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diff --git a/16151.txt b/16151.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3829fa --- /dev/null +++ b/16151.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9431 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Continental Monthly, Vol. I, No. VI, June, +1862, by Various + +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.org + + +Title: Continental Monthly, Vol. I, No. VI, June, 1862 + Devoted To Literature and National Policy + +Author: Various + +Release Date: June 29, 2005 [EBook #16151] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONTINENTAL MONTHLY, VOL. I *** + + + + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Norma +Elliott and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + +_THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY:_ + +DEVOTED TO + +LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY. + +VOL. I.--JUNE, 1862.--No. VI. + + + * * * * * + + +_THE CONSTITUTION AND SLAVERY._ + +There are two sections of the United States, the Free States and the +Slave States, who hold views widely different upon the subject of +Slavery and the true interpretation of the Constitution in relation to +it. The Southern view, for the most part, is: + +1. The Constitution recognizes slaves as strictly property, to her +bought and sold as merchandise. + +2. The Constitution recognizes all the territories as open to slavery as +much as to freedom, except in those cases where it has been expressly +interdicted by the Federal Government; and it secures the legal right to +carry slaves into the territories, and any act of Congress, restricting +this right to hold slaves in the territories, is unconstitutional and +void. + +3. Slavery is a natural institution, and not to be considered as local +and municipal. + +4. The Constitution is simply a compact or league between sovereign +States, and when either party breaks, in the estimation of the other, +this contract, it is no longer binding upon the whole, and the party +that thinks itself wronged has a right, acting according to its own +judgment, to leave the Union. + +5. This contract between sovereign States has been broken to such an +extent, by long and repeated aggressions upon the South by the North, +that the slave States who have seceded from the Union, or who may +secede, are not only right in thus doing, but are justified in taking up +arms, to prevent the collection of revenue by the Federal Government. + +These ideas are universally repudiated in the free States. It is not my +purpose to discuss the social or moral relations of slavery, but simply +to consider under what circumstances the Constitution originated, and +what was the clear intent of those who adopted it as the organic or +fundamental law of the country. The last assumption taken by the +seceding States grows out of the first four, and therefore it becomes a +question of vital interest, what did the framers of the Constitution +mean? We must remember that while names remain the same, the things +which they represent in time go through a radical change. Slavery is not +the same that it was when the Constitution was formed, nor are the +original slave States the same. If freedom at the North has made great +strides, so also has slavery South. Our country now witnesses a mighty +difference in free and slave institutions from what originally was seen. +The stand-point of slavery and freedom has altogether changed, not from +local legislation, but from natural causes, inherent in these two +diverse states of society. New interests, new relations, new views of +commerce, agriculture, and manufactures now characterize our country. It +will not do then to infer, from the existing state of things, what was +originally the respective condition of the slaveholding and the free +States, or what was in fact the import of that agreement, called the +Constitution, which brought about the Federal Union. The framers of the +Constitution did not reason so much as to what they should do for +posterity as for the generation then living. As fallible men, much as +they would wish to legislate wisely for the future, yet their very +imperfection of knowledge precluded them from knowing fully what fifty +or a hundred years hence would be the development of slavery or freedom. +Their actions must have reference to present wants, and consult +especially existing conditions of society. While they intended that the +Constitution should be the supreme law of the land, yet they wisely put +into the hands of the people the power of amending it at any such time +as circumstances might make it necessary. The question then at issue +between the North and the South is not what the Constitution should +read, not what it ought to be, to come up to the supposed interests of +the country; but what it does read. How is the Constitution truly to be +interpreted? All parties should acquiesce in seeking only to find out +the literal import of the Constitution as originally framed, or +subsequently amended, and abide by it, irrespective altogether of +present interests or relations. The reason is, in no other way can the +common welfare of the country be promoted. If the necessities of the +people demand a change in the Constitution, they can, in a legal way, +exercise the right, always remembering that no republic, no free +institutions, no democratic state of society can exist that denies the +great principle of the rule of the majority. It becomes us, then, in +order that we may come to a right decision respecting the duties that +grow out of our Federal Union, to consider what language the +Constitution makes use of, in relation to slavery, and how was this +instrument interpreted by the framers. The great question is, was +slavery regarded as a political and moral evil, to be restricted and +circumscribed within the States existing under the Constitution, or was +it looked upon as a blessing, a social relation of society, proper to be +diffused over the territories? It can be clearly shown that there was no +such state of feeling, respecting slavery, as to lead the originators of +our Constitution to look upon it as a thing in itself of natural right, +useful in its operation, and worthy of enlargement and perpetuation. +Rather, the universal sentiment respecting slavery, North and South, +was, that as a great moral, social, and political evil, it should be +condemned, and the widely prevalent impression was, that through the +peaceful operation of causes that evinced the immeasurable superiority +of free institutions, slavery would itself die out, and the whole +country be consecrated to free labor. Never did it enter the minds of +the framers of the Constitution, that slavery was a thing in itself +right and desirable, or that it should be encouraged in the territories. +It was looked upon as exclusively local in its character, the creature +of State law, a relation of society that was to be regulated like any +other municipal institution. It is not to be presumed that the authors +of our government would, in the Declaration of Independence, assert the +natural rights of all men to life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness, and then contradict this cardinal principle of the revolution +in the Constitution. They found slavery existing in the Southern States; +they simply left it as it was before the Revolution, with the idea that +in time the local action of the State legislature would do away with the +system. But so far as the extension of slavery was concerned, the +predominant feeling, North and South, was hostile to it. The security +of the country demanded the union of the States under one common +Constitution. The dangers of foreign war, the exhausted finances of the +different States, the evils of a great public debt, contracted during +the Revolution, made it advisable, as soon as the consent of the States +could be got, to have a Constitution that should command security at +home and credit and respect abroad. It was regarded as indispensable for +union, that slavery should be left as it was found in the States. The +thirteen States that first formed our Union under the Constitution, with +the great evils that grew out of war and debt, agreed, for their own +mutual protection, that slavery should be permitted to exist in those +States where it was sanctioned by the local government, as an evil to be +tolerated, not as a thing good in itself, to be fostered, perpetuated, +and enlarged. Seeing that union could not be had without slavery, it was +recognized as an institution not to be interfered with by the free +States; but not acknowledged, in the sense that it was right, a blessing +that, like free labor, should be the normal condition of the whole +people. There was no such indifference to slavery as a civil +institution, as has been asserted. The reason is two-fold: first, the +States could not be indifferent to slavery, if they wished; and +secondly, they could not repudiate, in the Constitution, the Declaration +of Independence. Thus the word 'slave' is not found in the Constitution. +In the rendition of slaves, they simply spoke of persons held to +service, and as union was impossible, if the free States were open to +their escape, without the right being recognized of being returned, this +provision was accordingly made; and yet by the provision that no person +should be deprived of liberty or life, without due process of law, and +that the free citizens of one State, irrespective of color, should have +the same rights, while resident in any other State, as the citizens of +that State, the framers of our Constitution declared, in language most +explicit, the natural rights of all men. The question is not as to the +consistency of their profession and practice, or how they could fight +for their own independence, and yet deny freedom, for the sake of the +Union, to the slaves; but the question is simply whether, in preparing +the Constitution, they intended to engraft upon it the idea of the +natural right of slavery, and recognize it as a blessing, to be +perpetuated and enlarged. The question is simply, whether the +Constitution was designed to be pro-slavery, or whether, like the +instrument of the Declaration of Independence, it was intended to be the +great charter of civil and religious freedom, although compelled, for +the sake of union, not to interfere with slavery where it already +existed? Great stress is put upon that clause enjoining the rendition of +slaves escaping from their masters; but union was impossible without +this provision. The necessity of union was thought indispensable for +protection, revenue, and securing the dearly-bought blessings of +independence. The question with them was not, ought slavery to be +recognized as a natural right, and slaves a species of property like +other merchandise? but simply, shall we tolerate this evil, for the sake +of Union? Thus, as the indispensable condition of union, the provision +was made for the rendition of persons held to labor in the slave States. +Why is the language of the Constitution so guarded as not to have even +the word 'slave' in it, and yet of such a character as not to interfere +with local State legislation upon slavery? Simply to steer between the +Charybdis of no union and the Scylla of the repudiation of the +Declaration of Independence, teaching that all men are born free and +equal, and that all have natural rights, such as life, liberty, and the +pursuit of happiness. And yet, in the slave States, the interpretation +of the Constitution is such, that the free States are accused of +violating it, unless they acknowledge that it recognizes slavery as a +natural right, and an institution to be perpetuated and enlarged, and +put upon the same level with the blessing of freedom, in the +territories. Slavery virtually must be nationalized, and the +Constitution be interpreted so as to carry it all over the territories +now existing, or to be acquired, or the free States have broken the +Constitution, and the slave States may leave the Union whenever it suits +their pleasure. It is easy to see how time has brought about such a +revolution of feeling and idea respecting slavery. It can be shown that +circumstances have changed altogether the relations of slavery, and +while names have remained the same, the things which they represent have +assumed a radical difference. It can be shown that the introduction of +the cotton-gin, and the increased profits of slave labor, have given an +impetus to the domestic institution that brings with it an entire +revolution of opinion. When slavery was unprofitable to the +slaveholders; when, in the early days of the republic, the number of +slaves was comparatively small; when, all over the country, the veterans +of the Revolution existed to testify to the hardships they endured for +national independence, and eulogize even the help of the negro in +securing it, then slavery was regarded a curse, an evil to be curtailed +and in time obliterated; then the local character of slavery, as the +creature of municipal law, not to be recognized where such law does not +exist, was the opinion universally of the people. But now, with the +growing profits of slavery, with the increase of the power of this +institution, other and far different language is held. Disguise it as we +may, there do exist great motives that have silently yet powerfully +operated within the last thirty or forty years, to change the popular +current of feeling and opinion. Not only have the slave States held the +balance of political power, but the spread of slavery has been gigantic. +The fairest regions of the South have been opened up to the domestic +institution, and Texas annexed, with Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida, +making an immense area of country, to be the nursery of slavery. The +political ascendency of the slave States has ever given to the South a +great advantage, in the extension of their favored institution, and the +result has proved that what our ancestors looked upon as an evil that +time would soon do away with, has grown into a monster system that +threatens to make subservient to it the free institutions of the North. + +Slavery has now come to be a mighty energy of disquietude all over the +country, assuming colossal proportions of mischief, and mocking all the +ordinary restraints of law. The question of the present day to be +decided is not whether freedom and slavery shall exist side by side, nor +whether slavery shall be tolerated as a necessary evil; but in reality, +whether freedom shall be crushed under the iron hoof of slavery, and +this institution shall obtain the complete control of the country. It +has been said that the Constitution takes the position of complete +indifference to slavery; but the history of the slave States does not +lead us to infer that they were ever willing that slavery should be +tested by its own merits, or stand without the most persistent efforts +to secure for it the patronage of the Federal Government. Study the +progress of slavery, the last forty years, and none can fail to see that +it has ever aimed to secure first the supreme political control, and +then to advance its own selfish interests, at the expense of free +institutions. The great danger has always been, that while numerically +vastly inferior to the North, slavery has always been an unit, with a +single eye to its own aggrandizement; consequently, the history of the +country will show that so far from the general policy of the government +being adverse to slavery, that policy has been almost exclusively upon +the side of slaveholders. The domestic institution has been ever the pet +interest of the land. + +In all that pertains to political power, the slaveholding interests have +been in the ascendant. Even when Lincoln was elected, it was found that +the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the Judiciary, were +numerically upon the side of slavery, so that he could not, even had it +been his wish, carry out any measure inimical to the South. True, the +South had not the same power as under Buchanan; they could not hope ever +again to wield the resources of government to secure the ascendency of +slavery in Kansas; but for all that, Lincoln was powerless to encroach +upon their supposed rights, even if thus disposed. Is it not, then, +evident, that so far from the slaveholding States holding to the +opinions of the framers of the Constitution, there has been within the +last forty years a mighty change going on in the South, giving to +slavery an essentially aggressive policy, and an extension never dreamed +of by the authors of the Constitution? The ground of the Constitution +respecting slavery, was simply non-interference in the States where it +already existed. It left slavery to be curtailed, or done away with by +the local legislature, but it used language the most guarded, to +preclude the idea that slavery rested upon natural right, and that +slaves, like other property, could be carried into the territories. It +has been said, that the position of the Constitution is that of absolute +indifference, both to freedom and slavery; that it advocated neither, +but was bound to protect both. But how could the Constitution be +indifferent to the very end for which it was made? Was not its great +design to secure the liberty of the country, and promote its highest +welfare? The Constitution simply tolerated the existence of slavery, and +no more. As union was impossible without the provision for the rendition +of persons held to labor, escaping from one state into another, it +simply accommodated itself to an evil that was thought would be +restricted, and in due process of time done away with in the slave +States. To strain this provision to mean that it advocated the natural +right of slavery, and recognized the slave as property, to be sold and +bought like other merchandise, is simply to say that the framers of the +Constitution were the greatest hypocrites in the world, originating the +Declaration of Independence upon the basis of the natural right of all +men to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and yet with full +knowledge and purpose giving the lie to this instrument in the +Constitution. Madison thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the +idea of property in man. The word 'service' was substituted for +'servitude,' simply because this last encouraged the idea of property. + +The constitutional provision for the rendition of slaves was simply a +compromise between union and slavery. Of the two evils of _no union_, or +_no slavery_, it was thought the former was the worse, and consequently +the free States fell in with the measure. But could the patriots of the +Revolution have foreseen the gigantic growth of slavery, and the use +that would have been made of the provision recognizing it, no +consideration would have induced them to adopt a course that has been +prolific of so much misrepresentation and mischief to the country. They +left the suppression of slavery to the States where it existed, but +there was no intention to ingraft the idea of property in man in the +Constitution, or to favor its extension beyond the original slave States +in any way. John Jay, the first Chief-Justice, was preeminently +qualified to judge respecting this. We have his testimony most +explicitly denying the natural right of property in slaves, and +declaring that the Constitution did not recognize the equity of its +extension in the new States or Territories. Who was there more +conversant with the genius of our country than Washington; and yet how +full is his testimony to the evil of slavery; its want of natural right +to support it, and the necessity of its speedy suppression and +abolition? Is it possible that he, himself a slaveholder and an +emancipationist, could utter such sentiments and enforce them by his +example, if he regarded the Constitution as establishing the light of +property in man, and the benefit of the indefinite expansion of slavery +over the country? No, indeed! If we may consider the Constitution in +relation to slaves an inconsistent instrument, we can not prove it an +hypocritical and dishonest one. The hard necessities of the times wrung +out of reluctant patriots the admission of the rendition of slaves, but +they would not by any reasonable construction of language, assert the +natural right of property in slaves, and the propriety or benefit of its +toleration in new States and Territories. It was bad enough to tolerate +this evil in the old slave States, but it would be infamous to hand down +to posterity a Constitution denying the self-evident truths of the +Declaration of Independence. Toleration is not synonymous with approval, +or existence with right. There is a most subtle error in the assumption +of the indifference of the Constitution to freedom and slavery--that it +advocated neither, but protected both. Certainly the framers of the +Constitution were not automatons, or this instrument the accident of the +throw of the dice-box. The great purpose of this instrument was to raise +the revenue, and defend the country. Its end was to protect the +liberties and command the respect of civilized nations. The old +Confederation was to give way to the Federal Constitution. The +independence of the United States had been achieved at a heavy cost. To +say nothing of frontiers exposed, country ravaged, towns burnt, commerce +nearly ruined, the derangement of finances--the pecuniary loss alone +amounted to one hundred and seventy million dollars, two thirds of which +had been expended by Congress, the balance by individual States. The +design of the Constitution was to preserve the fruits of the Revolution, +to respect State sovereignty, and yet secure a powerful and efficient +Union; to have a central government, and yet not infringe upon the local +rights of the States. It will, therefore, be seen that while the subject +of slavery was earnestly discussed, and presented at the outset a great +obstacle to the union of the States, yet it was thought, upon the whole, +best to leave to the slave States the business of doing away with this +great evil in such a manner as in their judgment might best conduce to +their own security and the preservation of the Union. + +But no truth of history is more evident than that the authors of the +Constitution regarded slavery as impossible to be sustained upon the +ground of the natural rights of mankind, and deserving of no +encouragement in the Territories, or States hereafter to come into the +Union. It was thought that the best interests of the slave States would +lead them to abolish slavery, and that before many years, the Republic +would cease to bear the disgrace of chattel bondage. It is certainly +proper that the acts and language of the authors of the Constitution, +and those who chiefly were instrumental in achieving our independence, +should be made to interpret that instrument which was the creation of +their own toils and love of country. Because the circumstances of the +present day have brought about a mighty change in the feelings and +opinions of the slave States, it does not follow that the Constitution +in its original intention and spirit should be accommodated to this new +aspect of things. It is easy to get up a theory of the natural right of +slavery, and then say that the Constitution meant that the slave States +should carry slave property just where the free States carry their +property; but when this ground is taken, the Constitution is made, to +all intents, a pro-slavery instrument. It ceases to be the charter of a +nation's freedom, and resolves itself into the most effective agent of +the propagandism of slavery. The transition is easy from such a theory +to the fulfillment of the boast of Senator Toombs, 'that the roll of +slaves might yet be called at the foot of Bunker Hill Monument.' But no +straining of the language of the Constitution can make it mean the +recognition of the natural right of slavery, The guarded manner in which +the provision was made for the rendition of slaves, and all the +circumstances connected with the adoption of the Constitution, show +conclusively that slavery was considered only a local and municipal +institution, a serious evil, to be suppressed and curtailed by the slave +States, and never by the General Government a blessing to be fostered +and extended where it did not exist at the time the Union of the +thirteen States was perfected. + +Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States, in a +speech at Atlanta, Georgia, said: + + 'Jefferson, Madison, Washington, and many others, were tender of + the word slave, in the organic law, and all looked forward to the + time when the institution of slavery should be removed from our + midst as a trouble and a stumbling-block. The delusion could not be + traced in any of the component parts of the Southern Constitution. + In that instrument we solemnly discarded the pestilent heresy of + fancy politicians, that all men of all races were equal, and we + have made African inequality, and subordination, the chief + corner-stone of the Southern Republic.' + +Here we have the great idea of an essential difference in relation to +the Constitution and slavery existing at the present day South, from +that which did exist at the time of its ratification universally by the +people of the thirteen States. The Vice-President of the Southern +Confederacy frankly admits that slavery is its chief corner-stone; that +our ancestors were deluded upon the subject of slavery; that the ideas +contained in the Declaration of Independence respecting the equality of +all men, and their natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness, are only the pestilent heresy of fancy politicians; +consequently that in the Southern Constitution all such trash was +solemnly discarded. Can clearer proof be wanted to show that the +stand-point of slavery and freedom has altogether changed since the days +of Washington? Is it not true that our country at the present day +presents the singular spectacle of two great divisions, one holding to +the Constitution as interpreted by our ancestors North and South, the +other openly repudiating such interpretation? Is it strange, with such a +radical difference existing as to the import of the Constitution upon +the subject of slavery, that we should have such frequent and ever +persistent charges of Northern aggression? If the history of slavery be +kept in mind, it will be seen that it has steadily had its eye upon one +end, and that is national aggrandizement. Thus about two hundred +thousand slaveholders wield all the political power of the South, and +compel all non-slaveholders to acquiesce in their supremacy. But +whatever the South may choose to do, the North is under obligation to +give to slavery nothing more than what is guaranteed in the +Constitution. If more than this is asked for, the North is bound by a +just regard for its own interests and the prosperity of the country to +refuse compliance. It has been seen that even admitting that a State has +a just cause of complaint, or supposing as a matter of fact that the +Constitution is violated, she can not set herself up to be exclusively +the judge in this matter, and leave the Union at her convenience. + +The history of our country reveals two memorable cases where the +question was decided that not the State, but the Federal Government was +to be its own judge of what was constitutional, and act accordingly. +First, the case of New-York; secondly, the course taken by Massachusetts +in relation to the Embargo law of 1807, which was believed to be +unconstitutional generally in New-England. In the case of New-York, +there was, as has been said, the surrender of any right to secede from +the Union at her pleasure; while in the Embargo law of 1807, which was +brought up to the Supreme Court for decision, there was the acquiescence +of New-England upon the simple point, who should be the final arbiter in +the dispute. Massachusetts and all New-England assented to a decision of +the Judiciary, not upon the ground that it was right, but that the +Supreme Court had alone the authority to say what was right. + +In this case there was a perfect refutation of the whole theory of +secession; that theory falls back upon the idea that the State +government is to be its own judge of what constitutes a violation of the +Constitution, and act accordingly; but the Embargo law of 1807, when +carried up to the Supreme bench, and the way New-England assented to a +decision that was not believed to be in accordance with the +Constitution, is a signal rebuke of the assumption of State sovereignty +when arrayed against the General Government. The all-important question +was not, Was the decision of the Judiciary right, but simply, Who had +the authority to say what was right? Who should submit to that +authority? No person can fail to see in these two cases, under +circumstances so widely different, and with an end proposed in each +directly the reverse of the other, that the point so important to +establish was clearly made out, that the National Government reserves to +itself alone the right to decide as to what should be the course taken +in questions of dispute that arise between the States and the Federal +authority. + +It is mournful to see the finest country on the earth--a land peculiarly +blessed with every element of material wealth, a land that has grown +like a giant, and commanded the respect of the world--now in her central +government made an object of contempt, and crippled in her strength by +those very States who should, upon the principle of gratitude for favors +granted, have been the last to leave the Union. While the Government at +Washington has shown the utmost forbearance, they have manifested the +greatest insolence, as well as disregard of the most sacred rights of +the Union. An Absalom the most willful and impetuous of his father's +family, and yet the most caressed and indulged, requites every debt of +parental kindness by seeking through treachery and the prostitution of +all his privileges to raise an insurrection in the household of David, +and turn away through craft the hearts of the people from their rightful +lord. So like Absalom, South-Carolina first unfurls the banner of +treason and war among the sister States, desperately resolved to secure +her selfish aggrandizement even at the price of the ruin of the country, +but like Absalom, also, she is destined to experience a reverse as +ignominious and as fatal. + + + +_A STORY OF MEXICAN LIFE_ + +VIII. + +'My neighbor gazed at the stranger with bewilderment, and remained +speechless. There was, nevertheless, nothing in his outward mien to give +rise to so much emotion. He was a robust and rather handsome fellow, of +about twenty-five, bold, swaggering, and free and easy in his +deportment--a perfect specimen of the race of half-breeds so common in +Mexico. His skin was swarthy, his features regular, and his beard +luxuriant and soft as silk. His eyes were large and black as sloes, his +teeth small, regular, and white as ivory, and his whole countenance, +when in repose, wore an expression which won confidence rather than +excited distrust. But when conversing, there was an indefinable +craftiness in his smile, and a peculiar cunning in the twinkle of his +eye, that often strikes the traveler in Mexico, as pervading all that +class who are accustomed to making excursions into the interior. His +costume, covered with dust, and torn in many places, led me to infer +that he had only just returned from some long journey. + +'After waiting, with great politeness, for some few seconds, to allow +Arthur time to address him, and finding he waited in vain, the Mexican +opened the conversation: + +''I fear your excellency will scold me for delaying so long on the road; +but how could I help it? I am more to be pitied than blamed--I lost +three horses--at monte--and if it had not been by good luck that the ace +turned up when I staked my saddle and bridle, I should not be here even +now; but the ace won; I bought a fresh horse--and here I am.' + +''What success?' inquired Arthur, with a look of intense anxiety; 'did +you bring any?' + +''Certainly,' replied Pepito, handing him very unconcernedly a small +package; 'I brought more than you told me, and, in fact, I might have +brought a mule-load if you had wanted so many.' + +''Adele!' cried Mr. Livermore, overcome with delight, as he rushed into +my room, 'Adele, HE HAS FOUND IT!' + +Pepito followed Arthur with his sharp eye, and on beholding Adele, asked +me, in a low tone: + +''Who is that lady, Caballero?' + +''I can not say; I myself never saw her until to-day,' said I; and +noticing his gaze riveted on her in apparent admiration, I added: + +''Do you think her pretty?' + +''Pretty! Holy Virgin! she is lovely enough to make a man risk his +salvation to win her.' + +'Feeling that my presence might be one of those superfluities with which +they would gratefully dispense, I was on the point of leaving, when +there was a knock at the door. Again Adele sought refuge in my room, and +again Arthur advanced to the door: + +''Open, it is I,' said a voice from the outside; 'I have come to inquire +after my friend Pepito.' + +''Senor,' exclaimed Pepito, 'that must be my compadre, Pedro.' + +'On the door being opened, they flew to one another's arms, and gave a +true Mexican embrace. + +'The entrance of Pedro, which evidently annoyed Mr. Livermore, awakened +in my mind strange suspicions. I resolved at the earliest opportunity I +had of a private interview with him, to allude to what I had overheard +on the Alameda. In the mean time I would keep an eye on these two +cronies. + +''Stand back, Pedro, and let me have a good look at you.' + +''_There!_ well, how do you think I look?' + +''My dear fellow, you are growing decidedly coarse and fat.' + +''Bah! but how do you like my new rig?' + +''I can not admire the cut; but, of course, you bought them +ready-made--one could see that with half an eye.' + +''Well, Pepito, now that you are once more back in the city, I lack +nothing to make me perfectly happy. You will spend the rest of the day +with me?' + +''Of course, my dear fellow.' + +''Well, it is about dinner-time; let us be off.' + +''Wait till I have first bid adieu to his excellency,' replied Pepito, +turning toward Mr. Livermore. Then advancing a few steps, he whispered a +few words to him, at the same time bowing very low. Arthur unlocked the +drawer of his table and took out a roll of dollars, which he handed to +the Mexican. + +''Must you absolutely leave me so soon?' said he. + +''Well, Caballero, after so long a journey, a man requires relaxation, +and enjoys a social glass; so, with your permission, I will see you +again to-morrow.' + +'This answer was any thing but pleasing to Mr. Livermore, who turned to +me, and addressing me in English, said: + +''My dear sir, once more I must trespass on your good-nature. It is +essential to the success of my plans, that these two men should not be +left together. Will you, _can_ you, tack yourself on to them, and keep +close to Pepito until they separate?' + +''Your request is as strange as it is difficult of execution; but I will +do my best.' + +''Gentlemen,' said I, to the two Mexicans, as we all three were going +down the stairs, 'you were speaking of dining--now I want to visit a +real Mexican _fonda_; I am tired of these French cafes; will you favor +me by taking me to a first-rate house, for I am not acquainted with this +city.' + +''If you will accompany us to the Fonda Genovesa, Caballero,' said +Pedro, 'I will warrant you will have no cause to repent it.' + +''I am infinitely indebted to you, and shall gladly accept your +guidance.' + +'The Fonda Genovesa was certainly one of the vilest establishments I +ever visited, and the dinner was, of course, detestably bad. However, I +treated my two worthies to a couple of bottles of wine, which being to +them a rare luxury, they declared they had fared sumptuously. + +''But, look here, Pepito,' said Pedro, 'you have not yet alluded to your +journey. Where have you been all this time?' + +''Where have I been? Oh! well, that is a secret.' + +''A secret! what, from me, from your compadre Pedro?' + +''Even so, my dear Pedro, even so; I have sworn not to mention the +object of my journey nor my destination.' + +''Oh! I dare say; but look here, what did you swear by--the holy Virgin +of Guadalupe? No? Well, was it the cross?' + +''No, neither by the one nor the other.' + +''What is there binding, then? nothing else ought to keep you silent +when _I_ am in question?' + +''I pledged my sacred honor.' + +''Your sacred honor! Give me your hand, you always were a wag, but you +humbugged me this time, I confess; well, that _is_ a good one--the best +joke I have heard for an age--excellent! well, go on, I am all +attention, all ears.' + +''Well, you won't hear much, for I am a man of honor, and bound not to +speak; besides, I received a hundred dollars to keep mum.' + +'Pedro for a moment appeared to be in a brown study; at last, gazing +hard at his friend, he said: + +''Would two hundred tempt you to speak?' + +''If such a proposition were to come from a stranger, I might, +perchance, accept it; but seeing it comes from you--never.' + +''Why?' + +''Because, when you offer me two hundred dollars for any thing, it must +be worth far more than you offer.' + +''Well, now, admit, just as a supposition, that I am interested in this +matter, what harm will it do you, if we both turn an honest penny?' + +''That is just the point; but I don't want you to turn ten pennies to my +one.' + +''Your scruples, my dear Pepito, display a cautious temperament, and +evince deep acquaintance with human nature; you see through my little +veil of mystery, and I own your sagacity; now I will be honest with +you--with a man like you, lying is mere folly. It is true, I am to have +four hundred dollars if I can find out where you have been. I swear to +you by the holy Virgin of Guadalupe, I am making a clean breast of it. +Now, will you take that amount? Say the word, and I will go and fetch it +right away.' + +'This proposition seemed to embarrass the scrupulous Pepito extremely, +and he remained some time lost in thought. + +''But, if you only receive four hundred, and give me four hundred, what +the deuce will you make out of such an operation?' + +''Trust entirely to your generosity.' + +''What! leave me to do what I like! I take you up--by Jupiter! Pedro, +that is a noble trait in your character--I take you up.' + +''Then it is a bargain. Will you wait here for me, or would you prefer +to meet me at our usual Monte in the Calle de los Meradores?' + +''I prefer the Monte.' + +''You will swear on the cross, to relate fully and truly every +particular relating to your journey?' + +''Of course--every thing.' + +''I will be there in a couple of hours.' + +'After his friend's departure, Pepito sat silent; his brow was knit, and +yet a mocking sneer played around his lips; he seemed to be pursuing two +trains of thought at once; suspicion and merriment were clearly working +in his mind. + +''This is a droll affair, Caballero; I can't clearly see the bottom of +it' + +''There is nothing very unusual in it that I see,' I replied, 'for every +day men sacrifice honor for gold.' + +''True, nothing more common, and yet this proposition beats all I ever +met with.' + +''In what respect?' + +''Why, the interest that these folks who employ Pedro, take in this +journey that I undertook for your friend, Senor Pride.' + +''But, if this journey has some valuable secret object in view?' + +''Valuable secret!' repeated Pepito, bursting into a fit of laughter; +'Yes, a valuable secret indeed! Oh! the joke of offering four hundred +dollars for what, 'twixt you and me, is not worth a cent. But who can it +be that is behind Pedro, in this matter? He must be some rival doctor, +or else a naturalist, on the same scent.' + +''Is Senor Pride,' I inquired, 'a doctor--are you sure of that?' + +''Yes--he must be--but I don't know,' exclaimed Pepito; 'I am at my +wits' end. If he is not, I have been working in the dark, and he has +deceived me with a false pretext; I am at a loss--dead beat. But one +thing is plain--I can make four hundred dollars, if I like.' + +''And will you betray your employer?' said I indignantly. + +''Time enough--never decide rashly, Caballero; I shall +deliberate--nothing like sleeping on important affairs; to-morrow--who +knows what to-morrow may bring forth?' + +'So saying, Pepito arose, took his traveling sword under his arm, placed +his hat jauntily on his head, cast an admiring eye at the looking-glass, +and then brushed off some of the dust that still clung to his left +sleeve. + +''The smile of Heaven abide with you, Senor,' said he, with a most +graceful bow. 'As for your friend's secret, do not be uneasy about it; I +am not going to meet Pedro to-night. I shall take advantage of his +absence to make a call on my lady-love. Pedro is a good fellow, but +shockingly self-conceited; he fancies himself far smarter than +I--perhaps he is--but somehow I fancy, this time he must be early if he +catches me asleep.' + +'On his departure, I paid the bill, which both my friends had +overlooked, then walked out and seated myself on the Alameda, which at +that hour was thronged with promenaders. Isolated, buried in thought, in +the midst of that teeming throng, the various episodes in the drama of +which my mysterious neighbor was the principal character, passed before +my mind. I again and again reviewed the strange events which, by some +freak of fortune, I had been a witness to. What was the basis on which +my friend, with two sets of names, founded his dream of inexhaustible +wealth, this mission he had intrusted to Pepito? What the mission which +the agent laughed at, and which to gain a clue to, others were tempting +him with glittering bribes? And again, why the deceit practiced on +Pepito, by assuming the guise of a doctor? Each of these facts was a +text on which I piled a mountain of speculation. + +'Vexed and annoyed at finding myself becoming entangled in this web of +mystery, as well as piqued at my failure to unravel it, I determined to +avoid all further connection with any of the actors; and full of this +resolve, I wended my way homeward, to have a final and decisive +interview with Mr. Livermore. + +'The worthy Donna Teresa Lopez confronted me as I entered the inner +door: + +''Plenty of news, is there not?' she asked; 'I heard a good deal of +squabbling, last night; that man in the cloak was noisy.' + +''Yes; they had an interesting discussion.' + +''You can not make me believe that was all. _Discussion_, indeed! When +there is a pretty woman in the case, and two men talk as loudly as they +did, it generally ends in a serious kind of discussion. 'When love stirs +the fire, anger makes the blood boil.' Tell me, now, will they fight +here, in the Senor Pride's room?' + +'This question, which Donna Teresa put in the most matter-of-fact sort +of way, staggered me considerably, and confirmed me in the resolution to +avoid the whole business. + +''I sincerely trust, Senora, that such an event is not probable. On what +do you base your supposition?' + +''There is nothing so very astounding in rivals fighting; but it is all +the same to me. I only asked that I might take precautions.' + +''Precautions! what, inform the police?' + +''No, no! I thought it might be as well to take down the new +curtains--the blood might spoil them.' + +'Need I say I terminated my interview with my hostess, more impressed +with admiration of her business qualities than of her sympathetic +virtues? But let me do the poor woman justice; life is held so cheap, +and the knife acts so large a part in Mexico, that violence and sudden +death produce a mere transient effect. + + +IX. + +'Instead of going to my own apartments, I went direct to Mr. +Livermore's, intending thus to show him that I wished no longer to be +looked upon as the man in the next room. + +''We were dying with anxiety to see you,' he said, as I entered; 'walk +into the other room, you will find Adele there.' + +''Well, Mr. Rideau,' said she, with intense anxiety visible on her +countenance, 'what passed between those two men?' + +''Little of importance. Pedro offered Pepito four hundred dollars if he +would divulge the particulars of his journey; to which offer Pepito has +acceded. That is about all.' + +'I was far from anticipating the effect my answer would produce on my +hearers. They were overwhelmed--thunderstruck. Adele was the first to +recover. + +''Fool! fool that I was,' she exclaimed, 'why did I select in such an +enterprise a man worn down by sickness and disease?' + +'The look she cast on Arthur, rapid as it was, was so full of menace +and reproach, that it startled me. + +''Well, Arthur,' she said, laying her hand on his arm; 'do you feel ill +again?' + +'Roused by the sound of her voice, Arthur placed his hand on his heart, +and mutely plead excuse for the silence which his sufferings imposed on +him. + +'As for me, I spoke no word, but mentally consigned my mysterious +neighbors to a distant port, whence consignments never return. + +''My dear sir,' I replied at length, 'Pepito's treachery, which appears +so deeply to affect you, is not yet carried into execution, it is only +contemplated. I will give you word for word what transpired.' + +'When I had concluded my narrative, to which they listened with +breathless attention, Adele exclaimed: + +''Our hopes are not yet crushed, the case is not utterly desperate; but +alas! it is evident our secret is suspected, if not known. Arthur,' she +continued, 'now is the time to display all our energy. We have some +enemy to dread, as I have long suspected. If we do not at once steal a +march on him, then farewell forever to all our dreams of happiness, of +wealth, or even of subsistence.' + +''Sir,' said she, again addressing me; 'your honor alone has kept you in +ignorance of our secret. You could easily have tempted and corrupted +Pepito. We prefer you should learn it from us rather than from an +accidental source. We merely request your word of honor that you will +not use it to your own advantage, without our joint consent, nor in any +way thwart our plans.' + +''I am deeply sensible, madame, of the confidence you repose in me; but +I must beg you will allow me to remain in ignorance.' + +''You refuse, then, to give us the promise?' exclaimed Adele, 'I see it +all! you will thwart us; you would preserve your liberty of action +without forfeiting your word.' + +'If you had known me longer, such a suspicion would not have crossed +your mind. However, as I have no other means of proving it unjust, I +will give the pledge you desire, I am now ready to hear whatever you +have to communicate.' + +'Mr. Livermore resumed the conversation: + +''The secret which Adele imparted to me will, I dare say, appear at +first very extravagant, but before you laugh at it, give me time to +explain. It is the existence of a marvelous opal mine in the interior; +the precise location of which is known to no one save Adele and myself.' + +'In spite of the greatest effort, I could not suppress a smile of +incredulity, at this announcement. Mexico is so full of strange stories +of fabulous mines, that this wondrous tale of opals looked to me like +some new confidence game, and I felt sure my neighbors were duped or +else trying to dupe me. + +''Oh! I see you think we are deceived?' + +''I admit,' I replied, 'it strikes me as possible that you have been the +victims of some crafty scheme. Did you hear of this mine before or since +your arrival in Mexico?' + +''Before we left New-Orleans.' + +''And yet it is not known to the natives?' + +''It was from a Mexican we had our information.' + +''Why did not this Mexican himself take advantage of it?' + +''He could not, for he was banished. He is now dead. But what do you +think of these specimens?' + +'He took from a drawer ten or twelve opals of rare size and brilliancy. +I examined them with care; they were, beyond all doubt, of very +considerable value. My incredulity gradually gave way to amazement. + +''Are you certain these opals really came from the mine of which you +speak?' + +''Nothing can be more certain; you saw Pepito hand me a package; you +heard his remark that he could have brought a mule-load; these are a +few of what he did bring.' + +''This mine then really exists?' I said, my incredulity giving way to +the most ardent curiosity. + +''Really exists! yes, my friend; if you listen, I will dispel all doubt +of that.' + + +X. + +''On arriving in this country, my first step was to procure a guide and +the necessary equipage for reaching the opal mine. Although I felt sure +of its existence, I could not dispel the fear that the story of its +marvelous richness would prove false. Without loss of time, I started; +for to me it was a question of life and death. I had, however, barely +accomplished a third of the journey, when I was prostrated by fever. The +fatigue of traveling in the interior of this magnificent but wretched +country, combined with excitement and anxiety, preyed upon my mind, and +brought on an illness, from which at one time I gave up all hope of +recovering. I was compelled to return to Vera Cruz. The doctors were all +of the opinion that several months of perfect repose would be necessary +before I could undertake another such journey. Several months--oh! how +those words fell on my ears; they sounded like the knell of all my +hopes. A thousand expedients floated through my brain, and in adopting +the course I eventually did, time alone will prove whether I followed +the promptings of a good or evil genius. One evening, I explained to my +attendant that I was a medical man, deeply interested in botanical and +mineralogical discoveries; that my object in undertaking my recent +journey was to collect certain rare herbs and a singular description of +shell. I laid peculiar stress on the herbs, and added in relation to the +shells, that I merely wanted a few specimens, as they were rare in my +country. My attendant at once proffered his services, to go in search of +them. I appeared at first to attach but little importance to his offer; +but as he renewed it whenever the subject was alluded to, I at last +employed him. The mine is situated on the margin of a little brook. One +day's work of an active man will turn the stream into a fresh channel, +and a few inches beneath its bed will be found, mixed with the damp sand +and loam, the shells, which, when polished, form the opal. I gave my +servant the needful information as to localities and landmarks, and +promised him a gratuity of a hundred dollars over and above his wages, +in case he succeeded. Having given him instructions, I retained his +services until I reached this city, where I determined to await his +return, it being more healthy than Vera Cruz. Having selected my +lodgings and given him the pass-word by which alone a stranger could +obtain admittance to me, with an anxious heart I dispatched him on the +mission. + +''For three months I had no tidings of him; night and day, I was the +prey of doubt and fear. No words can portray the agony of suspense that +I endured; the hours seemed days, the days months, and the bitterness of +years was crowded into that short interval. At last, thanks be to +heaven, my messenger returned.' + +''Do you mean Pepito?' I exclaimed. + +''The very man,' replied Arthur; 'his journey was successful. You have +seen the specimens he brought. I was intoxicated with delight; but Adele +did not share my joy. Nature has given woman a faculty of intuition +denied to man. Alas! Adele's presentiment has been verified; your +account of the interview between Pepito and his friend proves her fears +were well-grounded.' + +''In what way?' + +''In _this_ way; it shows we have an enemy who has an inkling of our +secret, and is striving to snatch the prize from us. What course to take +I am at a loss to know. Adele advises to make sure of Pepito, at any +price.' + +''And that strikes me as being your surest if not your only course.' + +''Yes, the surest; but how to make _sure_ of him?' + +''By outbidding your competitors, and proving to him that in adhering to +you he is best serving his own interests.' + +''But he is base enough to take bribes from both sides, and betray +each.' + +''Oh! that I were a man!' exclaimed Adele, 'this fellow is the only one +who knows our secret. One man ought not to stand in fear of another. +Only _one_ man crosses your path, Arthur.' + +''Unless I murder him, how can he be silenced?' + +''_Murder_ him! It is not murder to kill a robber. Were _I_ a man, I +would not hesitate how to act.' + +''The anxiety of Pedro,' I said, 'indicates you have an enemy. Have you +any idea who he is?' + +''I believe,' said Adele, 'that I know him.' + +''Are you sure there is only one?' + +''Why do you ask?' said the woman, fixing her eye upon me as though she +would, in spite of every obstacle, read my inmost thoughts. + +''Because I fancy there are _two_, for instance, Brown and Hunt.' + +'At the mention of these names Adele started to her feet, exclaiming: + +''On all sides there is treachery. I _demand_, sir, an explanation. What +leads you to associate the name of that firm with this matter? Either +you are our friend or you are not. Speak plainly!' + +''Madame, by the merest chance, I overheard Pedro mention those names, +and since you have given me your confidence, I will give you some +information which may put you on your guard, and help to guide your +future plans.' + +'I then briefly related the conversations I had overheard between +General Valiente and Pedro, both on the Alameda and in the gaming-house +in the Calle del Arco. + +''Now, madame,' I continued, 'let me inquire whether the Mexican from +whom you derived your information, had any connection with this firm?' + +''Yes, sir, he knew them,' she replied; then, after a slight pause, she +added: 'We have already told you so much that it would be folly to +conceal the way in which we became acquainted with the existence of this +mine. Soon after my marriage, I met a veteran officer of the Mexican +army, General Ramiro, then living in exile, at New-Orleans. For me he +conceived a paternal affection, and many a time remonstrated with Mr. +Percival, and entreated him to devote himself to his family, and abandon +the course of life which was leading him to ruin. He often spoke of his +desire to return to Mexico, and lived constantly in the hope of the +decree being revoked, which had driven him into exile. One day he +disclosed the chief cause of his desire to return, by revealing the +secret we have imparted to you.' + +''Pardon me, madame,' I said, 'but tell me how General Ramiro gained his +information? Exploring for opal mines is hardly part of the duties of a +General, even in Mexico.' + +''I was about to explain that,' replied the lady. 'An Indian, convicted +of murdering a monk, some three years previously, was condemned to +death. On being taken, according to Mexican usage, on the eve of +execution, to the confessional, he refused the slightest attention to +the exhortations of the priests, affirming that he had written a letter +to the Governor, which would secure his pardon. + +''True enough, a party of dragoons arrived during the night, and took +him away. The letter was addressed to General Ramiro, then acting as +Governor, and contained promises of a revelation of the highest +importance. + +''When conducted to the General, the Indian proved, by a host of +details, the existence of an opal mine, which he had accidentally +discovered, and in return for the revelation, demanded a free pardon.' + +''I understand, perfectly, madame,' I added, seeing Adele hesitate. + +''I feel,' she said, 'a certain reluctance at this portion of my +narrative, for it forces me to lay bare an act which General Ramiro ever +after regretted, and which--' ''Madame, I will spare you the recital; +the fact is, the General gained the Indian's secret, and +then--unfortunately for the Indian--forgot to fulfill his promise.' + +''Alas! sir, you have rightly judged. Two hours after the interview, the +Indian suffered the garrote, and General Ramiro became the sole +possessor of this important secret. I will not attempt to justify my +venerable friend. He sincerely lamented his sin, and retribution +followed him with long, sad years of exile and poverty. We often sat +together for hours, he talking of his wonderful mine, and longing for +his recall to his native land. His enemies, however, held a firm hold of +government, and growing weary of delay, he made overtures to this firm +of Brown and Hunt, through their correspondents in New-Orleans. Being +sadly in want of funds, he was even mad enough to give a hint of some +kind, relative to an opal mine, which was to be worked by them on joint +account. + +''Before any definite arrangement was perfected, an event occurred which +is indelibly impressed on my memory. The General, after spending a +portion of the afternoon with us, had returned to his home; and about +eleven at night, a messenger begged my immediate attendance on him. He +had been taken suddenly ill; and my husband, who was cognizant of the +paternal affection the General felt for me, urged me to hasten to his +bedside. + +''I found him at the point of death; but my presence seemed to call him +back to life. 