be felt at +midnight, when the lamp burns dim, and the fire crumbles into decay, and +the studious or thoughtful man finds that his brain is in a mist. +Oftenest, I have unwisely uttered my wisdom in the ears of sick persons, +when the inquietude of fever made them toss about, upon my cushion. And +so it happens, that, though my words make a pretty strong impression at +the moment, yet my auditors invariably remember them only as a dream. I +should not wonder if you, my excellent friend, were to do the same, +to-morrow morning." + +"Nor I either," thought Grandfather to himself. However, he thanked this +respectable old chair for beginning the conversation, and begged to know +whether it had any thing particular to communicate. + +"I have been listening attentively to your narrative of my adventures," +replied the chair, "and it must be owned, that your correctness entitles +you to be held up as a pattern to biographers. Nevertheless, there are a +few omissions, which I should be glad to see supplied. For instance, you +make no mention of the good knight, Sir Richard Saltonstall, nor of the +famous Hugh Peters, nor of those old regicide judges, Whalley, Goffe, +and Dixwell. Yet I have borne the weight of all these distinguished +characters, at one time or another." + +Grandfather promised amendment, if ever he should have an opportunity to +repeat his narrative. The good old chair, which still seemed to retain a +due regard for outward appearance, then reminded him how long a time had +passed, since it had been provided with a new cushion. It likewise +expressed the opinion, that the oaken figures on its back would show to +much better advantage, by the aid of a little varnish. + +"And I have had a complaint in this joint," continued the chair, +endeavoring to lift one of its legs, "ever since Charley trundled his +wheelbarrow against me." + +"It shall be attended to," said Grandfather. "And now, venerable chair, +I have a favor to solicit. During an existence of more than two +centuries, you have had a familiar intercourse with men who were +esteemed the wisest of their day. Doubtless, with your capacious +understanding, you have treasured up many an invaluable lesson of +wisdom. You certainly have had time enough to guess the riddle of life. +Tell us poor mortals, then, how we may be happy!" + +The lion's head fixed its eyes thoughtfully upon the fire, and the whole +chair assumed an aspect of deep meditation. Finally, it beckoned to +Grandfather with its elbow, and made a step sideways towards him, as if +it had a very important secret to communicate. + +"As long as I have stood in the midst of human affairs," said the chair, +with a very oracular enunciation, "I have constantly observed that +JUSTICE, TRUTH, and LOVE, are the chief ingredients of every happy +life." + +"Justice, Truth, and Love!" exclaimed Grandfather. "We need not exist +two centuries to find out that these qualities are essential to our +happiness. This is no secret. Every human being is born with the +instinctive knowledge of it." + +"Ah!" cried the chair, drawing back in surprise. "From what I have +observed of the dealings of man with man, and nation with nation, I +never should have suspected that they knew this all-important secret. +And, with this eternal lesson written in your soul, do you ask me to +sift new wisdom for you, out of my petty existence of two or three +centuries?" + +"But, my dear chair--" said Grandfather. + +"Not a word more," interrupted the chair; "here I close my lips for the +next hundred years. At the end of that period, if I shall have +discovered any new precepts of happiness, better than what Heaven has +already taught you, they shall assuredly be given to the world." + +In the energy of its utterance, the oaken chair seemed to stamp its +foot, and trod, (we hope unintentionally) upon Grandfather's toe. The +old gentleman started, and found that he had been asleep in the great +chair, and that his heavy walking stick had fallen down across his foot. + + * * * * * + +"Grandfather," cried little Alice, clapping her hands, "you must dream a +new dream, every night, about our chair!" + +Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, said the same. But the good old +gentleman shook his head, and declared that here ended the history, real +or fabulous, of GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR. + + + + +BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES + + BENJAMIN WEST, + SIR ISAAC NEWTON, + SAMUEL JOHNSON, + + OLIVER CROMWELL, + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, + QUEEN CHRISTINA. + +This small volume, and others of a similar character, from the same +hand, have not been composed without a deep sense of responsibility. The +author regards children as sacred, and would not, for the world, cast +any thing into the fountain of a young heart, that might embitter and +pollute its waters. And, even in point of the reputation to be aimed at, +juvenile literature is as well worth cultivating as any other. The +writer, if he succeed in pleasing his little readers, may hope to be +remembered by them till their own old age--a far longer period of +literary existence than is generally attained, by those who seek +immortality from the judgments of full grown men. + + + + +BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +When Edward Temple was about eight or nine years old, he was afflicted +with a disorder of the eyes. It was so severe, and his sight was +naturally so delicate, that the surgeon felt some apprehensions lest the +boy should become totally blind. He therefore gave strict directions to +keep him in a darkened chamber, with a bandage over his eyes. Not a ray +of the blessed light of Heaven could be suffered to visit the poor lad. + +This was a sad thing for Edward! It was just the same as if there were +to be no more sunshine, nor moonlight, nor glow of the cheerful fire, +nor light of lamps. A night had begun which was to continue perhaps for +months,--a longer and drearier night than that which voyagers are +compelled to endure, when their ship is ice-bound, throughout the +winter, in the Arctic Ocean. His dear father and mother, his brother +George, and the sweet face of little Emily Robinson, must all vanish, +and leave him in utter darkness and solitude. Their voices and +footsteps, it is true, would be heard around him; he would feel his +mother's embrace, and the kind pressure of all their hands; but still it +would seem as if they were a thousand miles away. + +And then his studies! They were to be entirely given up. This was +another grievous trial; for Edward's memory hardly went back to the +period when he had not known how to read. Many and many a holiday had he +spent at his book, poring over its pages until the deepening twilight +confused the print, and made all the letters run into long words. Then +would he press his hands across his eyes, and wonder why they pained him +so, and, when the candles were lighted, what was the reason that they +burned so dimly, like the moon in a foggy night. Poor little fellow! So +far as his eyes were concerned, he was already an old man, and needed a +pair of spectacles almost as much as his own grandfather did. + +And now, alas! the time was come, when even grandfather's spectacles +could not have assisted Edward to read. After a few bitter tears, which +only pained his eyes the more, the poor boy submitted to the surgeon's +orders. His eyes were bandaged, and, with his mother on one side, and +his little friend Emily on the other, he was led into a darkened +chamber. + +"Mother, I shall be very miserable," said Edward, sobbing. + +"Oh, no, my dear child!" replied his mother, cheerfully. "Your eyesight +was a precious gift of Heaven, it is true; but you would do wrong to be +miserable for its loss, even if there were no hope of regaining it. +There are other enjoyments, besides what come to us through our eyes." + +"None that are worth having," said Edward. + +"Ah! but you will not think so long," rejoined Mrs. Temple, with +tenderness. "All of us--your father, and myself, and George, and our +sweet Emily--will try to find occupation and amusement for you. We will +use all our eyes to make you happy. Will not they be better than a +single pair?" + +"I will sit by you all day long," said Emily, in her low, sweet voice, +putting her hand into that of Edward. + +"And so will I, Ned," said George, his elder brother,--"school time and +all, if my father will permit me." + +Edward's brother George was three or four years older than himself, a +fine, hardy lad, of a bold and ardent temper. He was the leader of his +comrades in all their enterprises and amusements. As to his proficiency +at study, there was not much to be said. He had sense and ability enough +to have made himself a scholar, but found so many pleasanter things to +do, that he seldom took hold of a book with his whole heart. So fond was +George of boisterous sports and exercises, that it was really a great +token of affection and sympathy, when he offered to sit all day long in +a dark chamber, with his poor brother Edward. + +As for little Emily Robinson, she was the daughter of one of Mr. +Temple's dearest friends. Ever since her mother went to Heaven, (which +was soon after Emily's birth,) the little girl had dwelt in the +household where we now find her. Mr. and Mrs. Temple seemed to love her +as well as their own children; for they had no daughter except Emily; +nor would the boys have known the blessing of a sister, had not this +gentle stranger come to teach them what it was. If I could show you +Emily's face, with her dark hair smoothed away from her forehead, you +would be pleased with her look of simplicity and loving-kindness, but +might think that she was somewhat too grave for a child of seven years +old. But you would not love her the less for that. + +So brother George, and this loving little girl, were to be Edward's +companions and playmates, while he should be kept prisoner in the dark +chamber. When the first bitterness of his grief was over, he began to +feel that there might be some comforts and enjoyments in life, even for +a boy whose eyes were covered with a bandage. + +"I thank you, dear mother," said he, with only a few sobs, "and you, +Emily; and you too, George. You will all be very kind to me, I know. And +my father--will not he come and see me, every day?" + +"Yes, my dear boy," said Mr. Temple; for, though invisible to Edward, he +was standing close beside him. "I will spend some hours of every day +with you. And as I have often amused you by relating stories and +adventures, while you had the use of your eyes, I can do the same, now +that you are unable to read. Will this please you, Edward?" + +"Oh, very much!" replied Edward. + +"Well then," said his father, "this evening we will begin the series of +Biographical Stories, which I promised you some time ago." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +When evening came, Mr. Temple found Edward considerably revived in +spirits, and disposed to be resigned to his misfortune. Indeed, the +figure of the boy, as it was dimly seen by the fire-light, reclining in +a well stuffed easy-chair, looked so very comfortable that many people +might have envied him. When a man's eyes have grown old with gazing at +the ways of the world, it does not seem such a terrible misfortune to +have them bandaged. + +Little Emily Robinson sat by Edward's side, with the air of an +accomplished nurse. As well as the duskiness of the chamber would +permit, she watched all his motions, and each varying expression of his +face, and tried to anticipate her patient's wishes, before his tongue +could utter them. Yet it was noticeable, that the child manifested an +indescribable awe and disquietude, whenever she fixed her eyes on the +bandage; for to her simple and affectionate heart, it seemed as if her +dear friend Edward was separated from her, because she could not see his +eyes. A friend's eyes tell us many things, which could never be spoken +by the tongue. + +George, likewise, looked awkward and confused, as stout and healthy boys +are accustomed to do, in the society of the sick or afflicted. Never +having felt pain or sorrow, they are abashed, from not knowing how to +sympathize with the sufferings of others. + +"Well, my dear Edward," inquired Mrs. Temple, "is your chair quite +comfortable? and has your little nurse provided for all your wants? If +so, your father is ready to begin his stories." + +"Oh, I am very well now," answered Edward, with a faint smile. "And my +ears have not forsaken me, though my eyes are good for nothing. So, +pray, dear father, begin!" + +It was Mr. Temple's design to tell the children a series of true +stories, the incidents of which should be taken from the childhood and +early life of eminent people. Thus he hoped to bring George, and Edward, +and Emily, into closer acquaintance with the famous persons who have +lived in other times, by showing that they also had been children once. +Although Mr. Temple was scrupulous to relate nothing but what was +founded on fact, yet he felt himself at liberty to clothe the incidents +of his narrative in a new coloring, so that his auditors might +understand them the better. + +"My first story," said he, "shall be about a painter of pictures." + +"Dear me!" cried Edward, with a sigh. "I am afraid I shall never look at +pictures any more." + +"We will hope for the best," answered his father. "In the mean time, you +must try to see things within your own mind." + +Mr. Temple then began the following story: + + +BENJAMIN WEST. + +BORN 1738. DIED 1820. + + +In the year 1738, there came into the world, in the town of Springfield, +Pennsylvania, a Quaker infant, from whom his parents and neighbors +looked for wonderful things. A famous preacher of the Society of Friends +had prophesied about little Ben, and foretold that he would be one of +the most remarkable characters that had appeared on earth since the days +of William Penn. On this account, the eyes of many people were fixed +upon the boy. Some of his ancestors had won great renown in the old wars +of England and France; but it was probably expected that Ben would +become a preacher, and would convert multitudes to the peaceful +doctrines of the Quakers. Friend West and his wife were thought to be +very fortunate in having such a son. + +Little Ben lived to the ripe age of six years, without doing any thing +that was worthy to be told in history. But, one summer afternoon, in his +seventh year, his mother put a fan into his hand, and bade him keep the +flies away from the face of a little babe, who lay fast asleep in the +cradle. She then left the room. + +The boy waved the fan to-and-fro, and drove away the buzzing flies +whenever they had the impertinence to come near the baby's face. When +they had all flown out of the window, or into distant parts of the +room, he bent over the cradle, and delighted himself with gazing at the +sleeping infant. It was, indeed, a very pretty sight. The little +personage in the cradle slumbered peacefully, with its waxen hands under +its chin, looking as full of blissful quiet as if angels were singing +lullabies in its ear. Indeed, it must have been dreaming about Heaven; +for, while Ben stooped over the cradle, the little baby smiled. + +"How beautiful she looks!" said Ben to himself. "What a pity it is, that +such a pretty smile should not last forever!" + +Now Ben, at this period of his life, had never heard of that wonderful +art, by which a look, that appears and vanishes in a moment, may be made +to last for hundreds of years. But, though nobody had told him of such +an art, he may be said to have invented it for himself. On a table, near +at hand, there were pens and paper, and ink of two colors, black and +red. The boy seized a pen and sheet of paper, and kneeling down beside +the cradle, began to draw a likeness of the infant. While