'My child,' said he, placing in my hands a very voluminous +letter, 'this is all I have to give you. Farewell, dear child, I am +going. Farewell, forever.' In a few moments he was no more. I returned +home a prey to the most intense grief, and for several days did not +think of opening the letter I had received from my dying benefactor. It +contained the most precise details of the situation of the opal mine, +and advice as to the best means of reaching it. + +''So you see, Mr. Rideau,' she added, after a slight pause, 'the secret +is known only to three persons--Arthur, Pepito, and myself. What, under +the circumstances, would you do?' + +''I see but one course, madame--prompt action; by this means only can +you hope to succeed. You should start without a day's delay.' + +''And Pepito?' + +''Take him with you.' + +''Your advice would be excellent were it practicable; but the state of +Mr. Livermore's health will not permit him to travel.' + +''Oh! never fear, Adele; your presence and your care will keep me up. I +shall gain strength by change of air and scene.' + +'Adele was, probably, about to protest against such a proof of his +attachment, when she was interrupted by a knock at the door. + +''It is Pepito,' said I. My conjecture proved correct. Opening the door, +the Mexican appeared, dressed in a new suit, and evidently not a little +proud of his external improvements. He bowed politely to Mr. Livermore +and myself, and then bending before Adele, took her hand and raised it +with true Mexican grace, to his lips. + +''You arrive, Pepito,' said Adele, 'at the very moment we are talking +about you.' + +'Pepito again bowed to the lady. + +''Senora,' said he, 'to please you I would die; to obey you I would kill +myself.' + +'The exaggerated tone of Mexican politeness which prompted this reply +did not surprise Adele, but it brought a smile to her lips. + +''I trust my wishes will not lead to such disastrous results,' she +replied. 'The fact is, Senor Pride thinks shortly of undertaking another +journey; and as his health is delicate, we are anxious you should bear +us company. I need not add, the zeal you have already shown, will not +fail to secure our interest in your future welfare.' + +''Indeed! does his excellency intend starting very soon? May I be +allowed to ask where is he going?' + +''To the same place,' said Arthur. + +''Oh! oh! I see; the herbs and shells I brought were not enough to +answer his excellency's purpose; you want more of the shells--eh, +Senor?' + +'Yes, a few more,' said Arthur, with a deep sigh, for he felt acutely +the ironical tone which the Mexican assumed. + +''Well, what would you say, Senor Pride, if, instead of the few I handed +you, I had brought a sack full--you would not feel angry, would you?' + +''Scoundrel! you have not dared to thus deceive me?' exclaimed Mr. +Livermore, starting to his feet and advancing toward Pepito, with an air +of menace. + +''Unfortunately, I did not; but you have proved to me what a fool I was, +not to suspect their value. You evidently attach immense importance to +them.' + +''Control your temper, Arthur,' said Adele, in English, 'or you will +ruin every thing.' + +''After all,' resumed Pepito, 'it is only a chance deferred, not a +chance lost. With a good horse, I can soon make up for lost time.' + +'His tone of defiance annihilated the self-possession even of Adele; +while as for Arthur, he looked the very picture of despair. I, +therefore, resolved to smooth matters over, and if possible, to bring +Pepito to terms. At first he listened to me very unwillingly, and +answered sulkily and laconically; but wearied at last by my pertinacity, +he suggested that it was scarcely fair play for me to assume to sit as +judge in a cause wherein I was an interested party.' + +''You are strangely mistaken, Pepito,' I said, in reply; 'I can swear to +you on my honor, and by the holy Virgin of Guadalupe, that I am not in +any way a party to this transaction; and that its success or its failure +will not affect me to the extent of a real. + +''Oh! I beg your pardon, Caballero,' muttered Pepito, on whom my +adjuration by the holy Virgin of Guadalupe, had produced an unexpected +effect. 'In that case I will trust to your advice; I rely on your honor. +Now tell me--I know very well these shells are valuable--how much would +a mule-load be worth--two thousand dollars?' + +''Yes, and perhaps more.' + +''You speak frankly, like a man!' he exclaimed with delight; 'you don't +seek to take advantage of my ignorance; you are a true gentleman. Tell +me where I could sell these things.' + +''You could find no one to buy them in this country; they must be sent +either to Europe or New-York.' + +''The devil! that upsets my plans. I know no one in Europe, no one in +New-York; besides, I can neither read nor write; I should be cheated on +all hands. Is there no way to settle this business between ourselves? +Listen, now: I will agree not only to accompany Senor Pride as his +guide, but to do all the work when we arrive at our destination, on +condition that he pays me two thousand dollars for every trip we make. +What do you say to my proposition?' + +''That it is Senor Pride who must answer you, not I.' + + +XI. + +'Obeying the injunction laid upon him by Adele, Mr. Livermore affected +to demur at the high price placed by Pepito on his cooperation, but +finally appeared to yield to our joint solicitation. + +''Well, then, the bargain is closed,' said Pepito, smiling. 'Now I can +understand why Pedro was so anxious to have me betray my trust. Oh! how +delighted I am to think he will find I have left him in the lurch.' + +''Senor Pepito,' said Adele, with a most winning smile, 'do you happen +to know a family residing some short distance from this city, who, in +consideration of a liberal compensation, would not object to take a lady +to board with them?' + +''I do, Senora, at Toluca.' + +''How far is it from here?' + +''Twelve or fourteen leagues.' + +'' Are you intimate enough with the family to take me there to-morrow, +without previously informing them of my intention?' + +''Certainly; the lady I allude to is my sister.' + +''Then to-morrow morning early, at seven, say. But Senor Pepito, I had +forgotten to warn you that in escorting me you will run a great danger.' + +''Oh! I am not afraid of the robbers on the road; they know me well, and +never molest me.' + +''It is not of robbers that I stand in dread.' + +''Of what, then?' + +''Of a man--an enemy who hates me with a deadly hatred, and who, I fear, +seeks my life.' + +''A man--_one_ man--and he seeks your life; well, well, I should like +to meet him face to face,' exclaimed Pepito. + +''Then, Senor, you promise to protect me at any risk?' + +''Protect you! _yes_,' replied he with vehemence, 'I pledge you my +honor, my body, and my soul. I will face the bravest of the brave, to +defend you from injury.' + +''From my heart of hearts I thank you, Pepito,' said Mr. Livermore, 'you +shall find me not ungrateful, and in return for the zeal and devotion +you have shown, two hundred dollars shall be yours, on your return with +tidings of madame's safe arrival.' + +''I will at once proceed to secure the necessary equipage, Senor. +Senora, rely on my punctuality; at seven, I shall attend you.' + +''Are you related to Senor Pride?' asked Pepito, as we descended the +stairs. + +''In no way; I have known him only a few days.' + +''Well, Caballero, I own I am enchanted with his wife; I never met a +woman of such matchless beauty, such fascinating manners; why, Senor, if +she said to me, 'Pepito, kill your brother,' and I had a brother, which, +luckily, I have not, I think I should kill him.' + +'These words were uttered with so much vehemence, that I deemed it +advisable to turn the conversation. + +''It seems strange to me,' said I, 'that you should be so intimate with +Pedro, and yet be ever on the very verge of quarreling with him.' + +''Well, it is perhaps astonishing to those who do not know us; but +somehow Pedro is my best, in fact, my only friend. We were brought up in +the same village, and are just like brothers. He is a good sort of +fellow, but is abominably vain and self-conceited; then he is deucedly +overbearing. He has no delicacy for his friend's feelings, and, in fact, +has a thousand failings that no one else but I could tolerate. True, we +have now and then a pretty rough time of it. The two gashes on his left +cheek are mementoes of my regard, and I confess I have two ugly marks, +one on my shoulder, the other on my right breast, which I owe to him. +But what galls me most, he is always talking of his six dead ones, while +I can claim only five; but then my five are all men, while two of his +six are women.' + +''Horrible!' I exclaimed. + +''Yes, it is not a fair count; but then it shows his insatiable vanity. +Vanity is one of the capital sins; it is hard to tell into what meanness +it may not lead a man.' With this sententious denunciation, the Mexican, +who had clearly misinterpreted my indignant ejaculation, raised his hat, +with an air of extreme politeness, and departed. + +'When I again entered Mr. Livermore's apartment, the conversation +naturally turned on Pepito. + +''Well, what think you of my cavalier?' said Adele. + +''As you are aware, my acquaintance with him is of but recent date; but +one thing speaks greatly in his favor: he has been for several months +attached to Mr. Livermore's person, both as guide and as attendant while +sick, and he has not attempted, as far as I have heard, either to +assassinate or poison him. This I take to be a striking proof of +meritorious moderation.' + +''I fear, Adele, we are acting imprudently,' said Arthur, 'in intrusting +you to the tender mercies of such an unprincipled scoundrel, a man you +have seen but twice. + +''Good heavens! dearest Arthur, would it be less imprudent for that man +Percival to find me here? I shudder to think of ever again meeting him; +and moreover, by flattering this Pepito and pretending to place entire +confidence in him, I shall win him to a devoted submission to my every +wish.' + +'After a somewhat protracted but by no means important conversation, I +retired, promising to see them in the morning, previous to Adele's +departure. + + +XII. + +'Shortly before the appointed hour, Pepito arrived, and announced that +all his preparations had been made. His fair charge quickly made her +appearance, dressed in complete Mexican costume. It suited her +remarkably well, and I was not surprised to observe the intense +admiration with which Pepito gazed upon her, for her beauty was truly +fascinating. Notwithstanding my suspicions of the absence of that inner +spiritual beauty which should adorn all female loveliness, I myself +could scarce resist the spell she exercised on my feelings, even in +spite of my judgment. + +'Turning to Pepito, with a smile, she inquired gayly, 'Well, Senor, how +do you like my change of costume?' + +'The Mexican replied merely by putting his hand on his heart, and bowing +almost reverentially. + +'Having given Mr. Livermore an affectionate embrace, she exclaimed, in a +firm, determined voice: 'Let us be off: time is precious.' + +'It had been arranged that I should accompany them until they were out +of the city. I therefore left Mr. Livermore alone, and followed the two +travelers. On reaching the street, Adele took the Mexican's arm; but as +they turned the corner of one of the streets running into the Cathedral +Square, I noticed that she raised her hood and lowered the veil attached +to it. Surprised at this apparently uncalled-for act of caution, I +inquired the reason. + +''Do you not see Mr. Percival?' she exclaimed, in Spanish. + +''Who is he? Is that the man you said you dreaded? that +melancholy-looking man, who is walking so moodily ahead of us?' +exclaimed Pepito. 'I must have a good look at him.' + +''Be cautious, I beseech you; if he sees me, all is lost.' + +''Fear nothing, I will be discreet; I only want to get one good look at +him.' So saying, Pepito increased his speed, and was soon walking beside +the unconscious Percival. + +'In a few minutes, Pepito turned suddenly down a narrow street, into +which we followed, and there we found a carriage awaiting us. + +''Senora, I shall know your enemy among a thousand,' was Pepito's +remark, on again offering Adele his arm, to assist her in entering the +vehicle. + +'We were soon safely out of the city, and taking advantage of the first +returning carriage we met, I returned with it, Adele thanked me with +much apparent gratitude for my past services, and begged me to devote as +much of my leisure as possible to cheering and advising her dear Arthur. + +'On my return, I found him pacing his chamber with intense anxiety, and +evidently prostrated by the excitement he had undergone. + +''Well, what news?' said he, almost gasping for breath. + +''Adele is beyond the reach of danger.' + +''You met no one?' + +''No one.' + +''Heaven be praised; and yet I feel a presentiment I shall never see her +again--never.' + +''Pshaw! love is always timorous; it delights in raising phantoms.' + +''This is no phantom; death is a reality, and, mark my words, on earth +we shall meet no more.' + +'Overcome by the violence of his emotions, he buried his face in his +hands, and gave way to an outburst of Intense grief. Yielding, finally, +to my reiterated entreaties, he threw himself upon his bed, and, as I +had some private business to settle, I left him to the care of our +officious hostess, who was only too happy to find one on whom she could +display her self-acquired knowledge of the healing art. + +'The next day, Arthur, though still feeble, was able to walk about his +apartments. Toward dusk, a letter arrived from Adele. She announced her +safe arrival at Toluca, spoke in terms of praise of Pepito's devotion +and attention, and expressed herself agreeably surprised at the +hospitality she had received from his sister. The receipt of this letter +produced a marked improvement in my patient's health. In a postscript, +reference was made to an accident which had happened to poor Pepito, who +was prevented from being the bearer of this letter, by having sprained +his ankle. This would retard his return to the city for a day or two; +nevertheless, she begged her 'dear Arthur' not to be uneasy, as even +this delay, annoying as it was, might prove of advantage, as it would +give him time to recover from the effects of the excitement of the past +few days. + +'After Adele's departure, I again fastened up the door of communication, +and although I saw him at least once every day, to some extent I carried +out my determination of ceasing to be on such intimate terms with Mr. +Livermore. I fell back into my former course of life, and yet I felt a +certain envy of the colossal fortune upon which he had, as it were, +stumbled. Though I sincerely wished my poor sick neighbor might succeed +in his enterprise, I gradually grew restless and morose. The opal-mine +became a painful and distasteful topic of conversation, and as Arthur +invariably adverted to it in some way or other, I by degrees made my +visits of shorter and shorter duration. + +'In vain I strove to divert my mind from this one absorbing idea. I +visited the theatres, attended cock-pits and bull-fights, in the hope +that the excitement would afford me relief from the fascinating spell: +but it was useless, I was a haunted man. + +'One night, returning from the opera, at about ten o'clock, I was +stopped by a large crowd at the corner of the Calle Plateros. From an +officer near me, I ascertained that a foreigner, believed to be a +heretic, had been stabbed, and was either dead or dying. + +'The next morning, in the _Diario de Gobierno_, which Donna Teresa +brought up with my chocolate, I learned that 'at about ten on the +previous night, an American, named Percival, recently arrived from +New-Orleans, was murdered in the Calle Plateros.' His watch and purse +were missing; it was therefore inferred that robbery and not revenge had +prompted the foul deed. + +'I instantly summoned Donna Teresa, and requested her to take the paper, +which I marked, to Mr. Livermore; and as soon as my breakfast was over, +I hastened to make my usual call. I found him looking very sombre. + +''God is my witness!' he exclaimed, the instant I entered the room, +'that I did not seek this poor unfortunate man's death; but it relieves +Adele from all fear. Have you heard any details of the event?' + +''I have not; but assassination is not so rare here that you need be +under any fear about it. No suspicion can possibly attach to you.' + +''I have no fear, for I know my own innocence; but it is inexplicable to +me. Poor Percival! he could have had no enemy in the city.' + +''Doubtless he was murdered for his money and his watch; but have you +heard from Toluca?' + +''Yes, and Adele informs me that I may expect Pepito in the course of +the day. So I shall not delay my departure beyond to-morrow, perhaps +to-night. But there is some one at the door; doubtless it is Pepito.' + +'Mr. Livermore opened the door; but instead of Pepito it was his friend, +Pedro, who entered. + +''My presence surprises you, Caballero,' said Pedro, drawing a long +sigh; 'but alas! I have bad news.' + +'What! bad news? speak, speak, quick!' exclaimed Arthur, turning +deadly pale. + +'Pedro, before deigning to answer, drew forth a very soiled rag, which +served him as a handkerchief, and proceeded to rub his eyes with no +little vigor, a pantomime which was intended no doubt to convey the idea +of tears having dimmed his eyes. + +''Alas! Excellency,' said he at length, in a lugubrious tone; 'poor +Pepito is in sad trouble.' + +''Have you been fighting again? Have you killed him?' I exclaimed. + +''Killed him? _I_ kill him!' he repeated indignantly; 'how can you +imagine such an outrage, Caballero? Kill my best friend! No, Senor; but +poor Pepito has been pressed into a military company. To-morrow, they +will uniform him and march him off to some frontier regiment.' + +''Is there no way of buying him off?' inquired Arthur. + +''Nothing more easy, Caballero. You have simply to write to the General +who commands the department, and state that Pepito is attached to your +person, as a personal attendant, and that will suffice to set him at +liberty. They never press people in service.' + +'Mr. Livermore lost no time in following Pedro's advice. As soon as the +letter was handed to him, the latter waved it in triumph over his head, +and rushed forth to effect the deliverance of his dear compadre, Pepito. + +'The impressment of Pepito surprised me, for I had not heard of their +taking any body who had reached the dignity of a pair of inexpressibles, +and the luxury of a pair of shoes. The Indians in the neighborhood of +the capital, besotted by drink and misery, almost naked, and living or +rather burrowing in caves, were usually the only victims of the +recruiting sergeant. However, as the letter given by Arthur to Pedro +could be of no use to the latter, I saw no reasonable ground to doubt +the story. + +'As it seemed probable that Mr. Livermore would shortly leave the city, +I accepted his invitation, and promised to return and dine with him at +five o'clock, adding that I hoped then to meet Pepito, and receive from +him a full account of his adventures since we had parted. + + +XIII. + +'About three o'clock, I returned home. I had ensconced myself, book in +hand, in my rocking-chair, when groans which seemed to proceed from Mr. +Livermore's room, attracted my attention. I listened at the door, and my +fears were realized. The groans were assuredly uttered by my neighbor. I +rushed into his room, and as I crossed toward his bed, a fearful +spectacle met my gaze. + +'Lying across the bed, his face livid, every muscle in motion, a prey to +the most violent convulsions, I saw my unfortunate fellow-countryman. No +sooner, however, did the noise of my entrance fall upon his ear, than he +summoned strength enough to rise, and seizing a pistol that was beside +him, pointed it at me. + +''Ah! it is you?' said he, lowering his weapon, and falling back, 'you +have arrived just in time to see me die.' + +''Take courage, my friend; for heaven's sake, be of good cheer. It is +only one of your usual attacks, and will pass off; there is no danger.' + +''No danger!' repeated the unfortunate sufferer, biting the sheet and +striving to stifle the cry which agony drew from him; 'no danger? why, I +am poisoned!' + +''Poisoned! you must be mad,' I exclaimed: but without loss of time, I +summoned Donna Lopez, and sent instantly for a doctor, who fortunately +lived within a few doors of our house. + +'Once more alone with Arthur, I inquired, during a momentary cessation +of his sufferings: + +''What reason have you for thinking you are poisoned?' + +''I am _sure_ of it,' he replied. 'About an hour since, I received a +visit from the Mexican General who is superintendent of the recruiting +service. He desired me to give him certain explanations relative to +Pepito, which, of course, I did. It was very warm, and he asked for a +glass of iced water. I offered him some claret to mix with it, and, at +his request, joined him in the drink. But a few moments elapsed after I +had taken my draught, when I felt a weakness steal over me; my eyelids +grew heavy, my knees gave way, and an intolerable heat burned my veins. +I was compelled to sit down upon my bed. At that moment, the General +changed his tone, and imperiously demanded the key of my desk. 'I do not +want your money,' he said, 'but I must have the papers relative to the +opal-mine.' I can not express the effect these words produced upon me. +'To deal frankly with you,' continued the General, 'you are poisoned, +and the Indian poison that is now coursing through your veins has no +antidote. Ten minutes, and your strength will begin to fail; two hours, +and your earthly career will end. If you do not at once give me your +keys, I shall force the lock.' These words, which he doubtless thought +would crush me, filled me with boundless rage, and for a few moments +revived my sinking energies. I started to my feet, and seized my +revolver.' + +'''The devil! it seems the dose was not strong enough,' exclaimed my +assassin, taking flight; 'but I will return, be sure of that.'' + +'The doctor soon arrived. At the first glance at the patient, he knit +his brow, and his countenance became overcast. + +''How long have you been ill?' he inquired. + +''I was poisoned, about an hour since.' + +''Ah! you know you have been poisoned?' + +''Yes, doctor, and also the man who poisoned me. Tell me, I beseech you, +how long I have to live? Speak! you need have no fear; I am prepared for +the worst.' + +'The doctor hesitated, and then said: 'I fear, my dear sir, another hour +is all you can hope for.' + +''I thank you, doctor, for your frankness. No antidote, then, can save +me?' + +''None. The poison you have taken, which the Indians call '_Leche de +palo_,' is deadly. Your present sufferings will soon cease, and +gradually you will sink, peacefully and painlessly, into the sleep of +death.' + +''Send instantly, then, for a magistrate. I at least will be revenged on +my murderer,' said Arthur, 'let me at once make my statement.' + +''You will only be wasting your dying moments,' interposed the doctor; +'day after day, I am called upon to witness the ravages of this +insidious poison, but never yet has the scaffold punished the assassin. +My dear friend, think not of your murderer; eternity is opening to +receive you; in its solemn presence, mere human vengeance shrinks into +utter nothingness.' + +''Doctor, you speak wisely as well as kindly. Poor Adele,' murmured +Arthur, and his eyes closed, though his lips still moved. + +'After the doctor's departure, I sent to the American Legation, urgently +requesting some official to return with my messenger. I took a chair +beside the bed, while Donna Teresa knelt in the adjoining room, and +prayed and sobbed with much fervor. In a short while, Arthur rallied +from the stupor into which he had fallen. His features became calm, his +breathing regular though feeble, and the tranquil, almost happy, +expression of his eye made me for a time half doubt the fearful +prediction of the physician. + +''Do you feel better?' I inquired. + +''Much much; I am in no pain.' + +''Let us hope, then, for the best. I will send for another doctor.' + +''No, that would be useless. My lower extremities are swelling, and I +can feel the hand of death clutching at my vitals. The doctor was +right; death is not racking me with torture, it is gently embracing me. +But I want your assistance; sit down.' + +'I resumed my seat, and Arthur continued, in a feeble tone, but +perfectly calm: + +''How mean a thing is life! Good God! so mean, that at this moment I can +not explain to my own soul why man should cling to it. What do we meet +during our short career? Deceit, hypocrisy, and treachery. Ah! death +reveals the hollowness of life.' + +''My dear friend, you are exhausting yourself. Did you not say you wanted +my assistance? Rely on my zeal, my fidelity, and my discretion.' + +''Rely on you! How can I tell? You are only a man; perhaps avaricious and +treacherous as your fellow-mortals. No matter; though you should +forswear yourself; I, at least, will do what is right. Feel beneath my +pillow, there is a key; take it, open my desk. In the small drawer on +the left is a package of letters. Have you them? Good. Next to that +there is a sealed letter. Now, read aloud the direction on each.' + +''Papers to be burnt after my death,' said I, obeying his injunction. + +''Well, what do you intend doing with them?' + +''Can you for one moment doubt?' I replied. + +'What if I should tell you they contain the entire secret of my +opal-mine!' + +'I made no reply; but struck a match against the wall, and setting them +on fire, resumed my seat. + +''I could hardly have believed it; but you still have Pepito; from him +you hope to learn the secret,' said the dying man. + +''Shall I bind myself by an oath not to seek him?' + +''No; I leave you at liberty. Act as you think best. I burned those +papers because they were bought with blood, for no other reason.' + +''Bought with blood?' I exclaimed. + +''Yes; ten months ago, General Ramiro died at New-Orleans, by +poison--poison administered by Adele. Do you wonder life has lost all +charm for me? Oh! life is the bitterness, not death.' + +'His voice momently grew fainter. I leaned closer, to catch his fading +tones, till he ceased to speak. I gazed intently at his glassy eyes; the +lids closed for a moment, then partially opened, the jaw fell, and he +was no more.' + +'I know not how long I had stood beside his lifeless body, pondering +over the uncertainty of life, and the mystery of death, and the +conflicting presentiments he had uttered: that he should live to achieve +success, yet die without again seeing her who had lured him to his +wretched end, when the door of the chamber suddenly opened, and five or +six dragoons entered, accompanied by an officer in undress uniform. + +''What! you here, General?' I exclaimed. + +''Why not?' was the cool reply, 'I am in search of a deserter named +Pepito, who, I was informed, was concealed here. I see he is not here; +but doubtless by searching among the papers contained in this desk, I +shall find some clue to him.' + +''Your search, General, will be fruitless. The unfortunate young man +whose corpse lies here, instructed me, before he expired, to burn all +the papers in his possession, and I have obeyed his injunctions.' + +''Curses on his infernal obstinacy!' exclaimed General Valiente, 'but +look you, Senor, I tell you I will search this desk.' + +''By what right?' + +''By the right of might.' + +'Taking my stand in front of the desk, I was protesting against the +lawless act of violence, when the Secretary of the American Legation +fortunately arrived. Finding his plans defeated, Valiente, with +commendable prudence, decided on beating a retreat, and with his +followers, took rather an abrupt departure. + +'The ordinary formalities of attaching the seals of the Legation having +been performed, and having secured a faithful person to take charge of +the remains of the unfortunate Livermore, I sallied forth to make +arrangements to leave, as soon as possible, for Toluca. + +The first person I met was Pedro. It is impossible to express the horror +I felt of this villain. My hand was on my weapon before he had reached +my side. + +''Have you heard the news, Caballero?' said he, in a low, mysterious +tone. + +''No.' + +''I was not fortunate enough to release Pepito; when I arrived with his +master's letter, he had already escaped from the barracks.' + +''Tell me frankly, Pedro, did not General Valiente send you, this +morning, for that letter?' + +''Why? What makes you ask?' inquired Pedro, quite disconcerted by the +abruptness of my question. + +''Because Senor Pride is dead, and General Valiente has twice been to +his rooms.' + +''Dead! Senor Pride dead!' echoed Pedro, in unfeigned astonishment. +'Caballero, I must be off.' And he instantly turned away, and was soon +lost to my sight. + +'Before another hour had passed I was on horseback and on the way to +Toluca. The road was infested by gangs of robbers, but my pockets were +empty, and my brain was full, so I gave those gentry not even a passing +thought. The evening was fast closing in, and as the shadows gathered +round me, the tragic event which I had just witnessed gradually receded +from my mind. As I journeyed on, it grew more and more distant, until at +last it faded into a dim memory of the past; and through the long miles +of my lonely ride there went before me the glorious vision of an +opal-mine of untold wealth--an opal-mine without an owner--a countless +fortune, untold riches, waiting to fall into my hands. + + +XIV. + +'It was past midnight when I reached Toluca. As it was too late to call +on Adele, I alighted at a tavern, where I passed the night, pacing my +chamber, and not closing my eyes. Soon after daybreak I sought the house +of Pepito's sister; and notwithstanding the earliness of the hour, found +Mrs. Percival standing at one of the windows. + +''You here, Mr. Rideau!' she exclaimed, with surprise, on seeing me. +'How did you find my retreat?' + +''I was told of it by Mr. Livermore.' + +''Ah! 'tis he who sent you.' + +''Alas! not so, madame.' + +''Alas!--you say, alas! What do you mean? Have you ill news?' + +''I have, indeed, madame.' + +''Arthur is dead!' she cried. 'I know he is dead! But, tell me, I +entreat you, tell me all. How--when did this happen?' + +'I gave her a detailed account of Arthur's death, to which she listened +with rapt attention. + +''This opal-mine, like the Golden Fleece, brings misfortune to all who +seek it,' she said, when I had finished, 'Poor Arthur! I loved him +fondly, devotedly; and his image will live forever in my heart. But at +such a crisis it is worse than folly--it is madness to waste time by +giving way to grief. Reason teaches us to bow before the inevitable. It +is idle to repine at the decrees of Fate. I am alone, now--alone, +without a friend or a protector. No matter; I have a stout heart, and +the mercy of Providence is above all. But to business: After the death +of Mr. Livermore, what became of the papers?' + +''I burned them before his death, in obedience to his injunctions.' + +''You burned them! I will not believe it!' she exclaimed, in a loud +voice, and with a penetrating glance. + +'I felt the blood rush to my face; she noticed my anger, and at once +added, in milder tone: + +''Pardon me! pardon me! I knew not what I said; I am well-nigh crazy; I +do believe you, I do indeed; forgive me, and think of the despair to +which the loss of those papers reduces me. I have no copy, and with them +my secret perishes. I am ruined--ruined irretrievably. The mine is +known now only to Pepito!' + +''Then, madame, on him you must hereafter rely.' + +''Explain to me, pray, how could Arthur, on his dying-bed, have been +guilty of so cruel, so mean an act? How could he despoil the woman who +had trusted him, and leave her not only forlorn, but destitute?' + +'This question embarrassed me, and I was conning an answer, when Adele +resumed: + +''Let no false delicacy restrain you; speak out, Mr. Rideau; adversity +has taught me endurance, if not courage.' + +''Since, madame, you absolutely extort it from me, I must admit that a +few moments before he expired, Mr. Livermore--' + +''Speak out, plainly; I beg of you, conceal nothing.' + +''Well, madame, the words he used were: 'I destroy these papers because +they were bought with blood. Ten months ago General Ramiro died, at +New-Orleans, by poison--poison administered by Adele!'' + +''Poor Arthur! what agony he must have suffered--he must have been +delirious. O Arthur! why was I not beside you? Poor Arthur!' As she +uttered these words, she raised her streaming eyes to heaven; her lips +moved as if in prayer, and a deadly pallor overspread her countenance. + +'In a short time her fortitude returned, and turning toward me, she +said, in a voice which betrayed no emotion: + +''Let us turn from the past and look at the present. Difficulties +surround and threaten to overwhelm me. Before I can determine how they +are to be met, I have a proposition to make to you, Mr. Rideau, to which +I must have an immediate answer. Will you become my partner in this +business?' + +''Have you enough confidence in me?' + +''I have; and for this reason: you have not sought to meddle in this +matter, but from the outset have striven to shun it; you have not +obtruded yourself, but been drawn into it in spite of your wishes. Do +you accept my proposition? Yes, or no?' + +''I accept,' I replied, moderating my joyful feelings as well as I +possibly could. + +''Such being your decision, what course do you advise?' + +''Immediate action, for minutes are precious.' + +''I foresee we shall agree perfectly. To-day my host purposes starting +for the capital; I shall accompany him. If you return without delay, the +remainder of the day will suffice to prepare for the journey, and +to-morrow we will start for the opal-mine.' + +''But where shall I meet you, madame?' + +''At the Hotel de las Diligencias.' + +''And where shall I find Pepito?' + +''At a tavern near the Barrier del Nino Perdido. But you will not, if +you please, inform him of my address. For--well, it is an unpleasant +matter to mention--but this Pepito seems to be--' + +''Desperately in love with you.' + +''I hardly meant that--but his attentions are too oppressive to be quite +agreeable.' + +''I fully understand you, madame. May I inquire if you have had any +tidings of Mr. Percival?' + +''Do not, I beg, Mr. Rideau, allude to that painful topic--all feelings +of resentment are hushed in the grave.' + +''What! have you heard of his assassination?' + +'' Yes; the news reached me yesterday; I read it in the newspaper.' + +'I shortly afterward took my leave--the last words of my new copartner +being: + +''At five, then, at the Hotel de las Diligencias. Be sure you are +punctual.' + +'Arrived in Mexico, my first thought was to seek for Pepito. Following +the directions given me by Mrs. Percival, I soon found him; and +repeating to him a portion of the interview I had with the lady, I +finished by proposing to take the place of Mr. Livermore in the bargain +that had been made between them. + +''I ask nothing better,' was the reply. 'Here are my terms--two thousand +dollars the very day we return to Mexico, and I to hold the shells till +you hand over the money. That is fair, is it not?' + +''Quite. When shall I see you again?' + +''At eight to-night, on the Cathedral steps.' + +'Hastening home, I devoted the rest of the day to preparing for my +journey, and a little before five started for the Hotel de las +Diligencias. Mrs. Percival had not yet arrived. Twice again I called, +but still in vain. The evening gradually wore away, and at eight I paced +the Cathedral Square, and for an hour loitered around the steps; but +Pepito, also, failed to keep the rendezvous. + +'As the next day was Sunday, I felt assured the most likely place to +find Pepito, would be the bull-ring. On reaching it, I found a crowd +assembled near one of the entrances, and pushing my way through, I +beheld Pepito lying on the ground weltering in his blood. I rushed to +him, and kneeling down, raised him in my arms. + +''Ah! it is you, Senor,' said he, in a feeble tone. 'This is Pedro's +work, but it was his last; for I have killed the traitor.' + +''Pepito, tell me, for Heaven's sake, where did you find the shells?'I +inquired; for avarice and cupidity reigned, I am ashamed to own, +paramount within my breast. + +''Those shells? In the plains of Chiapa--three days' journey from the +sea--near the little river--in a brook--Ah! glory to God! here comes a +priest!' + +'At this moment a fat Franciscan friar pressed through the crowd. + +''Absolution, padre! absolution!' cried Pepito, to whom the sight of the +friar brought back new life. + +''Patience, my son, patience! I am very late--very late--and I must not +be detained. Wait a little--and after the sports of the day are over, I +will return.' + +''But, padre, I shall be dead!' + +''Well, then, be quick!' + +''I have only two sins on my conscience: I have not attended mass for +three weeks.' + +''That is sad! very sad! Well, what next?' + +''Three days ago I stabbed an Inglez--a heretic.' + +''Well, my dear son, your sins are venial sins; I absolve you.' + +''Pepito, how did that dagger come into your hands?' I exclaimed, for I +was astonished to see in his belt the dagger I had lost on the night +when Adele took refuge in my room. + +''From my dear--Adele.' + +''And the _Inglez_--the heretic you stabbed--who was he?' + +''Her husband--she wished it--promised to be mine--and I obeyed. But, +stand back--I want air--air.' + +'I turned away my head, sickened at the fearful revelation. When I again +looked, my eyes fell on a corpse. I snatched the dagger, which was still +wet with Pedro's blood, from his belt, and hurried almost frantic to the +Hotel de las Diligencias. Mrs. Percival had been waiting for me about +two hours. + +'The violent emotions which raged within me must have been portrayed on +my countenance, for on my entering the apartment, she started back in +dismay. + +''Mrs. Percival,' said I, striving to master the repulsive feeling which +the mere sight of her excited, 'Pepito has, within the past hour, been +murdered.' + +''Murdered!' she repeated. 'And the secret--' + +''Is dead--for _you_--forever! Madame, that infernal mine has for years +been driving you to the blackest crime! It is time that the bait fell +from the devil's hook.' + +''What do you mean by this altered tone?' + +''I mean, madame, that, thanks to Heaven, your crimes have been revealed +to me. Shall I enumerate the list of your victims--General Ramiro, +Arthur Livermore, Edward Percival, your husband, and last of all, +Pepito? Your path, since you have sought this mine, is marked at every +step by treachery and crime. The boldest heart must shudder to look at +the ghastly procession led on by the General you poisoned.' + +'''Tis false! God help me, 'tis false!' + +''False--_is_ it false--that three days since your husband was murdered +at your instigation, by Pepito? Stay--hear me! Look at this dagger! did +you not steal it from my room and give it to Pepito to perpetrate the +crime? Madame, pause, ere you dare to swear it is false.' + +'She trembled, and falling on her knees, exclaimed: + +''My God! my God! forgive me!' + +''It is not, madame, for erring man to limit the infinite mercy of +Heaven; but for such crimes as yours there must be a fearful +retribution. Farewell; may you go and sin no more.' + +'I left the room, but in a few moments heard a piercing shriek; and +rushing back, found the wretched woman extended on the floor in the +agonies of death. She had picked up the dagger which I had thrown away, +and stabbed herself to the heart. + + * * * * * + +'And the opal-mine?' + +'I meant, at first, to leave the Nibelungen Hoard alone; but time tames +all things except the love of gold. I went there; it was rich, but not +inexhaustible. You have all had proof that I am neither poor nor +parsimonious; but neither am I extravagant. I have all that I want--a +cottage at Newport, a neat house in the Rue de la Paix, stocks, and real +estate. The opal-mine started me; I have kept myself going very well +ever since. + +'Gentlemen, my tale is ended. I am sorry it has proved so long, and am +grateful to you all for the attentive hearing you have given me. I have +been constantly looking round expecting to detect some one of you +falling into a gentle slumber; I therefore feel really flattered at +finding you all still awake.' + +'But what became of the child that Percival was seeking?' shouted one. + +'Did you ever find out any thing about Adele's previous history?' asked +another. + +'And look here, Rideau, what did you--?' + +'Gentlemen, take pity on me; while I have been spinning this long yarn, +you have been smoking and imbibing; I am very willing to join you in +both; but to-night I am tired out. The next time we meet, I shall be +delighted to tell you what particulars I learned on my return to New +Orleans, relative to Adele and her poor orphan child; but no more +to-night.' + + + + +_THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE._ + + Red was the lightning's flashing, + And down through the driving rain, + We saw the red eyes dashing + Of the merciless midnight train; + Soon many crowded together, + Under the lamp's red glow, + But I saw one figure only-- + Ah! why did I tremble so? + The eyes that gazed in the darkness + After the midnight train, + Are red with watching and weeping, + For it brings none back again. + Clouds hang in the west like banners, + Red banners of war unfurled, + And the prairie sod is crimson + With the best blood of the world. + + White faces are pressed to the window, + Watching the sun go down, + Looking out to the coming darkness, + That covers the noisy town. + White are the hands, too, and quiet, + Over the pulseless breast; + No more will the vision of parting + Disturb the white sleeper's rest. + Over sleeper, and grave, and tombstone, + Like a pitying mantle spread, + The snow comes down in the night-time, + With a shy and noiseless tread. + + Blue smoke rolls away on the north-wind, + Blue skies grow dusk in the din, + Blue waters look dark with the shadow + That gathers the world within. + Rigid and blue are the fingers + That clutch at the fading sky; + Blue lips in their agony mutter: + 'O God! let this cup pass by.' + Blue eyes grow weary with watching; + Strong hands with waiting to do; + While brave hearts echo the watchword: + 'Hurrah! for the Red, White, and Blue.' + + + + +_MACCARONI AND CANVAS._ + +IV. + +THE FAIR AT GROTTO FERRATA. + +No matter how well and hearty you may be, if you are in Rome, in summer, +when the _scirocco_ blows, you will feel as if convalescent from some +debilitating fever; in winter, however, this gentle-breathing south-east +wind will act more mildly; it will woo you to the country, induce you to +sit down in a shady place, smoke, and 'muse.' That incarnate essence of +enterprise, business, industry, economy, sharpness, shrewdness, and +keenness--that Prometheus whose liver was torn by the vulture of cent +per cent--eternally tossing, restless DOOLITTLE, was one day seen +asleep, during bank hours, on a seat in the Villa Madama. The _scirocco_ +blew that day: Doolittle fell. + +At breakfast, one morning in the latter part of the month of March, +Caper proposed to Roejean and another artist named Bagswell, to attend +the fair held that day at Grotto Ferrata. + +'What will you find there?' asked Roejean. + +'Find?--I remember, in the _Bohemian Girl_, a song that will answer +you,' replied Caper; 'the words were composed by the theatrical poet +Bunn': + + 'Rank, in its halls, may not find + The calm of a happy mind; + So repair + To the Fair, + And they may be met with there.' + +'Unsatisfactory, both the grammar and the sentiment,' said Bagswell; 'it +won't work; it's all wrong. In the first place, rank, in its hauls, +_may_ find the calm of a happy mind: for instance, the captain of a +herring-smack may find the calm of a very happy mind in his hauls of No. +1 Digbys; more joy even than the fair could afford him. Let us go!' + +Bagswell was a 'funny' Englishman. + +They went--taking the railroad. Dashing out of the station, the +locomotive carried them, in half an hour, to the station at Frascati, +whirling them across the Campagna, past long lines of ruined or +half-ruined and repaired aqueducts; past Roman tombs; past _Roma +Vecchia_, the name given to the ruins of an immense villa; landing them +at the first slope of the mountains, covered at their base with +vineyards, olive and fruit-trees, and corn-fields, while high over them +gleamed glistening white snow-peaks. + +The walk from Frascati to the Grotto, about three miles, was beautiful, +winding over hills through a fine wood of huge old elms and plane-trees. +In the warm sun-light, the butterflies were flitting, while the +road-side was purple with violets, and white and blue with little +flowers. From time to time, our three artists had glimpses of the +Campagna, rolling away like the ocean, to dash on Rome, crowned by St. +Peter's; the dome of which church towers above the surrounding country, +so that it can be seen, far and wide, for thirty miles or more. The road +was alive with walkers and riders; here a dashing, open carriage, filled +with rosy English; there a _contadino_, donkey-back, dressed in +holiday-suit, with short-clothes of blue woolen, a scarlet waistcoat, +his coarse blue-cloth jacket worn on one shoulder, and in his brown, +conical-shaped hat, a large carnation-pink. Then came more of the +country-people, almost always called _villani_, (hence our word, +villains!) These poor villains had sacks on their backs, or were +carrying in their hands--if women, on their heads--loads of bacon, sides +of bacon, flitches of bacon, hams, loaves of bread, cheese, and very +loud-smelling _mortadella_; which they had bought and were bringing away +from the fair. + +'There was one task,' said Roejean, 'that Hercules declined, and that +was eating that vile _mortadella_. He was a strong man; but that was +stronger. Wait a moment, till I fill a pipe with caporal, and have a +smoke; for if I meet another man with that delicacy, I shall have to +give up the Grotto--unless I have a pipe under my nose, as +counter-irritant.' + +The three artists tramped along gayly, until they approached the town, +when they assumed the proud, disdainful mood, assuring spectators that +they who wear it are of gentle blood, and are tired of life and weary of +traveling around with pockets filled with gold. They only looked coldly +at the pens filled with cattle for sale; long-horned, mouse-colored oxen +were there; groups of patient donkeys, or the rough-maned, +shaggy-fetlocked, bright-eyed small horses of the Campagna; countless +pigs, many goats; while above all, the loud-singing jackasses were +performing at the top of their lungs. Here were knots of country-people, +buying provisions or clothing; there were groups of carriages from Rome, +which had rolled out the wealthy _forestieri_ or strangers, drawn up by +the way-side, in the midst of all sorts and kinds of hucksters. The road +leading to the church, shaded by trees, was crowded with country-people, +in picturesque costumes, busily engaged in buying and selling hams, +bacon, bacon and hams, and a few more hams. Here and there, a +cheese-stand languished, for pork flourished. Now a copper-smith exposed +his wares, chief among which were the graceful-shaped _conche_ or +water-vessels, the same you see so carefully poised on the heads of so +many black-eyed Italian girls, going to or coming from so many +picturesque fountains, in--paintings, and all wearing such brilliant +costumes, as you find at--Gigi's costume-class. Then came an ironmonger, +whose wares were all made by hand, even the smallest nails; for +machinery, as yet, is in its first infancy around Rome. At this stand, +Roejean stopped to purchase a pallet-knife; not one of the regular, +artist-made tools, but a thin, pliable piece of steel, without handle, +which experience taught him was well adapted to his work. As usual, the +iron-man asked twice as much as he intended to take, and after a sharp +bargain, Roejean conquered. Then they came to a stand where there were +piles of coarse crockery, and some of a better kind, of classical shape. + +Caper particularly admired a beautiful white jug, intended for a +water-pitcher, and holding about two gallons. After asking its price, he +offered a quarter of the money for it; to Bagswell's horror, the +crockery-man took it, and Caper, passing his arm through the handle, was +proceeding up the road, when Bagswell energetically asked him what he +was going to do with it. + +'Enter Rome with it, like Titus with the _spolia opima_,' replied Caper. + +'Oh! I say, now,' said the former, who was an Englishman and an +historical painter; 'you aren't going to trot all over the fair with +that old crockery on your arm. Why, God bless me, they'll swear we are +drunk. There comes the Duchess of Brodneck; what the deuce will she +say?' + +'Say?' said Caper, 'why, I'll go and ask her; this is not court-day.' + +Without another word, with water-pitcher on arm, he walked toward the +Duchess. Saluting her with marked politeness, he said: + +'A countryman of yours, madame, has objected to my carrying this _objet +de fantaisie_, assuring me that it would occasion remarks from the +Duchess of Brodneck. May I have the good fortune to know what she says +of it?' + +'She says,' replied the lady, smiling and speaking slowly and quietly; +'that a young man who has independence enough to carry it, has +confidence enough to--fill it.' She bowed, and passed on, Caper politely +raising his hat, in acknowledgment of the well-rounded sentence. When he +returned to Bagswell, he found the historical painter with eyes the size +of grape-shot, at the sublime impudence of the man. He told him what +she had said. + +'Upon my honor, you Americans have a face of brass; to address a duchess +you don't know, and ask her a question like that!' + +'That's nothing,' said Caper, 'a little experience has taught me that +the higher you fly, in England, the nearer you approach true politeness +and courtesy. Believe me, I should never have asked that question of any +Englishwoman whose social position did not assure me she was +cosmopolitan.' + +'Come,' said Bagswell, 'come, after such an adventure, if there is one +drop of any thing fit to drink in this town, we'll all go and get +lushy.' + +They went. They found a door over which hung a green branch. Good wine +needs no bush, therefore Italian wine-shops hang it out; for the wine +there is not over good. But as luck was with our three artists, in the +shop over the door of which hung the green bough, they found that the +_padrone_ was an old acquaintance of Roejean; he had married and moved +to Grotto Ferrata. He had a barrel of Frascati wine, which was bright, +sparkling, sweet, and not watered. This the _padrone_ tapped in honor of +his guests, and at their urgent request, sat down and helped empty a +couple of bottles. Moreover, he told them that as the town was +overcrowded, they would find it difficult to get a good dinner, unless +they would come and dine with him, at his private table, and be his +guests; which invitation Roejean accepted, to the tavern-keeper's great +joy, promising to be back at the appointed time. + +Our trio then sauntered forth to see the fair. Wandering among the +crowded booths, they came suddenly on a collection of _Zingare_, looking +like their Spanish cousins, the _Gitanas_. Wild black eyes, coarse black +locks of hair, brown as Indians, small hands, small feet--the Gipsies, +children of the storm--my Rommani pals, what are you doing here? Only +one woman among them was noticeable. Her face was startlingly handsome, +with an aquiline nose, thin nostrils, beautifully-arched eyebrows, and +eyes like an eagle. She was tall, straight, with exquisitely-rounded +figure, and the full drapery of white around her bosom fell from the +shoulders in large hanging sleeves; over her head was thrown a crimson +and green shawl, folded like the _pane_ of the _ciociare_, and setting +off her raven-black hair and rich red and swarthy complexion. + +Roejean stood entranced, and Caper, noticing his rapt air, forbore +breaking silence; while the gipsy, who knew that she was the admiration +of the _forestieri_, stood immovable as a statue, looking steadily at +them, without changing a feature. + +'_Piu bellisima che la madonna!_' said Roejean, loud enough for her to +hear. Then turning to Caper, 'Let's _andiammo_,' (travel,) said he, +'that woman's face will haunt me for a month. I've seen it before; yes, +seen her shut up in the Vatican, immortal on an old Etruscan vase. +Egypt, Etruria, the Saracen hordes who once overrun all this Southern +Italy, I find, every hour, among live people, some trace of you all; but +of the old Roman, nothing!' + +'You find the old Roman cropping out in these church processions, +festivals, shrines, and superstitions, don't you?' asked Caper. + +'No! something of those who made the seal, nothing of the impression on +the wax remains for me. Before Rome was, the great East was, and shall +be. The Germans are right to call the East the Morning-Land; thence came +light.... The longer you live along the wave-washed shore of the +Mediterranean, the more you will see what a deep hold the East once had +on the people of the coast. The Romans, after all, were only opulent +tradesmen, who could buy luxuries without having the education to +appreciate them. So utterly did they ignore the Etruscans, who made them +what they were, that you seek in vain to find in Roman history any thing +but the barest outline of the origin of a people so graceful and +refined that the Roman citizen was a boot-black in comparison to one of +them. The Saracens flashed light and life, in later days, once more into +the Roman leaven. What a dirty, filthy page the whole Gothic middle-age +is at best! It lies like a huge body struck with apoplexy, and only +restored to its sensual life by the sharp lancet, bringing blood, of +these same infidels, these stinging Saracens. Go into the mountains back +of us, hunt up the costumes that still remain, and see where they all +come from--the East. Look at the crescent earrings and graceful twisted +gold-work, from--the East. All the commonest household ware, the +agricultural implements, the manner of cooking their food, and all that +is picturesque in life and religion--all from the East.' + +'Strikes me,' quoth Caper, 'that this question of food touches my +weakest point; therefore, let us go and dine, and continue the lecture +at a more un-hungry period. But where is Bagswell?' + +'He is seeking adventures, of course.' + +'Oh! yes, I sec him down there among the billy-goats; let's go and pick +him up, and then for mine host of the Green Bough.' + +Having found Bagswell, our trio at once marched to the Green Bough, +which they saw was filled to overflowing with country-people, eating and +drinking, sitting on rough benches, and stowing away food and wine as if +in expectation of being very soon shipwrecked on a desert island, where +there would be nothing but hard-shell clams and lemons to eat. The +landlord at once took the trio up-stairs, where, at a large table, were +half-a-dozen of his friends, all of the cleanly order of country-people, +stout, and having a well-to-do look that deprecated any thing like +famine. A young lady of twenty and two hundred, as Caper summed up her +age and weight, was evidently the cynosure of all eyes; two other +good-natured women, of a few more years and a very little less weight, +and three men, made up the table. Any amount of compliments, as usual, +passed between the first six and the last three comers, prefacing every +thing with desires that they would act without ceremony; but Caper and +Roejean were on a high horse, and they fairly pumped the spring of +Italian compliments so dry, that Bagswell could only make a squeaking +noise when he tried the handle. This verbifuge of our three artists put +their host into an ecstasy of delight, and he circulated all round, +rubbing his hands and telling his six friends that his three friends +were _milordi_, in very audible whispers, _milordi_ of the most genial, +courtly, polite, complimentary, cosmopolitan, and exquisite description. + +After all this, down sat our trio, and for the sake of future ages which +will live on steam-bread, electrical beef, and magnetic fish, let us +give them the bill of fare set before them: + +ALL THE WINE THEY COULD DRINK. + +Maccaroni (_fettucia_) a la Milanese--dish two feet in diameter, one +foot and a half high. + +Mutton-chops, with tomato-sauce, (_pomo d'oro._) + +Stewed celery, with Parmesan cheese. + +Stewed chickens. + +Mutton-chops, bird-fashion, (_Uccelli di Castrato._ They are made of +pieces of mutton rolled into a shape like a bird, and cooked, several at +a time, on a wooden spit. They are the _kibaubs_ of the East.) + +Baked pie of cocks' combs and giblets. + +Roasted pig, a twelve-pounder. + +Roast squashes, stuffed with minced veal. + +Apples, oranges, figs, and _finocchio_. + +_Crostata di visciola_, or wild-cherry pie, served on an iron plate the +size of a Roman warrior's shield; the dish evidently having been one +formerly. + +MORE WINE! + +The stout young lady rejoicing in the name of Angelucia, or large angel, +was fascinated by Roejean's conversational powers and Caper's +attentions; the rest of the company, perfectly at ease on finding out +that the _milordi_ were not French--Roejean turning American to better +please them--and that they were moreover full of fun, talked and laughed +as if they were brother Italians. A jollier dinner Caper acknowledged he +had never known. One of the Italians was farmer-general for one of the +Roman princes; he was a man of broad views, and having traveled to Paris +and London, came home with ultra-liberal sentiments, and to Bagswell's +astonishment, spoke his mind so clearly on the Roman rulers, that our +Englishman's eyes were slightly opened at the by no means complimentary +expressions used toward the wire-workers of the Papal government. One +Italy, and Rome its capital, was the only platform our princely farmer +would take, and he was willing to stake his fortune, a cool one hundred +thousand scudi, on regenerated Italy. + +Conversation then fell on the fair; and one of the Italians told several +stories which were broad enough to have shoved the generality of English +and American ladies out of the window of the room. But Angelucia and the +two wives of the stout gentlemen never winked; they had probably been to +confession that morning, had cleared out their old sins, and were now +ready to take in a new cargo. In a little while Roejean sent the waiter +out to a cafe, and he soon returned with coffee for the party, upon +which Caper, who had the day before bought some Havana cigars of the man +in the Twelve Apostles, in the piazza Dodici Apostoli, where there is a +government cigar-store for the sale of them, passed them around, and +they were thoroughly appreciated by the diners. The farmer-general gave +our three artists a hearty invitation to visit him, promising them all +the horses they could ride, all the wine they could drink, and all the +maccaroni they could eat. The last clause was inserted for Roejean's +benefit, who had played a noble game with the grand dish they had had +for dinner, and at which Angelucia had made great fun, assuring Roejean +he was Italian to the heart, _e piu basso_. + +Then came good-by, and our artists were off--slowly, meditatively, and +extremely happy, but, so far, quite steady. They walked to the +castellated monastery of San Basilio, where in the chapel of Saint Nilus +they saw the celebrated frescoes of Domenichino, and gazed at them +tranquilly and not quite so appreciatingly as they would have done +before dinner. Then they came out from the gloom and the air heavy with +incense of the chapel to the bright light and lively scenes of the fair, +with renewed pleasure. They noticed that every one wore in the hat or in +the lappel of the coat, if men--in their hair or in their bosom, if +women, artificial roses; and presently coming to a stand where such +flowers were for sale, our trio bought half-a-dozen each, and then +turned to where the crowd was thickest and the noise greatest. Three or +four donkeys loaded with tin-ware were standing near the crowd, when one +of them, ambitious of distinction, began clambering over the tops of the +others in an insane attempt to get at some greens, temptingly displayed +before him. Rattle, bang! right and left went the tins, and in rushed +men and women with cudgels; but donkey was not to be stopped, and for +four or five minutes the whole fair seemed gathered around the scene, +cheering and laughing, with a spirit that set Caper wild with +excitement, and induced him to work his way through the crowd and +present one old woman who had finally conquered the donkey, with two +large roses, an action which was enthusiastically applauded by the +entire assembly. + +'Bravo! bravo! well done, O Englishman!' went up the shout. + +A little farther on they came to a large traveling van, one end of which +was arranged as a platform in the open air. Here a female dentist, in a +sea-green dress, with her sleeves rolled up and a gold bracelet on her +right arm, held in both hands a tooth-extractor, bound round with a +white handkerchief--to keep her steady, as Caper explained, while she +pulled a tooth from the head of a young man who was down in front of +her on his knees. Her assistant, a good-looking young man, in very white +teeth and livery, sold some patent toothache drops: _Solo cinque +baiocchi il fiasco, S'gnore_. + +Caper having seen the tooth extracted, cried, '_Bravissima!_' as if he +had been at the opera, and threw some roses at the _prima donna +dentista_, who acknowledged the applause with a bow, and requested the +Signore to step up and let her draw him out. This he declined, pleading +the fact that he had sound teeth. The _dentista_ congratulated him, in +spite of his teeth. + +'But come!' said Bagswell; 'look at that group of men and women in +Albano costume; there is a chance to make a deuced good sketch.' + +Two men and three women were seated in a circle; they were laughing and +talking, and cutting and eating large slices of raw ham and bread, while +they passed from one to another a three-gallon keg of wine, and drank +out of the bung. As one of the hearty, laughing, jolly, brown-eyed girls +lifted up the keg, Caper pulled out sketch-book and pencil to catch an +outline sketch--of her head thrown back, her fine full throat and breast +heaving as the red wine ran out of the barrel, and the half-closed, +dreamy eyes, and pleasure in the face as the wine slowly trickled down +her throat. One of the men noted the artist making a _ritratto_, and +laughing heartily, cried out: 'Oh! but you'll have to pay us well for +taking our portraits!' And the girl, slowly finishing her long +draught, looked merrily round, shook her finger at the artist, laughed, +and--the sketch was finished. Then Caper taking Roejean's roses, went +laughingly up to the girl with brown eyes and fine throat, in Albano +costume, and begged that she would take the poor flowers, and putting +them next her heart, keep them where it is forever warm--'as the young +man on your left knows very well!' he concluded. This speech was +received amid loud applause and cheers, and thanks for the roses and an +invitation to take a pull at the barrel. Caper waved them _Adio_, and as +our trio turned Rome-ward from the fair, the last things he saw as he +turned his head to take a farewell look, were the roses that the Italian +girl had placed next her heart. + + +THE TOMBOLA. + +The exceedingly interesting amusement known as the Tombola is nothing +more than the game of Loto, or _Lotto_, 'Brobdignagified,' and played in +the open air of the Papal States, in Rome on Sundays, and in the +Campagna on certain saints' days, come they when they may. + +The English have made holiday from holy day, and call the Lord's day +Sunday; while the Italians call Sunday Lord's day, or _Domenica_. Their +way of keeping it holy, however, with tombolas, horse-races, and +fire-works, strikes a heretic, to say the least, oddly. + +The Roman tombola should be seen in the Piazza Navona democratically; in +the Villa Borghese, if not aristocratically at least middle +classically, or bourgeois-istically. + +In the month of November, when the English drown themselves, and the +Italians sit in the sun and smile, our friend Caper, one Sunday morning, +putting his watch and purse where pick-pockets could not reach them, +walked with two or three friends down to the Piazza Navona, stopping, as +he went along, at the entrance of a small street leading into it, to +purchase a tombola-ticket. The ticket-seller, seated behind a small +table, a blank-book, and piles of blank tickets, charged eleven +_baiocchi_ (cents) for a ticket, including one _baioccho_ for +registering it. We give below a copy of Caper's ticket: + + No. 17 D'ORDINE, LETTERA C. + + CARTELLA DA RITENERSI DAL GIUOCATORE. + + 8 12 32 87 60 + 20 4 76 30 11 + 45 3 90 55 63 + + +The numbers on this ticket the registrar filled up, after which it was +his duty to copy them in his book, and thus verify the ticket should it +draw a prize. + +The total amount to be played for that day, the tombola being for the +benefit of the Cholera Orphans, was one thousand scudi, and was divided +as follows: + + + Terno,.................... $50 + Quaterno,................. 100 + Cinquina,................. 200 + Tombola,.................. 650 + ------- + $1000 + +How many tickets were issued, Caper was never able to find out; but he +was told that for a one thousand dollar tombola the number was limited +to ninety thousand. + +The tickets, as will be seen above, are divided into three lines, with +five divisions in each line, and you can fill up the fifteen divisions +with any numbers running from one to ninety, that you may see fit. +Ninety tickets, with numbers from one to ninety, are put in a revolving +glass barrel, and after being well shaken up, some one draws out one +number at random, (the slips of paper being rolled up in such manner +that the numbers on them can not be seen.) It is passed to the judges, +and is then read aloud, and exposed to view, in conspicuous figures, on +a stand or stands; and so on until the tombola is won or the numbers all +drawn. + +Whoever has three consecutive figures on a line, beginning from left +hand to right, wins the _Terno_; if four consecutive figures, the +_Quaterno_; if five figures, or a full line, the _Cinquina_; and whoever +has all fifteen figures, wins the Tombola. It often happens that several +persons win the _Terno_, etc., at the same time, in which case the +amount of the _Terno_, etc., is equally divided among them. These public +tombolas are like too many thimble-rig tables, ostensibly started for +charitable objects, and it is popularly whispered that the Roman +nobility and heads of the Church purchase vast numbers of these tickets, +and never fill them up; but then again, they are not large enough for +shaving, and are too small for curl-papers; besides, six hundred and +fifty _scudi_! Whew! + +The Piazza Navona, bearing on its face, on week-days, the most terrible +eruptions of piles of old iron, rags, paintings, books, boots, +vegetables, crockery, jackdaws, contadini, and occasional dead cats, +wore on the Sunday of the tombola--it was Advent Sunday--a clean, +bright, and even joyful look. From many windows hung gay cloths and +banners; the three fountains were making Roman pearls and diamonds of +the first water; the entire length (seven hundred and fifty feet) and +breadth of the square was filled with the Roman people; three bands of +military music played uncensurable airs, since the public censor +permitted them; and several companies of soldiers, with loaded guns, +stood all ready to slaughter the _plebe_. It was a sublime spectacle. + +But the curtain rose; that is to say, the tombola commenced. At a raised +platform, a small boy, dressed in black, popularly supposed to be a +cholera orphan, rolled back his shirt-cuffs--he had a shirt--plunged his +hand into the glass barrel, and produced a slip of paper; an assistant +carried it to the judges--one resembled Mr. Pecksniff--and then the +crier announced the number, and, presto! on a large blackboard the +number appeared, so that every one could see it. + +Caper found the number on his ticket, and was marking it off, when a +countryman at his side asked him if he would see if the number was on +his ticket, as he could not read figures. Caper accordingly looked it +over, and finding that it was there, marked it off for him. + +'_Padrone mio_, thank you,' said the man, evidently determined, since he +had found out a scholar, to keep close by him. + +'Seventeen!' called out the tombola-crier. + +'C----o!' said the contadino, with joy in his face; 'seventeen is always +my lucky number. My wife was seventeen years old when I married her. My +donkey was killed by the railroad cars the other day, and he gave just +seventeen groans before he died. I shall have luck to-day.' + +We refrain from writing the exclamation the contadino prefaced his +remarks with, for fear the reader might have a good Italian +dictionary--an article, by the way, the writer has never yet seen. +Suffice it to say, that the exclamations made use of by the Romans, men +and women, not only of the lower but even the middling class, are of a +nature exceedingly natural, and plainly point to Bacchic and Phallic +sources. The _bestemmia_ of the Romans is viler than the blasphemy of +English or Americans. + +It happened that the countryman had a seventeen on his ticket, and Caper +marked it off, at the same time asking him how much he would take for +his pantaloons. These pantaloons were made of a goat's skin; the long +white wool, inches in length, left on and hanging down below the knees +of the man, gave him a Pan-like look, and with the word tombola, +suggested the lines of that good old song--save the maledictory part of +it: + + 'Tombolin had no breeches to wear, + So he bought him a goat's skin, to make him a pair.' + +These breeches were not for sale; they were evidently the joy and the +pride of the countryman, who had no heart for trade, having by this time +two numbers in one line marked off, only wanting an adjoining one to win +the _terno_. + +'If you were to win the _terno_, what would you do with it?' Caper asked +him. + +'_Accidente!_ I'd buy a barrel of wine, and a hog, and a--' + +'Thirty-two!' shouted the crier. + +'It's on your paper,' said Caper to him, marking it off; 'and you've won +the _terno_!' + +The eyes of the man gleamed wildly; he crossed himself, grasped the +paper, and the next thing Caper saw was the crowd dividing right and +left, as the excited owner of the goat-skin breeches made his way to the +platform. When he had climbed up, and stepping forward, stood ready to +receive the _terno_, the crowd jeered and cheered the _villano_, making +fine fun of his goat-skin, and not a little jealous that a _contadino_ +should take the money out of the city. + +'It's always so,' said a fat man next to Caper, 'these _villani_ take +the bread out of our mouths; but _ecco_! there is another one who has +the _terno_; blessed be the Madonna, there is a third! Oh! _diavolo_, +the _villano_ will only have one third of the _terno_; and may he die of +apoplexy!' + +A vender of refreshments passing along, the fat man stopped him, and +purchased a _baioccho's_ worth of--what? + +Pumpkin-seeds! These are extensively eaten in Rome, as well as the seeds +of pine-cones, acorns, and round yellow chick-peas; these supply the +place occupied by ground-nuts in our more favored land. + +There is this excitement about the tombolas in the Piazza Navona, that +occasionally a panic seizes the crowd, and in the rush of people to +escape from the square, some have their pockets picked, and some are +trampled down, never to rise again. Fortunately for Caper, no stampede +took place on Advent Sunday, so that he lived to attend another grand +tombola in the Villa Borghese. + +This was held in the spring-time, and the promise of the ascension of a +balloon added to the attractions of the lottery. To enter the Villa, you +had to purchase a tombola-ticket, whereas, in the Piazza Navona, this +was unnecessary. At one end of the amphitheatre of the villa, under the +shade of the ilex-trees, a platform was erected, where the numbers were +called out and the awards given. + +Caper, Roejean, and another French artist, not of the French Academy, +named Achille Legume, assisted at this entertainment. Legume was a very +pleasant companion, lively, good-natured, with a decided penchant for +the pretty side of humanity, and continually haunted with the idea that +a princess was to carry him off from his mistress in spectacles, Madame +Art, and convey him to the land of Cocaigne, where they never make, only +buy, paintings--of which articles, in parenthesis, Monsieur Achille had +a number for sale. + +'Roejean,' said Legume, 'do you notice that distinguished lady on the +platform; isn't she the Princess Faniente? She certainly looked at _me_ +very peculiarly a few minutes since.' + +'It is the Princess,' answered Roejean, 'and I also noticed, a few +minutes since, when I was on the other side of the circus, that she +looked at ME with an air.' + +'Don't quarrel,' spoke Caper,'she probably regards you both equally, for +--she squints.' + +This answer capsized Achille, who having a small red rose-bud in his +button-hole, hoped that at a distance he might pass for a chevalier of +the Legion of Honor, and had conquered something, say something noble. + +A wandering cigar-seller, with _zigarri scelti_, next demanded their +attention, and Roejean commenced an inspection of the selected cigars, +which are made by government, and sold at the fixed price of one and a +half _baiocchi_ each; even at this low price, the stock of the +tobacco-factory paid thirteen per cent under Antonelli's direction. + +'Antonelli makes a pretty fair cigar,' said, 'but I wish he would wrap +the ends a little tighter. I'm sorry to hear he is going out of the +business.' + +'Why, he would stay in,' answered Caper, 'but what with baking all the +bread for Rome, and attending to all the fire-wood sold, and trying to +make Ostia a seaport, and having to fight Monsieur About, and looking +after his lotteries and big pawnbroker's shop, and balancing himself on +the end of a very sharp French bayonet, his time is so occupied, he can +not roll these cigars so well as they ought to be rolled.... But they +have called out number forty-nine; you've got it, Legume, I remember you +wrote it down. Yes, there it is.' + +'Forty-nine!' + +'I wonder they dare call out '49 in this villa; or have the people +forgotten the revolution already, forgotten that this spot was made +ready for a battleground for liberty. The public censor knows his +business; give the Romans bread, and the circus or tombola, they will be +content--forever?' + +'_Au diable_ with politics,' interrupted Achille; 'what a very pretty +girl that is alongside you, Caper. Look at her; how nicely that costume +fits her, the red boddice especially. Where, except in Italy, do you +ever see such fine black eyes, and such a splendid head of coal-black +hair? This way of having Italian nurses dressed in the Albano costume is +very fine. That little boy with her is English, certainly.' + +'Och! master Jamey, come in out of that grane grass; d'yiz want ter +dirty the clane pinafore I've put on yiz this blissed afthernoon?' spoke +the nurse. + +'In the name of all that's awful, what kind of Italian is she speaking?' +asked Legume of Caper. + +'Irish-English,' he answered; 'she is not the first woman out of Old +Ireland masquerading as an Albanian nurse. She probably belongs to some +English family who have pretensions.' + +'Ah bah!' said Legume, 'it's monstrous, perfectly atrocious, ugh! Let us +make a little tour of a walk. The tombola is finished. An Irish dressed +up as an Italian--execrable!' + + + + +_EN AVANT!_ + + O GOD! let us not live these days in vain, + This variegated life of doubt and hope; + And though, as day leads night, so joy leads pain, + Let it be symbol of a broader scope. + + God! make us serve the monitor within; + Cast off the trammels that bow manhood down, + Of form or custom, appetite or sin, + The care for folly's smile or envy's frown. + + Oh! that true nobleness that rises up, + And teaches man his kindredship to Thee; + Which wakes the slaveling from the poison cup + Of passion, bidding him be grandly free: + + May it be ours, in these the evil days, + That fall upon our nation like a pall; + May we have power each one himself to raise, + And place God's signet on the brow of all! + + Not race nor color is the badge of slaves; + 'Tis manhood, after all, that makes men free; + Weakness is slavery; 'tis but mind that saves + God's glorious image as he willed it be. + + Out of the shadows thick, will coming day + Send Peace and Plenty smiling o'er our land; + And the events that fill us with dismay, + Are but the implements in God's right hand. + + Where patriot blood is poured as cheap as rain, + A newer freedom, phoenix-like, will spring; + Our Father never asks for us in vain: + From noble seed comes noble harvesting. + + Then let, to-day, true nobleness be ours; + That we be worthy of the day of bliss, + When truth's, and love's, and freedom's allied powers + Shall bind all nations with fraternal kiss. + + Would we might see, as did the saint of old, + The heavens opening, and the starry throng + Listening to have our tale of peace be told, + That they may hymn man's resurrection song! + + + + +_DESPERATION AND COLONIZATION._ + +As the war rolls on, and as the prospects of Federal victory increase, +the greater becomes the anxiety to know what must be done to secure our +conquests. How shall we reestablish the Union in its early strength? How +shall we definitely crush the possibility of renewed rebellion? The +tremendous taxation which hangs over us gives fearful meaning to these +questions. And they must be answered promptly and practically. + +The impossibility of Southern independence was from the first a foregone +conclusion to all who impartially studied the geography of this country +and the social progress of its inhabitants. The West, with its growing +millions vigorously working out the problem of free labor, and of +Republicanism, will _inevitably_ control the Mississippi river and +master the destinies of all soil above the so-called isothermal line, +and probably of much below it. The cotton States, making comparatively +almost no increase in population, receiving no foreign immigration, and +desiring none, have precipitated, by war, their destined inferiority to +the North. It has been from the beginning, only a question of time, when +they should become the weaker, and goaded by this consciousness, they +have set their all upon a throw, by appeal to wager of battle, and are +losing. It is not a question of abolitionism, for it would have been +brought on without abolition. It is not a question of Southern wrongs, +for the South never had a _right_ disturbed; and in addition to +controlling our Government for years, and directly injuring our +manufactures, it long swallowed a disproportionably great share of +government appointments, offices, and emoluments. It is simply the last +illustration in history of a smaller and rebellious portion of a +community forced by the onward march of civilization into subordination +to the greater. The men of the South were first to preach Manifest +Destiny and the subjugation of Cuba and Mexico--forgetting that as +regarded civilization, they themselves, on an average, only filled an +intermediate station between the Spanish Creole and the truly _white_ +man of the North. Before manifest destiny can overtake the Mexican, it +must first overtake the Southerner. + +Despite all its external show of elan, courtesy, and chivalry, 'the +South,' as it exists, is and ever must be, in the very great aggregate, +inferior to the North in the elements of progress, and in nearly all +that constitutes true superiority. They boast incessantly of their +superior education and culture; but what literature or art has this +education produced amid their thousands of ladies and gentlemen of taste +and of leisure? The Northern editor of any literary magazine who has had +any experience in by-gone days with the manuscripts of the chivalry, +will shrug his shoulders with a smile as he recalls the reams of +reechoes of Northern writers, and not unfrequently of mere 'sensation' +third-rate writers at that, which he was wont to receive from Dixie. And +amid all his vaunts and taunts, the consciousness of this intellectual +inferiority never left the Southerner. It stimulated his hatred--it +rankled in his heart. He might boast or lie--and his chief statistician, +De Bow, was so notoriously convicted of falsifying facts and figures +that the assertion, as applied to him, is merely historical--but it was +of no avail. The Northern school and the Northern college continued to +be the great fountain of North-American intellect, and the Southerner +found himself year by year falling behind-hand intellectually and +socially as well as numerically. As a last resort, despairing of victory +in the _real_, he plunged after the wild chivalric dream of +independence; of Mexican and Cuban conquest; of an endless realm and a +reopened slave-trade--or at least of holding the cotton mart of the +world. It is all in vain. We of the same continent recognize no right in +a very few millions to seize on the land which belongs as much to our +descendants and to the labor of all Europe and of the world as it does +to them. They have _no right_ to exclude white labor by slaves. A +Doughface press may cry, Compromise; and try to restore the _status quo +ante bellum_, but all in vain. The best that can be hoped for, is some +ingenious temporary arrangement to break the fall of their old +slaveholding friends. It is not as _we_ will, or as _we_ or _you_ would +_like_, that what the Southerners themselves term a conflict of races, +can be settled. People who burn their own cities and fire their own +crops are going to the dire and bitter end; and the Might which under +God's providence is generally found in the long run of history to be the +Right--will triumph at last. + +As has been intimated in the foregoing passages, the antipathy of the +South to the North is deeply seated, springing from such rancor as can +only be bred between a claim to social superiority mingled with a bitter +consciousness of inferiority in nearly all which the spirit of the age +declares constitutes true greatness. It is almost needless to say, that +with such motives goading them on, with an ignorant, unthinking mass for +soldiers, and with unprincipled politicians who have to a want of +principle added the newly acquired lust for blood, any prospect of +conciliation becomes extremely remote. We may hope for it--we may and +should proceed cautiously, so that no possible opportunity of restoring +peace may be lost; but it is of the utmost importance that we be blind +to no facts; and every fact developed as the war advances seems to +indicate that we have to deal with a most intractable, crafty, and +ferocious enemy, whom to trust is to be deceived. + +There can be no doubt that the ultimatum of the South is secession or +death. We of the North can not contemplate such a picture with calmness, +and therefore evade it as amiably as we can. We say, it stands to reason +that very few men will burn their own homes and crops, yet every mail +tells us of tremendous suicidal sacrifices of this description. The ruin +and misery which the South is preparing for itself in every way is +incalculable and incredible, and yet there is no diminution of +desperation. The prosperity which made a mock of honest poverty is now, +as by the retributive judgment of God, sinking itself into penury, and +the planter who spoke of the Northern serf as a creature just one remove +above the brute, is himself learning by bitter experience to be a +mud-sill. Verily the cause of the poor and lowly is being avenged. Yet +with all this there is no hint or hope of compromise; repeated defeats +are, so far, of little avail. The Northern Doughfaces tell us over and +over again, that if we will 'only leave the slave question untouched,' +all will yet be right. 'Only spare them the negro, and they, seeing that +we do not intend to interfere with their rights, will eventually settle +down into the Union.' But what is there to guarantee this assertion? +What _proof_ have we that the South can be in this manner conciliated? +None--positively none. + +There is nothing which the Southern press, and, so far as we can learn, +the Southern people, have so consistently and thoroughly disavowed since +the war began, as the assertion that a restoration of the Union may be +effected on the basis of undisturbed slavery. They have ridiculed the +Democrats of the North with as great contempt and as bitter sarcasm as +were ever awarded of old to Abolitionists, for continually urging this +worn-out folly; for now that the mask is finally thrown off, they make +no secret of their scorn for their old tools and dupes. Slavery is no +longer the primary object; they are quite willing to give up slavery if +the growing prosperity of the South should require it; their emissaries +abroad in every _salon_ have been vowing that manumission of their +slaves would soon follow recognition; and it was their rage at failure +after such wretched abasement and unprincipled inconsistency which, very +naturally, provoked the present ire of the South against England and +France. They, the proud, chivalrous Southrons, who had daringly rushed +to battle as slave lords, after eating abundant dirt as prospective +Abolitionists, after promising any thing and every thing for a +recognition, received the cold shoulder. No wonder that ill-will to +England is openly avowed by the Richmond press as one of the reasons for +burning the cotton as the Northern armies advance. + +The only basis of peace with the North, as the South declares, is +Disunion; and they do most certainly mean it. No giving up the slave +question, no enforcing of fugitive slave laws; no, not the hanging of +Messrs. Garrison and Phillips, or any other punishment of all +Emancipationists--as clamored for by thousands of trembling +cowards--would be of any avail. It is disunion or nothing--and disunion +they can not have. There shall be no disunion, no settlement of any +thing on _any_ basis but the Union. Richmond papers, after the battle of +Pittsburgh Landing, proposed peace and separation. They do not know us. +The North was never so determined to push on as now; never so eager for +battle or for sacrifices. If the South is in earnest, so are we; if they +have deaths to avenge, so have we; if they cry for war to the knife, so +surely as God lives they can have it in full measure. For thirty years +the blazing straw of Southern insult has been heaped on the Northern +steel; and now that the latter is red-hot, it shall scorch and sear ere +it cools, and they who heated it shall feel it. + +We may as well make up our minds to it first as last, that we must at +every effort and at _any_ cost, conquer this rebellion. There is no +alternative. This done, the great question which remains to settle, is, +how shall we manage the conquered provinces? There are fearful obstacles +in the way; great difficulties, such as no one has as yet calmly +realized; difficulties at home and abroad. We have a fierce and +discontented population to keep under; increased expenses in every +department of government; but it is needless to sum them up. The first +and most apparent difficulty is that involved in the form of government +to be adopted. As the rebellious States have, by the mere act of +secession, forfeited all State rights, and thereby reduced themselves to +territories, this question would seem to settle itself without +difficulty, were it not that a vast body of the ever-mischief-making, +ever-meddling, and never-contented politicians (who continue to believe +that the millennium would at once arrive were Emancipation only +extinguished) cry out against this measure as an infringement of those +Southern rights which are so dear to them. They argue and hope in vain. +Never more will the South come back to be served and toadied to by them +as of old; never more will they receive contemptuous patronage and +dishonorable honors. It is all passed. Those who look deepest into this +battle, and into the future, see a resistance, grim and terrible, to the +death; and one which will call for the strictest and sternest watch and +ward. It will only be by putting fresh life and fresh blood into +Secessia, that union can be practically realized. Out of the old +Southern stock but little can be made. A great portion must be kept +under by the strong hand; a part may be induced to consult its own +interests, and reform. But the great future of the South, and the great +hope of a revived and improved Union will be found in colonizing certain +portions of the conquered territory with free white labor. + +A more important topic, and one so deeply concerning the most vital +prosperity of the United States, was never before submitted to the +consideration of her citizens. If entertained by Government and the +people on a great, enterprising, and vigorous scale, as such schemes +were planned and executed by the giant minds of antiquity, it may be +made productive of such vast benefits, that in a few years at most, the +millions of Americans may look back to this war as one of the greatest +blessings that ever befell humanity, and Jefferson Davis and his +coadjutors be regarded as the blind implements by which God advanced +human progress, as it had never before advanced at one stride. But to +effect this, it should be planned and executed as a great, harmonious, +and centrally powerful scheme, not be tinkered over and frittered away +by all the petty doughfaces in every village. In great emergencies, +great acts are required. + +It is evident that the only certain road to Union-izing the South is, to +plant in it colonies of Northern men. Thousands, hundreds of thousands +now in the army, would gladly remain in the land of tobacco or of +cotton, if Government would only provide them with the land whereon to +live. Were they thus settled, and were every slave in the South +emancipated by the chances of war, there would be no danger to apprehend +as to the future of the latter. Give a Yankee a fat farm in Dixie, and +we may rely upon it that although a Southern nabob may not know how to +get work out of a 'free nigger', the Northerner will contrive to +persuade Cuffy to become industrious. We have somewhere heard of a +Vermonter, who taught ground-hogs or 'wood-chucks' to plant corn for +him; the story has its application. Were Cuffy ten times as lazy as he +is, the free farmer would contrive to get him to work. And in view of +this, I am not sorry that the Legislatures of the border wheat States +are passing laws to prevent slaves from entering their territories. The +mission of the black is to labor as a free man in the South, under the +farmer, until capable of being a farmer on his own account. + +The manner and method of colonizing free labor in the South deserves +very serious consideration, and is, it may be presumed, receiving it at +the hands of Government, in anticipation of further developments in this +direction. We trust, however, that the Administration will _lead_, as +rapidly as possible, in this matter, and that the President will soon +make it the subject of a Message as significant and as noble as that +wherein this country first stood committed by its chief officer to +Emancipation, the noblest document which ever passed from president or +potentate to the people; a paper which, in the eyes of future ages, will +cast Magna Charta itself into the shade, and rank with the glorious +manumission of the Emperor of Russia. + +The primary question would be, whether it were more expedient to scatter +free labor all over the South, or simply form large colonies at such +points as might serve to effectually break up and surround the +confederacy. Without venturing to decide on the final merit of either +plan, we would suggest that the latter would be, for a beginning, +probably most feasible. Should Virginia, certain points on the Atlantic +coast, embracing the larger cities and vicinity of forts, and Texas, be +largely or strongly occupied by free men, we should at once throw a +chain around the vanquished foe, whose links would grow stronger every +year. With slavery abolished--and it is at present abolishing itself +with such rapidity that it is almost time lost to discuss the +subject--immigration from Europe would stream in at an unprecedented +rate, and in a few years, all the old Southern system become entirely a +tradition of the past, like that of the feudal chivalry which the +present chivalry so fondly ape. + +The enormous internal resources of Eastern Virginia, her proximity to +free soil, the arrogance and insubordination of her inhabitants, render +her peculiarly fitted for colonization. Not less attractive is Texas--a +State which, be it remembered, is capable of raising six times as much +cotton as is now raised in the whole South, and which, if only settled +and railroaded-ed, would, in a few years, become the wealthiest +agricultural State in America. But let our army once settle in the +South, there will be little danger of its not retaining its possessions. +He who can win can wear. + +The country has thus far treated very gingerly the question of +confiscation, which is, however, destined to thrust itself very +prominently forward among the great issues of the day, and which is +closely allied to colonization. That the South, after forcing upon us +such a war as this, with its enormous losses and expenses, should be +subjected to no penalty, is preposterous. Confiscation there must +be--not urged inhumanly on a wholesale scale, but in such a manner as to +properly punish those who were forward in aiding rebellion. When this +war broke out, the South was unanimous in crying for plunder, in +speaking of wasting our commerce and our cities on a grand scale. But it +is needless to point out that punishment of the most guilty alone would +of itself half cover the expenses of the war. + +It may be observed that already, since the decree of emancipation in the +District of Columbia, a fresh spirit of enterprise has manifested itself +there. Within a few days after the signature of the President to that +act, Northern men began to prepare for renewed industry and action in +the old slave field. The tide of free labor which will rush into +Virginia, after the chances of war or other action shall have +emancipated that State, will be incalculable. Its worn-out plantations +will become thriving farms, its mines and inexhaustible water-powers +will call into play the incessant demand and supply of vigorous industry +and active capital. We may hasten the movement or we may not, by direct +legislation. For the present, it seems advisable to await the rapidly +developing chances of war and their results; but the great rush of free +labor will come, and that rapidly, and Virginia, disenthralled, become, +in all probability, once more the first among the States. + +We have spoken of the desperation of the rebels, and of the idleness of +expecting from them any peaceable compromise. Those who, in the South, +will take the oath of allegiance, and who have probably acted only under +compulsion, should be spared. But there is a vast number who are as yet +under the dominion of a madness, for which nothing but the most vigorous +measures can be of any avail. It is evident that at present, every where +except in Halleck's department, government is too indulgent. Traitors +flaunt and boast openly in the border States, and publicly scheme with +their doughface allies, to defeat the Union cause in every possible way, +too often with signal success. The more mercy they receive, the more +insolent do they become, and yet every effort has been made, and is +making, 'to conciliate.' Let Government be vigorous, and rely only on +its strong hand, so far as the management of avowed traitors is +concerned; such men hold to no faith, and keep no oaths. With such, a +threat of confiscation will be found of more avail than all the lenity +in the world. + +We may quote, in this connection, from a letter to the Salem _Register_, +from Captain Driver, who hoisted 'Old Glory' at Nashville, when our +troops took possession of that city. After speaking of the immense +amount of property being destroyed through the State, he asks: + + 'Is there one man North, who now expects to make peace, based on + compromise with such men as lead here? Is there one who expects a + lasting peace in this land, until the armed heel of freedom's + soldiers marks every inch of slave soil? If there is, he knows + little of the South or Southern men and women. One defeat of the + Federal forces, and madness would be rampant here. In the hour of + victory, they would destroy every Union family in the South. We + live on a volcanic mass, which at any moment may upheave and blow + us to glory without the benefit of the clergy, the most of whom are + in the army of Dixie. + + 'Our enemy is as bitter as death, as implacable as the savage of + the forest; he will do any thing to gain his end. Twice has the + 'Black Flag' been flaunted in our faces, and cheered by a portion + of our citizens. Our women are more bitter than the men, and our + children are taught to hate the North, in church, in school, and at + the fireside. Our city still presents a sullen, silent front; it + will take as long time to root treason out of Nashville us it did + the household sins of Egypt out of Israel. + + 'Had I my way, I would confiscate the property of all traitors, + work the slaves three or four years under overseers, on the land of + their masters, sell the crops thus raised, and pay the war debt; + this would save the people from taxation. The fifth year's crop + give to the slaves, and send them to Texas or elsewhere; give them + a governance, buy up the slaves of the loyal men, and let them be + sent to their brethren. The land confiscated, I would divide among + the soldiers of the North and the widows and orphans of those + deluded poor men of the South who fell victims to false notions of + 'Southern Rights;' compel the Northern man to settle on his grant, + or to send a settler of true, industrious habits, and give him no + power to alienate his title for ten or more years. This will insure + an industrious, worthy, patriotic people for the South. One man + will make one bale of cotton, others ten; your spindles and looms + will be kept running by free men, and slavery will cease forever, + as it should do. Slavery is a curse, a crime, a mildew, and must + end, or war will blast our fair heritage for all time to come.' + +Such are the views of one who seems to know what a real +Southern-sympathizing secessionist is made of. Let it not be forgotten +that there are thousands of native Tennesseeans, as of other borderers +of intelligence, character, and influence, who have offered to raise +regiments to fight for the Union; and this fact is urged by the +doughface democrats as a reason for increased leniency to traitors. We +confess we do not see what connection exists between the two. If these +loyal borderers are sincere in their professions, they have certainly no +sympathy for the wretches around them, who visit with death or pillage +every friend of the Union. But it is idle to argue with traitors. Either +we are at war, or we are not; and if the history of the past eighteen +months has not taught the country the folly of procrastinating, nothing +will do it. 'When you feel the knife in your heart, _then_ wish that you +had fought!' + + + + +_THE EDUCATION TO BE._ + +II. + +A right intellectual education presupposes three essential features: the +selection of the most suitable subjects for study; the proper +presentation of these, in the order of their dependence, and in view of +the gradual growth of the pupil's powers of comprehension; and, not less +important than either of these, the finding out and following of the +best method and order of presenting the truths belonging to each subject +to be studied. These are the problems with which, as something apart +from Metaphysics or Logic, the possible but yet unachieved pedagogical +science has to deal. To the first of these questions, What shall we +teach? or, as he phrases it, 'What knowledge is of most worth?' Mr. +Spencer (presuming the child already supplied with his bare implements, +reading, spelling, and penmanship) is led, after a long discussion, to +conclude that 'the uniform reply is, Science.' The 'counts' on which he +bases this verdict, are, the purposes of self-preservation; the gaining +of a livelihood; the due discharge of parental functions; qualification +for political responsibilities; the production and enjoyment of art; and +discipline, whether intellectual, moral, or religious. Taken at his own +showing, Mr. Spencer seems to contemplate, as his model of an educated +man, a prodigiously capable and efficient mute. But can he deny that the +ability _to express_ what one may know, and in speech, as well as in +production, is at once the final proof, and in a very real sense the +indispensable consummation of such knowing? _Language_ is the +counterpart and complement of _Science_. The two are but two sides, and +either separately an incomplete one, of one thing; that one thing we may +name _definite and practical knowledge_; and it is the only sort of +knowledge that has real value. Language is yet larger than all the +sciences proper which it embodies, namely, those clustering about +Philology, Grammar, and Rhetoric. Of these, all deal with words, or +those larger words--sentences; but under these forms they deal, in +reality, with the objective world as perceived or apprehended by us, and +as named and uttered in accordance with subjective aptitudes and laws. +In language, then, there stands revealed, in the degree in which we can +ascend to it, all that is yet known of the external world, and all that +has yet evolved itself of the human mind. Can we decry the study of that +which, whether as articulate breath, or through a symbolism of visible +forms, mirrors to us at once all of nature and all of humanity? But if +we yield this claim in behalf of language, noting meanwhile that the +mathematics are already well represented in our courses of instruction, +then much of Mr. Spencer's eloquent appeal is simply wasted by +misdirection. All that he had really to claim is, that a +disproportionate time is now surrendered to the studies of the symbols, +as such, and too often to characteristics of them not yet brought in any +way into scientific cooerdination, nor of a kind having practical or +peculiarly disciplinary value. If Mr. Spencer had insisted on a more +just division of the school studies between the mathematical, physical, +biological, and linguistic sciences, he would have struck a chord +yielding no uncertain sound, and one finding response in a multitude of +advanced and liberal minds. If he had gone yet deeper, and disclosed to +his readers the fact that the fundamental need is, not that we study +what in the more restricted sense is known as _Science_, but that we +begin to study all proper and profitable subjects, as we now do hardly +any of them, _in the true scientific spirit and method_, he would not +merely seem to have said, but would have succeeded in saying, something +of the deepest and most pressing import to all educators. + +The volume of republished papers from Mr. Barnard's able _Journal of +Education_--the first of a series of five under the general title of +'Papers for the Teacher'--will afford to those desirous of investigating +the second of the problems above proposed, some useful material and +hints. Especially will this be true, we think, of the first series of +articles, by Mr. William Russell, on the 'Cultivation of the Perceptive, +Expressive, and Reflective Faculties;' and of the second, by Rev. Dr. +Hill, now President of Antioch College, upon the 'True Order of +Studies.' In the outset of his first essay, (which appeared in March, +1859,) Dr. Hill takes it '_for granted_ [postulating, we think, a pretty +large ground, and one that analysis and proof would better have +befitted] that there is a rational order of development in the course of +the sciences, and that it ought to be followed in common education.' The +order he finds is that of five great studies, Mathesis, [mathematics;] +Physics, or Natural History; History; Psychology; and Theology. 'We also +take it for granted,' he continues, 'that there is a natural order of +development in the human powers, and that studies should be so arranged +as to develop the powers in this order.' Here two very difficult +problems are undertaken--the hierarchy of the sciences, and the analysis +of the intellect--and though we seem to find in the elucidation of the +subject traces of that 'harmony of results of the two lines of inquiry,' +on which the author relies as one source of confirmation of the results +themselves, yet we can not admit that the solutions given us remove all, +nor even all the main difficulties of the case. While we regard the +mathematics, physics, psychology, and theology as quite well +individualized and distinct lines of scientific research, we can not +help feeling that the day has hardly come for embracing _physiology_ +under either physics or psychology; the forming of the bile and the +growing and waste of brain are yet, to our apprehension, too far removed +from the gravitation of planets or the oxidation of phosphorus, on the +one hand, as they are from the scintillations of wit or the severe march +of reason on the other, for ready affiliation with either. We question +decidedly whether Theology proper can, at the most, be more than a very +restricted subject; and quite as decidedly whether the heterogeneous +matters grouped under History, namely, Agriculture, Trade, Manufactures, +the Fine Arts, Language, Education, Politics, and Political Economy, are +or can be shown to be linked by any principle of essential unity. Most +of these have their historical side; but their unhistorical and +scientific side most interests the great body of learners. And this +latter aspect of some of them, Education and Politics especially, +belongs after, not before Psychology. Then, the great fact of +expression--Language--has not adequate justice done it by the position +it is here placed in. Want of space is the least among our reasons for +forbearing to attempt here a classification of the sciences--a work +which Ramus, D'Alembert, Stewart, Bentham, and Ampere successively +essayed and left unfinished. But the principle that the faculties in +their order are called out by the branches named in their order, is +quite given up as the writer proceeds, and distinctly so in his Tabular +View of the studies adapted to successive ages. In actual life, usually +the first set teaching the infant receives is in language; and even +though it previously is and should be getting its ideas of forms, +colors, and other qualities, in the concrete, yet it remains far from +true that we should 'pay our earliest attention to the development of +the child's power to grasp the truths of space and time.' Dr. Hill has, +however, taken in these papers a step in a needful direction; and +perhaps the best we could at first expect, are hints and an +approximation toward a much desired result. + +We may fairly assume that Mr. Willson's answer to the question, What to +teach? is in some good degree embodied in his elaborate series of +'School and Family Readers,' of which the first six of the eight +contemplated volumes have already appeared. These Readers aim to replace +in a good degree the more purely literary materials of most of their +predecessors, with a somewhat systematic and complete view of the more +generally useful branches of human knowledge. They begin, where the +child is sure to be interested, with studies of animals, illustrated +with good and often spirited drawings, and proceed through Physiology, +Botany, Architecture, Physical Geography, Chemistry, etc., up at last, +as is promised, to Mental and Moral Philosophy, Natural Theology, +Rhetoric, Criticism, Logic, the Fine Arts, including that one of those +arts, as we presume we may class it, with which pupils of the rural +schools will have best cause to become acquainted, namely, Gardening! +Readers on this plan have long been known in the schools of Prussia and +Holland, and are even lately well received in England, in the form of +Mr. Constable's popular series; though apparently, when finished, the +American series will be more full and complete in topics and treatment +of them than any preceding one. Of course, restricted space, and the +range of maturity of talents addressed, compel the presentation in +simplified form of scarcely more than 'a little learning' under the +several heads; and the compiler sensibly tells us his aim is not to give +a full exposition of any theme, but rather, 'to present a _pleasing +introduction_ to science.' We may grant, in the outset, that most pupils +will really comprehend, in and through the reading of it, but a modicum +of all the high and large fields of knowledge here intimated to them; +but who that can now look on his school-days as in the past, does not +remember how many grandiose sentences he was then called on to utter in +cadence duly swelling or pathetic, but of the meaning of which he had +not the most distant approach to a true comprehension? It was _ours_ +once to be of a class whose enunciative powers were disciplined by +repeated goings 'through' of the 'Old English Reader,' and well do we +remember how the accidental omission of the full pause after 'shows' in +the quotation ending the piece entitled 'Excellency of the Holy +Scriptures,' caused a certain teacher to understand(!) and direct us to +read the whole sentence thus: 'Compared, indeed, with this, all other +moral and theological wisdom + + 'Loses, discountenanced, and like folly shows' BEATTIE.' + +Now, it is true, the whole sentence, in its best state, would have shown +to our green understandings like enough to 'folly,' if we had once made +the effort to find meaning of any sort in it; nor can it be considered +the most profitable use of school time, thus to 'like folly show' to +unknit juvenile brains the abstract and high thought of mature and great +minds, who uttered them with no foolishness or frivolity in their +intentions! We see reasons to expect substantial advantages from Mr. +Willson's books; and we believe teachers will appreciate and use them. +We could wish they had not gone so far to mechanicalize the pupil's +enunciation; by too freely introducing throughout the points of +inflection; but it is safe to predict that most pupils will take up with +interest the simplified readings in science; that they will comprehend +and remember a useful portion of what they read; that the lessons will +afford both them and the teachers points of suggestion from which the +mind can profitably be led out to other knowledge and its connections; +and that they who go through the series can at least leave school with +some more distinct ideas as to what the fields of human knowledge are, +and what they embrace, than was ever possible under the _regime_ of +merely fine writing, of pathetic, poetic, and generally miscellaneous +selections. + +The educational interest that grew up in our country between the years +1810 and 1828, about the year 1835 gave place to a stagnation that has +marked nearly the whole of the period intervening between the last-named +and the present date. In the year 1858, the _New-York Teacher_ was made +the first medium of some thoughts in substance agreeing with those set +forth in the earlier part of this paper, claiming the indispensableness +to true education of a more true and liberal _work_ on the part of the +learner's intellectual faculties, and of a more true and logical +_consecution_ than has yet been attained, and one corresponding to the +natural order of the intellectual operations, in the books and lessons +through which the usual school studies are to be mastered. 