he was busied +in this manner, he heard his mother's step approaching, and hastily +tried to conceal the paper. + +"Benjamin, my son, what hast thou been doing?" inquired his mother, +observing marks of confusion in his face. + +At first, Ben was unwilling to tell; for he felt as if there might be +something wrong in stealing the baby's face, and putting it upon a sheet +of paper. However, as his mother insisted, he finally put the sketch +into her hand, and then hung his head, expecting to be well scolded. But +when the good lady saw what was on the paper, in lines of red and black +ink, she uttered a scream of surprise and joy. + +"Bless me!" cried she. "It is a picture of little Sally!" + +And then she threw her arms round our friend Benjamin, and kissed him so +tenderly, that he never afterwards was afraid to show his performances +to his mother. + +As Ben grew older, he was observed to take vast delight in looking at +the hues and forms of nature. For instance, he was greatly pleased with +the blue violets of spring, the wild roses of summer, and the scarlet +cardinal-flowers of early autumn. In the decline of the year, when the +woods were variegated with all the colors of the rainbow, Ben seemed to +desire nothing better than to gaze at them from morn till night. The +purple and golden clouds of sunset were a joy to him. And he was +continually endeavoring to draw the figures of trees, men, mountains, +houses, cattle, geese, ducks, and turkeys, with a piece of chalk, on +barn-doors, or on the floor. + +In these old times, the Mohawk Indians were still numerous in +Pennsylvania. Every year a party of them used to pay a visit to +Springfield, because the wigwams of their ancestors had formerly stood +there. These wild men grew fond of little Ben, and made him very happy +by giving him some of the red and yellow paint with which they were +accustomed to adorn their faces. His mother, too, presented him with a +piece of indigo. Thus he now had three colors,--red, blue, and +yellow--and could manufacture green, by mixing the yellow with the blue. +Our friend Ben was overjoyed, and doubtless showed his gratitude to the +Indians by taking their likenesses, in the strange dresses which they +wore, with feathers, tomahawks, and bows and arrows. + +But, all this time, the young artist had no paint-brushes, nor were +there any to be bought, unless he had sent to Philadelphia on purpose. +However, he was a very ingenious boy, and resolved to manufacture +paint-brushes for himself. With this design, he laid hold upon--what do +you think? why, upon a respectable old black cat, who was sleeping +quietly by the fireside. + +"Puss," said little Ben to the cat, "pray give me some of the fur from +the tip of thy tail!" + +Though he addressed the black cat so civilly, yet Ben was determined to +have the fur, whether she were willing or not. Puss, who had no great +zeal for the fine arts, would have resisted if she could; but the boy +was armed with his mother's scissors, and very dexterously clipped off +fur enough to make a paint-brush. This was of so much use to him, that +he applied to Madam Puss again and again, until her warm coat of fur had +become so thin and ragged, that she could hardly keep comfortable +through the winter. Poor thing! she was forced to creep close into the +chimney-corner, and eyed Ben with a very rueful physiognomy. But Ben +considered it more necessary that he should have paint-brushes, than +that Puss should be warm. + +About this period, Friend West received a visit from Mr. Pennington, a +merchant of Philadelphia, who was likewise a member of the Society of +Friends. The visitor, on entering the parlor, was surprised to see it +ornamented with drawings of Indian chiefs, and of birds with beautiful +plumage, and of the wild flowers of the forest. Nothing of the kind was +ever seen before in the habitation of a Quaker farmer. + +"Why, Friend West," exclaimed the Philadelphia merchant, "what has +possessed thee to cover thy walls with all these pictures? Where on +earth didst thou get them?" + +Then Friend West explained, that all these pictures were painted by +little Ben, with no better materials than red and yellow ochre and a +piece of indigo, and with brushes made of the black cat's fur. + +"Verily," said Mr. Pennington, "the boy hath a wonderful faculty. Some +of our friends might look upon these matters as vanity; but little +Benjamin appears to have been born a painter; and Providence is wiser +than we are." + +The good merchant patted Benjamin on the head, and evidently considered +him a wonderful boy. When his parents saw how much their son's +performances were admired, they no doubt remembered the prophecy of the +old Quaker preacher, respecting Ben's future eminence. Yet they could +not understand how he was ever to become a very great and useful man, +merely by making pictures. + +One evening, shortly after Mr. Pennington's return to Philadelphia, a +package arrived at Springfield, directed to our little friend Ben. + +"What can it possibly be?" thought Ben, when it was put into his hands. +"Who can have sent me such a great square package as this!" + +On taking off the thick brown paper which enveloped it, behold! there +was a paint-box, with a great many cakes of paint, and brushes of +various sizes. It was the gift of good Mr. Pennington. There were +likewise several squares of canvas, such as artists use for painting +pictures upon, and, in addition to all these treasures, some beautiful +engravings of landscapes. These were the first pictures that Ben had +ever seen, except those of his own drawing. + +What a joyful evening was this for the little artist! At bedtime, he put +the paint-box under his pillow, and got hardly a wink of sleep; for, all +night long, his fancy was painting pictures in the darkness. In the +morning, he hurried to the garret, and was seen no more till the +dinner-hour; nor did he give himself time to eat more than a mouthful or +two of food, before he hurried back to the garret again. The next day, +and the next, he was just as busy as ever; until at last his mother +thought it time to ascertain what he was about. She accordingly followed +him to the garret. + +On opening the door, the first object that presented itself to her eyes +was our friend Benjamin, giving the last touches to a beautiful picture. +He had copied portions of two of the engravings, and made one picture +out of both, with such admirable skill that it was far more beautiful +than the originals. The grass, the trees, the water, the sky, and the +houses, were all painted in their proper colors. There, too, was the +sunshine and the shadow, looking as natural as life. + +"My dear child, thou hast done wonders!" cried his mother. + +The good lady was in an ecstasy of delight. And well might she be proud +of her boy; for there were touches in this picture, which old artists, +who had spent a lifetime in the business, need not have been ashamed of. +Many a year afterwards, this wonderful production was exhibited at the +Royal Academy in London. + +When Benjamin was quite a large lad, he was sent to school at +Philadelphia. Not long after his arrival, he had a slight attack of +fever, which confined him to his bed. The light, which would otherwise +have disturbed him, was excluded from his chamber by means of closed +wooden shutters. At first, it appeared so totally dark, that Ben could +not distinguish any object in the room. By degrees, however, his eyes +became accustomed to the scanty light. + +He was lying on his back, looking up towards the ceiling, when suddenly +he beheld the dim apparition of a white cow, moving slowly over his +head! Ben started, and rubbed his eyes, in the greatest amazement. + +"What can this mean?" thought he. + +The white cow disappeared; and next came several pigs, who trotted along +the ceiling, and vanished into the darkness of the chamber. So lifelike +did these grunters look, that Ben almost seemed to hear them squeak. + +"Well, this is very strange!" said Ben to himself. + +When the people of the house came to see him, Benjamin told them of the +marvellous circumstance which had occurred. But they would not believe +him. + +"Benjamin, thou art surely out of thy senses!" cried they. "How is it +possible that a white cow and a litter of pigs should be visible on the +ceiling of a dark chamber?" + +Ben, however, had great confidence in his own eyesight, and was +determined to search the mystery to the bottom. For this purpose, when +he was again left alone, he got out of bed, and examined the +window-shutters. He soon perceived a small chink in one of them, through +which a ray of light found its passage, and rested upon the ceiling. Now +the science of optics will inform us, that the pictures of the white cow +and the pigs, and of other objects out of doors, came into the dark +chamber, through this narrow chink, and were painted over Benjamin's +head. It is greatly to his credit, that he discovered the scientific +principle of this phenomenon, and, by means of it, constructed a Camera +Obscura, or Magic Lantern, out of a hollow box. This was of great +advantage to him in drawing landscapes. + +Well; time went on, and Benjamin continued to draw and paint pictures, +until he had now reached the age when it was proper that he should +choose a business for life. His father and mother were in considerable +perplexity about him. According to the ideas of the Quakers it is not +right for people to spend their lives in occupations that are of no real +and sensible advantage to the world. Now, what advantage could the world +expect from Benjamin's pictures? This was a difficult question; and, in +order to set their minds at rest, his parents determined to consult the +preachers and wise men of their society. Accordingly, they all assembled +in the meeting-house, and discussed the matter from beginning to end. + +Finally, they came to a very wise decision. It seemed so evident that +Providence had created Benjamin to be a painter, and had given him +abilities which would be thrown away in any other business, that the +Quakers resolved not to oppose his inclination. They even acknowledged +that the sight of a beautiful picture might convey instruction to the +mind, and might benefit the heart, as much as a good book or a wise +discourse. They therefore committed the youth to the direction of God, +being well assured that he best knew what was his proper sphere of +usefulness. The old men laid their hands upon Benjamin's head, and gave +him their blessing, and the women kissed him affectionately. All +consented that he should go forth into the world, and learn to be a +painter, by studying the best pictures of ancient and modern times. + +So our friend Benjamin left the dwelling of his parents, and his native +woods and streams, and the good Quakers of Springfield, and the Indians +who had given him his first colors,--he left all the places and persons +whom he had hitherto known,--and returned to them no more. He went first +to Philadelphia, and afterwards to Europe. Here he was noticed by many +great people, but retained all the sobriety and simplicity which he had +learned among the Quakers. It is related of him, that, when he was +presented at the court of the Prince of Parma, he kept his hat upon his +head, even while kissing the Prince's hand. + +When he was twenty-five years old, he went to London, and established +himself there as an artist. In due course of time, he acquired great +fame by his pictures, and was made chief painter to King George the +Third, and President of the Royal Academy of Arts. When the Quakers of +Pennsylvania heard of his success, they felt that the prophecy of the +old preacher, as to little Ben's future eminence, was now accomplished. +It is true, they shook their heads at his pictures of battle and +bloodshed, such as the Death of Wolfe,--thinking that these terrible +scenes should not be held up to the admiration of the world. + +But they approved of the great paintings in which he represented the +miracles and sufferings of the Redeemer of Mankind. King George employed +him to adorn a large and beautiful chapel, at Windsor Castle, with +pictures of these sacred subjects. He likewise painted a magnificent +picture of Christ Healing the Sick, which he gave to the Hospital at +Philadelphia. It was exhibited to the public, and produced so much +profit that the Hospital was enlarged, so as to accommodate thirty more +patients. If Benjamin West had done no other good deed than this, yet it +would have been enough to entitle him to an honorable remembrance +forever. At this very day, there are thirty poor people in the Hospital, +who owe all their comforts to that same picture. + +We shall mention only a single incident more. The picture of Christ +Healing the Sick was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, where it +covered a vast space, and displayed a multitude of figures as large as +life. On the wall, close beside this admirable picture, hung a small and +faded landscape. It was the same that little Ben had painted in his +father's garret, after receiving the paint-box and engravings from good +Mr. Pennington. + +He lived many years, in peace and honor, and died in 1820, at the age of +eighty-two. The story of his life is almost as wonderful as a fairy +tale; for there are few stranger transformations than that of a little +unknown Quaker boy, in the wilds of America, into the most distinguished +English painter of his day. Let us each make the best use of our natural +abilities, as Benjamin West did; and with the blessing of Providence, we +shall arrive at some good end. As for fame, it is but little matter +whether we acquire it or not. + + * * * * * + +"Thank you for the story, my dear father," said Edward, when it was +finished. "Do you know, that it seems as if I could see things without +the help of my eyes? While you were speaking, I have seen little Ben, +and the baby in its cradle, and the Indians, and the white cow and the +pigs, and kind Mr. Pennington, and all the good old Quakers, almost as +plainly as if they were in this very room." + +"It is because your attention was not disturbed by outward objects," +replied Mr. Temple. "People, when deprived of sight, often have more +vivid ideas than those who possess the perfect use of their eyes. I will +venture to say that George has not attended to the story quite so +closely." + +"No indeed," said George, "but it was a very pretty story for all that. +How I should have laughed to see Ben making a paint-brush out of the +black cat's tail! I intend to try the experiment with Emily's kitten." + +"Oh, no, no, George!" cried Emily, earnestly. "My kitten cannot spare +her tail." + +Edward being an invalid, it was now time for him to retire to bed. When +the family bade him good night, he turned his face towards them, looking +very loth to part. + +"I shall not know when morning comes," said he sorrowfully. "And besides +I want to hear your voices all the time; for, when nobody is speaking, +it seems as if I were alone in a dark world!" + +"You must have faith, my dear child," replied his mother. "Faith is the +soul's eyesight; and when we possess it, the world is never dark nor +lonely." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The next day, Edward began to get accustomed to his new condition of +life. Once, indeed, when his parents were out of the way, and only Emily +was left to take care of him, he could not resist the temptation to +thrust aside the bandage, and peep at the anxious face of his little +nurse. But, in spite of the dimness of the chamber, the experiment +caused him so much pain, that he felt no inclination to take another +look. So, with a deep sigh, he resigned himself to his fate. + +"Emily, pray talk to me!" said he, somewhat impatiently. + +Now, Emily was a remarkably silent little girl, and did not possess that +liveliness of disposition which renders some children such excellent +companions. She seldom laughed, and had not the faculty of making many +words about small matters. But the love and earnestness of her heart +taught her how to amuse poor Edward, in his darkness. She put her +knitting-work into his hands. + +"You must learn how to knit," said she. + +"What! without using my eyes?" cried Edward. + +"I can knit with my eyes shut," replied Emily. + +Then, with her own little hands, she guided Edward's fingers, while he +set about this new occupation. So awkward were his first attempts, that +any other little girl would have laughed heartily. But Emily preserved +her gravity, and showed the utmost patience in taking up the innumerable +stitches which he let down. In the course of an hour or two, his +progress was quite encouraging. + +When evening came, Edward acknowledged that the day had been far less +wearisome than he anticipated. But he was glad, nevertheless, when his +father and mother, and George and Emily, all took their seats around his +chair. He put out his hand to grasp each of their hands, and smiled with +a very bright expression upon his lips. + +"Now I can see you all, with my mind's eye," said he; "and now, father, +pray tell us another story." + +So Mr. Temple began. + + +SIR ISAAC NEWTON. + +BORN 1642. DIED 1727. + +On Christmas-day, in the year 1642, Isaac Newton was born, at the small +village of Woolsthorpe, in England. Little did his mother think, when +she beheld her new-born babe, that he was destined to explain many +matters which had been a mystery ever since the creation of the world. + +Isaac's father being dead, Mrs. Newton was married again to a +clergyman, and went to reside at North Witham. Her son was left to the +care of his good old grandmother, who was very kind to him, and sent him +to school. In his early years, Isaac did not appear to be a very bright +scholar, but was chiefly remarkable for his ingenuity in all mechanical +occupations. He had a set of little tools, and saws of various sizes, +manufactured by himself. With the aid of these, Isaac contrived to make +many curious articles, at which he worked with so much skill, that he +seemed to have been born with a saw or chisel in his hand. + +The neighbors looked with vast admiration at the things which Isaac +manufactured. And his old grandmother, I suppose, was never weary of +talking about him. + +"He'll make a capital workman, one of these days," she would probably +say. "No fear but what Isaac will do well in the world, and be a rich +man before he dies." + +It is amusing to conjecture what were the anticipations of his +grandmother and the neighbors, about Isaac's future life. Some of them, +perhaps, fancied that he would make beautiful furniture of mahogany, +rose-wood, or polished oak, inlaid with ivory and ebony, and +magnificently gilded. And then, doubtless, all the rich people would +purchase these fine things, to adorn their drawing-rooms. Others +probably thought that little Isaac was destined to be an architect, and +would build splendid mansions for the nobility and gentry, and churches +too, with the tallest steeples that had ever been seen in England. + +Some of his friends, no doubt, advised Isaac's grandmother to apprentice +him to a clockmaker; for, besides his mechanical skill, the boy seemed +to have a taste for mathematics, which would be very useful to him in +that profession. And then, in due time, Isaac would set up for himself, +and would manufacture curious clocks, like those that contain sets of +dancing figures, which issue from the dial-plate when the hour is +struck; or like those, where a ship sails across the face of the clock, +and is seen tossing up and down on the waves, as often as the pendulum +vibrates. + +Indeed, there was some ground for supposing that Isaac would devote +himself to the manufacture of clocks; since he had already made one, of +a kind which nobody had ever heard of before. It was set a-going, not by +wheels and weights, like other clocks, but by the dropping of water. +This was an object of great wonderment to all the people roundabout; and +it must be confessed that there are few boys, or men either, who could +contrive to tell what o'clock it is, by means of a bowl of water. + +Besides the water-clock, Isaac made a sun-dial. Thus his grandmother was +never at a loss to know the hour; for the water-clock would tell it in +the shade, and the dial in the sunshine. The sun-dial is said to be +still in existence at Woolsthorpe, on the corner of the house where +Isaac dwelt. If so, it must have marked the passage of every sunny hour +that has elapsed, since Isaac Newton was a boy. It marked all the famous +moments of his life; it marked the hour of his death; and still the +sunshine creeps slowly over it, as regularly as when Isaac first set it +up. + +Yet we must not say that the sun-dial has lasted longer than its maker; +for Isaac Newton will exist, long after the dial--yea, and long after +the sun itself--shall have crumbled to decay. + +Isaac possessed a wonderful faculty of acquiring knowledge by the +simplest means. For instance, what method do you suppose he took, to +find out the strength of the wind? You will never guess how the boy +could compel that unseen, inconstant, and ungovernable wanderer, the +wind, to tell him the measure of its strength. Yet nothing can be more +simple. He jumped against the wind; and by the length of his jump, he +could calculate the force of a gentle breeze, a brisk gale, or a +tempest. Thus, even in his boyish sports, he was continually searching +out the secrets of philosophy. + +Not far from his grandmother's residence there was a windmill, which +operated on a new plan. Isaac was in the habit of going thither +frequently, and would spend whole hours in examining its various parts. +While the mill was at rest, he pryed into its internal machinery. When +its broad sails were set in motion by the wind, he watched the process +by which the mill-stones were made to revolve, and crush the grain that +was put into the hopper. After gaining a thorough knowledge of its +construction, he was observed to be unusually busy with his tools. + +It was not long before his grandmother, and all the neighborhood, knew +what Isaac had been about. He had constructed a model of the windmill. +Though not so large, I suppose as one of the box-traps which boys set to +catch squirrels, yet every part of the mill and its machinery was +complete. Its little sails were neatly made of linen, and whirled round +very swiftly when the mill was placed in a draught of air. Even a puff +of wind from Isaac's mouth, or from a pair of bellows, was sufficient to +set the sails in motion. And--what was most curious--if a handful of +grains of wheat were put into the little hopper, they would soon be +converted into snow-white flour. + +Isaac's playmates were enchanted with his new windmill. They thought +that nothing so pretty, and so wonderful, had ever been seen in the +whole world. + +"But, Isaac," said one of them, "you have forgotten one thing that +belongs to a mill." + +"What is that?" asked Isaac; for he supposed, that, from the roof of the +mill to its foundation, he had forgotten nothing. + +"Why, where is the miller?" said his friend. + +"That is true!--I must look out for one," said Isaac; and he set himself +to consider how the deficiency should be supplied. + +He might easily have made the miniature figure of a man; but then it +would not have been able to move about, and perform the duties of a +miller. As Captain Lemuel Gulliver had not yet discovered the island of +Lilliput, Isaac did not know that there were little men in the world, +whose size was just suited to his windmill. It so happened, however, +that a mouse had just been caught in the trap; and, as no other miller +could be found, Mr. Mouse was appointed to that important office. The +new miller made a very respectable appearance in his dark gray coat. To +be sure, he had not a very good character for honesty, and was suspected +of sometimes stealing a portion of the grain which was given him to +grind. But perhaps some two-legged millers are quite as dishonest as +this small quadruped. + +As Isaac grew older, it was found that he had far more important matters +in his mind than the manufacture of toys, like the little windmill. All +day long, if left to himself, he was either absorbed in thought, or +engaged in some book of mathematics, or natural philosophy. At night, I +think it probable, he looked up with reverential curiosity to the stars, +and wondered whether they were worlds, like our own,--and how great was +their distance from the earth,--and what was the power that kept them in +their courses. Perhaps, even so early in life, Isaac Newton felt a +presentiment that he should be able, hereafter, to answer all these +questions. + +When Isaac was fourteen years old, his mother's second husband being +now dead, she wished her son to leave school, and assist her in managing +the farm at Woolsthorpe. For a year or two, therefore, he tried to turn +his attention to farming. But his mind was so bent on becoming a +scholar, that his mother sent him back to school, and afterwards to the +University of Cambridge. + +I have now finished my anecdotes of Isaac Newton's boyhood. My story +would be far too long, were I to mention all the splendid discoveries +which he made, after he came to be a man. He was the first that found +out the nature of Light; for, before his day, nobody could tell what the +sunshine was composed of. You remember, I suppose, the story of an +apple's falling on his head, and thus leading him to discover the force +of gravitation, which keeps the heavenly bodies in their courses. When +he had once got hold of this idea, he never permitted his mind to rest, +until he had searched out all the laws, by which the planets are guided +through the sky. This he did as thoroughly as if he had gone up among +the stars, and tracked them in their orbits. The boy had found out the +mechanism of a windmill; the man explained to his fellow-men the +mechanism of the universe. + +While making these researches he was accustomed to spend night after +night in a lofty tower, gazing at the heavenly bodies through a +telescope. His mind was lifted far above the things of this world. He +may be said, indeed, to have spent the greater part of his life in +worlds that lie thousands and millions of miles away; for where the +thoughts and the heart are, there is our true existence. + +Did you never hear the story of Newton and his little dog Diamond? One +day, when he was fifty years old, and had been hard at work more than +twenty years, studying the theory of Light, he went out of his chamber, +leaving his little dog asleep before the fire. On the table lay a heap +of manuscript papers, containing all the discoveries which Newton had +made during those twenty years. When his master was gone, up rose little +Diamond, jumped upon the table, and overthrew the lighted candle. The +papers immediately caught fire. + +Just as the destruction was completed, Newton opened the chamber-door, +and perceived that the labors of twenty years were reduced to a heap of +ashes. There stood little Diamond, the author of all the mischief. +Almost any other man would have sentenced the dog to immediate death. +But Newton patted him on the head with his usual kindness, although +grief was at his heart. + +"Oh, Diamond, Diamond," exclaimed he, "thou little knowest the mischief +thou hast done." + +This incident affected his health and spirits for some time afterwards; +but, from his conduct towards the little dog, you may judge what was the +sweetness of his temper. + +Newton lived to be a very old man, and acquired great renown, and was +made a Member of Parliament, and received the honor of knighthood from +the king. But he cared little for earthly fame and honors, and felt no +pride in the vastness of his knowledge. All that he had learned only +made him feel how little he knew in comparison to what remained to be +known. + +"I seem to myself like a child," observed he, "playing on the sea-shore, +and picking up here and there a curious shell or a pretty pebble, while +the boundless ocean of Truth lies undiscovered before me." + +At last, in 1727, when he was fourscore and five years old, Sir Isaac +Newton died,--or rather he ceased to live on earth. We may be permitted +to believe that he is still searching out the infinite wisdom and +goodness of the Creator, as earnestly, and with even more success, than +while his spirit animated a mortal body. He has left a fame behind him, +which will be as endurable as if his name were written in letters of +light, formed by the stars upon the midnight sky. + + * * * * * + +"I love to hear about mechanical contrivances--such as the water-clock +and the little windmill," remarked George. "I suppose if Sir Isaac +Newton had only thought of it, he might have found out the steam-engine, +and railroads, and all the other famous inventions that have come into +use since his day." + +"Very possibly he might," replied Mr. Temple; "and, no doubt, a great +many people would think it more useful to manufacture steam-engines, +than to search out the system of the universe. Other great astronomers, +besides Newton, have been endowed with mechanical genius. There was +David Rittenhouse, an American,--he made a perfect little water-mill, +when he was only seven or eight years old. But this sort of ingenuity is +but a mere trifle in comparison with the other talents of such men." + +"It must have been beautiful," said Edward, "to spend whole nights in a +high tower, as Newton did, gazing at the stars, and the comets, and the +meteors. But what would Newton have done, had he been blind? or if his +eyes had been no better than mine?" + +"Why, even then, my dear child," observed Mrs. Temple, "he would have +found out some way of enlightening his mind, and of elevating his soul. +But, come! little Emily is waiting to bid you good night. You must go to +sleep, and dream of seeing all our faces." + +"But how sad it will be, when I awake!" murmured Edward. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +In the course of the next day, the harmony of our little family was +disturbed by something like a quarrel between George and Edward. + +The former, though he loved his brother dearly, had found it quite too +great a sacrifice of his own enjoyments, to spend all his playtime in a +darkened chamber. Edward, on the other hand, was inclined to be +despotic. He felt as if his bandaged eyes entitled him to demand that +everybody, who enjoyed the blessing of sight, should contribute to his +comfort and amusement. He therefore insisted that George, instead of +going out to play at foot-ball, should join with himself and Emily in a +game of questions and answers. + +George resolutely refused, and ran out of the house. He did not revisit +Edward's chamber till the evening, when he stole in, looking confused, +yet somewhat sullen, and sat down beside his father's chair. It was +evident, by a motion of Edward's head and a slight trembling of his +lips, that he was aware of George's entrance, though his footsteps had +been almost inaudible. Emily, with her serious and earnest little face, +looked from one to the other, as if she longed to be a messenger of +peace between them. + +Mr. Temple, without seeming to notice any of these circumstances, began +a story. + + +SAMUEL JOHNSON. + +BORN 1709. DIED 1784. + +"Sam," said Mr. Michael Johnson of Lichfield, one morning, "I am very +feeble and ailing to-day. You must go to Uttoxeter in my stead, and tend +the bookstall in the market-place there." + +This was spoken, above a hundred years ago, by an elderly man, who had +once been a thriving bookseller at Lichfield, in England. Being now in +reduced circumstances, he was forced to go, every market-day, and sell +books at a stall, in the neighboring village of Uttoxeter. + +His son, to whom Mr. Johnson spoke, was a great boy of very singular +aspect. He had an intelligent face; but it was seamed and distorted by a +scrofulous humor, which affected his eyes so badly, that sometimes he +was almost blind. Owing to the same cause, his head would often shake +with a tremulous motion, as if he were afflicted with the palsy. When +Sam was an infant, the famous Queen Anne had tried to cure him of this +disease, by laying her royal hands upon his head. But though the touch +of a king or Queen was supposed to be a certain remedy for scrofula, it +produced no good effect upon Sam Johnson. + +At the time which we speak of, the poor lad was not very well dressed, +and wore shoes from which his toes peeped out; for his old father had +barely the means of supporting his wife and children. But, poor as the +family were, young Sam Johnson had as much pride as any nobleman's son +in England. The fact was, he felt conscious of uncommon sense and +ability, which, in his own opinion, entitled him to great respect from +the world. Perhaps he would have been glad, if grown people had treated +him as reverentially as his school-fellows did. Three of them were +accustomed to come for him, every morning; and while he sat upon the +back of one, the two others supported him on each side, and thus he rode +to school in triumph! + +Being a personage of so much importance, Sam could not bear the idea of +standing all day in Uttoxeter market, offering books to the rude and +ignorant country-people. Doubtless he felt the more reluctant on account +of his shabby clothes, and the disorder of his eyes, and the tremulous +motion of his head. + +When Mr. Michael Johnson spoke, Sam pouted, and made an indistinct +grumbling in his throat; then he looked his old father in the face, and +answered him loudly and deliberately. + +"Sir," said he, "I will not go to Uttoxeter market!" + +Mr. Johnson had seen a great deal of the lad's obstinacy ever since his +birth; and while Sam was younger, the old gentleman had probably used +the rod, whenever occasion seemed to require. But he was now too +feeble, and too much out of spirits, to contend with this stubborn and +violent-tempered boy. He therefore gave up the point at once, and +prepared to go to Uttoxeter himself. + +"Well Sam," said Mr. Johnson, as he took his hat and staff, "If, for the +sake of your foolish pride, you can suffer your poor sick father to +stand all day in the noise and confusion of the market, when he ought to +be in his bed, I have no more to say. But you will think of this, Sam, +when I am dead and gone!" + +So the poor old man (perhaps with a tear in his eye, but certainly with +sorrow in his heart) set forth towards Uttoxeter. The gray-haired, +feeble, melancholy Michael Johnson! How sad a thing it was, that he +should be forced to go, in his sickness, and toil for the support of an +ungrateful son, who was too proud to do any thing for his father, or his +mother, or himself! Sam looked after Mr. Johnson, with a sullen +countenance, till he was out of sight. + +But when the old man's figure, as he went stooping along the street, was +no more to be seen, the boy's heart began to smite him. He had a vivid +imagination, and it tormented him with the image of his father, standing +in the market-place of Uttoxeter and offering his books to the noisy +crowd around him, Sam seemed to behold him, arranging his literary +merchandise upon the stall in such a way as was best calculated to +attract notice. Here was Addison's Spectator, a long row of little +volumes; here was Pope's translation of the Iliad and Odyssey; here were +Dryden's poems, or those of Prior. Here, likewise, were Gulliver's +Travels, and a variety of little gilt-covered children's books, such as +Tom Thumb, Jack the Giant-queller, Mother Goose's Melodies, and others +which our great-grandparents used to read in their childhood. And here +were sermons for the pious, and pamphlets for the politicians, and +ballads, some merry and some dismal ones, for the country people to +sing. + +Sam, in imagination, saw his father offer these books, pamphlets, and +ballads, now to the rude yeomen, who perhaps could not read a word,--now +to the country squires, who cared for nothing but to hunt hares and +foxes,--now to the children, who chose to spend their coppers for +sugar-plums or gingerbread, rather than for picture-books. And if Mr. +Johnson should sell a book to man, woman, or child, it would cost him an +hour's talk to get a profit of only sixpence. + +"My poor father!" thought Sam to himself. "How his head will ache, and +how heavy his heart will be! I am almost sorry that I did not do as he +bade me!" + +Then the boy went to his mother, who was busy about the house. She did +not know of what had passed between Mr. Johnson and Sam. + +"Mother," said he, "did you think father seemed very ill to-day?" + +"Yes, Sam," answered his mother, turning with a flushed face from the +fire, where she was cooking their scanty dinner. "Your father did look +very ill; and it is a pity he did not send you to Uttoxeter in his +stead. You are a great boy now, and would rejoice, I am sure, to do +something for your poor father, who has done so much for you." + +The lad made no reply. But again his imagination set to work, and +conjured up another picture of poor Michael Johnson. He was standing in +the hot sunshine of the market-place, and looking so weary, sick, and +disconsolate, that the eyes of all the crowd were drawn to him. "Had +this old man no son," the people would say among themselves, "who might +have taken his place at the bookstall, while the father kept his bed?" +And perhaps--but this was a terrible thought for Sam!--perhaps his +father would faint away, and fall down in the market-place, with his +gray hair in the dust, and his venerable face as deathlike as that of a +corpse. And there would be the bystanders gazing earnestly at Mr. +Johnson, and whispering, "Is he dead? Is he dead?" + +And Sam shuddered, as he repeated to himself: "Is he dead?" + +"Oh, I have been a cruel son!" thought he, within his own heart. "God +forgive me! God forgive me!" + +But God could not yet forgive him; for he was not truly penitent. Had he +been so, he would have hastened away that very moment to Uttoxeter, and +have fallen at his father's feet, even in the midst of the crowded +market-place. There he would have confessed his fault, and besought Mr. +Johnson to go home, and leave the rest of the day's work to him. But +such was Sam's pride and natural stubbornness, that he could not bring +himself to this humiliation. Yet he ought to have done so, for his own +sake, and for his father's sake, and for God's sake. + +After sunset, old Michael Johnson came slowly home, and sat down in his +customary chair. He said nothing to Sam; nor do I know that a single +word ever passed between them, on the subject of the son's disobedience. +In a few years, his father died and left Sam to fight his way through +the world by himself. It would make our story much too long were I to +tell you even a few of the remarkable events of Sam's life. Moreover, +there is the less need of this, because many books have been written +about that poor boy, and the fame that he acquired, and all that he did +or talked of doing, after he came to be a man. + +But one thing I must not neglect to say. From his boyhood upward, until +the latest day of his life, he never forgot the story of Uttoxeter +market. Often when he was a scholar of the University of Oxford, or +master of an Academy at Edial, or a writer for the London +booksellers,--in all his poverty and toil, and in all his +success,--while he was walking the streets without a shilling to buy +food, or when the greatest men of England were proud to feast him at +their table,--still that heavy and remorseful thought came back to +him:--"I was cruel to my poor father in his illness!" Many and many a +time, awake or in his dreams, he seemed to see old Michael Johnson, +standing in the dust and confusion of the market-place, and pressing his +withered hand to his forehead as if it ached. + +Alas! my dear children, it is a sad thing to have such a thought as this +to bear us company through life. + + * * * * * + +Though the story was but half finished, yet, as it was longer than +usual, Mr. Temple here made a short pause. He perceived that Emily was +in tears, and Edward turned his half-veiled face towards the speaker, +with an air of great earnestness and interest. As for George he had +withdrawn into the dusky shadow behind his father's chair. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +In a few moments Mr. Temple resumed the story, as follows: + + +SAMUEL JOHNSON. + +CONTINUED. + +Well, my children, fifty years had passed away since young Sam Johnson +had shown himself so hard-hearted towards his father. It was now +market-day in the village of Uttoxeter. + +In the street of the village, you might see cattle-dealers with cows and +oxen for sale, and pig-drovers, with herds of squeaking swine, and +farmers, with cart-loads of cabbages, turnips, onions, and all other +produce of the soil. Now and then a farmer's red-faced wife trotted +along on horseback, with butter and cheese in two large panniers. The +people of the village, with country squires and other visitors from the +neighborhood, walked hither and thither, trading, jesting, quarrelling, +and making just such a bustle as their fathers and grandfathers had made +half a century before. + +In one part of the street, there was a puppet-show, with a ridiculous +Merry-Andrew, who kept both grown people and children in a roar of +laughter. On the opposite side was the old stone church of Uttoxeter, +with ivy climbing up its walls, and partly obscuring its Gothic windows. + +There was a clock in the gray tower of the ancient church; and the hands +on the dial-plate had now almost reached the hour of noon. At this +busiest hour of the market, a strange old gentleman was seen making his +way among the crowd. He was very tall and bulky, and wore a brown coat +and small clothes, with black worsted stockings and buckled shoes. On +his head was a three-cornered hat, beneath which a bushy gray wig thrust +itself out, all in disorder. The old gentleman elbowed the people aside, +and forced his way through the midst of them with a singular kind of +gait, rolling his body hither and thither, so that he needed twice as +much room as any other person there. + +"Make way, sir!" he would cry out, in a loud, harsh voice, when somebody +happened to interrupt his progress.--"Sir, you intrude your person into +the public thoroughfare!" + +"What a queer old fellow this is!" muttered the people among themselves, +hardly knowing whether to laugh or to be angry. + +But, when they looked into the venerable stranger's face, not the most +thoughtless among them dared to offer him the least impertinence. Though +his features were scarred and distorted with the scrofula, and though +his eyes were dim and bleared, yet there was something of authority and +wisdom in his look, which impressed them all with awe. So they stood +aside to let him pass; and the old gentleman made his way across the +market-place, and paused near the corner of the ivy-mantled church. Just +as he reached it, the clock struck twelve. + +On the very spot of ground, where the stranger now stood, some aged +people remembered that old Michael Johnson had formerly kept his +bookstall. The little children, who had once bought picture-books of +him, were grandfathers now. + +"Yes; here is the very spot!" muttered the old gentleman to himself. + +There this unknown personage took his stand, and removed the +three-cornered hat from his head. It was the busiest hour of the day. +What with the hum of human voices, the lowing of cattle, the squeaking +of pigs, and the laughter caused by the Merry-Andrew, the market-place +was in very great confusion. But the stranger seemed not to notice it, +any more than if the silence of a desert were around him. He was wrapt +in his own thoughts. Sometimes he raised his furrowed brow to heaven, as +if in prayer; sometimes he bent his head, as if an insupportable weight +of sorrow were upon him. It increased the awfulness of his aspect that +there was a motion of his head, and an almost continual tremor +throughout his frame, with singular twitchings and contortions of his +features. + +The hot sun blazed upon his unprotected head; but he seemed not to feel +its fervor. A dark cloud swept across the sky, and rain-drops pattered +into the market-place; but the stranger heeded not the shower. The +people began to gaze at the mysterious old gentleman, with superstitious +fear and wonder. Who could he be? Whence did he come? Wherefore was he +standing bare-headed in the market-place? Even the school-boys left the +Merry-Andrew, and came to gaze, with wide open eyes, at this tall, +strange-looking old man. + +There was a cattle-drover in the village, who had recently made a +journey to the Smithfield market, in London. No sooner had this man +thrust his way through the throng, and taken a look at the unknown +personage, than he whispered to one of his acquaintances: + +"I say, neighbor Hutchins, would ye like to know who this old gentleman +is?" + +"Ay, that I would," replied neighbor Hutchins; "for a queerer chap I +never saw in my life! Somehow, it makes me feel small to look at him. +He's more than a common man." + +"You may well say so," answered the cattle-drover. "Why, that's the +famous Doctor Samuel Johnson, who, they say, is the greatest and +learnedest man in England. I saw him in London Streets, walking with one +Mr. Boswell." + +Yes; the poor boy--the friendless Sam--with, whom we began our story, +had become the famous Doctor Samuel Johnson! He was universally +acknowledged as the wisest man and greatest writer in all England. He +had given shape and permanence to his native language, by his +Dictionary. Thousands upon thousands of people had read his Idler, his +Rambler, and his Rasselas. Noble and wealthy men, and beautiful ladies, +deemed it their highest privilege to be his companions. Even the king of +Great Britain had sought his acquaintance, and told him what an honor he +considered it, that such a man had been born in his dominions. He was +now at the summit of literary renown. + +But all his fame could not extinguish the bitter remembrance, which had +tormented him through life. Never, never, had he forgotten his father's +sorrowful and upbraiding look. Never--though the old man's troubles had +been over so many years--had he forgiven himself for inflicting such a +pang upon his heart. And now, in his old age, he had come hither to do +penance, by standing at noon-day in the market-place of Uttoxeter, on +the very spot where Michael Johnson had once kept his bookstall. The +aged and illustrious man had done what the poor boy refused to do. By +thus expressing his deep repentance and humiliation of heart, he hoped +to gain peace of conscience, and the forgiveness of God. + +My dear children, if you have grieved--I will not say, your +parents--but, if you have grieved the heart of any human being, who has +a claim upon your love, then think of Samuel Johnson's penance! Will it +not be better to redeem the error now, than to endure the agony of +remorse for fifty years? Would you not rather say to a brother--"I have +erred! Forgive me!"--than perhaps to go hereafter, and shed bitter tears +upon his grave? + + * * * * * + +Hardly was the story concluded, when George hastily arose, and Edward +likewise, stretching forth his hands into the darkness that surrounded +him, to find his brother. Both accused themselves of unkindness; each +besought the other's forgiveness; and having, done so, the trouble of +their hearts vanished away like a dream. + +"I am glad! I am so glad!" said Emily, in a low, earnest voice. "Now I +shall sleep quietly to-night." + +"My sweet child," thought Mrs. Temple, as she kissed her, "mayest thou +never know how much strife there is on earth! It would cost thee many a +night's rest." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +About this period, Mr. Temple found it necessary to take a journey, +which interrupted the series of Biographical Stories for several +evenings. In the interval, Edward practised various methods of employing +and amusing his mind. + +Sometimes he meditated upon beautiful objects which he had formerly +seen, until the intensity of his recollection seemed to restore him the +gift of sight, and place every thing anew before his eyes. Sometimes he +repeated verses of poetry, which he did not know to be in his memory, +until he found them there, just at the time of need. Sometimes he +attempted to solve arithmetical questions, which had perplexed him while +at school. + +Then, with his mother's assistance, he learned the letters of the +string-alphabet, which is used in some of the Institutions for the +Blind, in Europe. When one of his friends gave him a leaf of Saint +Mark's Gospel, printed in embossed characters, he endeavored to read it +by passing his fingers over the letters, as blind children do. + +His brother George was now very kind, and spent so much time in the +darkened chamber, that Edward often insisted upon his going out to play. +George told him all about the affairs at school, and related many +amusing incidents that happened among his comrades, and informed him +what sports were now in fashion, and whose kite soared the highest, and +whose little ship sailed fleetest on the Frog Pond. As for Emily, she +repeated stories which she had learned from a new book, called THE +FLOWER PEOPLE, in which the snow-drops, the violets, the columbines, the +roses, and all that lovely tribe, are represented as telling their +secrets to a little girl. The flowers talked sweetly, as flowers should; +and Edward almost fancied that he could behold their bloom and smell +their fragrant breath. + +Thus, in one way or another, the dark days of Edward's confinement +passed not unhappily. In due time, his father returned; and the next +evening, when the family were assembled, he began a story. + +"I must first observe, children," said he, "that some writers deny the +truth of the incident which I am about to relate to you. There certainly +is but little evidence in favor of it. Other respectable writers, +however, tell it for a fact; and, at all events, it is an interesting +story, and has an excellent moral." + +So Mr. Temple proceeded to talk about the early days of + + +OLIVER CROMWELL. + +BORN 1599. DIED 1658. + +Not long after King James the First took the place of Queen Elizabeth +on the throne of England, there lived an English knight at a place +called Hinchinbrooke. His name was Sir Oliver Cromwell. He spent his +life, I suppose, pretty much like other English knights and squires in +those days, hunting hares and foxes, and drinking large quantities of +ale and wine. The old house in which he dwelt, had been occupied by his +ancestors before him, for a good many years. In it there was a great +hall, hung round with coats of arms, and helmets, cuirasses and swords +which his forefathers had used in battle, and with horns of deer and +tails of foxes, which they or Sir Oliver himself had killed in the +chase. + +This Sir Oliver Cromwell had a nephew, who had been called Oliver, after +himself, but who was generally known in the family by the name of little +Noll. His father was a younger brother of Sir Oliver. The child was +often sent to visit his uncle, who probably found him a troublesome +little fellow to take care of. He was forever in mischief, and always +running into some danger or other from which he seemed to escape only by +miracle. + +Even while he was an infant in the cradle a strange accident had +befallen him. A huge ape which was kept in the family, snatched up +little Noll in his forepaws and clambered with him to the roof of the +house. There this ugly beast sat grinning at the affrighted spectators, +as if he had done the most praiseworthy thing imaginable. Fortunately, +however, he brought the child safe down again; and the event was +afterwards considered an omen that Noll would reach a very elevated +station in the world. + +One morning, when Noll was five or six years old, a royal messenger +arrived at Hinchinbrooke, with tidings that King James was coming to +dine with Sir Oliver Cromwell. This was a high honor to be sure, but a +very great trouble; for all the lords and ladies, knights, squires, +guards, and yeomen, who waited on the king, were to be feasted as well +as himself; and more provisions would be eaten, and more wine drunk, in +that one day, than generally in a month. However, Sir Oliver expressed +much thankfulness for the king's intended visit, and ordered his butler +and cook to make the best preparations in their power. So a great fire +was kindled in the kitchen; and the neighbors knew by the smoke which +poured out of the chimney, that boiling, baking, stewing, roasting, and +frying, were going on merrily. + +By and by the sound of trumpets was heard, approaching nearer and +nearer; and a heavy, old-fashioned coach, surrounded by guards on +horseback, drove up to the house. Sir Oliver, with his hat in his hand, +stood at the gate to receive the king. His Majesty was dressed in a suit +of green, not very new; he had a feather in his hat, and a triple ruff +round his neck; and over his shoulder was slung a hunting horn, instead +of a sword. Altogether, he had not the most dignified aspect in the +world; but the spectators gazed at him as if there was something +superhuman and divine in his person. They even shaded their eyes with +their hands, as if they were dazzled by the glory of his countenance. + +"How are ye, man?" cried King James, speaking in a Scotch accent; for +Scotland was his native country. "By my crown, Sir Oliver, but I am glad +to see ye!" + +The good knight thanked the king, at the same time kneeling down, while +his Majesty alighted. When King James stood on the ground, he directed +Sir Oliver's attention to a little boy, who had come with him in the +coach. He was six or seven years old, and wore a hat and feather, and +was more richly dressed than the king himself. Though by no means an +ill-looking child; he seemed shy, or even sulky; and his cheeks were +rather pale, as if he had been kept moping within doors, instead of +being sent out to play in the sun and wind. + +"I have brought my son Charlie to see ye," said the king. "I hope, Sir +Oliver, ye have a son of your own, to be his playmate?" + +Sir Oliver Cromwell made a reverential bow to the little prince, whom +one of the attendants had now taken out of the coach. It was wonderful +to see how all the spectators, even the aged men, with their gray +beards, humbled themselves before this child. They bent their bodies +till their beards almost swept the dust. They looked as if they were +ready to kneel down and worship him. + +The poor little prince! From his earliest infancy not a soul had dared +to contradict him; everybody around him had acted as if he were a +superior being; so that, of course, he had imbibed the same opinion of +himself. He naturally supposed that the whole kingdom of Great Britain +and all its inhabitants, had been created solely for his benefit and +amusement. This was a sad mistake; and it cost him dear enough after he +had ascended his father's throne. + +"What a noble little prince he is!" exclaimed Sir Oliver, lifting his +hands in admiration. "No, please your Majesty, I have no son to be the +playmate of his Royal Highness; but there is a nephew of mine, somewhere +about the house. He is near the prince's age, and will be but too happy +to wait upon his Royal Highness." + +"Send for him, man! send for him!" said the king. + +But, as it happened, there was no need of sending for Master Noll. While +King James was speaking, a rugged, bold-faced, sturdy little urchin +thrust himself through the throng of courtiers and attendants, and +greeted the prince with a broad stare. His doublet and hose (which had +been put on new and clean in honor of the king's visit) were already +soiled and torn with the rough play in which he had spent the morning. +He looked no more abashed than if King James were his uncle, and the +prince one of his customary playfellows. + +This was little Noll himself. + +"Here, please your Majesty, is my nephew," said sir Oliver, somewhat +ashamed of Noll's appearance and demeanor. "Oliver, make your obeisance +to the king's Majesty!" + +The boy made a pretty respectful obeisance to the king; for, in those +days, children were taught to pay reverence to their elders. King James, +who prided himself greatly on his scholarship, asked Noll a few +questions in the Latin Grammar, and then introduced him to his son. The +little prince in a very grave and dignified manner, extended his hand, +not for Noll to shake, but that he might kneel down and kiss it. + +"Nephew," said Sir Oliver, "pay your duty to the prince." + +"I owe him no duty," cried Noll, thrusting aside the prince's hand, with +a rude laugh. "Why should I kiss that boy's hand?" + +All the courtiers were amazed and confounded, and Sir Oliver the most of +all. But the king laughed heartily, saying that little Noll had a +stubborn English spirit, and that it was well for his son to learn +betimes what sort of a people he was to rule over. + +So King James and his train entered the house; and the prince, with Noll +and some other children, was sent to play in a separate room while his +Majesty was at dinner. The young people soon became acquainted; for +boys, whether the sons of monarchs or of peasants, all like play, and +are pleased with one another's society. What games they diverted +themselves with, I cannot tell. Perhaps they played at ball--perhaps at +blindman's buff--perhaps at leap-frog--perhaps at prison-bars. Such +games have been in use for hundreds of years; and princes as well as +poor children have spent some of their happiest hours in playing at +them. + +Meanwhile, King James and his nobles were feasting with Sir Oliver, in +the great hall. The king sat in a gilded chair, under a canopy, at the +head of a long table. Whenever any of the company addressed him, it was +with the deepest reverence. If the attendants offered him wine, or the +various delicacies of the festival, it was upon their bended knees. You +would have thought, by these tokens of worship, that the monarch was a +supernatural being; only he seemed to have quite as much need of those +vulgar matters, food and drink, as any other person at the table. But +fate had ordained that good King James should not finish his dinner in +peace. + +All of a sudden, there arose a terrible uproar in the room where the +children were at play. Angry shouts and shrill cries of alarm were mixed +up together; while the voices of elder persons were likewise heard, +trying to restore order among the children. The king, and everybody else +at table, looked aghast; for perhaps the tumult made them think that a +general rebellion had broken out. + +"Mercy on us!" muttered Sir Oliver; "that graceless nephew of mine is in +some mischief or other. The naughty little whelp!" + +Getting up from table, he ran to see what was the matter, followed by +many of the guests, and the king among them. They all crowded to the +door of the play-room. + +On looking in, they beheld the little Prince Charles, with his rich +dress all torn, and covered with the dust of the floor. His royal blood +was streaming from his nose in great abundance. He gazed at Noll with a +mixture of rage and affright, and at the same time a puzzled expression, +as if he could not understand how any mortal boy should dare to give him +a beating. As for Noll, there stood his sturdy little figure, bold as a +lion, looking as if he were ready to fight not only the prince, but the +king and kingdom too. + +"You little villain!" cried his uncle. "What have you been about? Down +on your knees, this instant, and ask the prince's pardon. How dare you +lay your hands on the king's Majesty's royal son?" + +"He struck me first," grumbled the valiant little Noll; "and I've only +given him his due." + +Sir Oliver and the guests lifted up their hands in astonishment and +horror. No punishment seemed severe enough for this wicked little +varlet, who had dared to resent a blow from the king's own son. Some of +the courtiers were of opinion that Noll should be sent prisoner to the +Tower of London, and brought to trial for high treason. Others, in their +great zeal for the king's service, were about to lay hands on the boy, +and chastise him in the royal presence. + +But King James, who sometimes showed a good deal of sagacity, ordered +them to desist. + +"Thou art a bold boy," said he, looking fixedly at little Noll; "and, if +thou live to be a man, my son Charlie would do wisely to be friends with +thee." + +"I never will!" cried the little prince, stamping his foot. + +"Peace, Charlie, peace!" said the king; then addressing Sir Oliver and +the attendants, "Harm not the urchin; for he has taught my son a good +lesson, if Heaven do but give him grace to profit by it. Hereafter, +should he be tempted to tyrannize over the stubborn race of Englishmen, +let him remember little Noll Cromwell, and his own bloody nose!" + +So the king finished his dinner and departed; and, for many a long year, +the childish quarrel between Prince Charles and Noll Cromwell was +forgotten. The prince, indeed, might have lived a happier life, and have +met a more peaceful death, had he remembered that quarrel, and the moral +which his father drew from it. But, when old King James was dead, and +Charles sat upon his throne, he seemed to forget that he was but a man, +and that his meanest subjects were men as well as he. He wished to have +the property and lives of the people of England entirely at his own +disposal. But the Puritans, and all who loved liberty, rose against him, +and beat him in many battles, and pulled him down from his throne. + +Throughout this war between the king and nobles on one side, and the +people of England on the other, there was a famous leader, who did more +towards the ruin of royal authority, than all the rest. The contest +seemed like a wrestling-match between King Charles and this strong man. +And the king was overthrown. + +When the discrowned monarch was brought to trial, that warlike leader +sat in the judgment-hall. Many judges were present, besides himself; but +he alone had the power to save King Charles, or to doom him to the +scaffold. After sentence was pronounced, this victorious general was +entreated by his own children, on their knees, to rescue his Majesty +from death. + +"No!" said he sternly. "Better that one man should perish, than that the +whole country should be ruined for his sake. It is resolved that he +shall die!" + +When Charles, no longer a king, was led to the scaffold, his great enemy +stood at a window of the royal palace of Whitehall. He beheld the poor +victim of pride, and an evil education, and misused power, as he laid +his head upon the block. He looked on, with a steadfast gaze, while a +black-veiled executioner lifted the fatal axe, and smote off that +anointed head at a single blow. + +"It is a righteous deed," perhaps he said to himself. "Now Englishmen +may enjoy their rights." + +At night, when the body of Charles was laid in the coffin, in a gloomy +chamber, the general entered, lighting himself with a torch. Its gleam +showed that he was now growing old; his visage was scarred with the many +battles in which he had led the van; his brow was wrinkled with care, +and with the continual exercise of stern authority. Probably there was +not a single trait, either of aspect or manner, that belonged to the +little Noll, who had battled so stoutly with Prince Charles. Yet this +was he! + +He lifted the coffin-lid, and caused the light of his torch to fall upon +the dead monarch's face. Then, probably, his mind went back over all the +marvellous events, that had brought the hereditary king of England to +this dishonored coffin, and had raised himself, an humble individual, to +the possession of kingly power. He was a king, though without the empty +title, or the glittering crown. + +"Why was it," said Cromwell to himself--or might have said--as he gazed +at the pale features in the coffin,--"Why was it, that this great king +fell, and that poor Noll Cromwell has gained all the power of the +realm?" + +And, indeed, why was it? + +King Charles had fallen, because, in his manhood the same as when a +child, he disdained to feel that every human creature was his brother. +He deemed himself a superior being, and fancied that his subjects were +created only for a king to rule over. And Cromwell rose, because, in +spite of his many faults, he mainly fought for the rights and freedom +of his fellow-men; and therefore the poor and the oppressed all lent +their strength to him. + + * * * * * + +"Dear father, how I should hate to be a king!" exclaimed Edward. + +"And would you like to be a Cromwell?" inquired his father. + +"I should like it well," replied George, "only I would not have put the +poor old king to death. I would have sent him out of the kingdom, or +perhaps have allowed him to live in a small house, near the gate of the +royal palace. It was too severe, to cut off his head." + +"Kings are in such an unfortunate position," said Mr. Temple, "that they +must either be almost deified by their subjects, or else be dethroned +and beheaded. In either case it is a pitiable lot." + +"Oh, I had rather be blind than be a king!" said Edward. + +"Well, my dear Edward," observed his mother, with a smile, "I am glad +you are convinced that your own lot is not the hardest in the world." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +It was a pleasant sight (for those who had eyes) to see how patiently +the blinded little boy now submitted to what he had at first deemed an +intolerable calamity. The beneficent Creator has not allowed our comfort +to depend on the enjoyment of any single sense. Though he has made the +world so very beautiful, yet it is possible to be happy without ever +beholding the blue sky, or the green and flowery earth, or the kind +faces of those whom we love. Thus it appears that all the external +beauty of the universe is a free gift from God, over and above what is +necessary to our comfort. How grateful, then, should we be to that +Divine Benevolence, which showers even superfluous bounties upon us! + +One truth, therefore, which Edward's blindness had taught him, was, that +his mind and soul could dispense with the assistance of his eyes. +Doubtless, however, he would have found this lesson far more difficult +to learn, had it not been for the affection of those around him. His +parents, and George and Emily, aided him to bear his misfortune; if +possible, they would have lent him their own eyes. And this, too, was a +good lesson for him. It taught him how dependent on one another God has +ordained us to be; insomuch that all the necessities of mankind should +incite them to mutual love. + +So Edward loved his friends, and perhaps all the world, better than he +ever did before. And he felt grateful towards his father for spending +the evenings in telling him stories--more grateful, probably, than any +of my little readers will feel towards me for so carefully writing those +same stories down. + +"Come, dear father," said he, the next evening, "now tell us all about +some other little boy, who was destined to be a famous man." + +"How would you like a story of a Boston boy?" asked his father. + +"Oh, pray let us have it!" cried George eagerly. "It will be all the +better if he has been to our schools, and has coasted on the Common, and +sailed boats in the Frog Pond. I shall feel acquainted with him then." + +"Well, then," said Mr. Temple, "I will introduce you to a Boston boy, +whom all the world became acquainted with, after he grew to be a man." + +The story was as follows:-- + + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + +BORN 1706. DIED 1790. + +In the year 1716, or about that period, a boy used to be seen in the +streets of Boston, who was known among his schoolfellows and playmates +by the name of Ben Franklin. Ben was born in 1706; so that he was now +about ten years old. His father, who had come over from England, was a +soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, and resided in Milk Street, not far +from the old South Church. + +Ben was a bright boy at his book, and even a brighter one when at play +with his comrades. He had some remarkable qualities which always seemed +to give him the lead, whether at sport or in more serious matters. I +might tell you a number of amusing anecdotes about him. You are +acquainted, I suppose, with his famous story of the WHISTLE, and how he +bought it with a whole pocketful of coppers, and afterwards repented of +his bargain. But Ben had grown a great boy since those days, and had +gained wisdom by experience; for it was one of his peculiarities, that +no incident ever happened to him without teaching him some valuable +lesson. Thus he generally profited more by his misfortunes, than many +people do by the most favorable events that could befall them. + +Ben's face was already pretty well known to the inhabitants of Boston. +The selectmen, and other people of note, often used to visit his father, +for the sake of talking about the affairs of the town or province. Mr. +Franklin was considered a person of great wisdom and integrity, and was +respected by all who knew him, although he supported his family by the +humble trade of boiling soap, and making tallow-candles. + +While his father and the visitors were holding deep consultations about +public affairs, little Ben would sit on his stool in a corner, +listening with the greatest interest, as if he understood every word. +Indeed, his features were so full of intelligence, that there could be +but little doubt, not only that he understood what was said, but that he +could have expressed some very sagacious opinions out of his own mind. +But, in those days, boys were expected to be silent in the presence of +their elders. However, Ben Franklin was looked upon as a very promising +lad, who would talk and act wisely by and by. + +"Neighbor Franklin," his father's friends would sometimes say, "you +ought to send this boy to college and make a minister of him." + +"I have often thought of it," his father would reply; "and my brother +Benjamin promises to give him a great many volumes of manuscript sermons +in case he should be educated for the church. But I have a large family +to support, and cannot afford the expense." + +In fact, Mr. Franklin found it so difficult to provide bread for his +family, that, when the boy was ten years old, it became necessary to +take him from school. Ben was then employed in cutting candlewicks into +equal lengths, and filling the moulds with tallow; and many families in +Boston spent their evenings by the light of the candles which he had +helped to make. Thus, you see, in his early days, as well as in his +manhood his labors contributed to throw light upon dark matters. + +Busy as his life now was, Ben still found time to keep company with his +former schoolfellows. He and the other boys were very fond of fishing, +and spent any of their leisure hours on the margin of the mill-pond, +catching flounders, perch, eels, and tom-cod, which came up thither with +the tide. The place where they fished is now, probably, covered with +stone-pavements and brick buildings, and thronged with people, and with +vehicles of all kinds. But, at that period, it was a marshy spot on the +outskirts of the town, where gulls flitted and screamed overhead, and +salt meadow-grass grew under foot. On the edge of the water there was a +deep bed of clay, in which the boys were forced to stand, while they +caught their fish. Here they dabbled in mud and mire like a flock of +ducks. + +"This is very uncomfortable," said Ben Franklin one day to his comrades, +while they were standing mid-leg deep in the quagmire. + +"So it is," said the other boys. "What a pity we have no better place to +stand!" + +If it had not been for Ben, nothing more would have been done or said +about the matter. But it was not in his nature to be sensible of an +inconvenience, without using his best efforts to find a remedy. So, as +he and his comrades were returning from the water-side, Ben suddenly +threw down his string of fish with a very determined air: + +"Boys," cried he, "I have thought of a scheme, which will be greatly for +our benefit, and for the public benefit!" + +It was queer enough, to be sure, to hear this little chap--this +rosy-cheeked, ten-year-old boy--talking about schemes for the public +benefit! Nevertheless, his companions were ready to listen, being +assured that Ben's scheme, whatever it was, would be well worth their +attention. They remembered how sagaciously he had conducted all their +enterprises, ever since he had been old enough to wear small-clothes. + +They remembered, too, his wonderful contrivance of sailing across the +mill-pond by lying flat on his back, in the water, and allowing himself +to be drawn along by a paper-kite. If Ben could do that, he might +certainly do any thing. + +"What is your scheme, Ben?--what is it?" cried they all. + +It so happened that they had now come to a spot of ground where a new +house was to be built. Scattered round about lay a great many large +stones, which were to be used for the cellar and foundation. Ben mounted +upon the highest of these stones, so that he might speak with the more +authority. + +"You know, lads," said he, "what a plague it is, to be forced to stand +in the quagmire yonder--over shoes and stockings (if we wear any) in mud +and water. See! I am bedaubed to the knees of my small-clothes, and you +are all in the same pickle. Unless we can find some remedy for this +evil, our fishing-business must be entirely given up. And, surely, this +would be a terrible misfortune!" + +"That it would!--that it would!" said his comrades, sorrowfully. + +"Now I propose," continued Master Benjamin, "that we build a wharf, for +the purpose of carrying on our fisheries. You see these stones. The +workmen mean to use them for the underpinning of a house; but that would +be for only one man's advantage. My plan is to take these same stones, +and carry them to the edge of the water and build a wharf with them. +This will not only enable us to carry on the fishing business with +comfort, and to better advantage, but it will likewise be a great +convenience to boats passing up and down the stream. Thus, instead of +one man, fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand, besides ourselves, may be +benefited by these stones. What say you, lads?--shall we build the +wharf?" + +Ben's proposal was received with one of those uproarious shouts, +wherewith boys usually express their delight at whatever completely +suits their views. Nobody thought of questioning the right and justice +of building a wharf, with stones that belonged to another person. + +"Hurrah, hurrah!" shouted they. "Let's set about it!" + +It was agreed that they should all be on the spot, that evening, and +commence their grand public enterprise by moonlight. Accordingly, at the +appointed time, the whole gang of youthful laborers assembled, and +eagerly began to remove the stones. They had not calculated how much +toil would be requisite, in this important part of their undertaking. +The very first stone which they laid hold of, proved so heavy, that it +almost seemed to be fastened to the ground. Nothing but Ben Franklin's +cheerful and resolute spirit could have induced them to persevere. + +Ben, as might be expected, was the soul of the enterprise. By his +mechanical genius, he contrived methods to lighten the labor of +transporting the stones; so that one boy, under his directions, would +perform as much as half a dozen, if left to themselves. Whenever their +spirits flagged, he had some joke ready, which seemed to renew their +strength by setting them all into a roar of laughter. And when, after an +hour or two of hard work, the stones were transported to the water-side, +Ben Franklin was the engineer, to superintend the construction of the +wharf. + +The boys, like a colony of ants, performed a great deal of labor by +their multitude, though the individual strength of each could have +accomplished but little. Finally, just as the moon sank below the +horizon, the great work was finished. + +"Now, boys," cried Ben, "let's give three cheers, and go home to bed. +To-morrow, we may catch fish at our ease!" "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" +shouted his comrades. + +Then they all went home, in such an ecstasy of delight that they could +hardly get a wink of sleep. + +The story was not yet finished; but George's impatience caused him to +interrupt it. + +"How I wish that I could have helped to build that wharf!" exclaimed +he. "It must have been glorious fun. Ben Franklin for ever, say I!" + +"It was a very pretty piece of work," said Mr. Temple. "But wait till +you hear the end of the story." + +"Father," inquired Edward, "whereabouts in Boston was the mill-pond, on +which Ben built his wharf?" + +"I do not exactly know," answered Mr. Temple; "but I suppose it to have +been on the northern verge of the town, in the vicinity of what are now +called Merrimack and Charlestown streets. That thronged portion of the +city was once a marsh. Some of it, in fact, was covered with water." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +As the children had no more questions to ask, Mr. Temple proceeded to +relate what consequences ensued from the building of Ben Franklin's +wharf. + + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + +CONTINUED. + +In the morning, when the early sunbeams were gleaming on the steeples +and roofs of the town, and gilding the water that surrounded it, the +masons came, rubbing their eyes, to begin their work at the foundation +of the new house. But, on reaching the spot, they rubbed their eyes so +much the harder. What had become of their heap of stones! + +"Why, Sam," said one to another, in great perplexity, "here's been some +witchcraft at work, while we were asleep. The stones must have flown +away through the air!" + +"More likely they have been stolen!" answered Sam. + +"But who on earth would think of stealing a heap of stones?" cried a +third. "Could a man carry them away in his pocket?" + +The master-mason, who was a gruff kind of man, stood scratching his +head, and said nothing, at first. But, looking carefully on the ground, +he discerned innumerable tracks of little feet, some with shoes, and +some barefoot. Following these tracks with his eye, he saw that they +formed a beaten path towards the water-side. + +"Ah, I see what the mischief is," said he, nodding his head. "Those +little rascals, the boys! they have stolen our stones to build a wharf +with!" + +The masons immediately went to examine the new structure. And to say the +truth, it was well worth looking at, so neatly, and with such admirable +skill, had it been planned and finished. The stones were put together so +securely, that there was no danger of their being loosened by the tide, +however swiftly it might sweep along. There was a broad and safe +platform to stand upon, whence the little fishermen might cast their +lines into deep water, and draw up fish in abundance. Indeed, it almost +seemed as if Ben and his comrades might be forgiven for taking the +stones, because they had done their job in such a workmanlike manner. + +"The chaps, that built this wharf, understood their business pretty +well," said one of the masons. "I should not be ashamed of such a piece +of work myself." + +But the master-mason did not seem to enjoy the joke. He was one of those +unreasonable people, who care a great deal more for their own rights and +privileges, than for the convenience of all the rest of the world. + +"Sam," said he, more gruffly than usual, "go call a constable." + +So Sam called a constable, and inquiries were set on foot to discover +the perpetrators of the theft. In the course of the day, warrants were +issued, with the signature of a Justice of the Peace, to take the bodies +of Benjamin Franklin and other evil-disposed persons, who had stolen a +heap of stones. If the owner of the stolen property had not been more +merciful than the master-mason, it might have gone hard with our friend +Benjamin and his fellow-laborers. But, luckily for them, the gentleman +had a respect for Ben's father, and moreover, was amused with the spirit +of the whole affair. He therefore let the culprits off pretty easily. + +But, when the constables were dismissed, the poor boys had to go through +another trial, and receive sentence, and suffer execution too, from +their own fathers. Many a rod I grieve to say, was worn to the stump, on +that unlucky night. + +As for Ben, he was less afraid of a whipping than of his father's +disapprobation. Mr. Franklin, as I have mentioned before, was a +sagacious man, and also an inflexibly upright one. He had read much, for +a person in his rank of life, and had pondered upon the ways of the +world, until he had gained more wisdom than a whole library of books +could have taught him. Ben had a greater reverence for his father, than +for any other person in the world, as well on account of his spotless +integrity, as of his practical sense and deep views of things. + +Consequently, after being released from the clutches of the law, Ben +came into his father's presence, with no small perturbation of mind. + +"Benjamin, come hither," began Mr. Franklin, in his customary solemn and +weighty tone. + +The boy approached, and stood before his father's chair, waiting +reverently to hear what judgment this good man would pass upon his late +offence. He felt that now the right and wrong of the whole matter would +be made to appear. + +"Benjamin," said his father, "what could induce you to take property +which did not belong to you?" + +"Why, father," replied Ben, hanging his head, at first, but then lifting +his eyes to Mr. Franklin's face, "if it had been merely for my own +benefit, I never should have dreamed of it. But I knew that the wharf +would be a public convenience. If the owner of the stones should build a +house with them, nobody will enjoy any advantage except himself. Now, I +made use of them in a way that was for the advantage of many persons. I +thought it right to aim at doing good to the greatest number." + +"My son," said Mr. Franklin, solemnly, "so far as it was in your power, +you have done a greater harm to the public, than to the owner of the +stones." + +"How can that be, father?" asked Ben. + +"Because," answered his father, "in building your wharf with stolen +materials, you have committed a moral wrong. There is no more terrible +mistake, than to violate what is eternally right, for the sake of a +seeming expediency. Those who act upon such a principle, do the utmost +in their power to destroy all that is good in the world." + +"Heaven forbid!" said Benjamin. + +"No act," continued Mr. Franklin, "can possibly be for the benefit of +the public generally, which involves injustice to any individual. It +would be easy to prove this by examples. But, indeed, can we suppose +that our all-wise and just Creator would have so ordered the affairs of +the world, that a wrong act should be the true method of attaining a +right end? It is impious to think so! And I do verily believe, Benjamin, +that almost all the public and private misery of mankind arises from a +neglect of this great truth--that evil can produce only evil--that good +ends must be wrought out by good means." + +"I will never forget it again," said Benjamin, bowing his head. + +"Remember," concluded his father, "that, whenever we vary from the +highest rule of right, just so far we do an injury to the world. It may +seem otherwise for the moment; but, both in Time and in Eternity, it +will be found so." + +To the close of his life, Ben Franklin never forgot this conversation +with his father; and we have reason to suppose, that in most of his +public and private career, he endeavored to act upon the principles +which that good and wise man had then taught him. + +After the great event of building the wharf, Ben continued to cut +wick-yarn and fill candle-moulds for about two years. But, as he had no +love for that occupation, his father often took him to see various +artisans at their work, in order to discover what trade he would prefer. +Thus Ben learned the use of a great many tools, the knowledge of which +afterwards proved very useful to him. But he seemed much inclined to go +to sea. In order to keep him at home, and likewise to gratify his taste +for letters, the lad was bound apprentice to his elder brother, who had +lately set up a printing-office in Boston. + +Here he had many opportunities of reading new books, and of hearing +instructive conversation. He exercised himself so successfully in +writing composition, that, when no more than thirteen or fourteen years +old, he became a contributor to his brother's newspaper. Ben was also a +versifier, if not a poet. He made two doleful ballads; one about the +shipwreck of Captain Worthilake, and the other about the pirate Black +Beard, who not long before, infested the American seas. + +When Ben's verses were printed, his brother sent him to sell them to the +town's-people, wet from the press. "Buy my ballads!" shouted Benjamin, +as he trudged through the streets, with a basketful on his arm. "Who'll +buy a ballad about Black Beard? A penny a piece! a penny a piece! who'll +buy my ballads?" + +If one of those roughly composed and rudely printed ballads could be +discovered now, it would be worth more than its weight in gold. + +In this way our friend Benjamin spent his boyhood and youth, until, on +account of some disagreement with his brother, he left his native town +and went to Philadelphia. He landed in the latter city, a homeless and +hungry young man, and bought three-pence worth of bread to satisfy his +appetite. Not knowing where else to go, he entered a Quaker +meeting-house, sat down, and fell fast asleep. He has not told us +whether his slumbers were visited by any dreams. But it would have been +a strange dream, indeed, and an incredible one, that should have +foretold how great a man he was destined to become, and how much he +would be honored in that very city, where he was now friendless, and +unknown. + +So here we finish our story of the childhood of Benjamin Franklin. One +of these days, if you would know what he was in his manhood, you must +read his own works, and the history of American Independence. + + +"Do let us hear a little more of him!" said Edward; "not that I admire +him so much as many other characters; but he interests me, because he +was a Yankee boy." + +"My dear son," replied Mr. Temple, "it would require a whole volume of +talk, to tell you all that is worth knowing about Benjamin Franklin. +There is a very pretty anecdote of his flying a kite in the midst of a +thunder-storm, and thus drawing down the lightning from the clouds, and +proving that it was the same thing as electricity. His whole life would +be an interesting story, if we had time to tell it." + +"But, pray, dear father, tell us what made him so famous," said George. +"I have seen his portrait a great many times. There is a wooden bust of +him in one of our streets, and marble ones, I suppose, in some other +places. And towns, and ships of war, and steamboats, and banks, and +academies, and children, are often named after Franklin. Why should he +have grown so very famous?" + +"Your question is a reasonable one, George," answered his father. "I +doubt whether Franklin's philosophical discoveries, important as they +were, or even his vast political services, would have given him all the +fame which he acquired. It appears to me that Poor Richard's Almanac did +more than any thing else towards making him familiarly known to the +public. As the writer of those proverbs, which Poor Richard was supposed +to utter, Franklin became the counsellor and household friend of almost +every family in America. Thus, it was the humblest of all his labors +that has done the most for his fame." + +"I have read some of those proverbs," remarked Edward; "but I do not +like them. They are all about getting money, or saving it." + +"Well," said his father, "they were suited to the condition of the +country; and their effect, upon the whole, has doubtless been +good,--although they teach men but a very small portion of their +duties." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Hitherto, Mr. Temple's narratives had all been about boys and men. But, +the next evening, he bethought himself that the quiet little Emily would +perhaps be glad to hear the story of a child of her own sex. He +therefore resolved to narrate the youthful adventures of Christina of +Sweden, who began to be a Queen at the age of no more than six years. If +we have any little girls among our readers, they must not suppose that +Christina is set before them as a pattern of what they ought to be. On +the contrary, the tale of her life is chiefly profitable as showing the +evil effects of a wrong education, which caused this daughter of a king +to be both useless and unhappy. + +Here follows the story. + + +QUEEN CHRISTINA. + +BORN 1626. DIED 1689. + +In the royal palace at Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, there was +born, in 1626, a little princess. The king, her father, gave her the +name of Christina, in memory of a Swedish girl with whom he had been in +love. His own name was Gustavus Adolphus; and he was also called the +Lion of the North, because he had gained greater fame in war than any +other prince or general then alive. With this valiant king for their +commander, the Swedes had made themselves terrible to the Emperor of +Germany and to the King of France, and were looked upon as the chief +defence of the Protestant religion. + +The little Christina was by no means a beautiful child. To confess the +truth, she was remarkably plain. The queen, her mother, did not love her +so much as she ought; partly, perhaps, on account of Christina's want of +beauty, and also, because both the king and queen had wished for a son, +who might have gained as great renown in battle as his father had. + +The king, however, soon became exceedingly fond of the infant princess. +When Christina was very young, she was taken violently sick. Gustavus +Adolphus, who was several hundred miles from Stockholm, travelled night +and day, and never rested until he held the poor child in his arms. On +her recovery, he made a solemn festival, in order to show his joy to the +people of Sweden and express his gratitude to Heaven. After this event, +he took his daughter with him in all the journeys which he made through +his kingdom. + +Christina soon proved herself a bold and sturdy little girl. When she +was two years old, the king and herself, in the course of a journey, +came to the strong fortress of Colmar. On the battlements were soldiers +clad in steel armor, which glittered in the sunshine. There were +likewise great cannons, pointing their black mouths at Gustavus and +little Christina, and ready to belch out their smoke and thunder; for +whenever a king enters a fortress it is customary to receive him with a +royal salute of artillery. + +But the captain of the fortress met Gustavus and his daughter, as they +were about to enter the gateway. + +"May it please your Majesty," said he, taking off his steel cap and +bowing profoundly, "I fear that if we receive you with a salute of +cannon, the little princess will be frightened almost to death." + +Gustavus looked earnestly at his daughter, and was indeed apprehensive +that the thunder of so many cannon might perhaps throw her into +convulsions. He had almost a mind to tell the captain to let them enter +the fortress quietly, as common people might have done, without all this +head-splitting racket. But no; this would not do. + +"Let them fire," said he, waving his hand. "Christina is a soldier's +daughter, and must learn to bear the noise of cannon." + +So the captain uttered the word of command, and immediately there was a +terrible peal of thunder from the cannon, and such a gush of smoke that +it enveloped the whole fortress in its volumes. But, amid all the din +and confusion, Christina was seen clapping her little hands, and +laughing in an ecstasy of delight. Probably nothing ever pleased her +father so much as to see that his daughter promised to be fearless as +himself. He determined to educate her exactly as if she had been a boy, +and to teach her all the knowledge needful to the ruler of a kingdom and +the commander of an army. + +But Gustavus should have remembered that Providence had created her to +be a woman, and that it was not for him to make a man of her. + +However, the king derived great happiness from his beloved Christina. It +must have been a pleasant sight to see the powerful monarch of Sweden +playing in some magnificent hall of the palace with this merry little +girl. Then he forgot that the weight of a kingdom rested upon his +shoulders. He forgot that the wise Chancellor Oxenstiern was waiting to +consult with him how to render Sweden the greatest nation of Europe. He +forgot that the Emperor of Germany and the King of France were plotting +together how they might pull him down from his throne. + +Yes; Gustavus forgot all the perils and cares and pompous irksomeness of +a royal life, and was as happy, while playing with his child, as the +humblest peasant in the realm of Sweden. How gayly did they dance along +the marble floor of the palace, this valiant king, with his upright, +martial figure, his warworn visage, and commanding aspect, and the +small, round form of Christina, with her rosy face of childish +merriment! Her little fingers were clasped in her father's hand, which +had held the leading-staff in many famous victories. His crown and +sceptre were her playthings. She could disarm Gustavus of his sword, +which was so terrible to the princes of Europe. + +But alas! the king was not long permitted to enjoy Christina's society. +When she was four years old, Gustavus was summoned to take command of +the allied armies of Germany, which were fighting against the Emperor. +His greatest affliction was the necessity of parting with his child; but +people in such high stations have but little opportunity for domestic +happiness. He called an assembly of the Senators of Sweden, and confided +Christina to their care, saying that each one of them must be a father +to her, if he himself should fall in battle. + +At the moment of his departure Christina ran towards him, and began to +address him with a speech which somebody had taught her for the +occasion. Gustavus was busied with thoughts about the affairs of the +kingdom, so that he did not immediately attend to the childish voice of +his little girl. Christina, who did not love to be unnoticed, +immediately stopped short, and pulled him by the coat. + +"Father," said she, "why do not you listen to my speech?" + +In a moment, the king forgot every thing, except that he was parting +with what he loved best in all the world. He caught the child in his +arms, pressed her to his bosom, and burst into tears. Yes; though he was +a brave man, and though he wore a steel corselet on his breast, and +though armies were waiting for him to lead them to battle,--still, his +heart