'Make'--said +the first of the articles setting forth this thought--'the [form of the] +facts and principles of any branch of study as simple as you choose, and +unless the order of their presentation be natural--be that order, from +observation to laws and causes, in which the mind naturally moves, +whenever it moves surely and successfully--the child, except in the rare +case of prodigies that find a pleasure in unraveling complexity, will +still turn from the book with loathing. He will do so because he must. +It is not in his nature to violate his nature for the sake of acquiring +knowledge, however great the incentives or threatenings attending the +process.' 'The child's mind ... with reference to all unacquired +knowledge ... stands in precisely the attitude of the experimenters and +discoverers of riper years. It is to come to results not only previously +unknown, but not even conceived of. Because their nature and faculties +are identical, the law of their intellectual action must be the same.' +'Study is research.' In subsequent articles, it was claimed that the law +here indicated is for intellectual education, the one true and +comprehensive law; and it was expressed more fully in the words: 'All +true study is investigation; all true learning is discovery.' + +We say, now, that when the first of these articles appeared, the leading +thought it contained, namely, that our pupils can and should learn by a +process of _re-discovery_, in the subjects they pursue, had not in +distinct nor in substantial statement in any way appeared in the +educational treatises or journals; and further, that it was not, so far +as their uttered or published expressions show, previously occupying the +attention of teachers or of educational writers, nor was it the subject +or substance of remarks, speeches, or debates, in the meetings of +Teachers' Associations. We say further, and because history and justice +require it, that in our country, especially in the educational movements +in the State of New-York, and in the several national associations of +educators, a marked change and revolution in the course of much of the +thought and discussion touching matters of education has, since the year +1858, become apparent, and that to the most casual participant or +observer, and in the precise direction in which the thought above +referred to points. The essential issue itself--the practicability and +desirableness of casting our studies into the form of courses of +re-discovery is somewhat distantly and delicately approached, +incorporated into speeches by an allusion or in the way of _apercu_, or +thrown out as a suggestion of a partial or auxiliary method with the +younger learners, all which is of a fashion highly patronizing to the +thought, spite of the scruples about confessing who was the suggester of +it. But other questions, which spring up in the train of this, which by +themselves had received attention long since, but had been mainly +dropped and unheard of among us during the past twenty-five years, have +come again into full and unconcealed prominence. Such are the questions +about the natural order of appearance of the faculties in childhood, as +to what are the elementary faculties of the mind, as to the adaptation +of the kinds and order of studies to these, etc. And thus, all at once, +is disclosed that Education itself, which many had thought quite a +'finished' thing, well and happily disposed of, or at least so far +perfected as to leave no work further save upon the veriest outskirts of +details, is in truth a giant superstructure with foundations in sand, or +so almost visibly lacking underneath it, that it threatens to fall. For, +in the name of the simplest of all common sense, how are we to educate +to the best, _not yet knowing_--and that is now acknowledged--_what are +the_ FACULTIES _of the very minds we are dealing with, nor what are the_ +PROCESSES _by which those minds begin and keep up their advance in +knowledge?_ So, also, those who in the most charitable mood could see in +education only something too hum-drum and narrow for their better +fancies, find it now rising and expanding into a new and large field for +intellectual effort, full of interesting problems, and fraught with +realizations as yet undreamed of. + +It may be said, that the young mind had always learned what it did +learn, by discoveries; we answer, our methods and our books have not in +any sufficient degree recognized the fact, provided for it, nor taken +advantage of it. It may be said, that writers had previously +acknowledged that the mind learns well--some of them even, that it +learns best--when it discovers: we answer, that nevertheless, no one had +recorded it as a well-grounded, universal conclusion and positive law, +that the mind only can learn, in all strictly scientific matters, as it +discovers, and that hence, the canons of the method of discovery become +rules for directing, in studies of this character, the education of the +young. Aristotle and Bacon have recognized and enforced upon the adult +mind its two master methods of advance by reasoning. But our children +have their knowing also to attain to, their discoveries to make, their +logic of proof, on occasions, to employ. Shall we lavish all the +treasures of method on those who have passed the formative stage of +mind, and acquired the bent of its activities? Rather, we think, the +true intellectual method--combining both Baconian _induction_ and +Aristotelian _deduction_--yet waits to realize some of the best of the +application and work for which its joint originators and their +co-workers have been preparing it; and that perhaps one of the highest +consummations of this one method of thought may yet appear in the +carrying forward, with more of certainty, pleasure, and success in their +attaining of knowledge, the lisping philosophers of our school-rooms and +our firesides. + +From one source, disconnected latterly from those to which I have thus +far called attention, there has arisen a decidedly progressive movement +in the direction of right teaching, and one that, at least in +geographical studies, promises soon to result in a consummation of great +importance. Though Pestalozzianism, as further developed by the Prussian +educators and schools, has never yet realized the completely inductive +and consecutive character here contended for, it has been tending in a +degree toward such a result; and this is perhaps seen in the most marked +way in the method of teaching geography developed by Humboldt and +Ritter, and represented in this country by their distinguished pupil, +Professor Guyot. This method subordinates political to physical +geography, proceeding from facts to laws, and by setting out with the +grand natural features of the globe, leads the learner to comprehend not +only the existence, boundaries, capitals, and strength of nations, but +the reasons why these have come to be what they are. As tending in the +same true direction, we should not fail to mention also the +faithfully-executed series of raised or embossed maps of the late Mr. +Schroeter, presenting not only the profile but the comparative +elevations of the land-surfaces or continents and islands, and, in +detail, of the several political divisions of the globe, thus at once +making the ocular study of geography _real_, and not as formerly, +leaving the right conception of the land-surfaces to the pupil's unaided +imagination. + +Among the decisive and important steps marking the revival of +educational interest among us, is that looking to the introduction into +our primary schools of the simple lessons for what is called the +'education of the senses,' and what is in fact the solicitation of the +perceptive faculties, and the storing of them, with their proper ideas, +through the avenues of sense. When employed about observing or finding +and naming the parts or qualities and uses of objects, as _glass, +leather, milk, wood, a tree, the human body_, etc., this sort of +teaching takes the name of 'Object Lessons;' when it rises to +philosophizing in the more obvious and easy stages about natural +phenomena, as _rain, snow,_ etc., or about parts of the system of +nature, as _oceans, mountains, stars,_ etc., it is sometimes termed +'Lessons in Common Things.' In the year 1860, Mr. E.A. Sheldon, the +enterprising superintendent of the schools of that city, first +introduced with some degree of completeness and system, this sort of +teaching into the primary schools of Oswego. In March, 1861, under the +leadership also, as we infer, of their superintendent, Mr. William H. +Wells, the Educational Board of the city of Chicago adopted a still more +minutely systematized and more extensive course of instruction of this +sort, arranged in ten successive grades, and intended to advance from +the simple study of objects, forms, colors, etc., gradually to the +prosecution of the regular and higher studies. The greater naturalness, +life-likeness, and interest of this kind of mental occupation for young +learners, over the old plan of restricting them mainly to the bare +alphabet, with barren spelling, reading, definitions, and so on, is at +once obvious in principle and confirmed by the facts; and for the +younger classes--a stage of the utmost delicacy and importance to the +future habits of the learner--the fruits must appear in increased +readiness of thought and fullness of ideas, and in a preparation for +more true and enlarged subsequent comprehension of the proper branches +of study; provided, we must add, that these also, when reached, be +taught by a method best suited to their subject-matter and to the higher +range of mental activity required to deal with it. Whether, now, the +object-lesson system and plan is the one competent to carry on the +learner through those later studies, is another and larger question, and +one to which we shall presently recur. + +Under the recall of the minds of educators among us to fundamental +principles of methods and tendencies in teaching, which we have pointed +out, it was but natural to expect attempts to be made toward remedying +the defects and supplying the needs that could not fail to be detected +in our teaching processes. Naturally, too, such attempts would result in +the bringing forward, sooner or later, of novelties in the topics and +form of the school-books. What the pen--which, in the outset, proposed +the necessity of molding the school-work into a course of re-discoveries +of the scientific truths--should reasonably be expected to do toward +supplying the want it had indicated; or what it may, in the interim, +have actually accomplished toward furnishing the working implements +requisite to realizing in practice the possible results foreshadowed by +the best educational theories, it may be neither in place nor needful +that we should here intimate. Sometimes, indeed, there is in our social +movements evidence of a singular sort of intellectual _catalysis;_ and a +mute fact, so it _be_ a fact, and even under enforced continuance of +muteness, through influence of temporary and extraneous circumstances, +may yet, like the innocent _platinum_ in a mixture of certain gases, or +the equally innocent _yeast-plant_ vegetating in the 'lump' of dough, +take effect in a variety of ways, as if by mere presence. + +We shall remember how even Virgil had to write: + + 'Hos ego versiculos scripsi: tulit alter honores!' + +And the veriest bumpkin knows the force of the adage about one's shaking +the tree, for another to gather up the fruit. But Virgil was patient, +and did well at the last; though the chronicles do not tell us how many +pears ever came to the teeth of him that did the tree-shaking. At all +events, it is satisfying to know that time spins a long yarn, and comes +to the end of it leisurely and at his own wise motion! + +The English object-lesson system being now fairly and successfully +domesticated among us, and to such an extent as to call for the +invitation and temporary residence among us, in the city of Oswego, of a +distinguished lady-teacher from the English Training Schools, it is +again but natural that the system should call forth books adapted to its +purposes; and it was scarcely possible, under the circumstances we have +now shown to exist, that such books should come forth without presenting +a more conscious aim toward embodying something of the principle and +order of _discovery_ than has marked even their English prototypes. +These anticipations we find exactly realized in the first book of the +new pattern that has yet made its appearance--the 'Primary +Object-Lessons' of Mr. Calkins. Of this book, issued June, 1861, the +author thus states the motive: 'With an earnest desire to contribute +something toward a general radical change in the system of primary +education in this country--a change from the plan of exercising the +memory chiefly to that of developing the observing powers--a change from +an artificial to a natural plan, one in accordance with the philosophy +of mind and its laws of development, the author commenced the following +pages.' + +Acknowledging his indebtedness to the manuals of Wilderspin, Stow, +Currie, the Home and Colonial School Society, and other sources, the +author tells us that the plan of developing the lessons 'corresponds +more nearly to that given in Miss Mayo's works than to either of the +other systems;' and we understand him to claim (and the feature is a +valuable one) that in this book, which is not a text-book, but one of +suggestive or pattern lessons for teachers, he directs the teacher to +proceed less by telling the child what is before it and to be seen, and +more by requiring the child to find for itself what is present. Again, +an important circumstance, the purpose of the book does not terminate in +describing right processes of teaching, but on the contrary, _'in +telling what ought to be done, it proceeds to show how to do it by +illustrative examples,' (sic.)_ Now, spite of some liberties with the +President's English, which may properly be screened by the author's +proviso that he does not seek 'to produce a faultless composition,' so +much as to afford simple and clear examples for the teacher's use, we +are compelled to inquire, especially as this is matter addressed to +mature and not to immature minds, which it is the author really meant us +to understand; that is, whether, in fact, the book 'proceeds to show +_how to do it by_ illustrative examples;' or whether, in reality, it +does not aim _to show by illustrative examples how to do it_--that, +namely, which ought to be done. If we still find Mr. Calkins's +philosophy somewhat more faultless than his practice, perhaps that is +but one of the necessary incidents of all human effort; and we can say +with sincerity that, in some of its features, we believe this a book +better adapted to its intended uses--the age it is designed to meet +being that of the lowest classes in the primary schools, or say from +four to seven or eight years--than any of its predecessors. It will not, +we hope, therefore, be understood as in a captious spirit, that we take +exception to certain details. + +The author is clearly right in his principle that 'The chief object of +primary education is the development of the faculties;' though doubtless +it would have been better to say, _to begin_ the development of the +faculties; but then, he recognizes, as the faculties specially active in +children, those of 'sensation, perception, observation, and simple +memory,' adding, for mature years, those of 'abstraction, the higher +powers of reason, imagination, philosophical memory, generalization,' +etc. But that any one of all these is in the true psychological sense, a +_faculty_--save, it may be, in the single instance of imagination--we +shall decidedly question; and Mr. Calkins will see by the intent of his +very lessons, that he does not contemplate any such thing as 'sensation' +or 'observation,' as being a faculty: but, on the other hand, that he is +so regarding certain individual powers of mind, by which we know in +nature Color and Form and Number and Change and so on. + +We must question whether 'in the natural order of the development of the +human faculties, the mind of the child takes cognizance first of the +_forms_ of objects.' Form is a result of particular _extensions:_ +evidently, extension must be known before form can be. But again, +visibly, form is revealed through kinds and degrees of light and shade; +in one word, through _color_. Evidently, then, color also must be +appreciated before visible form can be. But this 'natural order of the +development of the human faculties,' is a seductive thing. In phrase, it +is mellifluous; in idea, impressively philosophical. It would be well if +this book, while cautiously applying developing processes to the little +learner, were to _dogmatise_ less to the teacher. But when the +development-idea is carried into the titles of the sections, it becomes, +we think, yet more questionable. Thus, a section is headed, 'To develop +the idea of straight lines.' First, would not the idea of _a straight +line_ come nearer to the thing actually had in view? Again, 'To develop +the idea of right, acute, and obtuse angles.' 'The idea,' taking in all +these things, must be most mixed and multifarious; it could not be +_clear_, though that is a quality mainly to be sought. Is not the +intention rather, to develop _ideas_ of _the right, the acute,_ and _the +obtuse angle?_ Instances of this sort, which we can not understand +otherwise than as showing a loose way of thinking, are numerous. But +then, again, it is assumed that the lessons _develop_ all the ideas +successively discoursed about. Far otherwise, in fact. In many +instances, of course, a sharper, better idea of the object or quality +discussed will be elicited in the course of the lesson. This is, at +best, only a sort of quasi-development, individualizing an idea by +turning it on all sides, comparing with others, and sweeping away the +rubbish that partly obscured it. In others of the topics, the learner +has the ideas before we begin our developing operations. But the great +misfortune of the usage of the term here is, that _develop_ properly +implies to _unroll, uncover, or disclose_ something that is infolded, +complicate, or hidden away; but mark, something that is always THERE +before the developing begins, and that by it is only brought into light, +freedom, or activity! Thus, we may develop faculties, for they were +there before we began; but we simply can not develop _objective ideas_, +such as this book deals with, but must impart them, or rather, give the +mind the opportunity to get them. First, then, this term thus employed +is needlessly pretentious; secondly, it is totally misapplied. Would it +not help both teacher and pupil, then, if we were to leave this stilted +form of expression, and set forth the actual thing the lessons +undertake, by using such caption as for for example, _To give the idea, +of a triangle,_ or to insure, or _to furnish the idea of a curve?_ We +think the misnomer yet greater and worse, when we come to such captions +as 'To develop the idea of God, as a kind Father;' especially when the +amount of the development is this: 'Now, children, listen very +attentively to what I say, and I will _tell you_ about a Friend that +_you all have_, one who is kind to all of you, one who _loves you +better_ than your father or your mother does,' and so on. All this, and +what precedes and follows, is 'telling,' as the author acknowledges; of +course, then, it is not developing. How is the child here made to _find_ +and _know_ that it has such a Friend?--that this Friend _is_ kind to +all?--that this Friend loves it better than do parents, or, in fact, at +all? This is the way the nursery develops this and kindred ideas, and if +the child be yet too young for its own comprehension of the most obvious +truths of Natural Theology, then better defer the subject, or at least +cease to call the nursery method by too swelling a name! + +As to arrangement of topics, though the geographical lessons properly +come late, as they stand, the idea of _place_, as well as those of +_weight and size_, all belong earlier than the positions they are found +in; and _number_, later. Such mental anachronisms as talking of _solids_ +before the attempt has been made to impart or insure the idea of a +solid, should, where practicable, be avoided; and more notably, such as +bringing a subsequent and complex idea, like that of 'square measure,' +before scarcely any one of the elementary ideas it involves, such as +_measure, standard_, or even _length or size_, is presented. As to the +substance of the teaching, we will indicate a few points that raise a +question on perusal of them. What will the little learner gain, if the +teacher follows the book in this instance? 'Where is the skin of the +apple? _On_ its surface.'' This is in the lesson for 'developing the +idea' of surface. When, by and by, the young mathematician gets the true +idea of a surface, as extension in two dimensions only, hence, without +thickness, then will follow this surprising result, that the whole +thickness of the apple-skin is _on_--outside--the apple's surface, and +hence, is nowhere: a singular converse of the teaching of those smart +gentlemen who waste reams of good paper in establishing, to their own +satisfaction, that even the mathematical surface itself has thickness! +In the lesson on 'perpendicular and horizontal,' the definition of +perpendicular is correct; but all the developing, before and after, +unfortunately confounds the _perpendicular_ with the _vertical_--a bad +way toward future accuracy of thought, or toward making scientific +ideas, as they should be, definite as well as practically useful. If we +judge by the brevity and incompleteness of the lesson on 'Developing +ideas of Drawing'(!), ideas of that particular 'stripe' must be scarce. +The Object Lessons at the close of the book we find generally very good +models of such exercises, clear and to the purpose. Once in a while +there is a _lapsus_, as in this: The criterion of a _liquid_ is +presented as being in the circumstances that it does not '_hold +together_' when poured from a vessel, but 'forms drops.' Now, since it +forms drops, it _has cohesion_, and the criterion is wrongly taken; In +fact, the same thing appears in that the liquid, even in pouring out, +does hold together in a stream, and a stream that experiments with +liquid jets show it really requires considerable force to break up. + +Finally, Mr. Calkins's book, in the bands of discerning and skillful +teachers, can be made the instrument of a great deal of right and +valuable discipline for primary classes; but without some guarding and +help from the teacher's own thought, it will not always do the best +work, nor in the best way. It is an approach to a good book for early +mental development; but it is not the consummation to be desired. Many +of its suggestions and patterns of lessons are excellent; but there is +too large a lack of true consecution of topics, of accuracy of +expression, and of really natural method of handling the subjects. We +say this with no unkindly feeling toward the attempt or the author, but +because, though no matter by how fortuitous circumstances, it comes to +us as in this country the _first effort_ toward a certain new style of +books and subjects, and certain more rational teaching; and we hold it, +as being the privilege of teachers whose time may be too much consumed +in applying, to criticise minutely, as no less our right and duty, and +that of every independent man, to recognize and point out wherein this +new venture meets, or fails to meet, the new and positive demand of the +pupils and the teachers in our time. If, in a degree, the working out +shows defects such as we have named, is it not yet a question, whether +we have in the book an illustration 'how this system of training may be +applied to the entire course of common school education'?--to say +nothing now of the question whether, even in its best form, it is a +system that ought to be so applied. + +After the author of a book for young learners is sure of the +comprehensibility of his subjects, and the accuracy of his ideas and +expressions of them, the highest need--and one the lack of which is +fatal to true educative value--is that of a natural and true synthesis +and consecution of the successive steps of fact and principle that are +to be presented. We would not be understood that every successive lesson +and every act of voluntary thinking must thus be consecutive: to say +this, would be to confine the mind to one study, and to make us dread +even relaxation, lest it break the precious and fragile chain of +thought. Our growth in knowledge is not after that narrow pattern. We +take food at one time, work at another, and sleep at a third: and so, +the mind too has its variations of employment, and best grows by a like +periodicity in them. This is our point--that it is a peculiarity and law +of mind, growing out of the very nature of mind and of its knowings, +that no truth or knowledge which is in its nature a _consequent_ on some +other truths or knowledge, can by any possibility be in reality attained +by any mind until after that mind has first secured and rightly +appreciated those _antecedent_ truths or knowings. No later or more +complex knowledge is ever comprehensible or acquirable, until after the +elements of knowledge constituting or involved in it have first been +definitely secured. To suppose otherwise, is precisely like supposing a +vigorously nourishing foliage and head of a tree with neither roots nor +stem under it; it is to suppose a majestic river, that had neither +sufficient springs nor tributaries. Now, for the pupil, the text-book +maker, the educator, no truth is more positive or profoundly important +than this. He who fails of it, by just so much as he does so, fails to +educate. Let the pupil, as he must, alternately study and not study--go +even on the same day from one study to a second, though seldom to more +than a third or fourth. By all this he need lose nothing; and he will +tax and rest certain faculties in turn. But then, insist that each +subject shall recur frequently enough to perpetuate a healthy activity +and growth of the faculties it exercises, usually, daily for five days +in a week, or every other day at farthest; that each shall recur at a +stated period, so that a habit of mind running its daily, steady and +productive round with the sun may be formed; and that in and along the +material of every subject pursued, whether it be arithmetic, or grammar, +or chemistry, or an ancient or modern language, the mind shall so be +enabled to advance consecutively, clearly and firmly from step to +step--from observation to law, from law to application, from analysis to +broader generalization, and its application, and so on--that every new +step shall just have been prepared for by the conceptions, the mental +susceptibility and fibre, gotten during the preceding ones, and that +thus, every new step shall be one forward upon new and yet sure ground, +a source of intellectual delight, and a further intellectual gain and +triumph. Need we say, this is the _ideal_? Practice must fall somewhat +short of it; but Practice must first aim at it; and as yet she has +scarcely conceived about the thing, or begun to attempt it. In truth, +Practice is very busy, dashing on without a due amount of consideration, +striving to project in young minds noble rivers of knowledge without +their fountains; and building up therein grand trees of science, of +which either the roots are wanting, or all parts come together too much +in confusion. + +First, then, we are not to make the presentation of any topic or lesson, +even to the youngest learner, needlessly inconsecutive; but with the +more advanced learners--with those in the academic and collegiate +courses--we should insist on the display, and in so doing best insure +the increase of the true _robur_ of the intellect, by positive +requirement that all the topics shall be developed logically; that +sufficient facts shall come before all conclusions; and rigid, sharp, +and satisfactory analysis before every generalization or other +synthesis. So, the more advanced mind would learn induction, and logic, +and method, by use of them upon all topics; it would know by experience +their possibilities, requirements, and special advantages; and it would +be able to recognize their principles, when formally studied, as but the +reflex and expression of its own acquired habitudes. Such a mind, we may +safely say, would be _educated_. But secondly, the foregoing +considerations show that we are not unnecessarily to jumble together the +topics and lessons; to vacillate from one line of study to another; to +wander, truant-like, among all sorts of good things--exploiting, now, a +_color_; then _milk_; then in due time _gratitude_ and _the pyramids_; +then _leather_, (for, though 'there's nothing like leather,' it may be +wisest to keep it in its place;) then _sponge_, and _duty to parents, +lying_, the _points of compass_, etc.! And here, for all ages above nine +or ten years, is a real drawback, or at the least, a positive danger, of +the Object-Lesson and Common-Things teaching. Just here is shadowed +forth a real peril that threatens the brains of the men and women of +the--we may say, 'rising' generation, through this fresh accession of +the object-lesson interest in our country. _Objects_, now, are +unquestionably good things; and yet, even objects can be 'run into the +ground.' + +We had put the essential thought here insisted on into words, before +object-lessons had acquired the impetus of the last and current year. + + 'The 'object lessons' of Pestalozzi and his numerous followers, had, + in a good degree, one needed element--they required WORK of the + pupil's own mind, not mere recipiency. But they have [almost] + wholly lacked another element, just as important--that of + CONSECUTION in the steps and results dealt with. In most of the + schools in our country--in a degree, in all of them--these two + fundamental elements of all right education, namely, true work of + the learner's mind, and a natural and true consecution in not only + the processes of each day or lesson, but of one day on another, and + of each term on the preceding, are things quite overlooked, and + undreamed of, or, at the best, imperfectly and fragmentarily + attempted. But these, in so far as, he can secure their benefits, + are just the elements that make the thinker, the scholar, the man + of real learning or intellectual power in any pursuit.--_New-York + Teacher, December,_ 1859. + +A like view begins to show itself in the writings of some of the English +educationists. The object-teaching is recognized as being, in most +instances, at least, too promiscuous and disorderly for the ends of a +true discipline and development, and certainly, therefore, even for +securing the largest amount of information. It too much excludes the +later, systematic study of the indispensable branches, and supplants the +due exercise of the reasoning powers, by too habitual restriction of the +mind's activities to the channels of sense and perception. Isaac Taylor, +in his _Home Education_, admits the benefits of this teaching for the +mere outset of the pupil's course, but adds: 'For the rest, that is to +say, whatever _reaches its end in the bodily perceptions_, I think we +can go but a very little way without so giving the mind a bent _toward +the lower faculties as must divert it from the exercise of the higher._' +This thought is no mere fancy. It rests on a great law of _derivation_, +true in mind as in the body; that inanition and comparative loss of one +set of powers necessarily follows a too habitual activity of a different +set. Thus it is that, in the body, over-use of the nervous, saps the +muscular energies, and excessive muscular exertion detracts from the +vivacity of the mind. Logically, then, when carried to any excess over +just sufficient to secure the needed clear perceptions and the +corresponding names for material objects and qualities, the +object-lesson system at once becomes the special and fitting education +for the ditcher, the 'hewer of wood,' the mere human machine in any +employment or station in life, where a quick and right taking to the +work at the hand is desirable, and any thing higher is commonly thought +to be in the way; but it is not the complete education for the +independent mind, the clear judgment and good taste, which must grow out +of habits of weighing and appreciating also thousands of _non_-material +considerations; and which are characteristics indispensable in all the +more responsible positions of life, and that in reality may adorn and +help even in the humblest. In a recently published report or address on +a recommendation respecting the teaching of Sciences, made by the +English 'Committee of Council on Education,' in 1859, Mr. Buckmaster +says: + + 'The object-lessons given in some schools are so vague and + unsystematic, that I doubt very much if they have any educational + or practical value. I have copied the following lessons from the + outline of a large elementary school; Monday, twenty minutes past + nine to ten, Oral Lesson--_The Tower of Babel_; Tuesday, _The + Senses_; Wednesday, _Noah's Ark_; Thursday, _Fire_; Friday, _The + Collect for Sunday_. What can come of this kind of teaching, I am + at a loss to understand. Now, a connected and systematic course of + lessons on any of the natural sciences, or on the specimens + contained in one of Mr. Dexter's cabinets, would have been of far + greater educational value, and more interesting to the children. + _This loose and desultory habit of teaching encourages a loose and + desultory habit of thought_; it is for this reason that I attach + great value to _consecutive courses_ of instruction. I think, it + will not be difficult to show that the study of _almost any branch + of elementary science_ not only has a direct bearing on many of the + practical affairs of every-day life, but also _supplies all the + conditions necessary to stimulate and strengthen the intellectual + faculties in a much greater degree_ than many of the subjects now + taught in our elementary schools.' + +All the lines of our investigation, as well as the most competent +testimony, thus converge in showing that the object-lesson and +common-things teaching is but a partial and preliminary resource in the +business of education; that, to avoid working positive harm, it must be +restricted within due limits of age, capacity, and subject; that it is +not, therefore, the real and total present desideratum of our schools; +and that, subsequently to the completion of the more purely sensuous and +percipient phase of the mind, and to the acquirement of the store of +simpler ideas and information, and the degree of capacity, that ought to +be secured during that period--hence, from an age not later than eleven, +or according as circumstances may determine, thirteen years--all the +true and desirable ends of education, whether they be right mental +habits and tastes, discipline and power of the faculties, or a large +information and practical command of the acquisitions made--all these +ends, we say, are thenceforward most certainly secured by the systematic +prosecution, in a proper method, of the usually recognized distinct +branches or departments of scientific knowledge. Let then, 'common +things,' _et id genus omne_, early enough give place to thorough-going +study of the elements of Geometry, of Geography, Arithmetic, Language, +(including Grammar,) of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Botany, +Physiology, and something of their derivations and applications. Thus +shall our schools produce a race not of mere curious _gazers_, but of +conscious and purposive investigators; not a generation of intellectual +truants and vagabonds, but one of definitely skilled cultivators of +definite domains in handicraft, art, or science. + +We are compelled to take issue, therefore, with Mr. Spencer's +recommendation, indorsed in the Chicago Report, to the effect that +object-lessons should, after a 'different fashion,' 'be extended to a +range of things far wider, and continued to a period far later than +now.' Not so: after any possible fashion. But let us, as early as the +child's capacity and preparation will allow, have the individualized, +consecutive studies, and the very manner of studying which shall be made +to do _for the higher and the lower intellectual faculties together, +what well-conducted object-lessons can and now do perform, mainly for +the lower_. Of all school-method, this we conceive to be the true end +and consummation. This would be the ultimate fruitage of the Baconian +philosophy, and of philosophy larger than the Baconian--by as much as +the whole is greater than any part--in the school-life and work of every +boy and girl admitted to the benefits of our courses of instruction. + +Thus we have endeavored, with some particularity of examination and +detail, to find and state not only what _are_, but what _should be_, the +tendencies of educational thought and effort in our country and times. +And we seem to find that those tendencies _are_, in spite of a +stand-still conservatism or perplexed doubt in some quarters, and of a +conflict of views and practices in others, largely in the direction in +which the ends to be sought show that they _should be_. The _Education +to be_, as far as the intellectual being is concerned, when time and +study shall better have determined the conditions, and furnished the +working instrumentalities, is to be, not in name merely, but in fact, an +education by simply natural employment and development of all the +perceiving, reasoning, originative, and productive faculties of the +mind. It is to be such, because it is to insist on proceeding, after +proper age, and then upon every suitable topic, by observation and +investigation, and so, by discovery of the principles and results the +mind is desired to attain; because it will be an education by rigidly +consecutive, comprehended and firm lines of advance, employing processes +analytic and synthetic, inductive and deductive, each in its requisite +place and in accordance with the nature and stage of the topics under +investigation. For the like reasons, it will have become, what we have +long foreseen and desired that education should be, rightly progressive +in form, and in character such as must develop, strengthen, and store +the mind; such as must best fit, so far as the merely scholastic +education can do this, for practical expression and use of what is +learned, showing all our acquired knowledge in the light of its actual +and various relationships, and conferring true serviceableness and the +largest value, whether for enjoyment or execution. + +Such an education would be _real_ in its method as well as in its +substance. We have fairly entered upon the era in which education must +be, and, spite of any temporary recoil of timorous despotisms, must +continue to be, popular and universal. But many are too apt to forget +that, upon our planet, this thing of popular and universal education is +comparatively a new and untried experience; that, so far as its mode and +substance are concerned, it is, in truth, still in course of experiment. +There is at present a very general and but too just complaint of the +popular education, as tending to inflate rather than to inform; as +prompting large numbers of young men especially to aim at scaling to +positions above those in which the school found them, a thing that would +be well enough were it not inevitable that, in the general scramble, the +positions aspired to are at the same time too frequently those above +their capabilities, and quite too full without them: as, in few words, +inspiring youth with a disrelish for those less responsible pursuits to +which a large majority should devote their lives, rather than with a +desire to qualify themselves for their proper work. The tendency is +admitted; and it has become, in overcrowded professions and commercial +pursuits, the fruitful source of superficiality, of charlatanry, of +poverty at once of pocket and of honor, of empty speculations, and of +the worst crimes. + +But, appreciating the unquestionable fact that universal education is to +be henceforth the rule in the most advanced nations, and that, in spite +of its apparent consequences or our fears, and remembering also that the +experience is, for the world, a new one, is there not some hope left us +in the thought that possibly the alarmists have been attributing to the +_fact_ of popular education itself what in truth is only a temporary +consequence of a false, an abnormally-educating _method and procedure_ +on the part of our schools? Nay, more; does not the latter afford the +true solution of the evil? We believe it has been shown that our +teaching methods not only fail in great part, but in a degree positively +mis-educate; that the very 'head and front' of this failure and +non-developing appears in the want of bringing into just prominence the +discriminating and the applicative powers of the mind, the judgment, and +reason; in a word, the thinking as distinguished from the merely +receptive and retentive powers. Now, what are we to expect from a people +too many of whom are put in possession of stores of fact quite beyond +the degree in which their capacities to discriminate clearly, to judge +wisely, and to draw conclusions rationally have been strengthened and +furnished with the requisite guiding principles? What but a shallow +shrewdness that should run into all the evils we have above named? But +discipline all to think and reason more and more justly and assuredly +upon their facts, and to men so educated, the very thought of an +inordinate crowding of the so-called genteeler avocations, to the +neglect of the more substantial, _becomes appreciated in its true light, +as absurd and unfortunate in every way, and, in all its bearings upon +the individual as well as the social welfare_. + +So, let us have popular education; and let a due proportion of fit minds +enter the professions, the posts of office, and commercial pursuits; let +a few even live by mere work of thought; but let all enjoy the luxury of +a degree of thought and rationality that shall forbid their richest +blessing turning to their rankest curse. That such must be the result of +a _true_ education, our faith in a wise Providence forbids us to doubt. +Such an education being _real_, and appealing to all the faculties, does +not eventuate in vain aspirings; but fits each for his place and +work--fits for making that great and happy discovery, that the best +talents and the most complete cultivation of them can not only find in +every employment scope for real exercise, but in the commonest and +simplest occupations will be more expert and successful than uncultured +ignorance can possibly be. In this view, the true education tends not to +_level_ but to utilize, to make the most of every man's special +aptitudes for his special field. Such an education monarchy and +aristocracy might dread, and reaective tendencies have already, indeed, +blighted the once pattern school-system of Prussia, while they are +believed to threaten a like step in England. But the idea of such an +education as we have striven to portray, harmonizes with the spirit and +objects of a commonwealth, and if we mistake not, to the perpetuity and +perfection of free institutions it may yet be found the condition +precedent. + + + + +_TRAVEL-PICTURES._ + +A QUIET COURT IN PARIS. + +No lodging on a village street could be quieter than my room in Paris, +and yet the court it opened upon was not more than an easy stone's throw +from the gayest part of the Boulevards. Once within the great wooden +gate and up the narrow lane conducting to the court, and you seemed to +have left the great world as completely behind you as if it had been a +dream. It was one of the smallest of Parisian courts, and--to me its +chief recommendation--one of the neatest. With its two or three small +stuccoed houses built around, it reminded one rather of inclosures that +you see in provincial towns in France than of the damp, high-walled +courts, so common in the capital. In one of these small houses, looking +out upon the sunny, cheerful yard, I had my room, and as I often sat at +the window, I began by degrees to take some interest in the movements of +my neighbors, as we can hardly help doing when the same persons pass in +and out before our eyes for many days in succession. The house was +rented or owned by an elderly lady, who, with her niece and an old +servant-woman, seemed to be its only occupants, with the exception of +two American boys, attending school by day at one of the large +_Pensions_ so numerous in Paris. Kinder people can not be found any +where, and fortunate indeed is the sojourner in a strange land who falls +in with such good hearts. Their history was a singular one, and I did +not really learn it till my return to Paris, after a long absence. They +interested me very much, from the first day. The lady and her niece had +seen better days, and were notable partisans of the Orleans family, +whose memory they deeply reverenced. Politics, indeed, could make but +little difference to them, passing, as they did, most of their lives in +their quiet rooms; but such interest as they had in it clung to what +they considered the model royal family of Europe, a family that carried +its affections and virtues equally through the saddest and most splendid +experiences. They could not sympathize with the oppressive and military +character of the present dynasty and the crowd of time-serving +adventurers that swarmed around it. The life of the younger lady was +devoted to her aunt, and all the spare hours that remained to her from +those occupied by the lessons she was compelled to give, to increase +their scanty income, were passed in her society. I have seldom seen a +life of such entire self-denial as that led by this refined and delicate +woman. The third figure of this family group, the old servant, Marie, +was a character peculiar to France. She seemed rather a companion than a +servant, though she performed all the duties of the latter, keeping the +rooms in neatest order, and making better coffee than I found at the +most splendid restaurants. She had a clear blue eye, with one of the +most faithful expressions I ever saw on human face, and seemed to take +as much interest in me and the two American boys as if we had been her +children. She was the housekeeper, buying all their little supplies; but +when her labors were over, passing her leisure hours in the society of +the ladies she had so long served. I soon saw that the connection +between these three beings would be terminated only by death. The chief +difference in the two ladies and their faithful old _bonne_, beyond the +circumstance of better education and greater refinement, was that for +the former the outer world no longer had much interest, while the old +Marie still seemed to retain a keen relish for what was going on around +her, and often amused me by the eagerness with which she would enter +into trifling details of gossip and general news. After sight-seeing all +day, and the experiences of a stranger in Paris, I was often glad to +join the trio in their little parlor, and talk over the Paris of former +days, during its revolutions and _fetes_, or answer their questions +about my every-day ramblings or my American home. I felt, during these +evenings, a relief from the general routine of places of amusement, +enjoyed their home-like quiet, and knew I could always give pleasure by +varying the monotony of these ladies' every-day life. So the three, so +devoted to each other, lived quietly on, winning my respect and +sympathy. I left them, with many regrets on their part and my own, and +on my return, after an absence of nearly a year, one of my first visits +was to these kind-hearted people. To my sorrow, I learned that death had +removed the elder lady some months before. I could hardly imagine a +death that would longer or more painfully affect a family group than +this, for they had so few outward circumstances to distract their +thoughts. They received me cordially; but grief for their irreparable +loss was always visible in every subsequent interview I had with them. +Meeting again one of the school-boys who had lodged there, he told me +the following circumstances of the death of the lady, and of the +relationship existing between them, which was so different from what I +had always imagined. Madame de B---- was the widow of a French officer +of high rank, during whose life she had been in affluent circumstances; +but through various causes, she had lost most of the property left her +at his death, and retained at last only enough to keep them in the +humble style I have described. The manner of her death was very +singular. In her better days, she had lived with her husband in a +handsome house near the Champs Elysees. On the day of her death, she was +walking with a gentleman from Boston, a friend of the two pupils I have +mentioned, and was speaking to him of her more affluent days, when, as +they were near the house where she had once lived, she proposed to walk +on a little further, that she might point it out. He consented, and as +they drew near to it, she exclaimed, '_Ah! nous l'apercevons_,' and, +without another word, fell suddenly in a sort of apoplectic fit, not +living more than half an hour longer. The circumstance of this lady +dying suddenly so near the place where she had once lived, and which she +so seldom visited, was certainly very singular. To my surprise, I +learned that the younger lady was the daughter of old Marie, having been +adopted and educated by the person she had always supposed to be her +aunt; she having no children of her own. What made it more singular was, +that the younger lady had herself been in possession of this family +secret only a few years. It reminded me somewhat of Tennyson's Lady +Clare, though in this case no one had been kept out of an estate by the +fiction. It was merely to give the young lady the advantage of the +supposed relationship. This, then, accounted for the strong affection +existing between them, and lest any reader might think this conduct +strange, I must again bear witness to the kindness and true affection +always displayed toward the real mother. I would not narrate this true +story, did I not feel how little chance there is of my humble pen +writing any thing that would reach the ears of this family, living so +obscurely in the great world of Paris. + +Just opposite us, in the court, lived another lady, who has played many +fictitious parts, as well as a somewhat prominent one, on the stage of +real life. This was Madame George, the once celebrated actress; in her +younger days, a famous beauty, and at one time mistress of the great +Napoleon. Though long retired from regular connection with the stage, +she still makes an occasional appearance upon it, almost always drawing +a full audience, collected principally from curiosity to see so noted a +personage, or to remark what portion of her once great dramatic power +time has still left her. One of these appearances was made at the Odeon, +while we were in Paris. Marie informed us of the coming event before it +was announced on the bills, and seemed to take as much interest in it as +if it had been the _debut_ of a near relative. We had sometimes caught a +glimpse of the great actress, tending her geraniums and roses at the +window, or going out to drive. On the evening in question, a very large +audience greeted the tragedienne, and she was received, with much +enthusiasm. She appeared in a tragedy of Racine, in which she had once +been preeminently distinguished. Magnificently dressed, and adorned with +splendid jewels, trophies of her younger days, when her favors were +sought by those who could afford to bestow such gifts, she did not look +over thirty-five, though now more than twice that age. I am no admirer +of French tragedy, but I certainly thought Madame George still showed +the remains of a great actress, and in some passages produced a decided +impression. Her tall, commanding figure, expressive eyes, and features +of perfect regularity, must have given her every natural requisite for +the higher walks of her profession. As I watched her moving with +majestic grace across the stage, irrepressible though trite reflections +upon her early career passed through my mind. What audiences she has +played before, in the days of the first empire! How many soldiers and +statesmen, now numbered with the not-to-be-forgotten dead, have +applauded her delivery of the same lines that we applaud to-night. +Napoleon and his brilliant military court, the ministers of foreign +nations, students such as are here this evening, themselves since +distinguished in various walks of life, have passed across the stage, +and made their final exit, leaving Madame George still upon it. And the +not irreproachable old character herself--what piquant anecdotes she +could favor us with, would she but draw some memory-pictures for us! +Women in Europe, in losing virtue, do not always lose worldly prudence, +as with us, and go down to infamy and a miserable old age. Better, +however, make allowance for the manners of the time--French manners at +that--and contemplate the old lady from an historical point of view, +regarding her with interest, as I could not help doing, as one of the +few remaining links connecting the old Napoleon dynasty with the new. +How strange the closing of a life like hers! Except for the occasional +reaeppearance on the scene of her old triumphs, not oftener than once or +twice a year, how quiet the life she now leads! what a contrast to the +excitement and brilliancy that mark the career of a leading actress in +the zenith of her reputation! _Then_, from the theatre she would drive +in her splendid equipage through streets illuminated perhaps for some +fresh victory gained by the invincible battalions of her imperial lover. +_Now_, in a retired house, she probably sometimes muses over the past, +pronouncing, as few with better reason can, 'all the world's a stage, +and all the men and women merely players,' such changes has she +witnessed in the fortunes of the great actors by whom she was once +surrounded. So here were the histories of two of the occupants of our +court. The others may have had experiences no less strange; and in many +another court in this great city, from the stately inclosures of the Rue +de Lille to the squalid dens of the Faubourg St. Antoine, (if the names +have not escaped me,) lives well worth the telling are passing away. +Such is a great city. + + + + +THE COUNTRY OF EUGENE ARAM + +There is a little river in England called the Nidd, and on its high +banks stand the ruins of a castle. There is much in this part of it to +remind one of the Rhine; the banks rise up in bold, picturesque form; +the river just here is broad and deep, and the castle enough of a ruin +to lead us to invest it with some legend, such as belongs to every +robber's nest on that famous river. No hawk-eyed baron ready to pounce +on the traveler, is recorded as having lived here; all that seems to be +remembered of it is, that the murderers of Thomas A Becket lay secreted +here for a time after that deed of blood, ere they ventured forth on +their pilgrimage, haunted by the accursed memory of it all their lives. +This is something, to be sure, in the way of historic incident, but the +real interest of this immediate region arises from the fact of its being +the home and haunt of Eugene Aram. A great English novelist has woven +such a spell of enchantment around the history of this celebrated +criminal, that I could not help devoting a day to the environs of the +little town of Knaresboro', in and around which the most eventful +portion of Aram's life was passed. A famous dropping-well, whose waters +possess the power of rapidly petrifying every object exposed to them, is +one of the most noticeable things in the neighborhood. There are also +one or two curious rockcut cells, high up on precipitous slopes, which +were inhabited years ago by pious recluses who had withdrawn from the +vanities of the world. Some were highly esteemed here in their lives, +and here their bones reposed; and the fact of their remaining +undiscovered sometimes for many years, was ingeniously used by Aram in +his defense, to account for the discovery of the bones of his victim in +the neighboring cave of St. Robert. This latter is one of the few places +connected with Aram's history that can be pointed out with certainty. It +lies about two miles below the castle before mentioned. It is even now a +place that a careless pedestrian might easily pass without remarking, +notwithstanding that its entrance is worn by many curious feet. The +entrance is very narrow, and the cavern, like caverns in general, +exceedingly dark. The river flows by more rapidly here than above; the +grass grows long and wild, and there is a gloomy air about it that would +make it an unpleasant place for a night rendezvous even without the +horrid associations connected with it. The exact place where Clark's +hones were discovered is pointed out, and probably correctly, as the +space is too narrow to admit of much choice. Here they lay buried for +years, while according to Bulwer, this most refined of murderers was +building up a high name as a scholar and a stainless reputation as a +man. A field not far off is pointed out as the place where were found +the bones which led to the detection of Aram. Though but few places can +now be indicated with certainty in connection with his tragic story, a +vague outline of the character of the man before the discovery of his +crime, is preserved in the neighborhood. As we read the true story of +Eugene Aram, lately published by an apparently reliable person, our +sense of the poetic is somewhat blunted; we feel that the lofty +character drawn by Bulwer is in many respects a creation of the +novelist, while the whole story of his love is demolished by the stern +fact of his having a wife, of no reputable character, with whom he lived +unhappily; but he was still a man of talent, of great mental, if not +moral refinement, and of indomitable ardor in the pursuit of learning. +The chief fault of his character until his one great crime was +discovered, seems to have been recklessness in pecuniary transactions, +by which he was often involved in petty difficulties. He seems to have +had a tenderness amounting to acute sensibility, for dumb animals, and +to have dreaded killing a fly more than many a man who could not, like +him, be brought to kill a fellow-being His mental acquirements, though +remarkable for an unaided man of obscure origin, would not probably have +attracted wide attention, had it not been for the notoriety caused by +the detection of his crime. How many fair girls have shed tears over +'his ill-starred love' and melancholy fate, who little dreamed that he +was a husband, in a very humble rank of life. Bulwer speaks of his +favorite walks with Madeline, and of a rustic seat still called 'The +Lovers' Scat.' It is not, I think, now pointed out, nor is the account +of his love probably more than an imaginary one, but it may be founded +upon fact, and some high-souled English girl may really, in his early +life, or when separated as he was for a long time from his wife, have +called forth all his better feelings and revealed glimpses of the beauty +of the life of two affectionate and pure beings keeping no secrets of +the heart from each other. How it must have tortured him to think that +such a life never could be his, well fitted for it as in some respects +he was, and ever haunted by the fear that the poor sham by which he was +concealed must some day be torn away, and an ignominious fate be +apportioned him! No situation can be more deplorable than that of a man +of refined and lofty nature, who has made one fatal mistake connecting +him with men far worse than himself, who are masters of his secret and +ever ready to use it for their own base purposes. Are there not many men +so situated--men near us now, who walk through life haunted by the +dreadful spectres of past misdeeds hastily committed, bitterly +repented--a phantom that can blast every joy, and from whose presence +death comes as a friendly deliverer? + + + + +THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. + +We reached the Hospice about an hour after dark, somewhat stiff, and +very wet from the rain and snow that commenced falling as we entered the +region of clouds. We had passed unpleasantly near some very considerable +precipices, and though unable to distinguish the ground below, knew they +were deep enough to occasion us decided 'inconvenience' had we gone over +them. The long, low, substantial-looking building finally loomed through +the mist, and alighting, we were shown into a room with a cheerful fire +blazing on the hearth, and were soon joined by a priest of cordial, +gentlemanly manners and agreeable conversation. So this was the famous +monastery of St. Bernard, which we had read of all our lives, and the +stories of whose sagacious dogs had delighted our childish minds. A +substantial supper was provided for us, to which was added some +excellent wine, made in the valley below. Conversation was pretty +general in French, and somewhat exclusive in Latin; two of our party +understanding the dead language, but ignorant of the living, framed with +great difficulty ponderous but by no means Ciceronian sentences, which +they launched at our host, who replied with great fluency, showing that +for conversational purposes, at least, his command of the language was +much better than theirs. Being anxious to attend the early mass in the +morning, and tired from our ride, we were soon shown to our rooms. +Walking along the passages and viewing the different apartments, we saw +the house would accommodate a great number of persons. The rooms were +long and narrow, many of them containing a number of beds; but in this +bracing mountain air there is no fear of bad ventilation. No crack of my +window was open, but the wind blew furiously outside, and there was a +decidedly 'healthy coolness' about the apartment. The room was +uncarpeted and scantily furnished, but every thing was spotlessly clean, +and in pleasant contrast with the dirty luxury of some of the +Continental inns. A few small pictures of saints and representations of +scriptural subjects graced the white walls and constituted the only +ornaments of the room. Looking from my window I saw that the clouds had +blown away, and the brilliant moon shone on the sharp crags of the hills +and on the patches of snow that lay scattered about on the ground. The +scene was beautiful, but very cold; the wind howled around the house, +and yet this was a balmy night compared with most they have here. I +thought of merciless snow-drifts overtaking the poor blinded traveler, +benumbed, fainting, and uncertain of his path; of the terrors of such a +situation, and then glancing around the plain but comfortable room, I +could not but feel grateful to the pious founders of this venerable +institution. Long may it stand a monument of their benevolence and of +the shelter that poor wayfarers have so often found within its +hospitable walls! + +At daybreak we made our way to the chapel, a large and beautiful room +with many pictures and rich ornaments, gifts of persons who have shared +the hospitality of the place. At the altar the brother who had welcomed +us on our arrival was officiating in his priestly robes, assisted by +several others. A few persons, servants of the establishment and +peasants stopping for the night, with ourselves, composed the +congregation. Two of the women present, we were told, were penitents; we +asked no further of their history, but at this remote place the incident +gave us cause for reflection and surmise. Heaven grant that in this +sublime solitude their souls may have found the peace arising from the +consciousness of forgiveness. I have never been more impressed with the +Catholic service than I was this morning, when the voices of the priests +blending with the organ, rose on the stillness of that early hour in one +of the familiar chants of the Church. It seemed, indeed, like heavenly +music. Here with the first dawn of morning on these lofty mountaintops, +where returning day is welcomed earlier than in the great world below, +men had assembled to pour forth their worship to God, here so manifest +in his mighty works. The ever-burning lamp swung in the dim chapel, and +it seemed a beautiful idea that morning after morning on these great +mountains, the song of gratitude and praise should ascend to Him who +fashioned them; that so it has been for years, while successive winters +have beat in fury on this house, and the snows have again and again shut +out all signs of life from nature. As my heart filled with emotion, I +could not but think of the aptness to the present scene of those +beautiful lines of our poet: + + 'At break of day as heavenward + The pious monks of St. Bernard + Chanted the oft-repeated prayer.' + +Time and place were the same, and the service seemed as beautiful and +solemn as might have been that chanted over the stiff, frozen body of +the high-souled but too aspiring boy. The service ended, and we were +left alone in the chapel. In one corner of it is the box in which those +who can, leave a contribution for the support of the establishment. No +regular charge is made, but probably most persons leave more than they +would at a hotel--and our party certainly did. I believe that the money +is well applied; at any rate, for years the hospice afforded shelter +before travel became a fashionable summer amusement, and in those days +it expended far more than it received. + +Our breakfast was very simple, and the Superior of the establishment +confined himself to a small cup of coffee and morsel of bread. They have +but one substantial meal a day. I was interested in observing our host. +His appearance and manner were prepossessing and agreeable, but this +morning something seemed to weigh anxiously on his mind. He was +abstracted in manner, and once as I looked up suddenly, his lips were +moving, and he half checked himself in an involuntary gesture. Had the +confession of the penitents, perhaps, troubled him? I believe he was a +sincere, self-sacrificing man, and I have often thought of his manner +that morning. + +We were, of course, very anxious to see the dogs, but were told they are +now becoming exceedingly scarce. They can not be kept very long in the +piercing air of the mountains, its rarefaction being as injurious to +them as to human beings. Most of them are therefore kept at Martigny, or +some other place below. We were told, however, that two 'pups' were now +at the hospice; and as we sallied out for a walk over the hills, we +heard a violent scratching at an adjoining door, which being opened, out +burst the pups. They were perfect monsters, though very young, with huge +paws, lithe and graceful but compact forms, full of life and activity, +and faces beaming with instinct. Darting out with us, they seemed +frantic with joy, snuffed the keen air as they rushed about, sometimes +tumbling over each other, and at times bursting against us with a force +that nearly knocked us down. They reminded me of two young tigers at +their gambols. I have never seen nobler-looking brutes. What fine, +honest, expressive countenances they had! At times a peculiar sort of +frown would ruffle the skin around their eyes, their ears would prick +up, and every nerve seem to be quickened. The face of a noble dog +appears to me to be capable of almost as great a variety of expression +as the human countenance, and these changes are sometimes more rapid. +The inquisitive and chagrined look when baffled in pursuit of prey, the +keen relish of joy, the look of supplication for food, of conscious +guilt for misdemeanor, the eyes beaming with intense affection for a +master, and whining sorrow for his absence, the meek look of endurance +in sickness, the feeble, listless air, the resigned expression of the +glassy eye at the approach of death, blending even then with indications +of gratitude for kindness shown! These dumb brutes can often teach us +lessons of meek endurance and resignation as well as courage, and few +things call forth more just indignation than to see them abused by men +far more brutish than they. + +Accompanying one of the younger brethren on an errand to the valley +below, we watched them dashing along till the intervening rocks hid them +from our view. In the extensive museum of the Monastery we found much to +interest us. Many of the curiosities are gifts of former travelers, and +some of them are of great value. There is also a small collection of +antiquities found in the immediate neighborhood, where, I believe, are +still traces of an ancient temple. The St. Bernard has been a favorite +pass with armies, and is thought by many to have been that chosen by +Hannibal. + +Not very far from the house is the 'morgue' so often noticed by +travelers, containing numerous bodies, which, though they have not +decayed, are nevertheless repulsive to look upon. The well-known figures +of the woman and her babe show that for once the warm refuge of a +mother's breast chilled and fainted in the pitiless storm. + +After cordial well--wishes from the brethren, we left the hospice, +bringing away remembrances of it as one of the most interesting places +it has been our privilege to visit. It has, of course, changed character +within half a century, and there is now less necessity for it than +formerly. Many travelers complain of it as now wearing too much the +appearance of a hotel; but we were there too late in the season to find +it so; and even if true at other times, the associations with the +Monastery and the Pass are so interesting, the scenery so bold, and the +welcome one meets with so cordial, that he who regrets having made the +ascent must have had a very different experience from ourselves. + +A few hours' ride brought us to the valley, where we met peasants +driving carts and bearing baskets piled up with luscious grapes. A +trifle that the poorest traveler could have spared, procured us an ample +supply. + + + + +THE HUGUENOTS OF STATEN ISLAND. + +Staten Island, that enchanting sea-girt spot in the beautiful Bay of +New-York, early became a favorite resort with the French Protestants. It +should be called the Huguenot Island; and for fine scenery, inland and +water, natural beauties, hill, dale, and streams, with a bracing, +healthful climate, it strongly reminds the traveler of some regions in +France. No wonder that Frenchmen should select such a spot in a new +land, for their quiet homes. The very earliest settlers on its shores +were men of religious principles. Hudson, the great navigator, +discovered the Island, in 1609, when he first entered the noble river +which bears his undying name. It was called by its Indian owners, +_Aquehioneja, Manackong_, or _Eghquaous_, which, translated, means the +place of _Bad Woods_, referring, probably, to the character of its +original savage inhabitants. Among the very earliest patents granted for +lands in New-Netherland, we find one of June 19th, 1642, to Cornelius +Melyn, a Dutch burgomaster. He thus became a Patroon of Staten Island, +and subsequently a few others obtained the same honor and privileges. +They were all connected with the Dutch Reformed Church, in Holland; and +when they emigrated to New-Netherland, always brought with them their +Bibles and the '_Kranek-besoecker_,' or 'Comforter of the Sick,' who +supplied the place of a regular clergyman. Twice were the earliest +settlers dispersed by the Raritan Indians, but they rallied again, until +their progress became uninterrupted and permanent. + +Between the Hollanders and the French Refugees, there existed an old and +intimate friendship. Holland, from the beginning of the Middle Ages, had +been the asylum for all the religious out-laws from all parts of Europe. +But especially the persecuting wars and troubles of the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries, brought hither crowds of exiles. Not less than +thirty thousand English, who had embraced the Reformed faith, found here +a shelter during the reign of Mary Tudor. Hosts of Germans, during the +'Thirty Years' War,' obtained on the banks of the Amstel and the Rhine, +that religious liberty, which they had in vain claimed in their own +country. But the greatest emigration was that of the _Walloons_, from +the bloody tyranny of the Duke of Alba, and the Count of Parma. For a +long period the Reformed faith had found adherents in the Provinces of +the Low Countries. Here the first churches were _under the Cross_, or +_in the Secret_, as it was styled, and they concealed themselves from +the raging persecution, by hiding, as it were, their faith, under mystic +names, the sense of which believers only knew. We will mention only a +few. That of Tournay, '_The Palm-Tree_;' Antwerp, '_The Vine_;' Mons, +'_The Olive_;' Lille, '_The Rose_;' Douay, '_The Wheat-Sheaf_;' and the +Church of Arras had for its symbol '_The Hearts-Ease_.' In 1561, they +published in French, their Confession of Faith, and in 1563, their +Deputies, from the Reformed Communities of Flanders, Brabant, Artois, +and Hainault, united in a single body, holding the first Synod of which +we have any account. These regions were an old part of the French +Netherlands, or Low Countries; and a small section of Brabant was called +_Walloon_; and here were found innumerable advocates of the Reformed +faith. The whole country would probably have become the most Protestant +of all Europe, were it not for the torrents of blood poured out for the +maintenance of the Roman religion by the Duke of Alba. + +Welcomed by the States General, Walloon Colonies were formed from the +year 1578 to 1589, at Amsterdam, Harlaem, Leyden, Utrecht, and other +places. But new persecutions arising, the Reformed French retired to +Holland, where new churches arose at Rotterdam, in 1605, Nimeguen, 1621, +and Tholen, in 1658. It was natural, therefore, that the Huguenots of +France should afterward settle in a country of so much sympathy for the +Walloon refugees, whom they regarded as their brethren. When Henry III. +commanded them to be converted to the Romish Church or to leave the +kingdom in six months, many of them repairing to Holland, joined the +Walloon communities, whose language and creed were their own. After the +fall of La Rochelle, this emigration recommenced, and was doubled under +Louis XIV., when he promulgated his first wicked and insane edict +against his Protestant subjects. From that unfortunate period, during a +century, the Western Provinces of France depopulated themselves to the +benefit of the Dutch Republic. Many learned men and preachers visited +these Walloon churches, while endeavoring to escape the persecuting +perils of every kind, to which they were exposed. Among the ministers we +may mention the names of Basnage, Claude, Benoit, and Saurin, who +surpassed them all, by the superiority of his genius, who was the +patriarch of 'The Refuge,' and contributed more than all the rest to +prevail on the Huguenots to leave France. + +During the last twenty years of the seventeenth century, the French +Protestant emigration into Holland rose to a political event, and the +first '_Dragonades_' gave the signal in 1681. The Burgomasters of +Amsterdam soon perceived the golden advantages which the Hollanders +would derive from the fatal policy of Louis XIV. The city of Amsterdam +announced to the refugees all the rights of citizenship, with an +exemption from taxes for three years. The States of Holland soon +followed the example of Amsterdam, and by a public declaration, +discharged all refugees who should settle there, from all taxes for +twelve years. In less than eight days all the Protestants of France were +informed of this favorable proclamation, which gave impulse to new +emigration. In all the Dutch provinces and towns collections were taken +up for the benefit of the French refugees, and a general fast proclaimed +for Wednesday, November 21st, 1685, and all Protestants were invited to +thank God for the grace he gave them to worship Him in liberty, and to +entreat him to touch the heart of the French King, who had inflicted +such cruel persecutions on true believers. + +The Prince of Orange attached two preachers to his person from the +church of Paris, and the Huguenot ladies found a noble protectress in +the Princess of Orange. Thanks to her most generous care, more than one +hundred ladies of noble birth, who had lost all they possessed in +France, and had seen their husbands or fathers thrown into dungeons, now +found comfortable homes at Harlaem, Delft, and the Hague. At the Hague, +the old convent of preaching monks was turned into an establishment for +French women. At Nort, a boarding-house for young ladies of quality +received an annual benefaction of two thousand florins from her liberal +hands. Nor did she forget these pious asylums, after the British +Parliament had decreed her the crown. Most of the refugees came from the +Southern provinces--brave officers, rich merchants of Amiens, Rouen, +Bourdeaux, and Nantes, artisans of Brittany and Normandy, with +agriculturists from Provence, the shores of Languedoc, Roussillon, and +La Guienne. Thus were transported into hospitable Holland, gentlemen and +ladies of noble birth, with polished minds and refined manners, simple +mechanics and ministers of high renown, and all more valuable than the +golden mines of India or Peru. Thus Holland, of all lands, received most +of the French refugees, and Bayle calls it 'the grand ark of the +refugees.' No documents exist, by which their numbers can be correctly +computed, but they have been estimated from fifty-five to seventy-five +thousand souls, and the greatest number were to be found at Amsterdam, +Rotterdam, and the Hague. In 1686, there were not less than _sixteen_ +French pastors to the Walloon churches at Amsterdam. + +Thus intimately, by a common faith, friendship, and interest, did the +Huguenots unite themselves with the people of Holland, who, about this +period, commenced the establishment of New-Netherland in America. We +have traced this union the more fully for the better understanding of +our general subject. The Walloons and Huguenots were, in fact, the same +people--oppressed and persecuted French Protestants. Of the former, as +early as the year 1622, several Walloon families from the frontier, +between Belgium and France, turned their attention to America. They +applied to Sir Dudley Carleton, for permission to settle in the colony +of Virginia, with the privilege of erecting a town and governing +themselves, by magistrates of their own election. The application was +referred to the Virginia Company,[1] but its conditions seem to have +been too republican, and many of these Walloons looked, toward +New-Netherland, where some arrived in 1624, with the Dutch Director, +Minuit. + +[1: Lond. Doc. 1, 24.] + + +At first, they settled on Staten Island, (1624,) but afterward removed +to _Wahle Bocht_ or the 'Bay of Foreigners,' which has since been +corrupted into Wallabout. This settlement extended subsequently toward +'Breukelen,' named after an ancient Dutch village on the river Veght, in +the province of Utrecht; so that Staten Island has the honor of having +presented the first safe home, in America, and on her beautiful shores, +to the Walloons or Huguenots. The name of Walloon itself is said to be +derived either from Wall, (water or sea,) or more probably, the old +German word _Wahle_, signifying a foreigner. It must be remembered that +this is a part of the earliest chapter in the history of New-Netherland, +which the 'West-India Company' now resolved to erect into a province. To +the Chamber of Amsterdam the superintendence of this new and extensive +country was committed, and this body, during the previous year, had sent +out an expedition, in a vessel called the 'New-Netherland,' 'whereof +Cornelius Jacobs of Hoorn was skipper, _with thirty families, mostly +Walloons, to plant a colony there_.' They arrived in the beginning of +May, (1623,) and the old document, from which we quote, adds: + + 'God be praised, it hath so prospered, that the honorable Lords + Directors of the West-India Company have, with the consent of the + noble, high, and mighty Lords States General, undertaken to plant + some colonies,'[2] ... 'The Honorable _Daniel Van Kriecke-beeck_, + for brevity called _Beeck_, was commissary here, and so did his + duty that he was thanked.' + + [2: Wassemaer's Historie Van Europa, Amsterdam, 1621-1628.] + + +In 1625, three ships and a yacht arrived at Manhattan, with more +families, farming implements, and one hundred and three head of cattle. +Hitherto the government of the settlement had been simple, but now, +affairs assuming more permanency, a proper 'Director' from Holland was +appointed, and Peter Minuit, then in the office, was instructed to +organize a provincial government. He arrived in May, 1626, and to his +unfading honor be it recorded, that his first official act was to secure +possession of Manhattan Island, by fair and lawful purchase of the +Indians. It was estimated to contain twenty-two thousand acres, and was +bought for the sum of sixty guilders, or twenty-four dollars! Lands were +cheap then, where our proud and princely metropolis now stands, with her +millions, her churches, palatial stores, residences, and shipping. + +As yet there was no clergyman in the colony, but two visitors of the +sick, Sebastian Jansen Keol and Jan Huyck, were appointed for this +important duty, and also to read the Scriptures, on Sundays, to the +people. Thus was laid, more than two hundred years ago, the corner-stone +of the Empire State, on the firm foundation of justice, morality, and +religion. This historical fact places the character of the Dutch and +French settlers in a most honorable light. They enjoy the illustrious +distinction of fair, honest dealing with the aborigines, the natural +owners of the lands. + +The purchase of Manhattan, in 1626, was only imitated when William Penn, +fifty-six years afterward, purchased the site of Philadelphia from the +Indians, under the famous Elm Tree. The Dutch and Huguenot settlers of +New-Netherland were grave, firm, persevering men, who brought with them +the simplicity, industry, integrity, economy, and bravery of their +Belgic sires, and to these eminent virtues were added the light of the +civil law and the purity of the Protestant faith. To such we can point +with gratitude and respect, for the beginnings of our western +metropolis, and the works of our American forefathers. + +The Rev. Joannes Megapolensis, as early as the year 1642, took charge of +the Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, under the patronage of the Patroon +of Renssaelaerwick, and five years afterward became 'Domine' at +Manhattan. In 1652, he selected for a colleague, Samuel Drissius, on +account of his knowledge of French and English, and from his letters we +learn that he went, once a month, to preach to the French Protestants on +Staten Island. These were Vaudois or Waldenses, who had fled to Holland +from severe persecutions in Piedmont, and by the liberality of the city +of Amsterdam, were forwarded to settle in New-Netherland. We wish that +more materials could be gathered to describe the history of this +minister and his early Huguenot flock upon Staten Island. His ministry +continued from 1652 to 1671, and I have recorded all that I can find +respecting him and his people. About the year 1690, the New-York +Consistory invited the Rev. Peter Daille, who had ministered among the +Massachusetts Huguenots, to preach occasionally on Staten Island. + +In August, 1661, a number of Dutch and French emigrants from the +Palatinate obtained grants of land on the south side of Staten Island, +where a site for a village was surveyed. In a short time its population +increased to twelve or fourteen families, and to protect them from the +Indians, a block-house was erected and garrisoned with three guns and +ten soldiers. Domine Drissius visited them, and from a letter of his to +the Classis of Amsterdam, we learn the names of these early emigrants, +and some are familiar ones[3], Jan Classen, Johannes Christoffels, Ryk +Hendricks, Meyndert Evertsen, Gerrit Cornelissen, Capt. Post, Govert +Lockermans, Wynant Peertersen, etc., etc. Previous to this period, the +island had been twice overrun by the savages and its population +scattered; but now its progress became uninterrupted and onward. Crowds +of people from Germany, Norway, Austria, and Westphalia had fled to +Holland, and their number was increased by the religious troubles of the +Waldenses and Huguenots. Several families of the latter requested +permission to emigrate with the Dutch farmers to New-Netherland, at +their own expense. They only asked protection for a year or two from the +Indians; and the English, now in possession of the New-York colony, were +most favorably disposed toward them. This transfer from the Dutch to the +British rule took place in 1664. Fort Amsterdam became Fort James, and +the city took its present name, imposed as it was upon its rightful +owners. Staten Island was called Richmond County, and the province of +New-Netherland New-York, the name of one known only in history as a +tyrant and a bigot, the enemy of both political and religious freedom. + + [3: Alb. Rec. xviii.] + + +From 1656 to 1663, some Protestant emigrants from Savoy came to Staten +Island, and a large body of Rochelle Huguenots also reached New-York +during the latter year. This fertile and beautiful spot, with its gentle +hills and wide-spread surrounding waters, became a favorite asylum for +the French refugees, and they arrived in considerable numbers about the +year 1675, with a pastor, and erected a church near Richmond village. I +have visited the place, but all that remains to mark the venerable and +sacred spot is a single dilapidated grave-stone! The building, it is +said, was burned down, and none of its records have been discovered. At +that period, there were only five or six congregations in the province +of New-York, and this must have been one of them. The Rev. David +Bonrepos accompanied some of the French Protestants in their flight from +France to this country, and in an early description of New-York, the +Rev. John Miller says: 'There is a meeting-house at Richmond, Staten +Island, of which Dr. Bonrepos is the minister. There are forty English, +forty-four Dutch, and thirty-six French families.' In 1695-1696, letters +of denization were granted to David Bonrepos and others. Among my +autographs is a copy of his; he wrote a fair, clear hand. + +Under the tolerant rule of 'Good Queen Anne,' many French refugees +obtained peaceful abodes in Richmond county. In their escape from their +own land, multitudes had been kindly received in England, and afterward +accepted a permanent and safe shelter in the Province of New-York. What +a noble origin had the Staten Island Christian refugees! Their +ancestors, the Waldenses, resided several centuries, as a whole people, +in the South of France, and like the ancient Israelites of the land of +Goshen, enjoyed the pure light of sacred truth, while Egyptian darkness +spread its gloom on every side. In vain have historians endeavored to +trace correctly their origin and progress. All, however, allow them a +very high antiquity, with what is far better, an uncontaminated, pure +faith. A very ancient record gives a beautiful picture of their simple +manners and devotions: + + 'They, kneeling on their knees, or leaning against some bank or + stay, do continue in their prayers with silence, as long as a man + may say thirty or forty _paternosters_. This they do every day, + with great reverence, being among themselves. Before meat, they + say, '_Benedicite_.' etc. Then the elders, in their own tongue, + repeat: 'God, which blessed the five loaves and two fishes, bless + this table and what is set upon it. In the name of the Father, Son, + and Holy Ghost. Amen.' After meat, they say: 'Blessing, and + worship, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honor, virtue, and strength, + to God alone, for ever and ever. Amen. The Lord which has given us + corporeal feeding, grant, us his spiritual life; and God be with + us, and we always with him. Amen.' Thus saying grace, they hold + their hands upward, looking up to heaven; and afterward they teach + and exhort among themselves.' + +To Staten Islanders it must be a pleasant reminiscence, that among their +earliest settlers were these pious Waldenses. + +Like their brethren in Utrecht, the descendants of the Huguenots on the +Island sometimes occupy the same farms which their pious ancestors +obtained more than a century and a half ago. The Disosways, the Guions, +the Seguines, on its beautiful winding shores, are well-known examples +of this kind. The Hollanders, Walloons, Waldenses, and the Huguenots +here all intermarried, and the noble, spiritual races thus combined, +ever have formed a most excellent, industrious, and influential +population. Judges, Assemblymen, members of Congress, and ministers, +again and again, in Richmond county, have been selected from these +unions. During the Revolutionary struggle, the husband of Mrs. Colonel +Disosway had fallen into the hands of the common enemy; she was the +sister of the well-known and brave Captain Fitz-Randolph, or Randell, as +commonly called, who had greatly annoyed the British. When one of their +officers had consented to procure her husband's release, if she would +persuade her brother to quit the American ranks, she indignantly +replied: 'If I could act so dastardly a part, think you that General +Washington has but one Captain Randolph in his army?' + +The early history of some of the emigrants is almost the reality of +romance. Henri de La Tourette fled from La Vendee, after the Revolution, +and to avoid suspicion, gave a large entertainment. While the guests +were assembled at his house, he suddenly left, with his wife, for the +sea-coast. This was not far off, and reaching it, he escaped on board a +vessel bound for Charleston. The ship was either cast away upon the +shores of Staten Island, or made a harbor in distress. Here La Tourette +landed, and a long list of exemplary, virtuous people trace their origin +to this source, and one of them has been pastor to the 'Huguenot,' a +Dutch Reformed church on the Island, and is now a useful minister among +the Episcopalians of the Western States. A branch of this family still +exists at the chateau of La Tourette, in France, and some years since, +one of them visited this country to obtain the 'Old Family Bible.' But +he was unsuccessful, as the holy and venerable volume had been sent long +before to a French refugee in Germany. But few of such holy books can +now be found, printed in French, and very scarce; wherever met with, +they should he carefully perused and preserved. + +Dr. Channing Moore for a long time was the faithful pastor of St. +Andrew's, the Episcopal Church at Richmond. Afterward he was consecrated +the Bishop of Virginia. He was connected by marriage with an old +Huguenot family of the Island, and his son, the Rev. David Moore, D.D., +succeeded him here, living and dying, a striking example of fidelity to +his most important duties. That eloquent divine, the late Rev. Dr. +Bedell, of Philadelphia, was a Staten Islander by birth, and of the same +French origin on the maternal side. + +His son is the present Bishop Bedell of Ohio. There are scarcely any of +the original Richmond county families but claim relationship to the +French Protestants either on the father or mother's side. In all the +official records are to be found such names as Disosway, Fontaine, +(Fountain,) Reseau, Bedell, Rutan, Poillon, Mercereau, La Conte, +Britten, Maney, Perrin, (Perrine,) Larselene, Curse, De Puy, (Depuy,) +Corssen, Martineau, Morgane, (Morgan,) Le Guine, (Leguine,) Journey, +Teunise, Guion, Dubois, Andronette, Winant, Totten, La Farge, Martling, +De Decker, (Decker very numerous,) Barton, Ryers, Menell, Hillyer, De +Groot, Garretson, Vanderbilt, etc., etc. + +Few communities are blest with a better population than Richmond county, +moral, industrious, thrifty, and religious, and they should ever cherish +the remembrance of their virtuous and noble origin. The island is not +more than twelve or fourteen miles long, and about three wide, with some +thirty thousand inhabitants; and within these small limits there are +over thirty churches, of various denominations, each having a regular +pastor; and most of the official members in these congregations are +lineal branches of the first settlers, the French Protestants. What a +rich and glorious, harvest, since the handful of Holland, Walloon, +Waldenses, and Huguenot emigrants, two centuries and a half ago, first +landed upon the wilderness shores of Staten Island! + + + + +_RECOLLECTIONS OF WASHINGTON IRVING._ + +BY ONE OF HIS FRIENDS. + +The appearance of the first volume of the long-expected _Life of +Washington Irving_ has excited an interest which will not be satisfied +until the whole work shall have been completed. Its author, Pierre M. +Irving, sets forth with the announcement that his plan is to make the +patriarch of American literature his own biographer. It is nothing new +that this branch of letters is beset with peculiar difficulties. Some +men suffer sadly at the hand of their chronicler. Scott misrepresents +Napoleon, and Southey fails equally in his Memoirs of Cowper and of the +Wesleys. Friendship's colors are too bright for correct portraiture, and +prejudice equally forbids acuracy. Mr. Pierre M. Irving, though an +admirer of his distinguished kinsman, (and who that knew him could fail +of admiration?) avoids the character of a mere eulogist, while at the +same time he exhibits none of the obsequiousness of a Boswell, +fluttering like a moth about a huge candle. Being a man of independent +mind and of high culture, he brings out the character he portrays in +aspects true to life, and not exaggerated by excess of tone, while he +fully exhibits its exquisite finish. + +Among the many incidents of deep interest which are contained in this +volume, the episode of Matilda Hoffman stands forth in most striking +relief. While lifting the veil which for a half-century covered the most +pathetic event in Irving's life, his biographer touches with a +scrupulous delicacy a theme so sacredly enshrined in a life-long memory. +In referring to this affair, which gave a tender aspect to Irving's +subsequent career, and in fact changed its whole tenor, we may remark +that the loves of literary men form a most interesting and, in some +cases, moving history. Some, like Petrarch, Earl Surrey, Burns, and +Byron, have embalmed the objects of their affection in the effusions of +their muse, while others have bequeathed that duty to others. Shakspeare +says but little about his sweetheart, while Milton, who was decidedly +unsuccessful in matters of the heart, seems to have acted on the motto, +'The least said, the soonest mended.' Poor Pope, miserable invalid +though he was, nervous, irritable, and full of hate and spleen, was not +beyond the power of the tender passion, and confessed the charms of the +lonely Martha Blount, who held the wretched genius among her conquests. +Swift, although an ogre at heart, had his chapter of love matters, which +never fail to give us the horrors when we bring them to mind, and the +episodes of Stella and Vanessa are among the minor tragedies in life's +great drama. Johnson had a great heart, and was born to love, though, +like the lion, he needed to have his claws pared, to fit him for female +society. What a tender attachment was that which he bore 'Tetty,' and +with what solemn remembrance he preserved her as his own, even after +death had robbed him of her presence! + +The loves of these men exercised the strongest influence on their +destinies, while, on the other hand, disappointment and consequent +celibacy have done the same to their victims. To the bachelor list of +modern days, which can boast of Charles Lamb and Macaulay, America adds +the proud name of Washington Irving, whose early disappointment made him +an author. + +My impressions of Irving's boyhood and youth are alive with the +freshness of an early memory, which conserves along with him the +Crugers, Clintons, Livingstons, Ogdens, and other old and honored names +of New-York. The biography which inspires this reminiscence gives a +sketch of the early history of the family, and as its author has thus +opened the subject, it will not, we presume, be considered an intrusion +if I pursue the thread of domestic incident a little farther than he has +done. + +The Irving homestead, in William street, was, in its day, a place of +some pretension, when contrasted with the humble dwellings which +surrounded it. The street on which it stood was miserably built, but +here, in the suburb of the city, was a house whose appearance +corresponded with the solid and high-toned character of its owner. Old +Mr. Irving was, at the time to which I refer, a hale citizen of about +three-score and ten, of grave and majestic bearing, and a form and +expression which, when once fixed in the mind, could not easily be +forgotten. As I remember him, his countenance was cast in that strong +mould which characterized the land of his birth, but the features were +often mellowed by a quiet smile. He was a man of deep piety, and was +esteemed a pillar in the Brick Church, then the leading Presbyterian +church of the city. + +His mode of conducting family worship was peculiarly beautiful, and even +to his last days he maintained this service. On such occasions, it was a +most touching spectacle to see the majestic old man, bowed and hoary +with extreme age, leaning upon his staff, as he stood among his family +and sung a closing hymn, generally one appropriate to his condition, +while tears of emotion ran down his checks. One of these hymns we well +remember. It runs in these lines, + +'Death may dissolve my body now, + And bear my spirit home; +Why do my moments move so slow, + Nor my salvation come? + +'With heavenly weapons I have fought + The battles of my Lord; +Finished my course, and kept the faith, + And wait the sure reward.' + +In a few years, the words of this exquisite hymn were fulfilled; the old +man fell asleep, full of years and of honors, going to the grave like a +shock of corn in its season. His funeral was one of imposing simplicity, +and he was buried just at the entrance of that church where he had been +so long a faithful attendant. + +Mrs. Irving, who survived him several years, was of a different type of +character, which, by its peculiar contrast, seemed to perfect the +harmony of a well-matched union. She was of elegant shape, with large +English features, which were permeated by an indescribable life and +beauty. Her manners were full of action, and her conversational powers +were of a high order. All of these graces appeared in the children, and +were united with the vigor of intellect which marked the character of +the father. + +It would have been surprising if the offspring of such a union should +not have been distinguished, and it is only the peculiar relation which +the biographer sustains to it which prevents him from bringing this +feature out more prominently. + +It was, however, acknowledged, at an early day, that the family of +William Irving had no equal in the city, and when we consider its +number, its personal beauty, its moral excellence, its varied talents, +without a single deficient or unworthy member, we can not wonder at the +general admiration which it commanded. From the eldest son, William, and +Ann, the eldest daughter, whom her father fondly termed Nancy, to +Washington, the youngest, all were endowed with beauty, grace, +amiability, and talent, yet in the latter they seemed to effloresce with +culminating fullness. Nancy Irving was the cynosure of William street, +concerning whose future destiny many a youth might have confessed an +impassioned interest. Her brother William had become connected +commercially with a young revolutionary soldier, (General Dodge,) who +had opened a trading-station on the Mohawk frontier, and the latter bore +away the sister as his bride. The union was one of happiness, and lasted +twenty years, when it was terminated by her death. Of this, Washington +thus speaks, in a letter in 1808: 'On the road, as I was traveling in +high spirits, with the idea of home to inspire me, I had the shock of +reading an account of my dear sister's death, and never was a blow +struck so near my heart before.... One more heart lies cold and still +that ever beat toward me with the warmest affection, for she was the +tenderest, best of sisters, and a woman of whom a brother might be +proud.' Little did the author of this letter then dream of that more +crushing blow which within one year was to fall upon him, and from whose +weight he was never wholly to recover. + +William Irving, the brother of the biographer, was a model of manly +beauty, and early remarkable for a brilliant and sparkling intellect, +which overflowed in conversation, and often bordered on eloquence. Had +he been bred to the law, he would have shone among its brightest stars; +but those gifts, which so many envied, were buried in trade, and though +he became one of the merchant-princes of the city, even this success +could not compensate for so great a burial of gifts. As one of the +contributors to _Salmagundi_, he exhibits the keenness of a flashing +wit, while, in subsequent years, he represented New-York in Congress, +when such an office was a distinction. + +Peter Irving, like his brother, united personal elegance with talents, +and conducted the _Morning Chronicle_, amid the boisterous storms of +early politics. This journal favored the interests of Burr; but it must +be remembered that at that time Burr's name was free from infamy, and +that, as a leader, he enjoyed the highest prestige, being the centre of +the Democracy of New-York. Burr's powers of fascination were peculiarly +great, and he had surrounded himself with a circle of enthusiastic +admirers. Indeed, such was his skill in politics, that in 1800 he upset +the Federalists, after a pitched battle of three days, (the old duration +of an election,) which was one of the most exciting scenes I ever +witnessed. Horatio Gates, of Saratoga fame, was one of his nominees for +the State Legislature, (Gates was then enjoying those undeserved laurels +which posterity has since taken away,) and it was surprising to see the +veterans of the Revolution abandoning their party to vote for their old +comrade and leader. The result was, that the Federalists were most +thoroughly worsted, and the party never recovered from the blow. Such +were the exciting events which identified the young politicians of the +metropolis, and which inspired their speeches and their press. Burr's +headquarters were at Martling's Tavern, 87 Nassau street. On being torn +down, the business was removed to Tammany Hall, which has inherited a +political character from its predecessor. Besides this, he used to meet +his friends in more select numbers at a Coffee-house in Maiden Lane. His +office was Number 30 Partition street, (now Fulton,) and his residence +was at Richmond Hill. This place has lately been pulled down; it stood +far away from the city, in a wild, secluded neighborhood, and in bad +going was quite an out of the way spot, though now it would be in the +densest part of the city. As there were no public vehicles plying in +this direction, except the Chelsea (Twenty-eighth street) stage, which +was very unreliable, one either had to hire a coach or else be subjected +to a walk of two miles. But such as had the _entree_ of this +establishment would be well rewarded, even for these difficulties, by an +interview with Theodosia Burr, the most charming creature of her day. +She was married early, and we saw but little of her. From the interest +which the Irvings felt in Burr's fortunes, it might have been expected +that they should sympathize with him in his subsequent reverses. + +The biographer presents Washington Irving as an attendant at the famous +trial at Richmond, where his indignation at some of Burr's privations +are expressed in a most interesting letter. This sympathy is the more +touching from the fact that Washington was a Federalist, and in this +respect differed from his brothers. We have an idea that his youthful +politics were in no small degree influenced by those of that +illustrious personage for whom he was named. Another of the sons was +John T., who became a successful and wealthy jurist, and for many years +presided at New-York Common Pleas, while Ebenezer was established in +trade at an early day. Such was the development of that family, which in +rosy childhood followed William Irving to the old Brick Church, and +whose early progress he was permitted to witness. The biographer passes +lightly over the scenes of boyhood, and there was hardly any need for +his expatiating on that idolatry which surrounded the youngest. He was +no doubt the first child ever named after the father of his country, and +the touching incident of Lizzie's presenting the chubby, bright-eyed boy +to Washington, is hit off in a few touches. It was, however, in itself a +sublime thing. Nearly seventy years afterward, that child, still feeling +the hand of benediction resting upon him, concludes his _Life of +Washington_ by a description of his reception in New-York, of which he +had been a witness. Why does he not (it would have been a most +pardonable allusion) bring in the incident referred to above? Ah! +modesty forbade; yet, as he penned that description, his heart must have +rejoiced at the boldness of the servant who broke through the crowd and +presented to the General a boy honored with his name. Glorious incident +indeed! + +As the family grew up, the young men took to their different +professions, which we have briefly designated. Peter read medicine, and +hence received the title of 'doctor;' though he hated and finally +abjured it, yet, as early as 1794, he had opened an office at 208 +Broadway. This, however, was more a resort for the muses than for +Hygeia, notwithstanding its sign, 'Peter Irving, M.D.' In 1796, William +Irving, who had been clerk in the loan office, established himself in +trade in Pearl--near Partition--street, and from his energy and elegance +of manners, he became immediately successful, while farther up the +street, near Old Slip, John T. opened a law office, which was +subsequently removed to Wall street, near Broadway. We mention these +facts to show that Irving entered life surrounded by protecting +influences, and that the kindness which sheltered him from the world's +great battle had a tendency to increase his natural delicacy and to +expose him to more intense suffering, when the hand of misfortune should +visit him. One who had 'roughed it' with the world would have better +borne the killing disappointment of his affections; but he was rendered +peculiarly sensitive to suffering by his genial surroundings. + +This fact sets off in remarkable contrast, the noble resolution with +which such an one as he, when he had buried all the world held in the +tomb with the dead form of his beloved, rose above his sorrows. It is +well observed by his biographer, that 'it is an affecting evidence how +little Mr. Irving was ever disposed to cultivate or encourage sadness, +that he should be engaged during this period of sorrow and seclusion in +revising and giving additional touches to his _History of New-York_.' +Those who may smile at the elegant humor which pervades the pages of +that history, will be surprised to learn that they were nearly complete, +yet their final revision and preparation for the press was by one who +was almost broken of heart, and who thus cultivated a spirit of +cheerfulness, lest he should become a burden to himself and others. As +he writes to Mrs. Hoffman: 'By constantly exercising my mind, never +suffering it to prey upon itself, and resolutely determining to be +cheerful, I have, in a manner, worked myself into a very enviable state +of serenity and self-possession.' + +How truly has Wordsworth expressed this idea: + + 'If there be one who need bemoan + His kindred laid in earth, + The household hearts that were his own, + It is the man of mirth.' + +We are glad to know that in time Irving sought a better consolation. + +But to return from this digression, or rather anticipation of our +subject. At the time of which we now write, New-York was comparatively a +small town; true, it was the chief commercial city in America, and yet +its limits proper could be described by a line drawn across the island +some distance below Canal street. Yet even then New-York was full of +life, and seemed to feel the promise of subsequent greatness. Her +streets echoed to the footsteps of men whom the present generation, with +all its progress, can not surpass. At Number 26 Broadway, might have +been daily seen the light-built but martial and elegant form of +Alexander Hamilton, while his mortal foe, Aaron Burr, as we have stated, +held his office in Partition street. John Jacob Astor was just becoming +an established and solid business man, and dwelt at 223 Broadway, the +present site of the Astor House, and which was one of the earliest +purchases which led to the greatest landed estate in America. Robert +Lenox lived in Broadway, near Trinity Church, and was building up that +splendid commerce which has made his son one of the chief city +capitalists. De Witt Clinton was a young and ambitious lawyer, full of +promise, whose office (he was just elected Mayor) was Number 1 Broadway. +Cadwallader D. Colden was pursuing his brilliant career, and might be +found immersed in law at Number 59 Wall street. Such were the legal and +political magnates of the day; while to slake the thirst of their +excited followers, Medcef Eden brewed ale in Gold street, and Janeway +carried on the same business in Magazine street; and his empty +establishment became notorious, in later years, as the 'Old Brewery.' + +About this time young Irving was developing as one of the most +interesting youth of the city. His manners were soft without being +effeminate, his form finely molded, and his countenance singularly +beautiful. To this might be added the general opinion that he was +considerably gifted in the use of the pen. Yet with all these promising +features, the future was clothed with shadows, for his health was +failing, and his friends considered him too lovely a flower to last. +Little did his brothers and sisters think that that delicate youth +would, with one exception, outlive the whole family. It was at this time +that he first went abroad; and his experiences of travel are given by +Pierre Irving in the sparkling letters which he wrote to his brothers. + +In 1807 I used to meet him once more in social gatherings in the city, +for he had returned in full restoration of health, his mind expanded, +and his manners improved by intercourse with the European world, while +_Salmagundi_ had electrified the city and given him the first rank among +its satirists. The question of profession crowded on him, and he +alternated between the law and the counting-room, in either of which he +might find one or more of his brothers. The former of these was a road +to distinction, the latter was one to wealth; but feeling the absence of +practical business gifts, he shrank from trade, and took refuge in the +quiet readings of an office. Josiah Ogden Hoffman, of whose daughter so +much has recently been written, was a family friend, as well as a lawyer +of high character. He lived first at Number 68 Greenwich street, but +afterward moved up-town, his office being in Wall street, first Number +47, and afterward Number 16. Young Irving finished his studies with Mr. +Hoffman, and immediately took office with his brother John, at Number 3 +Wall street. To these two was soon added the presence of Peter, who was +still connected with the press, and thus might have been found for a +short time a most interesting and talented, as well as fraternal trio. + +Washington was still, to a considerable degree an _habitue_ of Mr. +Hoffman's office, and it seems quite amusing that one who was so dull at +reading law that he makes merry