melted within him, and he wept. Christina, too, was so afflicted +that her attendants began to fear that she would actually die of grief. +But probably she was soon comforted; for children seldom remember their +parents quite so faithfully as their parents remember them. + +For two years more, Christina remained in the palace at Stockholm. The +queen, her mother, had accompanied Gustavus to the wars. The child, +therefore, was left to the guardianship of five of the wisest men in the +kingdom. But these wise men knew better how to manage the affairs of +state, than how to govern and educate a little girl so as to render her +a good and happy woman. + +When two years had passed away, tidings were brought to Stockholm which +filled everybody with triumph and sorrow at the same time. The Swedes +had won a glorious victory at Lutzen. But alas! the warlike king of +Sweden, the Lion of the North, the father of our little Christina,--had +been slain at the foot of a great stone, which still marks the spot of +that hero's death. + +Soon after this sad event, a General Assembly, or Congress, consisting +of deputations from the nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the +peasants of Sweden was summoned to meet at Stockholm. It was for the +purpose of declaring little Christina to be Queen of Sweden, and giving +her the crown and sceptre of her deceased father. Silence being +proclaimed, the Chancellor Oxenstiern arose. + +"We desire to know," said he, "whether the people of Sweden will take +the daughter of our dead king, Gustavus Adolphus, to be their Queen." + +When the Chancellor had spoken, an old man with white hair, and in +coarse apparel, stood up in the midst of the assembly. He was a peasant, +Lars Larrson by name, and had spent most of his life in laboring on a +farm. + +"Who is this daughter of Gustavus?" asked the old man. "We do not know +her. Let her be shown to us." + +Then Christina was brought into the hall, and placed before the old +peasant. It was strange, no doubt, to see a child--a little girl of six +years old--offered to the Swedes as their ruler, instead of the brave +king, her father, who had led them to victory so many times. Could her +baby fingers wield a sword in war? Could her childish mind govern the +nation wisely in peace? + +But the Swedes do not appear to have asked themselves these questions. +Old Lars Larrson took Christina up in his arms, and gazed earnestly into +her face. He had known the great Gustavus well; and his heart was +touched, when he saw the likeness which the little girl bore to that +heroic monarch. + +"Yes," cried he, with the tears gushing down his furrowed cheeks, "this +is truly the daughter of our Gustavus! Here is her father's brow!--here +is his piercing eye! She is his very picture. This child shall be our +queen!" + +[Illustration] + +Then all the proud nobles of Sweden, and the reverend clergy, and the +burghers, and the peasants, knelt down at the child's feet, and kissed +her hand. + +"Long live Christina, queen of Sweden!" shouted they. + +Even after she was a woman grown, Christina remembered the pleasure +which she felt in seeing all these men at her feet, and hearing them +acknowledge her as their supreme ruler. Poor child! she was yet to learn +that power does not insure happiness. As yet, however, she had not any +real power. All the public business, it is true, was transacted in her +name; but the kingdom was governed by a number of the most experienced +statesmen, who were called a Regency. + +But it was considered necessary that the little queen should be present +at the public ceremonies, and should behave just as if she were in +reality the ruler of the nation. When she was seven years of age, some +ambassadors from the Czar of Muscovy came to the Swedish court. They +wore long beards, and were clad in a strange fashion, with furs, and +other outlandish ornaments; and as they were inhabitants of a +half-civilized country, they did not behave like other people. The +Chancellor Oxenstiern was afraid that the young queen would burst out +a-laughing, at the first sight of these queer ambassadors; or else that +she would be frightened by their unusual aspect. + +"Why should I be frightened?" said the little queen;--"and do you +suppose that I have no better manners than to laugh? Only tell me how I +must behave; and I will do it." + +Accordingly, the Muscovite ambassadors were introduced; and Christina +received them, and answered their speeches, with as much dignity and +propriety as if she had been a grown woman. + +All this time, though Christina was now a queen, you must not suppose +that she was left to act as she pleased. She had a preceptor, named John +Mathias, who was a very learned man, and capable of instructing her in +all the branches of science. But there was nobody to teach her the +delicate graces and gentle virtues of a woman. She was surrounded almost +entirely by men; and had learned to despise the society of her own sex. +At the age of nine years, she was separated from her mother, whom the +Swedes did not consider a proper person to be entrusted with the charge +of her. No little girl, who sits by a New England fireside, has cause to +envy Christina, in the royal palace at Stockholm. + +Yet she made great progress in her studies. She learned to read the +classical authors of Greece and Rome, and became a great admirer of the +heroes and poets of old times. Then, as for active exercises, she could +ride on horseback as well as any man in her kingdom. She was fond of +hunting, and could shoot at a mark with wonderful skill. But dancing was +the only feminine accomplishment with which she had any acquaintance. + +She was so restless in her disposition, that none of her attendants +were sure of a moment's quiet, neither day nor night. She grew up, I am +sorry to say, a very unamiable person, ill-tempered, proud, stubborn, +and, in short, unfit to make those around her happy, or to be happy +herself. Let every little girl, who has been taught self-control, and a +due regard for the rights of others, thank heaven that she has had +better instruction than this poor little queen of Sweden. + +At the age of eighteen, Christina was declared free to govern the +kingdom by herself, without the aid of a regency. At this period of her +life, she was a young woman of striking aspect, a good figure and +intelligent face, but very strangely dressed. She wore a short habit of +gray cloth, with a man's vest over it, and a black scarf around her +neck, but no jewels, nor ornaments of any kind. + +Yet, though Christina was so negligent of her appearance, there was +something in her air and manner that proclaimed her as the ruler of a +kingdom. Her eyes, it is said, had a very fierce and haughty look. Old +General Wrangel, who had often caused the enemies of Sweden to tremble +in battle, actually trembled himself, when he encountered the eyes of +the queen. But it would have been better for Christina if she could have +made people love her, by means of soft and gentle looks, instead of +affrighting them by such terrible glances. + +And now I have told you almost all that is amusing or instructive, in +the childhood of Christina. Only a few more words need be said about +her; for it is neither pleasant nor profitable to think of many things +that she did, after she grew to be a woman. + +When she had worn the crown a few years, she began to consider it +beneath her dignity to be called a queen, because the name implied that +she belonged to the weaker sex. She therefore caused herself to be +proclaimed KING, thus declaring to the world that she despised her own +sex, and was desirous of being ranked among men. But in the +twenty-eighth year of her age, Christina grew tired of royalty, and +resolved to be neither a king nor a queen any longer. She took the crown +from her head, with her own hands, and ceased to be the ruler of Sweden. +The people did not greatly regret her abdication; for she had governed +them ill, and had taken much of their property to supply her +extravagance. + +Having thus given up her hereditary crown, Christina left Sweden and +travelled over many of the countries of Europe. Everywhere, she was +received with great ceremony, because she was the daughter of the +renowned Gustavus, and had herself been a powerful queen. Perhaps you +would like to know something about her personal appearance, in the +latter part of her life. She is described as wearing a man's vest, a +short gray petticoat, embroidered with gold and silver, and a black wig, +which was thrust awry upon her head. She wore no gloves, and so seldom +washed her hands that nobody could tell what had been their original +color. In this strange dress, and, I suppose, without washing her hands +or face, she visited the magnificent court of Louis the Fourteenth. + +She died in 1689. None loved her while she lived, nor regretted her +death, nor planted a single flower upon her grave. Happy are the little +girls of America, who are brought up quietly and tenderly, at the +domestic hearth, and thus become gentle and delicate women! May none of +them ever lose the loveliness of their sex, by receiving such an +education as that of Queen Christina! + + * * * * * + +Emily, timid, quiet, and sensitive, was the very reverse of little +Christina. She seemed shocked at the idea of such a bold and masculine +character as has been described in the foregoing story. + +"I never could have loved her," whispered she to Mrs. Temple; and then +she added, with that love of personal neatness, which generally +accompanies purity of heart:--"It troubles me to think of her unclean +hands!" + +"Christina was a sad specimen of womankind, indeed," said Mrs. Temple. +"But it is very possible for a woman to have a strong mind, and to be +fitted for the active business of life, without losing any of her +natural delicacy. Perhaps, some time or other, Mr. Temple will tell you +a story of such a woman." + +It was now time for Edward to be left to repose. His brother George +shook him heartily by the hand, and hoped, as he had hoped twenty times +before, that to-morrow or the next day, Ned's eyes would be strong +enough to look the sun right in the face. + +"Thank you, George," replied Edward, smiling; "but I am not half so +impatient as at first. If my bodily eyesight were as good as yours, +perhaps I could not see things so distinctly with my mind's eye. But now +there is a light within which shows me the little Quaker artist, Ben +West, and Isaac Newton with his windmill, and stubborn Sam Johnson, and +stout Noll Cromwell, and shrewd Ben Franklin, and little Queen Christina +with the Swedes kneeling at her feet. It seems as if I really saw these +personages face to face. So I can bear the darkness outside of me pretty +well." + +When Edward ceased speaking, Emily put up her mouth and kissed him as +her farewell for the night. + +"Ah, I forgot!" said Edward, with a sigh. "I cannot see any of your +faces. What would it signify to see all the famous people in the world, +if I must be blind to the faces that I love?" + +"You must try to see us with your heart, my dear child," said his +mother. + +Edward went to bed, somewhat dispirited, but quickly falling asleep, was +visited with such a pleasant dream of the sunshine and of his dearest +friends that he felt the happier for it all the next day. And we hope to +find him still happy when we meet again. + + +THE END. + + + + +JUVENILE BOOKS + +PUBLISHED BY + +TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS. + +JUST OUT, + + +_History of my Pets_. +By Grace Greenwood. A beautiful little volume, with fine plates. + 50 cents. + +_Barbauld's (Mrs.) Lessons for Children_. +With a large number of engravings. 16mo. 40 cents. + +_Jonas's Stories. Related to Rollo and Lucy_. +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Jonas a Judge; or Law among the Boys_. +By Jacob Abbott. With engravings. 18mo. 38 cents. + +_Jonas on a Farm in Summer_. +By Jacob Abbott. 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There is an ease and _grace_ about her, too, that makes us +feel acquainted with her, although we have never seen her. The volume +before us is filled with tales, sketches, letters, and poems. We predict +that every lady's library will contain this volume.--BOSTON ATLAS. + +The name of Grace Greenwood has now become a household word in the +popular literature of our country and our day. Of the intellectual woman +we are not called to say much, as her writings speak for themselves, and +they have spoken widely. They are eminently characteristic; they are +strictly national; they are likewise decisively individual. All true +individuality is honestly social; and also, in Miss Clarke's writings, +nothing is sectional, and nothing sectarian. There is much in them that +is subjective, much that is drawn from personal experience, but nothing +that is merely vain or selfish. A genuine human being, she is at the +same time a genuine American girl. And the spirit of her country finds +in her utterance a voice that must stir an earnest life in the brothers +and sisters of her nation. She is one of the spiritual products of the +soil, which has of late given evidence of spiritual fertility; and she +promises not to be the least healthy, as she is not the least choice +among them; she is only putting out her spring buds; if no untimely +frost shall nip them, when the summer suns are warm they will be +splendid blossoms, and long before autumn begins to dim the sky with its +mellow shootings they will be luxuriant fruit.--HENRY GILES. + + + + +_Alderbrook_. + +_A Collection of Fanny Forester's Village Sketches, Poems, &c_. With a +fine Mezzotinto Portrait of the Author, engraved by Sartain. Ninth +edition, enlarged. + +2 vols. 12mo, $1.75; gilt $2.50; gilt extra $3.00. The same in 1 vol. +$1.62; gilt $2.25; gilt extra $2.75. + + +Who has not heard of Fanny Forester,--'charming Fanny Forester,' as she +is deservedly called? Her sketches have been more generally read and +admired than those of almost any other periodical writer of our day. +There is a freshness, grace, sprightliness, purity, and actualness about +them, which charms and invigorates; and we are glad to find them +collected and published in a form both elegant and convenient. Miss +Chubbuck, it will be remembered, was married a few months ago to the +Rev. Dr. Judson, and is now on her way, with that devoted missionary, to +the scene of his former labors. The dedicatory preface of these volumes, +to her husband, is one of the most graceful and touching we have ever +seen. A beautifully engraved portrait of the lady, by Sartain, is +prefixed to the first volume. This collection will make a very +acceptable and suitable present in the approaching Holidays.--SALEM +REGISTER. + +This is one of those charming books which well deserves a place in every +family library, and which has already won a place in thousands of +hearts. The Sketches comprised in these beautiful volumes are so full of +grace and tenderness, so pure in their style and so elevated in their +tone, that none can read them without delight and profit. We hazard +little in saying that the touching story of "Grace Linden," which +properly leads the collection, is scarcely surpassed in beauty by any +thing in the works of Maria Edgeworth, or Mary Russell Mitford. There +are a great many other Sketches, in the volumes, that deserve special +praise; but we will not deal in particulars when all are so admirable. + +The authoress of "Alderbrook" is now a self-denying, zealous missionary +of the Cross, in Asia, and, as Mrs. Judson, has written many very +charming things. She is best known, however, under her _nomme de plume_; +and however honored may be the revered name she now bears, that of Fanny +Forester will be cherished with pride and pleasure by her friends and +readers.--So. LIT. 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