with his own deficiencies, should have a +connection with two offices. But the name of Matilda was the magnet +which drew him to one where he vainly struggled to climb Alp on Alp of +difficulties in hope of love's fruition, while at the other he might +smile at the bewilderments of Coke, brush away the cobwebs from his +brain, and recreate himself with the rich humors of _Salmagundi_. + +The place and time where this remarkable attachment had its inception, +are not known; but like all such affairs, it arose, no doubt, from +felicitous accident. In one of his sketches, Irving speaks of a +mysterious footprint seen on the sward of the Battery, which awoke a +romantic interest in his breast. This youthful incident comes to our +mind when we remember that Mr. Hoffman lived at Number 68 Greenwich +street, not a stone's throw from the Battery, and we have sometimes +thought that the mysterious footprint might have been Matilda's. At any +rate, the Battery was at that day a place of fashionable resort, and +hence the fair but fragile form of Matilda Hoffman could almost any day +have been seen tripping among bevies of city girls in pursuit of health +or pleasure. But whatever be the history of its origin, the attachment +became one of mutual strength; and while young Irving was surrounded by +piles of lawbooks and red tape, his hope of success was identified with +the name of Matilda. My remembrance of Matilda (her name was Sarah +Matilda, but the first was dropped in common intercourse) revives a +countenance of great sweetness, and an indescribable beauty of +expression. Her auburn hair played carelessly in the wind, and her +features, though not of classic outline, were radiant with life. Her eye +was one of the finest I have ever seen--rich, deep-toned, and eloquent, +speaking volumes in each varying expression, and generally suggestive of +pensive emotion. Irving was about eight years her senior, and this +difference was just sufficient to draw out that fond reliance of female +character which he has so beautifully set forth in the sketch of 'The +Wife.' The brief period of this courtship was the sunny hour of his +life, for his tender and sensitive nature forbade any thing but the most +ardent attachment. What dreams of future bliss floated before his +intoxicated vision, soon to change to the stern realities of grieving +sorrow! + +In 1809, Mr. Hoffman removed to a suburban residence in Broadway, +(corner of Leonard street,) and the frequent walks which the young lover +took up that sequestered avenue may have suggested some of the +descriptions of the same street in the pages of the _History of +New-York_, and his allusions to the front-gardens so adapted to ancient +courtship. While at this mansion, amid all the blandishments of hope, +Matilda's health began to fail beyond the power of restoratives, and the +anxious eye both of parent and betrothed, marked the advance of +relentless disease. The maiden faded away from their affections until +both stood by her bed and saw her breathe her last. + +The biographer informs us that after Mr. Irving's death, there was found +in a repository of which he always kept the key, a memorial of this +affair, which had evidently been written to some friend, in explanation +of his single life. Of the memorial the following extract is given: + + 'We saw each other every day, and I became excessively attached to + her. Her shyness wore off by degrees. The more I saw of her the + more I had reason to admire her. Her mind seemed to unfold itself + leaf by leaf, and every time to discover new sweetness. Nobody knew + her so well as I, for she was generally timid and silent, but I, in + a manner, studied her excellence. Never did I meet more intuitive + rectitude of mind, more native delicacy, more exquisite propriety + in word, thought, or action, than in this young creature. I am not + exaggerating; what I say was acknowledged by all who knew her. Her + brilliant little sister used to say that people began by admiring + her, but ended by loving Matilda. For my part, I idolized her. I + felt at times rebuked by her superior delicacy and purity, as if I + was a coarse, unworthy being, in comparison. + + 'This passion was terribly against my studies. I felt my own + deficiency, and despaired of ever succeeding at the bar. I could + study any thing else rather than law, and had a fatal propensity to + belles-lettres. I had gone on blindly like a boy in love, but now + I began to open my eyes and be miserable. I had nothing in purse or + in expectation. I anticipated nothing from my legal pursuits, and + had done nothing to make me hope for public employment, or + political elevation. I had begun a satirical and humorous work, + (_The History of New-York_,) in company with one of my brothers; + but he had gone to Europe shortly after commencing it, and my + feelings had run in so different a vein that I could not go on with + it. I became low-spirited and disheartened, and did not know what + was to become of me. I made frequent attempts to apply myself to + the law; but it is a slow and tedious undertaking for a young man + to get into practice, and I had, unluckily, no turn for business. + The gentleman with whom I studied saw the state of my mind. He had + an affectionate regard for me--a paternal one, I may say. He had a + better opinion of my legal capacity than it merited. He urged me to + return to my studies, to apply myself, to become well acquainted + with the law, and that in case I could make myself capable of + undertaking legal concerns, he would take me into partnership with + him and give me his daughter. Nothing could be more generous. I set + to work with zeal to study anew, and I considered myself bound in + honor not to make farther advances with the daughter until I should + feel satisfied with my proficiency with the law. It was all in + vain. I had an insuperable repugnance to the study; my mind would + not take hold of it; or rather, by long despondency had become for + the time incapable of any application. I was in a wretched state of + doubt and self-distrust. I tried to finish the work which I was + secretly writing, hoping it would give me reputation and gain me + some public employment. In the mean time I saw Matilda every day, + and that helped distract me. In the midst of this struggle and + anxiety, she was taken ill with a cold. Nothing was thought of it + at first, but she grew rapidly worse, and fell into a consumption. + I can not tell you what I suffered. The ills that I have undergone + in this life have been dealt out to me drop by drop, and I have + tasted all their bitterness. I saw her fade rapidly away--beautiful + and more beautiful, and more angelic to the very last. I was often + by her bedside, and in her wandering state of mind she would talk + to me with a sweet, natural, and affecting eloquence that was + overpowering. I saw more of the beauty of her mind in that + delirious state than I had ever known before. Her malady was rapid + in its career, and hurried her off in two months. Her + dying-struggles were painful and protracted. For three days and + nights I did not leave the house, and scarcely slept. I was by her + when she died. All the family were assembled around her, some + praying, others weeping, for she was adored by them all. I was the + last one she looked upon. I have told you as briefly as I could, + what, if I were to tell with all the incidents and feelings that + accompanied it, would fill volumes. She was but seventeen years old + when she died. + + 'I can not tell you what a horrid state of mind I was in for a long + time. I seemed to care for nothing; the world was a blank to me. I + abandoned all thoughts of the law. I went into the country, but + could not bear solitude, yet could not enjoy society. There was a + dismal horror continually on my mind that made me fear to be alone. + I had often to get up in the night and seek the bedroom of my + brother, as if the having of a human being by me would relieve me + from the frightful gloom of my own thoughts. + + 'Months elapsed before my mind would resume any tone, but the + despondency I had suffered for a long time in the course of this + attachment, and the anguish that attended its final catastrophe, + seemed to give a turn to my whole character, and threw some clouds + into my disposition, which have ever since hung about it. When I + became more calm and collected, I applied myself, by way of + occupation, to the finishing of my work. I brought it to a close as + well as I could, and published it; but the time and circumstances + in which it was produced rendered me always unable to look upon it + with satisfaction. Still, it took with the public, and gave me + celebrity, as an original work was something remarkable and + uncommon in America. I was noticed, caressed, and for a time + elevated by the popularity I had gained. Wherever I went, I was + overwhelmed with attentions. I was full of youth and animation, far + different from the being I now am, and I was quite flushed with + this early taste of public favor. Still, however, the career of + gayety and notoriety soon palled upon me. I seemed to drift about + without aim or object, at the mercy of every breeze; my heart + wanted anchorage. I was naturally susceptible, and tried to form + other attachments, but my heart would not hold on. It would + continually revert to what it had lost; and whenever there was a + pause in the hurry of novelty and excitement, I would sink into + dismal dejection. For years I could not talk on the subject of this + hopeless regret; I could not even mention her name; but her image + was continually before me, and I dreamed of her incessantly.' + +The fragment of which the above is an extract, is doubly interesting as +not only clearing up a mystery which the world has long desired to +penetrate, but also as giving Irving's experience in his own words. It +proves how deeply he felt the pangs of a rooted sorrow, and how +impossible it was, amid all the attractions of society, for him to +escape the power of one who had bidden to all earthly societies an +everlasting farewell. That his regrets over his early bereavement did +not arise from overwrought dreams of excellence in the departed, is +evident from the character she bore with others; and this is illustrated +by the following extract from a faded copy of the _Commercial +Advertiser_, which reads as follows: + + 'OBITUARY, + + 'Died, on the 26th instant, in the eighteenth year of her age, Miss + Sarah Matilda Hoffman, daughter of Josiah Ogden Hoffman. Thus + another youthful and lovely victim is added to the ravages of that + relentless and invincible enemy to earthly happiness, the + _consumption_. In the month of January we beheld this amiable and + interesting girl in the glow of health and spirits, the delight of + her friends, the joy and pride of her family; she is now cold and + lifeless as the clod of the valley. So falls the tender flower of + spring as it expands its bosom to the chilling blight of the + morning frost. Endowed by nature with a mind unusually + discriminating, and a docility of temper and disposition admirably + calculated to reap profit from instruction, Miss Hoffman very early + became an object of anxious care and solicitude to the fondest of + fathers. That care and solicitude he soon found richly rewarded by + the progress she made in her learning, and by every evidence of a + grateful and feeling heart. After completing the course of her + education in a highly respectable seminary in Philadelphia, she + returned to her father's house, where she diligently sought every + opportunity to improve her mind by various and useful reading. She + charmed the circle of her friends by the suavity of her disposition + and the most gentle and engaging manners. She delighted and blessed + her own family by her uniformly correct and affectionate conduct. + Though not formed to mingle and shine in the noisy haunts of + dissipation, she was eminently fitted to increase the store of + domestic happiness, to bring pleasure and tranquillity to the + fireside, and to gladden the fond heart of a parent. + + 'Religion, so necessary to our peace in this world and to our + happiness in the next, and which gives so high a lustre to the + charms and to the virtues of woman, constantly shed her benign + influence over the conduct of Miss Hoffman, nor could the insidious + attempts of the infidel for a moment weaken her confidence in its + heavenly doctrines. With a form rather slender and fragile was + united a beauty of face, which, though not dazzling, had so much + softness, such a touching sweetness in it, that the expression + which mantled over her features was in a high degree lovely and + interesting. Her countenance was indeed the faithful image of a + mind that was purity itself, and of a heart where compassion and + goodness had fixed their abode. To the sweetest disposition that + ever graced a woman, was joined a sensibility, not the fictitious + creature of the imagination, but the glowing offspring of a pure + and affectionate soul. + + 'Tenderness, that quality of the heart which gives such a charm to + every female virtue, was hers in an eminent degree. It diffused + itself over every action of her life. Sometimes blended with a + delicate and happy humor, characteristic of her nature, it would + delight the social circle; again, with the most assiduous offices + of affection, it would show itself at the sick couch of a parent, a + relative, or a friend. In this manner the writer of this brief + memorial witnessed those soothing acts of kindness which, under + peculiar circumstances, will ever be dear to his memory. Alas! + little did she then dream that in one short year she herself would + fall a sacrifice to the same disease under which the friend to whom + she so kindly ministered, sunk to the grave.' + +This testimony to departed worth bears the impress of deep sincerity, +and its freedom from the fulsome praise, which so often varnishes the +dead, seems to add to its force. Peter Irving, also, pays a tribute to +her character in the following utterance, in a letter to his bereaved +brother: 'May her gentle spirit have found that heaven to which it ever +seemed to appertain. She was too spotless for this contaminated world.' + +The biographer states that 'Mr. Irving never alluded to this event, nor +did any of his relatives ever venture in his presence to introduce the +name of Matilda,' 'I have heard,' he adds, 'of but one instance in which +it was ever obtruded upon him, and that was by her father, nearly thirty +years after her death, and at his own house. A granddaughter had been +requested to play for him some favorite piece on the piano, and in +extricating her music from the drawer, she accidentally brought forth a +piece of embroidery with it. 'Washington,' said Mr. Hoffman, picking up +the faded relic, 'this is a piece of poor Matilda's workmanship.' The +effect was electric. He had been conversing in the sprightliest mood +before, but he sunk at once into utter silence, and in a few moments got +up and left the house. It is evidence with what romantic tenderness +Irving cherished the memory of this early love, that he kept by him +through life the Bible and Prayer-Book of Matilda. He lay with them +under his pillow in the first days of keen and vivid anguish that +followed her loss, and they were ever afterward, in all changes of +climate and country, his inseparable companions.' + +The scene at the house of Mr. Hoffman, to which the biographer alludes, +took place after Irving's second return from Europe, and after an +absence of nearly twenty years from his native land. During this time he +had become famous as an author, and had been conceded the position of +the first American gentleman in Europe. He had been received at Courts +as in his official position (Secretary of Legation) and had received the +admiration of the social and intellectual aristocracy of England. +Returning full of honors, he became at once the lion of New-York, and +was greeted by a public dinner at the City Hotel. How little could it +have been imagined, that amid all this harvest of honors, while he stood +the cynosure of a general admiration, he should still be under the power +of a youthful attachment, and that outliving all the glories of his +splendid success, a maiden, dead thirty years, held him with undying +power. While others thought him the happy object of a nation's +popularity, his heart was stealing away from noise and notice to the +hallowed ground where Matilda lay. + + 'Oh! what are thousand living loves To that which can not quit the + dead?' + +The biographer observes that 'it is in the light of this event that we +must interpret portions of 'Rural Funerals,' in the _Sketch-Book_, and +'Saint Mark's Eve,' in _Bracebridge Hull_.' From the former of these, we +therefore make an extract, which is now so powerfully illustrated by the +experience of its author: + + 'The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to + be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal; every other + affliction to forget; but this wound we consider it a duty to keep + open; this affliction we cherish and brood over in solitude. Where + is the mother that would willingly forget the infant that perished + like a blossom from her arms, though every recollection is a pang? + Where is the child that would willingly forget the most tender of + parents, though to remember be but to lament? Who in the hour of + agony would forget the friend over whom he mourns? Who, when the + tomb is closing upon the remains of her he most loved, when he + feels his heart, as it were, crushed, in the closing of its portal, + would accept of consolation that must be bought by forgetfulness? + No; the love that survives the tomb is one of the noblest + attributes of the soul. If it has its woes, it has likewise its + delights; and when the overwhelming burst of grief is calmed into + the gentle tear of recollection; when the sudden anguish and the + convulsive agony over the present ruins of all that we most loved + is softened away into pensive meditation on all that it was in the + days of its loveliness, who would root out such a sorrow from the + heart? Though it may sometimes throw a passing cloud over the + bright hour of gayety, or spread a deeper sadness over the hour of + gloom, yet who would exchange it even for the song of pleasure or + the burst of revelry? No; there is a voice from the tomb sweeter + than song; there is a remembrance of the dead to which we turn even + from the charms of the living.... But the grave of those we love, + what a place for meditation! There it is that we call up in long + review the whole history of virtue and goodness, and the thousand + endearments lavished upon us almost unheeded in the daily + intercourse of intimacy; there it is that we dwell upon the + tenderness, the solemn, awful tenderness of the dying scene. The + bed of death, with all its stifled griefs, its noiseless + attendance, its mute, watchful assiduities. The last testimonies of + expiring love! The feeble, fluttering, thrilling--oh! how + thrilling--pressure of the hand! The last fond look of the glazing + eye turned upon us even from the threshold of existence! The + faint, faltering accents struggling in death to give one more + assurance of affection!' + +How truly is this passage 'to be interpreted in the light of the event +in Irving's history', when it is evident from a comparison of it with +the memoranda, that it is a sketch of that scene which wrecked his +brightest hopes, and that here he is renewing in this unequaled +description of a dying-bed, the last hours of Matilda Hoffman. The +highly-wrought picture presents a complete detail to the eye, and yet +still more powerful is that simple utterance in the memoranda: '_I was +the last one she looked upon_.' + +_St. Mark's Eve_,' to which reference is also made, was written several +years subsequently, and as may be gathered from its tone, under +circumstances of peculiar loneliness. It was while a solitary occupant +of his lodgings, a stranger in a foreign city, that he felt the +inspiration of precious memories, and improved his lonely hours by this +exquisite production. 'I am alone,' he writes, 'in my chamber; but these +themes have taken such hold upon me that I can not sleep. The room in +which I sit is just fitted to foster such a state of mind. The walls are +hung with tapestry, the figures of which are faded and look like +unsubstantial shapes melting away from sight.... The murmur of voices and +the peal of remote laughter no longer reach the ear. The clock from the +church, in which so many of the former inhabitants of this house lie +buried, has chimed the awful hour of midnight.' It was a fitting time to +yield to the power of that undying affection which abode with him under +all changes, and the serene presence of one snatched from him years ago +must at such times have invested him as with a spell. Thus he writes: + + 'Even the doctrines of departed spirits returning to visit the + scenes and beings which were dear to them during the body's + existence, though it has been debased by the absurd superstitions + of the vulgar, in itself is awfully solemn and sublime.... Raise it + above the frivolous purposes to which it has been applied; strip it + of the gloom and horror with which it has been surrounded; and + there is none of the whole circle of visionary creeds that could + more delightfully elevate the imagination or more tenderly affect + the heart.... What could be more consoling than the idea that the + souls of those we once loved were permitted to return and watch + over our welfare?--that affectionate and guardian spirits sat by + our pillows while we slept, keeping a vigil over our most helpless + hours?--that beauty and innocence which had languished in the tomb + yet smiled unseen around us, revealing themselves in those blest + dreams wherein they live over again the hours of past + endearments?.... There are departed beings that I have loved as I + never shall love again in this world--that have loved me as I never + again shall be loved. If such beings do ever retain in their + blessed spheres the attachments they felt on earth; if they take an + interest in the poor concerns of transient mortality, and are + permitted to hold communion with those they have loved on earth, I + feel as if now, at this deep hour of night, in this silence and + solitude, I could receive their visitation with the most solemn but + unalloyed delight.' + +The use of the plural in the above extract obviated that publicity of +his especial bereavement which would have arisen from a reference to +_one_, and it is to be explained by the deaths of three persons to whom +he sustained the most endearing though varied relations of which man is +capable: his mother, his sister Nancy, and his betrothed. The first two +had become sacred memories, and were enshrined in the sanctuary of his +soul; but the latter was a thing of life, whose existence had become +identified with his own, and was made sure beyond the power of disease +and mortality. Who, indeed, would have been so welcome to the solitary +tourist on that weird midnight as she whose Bible and Prayer-Book +accompanied his wanderings, whose miniature was his treasure, and of +whom he could say: 'She died in the beauty of her youth, and in my +memory she will ever be young and beautiful.' + +That a reuenion with all the beloved of earth was a controlling thought +in his mind, and one bearing an especial reference to this supreme +bereavement, is manifest from the following, from the same sketch: + + 'We take each other by the hand, and we exchange a few words and + looks of kindness, and we rejoice together for a few moments, and + then days, months, years intervene, and we see and know nothing of + each other. Or granting that we dwell together for the full season + of this mortal life, the grave soon closes its gates between us, + and then our spirits are doomed to remain in separation and + _widowhood_ until they meet again in that more perfect state of + being, where soul will dwell with soul in blissful communion, and + there will be neither death, nor absence, nor any thing else to + interrupt our felicity.' + +Such was the view which cheered the life of one thus early stripped of +promised and expected happiness, and to which he dung during all changes +of time and place. Amid the infirmities of advancing years, while +surrounded by an endearing circle of relatives, who ministered to him +with the most watchful affection, there was one that abode in still +closer communion with his heart. While writing in his study at +Sunnyside, or pacing, in quiet solitude, the streets of New-York, at all +times, a fair young form hovered over him and beckoned him heavenward. +Years passed on, until a half-century had been told. All things had +changed, the scenes and characters of early life had passed away. The +lover had become a kindly old man. The young essayist had become a great +author and an heir of fame. The story of life was complete. The hour of +his departure was at hand, when suddenly the same hand which had +separated the lovers reuenited them forever. Who shall say that the last +image which flitted across his mind at the awful moment of dissolution, +was not that fresh and lovely form which he had cherished in unchanging +affection for fifty years? + +I have stated my opinion that it was Irving's disappointment which made +him the great American author, and to this opinion I now return with +increased confidence. Had the plans of his youth been carried out; had +he become a partner of Mr. Hoffman, and had the hands of the lovers been +united, the whole tenor of his life would have been changed. He would +have published some fine things, in addition to the Knickerbocker +history, and would have ranked high as a gentleman of elegant humor; but +where would have been his enduring works? We sympathize with the +disappointed lover; but we feel thankful that from his sorrow we gather +such precious fruit. The death of Matilda led him abroad--to Spain, +where he compiled his _Columbus_ and gathered material for his +_Alhambra_--and to England, where the _Columbus_ was finished and +published, and where his name became great, in spite of national +prejudice. Beside this, the sorrow which cast its sacred shadow upon him +gave his writings that endearing charm which fascinates the emotional +nature and enabled him to touch the hidden chords of the heart. + +If Ogilvie could congratulate him on the bankruptcy which drove him from +the details of trade to the richer fruition of literary promise, we may +consider it a beneficent working of Providence, which afforded to Irving +a still earlier emancipation from the law, cheered as it might have been +by the kindness of Mr. Hoffman and the society of Matilda. + +Such being the remarkable chain which unites the names of the author and +his love, we can not but consider her as a part of his character through +the best years of his life and amid all the splendid success of his +literary career. Indeed, through coming generations of readers, the +names of Irving and Matilda will be united in the loveliest and most +romantic of associations. + +I have prolonged this reminiscence to an unexpected length, and yet can +not close without a few additional thoughts which grow out of the +perusal of the biography. Perhaps the chief of these is the nationality +of Irving's character, particularly while a resident of Europe. Neither +the pungent bitterness of the British press nor the patronage of the +aristocracy could abate the firmness with which he upheld the dignity of +his country. He was not less her representative when a struggling author +in Liverpool or London than when Secretary of Legation at the Court of +St. James, or Ambassador at Madrid. His first appearance abroad was at a +time of little foreign travel, and an American was an object of remark +and observation. His elegant simplicity reflected honor upon his native +land, and amid all classes, and in all places, love of country ruled +him. This high tone pervaded his views of public duty. A gross defaulter +having been mentioned in his presence, he replied, that 'next to robbing +one's father it is, to rob one's country.' + +It is also worthy of note that while Irving lived to unusual fullness of +years, yet he never was considered an old man. We do not so much refer +to his erect and vigorous frame as to the freshness of his mind. It is +said that Goethe, on being asked the definition of a poet, replied: 'One +who preserves to old age the feelings of youth.' Such was a leading +feature in Mr. Irving's spirit, which, notwithstanding his shadowed +hours, was so buoyant and cheerful. His countenance was penseroso when +in repose, and allegro in action, and these graces clung to him even in +life's winter, like the flower at the base of the glacier. + +Among the varied elements which constituted Irving's popularity, one of +them might have been the beauty of his name, whose secret is revealed by +the laws of prosody. Washington is a stately _dactyl_; Irving is a sweet +and mellow _spondee_, and thus we have a combination which poets in +ancient and modern days have sought with sedulous care, and which should +close every line of hexameter verse. Hence a measure such, as that found +in 'Washington Irving' terminates every line in _Evangeline_, or the +works of Virgil, thus: + + 'Saying a sad farewell, Evangeline _went from the mission_, + When, over green ways, by long and _perilous marches_, + She had attained at length the depth of the _Michigan forest_.' + +or + + 'Supplicia hausorem ecopulis: et _nomine Dido_, + Et recidiva manu posuissem _Pergama vetis_.' + +It will be readily perceived that the name of the American author can be +substituted for the feet italicized above, without injuring the measure, +while in some of Moore's finest stansas beautifully alternates the same +verse, thus: + + 'Oh! fair as the sea-flower, _close to thee growing_, + How light was thy heart till love's witchery came! + Like the wind of the South, o'er a _summer lute blowing_, + And hushed all its music, and withered its flame.' + +At the close of his last great work, Mr. Irving sought for rest. He laid +aside his pen, even from correspondence, and felt that his work was +done. When in New-York, he was often to be found at the Astor Library, +of which he was a trustee; but his visits to the city became few, and he +seemed to realize that his time was come. To one who kindly remarked, 'I +hope you will soon be better,' He calmly replied, in an earnest tone: 'I +shall never be better.' The words came true too soon, and amid an +unequaled pomp of unaffected sorrow, they bore him to a place of rest, +by the side of his parents and all of his kin who had gone before him. + + + + +_BYRONIC MISANTHROPY._ + + He has a grief he can not speak; + He wears his hat awry; + He blacks his boots but once a week; + And says he wants to die! + + + + +_NEW-ENGLAND'S ADVANCE._ + + Hurrah! for our New-England, + When she rose up firm and grand, + In her calm, terrific beauty, + With the stout sword in her hand; + When she raised her arm undaunted, + In the sacred cause of Right, + Like a crowned queen of valor, + Strong in her faith and might. + + Hurrah! for our New-England! + When the war-cry shook the breeze, + She wore the garb of glory, + And quaffed the cup of ease; + But I saw a look of daring + On her proud features rise, + And the fire of will was flashing + Through the calm light of her eyes. + + From her brow serene, majestic, + The wreath of peace she took, + And war's red rose sprang blooming, + And its bloody petals shook + On her heaving, beating bosom; + And with forehead crowned with light, + Transfigured, she presented + Her proud form to the fight. + + Hurrah! for our New-England! + What lightning courage ran + Through her brave heart, as she bounded + To the battle's fearful van; + O'er her head the starry banner; + While her loud, inspiring cry, + 'Death or Freedom for our Nation,' + Rang against the clouded sky. + + I saw our own New-England + Dealing blows for Truth and Right, + And the grandeur of her purpose + Gave her eyes a sacred light; + Ah! name her 'the Invincible,' + Through rebel rank and host; + For Justice evermore is done, + And Right comes uppermost. + + Hurrah for our New-England! + Through the battle's fearful brunt, + Through the red sea of the carnage, + Still she struggles in the front; + + And victory's war-eagle, + Hovering o'er the fiery blast, + On her floating, starry standard. + Is settling down at last. + + There is glory for New-England, + When Oppression's strife is done, + When the tools of Wrong are vanquished, + And the cause of Freedom won; + She shall sit in garments spotless, + And shall breathe the odorous balm + Of the cool green of contentment, + In the bowers of peace and calm. + + + + +_WAS HE SUCCESSFUL?_ + + 'Do but grasp into the thick of human life! Every one _lives_ + it--to many it is _known_; and seize it where you will, it is + interesting.--_Goethe_. + + 'SUCCESSFUL.--Terminating in accomplishing what is wished or + intended.'--_Webster's Dictionary_. + +CHAPTER I. + +The little village of Burnsville, in Connecticut, was thrown into a +state of excitement by the report that Hiram Meeker was about to remove +to the city of New-York. Two or three elderly maiden ladies with whom +Hiram was an especial favorite, declared there was not a word of truth +in the ridiculous rumor. The girls of the village very generally +discredited it. The young men said Hiram was not such a fool; he knew on +which side his bread was buttered; he knew when to let well enough +alone, and so forth. Still the report was circulated. To be sure, nobody +believed it, yet it spread all the faster for being contradicted. I have +said that the young ladies of Burnsville put no faith in the story. +Possibly Sarah Burns was an exception, and Sarah, it was well +understood, was an interested party, and would be apt to know the truth. +She did not contradict the statement when made in her presence, and +once, when appealed to for her opinion, she looked very serious, and +said it might be so for all she knew. At length there were two parties +formed in Burnsville. One on whose banner was inscribed: 'Hiram Meeker +is going to New-York.' The other with flag bearing in large letters: 'No +such thing: Hiram is not going.' + +It would have been easy, one would suppose, to settle the important +controversy by a direct appeal to Hiram Meeker himself. Strange to say, +this does not appear to have been done, both sides fearing, like +experienced generals, to risk the result on a single issue. But numerous +were the hints and innuendoes conveyed to him, to which he always gave +satisfactory replies--satisfactory to both parties--both contending he +had, by his answers, confirmed their own particular view of the case. + +This state of things could not last forever. It was brought suddenly to +an end one Friday afternoon. + +Hiram Meeker was a member, in regular standing, of the Congregational +Church in Burnsville. The Preparatory Lecture, as it is called, that is, +the lecture delivered prior to 'Communion-Sabbath,' in the church, was +always on the previous Friday, at three o'clock P.M. On a pleasant day +toward the end of April, Hiram Meeker and Sarah Burns went in company +to attend this lecture. The exercises were especially interesting. +Several young people, at the close of the services, who had previously +been propounded, were examined as to their 'experience,' and a vote was +separately taken on the admission of each. This over, the clergyman +spoke as follows: 'Brother Hiram Meeker being about to remove from among +us, desires to dissolve his connection with the Congregational church in +Burnsville, and requests the usual certificate of membership and good +standing. Is it your pleasure that he receive it? Those in favor will +please to signify it.' Several 'right hands' were held up, and the +matter was concluded. A young man who sat nearly opposite Sarah Burns, +observed that on the announcement, her face became very pale. + +When the little company of church-members was dismissed, Hiram Meeker +and Sarah Burns walked away together as they came. No, not _as_ they +came, as the following conversation will show. + +'Why did you not tell me, Hiram?' + +'Because, Sarah, I did not fully decide till the mail came in this very +afternoon. I had only time to speak to Mr. Chase, and there was no +opportunity to see you, and I could not tell you about it while we were +walking along so happy together.' + +Hiram Meeker lied. + +Sarah Burns could not disbelieve him; it was not possible Hiram would +deceive her, but her heart _felt_ the lie, nevertheless. + +Hiram Meeker is the hero of this history. It is, therefore, necessary to +give some account of him previous to his introduction to the reader on +the afternoon of the preparatory lecture. At the date of the +commencement of the narrative, he was already twenty-two years old. He +was the youngest of several children. His father was a highly +respectable man, who resided in Hampton, about fifteen miles from +Burnsville, and cultivated one of the most valuable farms in the county. +Mr. and Mrs. Meeker both had the reputation of being excellent people. +They were exemplary members of the church, and brought up their children +with a great deal of care. They were in every respect dissimilar. He was +tall, thin, and dark-complexioned; she was almost short, very fair, and +portly in appearance. Mr. Meeker was a kind-hearted, generous, +unambitious man, who loved his home and his children, and rejoiced when +he could see every body happy around him. He was neither close nor +calculating. With a full share of natural ability, he did not turn his +talents to accumulation, quite content if he made the ends of the year +meet. + +Mrs. Meeker was a woman who never took a step from impulse. She had a +motive for every act of her life. Exceedingly acute in her judgments of +people, she brought her shrewdness to bear on all occasions. She was a +capital housekeeper, a most excellent manager, a pattern wife and +mother. I say, 'pattern wife and mother,' for she was devoted to her +husband's interests, which, to be sure, were equally her own; she made +every thing very comfortable for him indoors, and she managed +expenditures with an economy and closeness which Mr. Meeker was quite +incapable of. She looked after her children with unremitting care. They +were sent to better schools, and their associations were of a better +description than those of her neighbors. She took personal pains with +their religious culture. Although they were sent to Sunday-school, she +herself taught them the Catechism, the Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, +and the Sermon on the Mount, beside a great variety of Gospel hymns and +Bible-stories. But along with these excellent teachings they were +taught--what is apt to be taught in almost every family, to almost every +child--to regard appearances, to make the best possible show to the +world, to _seem_ what they ought to _be_; apparently a sort of short-cut +to goodness, but really a turnpike erected by the devil, which leads any +where rather than to the desired point. Mrs. Meeker was a religious +woman, scrupulous and exact in every outward observance; in this +respect severe with herself and with all around her. Yet this never +prevented her having an eye to the 'main chance,' which was, to get on +in the world. Indeed, to attempt to do so, was with her a fundamental +duty. She loved to pray the Lord to bless 'our basket and our store.' +She dwelt much on the promise of 'a hundred-fold' in this world in +addition to the 'inheritance of everlasting life.' She could repeat all +the practical maxims which abound in the book of Proverbs, and she was +careful, when she feared her husband was about to give way to a generous +impulse in favor of a poor relation or neighbor, to put him in mind of +his own large and increasing household, solemnly cautioning him that he +who looked not well after it, was 'worse than an infidel.' In short, +being fully convinced by application of her natural shrewd sense that +religion was the safest thing for her here and hereafter, she became +religious. In her piety there was manifested but one idea--self. +Whatever she did, was from a sense of duty, and she did her duty because +it was the way to prosperity and heaven. + +I have remarked how different were husband and wife. They lived +together, however, without discord, for Mr. Meeker yielded most points +of controversy when they arose, and for the rest his wife was neither +disagreeable nor unamiable. But the poor woman had experienced through +life one great drawback; she had half-a-dozen fine children. Alas! not +one of them resembled her in temper, character, or disposition. All +possessed their father's happy traits, which were developed more and +more as they grew older, despite their mother's incessant warnings and +teachings. + +Frank, the first-born, exhibited fondness for books, and early +manifested an earnest desire for a liberal education with a view to the +study of medicine. His father resolved to gratify him. His mother was +opposed to it. She wanted her boy a merchant. 'Doctors,' she said, 'were +mostly a poor set, who were obliged to work very hard by day and by +night, and got little for it. If Frank would only be contented to go +into her cousin's store, in New-York, (he was one of the prominent +wholesale dry-goods jobbers,) why, there would be some hope of him, that +is, if he could cure himself of certain extravagant notions; but to go +through college, and then study medicine! Why couldn't he, at least, be +a lawyer, then there might be a chance for him.' + +'But the boy has no taste for mercantile life, nor for the law,' said +Mr. Meeker. + +'Taste--fiddlesticks,' responded his wife, 'as if a boy has a right to +have any taste contrary to his parents' wish.'. + +'But, Jane, it is not contrary to _my_ wish.' + +Mrs. Meeker looked her husband steadily in the face. She saw there an +unusual expression of firmness; something which she knew it to be idle +to contend with, and with her usual good sense, she withdrew from the +contest. + +'Have it your own way, Mr. Meeker. You know my opinion. It was my duty +to express it. Make of Frank what you like. I pray that he may be +prospered in whatever he undertakes.' + +So Frank was sent to college, with the understanding that, after +graduating, he was to pursue his favorite study of medicine. + +A few months after he entered, Mrs. Meeker gave birth to her seventh +child--the subject of the present narrative. Her disappointment at +Frank's destination was severe. Besides, she met with daily evidences +that pained her. None of her children were, to use her expression, +'after her own heart.' There were two other boys, George and William, +who she was accustomed to say, almost bitterly, were 'clear father.' The +three girls, Jane, Laura, and Mary, one would suppose might represent +the mother's side; but alas! they were 'clear father' too. + +In her great distress, as Mrs. Meeker often afterward declared, she +resolved to 'call upon the Lord.' She prayed that the child she was +soon to give birth to might be a boy, and become a joy and consolation +to his mother. She read over solicitously all the passages, of Scripture +she could find, which she thought might be applicable to her case. As +the event approached, she exhibited still greater faith and enthusiasm. +She declared she had consecrated her child to God, and felt a holy +confidence that the offering was accepted. Do not suppose from this, she +intended to devote him to the ministry. _That_ required a special call, +and it did not appear such a call had been revealed to her. But she +prayed earnestly that he might be chosen and favored of the Most High; +that he might stand before kings; that he might not be slothful in +business; but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. The happy frame of +mind Mrs. Meeker had attained, at length became the subject of +conversation in the neighborhood. The clergyman was greatly interested. +He even made allusion to it in the weekly prayer-meeting, which, by the +by, rather scandalized some of the unmarried ladies present. + +Mr. Meeker took all this in good part. The truth is, he regarded it as a +very innocent whim, which required to be indulged in his wife's delicate +situation; so he always joined in her hopeful anticipations, and +endeavored to sympathize with them. It was under these auspicious +circumstances that Hiram Meeker first saw the light. All his mother's +prayers seemed to have been answered. The boy, from the earliest +manifestation of intelligence, exhibited traits which could belong only +to her. As he advanced into childhood, these became more and more +apparent. He had none of the openness of disposition which was possessed +by the other children. He gave much less trouble about the house than +they ever did, and was more easily managed than they had been at his +age. It must not be inferred that because he was his mother's favorite, +he received any special indulgence, or was not subject to every proper +discipline. Indeed, the discipline was more severe, the moral teachings +more unremitting, the practical lessons more frequent than with any of +the rest. But there could not exist a more tractable child than Hiram. +He was apparently made for special training, he took to it so readily, +as if appreciating results and anxious to arrive at them. When he was +six years old, it was astonishing what a number of Bible-verses and +Sunday-school hymns he had committed to memory, and how much the child +_knew_. He was especially familiar with the uses of money. He knew the +value of a dollar, and what could be purchased with it. So of half a +dollar, a quarter, ten cents, and five cents. He had already established +for himself a little savings bank, in which were placed the small sums +which were occasionally presented to him. He could tell the cost of each +of his playthings respectively, and, indeed, of every article about the +house; he learned the price of tea, sugar, coffee, and molasses. This +information, to be sure, formed a part of his mother's course of +instruction; but it was strange how he took to it. Systematically and +unceasingly, she pursued it. Oh! how she rejoiced in her youngest child. +How she thanked God for answering her prayers. I had forgotten to state +that there was considerable difficulty in deciding what name to give the +boy. Mrs. Meeker had an uncle, a worthy minister, by the name of +Nathaniel. Mr. Meeker suggested that the new-comer be called after him. +His wife did not like to object; but she thought Nathaniel a very +disagreeable name. Her cousin, the rich dry-goods merchant in New-York, +who had four daughters and no sons, was named Hiram. Hiram was a good +name, not too long and very expressive. It sounded firm and strong. It +was a Bible-name, too, as well as the other. In fact, she liked it, and +she thought her cousin would be gratified when he learned that she had +named a child for him. There were advantages which might flow from it, +it was not necessary to specify, Mr. Meeker could understand to what +she alluded Mr. Meeker did not understand; in fact, he did not trouble +his head to conjecture; but it was settled Hiram should be the name, and +our hero was baptized accordingly. He was a good boy; never in mischief, +never a truant, never disobedient, nor willful, nor irritable, nor +obstinate. 'Too good for this world;' that is what folks said. 'Such an +astonishing child--too wise to live long.' So it was prophesied; but +Hiram survived all these dismal forebodings, until the people gave up +and concluded to let him live. + +We pass over his earlier days at school. At twelve, he was sent to the +academy in the village, about a mile distant. He was to receive a +first-rate English education, 'no Latin, no Greek, no nonsense,' to use +his mother's language; but the real substantials. Hiram proved to be an +excellent scholar. He was especially good in figures. When he came to +study bookkeeping, he seemed as happy as if he were reading a romance. +He mastered with ease the science of single and double entry. He soon +became fascinated with the beauties of his imaginary business. For his +instructor had prepared for him a regular set of books, and gave him +problems, from day to day, in mercantile dealings, which opened up to +the youth all the mysteries of 'Dr.' and 'Cr.' Out of these various +problems, he constructed quite a little library of account-books, which +he numbered, and which were representations of various descriptions of +trade, and marked with the name of some supposed company, and labeled +'Business Successful,' or 'Business Unsuccessful,' as the case might be. + +We must now turn from Hiram, engaged in diligently pursuing his studies, +and enter on another topic. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Mrs. Meeker had been a church-member from the time she was fourteen +years old. There was an extensive revival throughout the country at that +period, and she, with a large number of young people of both sexes, +were, or thought they were, converted. She used to speak of this +circumstance very often to her children, especially when any one of them +approached the age which witnessed, to use her own language, 'her +resignation of the pomps and vanities of life, and her dedication to the +service of her Saviour.' Still, notwithstanding her prayers and +painstaking, not one of them had ever been under 'conviction of sin;' at +least, none had ever manifested that agony and mental suffering which +she considered necessary to a genuine change of heart. She mourned much +over such a state of things in her household. What a scandal that not +one of _her_ children should give any evidences of saving grace! What a +subject for reproach in the mouths of the ungodly! But it was not her +fault; no, she often felt that Mr. Meeker was too lax in discipline, +(she had had fears of _him_, sometimes, lest he might become a +castaway,) and did not set that Christian example, at all times, which +she could desire. For instance, after church on Sunday afternoon, it was +his custom, when the season was favorable, frequently with a child +holding each hand, to walk leisurely over his fields, humming a cheerful +hymn and taking note of whatever was pleasant in the scene, perhaps the +fresh vegetation just bursting into life, or the opening flowers, or it +might be the maturing fruit, or the ripening yellow grain. On these +occasions, he would endeavor to impress on his children how good God +was; how seed-time and harvest always came; how the sun shone on the +evil as well as on the good, and the rain descended both on the just and +on the unjust. He, too, would inculcate lessons of diligence and +industry, agreeable lessons, after quite a different model from those of +his wife. He would repeat, for example, not in an austere fashion, but +in a way which interested and even amused them, the dramatic description +of the sluggard, from the hook of Proverbs, commencing: + +_'I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man, +void of understanding; + +'And lo! it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the +face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.'_ + +It is a memorable fact that Hiram was never in the habit of accompanying +his father on these Sunday-excursions. Not that his mother positively +interdicted him. She was too judicious a person to hold up to censure +any habitual act of her husband, whatever might have been her own +opinion, or however she might have remonstrated with him in private. She +had no difficulty in keeping Hiram by her side on Sunday afternoons, and +the little fellow seemed instinctively to appreciate why. Indeed, I +doubt if the green fields and pleasant meadow, with the pretty brook +running through it, had any charms for him even then. At any rate, he +was satisfied with his mother's reason, that it was not good for him; he +had better stay at home with her. + +At fourteen, Hiram was to become 'pious.' So Mrs. Meeker fervently +hoped, and to this end her prayers were specially directed. Her son once +secure and safe within the pale of the church, she could be free to +prosecute for him her earthly plans, which could not be sanctioned or +blessed of Heaven, so long as he was still in the gall of sin and bonds +of iniquity. So she labored to explain to him how impossible it was for +an unconverted person to think an acceptable thought or do a single +acceptable act in the sight of God. All his labor was sin, while he was +in a state of sin, whether it was at the plow, or in the shop, or store, +or office, or counting-room. She warned him of the wrath to come, and +she explained to him with minute vividness the everlasting despair and +tortures of the damned. Hiram was a good deal affected. He began to feel +that his position personally was perilous. He wanted to get out of it, +especially as his mother assured him if he should be taken away--and he +was liable to die that very night--then alas! his soul would lie down in +everlasting burnings. At last, the youth was thoroughly alarmed. His +mother recollected she had continued just one week under conviction, +before light dawned in on her, and she considered that a proper period +for her son to go through. She contented herself, at first, by +cautioning him against a relapse into his old condition, for then seven +other spirits more wicked than the first would have possession of him, +and his last state would be worse than the first. Besides, he would run +great risk of sinning away his day of grace. It was soon understood in +the church that Hiram was under concern of mind. Mrs. Meeker, on the +fourth day, withdrew him from school, and sent for the minister to pray +with him. He found him in great distress, I might say in great bodily +terror; for he was very much afraid when he got into bed at night, he +might awake in hell the next morning. The clergyman was a worthy and a +sincere man. He was anxious that a true repentance should flow from +Hiram's present distress, and the lively agony of the child awakened his +strongest sympathy. He talked very kindly to him, explained in a +genuine, truthful manner, what was necessary. He dwelt on the mercy of +our heavenly Father, and on his love. He prayed with the lad earnestly, +and with many affectionate counsels he went away. Hiram was comforted. +Things began to look in a pleasanter light than ever before. He had only +to repent and believe, and it was his duty to repent and believe, and +all would be well. So it happened that when the week was out, Hiram felt +that he had cast his burden on the Lord, and was accepted by him. + +There were great rejoicings over this event. Mrs. Meeker exclaimed, +while tears streamed from her eyes, that she was ready to depart in +peace. Mr. Meeker, who had by no means been indifferent to his son's +state of mind, and who had sought from time to time to encourage him, +(rather, it must be confessed, to his wife's annoyance,) was thankful +that he had obtained relief from the right source. The happy subject +himself became an object of a good deal of interest in the congregation. +There was not the usual attention, just then, to religious matters, and +Hiram's conversion was seized on as a token that more fruits were to be +gathered in from the same field, that is, among the young. In due course +he was propounded and admitted into the church. It happened on that day +that he was the only individual who joined, and he was the observed of +all observers. Hiram Meeker was a handsome boy, well formed, with an +interesting face, blight blue eyes, and a profusion of light hair +shading a forehead indicative of much intelligence. All this was +disclosed to the casual observer; indeed, who would stop to criticise +the features of one so young--else you would have been struck by +something disagreeable about the corners of his mouth, something +repulsive in the curve of those thin lips, (he had his mother's lips,) +something forbidding in a certain latent expression of the eye, while +you would remark with pain the conscious, self-possessed air with which +he took his place in the broad aisle before the pulpit, to give his +assent to the church articles and confession of faith. The good minister +preached from the text, 'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy +youth,' and in the course of his sermon held up Hiram as an example to +all the unconverted youth of his flock. On Monday he returned to school, +prosecuting his studies more diligently than ever. He felt that he had +secured the true salvation, and was safe now in whatever he undertook. +He was very careful in the observance of all his religious exercises, +and so far as I can ascertain, never neglected any of them. Thus happily +launched, Hiram continued at school till he was nearly seventeen. He +had, for the last two years, been sent to Newton Institute, one of the +best institutions in the State, where his advantages would be superior +to those of the academy in his native town. There he learned the higher +branches of mathematics, and studied with care mercantile and +descriptive geography with reference to the different products of the +earth. During this time his proficiency was excellent, and his conduct +always most exemplary. + +At length his course was completed, and Mrs. Meeker felt that her +cousin, the wholesale dry-goods jobber in New-York, would be proud of +such an acquisition in his establishment. He had been duly apprised that +the boy was named for him, and really appeared to manifest, by his +inquiries, a good deal of interest in Hiram. Although they generally met +once or twice a year, Mrs. Meeker did not apprise her cousin of her +plans, preferring to wait till her son should have finished his +academical course before making them known. Her first idea was to send +him to New-York with a letter, in which she would fully explain her +hopes and wishes. On second thought, she concluded to write first, and +await her cousin's reply. It will be seen, from the perusal of it, she +took the proper course. + +Here it is: + + '_New-York, May 15th, 18--._ + + 'DEAR COUSIN: Your letter of May 12th is before me. I am glad to + hear you are all well at Hampton. We are much obliged for your kind + invitation for the summer. I think you may count confidently on a + visit from my wife and myself some time during the season, and I + have no doubt one of the girls will come with us. I know _I_ shall + enjoy it for one, and I am sure we all shall. + + 'As to my namesake, I am glad to hear so good an account of him. + Now, cousin, I really take an interest in the lad, and beg you will + not make any wry faces over an honest expression of my opinion. If + you want the boy to make a first-rate merchant, and SUCCEED, don't + send him to me at present. Of course, I will receive him, if you + insist upon it. But, in my opinion, it will only spoil him. I tell + you frankly, I would not give a fig for a city-bred boy. But I will + enter into this compact with you: I will undertake to make a + first-class merchant of Hiram, if you will let me have my own way. + If you do not, I can not answer for it. What I recommend is, that + you put him into one of the stores in your own village. If I + remember right, there are two there which do a regular country + trade, and have a general stock of dry goods, groceries, crockery, + clothing, stationery, etc., etc., etc. Here he will learn two + things--detail and economy--without a practical knowledge of which, + no man can succeed in mercantile business. I presume you will + consider this a great falling off from your expectations. Perhaps + you will think it petty business for your boy to be behind a + counter in a small country store, selling a shilling's worth of + calico, a cent's worth of snuff, or taking in a dozen eggs in + exchange, but there is just where he ought to be, for the present. + I repeat, he will learn detail. He will understand the value of all + sorts of merchandise; he will get a real knowledge of barter and + trade. When he learns out there, put him in another retail store of + more magnitude. Keep him at this three or four years, and then I + agree to make a merchant of him. I repeat, don't be disappointed at + my letter. I tell you candidly, if I had a son, that's just what I + would do with him, and it is just what I want you to do with Hiram. + I hope you will write me that you approve of my plan. If you do, + you may rely on my advice at all times, and I think I have some + experience in these matters. + + 'We all desire to be remembered to your husband and family. + + 'Very truly, your cousin, + + 'HIRAM BENNETT.' + +He had added, from habit, '& Co.,' but this was erased. + +The letter _was_ a heavy blow to the fond mother; but she recovered from +it quickly, like a sensible woman. In fact, she perceived her cousin was +sincere, and she herself appreciated the good sense of his suggestions. +Her husband, whom she thought best to consult, since matters were taking +this turn, approved of what her cousin had written, and so it was +decided that Hiram should become a clerk of Mr. Jessup, the most +enterprising of the two 'store--keepers' in Hampton. How he got along +with Mr. Jessup, and finally entered the service of Mr. Burns, at +Burnsville, must be reserved for a separate chapter. + + + + +_MONROE TO FARRAGUT._ + + By brutal force you've seized the town, + And therefore the flag shall not come down. + And having told you that it shan't, + Just let me show you why it can't. + The climate here is very queer, + In the matter of flags at this time of year. + If a Pelican touched the banner prized, + He would be _immediately_ paralyzed. + I'm a gentleman born--though now on the shelf, + And I think you are almost one yourself. + For from my noble ancestry, + I can tell the _elite_, by sympathy. + Had you lived among _us_, sir, now and then, + No one can say what you might have been. + So refrain from any sneer or quiz, + Which may wound our susceptibilities. + For my people are all refined--like me, + While yours are all low as low can be. + As for shooting women or children either, + Or any such birds of the Union feather, + We shall in all things consult our ease, + And act exactly as we please. + For you've nothing to do with our laws, you know, + Yours, merely 'respectfully, JOHN MONROE.' + + + + +_AMONG THE PINES._ + +Alighting from the carriage, I entered, with the Colonel, the cabin of +the negro-hunter. So far as external appearance went, the shanty was a +slight improvement on the 'Mills House,' described in a previous +chapter; but internally, it was hard to say whether it resembled more a +pig-sty or a dog-kennel. The floor was of the bare earth, covered in +patches with loose plank of various descriptions, and littered over with +billets of 'lightwood,' unwashed cooking utensils, two or three cheap +stools, a pine settee--made from the rough log and hewn smooth on the +upper-side--a full-grown blood-hound, two younger canines, and nine +dirt-encrusted juveniles, of the flax-head species. Over against the +fire-place three low beds afforded sleeping accommodation to nearly a +dozen human beings, (of assorted sizes, and dove-tailed together with +heads and feet alternating,) and in the opposite corner a lower couch, +whose finer furnishings told plainly it was the peculiar property of the +'wee-ones' of her family--a mother's tenderness for the youngest thus +cropping out even in the midst of filth and degradation--furnished +quarters for an unwashed, uncombed, unclothed, saffron-hued little +fellow about fifteen months old, and--the dog 'Lady.' + +The dog was of a dark hazel-color--a cross between a setter and a +gray-hound--and one of the most beautiful creatures I ever saw. Her neck +and breast were bound about with a coarse cotton cloth, saturated with +blood, and emitting a strong odor of bad whisky; and her whole +appearance showed the desperate nature of the encounter with the +overseer. + +The nine young democrats who were lolling about the room in various +attitudes rose as we entered, and with a familiar but rather deferential +'Howdy'ge,' to the Colonel, huddled around and stared at me with open +mouths and distended eyes, as if I were a strange being dropped from +some other sphere. The two eldest were of the male gender, as was shown +by their clothes--cast-off suits of the inevitable reddish-gray--much +too large, and out at the elbows and the knees; but the sex of the +others I was at a loss to determine, for they wore only a single robe, +reaching, like their mother's, from the neck to the knees. Not one of +the occupants of the cabin boasted a pair of stockings, but the father +and mother did enjoy the luxury of shoes--coarse, stout brogans, +untanned, and of the color of the legs which they encased. + +'Well, Sandy, how is Lady?' asked the Colonel, as he stepped to the bed +of the wounded dog. + +'Reckon she's a goner, Cunnel; the d----d Yankee orter swing fur it.' + +This intimation that the overseer was a 'countryman' of mine, took me by +surprise, nothing I had observed in his speech or manners having +indicated it, but I consoled myself with the reflection that Connecticut +had reared him--as she makes wooden hams and nutmegs--expressly for the +Southern market.' + +'He _shall_ swing for it, by ----. But are you sure the dog will die?' + +'Not shore, Cunnel, but she can't stand, and the blood _will_ run. I +reckon a hun'red and fifty ar done for thar, sartin.' + +'D---- the money--I'll make that right. Go to the house and get some +ointment from Madam--she can save her--go at once,' said my host. + +'I will, Cunnel,' replied the dirt-eater, taking his broad-brim from the +wooden peg where it was reposing, and leisurely leaving the cabin. +Making our way over the piles of rubbish and crowds of children that +cumbered the apartment, the Colonel and I then returned to the carriage. + +'Dogs must be rare in this region,' I remarked, as we resumed our +seats. + +'Yes, well-trained bloodhounds are scarce every where. That dog is well +worth a hundred and fifty dollars.' + +'The business of nigger-catching, then, is brisk, just now?' + +'No, not more brisk than usual. We always have more or less runaways.' + +'Do most of them take to the swamps?' + +'Yes, nine out of ten do, though now and then one gets off on a +trading-vessel. It is almost impossible for a strange nigger to make his +way by land from here to the free States.' + +'Then why do you Carolinians make such an outcry about the violation of +the Fugitive Slave Law?' + +'For the same reason that dogs quarrel over a naked bone. We should be +unhappy if we couldn't growl at the Yankees,' replied the Colonel, +laughing heartily. + +'_We_, you say; you mean by that, the hundred and eighty thousand nabobs +who own five sixths of your slaves?'[4] + + [4: The statistics given above are correct. That small number of + slaveholders sustains the system of slavery, and has caused this + terrible rebellion. They are, almost to a man, rebels and + secessionists, and we may cover the South with armies, and keep + a file of soldiers upon every plantation, and not smother this + insurrection unless we break down the power of that class. Their + wealth gives them their power, and their wealth is in their + slaves. Free their negroes by an act of Emancipation, or + Confiscation, and the rebellion will crumble to pieces in a day. + Omit to do it, and it will last till doomsday. + + The power of this dominant class once broken; with landed property + at the South more equally divided, a new order of things will arise + there. Where now, with their large plantations, not one acre in ten + is tilled, a system of small farms will spring into existence, and + the whole country be covered with cultivation. The six hundred + thousand men who have gone there to fight our battles, will see the + amazing fertility of the Southern soil--into which the seed is + thrown and springs up without labor into a bountiful harvest--and + many of them, if slavery is crushed out, will remain there. Thus a + new element will be introduced into the South, an element that will + speedily make it a loyal, prosperous, and _intelligent_ section of + the Union. + + I would interfere with no one's rights, but a rebel in arms against + his country has no rights; all that he has 'is confiscate.' Will + the loyal people of the North submit to be ground to the earth with + taxes to pay the expenditures of a war brought upon them by these + Southern oligarchists, while the traitors are left in undisturbed + possession of every thing, and even their slaves are exempted from + taxation? It were well that our legislators should ask this + question now, and not wait till it is asked of them by THE PEOPLE.] + +'Yes, I mean them, and the three or four millions of poor whites--the +ignorant, half-starved, lazy vermin you have just seen. _They_ are the +real basis of our Southern oligarchy, as you call it,' continued the +Colonel, still laughing. + +'I thought the negro was the serf, in your feudal system?' + +'Both the negro and the poor whites are the serfs, but the white trash +are its real support. Their votes give the small minority of +slave-owners all their power. You say we control the Union. We do, and +we do it by the votes of these people, who are as far below our niggers +as the niggers are below decent white men. Who that reflects that this +country has been controlled for fifty years by such scum, would give a +d---- for republican institutions?' + +'It does speak very badly for _your_ institutions. A system that reduces +one half of a white population to the level of slaves can not stand in +this country. The late election shows that the power of your 'white +trash' is broken.' + +'Well, it does, that's a fact. If the States should remain together, the +West would in future control the Union. We see that, and are therefore +determined on dissolution. It is our only way to keep our niggers.' + +'You will have to get the consent of that same West to that project. My +opinion is, your present policy will, if carried out, free every one of +your slaves.' + +'I don't see how. Even if we are put down--which we can not be--and are +held in the Union against our will, Government can not, by the +Constitution, interfere with slavery in the States.' + +'I admit that, but it can confiscate the property of traitors. Every +large slaveholder is to-day, at heart, a traitor. If this movement goes +on, you will commit overt acts against the Government, and in +self-defense it will punish treason by taking from you the means of +future mischief.' + +'The Republicans and Abolitionists might do that if they had the power, +but nearly one half of the North is on our side, and will not fight us.' + +'Perhaps so; but if _I_ had this thing to manage, I'd put you down +without fighting.' + +'How would you do it--by preaching Abolition where even the niggers +would mob you? There's not a slave in South-Carolina but would shoot +Garrison or Greeley on sight.' + +'That may be, but if so, it is because you keep them in ignorance. Build +a free-school at every cross-road, and teach the poor whites, and what +would become of slavery? If these people were on a par with the farmers +of New-England, would it last for an hour? Would they not see that it +stands in the way of their advancement, and vote it out of existence as +a nuisance?' + +'Yes, perhaps they would; but the school-houses are not at the +cross-roads, and, thank God, they will not be there in this generation.' + +'The greater the pity; but that which will not nourish alongside of a +school-house, can not, in the nature of things, outlast this century. +Its time must soon come.' + +'Enough for the day is the evil thereof, I'll risk the future of +slavery, if the South, in a body, goes out of the Union.' + +'In other words, you'll shut out schools and knowledge, in order to keep +slavery in existence. The Abolitionists claim it to be a relic of +barbarism, and you admit it could not exist with general education among +the people.' + +'Of course it could not. If Sandy, for instance, knew he were as good a +man as I am--and he would be if he were educated--do you suppose he +would vote as I tell him, go and come at my bidding, and live on my +charity? No sir! give a man knowledge, and, however poor he may be, +he'll act for himself.' + +'Then free-schools and general education would destroy slavery?' + +'Of course they would. The few can not rule when the many know their +rights. But the South, and the world, are a long, way off from general +education. When it conies to that, we shall need no laws, and no +slavery, for the millennium will have arrived.' + +'I'm glad you think slavery will not exist during the millennium,' I +replied, laughing; 'but how is it that you insist the negro is naturally +inferior to the white, and still admit that the 'white trash' are far +below the black slaves?' + +'Education makes the difference. We educate the negro enough to make him +useful to us, but the poor white man knows nothing. He can neither read +nor write, and not only that, he is not trained to any useful +employment. Sandy, here, who is a fair specimen of the tribe, obtains +his living just like an Indian, by hunting, fishing, and stealing, +interspersed with nigger-catching. His whole wealth consists of two +hounds and their pups; his house--even the wooden trough his miserable +children eat from--belongs to me. If he didn't catch a runaway nigger +once in a while, he wouldn't see a dime from one year to another.' + +'Then you have to support this man and his family?' + +'Yes, what I don't give him, he steals. Half-a-dozen others poach on me +in the same way.' + +'Why don't you set them at work?' + +'They can't be made to work. I have hired them time and again, hoping to +make something of them, but I never got one to work more than half-a-day +at a time. It's their nature to lounge and to steal.' + +'Then why do you keep them about you?' + +'Well, to be candid, their presence is of use in keeping the blacks in +subordination, and they are worth all they cost me, because I control +their votes.' + +'I thought the blacks were said to be entirely contented?' + +'No, not contented. I do not claim that. I only say that they are unfit +for freedom. I might cite a hundred instances in which it has been their +ruin.' + +'I have never heard of one. It seems strange to me that a man who can +support another can not support himself.' + +'Oh! no, it's not at all strange. The slave has hands, and when the +master gives him brains, he works well enough; but to support himself he +needs both hands and brains, and he has only hands. I'll give you a case +in point: At Wilmington, N.C., some years ago lived a negro by the name +of Jack Campbell. He was a slave, and he was employed, before the river +below the town was deepened so as to admit of the passage of large +vessels, in lightering cargoes up to the city. He hired his time of his +master, and carried on business on his own account. Every one knew him, +and his character for honesty, sobriety, and punctuality stood so high +that his word was considered among merchants as good as that of the +first business-men of the place. Well, Jack's wife and children were +free, and he finally took it into his head to be free himself. He +arranged with his master to purchase himself within a specified time, at +eight hundred dollars, and was to deposit his earnings, till they +reached the required sum, in the hands of a certain merchant. He went +on, and in three years had accumulated nearly seven hundred dollars, +_when his master failed_. As the slave has no right to property, Jack's +earnings belonged by law to his master, and they were attached by the +creditors, and taken to pay the master's debts. Jack then 'changed +hands,' received a new owner, who also consented to his buying himself, +at about the price previously agreed on. Nothing discouraged, he went to +work again. Night and day, he toiled, and it surprised every one to see +so much energy and fixedness of purpose in a negro. At last, after four +more years of labor, he accomplished his purpose, and received his +free-papers. He had worked seven years--as long as Jacob toiled for +Rachel--for his freedom, and like the old patriarch found himself +cheated at last. I was present when he received his papers from his +owner, a Mr. William H. Lippitt--who still resides at Wilmington--and I +shall never forget the ecstasy of joy which he showed on the occasion; +he sung and danced and laughed and wept, till my conscience smote me for +holding my own niggers, when freedom might give them so much happiness. +Well, he went off that day and treated some friends, and then, for three +days afterward, lay in the gutter, the entreaties of his wife and +children having no effect on him. He swore he was free, and would do as +he 'd----d pleased.' He had previously been a class-leader in his +church, but after getting free-papers, he forsook his previous +associates, and spent his Sundays and evenings in a bar-room. He +neglected his business; people lost confidence in him, and step by step +he went down, till in five years he stink into a wretched grave. That +was the effect of freedom on _him_, and it would be so on all his race.' + +'It is clear,' I replied, 'he could not bear freedom, but that does not +prove he might not have 'endured' it if he had never been a slave. His +overjoy at obtaining liberty, after so long a struggle for it, led to +his excesses and his ruin. According to your view, neither the black nor +the poor white is competent to take care of himself. The Almighty, +therefore, has laid upon _you_ a triple burden; you not only have to +provide for yourself and your children, but for two races beneath you, +the black and the clay-eating white man. The poor nigger has a hard +time, but it seems to me you have a harder one.' + +'Well, it's a fact, we do. I often think that if it wasn't for the color +and the odor, I'd be glad to exchange places with my man Jim.' + +The Colonel made this last remark in a half-serious, half-comic way, +that excited my risibilities amazingly, but before I could reply, the +carriage stopped, and Jim, opening the door, announced: + +'We's h'ar, massa, and de prayin' am gwine on.' + +Had we not been absorbed in conversation, we might have discovered the +latter fact some time previous to our arrival at the church-door, for +the preacher was shouting at the top of his lungs. He evidently thought +the good Lord either a long way off, or very hard of hearing. Not +wishing to disturb the congregation at their devotions, we loitered near +the doorway until the prayer was over, and in the mean time I glanced +around the premises. + +The 'meeting-house,' of large unhewed logs, was a story and a half in +hight, and about large enough to seat comfortably a congregation of two +hundred persons. It was covered with shingles, with a roof projecting +some four feet over the wall, and was surmounted at the front gable by a +tower, about twelve feet square. This also was built of logs, and +contained a bell 'to call the erring to the house of prayer,' though, +unfortunately, all of that character thereabouts dwelt beyond the sound +of its voice. The building was located at a cross-roads about equally +distant from two little hamlets, (the nearest nine miles off,) neither +of which was populous enough to singly support a church and a preacher. +The trees in the vicinity had been thinned out, so that carriages could +drive into the woods, and find under the branches shelter from the rain +and the sun, and at the time of my visit, about twenty vehicles of all +sorts and descriptions, from the Colonel's magnificent barouche to the +rude cart drawn by a single two-horned quadruped, filled the openings. +There was a rustic simplicity about the whole scene that charmed me. The +low, rude church, the grand old pines that towered in leafy magnificence +around it, and the soft, low wind, that sung a morning hymn in the +green, wavy woods, seemed to lift the soul up to Him who inhabiteth +eternity, but who also visits the erring children of men. + +The preacher was about to 'line out' one of Watts' psalms, when we +entered the church, but he stopped short on perceiving us, and, bowing +low, waited till we had taken our seats. This action, and the +sycophantic air which accompanied it, disgusted me, and turning to the +Colonel, I asked jocosely: + +'Do the chivalry exact so much obsequiousness from the country clergy'? +Do you require to be bowed up to heaven?' + +In a low voice, but high enough, I thought, for the preacher to hear, +for we sat very near, the Colonel replied: + +'He's a renegade Yankee--the meanest thing on earth.' + +I said no more, but entered into the services as seriously as the +strange gymnastic performances of the preacher would allow me to do, for +the truth is, he was quite as amusing as a circus clown. + +With the exception of the Colonel's and a few other pews in the vicinity +of the pulpit, all of the seats were mere rough benches, without backs, +and placed so closely together as to interfere uncomfortably with the +knees of the sitters. The house was full, and the congregation as +attentive as any I ever saw. All classes were there; the black +serving-man away off by the doorway, the poor white a little higher up, +the small turpentine-farmer a little higher still, and the wealthy +planter, of the class to which the Colonel belonged, on 'the highest +seats of the synagogue,' and in close proximity to the preacher. + +The 'man of prayer' was a tall, lean, raw-boned, angular-built +individual, with a thin, sharp, hatchet-face, a small sunken eye, and +long, loose hair, brushed back and falling over the collar of a seedy +black coat. He looked like nothing in the world I have ever seen, and +his pale, sallow face, and cracked, wheezy voice, were in comic keeping +with his discourse. His text was: 'Speak unto the children of Israel, +that they go forward.' And addressing the motley gathering of poor +whites and small-planters before him as the 'chosen people of God,' he +urged them to press on in the mad course their State had chosen. It was +a political harangue, a genuine stump-speech, but its frequent allusion +to the auditory as the legitimate children of the old patriarch, and the +rightful heirs of all the promises, struck me as out of place in a rural +district of South-Carolina, however appropriate it might have been in +one of the large towns, before an audience of merchants and traders, who +are, almost to a man, Jews. + +The services over, the congregation slowly left the church. Gathered in +groups in front of the 'meeting-house,' they were engaging in a general +discussion of the affairs of the day, when the Colonel and I emerged +from the doorway. The better class greeted my host with considerable +cordiality, but I noticed that the well-to-do, small planters, who +composed the greater part of the assemblage, received him with decided +coolness. These people were the 'North county folks' on whom the +overseer had invoked a hanging. Except that their clothing was more +uncouth and ill-fashioned, and their faces generally less 'cute' of +expression, they did not differ materially in appearance from the rustic +citizens who may be seen on any pleasant Sunday gathered around the +door-ways of the rural meeting-houses of New-England. + +One of them, who was leaning against a tree, quietly lighting a pipe, +was a fair type of the whole, and as he took a part in the scene which +followed, I will describe him. He was tall and spare, with a swinging, +awkward gait, and a wiry, athletic frame. His hair, which he wore almost +as long as a woman's, was coarse and black, and his face strongly +marked, and of the precise color of two small rivulets of tobacco-juice +that escaped from the corners of his mouth. He had an easy, +self-possessed manner, and a careless, devil-may-care way about him, +that showed he had measured his powers, and was accustomed to 'rough it' +with the world. He wore a broadcloth coat of the fashion of some years +ago, but his waistcoat and nether garments of the common, reddish +homespun, were loose and ill-shaped, as if their owner did not waste +thought on such trifles. His hat, as shockingly bad as Horace Greeley's, +had the inevitable broad brim, and fell over his face like a +calash-awning over a shop-window. As I approached him he extended his +hand with a pleasant 'How are ye, stranger?.' + +'Very well,' I replied, returning his grasp with equal warmth, 'how are +you?' + +'Right smart, right smart, thank ye. You're--' the rest of the +sentence was cut short by a gleeful exclamation from Jim, who, mounted +on the box of the carriage, which was drawn up on the cleared plot in +front of the meeting-house, waved an open newspaper over his head, and +called out, as he caught sight of the Colonel: + +'Great news, massa, great news from Charls'on!' + +(The darky, while we were in church, had gone to the post-office, some +four miles away, and got the Colonel's mail, consisting of letters from +his New-York and Charleston factors, the Charleston _Courier_ and +_Mercury_ and the New-York _Journal of Commerce_. The latter sheet, at +the date of which I am writing, was in wide circulation at the South, +its piety (!) and its politics being then calculated with mathematical +precision for secession latitudes.) + +'What is it, Jim?' shouted his master. 'Give it to us.' + +The darky had somehow learned to read, but holding the paper at arm's +length, and throwing himself into a theatrical attitude, he belched out, +with any amount of gesticulation, the following: + +'De news am, massa, and gemmen and ladies, dat de ole fort fore +Charls'on hab hen devacuated by Major Andersin and de sogers, and dat +dey hab stole 'way in de dark night and gone to Sumter, whar dey can't +be took; and dat de ole Gubner hab got out a procdemation dat all dat +don't lub de Aberlishen Yankees shill cum up dar and clar 'em out; and +de paper say dat lots ob sogers hab cum from Gorgia and Al'bama and 'way +down Souf, to help 'em. Dis am w'at de _Currer_ say,' he continued, +holding the paper up to his eyes and reading: 'Major Andersin, ob +United States army hab 'chieved de 'stinction ob op'ning de cibil war +'tween American citizens; he hab desarted Moulfrie, and by false +fretexts hab took de ole Garrison and all his millinery stores to Fort +Sumter.' + +'Get down, you d----d nigger,' said the Colonel, laughing, and mounting +the carriage-box beside him. 'You can't read. Old Garrison isn't +there--he's the d----d Northern Abolitionist.' + +'I knows dat, Cunnel, but see dar,' holding the paper out to his master, +'don't dat say he'm dar? It'm him dat make all de trubble. P'raps dis +nig' can't read, but ef dat ain't readin' I'd like to know it!' + +'Clear out,' said the Colonel, now actually roaring with laughter; 'it's +the soldiers that the _Courier_ speaks of, not the Abolitionist.' + +'Read it yoursef, den, massa, I don't seed it dat way.' + +Jim was altogether wiser than he appeared, and while he was equally as +well pleased with the news as the Colonel, he was so for an entirely +different reason. In the crisis which these tidings announced, he saw +hope for his race. + +The Colonel then read the paper to the assemblage. The news was received +with a variety of manifestations by the auditory, the larger portion, I +thought, hearing it, as I did, with sincere regret. + +'Now is the time to stand by the State, my friends,' said my host as he +finished the reading. 'I hope every man here is ready to do his duty by +old South-Carolina.' + +'Yes, _sar!_ if she does _har_ duty by the Union. We'll go to the death +for har just so long as she's in the right, but not a d----d step if she +arn't,' said the long-legged native I have introduced to the reader. + +'And what have _you_ to say about South-Carolina? What does, she owe to +_you?_' asked the Colonel, turning on the speaker with a proud and angry +look. + +'More, a darned sight than she'll pay, if ye cursed 'ristocrats run her +to h---- as ye'r doing. She owes me, and 'bout ten as likely niggers as +ye ever seed, a living, and we've d----d hard work to get it out on her +_now_, let alone what's comin'. + +'Don't talk to me, you ill-mannered cur,' said my host, turning his back +on his neighbor, and directing his attention to the remainder of the +assemblage. + +'Look har, Cunnel,' replied the native, 'if ye'll jest come down from +thar and throw 'way yer shootin'-irons, I'll give ye the all-firedest +thrashing ye ever did get.' + +The Colonel gave no further heed to him, but the speaker mounted the +steps of the meeting-house and harangued the natives in a strain of rude +and passionate declamation, in which my host, the aristocrats, and the +Secessionists came in for about equal shares of abuse. Seeing that the +native (who, it appeared, was quite popular as a stump-speaker) was +drawing away his audience, the Colonel descended from the driver's seat, +and motioning for me to follow, entered the carriage. Turning the horses +homeward, we rode off at a brisk pace. + +'Not much Secession about that fellow, Colonel,' I remarked, after a +while. + +'No,' he replied, 'he's a North-Carolina 'corn-cracker,' one of the +meanest specimens of humanity extant. They're as thick as fleas in this +part of the State, and about all of them are traitors.' + +'Traitors to the State, but true to the Union. As far as I've seen, that +is the case with the middling class throughout the South.' + +'Well, it may be, but they generally go with us, and I reckon they will +now, when it comes to the rub. Those in the towns--the traders and +mechanics--will, certain; it's only these half-way independent planters +that ever kick the traces. By the way,' continued my host, in a jocose +way, 'what did you think of the preaching?' + +'I thought it very poor. I'd rather have heard the stump-speech, had it +not been a little too personal on you.' + +'Well, it was the better of the two,' he replied, laughing, 'but the +old devil can't afford any thing good, he don't get enough pay.' + +'Why, how much does he get?' + +'Only a hundred dollars.' + +'That is small. How does the man live?' + +'Well, he teaches the daughter of my neighbor, Captain Randall, who +believes in praying, and gives him his board. Randall thinks that +enough. The rest of the parish can't afford to pay him, and I _won't_.' + +'Why won't you?' + +'Because he's a d----d old hypocrite. He believes in the Union with all +his heart--at least, so Randall, who's a sincere Union man, says--and +yet, he never sees me at meeting but he preaches a red-hot secession +sermon.' + +'He wants to keep you in the faith,' I replied. + +A few more miles of sandy road took us to the mansion, where we found +dinner in waiting. Meeting 'Massa Tommy'--who had staid at home with his +mother--as we entered the doorway, the Colonel asked after the overseer. + +'He seems well enough, sir; I believe he's coming the possum over +mother.' + +'Ill bet on it, Tommy; but he won't fool you and me, will he, my boy?' +said his father, slapping him affectionately on the back. + +After dinner I went with my host to the room of the wounded man. His +head was still bound up, and he was groaning piteously, as if in great +pain; but I thought there was too fresh a color in his face to be +entirely natural in one who had lost so much blood, and been so severely +wounded as he affected to be. + +The Colonel mentioned our suspicions to Madam P----, and suggested that +the shackles should be put on him. + +'Oh! no, don't do that; it would be inhuman,' said the lady; 'the color +is the effect of fever. If you fear he is plotting to get away, let him +be watched.' + +The Colonel consented, but with evident reluctance, to the arrangement, +and retired to his room to take a _siesta_, while I lit a cigar, and +strolled out to the negro-quarters. + +Making my way through the woods to the scene of the morning's +jollification, I found about a hundred darkies gathered around Jim, on +the little plot in front of Old Lucy's cabin. Jim had evidently been +giving them the news. Pausing when I came near, he exclaimed: + +'Har's Massa K----, he'll say dat I tells you de trufh;' then turning to +me, he said: 'Massa K----, dese darkies say dat Massa Andersin am an +ab'lisherner, and dat none but de ab'lisherners will fight for de Union; +am dat so, sar?' + +'No, I reckon not, Jim; I think the whole North would fight for it if it +were necessary.' + +'Am dat so, massa? am dat so?' eagerly inquired a dozen of the darkies; +'and am dar great many folks at de Norf--more dan dar am down har?' + +'Yas, you fools, didn't I tell you dat?' said Jim, as I, not exactly +relishing the idea of preaching treason, in the Colonel's absence, to +his slaves, hesitated to reply. 'Hain't I tole you,' he continued, 'dat +in de big city ob New-York dar'm more folks dan dar am in all Car'lina? +I'se been dar, and I knows; and Massa K----'ll tell you dat dey--'most +on 'em--feel mighty sorry for de brack man.' + +'No he won't,' I replied, 'and besides, Jim, you should not talk in this +way before me; I might tell your master.' + +'No! you won't do dat; I knows you won't, massa. Scipio tole us he'd +trust his bery life wid _you_.' + +'Well, perhaps he might; it's true I would not injure _you_.' Saying +that, I turned away, though my curiosity was greatly excited to hear +more. + +I wandered farther into the woods, and a half-hour found me near one of +the turpentine distilleries. Seating myself on a rosin barrel, I quietly +finished my cigar, and was about lighting another, when Jim made his +appearance. + +'Beg pardon, Massa K----,' said the negro, bowing very low, 'but I +wants to ax you one or two tings, ef you please, sar.' + +'Well,' I replied, 'I'll answer any thing that I ought to.' + +'Der yer tink, den, massa, dat dey'll git to fightin' at Charls'on?' + +'Yes, judging by the tone of the Charleston papers you've read to-day, I +think they will.' + +'And der yer tink dat de rest ob de Souf will jine wid Souf Car'lina, if +she go at it fust?' + +'Yes, Jim, I'm inclined to think so.' + +'I hard you say to massa, dat ef dey goes to war,'twill free all de +niggers--der you raily b'lieve dat, sar?' + +'_You_ heard me say that; how did you hear it?' I exclaimed, in +surprise. + +'Why, sar, de front winder ob de carriage war down jess a crack, and I +hard all you said.' + +'Did you let it down on purpose?' + +'P'r'aps so, massa. Whot's de use ob habin' ears, ef you don't h'ar?' + +'Well, I suppose not much; and you tell all you hear to the other +negroes?' + +'I reckon so, massa,' said the darky, looking very demure. + +'That's the use of having a tongue, eh?' I replied, laughing. + +'Dat's it 'zaxly, massa.' + +'Well, Jim, I do think the slaves will be finally freed; but it will +cost more white blood to do it than all the niggers in creation are +worth. Do you think the darkies would fight for their freedom?' + +'Fight, sar!' exclaimed the negro, straightening up his fine form, while +his usual good-natured look--passed from his face and gave way to an +expression that made him seem more like an incarnate fiend than a human +being; 'FIGHT, sar; gib dem de chance, and den see.' + +'Why are you discontented? You have been at the North, and you know the +blacks are as well off as the majority of the poor laboring men there.' + +'You say dat to me, Massa K----; you don't say it to de _Cunnel_. We are +not so well off as de pore man at de Norf! You knows dat, sar. He hab +his wife and children, and his own home; what hab we, sar? No wife, no +children, no home; all am de white man's. Der yer tink we wouldn't fight +to be free?' and he pressed his teeth together, and there passed again +over his face the same look it wore the moment before. + +'Come, come, Jim, this may be true of your race; but it don't apply to +yourself. Your master is kind and indulgent to _you_.' + +'He am kind to me, sar; he orter be,' said the negro, the savage +expression coming again into his eyes. For a moment he hesitated; then, +taking a step toward me, he placed his face down to mine, and hissed out +these words, every syllable seeming to come from the very bottom of his +being. 'I tell you he orter be, sar, FUR I AM HIS OWN FATHER'S SON!' + +'Your brother!' I exclaimed, springing to my feet, and looking at him in +blank amazement. 'It can't be true.' + +'It am true, sar--as true as there's a hell! His father had my mother: +when he got tired of her, he sold her Souf. _I was too young den eben to +know her_!' + +'This is horrible, too horrible!' I said. + +'It am slavery, sar! Shouldn't we be contented?' replied the negro with +a grim smile. Drawing, then, a large spring-knife from his pocket, he +waved it above his head, adding: 'Ef I had all de white race dar--right +dar under dat knife, don't yer tink I'd take all dar lives--all at one +blow--to be FREE!' + +'And yet you refused to run away when the Abolitionists tempted you, at +the North. Why didn't you go then?' + +''Cause I had promised, massa.' + +'Promised the Colonel before you went?' + +'No, sar, he neber axed me; but _I_ can't tell you no more. P'raps +Scipio will, ef you ax him.' + +'Oh! I see; you're in that league, of which Scip is a leader. You'll get +into trouble, _sure_,' I replied, in a quick, decided tone, which +startled him. + +'You tole Scipio dat, sar, and what did _he_ tell you?' + +'That he didn't care for his life.' + +'No more do I, sar,' said the negro, as he turned on his heel with a +proud, almost defiant gesture, and started to go. + +'A moment, Jim. You are very imprudent; never say these things to any +other mortal; promise me that.' + +'You'se bery good, massa, bery good. Scipio say you's true, and he'm +allers right. I ortent to hab said what I hab; but sumhow, sar, dat news +brought it all up _har_,' (laying his hand on his breast,) 'and it wud +come out.' + +The tears filled his eyes as he said this, and turning away without +another word, he passed from my sight behind the trees. + +I was almost stunned by this strange revelation, but the more I +reflected on it, the more probable it appeared. Now, too, that my +thoughts were turned in that direction, I called to mind a certain +resemblance between the Colonel and the negro that I had not heeded +before. Though one was a high-bred Southern gentleman, claiming an old +and proud descent, and the other a poor African slave, they had some +striking peculiarities which might indicate a common origin. The +likeness was not in their features, for Jim's face was of the +unmistakable negro type, and his skin of a hue so dark that it seemed +impossible he could be the son of a white man, (I afterward learned that +his mother was a black of the deepest dye,) but it was in their form and +general bearing. They had the same closely-knit and sinewy frame, the +same erect, elastic step, the same rare blending of good-natured ease +and dignity--to which I have already alluded as characteristic of the +Colonel--and in the wild burst of passion that accompanied the negro's +disclosure of their relationship, I saw the same fierce, unbridled +temper, whose outbreaks I had witnessed in my host. + +What a strange fate was theirs! Two brothers--the one the owner of three +hundred slaves, and the first man of his district--the other, a bonded +menial, and so poor that the very bread he ate, the clothes he wore, +were another's! How terribly on him had fallen the curse pronounced on +his race! + +I passed the remainder of the afternoon in my room, and did not again +meet my host until the family assembled at the tea-table. Jim then +occupied his accustomed seat behind the Colonel's chair, and my host was +in more than his usual spirits, though Madam P----, I thought, wore a +sad and absent look. + +The conversation rambled over a wide range of subjects, and was carried +on mainly by the Colonel and myself; but toward the close of the meal +the lady said to me: + +'Mr. K----, Sam and young Junius are to be buried this evening. If you +have never seen a negro funeral, perhaps you'd like to attend.' + +'I will be happy to accompany you, Madam, if you go,' I replied. + +'Thank you,' said the lady. + +'Pshaw! Alice, you'll not go into the woods on so cold a night as this!' + +'Yes, I think I ought to. Our people will expect me.' + + * * * * * + +It was about an hour after nightfall when we took our way to the +burial-ground. The moon had risen, but the clouds which gathered when +the sun went down, covered its face, and were fast spreading their +thick, black shadows over the little collection of negro-houses. Near +two new-made graves were gathered some two hundred men and women, as +dark as the night that was setting around them. As we entered the circle +the old preacher pointed to the seats reserved for us, and the sable +crowd fell back a few paces, as if, even in the presence of death, they +did not forget the difference between their race and ours. + +Scattered here and there among the trees, torches of lightwood threw a +wild and fitful light over the little cluster of graves, and revealed +the long, straight boxes of rough pine that held the remains of the two +negroes, and lit up the score of russet mounds beneath which slept the +dusky kinsmen who had gone before them. + +The simple head-boards that marked these humble graves chronicled no +bad biography or senseless rhyme, and told no false tales of lives that +had better not have been, but 'SAM, AGE 22;' 'POMPEY;' 'JAKE'S ELIZA;; +'AUNT SUE;' 'AUNT LUCY'S TOM;' 'JOE;' and other like inscriptions, +scratched in rough characters on those unplaned boards, were all the +records there. The rude tenants had passed away and 'left no sign;' +their birth, their age, their deeds, were alike unknown--unknown, but +not forgotten; for are they not written in the book of His +remembrance--and when He counteth up his jewels, may not some of them be +there? + +The queer, grotesque dress, and sad, earnest looks of the black group; +the red, fitful glare of the blazing pine, and the white faces of the +tapped trees, gleaming through the gloom like so many sheeted-ghosts +gathered to some death-carnival, made up a strange, wild scene--the +strangest and the wildest I had ever witnessed. + +The covers of the rude coffins were not yet nailed down, and when we +arrived, the blacks were one by one passing before them, taking a last +look at the faces of the dead. Soon, Junius, holding his weeping wife by +the hand, approached the smaller of the two boxes, which held all that +was left of their first-born. The mother kneeling by its side, kissed +again and again the cold, shrunken lips, and sobbed as if her heart +would break; while the strong frame of the father shook convulsively, +as, choking down the great sorrow which welled up in his throat, he +turned away from his boy forever. As he did so, old Pompey said: + +'Don't grebe, June, he'm whar de wicked cease from trubbling, whar de +weary am at rest.' + +'I knows it; I knows it, Uncle. I knows de Lord am bery good to take 'im +'way; but why did he take de young chile, and leab de ole man har?' + +'De little sapling dat grow in de shade may die while it'm young; de +great tree dat grow in de sun must lib till de ax cut him down.' + +These words were the one drop wanting to make the great grief which was +swelling in the negro's heart overflow. Giving one low, wild cry, he +folded his wife in his arms, and burst into a paroxysm of tears. + +'Come now, my chil'ren,' said the old preacher, kneeling down, 'let us +pray.' + +The whole assemblage then knelt on the cold ground, while the old man +prayed, and a more sincere, heart-touching prayer never went up from +human lips to that God 'who hath made of one blood all nations that +dwell on the face of the earth.' Though clothed in rags, and in feeble +old age, a slave, at the mercy of a cruel task-master, that old man was +richer far than his master. His simple faith, which looked through the +darkness surrounding him into the clear and radiant light of the unseen +land, was of far more worth than all the wealth and glory of this world. +I know not why it was, but as I looked at him in the dim, red light +which fell on his upturned face, and cast a strange halo around his bent +form, I thought of Stephen, as he gazed upward and saw heaven open, and +'the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the throne of God.' + +Rising from his knees, the old preacher turned slowly to the black mass +that encircled him, and said: + +'My dear bredderin and sisters, de Lord say dat 'de dust shill return to +de earth as it war, and de spirit to Him who gabe it,' and now, 'cordin' +to dat text, my friends, we'm gwine to put dis dust (pointing to the two +coffins) in de groun' whar it cum from, and whar it shill lay till de +blessed Lord blow de great trumpet on de resumrection mornin'. De +spirits of our brudders har de Lord hab already took to hisseff. 'Our +brudders,' I say, my chil'ren, 'case ebery one dat de Lord hab made am +brudders to you and to me, whedder dey'm bad or good, white or brack. + +'Dis young chile, who hab gone 'way and leff his pore fader and mudder +suffrin' all ober wid grief, _he_ hab gone to de Lord, _shore_. _He_ +neber did no wrong; he allers 'bey'd his massa, and he neber said no +hard word, nor found no fault, not eben w'en de cruel, bad oberseer put +de load so heaby on him dat it kill him. Yes, my bredderin and sisters, +_he_ hab gone to de Lord; gone whar dey don't work in de swamps; whar de +little chil'ren don't tote de big shingles fru de water up to dar knees. +No swamps am dar; no shingles am cut dar; dey doan't need 'em, 'case dar +hous'n haint builded wid hands, for dey'm all built by de Lord, and +gib'n to de good niggers, ready-made, and for nuffin'. De Lord don't +say, like as our massa do, 'Pomp, dar's de logs and de shingles,' (dey'm +allers pore shingles, de kine dat woant sell; but he say, '_dey'm_ good +'nuff for niggers, ef de roof do leak.) De Lord doan't say: 'Now, Pomp, +you go to work and build you' own house; but mine dat you does you task +all de time, jess de same!' But de Lord--de bressed Lord--He say, w'en +we goes up dar, 'Dar, Pomp, dar's de house dat I'se been a buildin' for +you eber sence 'de foundation ob de worle.' It'm done now, and you kin +cum in; your room am jess ready, and ole Sal and de chil'ren dat I tuk +'way from you eber so long ago, and dat you mourned ober and cried ober +as ef you'd neber see dem agin, _dar dey am, all on 'em, a waiting for +you_. Dey'm been fixin' up de house 'spressly for you all dese long +years, and dey'be got it all nice and comfible now.' Yas, my frens, +glory be to Him, dat's what our Heabenly massa say, and who ob you +wouldn't hab sich a massa as dat? a massa dat don't set you no hard +tasks, and dat gibs you 'nuff to eat, and time to rest and to sing and +to play. A massa dat doan't keep no Yankee oberseer to foller you 'bout +wid de big free-lashed whip; but dat leads you hisseff round to de green +pastures and de still waters; and w'en you'm a-faint and a-tired, and +can't go no furder, dat takes you up in his arms, and carries you in his +bosom. What pore darky am dar dat wudn't hab sich a massa? What one ob +us, eben ef we had to work so hard as we does now, wudn't tink hisseff +de happiest nigger in de hull worle, ef he could hab sich hous'n to lib +in as dem? dem hous'n 'not made wid hands, eternal in de heabens!' + +'But glory, glory to de Lord! my chil'ren, wese all got dat massa, ef we +only knowd it, and he'm buildin' dem housn up dar, now, for ebery one ob +us dat am tryin' to be good and to lub one anoder. _For ebery one ob +us_, I say, and we kin all git de fine hous'n ef we try. + +'Recolember, too, my brudders, dat our great Massa am rich, bery rich, +and He kin do all he promise. _He_ won't say, w'en wese worked ober time +to git some little ting to comfort de sick chile, 'I knows, Pomp, you'se +done de work, and I did 'gree to gib you de pay; but de fact am, Pomp, +de frost hab come so sudden dis yar, dat I'se loss de hull ob de sebenfh +dippin', and I'se pore, so pore, de chile must go widout dis time.' No, +no, brudders, de bressed Lord He neber talk so. He neber break, 'case de +sebenfh dip am shet off, or 'case de price of turpentime gwo down at de +Norf. He neber sell his niggers down Souf, 'case he lose his money on de +hoss-race. No, my chil'ren, our HEABENLY Massa am rich, RICH, I say. He +own all dis worle, and all de odor worles dat am shinin' up dar in de +sky. He own dem all; but he tink more ob one ob you, more ob one ob +you--pore, ignorant brack folks dat you am--dan ob all dem great worles! +Who wouldn't belong, to sich a Massa as dat? Who wouldn't be his +nigger--not his slave--He don't hab no slaves--but his chile; and 'ef +his chile, den his heir, de heir ob God, and de joint heir wid Christ.' +O my chil'ren! tink of dat! de heir ob de Lord ob all de earth and all +de sky! What white man kin be more'n dat? + +'Don't none ob you say you'm too wicked to be His chile; 'ca'se you +an't. He lubs de wicked ones de best, 'ca'se dey need his lub de most. +Yas, my brudders, eben de wickedest, ef dey's only sorry, and turn roun' +and leab off dar bad ways, he lub de bery best ob all, 'ca'se he'm all +lub and pity. + +'Sam, har, my children, war wicked, but don't _we_ pity him; don't _we_ +tink he had a hard time, and don't we tink de bad oberseer, who'm layin' +dar in de house jess ready to gwo and answer for it--don't we tink he +gabe Sam bery great probincation?' + +'Dat's so,' said a dozen of the auditors. + +'Den don't you 'spose dat de blessed Lord know all dat, and dat He pity +Sam too? If we pore sinners feel sorry for him, an't de Lord's heart +bigger'n our'n, and an't he more sorry for him? Don't you tink dat ef He +lub and pity de bery worse whites, dat He lub and pity pore Sam, who +warn't so bery bad, arter all? Don't you think He'll gib Sam a house? +P'r'aps 'twon't be one ob de fine hous'n, but won't it be a comfible +house, dat hain't no cracks, and one dat'll keep out de wind and de +rain? And don't you s'pose, my chil'ren, dat it'll be big 'nuff for +Jule, too--dat pore, repentin' chile, whose heart am clean broke, 'ca'se +she hab broughten dis on Sam--and won't de Lord--de good Lord--de +tender-hearted Lord--won't He touch Sam's heart, and coax him to forgib +Jule, and to take her inter his house up dar? I knows he will, my +chil'ren. I knows--' + +Here the old negro paused abruptly; for there was a quick swaying in the +crowd--a hasty rush--a wild cry--and Sam's wife burst into the open +space around the preacher, and fell at the old man's feet. Throwing her +arms wildly around him, she shrieked out: + +'Say dat agin, Uncle Pomp! for de lub ob de good Lord, oh! say dat +agin!' + +Bending down, the old man raised her gently in his arms, and folding her +there, as he would have folded a child, he said, in a voice thick with +emotion: + +'It am so, Juley. I knows dat Sam will forgib you, and take you wid him +up dar.' + +Fastening her arms frantically around Pompey's neck, the poor woman +burst into a paroxysm of grief, while the old man's tears fell in great +drops on her upturned face, and many a dark cheek near was wet, as with +rain. + +The scene had lasted a few minutes, and I was turning away to hide the +emotion that was fast filling my eyes, and creeping up, with a choking +feeling, to my throat, when the Colonel, from the farther edge of the +group, called out: + +'Take that d----d ---- away--take her away, Pomp!' + +The old negro turned toward his master with a sad, grieved look, but +gave no heed to the words. + +'Take her away, some of you, I say,' again cried the Colonel. 'Pomp, you +mustn't keep these niggers all night in the cold.' + +At the sound of her master's voice the metif woman fell to the ground as +if struck by a Minie-ball. Soon several negroes lifted her up to bear +her away; but she struggled violently, and rent the woods with her wild +cries for 'one more look at Sam.' + +'Look at him, you d----d ----, then go, and don't let me see you again.' + +She threw herself on the face of the dead, and covered the cold lips +with her kisses; then rose, and with a weak, uncertain step, staggered +out into the darkness. + +'The system' that had so seared and hardened that man's heart, must have +been begotten in the lowest hell. + +The old preacher said no more, but four stout negro men stepped forward, +nailed down the lids, and lowered the rough boxes into the ground. +Turning to Madam P----, I saw her face was red with weeping. She rose to +go just as the first earth fell, with a dull, heavy sound, on the rude +coffins; and giving her my arm, I led her from the scene. + +As we walked slowly back to the house, a low wail--half a chant, half a +dirge--rose from the black crowd, and floated off on the still night +air, till it died away amid the far woods, in a strange, wild moan. With +that sad, wild music in our ears, we entered the mansion. + +As we seated ourselves by the bright wood-fire on the library hearth, +obeying a sudden impulse which I could not restrain, I said to Madam +P----: + +'The Colonel's treatment of that poor woman is inexplicable to me. Why +is he so hard with her? It is not in keeping with what I have seen of +his character.' + +'The Colonel is a peculiar man,' replied the lady. 'Noble, generous, and +a true friend, he is also a bitter, implacable enemy. When he once +conceives a dislike, his feelings become even vindictive; and never +having had an ungratified wish, he does not know how to feel for the +sorrows of those beneath him. Sam, though a proud, headstrong, unruly +character, was a great favorite with him; he felt his death much; and as +he attributes it to Jule, he feels terribly bitter toward her. She will +have to be sold to get her out of his way, for he will _never_ forgive +her.' + +It was some time before the Colonel joined us, and when he at last made +his appearance, he seemed in no mood for conversation. The lady soon +retired; but feeling unlike sleep, I took down a book from the shelves, +drew my chair near the fire, and fell to reading. The Colonel, too, was +deep in the newspapers, till, after a while, Jim entered the room: + +'I'se cum to ax ef you've nuffin more to-night, Cunnel?' said the negro. + +'No, nothing, Jim,' replied his master; 'but, stay--hadn't you better +sleep in front of Moye's door?' + +'Dunno, sar; jess as you say.' + +'I think you'd better,' returned the Colonel. + +With a 'Yas, massa,' the darky left the apartment. + +The Colonel shortly rose, and bade me 'good night.' I continued reading +till the clock struck eleven, when I laid the book aside and went to my +room. + +I slept, as I have said before, on the lower floor, and was obliged to +pass by the door of the overseer's apartment as I went to mine. Wrapped +in his blanket, and stretched at full length on the ground, Jim lay +there, fast asleep. I passed on, thinking of the wisdom of placing a +tired negro on guard over an acute and desperate Yankee. + +I rose in the morning with the sun, and had partly donned my clothing, +when I heard a loud uproar in the hall. Opening my door, I saw Jim +pounding vehemently at the Colonel's room, and looking as pale as is +possible with a person of his completion. + +'What the d---l is the matter?' asked his master, who now, partly +dressed, stepped into the hall. + +'Moye hab gone, sar; he'm gone and took Firefly (my host's +five-thousand-dollar thorough-bred) wid him.' + +For a moment the Colonel stood stupified; then, his face turning to a +cold, clayey white, he seized the black by the throat, and hurled him to +the floor. Planting his thick boot on the man's face, he seemed about to +dash out his brains with its ironed heel, when, at that instant, the +octoroon woman rushed, in her night-clothes, from his room, and with +desperate energy pushed him aside, exclaiming: 'What would you do? +remember WHO HE IS!' + +The negro rose, and the Colonel, without a word, passed into his +apartment. What followed will be the subject of another chapter. + + + + +_PICAYUNE BUTLER._ + +'General Butler was a barber,' + So the Pelicans were raving; +Now you've got him in your harbor, + Tell us how you like his shaving? + + + + +_LITERARY NOTICES._ + +LECTURES ON THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE. Delivered at the royal Institution + of Great Britain in April, May, and June, 1861. By MAX MULLER, + Fellow of All Souls College, etc. From the second London edition, + revised. New-York: Charles Scribner, Boston: A.K. Loring. 1862. + +Within the memory of man one could in England or America be 'very well +educated,' as the word went, and yet remain grossly ignorant of the +simplest elements of the history of language. In those days Latin was +held by scholars to be derived from Greek--where the Greek came from +nobody knew or cared, though it was thought, from Hebrew. German was a +jargon, Provencal a '_patois_,' and Sanscrit an obsolete tongue, held in +reverence by Hindoo savages. The vast connections of language with +history were generally ignored. Hebrew was assumed, as a matter of +course, to have been the primeval language, and it was wicked to doubt +it. Then came Sir William Jones, Carey, Wilkins, Forster, Colebrooke, +and the other Anglo-Indian scholars, and the world learned what it ought +to have learned from the Jesuits, that there was in the East a very +ancient language--Sanscrit--'of wonderful structure, more perfect than +Greek, more copious than Latin, more exquisitely refined than either; +bearing to both a strong affinity,' and stranger still, containing a +vast amount of words almost identical with many in all European and many +Oriental tongues. This was an apocalypse of truth to many--but a source +of grief to the orthodox believers that Greek and Latin were either +aboriginal languages, or modifications of Hebrew. Hence the blind, and +in some cases untruthful warfare made on the Sanscrit discoveries, as in +the case of Dugald Stewart. + + 'Dugald Stewart was too wise not to see that the conclusions drawn + from the facts about Sanscrit were inevitable. He therefore _denied + the reality of such a language as Sanscrit altogether_, and wrote + his famous essay to prove that Sanscrit had been put together, + after the model of Greek and Latin, by those arch forgers and + liars, the Brahmins, and that the whole of Sanscrit literature was + an imposture.' + +But it was all of no avail. In 1808 Frederick Schlegel's work, _On the +Language and Wisdom of the Indians_, first 'boldly faced the facts and +conclusions of Sanscrit scholarship, and became,' with all its faults, +the 'foundation for the science of language.' Its great result may be +given in one sentence--it embraced at a glance the languages of India, +Persia, Greece, Italy, and Northern Europe, and riveted them by the +simple name 'Indo-Germanic.' Then in this school, begun by English +industry and shaped by German genius, came Franz Bopp, with his great +comparative grammar of the Indo-Germanic tongues, and the enormous +labors of Lassen, Rosen, Burnouf, and W. von Humboldt--a man to whose +incredible ability of every kind, as to his secret diplomatic influence, +history has never done justice. Grimm, and Rask--the first great Zend +scholar--were among these early explorers, who have been followed by so +many scholars, until some knowledge not merely of Greek and Latin, but +of the relations of _all_ languages, has become essential to a truly +good education. + +Yet after all, Sanscrit, it was soon seen, was not the parent, but '_the +elder sister_' of the Indo-Germanic languages. Behind Greek, Latin, and +Sanscrit, Celtic, Teutonic, and Slavonic tongues, lurks a lost +language--the mysterious Aryan, which, reechoed through the tones of +those six remaining Pleiades, its sisters, speaks of a mighty race +which once, it may be, ruled supreme over a hundred lands, or perchance +sole in the Caucasus. It is strange to see philologists slowly +reconstructing, here and there, fragments of the Aryan, + + 'And speak in a tongue which man speaks no more.' + +Among the many excellent elementary and introductory works on philology +which have appeared of late years, this of Mueller's is on several +accounts the best. It is clearly written, so as to be within the +comprehension of any reader of ordinary intelligence, and we can hardly +conceive that any such person would not find it an extremely +entertaining book. Its author is a _genial_ writer--he writes with a +relish and with real power--he loves knowledge, and wishes others to +share it with him. Language, he holds--though the idea is not new with +him--springs from a very few hundred roots, which are the _phonetic +types_ produced by a power inherent in human nature. Every substance has +its peculiar _ring_ when struck--man, under the action of certain laws, +must develop first onomato-poietic sounds, and finally language. With +this we take leave of this excellent work, trusting that the public will +extend to it the favor which it so amply deserves. + + +THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF WASHINGTON IRVING. By his Nephew, PIERRE M. IRVING. + Vol. I. New-York: G.P. Putnam. Boston: A.K. Loring. 1862. + +This work has a strong, we might say an extraordinary claim to the +interest of the most general reader, in its very first paragraph, since +in it we are told that Washington Irving, on committing to his nephew +Pierre the vast mass of papers requisite to his biography, remarked: +'Somebody will be writing my life when I am gone, and I wish you to do +it. You must promise me that you will.' So with unusual wealth of +material, gathered together for the purpose by the subject of the +biography himself, the work has been begun, by the person whom Irving +judged best fitted for it. + +And a delightful work it is, not a page without something of special +relish, as might be anticipated in the chronicle of a life which is +thickly studded with personal association or correspondence with almost +every intellectual eminence either of Europe or America during the past +half-century. But apart from this, there is a racy Irving-y flavor from +the very beginning, long before the wide world had incorporated Irving +into its fraternity of great men, in the details of life, of home travel +and of homely incident, as set forth in extracts from his letters, which +is irresistibly charming. Full as this portion of the life is, we can +not resist the hope that it will be greatly enlarged in subsequent +editions, and that more copious extracts will be given from those +letters, to the humblest of which the writer invariably communicates an +indefinable fascination. In them, as in his regular 'writings,' we find +the simplest incident narrated always without exaggeration--always as +briefly as possible, yet told so quaintly and humorously withal, that we +wonder at the piquancy which it assumes. It is the trouble with great +men that they are, for lack of authentic anecdotes and details of their +daily life, apt to retire into myths. Such will not be the case with +Irving. The _reality_, the life-likeness of these letters, and of the +_ana_ drawn from them, will keep him, Washington Irving the New-Yorker, +alive and breathing before the world to all time. In these chapters a +vail seems lifted from what was growing obscure in our knowledge of +social life in the youth of our fathers. Our only wish, in reading, is +for more of it. But the life gathers interest as it proceeds. From +America it extends to Europe, and we meet the names of Humboldt, De +Stael, Allston, Vanderlyn, Mrs. Siddons, as among his associates even in +early youth. So through Home Again and in Europe Again there is a +constant succession of personal experience and wide opportunity to know +the world. Did our limits permit, we would gladly cite largely from +these pages, for it is long since the press has given to the world a +book so richly quotable. But the best service we can render the reader +is to refer him to the work itself, which is as well worth reading as +any thing that its illustrious subject ever wrote, since in it we have +most admirably reflected Irving himself; the best loved of our writers, +and the man who did more, so far as intellectual effort is concerned, to +honor our country than any American who ever lived. + +BEAUTIES SELECTED FROM THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS DE QUINCKY. With a Portrait. + Boston: Ticknor and Fields. + +We are not sure that this is not the very first book of other than +pictorial beauties which we ever regarded with patience. Books of +literary 'beauties' are like musical matinees--the first act of one +opera--the grand dying-scene from another--all very pretty, but not on +the whole satisfactory, or entitling one to claim from it alone any real +knowledge of the original whole. Yet this volume we have found +fascinating, have flitted from page to page, backwards and forwards, [it +is a great advantage in a book of 'unconnections' that one may +_conscientiously_ skip about,] and concluded by thanking in our heart +the judicious Eclectic, whoever he may be--who mosaicked these bits into +an enduring picture of De Quincey-ism. For really in it, by virtue of +selection, collection, and recollection, we have given an authentic +cabinet of specimens more directly suggestive of the course and +soul-idioms of the author than many minds would gather from reading +_all_ that he ever wrote. Only one thing seems needed--the great +original commentary or essay on De Quincey, which these Beauties would +most happily illustrate. It seems to rise shadowy before us--a sort of +dead-letter ghost of a glorious book which craves life and has it not. +We trust that our suggestion may induce some admirer of the Opium-Eater +to have prepared an interleaved copy of these Beauties, and perfect the +suggestion. + + +THE CHURCH IN THE ARMY; OR THE FOUR CENTURIONS. By Rev. WM. A. SCOTT, D.D., + of San Francisco. New-York: Carleton, No. 413 Broadway. Boston: + Crosby and Nichols. 1862. + +Since every one is doing their 'little utmost' for the army, Mr. Scott +hath contributed his mite in a work on the four captains of hundreds +mentioned in the Bible--the first whereof was he of Capernaum; the +second, the one commanding at the crucifixion; the third, that of +Cesarea; and the fourth, Julius, the centurion who had Paul in charge +during his voyage to Rome. We are glad to learn, from the close +researches and critical acumen of Rev. Mr. Scott, that there is very +good ground for concluding that all of these centurions were so +impressed by the thrilling scenes which they witnessed, and the society +with which they mingled, as to have eventually been converted and saved, +a consummation which may possibly have escaped the observation of most +readers, who, absorbed in their contemplation of the great _dramatis +personae_, seldom give thought as to what the effect on the minor +characters must have been. It is worth observing that our author is +thoroughly earnest in his exhortations--at times almost naively so. If +he be often rather over-inclined to threaten grim damnation to an +alarming majority, and describe with a relish the eternal horrors which +hang around the second death, in good old-fashioned style, still we must +remember that he sincerely means what he says, and is a Puritan of the +ancient stamp. + + + + +_EDITOR'S TABLE._ + +There is something intensely American in such phrases as 'manifest +destiny,' 'mission,' and 'call,' and we may add, something very vigorous +may be found in the character of him who uses them. They are expressions +which admit no alternative, no second possibility. The man of a +'mission,' or of a 'manifest destiny,' may be a fanatic, but he will be +no flincher; he will strive to the bitter end, and fall dead in the +traces; _but he will succeed_. + +We are glad to learn that there is growing up in the army, and of course +from it in all the homes of the whole country, a fixed impression that +the South is inevitably destined to be 'Northed' or 'free-labored,' as +the result of this war. The intelligent farmer in the ranks, who has +learned his superiority to 'Secesh,' as a soldier, and who _knows_ +himself to be superior to any Southern in all matters of information and +practical creative _power_, looks with scorn at the worn-out fields, +wasteful agriculture, and general shiftlessness of the natives, and +says, with a contemptuous laugh: 'We will get better crops out of the +land, and manage it in another fashion, when _we_ settle down here.' Not +less scornfully does the mechanic look down on the clumsy, labor-wasting +contrivances of the negro or negro-stupified white man, and agree with +his mate that 'these people will never be of much account until we take +them in hand.' + +Master-mechanic, master-farmer, _you are right_. These people _are_ your +inferiors; with all their boasts and brags of 'culture,' you could teach +them, by your shrewder intelligence, at a glance, the short cut to +almost any thing at which their intellects might be employed; and you +indulge in a very natural feeling, when, as conquerors, in glancing over +their Canaan, you involuntarily plan what you will do some day, _if_ a +farm should by chance be your share of the bounty-money, when the war is +over. For it is absurd to suppose that such a country will continue +forever a prey to the wasting and exhaustive disease of the +plantation-system, or that the black will always, as at present, +inefficiently and awkwardly fulfill those mechanic labors which a keen +white workman can better manage. Wherever the hand of the Northman +touches, in these times, it shows a superior touch, whether in +improvising a six-action cotton-gin, in repairing locomotives, or in +sarcastically seizing a 'Secesh' newspaper and reediting it with a storm +of fun and piquancy such as its doleful columns never witnessed of old. +In this and in a thousand ways, the Northern soldier realizes that he is +in a land of inferiors, and a very rich land at that. At this point, his +speculations on manifest destiny may very appropriately begin. There is +no harm in suffering this idea to take firm hold. Like ultimate +emancipation, it may be assumed as a fact, all to be determined in due +time, according to the progress of events, as wisely laid down by +President Lincoln, without hurry, without feverish haste, simply guided +by the firm determination that eventually it must be. + +We can not insist too strongly on this great truth, that when a nation +makes up its mind that a certain event _must_ take place, and acts +calmly in the spirit of perfect persuasion, very little is really needed +to hasten the wished-for consummation. Events suddenly spring up to aid, +and in due time all is accomplished. Those who strive to hurry it retard +it, those who work to drag it back hasten it. Never yet on earth was a +real conviction crushed or prematurely realized. So it is, so it will be +with this 'Northing' of the South. Let the country simply familiarize +itself with the idea, and the idea will advance as rapidly as need be. +In it lies the only solution of the great problem of reconciling the +South and the North; the sooner we make up our minds to the fact, the +better; and, on the other hand, the more deliberately and calmly we +proceed to the work, the more certain will its accomplishment be. Events +are now working to aid us with tremendous power and rapidity--faith, a +judicious guiding of the current as it runs, is all that is at present +required to insure a happy fulfillment. + + * * * * * + +The degree to which a vindictive and malignant opposition to every thing +for the sake of 'the party' can be carried, has been well illustrated in +the amount and variety of slander which has been heaped by the +Southern-rights, sympathizing Democratic press on the efforts of those +noble-hearted women who have endeavored to do something to alleviate the +condition of the thousands of contrabands, who are many without clothes, +employment, or the slightest idea of what they are to do. It would be +hard to imagine any thing more harmless or more perfectly free from any +thing like sinister or selfish motives than have been the conduct and +motives of the noble women who have assumed this mission. Florence +Nightingale undertook nothing nobler; and the world will some day +recognize the deserts of those who strove against every obstacle to +relieve the sufferings and enlighten the ignorance of the blacks--among +whom were thousands of women and little children. Such being the literal +truth, what does the reader think of such a paragraph as the following, +which we find going the rounds of the Boston Courier and other journals +of the same political faith? + + '_On dit_, that some of the schoolmarms who went to South-Carolina + several weeks ago, are not so intent upon 'teaching the young ideas + how to shoot,' as upon flirting with the officers, in a manner not + entirely consistent with morality. General Hunter is going to send + some of the misbehaving misses home.' + +If there is a loathsome, cowardly, infamous phrase, it is that of _on +dit_, 'they say,' 'it is said,' when used to assail the virtue of +women--above all, of women engaged in such a cause as that in question. +We believe in our heart, this whole story to be a slander of the meanest +description possible--a piece of as dirty innuendo as ever disgraced a +Democratic paper. The spirit of the viper is apparent in every line of +it. Yet it is in perfect keeping with the storm of abuse and falsehood +which has been heaped on these 'contraband' missionaries, teachers, and +nurses, since they went their way. They have been accused of pilfering, +of lying, of doing nothing, of corrupting the blacks, of going out only +to speculate, and, as might have been expected, we have at last the +unfailing resort of the lying coward--a dirty hint as to breaking the +seventh commandment--all according to the devilish old Jesuit precept of, +'_Calumniare fortiter aliquis koerebit_'--'Slander boldly, something will +be sure to stick.' And to such a depth of degradation--to the hinting +away the characters of young ladies because they try to teach the poor +contrabands--can _men_ descend 'for the sake of the _party'!_ + + * * * * * + +Of late years, those soundest of philanthropists, the men of +common-sense who labor unweariedly to facilitate exchanges between +civilized nations, have endeavored to promote in every possible manner +the adoption of the same system of currency, weights and measures among +civilized nations. It has been accepted as a rule beyond all debate, +that if such mediums of business could be adopted--nay, if a common +language even were in use, industry would receive an incalculable +impulse, and the production of capital be enormously increased. + +Not so, however, thinks John M. Vernon, of New-Orleans, who, stimulated +by the purest secession sentiments, and urged by the most legitimate +secession and 'State rights' logic, has developed a new principle of +exclusiveness by devising a new system of decimal currency, which he +thus recommends to the rebel Congress: + + 'We are a separate and distinct people, influenced by different + interests and sentiments from the vandals who would subjugate us. + Our manners and customs are different; our tastes and talents are + different; our geographical position is different; and in + conformity with natural laws, nature and instinct, our + currency,--weights and measures, should be different. + + 'The basis of integral limit of value proposed for our currency, is + the star, which is to be divided into one hundred equal parts, each + part to be called a centime, namely: 10 centimes--1 tropic; + 10 tropics--1 star; 10 stars--1 sol. + + 'These denominations for our currency have been selected for three + reasons: first, they are appropriate to ourselves as a people; + second, they are emblems of cheerfulness, honor, honesty of + purpose, solidity, and stability; and third, the words used are + simple, easily remembered, and are common to several languages. I + will, in addition, observe that similar characteristics distinguish + the proposed tables of weights and measures.' + +'Stars'--'centimes'--'tropics,' and 'sols.' Why these words should be +more significant of cheerfulness, honor, honesty, and solidity, than +dollars and dimes, cents and mills, is not, as yet, apparent. As set +forth in this recommendation, it would really appear that the root of +all evil would have its evil properties extracted by giving the radical +a different name. To be sure, the wages of sin thus far in the world's +history, have generally been found equivalent to death, whether they are +termed guineas, francs, thalers, cobangs, pesos, sequins, ducats, or +dollars. But in Dixie--happy Dixie!--they only need another name, and +lo! a miracle is to be wrought at once. + +There is something in this whole proposition which accurately embodies +the whole Southern policy. While the rest of the world is working to +assimilate into civilization, they are laboring to get away and +apart--to be different from everybody else--to remain provincial and +'peculiar.' It is the working of the same spirit which inspires the +desire to substitute 'State rights' or individual will, or, in plain +terms, lawlessness and barbarism for enlightenment and common rights. It +is a craving for darkness instead of light, for antiquated feudal +falsehood instead of republican truth; and it will meet with the destiny +which awaits every struggle against the great and holy cause of +humanity. + + + + +_KYNG COTEN._ + +A 'DARK' CONCEIT. + +(_Being an ensample of a longe poeme._) + + O muse! that did me somedeal favour erst, + Whereas I piped my silly oaten reede, + And songs in homely guise to mine reherst, + Well pleased with maiden's smilings for my meed; + Sweet muse, do give my Pegasus good speede, + And send to him of thy high, potent might, + Whiles mortalls I all of my theme do rede, + Thatte is the story of a doughty knight, + Who eftsoons wageth war, Kyng COTEN is he hight. + + Kyng Coten cometh of a goodly race, + Though black it was, as records sothly tell; + But thatte is nought, which only is the face, + And ne the hart, where alle goode beings dwell; + For witness him the puissant Hannibal, + Who was in veray sooth a Black-a-Moor; + And Cleopatra, Egypt's darksome belle, + And others, great on earth, a hundred score; + Howbeit, ilke kyng was white, which doth amaze me sore. + + Kyng Coten cometh of a goodly race, + As born of fathers clean as many as + The sands thatte doe the mighty sea-shore grace, + But black, as sayde, as dark is Erebus. + His rule the Southron Federation was, + Thatte was a part of great Columbia, + Which was as fayre a clyme as man mote pass; + And situate where Vesper holds his swaye, + But habited wilome by men of salvage fray. + + Farre in the North he had an enimie, + Who certes was the knight's true soveraine, + Who liked not his wicked slaverie, + Which 'cross God's will was counter-wisely laine, + Whiles he himself, it seemeth now right playne, + Did seek to have a kyngdom of his kynde, + Where he, as tyrant-like, mote lonly raine; + So to a treacherie he fetched his mynde, + Which soon was rent in four, and sent upon each wynde. + + His enimie thatte liveth in the North, + Who, after all, was not his enimie, + Ydeemed he was a gentilman of worth, + Too proud to make so vile a villianie, + And, therefore, did ne tent his railerie, + But went his ways, as was his wont wilome; + Goliah, he turned out eftsoons, ah! me, + Who leaned upon his speare when David come, + And laughed to scorn the sillie boy his threat'ning doom. + + But when his stronghold in ye Southron land, + Of formidable front, Forte Sumter hight, + Did fall into Kyng Coten's rebell hand, + Who coward-wise did challenge to the fight, + Some several men again his host of might; + Then Samuel, for so was he yclipt, + Begun in batail's gear himself to dight, + As being fooled by him with whom he sippt, + And hied him out, loud crying, 'Treason must be nippt!' + + O ye who doe the crusades' musters tell, + In wise that maketh myndes incredulous, + And paynte how like Dan Neptune's sweeping swell + The North bore down on the perfidious! + Ne nigh so potent thatte as was with us; + Where men, like locusts, darkened all the land, + As marched they toward the place that's treacherous, + And shippes, that eke did follow the command, + Like forests, motion-got, doe walk along the strand. + + Fierce battails ther were fought upon the ground, + Thatte rob'd the heavens alle in ayer dunne; + And shoke the world as doth the thunder's sound, + Till, soth to say, it well-nigh was undone: + But of them alle, ther is an one + That frayle pen dispairs for to descrive, + Which mortalls call the Battail of Bull Run; + But why I mote ne tell, as I'm alive, + Unless it haply he ther _running_ did most thrive. + +LAWRENCE MINOT. + + + + + +'Our Orientalist' appears this month with + +_EGYPT IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS._ + +BY A FAST TRAVELER. + +'You ought to go to the East,' said Mr. Swift, with a wave of his hand; +'I've been there, and seen it under peculiar circumstances.' + +'Explain, O howaga! Give us the facts. + +'Immediately. Just place the punch-pitcher where I can reach it easily. +That's right! Light another Cabanas. So; now for it. In 1858, month of +December, I was settled in comfortable quarters in the Santa Lucia, +Naples, and fully expected to winter there at my ease, when, to my +disgust, I received letters from England, briefly ordering me by first +steamer to Alexandria, thence per railroad to Cairo, there to see the +head of a certain banking-house; transact my business, and return to +Naples with all possible dispatch. No sooner said than done; there was +one of the Messagerie steamers up for Malta next day; got my passport +visaed, secured berth, all right. Next night I was steaming it past +Stromboli, next morning in Messina; then Malta, where I found steamer up +for Alexandria that night; in four days was off that port, at six +o'clock in the morning, and at half-past eight o'clock was in the cars, +landing in Cairo at four o'clock in the afternoon. Posted from the +railroad-station to the banker's, saw my man, arranged my business, was +to receive instructions at seven o'clock the next morning, and at eight +o'clock take the return train to Alexandria, where a steamer was to sail +next day, that would carry me back to Naples, _presto_! as the jugglers +say. + +'There, breathe a little, and take another glass of punch, while I +recall my day in the East. + +'Through at the banker's, he recommended me to the Hotel ----, where I +would find a good table, clean rooms, and none of my English +compatriots. I love my native land and my countrymen _in it_, but as for +them out of it, and as Bohemians--ugh! I am too much of a wolf myself to +love wolves. Arrived at the hotel, with my head swimming with +palm-trees, railroad, turbans, tarbooshes, veiled women, camels, pipes, +dust, donkeys, oceans of blue calico, groaning water-wheels, the Nile, +far-off view of the Pyramids, etc., I at once asked the headwaiter for a +room, water, towels; he passed me into the hands of a very tall Berber +answering to the name of Yusef, who was dressed in flowing garments and +tarboosh, and who was one of the gentlest beings entitled to wear +breeches I have ever seen; he had feet that in my recollection seem a +yard long, and how he managed to move so noiselessly, unless both pedals +were soft-shod, worries me to the present time. Well, at six o'clock the +gong sounded for dinner, and out I went over marble floors to the dining +hall, where I found only three other guests, who saluted me courteously +when I entered, and at a signal from Yusef, a compromise between a bow +and a salaam, we seated ourselves at table. Of the three guests, one was +particularly a marked man, apart from his costume, that of a cavalry +officer in the Pacha's service; there was something grand in his face, +large blue eyes, full of humor and _bonhommie_, a prominent nose, a +broad forehead, burned brown with the sun, his head covered with the +omnipresent tarboosh, a mustache like Cartouche's; such was my +_vis-a-vis_ at the hotel-table. + +'In conversation with this officer, it turned up that one of my most +intimate friends was his cousin, and so we had a bottle of old +East-India pale sherry over that; then we had another to finally cement +our acquaintance; I said finally--I should say, finally for dinner. + +'I have seen the interiors of more than three hundred hotels in Europe, +Africa, and America; but I have yet to see one that appeared so +outrageously romantic as that of the Hotel ----, at Cairo, after that +second bottle of sherry! The divans on which we reposed, the curious +interlacing of the figures on the ceiling, the raised marble floor at +the end of the room overlooking the street, the arabesques on the doors, +and finally the never-ending masquerade-ball going on in the street +under the divans where we sat and smoked. + +'I can't tell you how it happened, but after very small cups of very +black coffee and a pousse cafe, in the officer's room, of genuine +kirschwasser and good curacoa, I was mounted on a bay horse; there was a +dapple-gray alongside of me; and running ahead of us, to clear the way, +the officer's _sais_ afoot, ready to hold our horses when we halted. We +were quickly mounted and off like the wind, past turbans, flowing +bournouses, tarbooshes, past grand old mosques, petty cafes, where the +faithful were squatting on bamboo-seats, smoking pipes or drinking +coffee-grounds, while listening to a storyteller, possibly relating some +story in the _Arabian Nights_; then we were through the bazaars, all +closed now and silent; then up in the citadel, and through the mosque of +Yusef; then down and scouring over the flying sand among the grand old +tombs of the Mamelukes and of the caliphs; then off at break-neck speed +toward the Mokatamma mountains, from a rise on the lower spur of one of +which we saw, in the shadow of the coming night, the Pyramids and the +slow-flowing Nile. + +'Again we were in Cairo, and now threading narrow street after street, +the fall of our horses' hoofs hardly heard on the unpaved ways, as we +were passing under overhanging balconies covered with lace-work +lattices. As it grew darker, our _sais_ preceded us with lighted +lantern, shouting to pedestrians, blind and halt, to clear the road for +the coming effendis. + +'_Halte la!_ + +'My foaming bay was reined in with a strong hand, I leaped from the +saddle, and found the _sais_ at hand to hold our horses, while we saw +the seventh heaven of the Koran, and by no means _al Hotama_. + +'With a foresight indicating an old campaigner, the officer produced a +couple of bottles of sherry from the capacious folds of the _sais_' +mantle, and unlocking the door of the house in front of which we stood, +invited me to enter. Two or three turns, a court-yard full of +rose-bushes, and an enormous palm-tree, a fountain shooting up its +sparkling waters in the moonlight, a clapping of hands, chibouks, sherry +cooled in the fountain. + +'Then, in the moonlight, the gleam of white flowing garments, the +nervous thrill breathed in from perfumes filling the evening air; the +great swimming eyes; the kiss; the ah!--other bottles of sherry. The +fingans of coffee, the pipe of Latakiah tobacco, the blowing a cloud +into dreamland, while Fatima or Zoe insists on taking a puff with you. + +'But as she said, '_Hathih al-kissah moaththirah_, which, in the +vernacular, is. 'This history is affecting,' so let us pass it by. We +finished those two bottles of sherry, and if Mohammed, in his majesty, +refuses admittance to two Peris into paradise, because they drank sherry +that night, let the sins be on our shoulders, WE are to blame. + + * * * * * + +'Next morning, at seven o'clock, I was at the banker's, and received his +orders, and at six o'clock that evening was steaming out of Alexandria, +bound to Naples _via_ Malta. A little over twenty-four hours, and I had +SEEN THE ORIENT THROUGH SHERRY--pale, golden, and serenely beautiful! + +'Pass the punch.' + + * * * * * + +Very welcome is our pleasant contributor--he who of late discoursed on +'honeyed thefts' and rural religious discipline--and now, in the +present letter, he gives us his views on meals, feeds, banquets, +symposia, or by whatever name the reader may choose to designate +assemblies for the purpose of eating. + + Please make room at this table, right here, for me. Surely at a + table of such dimensions, there should be plenty of room. Many a + table-scene do I now recall, in days gone by, 'all of which I saw, + and part of which I was,' but nothing like this. Tables of all + sorts and sizes, but never a CONTINENTAL table before. I suppose + the nearest approach to it was _the_ picnic dinner the wee + youngsters used to eat off the _ground_! A CONTINENTAL table! The + most hospitable idea imaginable. Give place! Do you demand my + credentials, my card, my ticket? Here we have it all; a little note + from mine host, Mr. LELAND, inviting the bearer to this monthly + repast, and requesting, very properly--it was the way we always + did, when we used to get up picnics--that the receiver of the note + bring some sort of refreshments along. Thank you. This seat is very + comfortable. What more appropriate, at such a time, than the + discussion of _the Meal?_ + + I protest I am no glutton; in fact, I despise the man whose + meal-times are the epochs of his life; yet I frankly confess to + emotions of a very positive character, in contemplating the + associations of the table, and I admit farther, that I take + pleasure in the reality as well as in the imagination. I like to be + 'one of the company,' whether in palace or in farm-house. I always + brighten up when I see the dining-room door thrown open to an angle + hospitably obtuse, and am pleased alike with the politely-worded + request, 'Will the ladies and gentlemen please walk out and partake + of some refreshments?' or the blunt, kindly voice of mine host, + 'Come, friends; dinner's ready.' Still I assert my freedom from any + slavish fondness for the creature comforts. It is not the bill of + fare that so pleases me. In fact, some of the best meals of which I + have ever partaken, were those the materials of which I could not + have remembered twenty minutes after. Exquisite palatal pleasures, + then, are not a _sine qua non_ in the enjoyment of table comforts. + No, indeed. There is a condiment which is calculated to impart a + high relish to the humblest fare; but without this charmed + seasoning, every banquet is a failure. Solomon was a man of nice + observation, even in so humble a matter as a meal. Let him reveal + the secret in his own words: 'Better is a dinner of herbs, where + LOVE is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.' + + By a merciful arrangement of Providence, man is so constituted that + he may think, talk, and eat, all at one and the same time. Hence, + the table is often the scene of animated and very interesting + conversations, provided _love is there_. Many of our Saviour's most + interesting and instructive discourses were delivered while + 'sitting at meat,' and the 'table-talk' of some authors is + decidedly the most meritorious of all their performances. + + But the truth is, there are not many meals where love _is_ entirely + absent. Cheerfulness is naturally connected with eating; eating + begets it probably. It is difficult for a man to eat at all, if he + is in a bad humor. Quite impossible, if he is in a rage; especially + if he is obliged to sit down to his dinner in company with the man + he hates. There are so many little kind offices that guests must + perform for each other at table, so many delicate compliments may + be paid to those we love or revere, by polite attentions to them, + and so necessary, indeed, have these become to our notion of a + satisfactory repast, that to banish such amiable usages from our + tables would be not only to degrade us to the level of the brute, + but would deprive us of a most humanising and refining means of + enjoyment. How beautiful and necessary, then, is the arrangement by + which, morning, noon, and night, (I pity folks who only eat twice a + day,) the members of the household are brought together in such + kindly intercourse around the family board! How seldom would they + assemble thus pleasantly, were it not for the meal! + + The little wounds and scratches which the sharp edges of our + characters will inflict upon each other, when brought together in + the necessary contact of daily intercourse, would otherwise be + suffered to fret and vex us sorely; but before they have had time + to fester and inflame, meal-time comes, and brings with it the + magic, mollifying oil. + + It is meet, then, (we spell the word with two e's, mind you,) that, + on any occasion of public rejoicing, the banquet should be an + indispensable accompaniment. The accomplishment of some important + public enterprise, the celebration of the birth-days of great and + good men, a nation's holidays, the reuenions of friends engaged in a + common cause, are occasions in which the dinner, very properly, + constitutes one of the leading features. + + And what can be more exhilarating than the innocent mirthfulness, + the unaffected kindnesses, the witty speeches, the sprightly + conversations which are universally incident to such occasions? No + wonder Lycurgus decreed that the Spartans should eat in public. + Ostensibly, it was for the sake of the grave conversations of the + elders at such times, but really, I imagine, it was to keep the + citizens (who had been at swords' points with each other) in a good + humor, by bringing them around a common table. + + He knew that if any thing would soften their mutual asperities and + cultivate mutual good feeling, such a measure would. Would it not + be well for modern times to take a hint here? Had I been appointed + architect of the Capitol, I think I could have saved the feuds + which long ago sprang up, and which have resulted in, and will yet + bring about, alas! we know not how much bloodshed. I would have + constructed a couple of immense dining-rooms, with all the + necessary appurtenances. Just to think how different would have + been the aspect of things in the chamber where Sumner once lay + bleeding, and in the hall where a gentleman, in a melee, '_stubbed + his toe and fell_!' There would have been Mr. Breckinridge, in a + canopied seat at the head of one of the tables, rapping the Senate + to order with his knife-handle, and Mr. Orr at the head of the + other, uncovering an immense tureen, with the remark that '_the + House will now proceed to business_!' How strange it would be to + hear any angry debate at such a time! Imagine a Congressman helping + himself to a batter-cake and at the same time calling his + brother-member a liar! or throwing down his napkin, by way of + challenge to '_the gentleman on the opposite side of the table_!' + Think of Keitt politely handing Grow the cream-pitcher, and + attempting to knock him down before the meal was dispatched. Had + the discussion of the Lecompton Constitution been carried on + simultaneously with that of a couple of dozen roast turkeys, I + sometimes think we might have avoided this war. + + Not only in public but in private rejoicings, is the table the + scene of chief enjoyment. When was it that the fatted calf was + killed? On what occasion was the water turned into wine? What + better way to rejoice over the return of a long-absent one than to + meet him around the hospitable table? Ye gods! let your mouths + water! There's a feast ahead for our brave soldiers, when they come + home from this war, that will make your tables look beggarly. I + refer to that auspicious moment when the patriot now baring his + bosom to the bloody brunt of war, shall sit down once more to the + table, in his own dear home, however humble, and partake of the + cheerful meal in peace, with his wife and his little ones about + him. Oh! for the luxury of that first meal! I almost feel as if I + could endure the hardships of the fierce campaign that precedes it. + + There is no memory so pleasant to me as that of the annual reuenion + of my aunts and uncles, with their respective troops of cousins, at + the house of my dear grandmother of blessed memory. It was pleasant + to watch the conveyances one by one coming in, laden with friends + who had traveled many a weary mile to be present on the great + occasion. It was pleasant to witness the mutual recognitions of + brothers and sisters with their respective wives and husbands; to + observe the transports of the little fellows, in their hearty + greetings, after a twelve months' separation, and to hear their + expressions of mingled surprise and delight on being introduced to + the strange _little_ cousins, whose presence increased the number + considerably above the preceding census. But the culminating point + was yet to come. That was attained when all the brothers and + sisters had gathered around the great long table, just as they did + when they were children, with their dear mother at the head, + surveying the scene in quiet enjoyment, and one of the 'older boys' + at the foot, to ask a blessing. There were the waffle-cakes, baked + in the irons which had furnished every cake for that table for the + last quarter of a century. There was the roast-turkey, which + grandma had been putting through a generous system of dietetics for + weeks, preparatory to this occasion. It rested on the same old + turkey-plate, with its two great birds sitting on a rose-bush, and + by its side was the great old carving-knife, which had from time + immemorial been the instrument of dissection on such occasions. And + there was maple-molasses from Uncle D----'s 'sugar-camp,' and + cheese from Aunt N----'s press, and honey from Uncle T----'s hives, + and oranges which Aunt I----, who lived in the city, had provided, + and all contained in the old-fashioned plates and dishes of a + preceding generation. + + I discover I am treating my subject in a very desultory manner. + Perhaps I should have stated that under the head of the complete + genus, _meal_, there are three distinct species, public, social, + and private. That the grand banquet, celebrating some great man's + birth, or the success of some noble public enterprise, with its + assemblages of the great and the good from every part of the + country; the Fourth of July festival, in honor of our nation's + independence, with its speeches, its drums, its toasts, and its + cannon; the '_table d'hote_,' or in plain English, the hotel + dinner-table, so remarkable for the multitude of its dishes and the + meagreness of their contents; the harvest-feast, the exact opposite + of the last-named, even to the mellow thirds and fifths that come + floating over the valleys from the old-fashioned dinner-horn, + calling in the tired laborers; its musical invitation in such + striking contrast with the unimagined horrors of the gong that + bellows its expectant victims to their meals; the family repast, + where one so often feels gratified with the delicate compliment of + a mother, a sister, or a wife, in placing some favorite dish or + flower near his plate; the annual gatherings of jolly alumni; the + delightful concourse of relatives and friends; the gleesome picnic + lunch, with its grassy carpet and log seats; the luxurious + oyster-supper, with its temptations 'to carry the thing too far;' + the festival at the donation-party, which, in common parlance, + would be called a dish of 'all sorts;' the self-boarding student's + desolate corn-cake, baked in a pan of multifarious use: all these + are so many modifications under their respective species. + + Let me remark, in conclusion, that there are some meals from which + I pray to be delivered. There is the noisy dinner of the + country-town _tavern_ or railroad station, where each individual + seems particularly anxious that number _one_ should be provided + for, and where, in truth, he is obliged often to make pretty + vigorous efforts, if he succeeds. Again, have you ever observed how + gloomy is the look of those who for the first time gather around + the table, after the departure of a friend? The breakfast was + earlier than usual, and the dishes were suffered to stand and the + beds to go unmade, and housemaid, chamber-maid, cook, and + seamstress, all engaged in the _melee_ of packing up, and of course + came in for their share of 'good-bys.' After the guests were fairly + off, 'things took a stand-still' for a while. All hands sat down + and rested, and looked very blank, and didn't know just where to + begin. Slowly, confusion began to relax _his_ hold, and order, by + degrees, resumed _her_ sway; (for the life of me, I can't bring + myself to determine the genders in any other way.) But when, at + last, the dinner-hour came, how strangely silent were the eaters! + Ah! if the departed one have gone to his long home, how _solemn_ is + this first meeting of the family, after their return to their + lonely home! It may be the sire whose place at the head of the + table is now vacant, and whose silvery voice we no longer hear + humbly invoking the divine blessing; or perhaps the mother, and how + studiously we keep our eye away from the seat where her generous + hand was wont to pour our tea. Perhaps the little one, the idol of + the household, whose chirruping voice was wont to set us all + laughing with droll remarks, expressed in baby dialect. How we miss + the little high-chair that was always drawn up 'close by papa!' How + our eyes will swim and our hearts swell up and choke us when we see + it pushed back into the corner, now silent and vacant! Hast thou + not wept thus? Be grateful. Thou hast been spared one of life's + keenest pangs. + +Thou speakest well. Dr. Doran has pleased us with his _Table Traits_, +but a great book yet remains to be written on the social power of meals. +The immortals were never so lordly as when assembled at the celestial +table, where inextinguishable laughter went the rounds with the nectar. +The heroes of Valhalla were most glorious over the ever-growing +roast-boar and never-failing mead. Heine suggests a millennial banquet +of all nations, where the French are to have the place of honor, for +their improvements in freedom and in cookery, and Master Rabelais could +imagine nothing more genial than when in the _Moyen de Parvenir_, he +placed all the gay, gallant, wise, brave, genial, joyous dames and +demoiselles, knights, and scholars of all ages at one eternal supper. +Ah! yes; it matters but little what is 'gatherounded,' as a quaint +Americanism hath it, so that the wit, and smiles, and good-fellowship be +there. + + * * * * * + +It is stated in the newspapers--we know not on what authority--that +Charles A. Dana, late of the New-York _Tribune_, will probably receive +an important appointment in the army. A man of iron will, of indomitable +energy, undoubted courage, and of an inexhaustible genius, which +displays itself by mastering every subject as by intuition, Dana is one +whom, of all others, we would wish to see actively employed in the war. +We have described him in by-gone days as one who was 'an editor by +destiny and a soldier by nature,' and sincerely trust that his career +will yet happily confer upon him military honors. No man in America--we +speak advisedly--has labored more assiduously, or with more sterling +honest conviction in politics, than Charles A. Dana. The influence which +he has exerted has been immense, and it is fit that it be recognized. +Men who, like him, combine stern integrity with vigorous practical +talent, have a claim to lead. + + * * * * * + +Among the most striking songs which the war has brought forth, we must +class that grim Puritanical lyric, 'The Kansas John Brown,' which +appeared originally in the Kansas _Herald_, and which is, as we are +informed, extensively sung in the army. The words are as follows: + +THE KANSAS JOHN BROWN SONG. + + Old John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, + While the bondmen all are weeping whom he ventured for to save; + But though he lost his life a-fighting for the slave, + His soul is marching on. + Glory, glory, Hallelujah! + Glory, glory, Hallelujah! + Glory, glory, Hallelujah! + His soul is marching on. + + John Brown was a hero undaunted, true and brave, + And Kansas knew his valor when he fought her rights to save; + And now, though the grass grows green above his grave, + His soul is marching on. + + He captured Harper's Ferry with his nineteen men so few, + And frightened Old Virginia till she trembled through and through; + They hung him for a traitor--themselves a traitor crew, + But his soul is marching on. + + John Brown was John the Baptist of the Christ we are to see; + CHRIST, who of the bondmen shall the Liberator be; + And soon through all the South the slaves shall all be free, + For his soul goes marching on. + + John Brown he was a soldier--a soldier of the LORD; + John Brown he was a martyr--a martyr to the WORD; + And he made the gallows holy when he perished by the cord, + For his soul goes marching on. + + The battle that John Brown begun, he looks from heaven to view, + On the army of the Union with its flag, red, white and blue; + _And the angels shall sing hymns o'er the deeds we mean to do_, + _As we go marching on!_ + + Ye soldiers of JESUS, then strike it while you may, + The death-blow of Oppression in a better time and way, + For the dawn of Old John Brown is a-brightening into day, + And his soul is marching on. + Glory, glory, Hallelujah! + Glory, glory, Hallelujah! + Glory, glory, Hallelujah! + His soul is marching on. + +There! if the soldiers of Cromwell and of Ireton had any lyric to beat +_that_, we should like to see it. Among its rough and rude rhymes gleams +out a fierce fire which we supposed was long since extinct. Verily, old +Father Puritan is _not_ dead yet, neither does he sleep; and to judge from +what we have heard of the effects of this song among the soldiers, we +should say that grim Old John Brown himself, far from perishing, is even +now terribly alive. There is something fearful in the inspiration which +can inspire songs like this. + + * * * * * + +'GALLI VAN T' is welcome, and will be 'welcomer' when he again visits us +in another letter like _this_: + + DEAR CONTINENTAL: I have a friend who is not an artful man, though + he be full of art; and yesterday evening he told me the following: + + 'In my early days, when I took views of burly farmers and their + bouncing daughters in oil, and painted portraits of their favorite + horses for a very moderate _honorarium_, and in short, was the + artist of a small country town--why, then, to tell the truth, I was + held to be one of the greatest painters in existence. Since + studying abroad, and settling down in New-York--' + + 'And getting your name up among the first,' I added. + + 'Never mind that--I'm not 'the greatest painter that ever lived' + here. But in Spodunk, I was. Folks 'admired to see me.' I was a man + that 'had got talent into him,' and the village damsels invited me + to tea. There were occasional drawbacks, to be sure. One day a man + who had heard that I had painted Doctor Hewls's house, called and + asked me what I would charge to paint his little 'humsted.' I + offered to do it for twenty dollars. + + 'He gave me a shrewd gimlet-look and said: + + 'Find your own paint--o' course?' + + ''Of course,' I replied. + + ''What color?' + + ''Why, the same color you now have,' was my astonished answer. + + ''Wall, I don't know. My wife kind o' thinks that turtle-color + would suit our house better than Spanish brown. You put on two + coats, of course?' + + 'I now saw what he meant, and roaring with laughter, explained to + him that there was a difference between a painter of houses and a + house-painter. + + 'One morning I was interrupted by a grim, Herculean, stern-looking + young fellow--one who was manifestly a man of facts--who, with a + brief introduction of himself, asked if I could teach 'the pictur + business.' I signified my assent, and while talking of terms, + continued painting away at a landscape. I noticed that my visitor + glanced at my work at first as if puzzled, and then with an air of + contempt. Finally he inquired: + + '''S _that_ the way you make your pictures?' + + ''That is it,' I replied. + + ''Do you have to keep workin' it in, bit by bit, _slow_--like as a + gal works woosted-patterns?' + + ''Yes, and sometimes much slower, to paint well.' + + ''How long 'll it take to learn your trade?' + + ''Well, if you've any genius for it, you may become a tolerable + artist in two years.' + + ''Two--_thunder_! Why, a man could learn to make shoes, in that + time!' + + ''Very likely. There is not one man in a hundred, who can make + shoes, who would ever become even a middling sort of artist.' + + ''_Darn_ paintin'!' was the reply of my visitor, as he took up his + club to depart--his hat had not been removed during the whole of + the visit. 'Darn paintin'! I thought you did the thing with + stencils, and finished it up with a comb and a scraper. Mister, I + don't want to hurt your feeling--but 'cordin' to _my_ way o' + thinkin', paintin' as _you_ do it, an't a trade at all--it's + nothin' but a darned despisable _fine art!_' + + 'And with this candid statement of his views, my lost pupil turned + to go. I burst out laughing. He turned around squarely, and + presenting an angry front not unlike that of a mad bull, inquired + abruptly, as he glared at me: + + ''Maybe you'd like to paint my portrit?' + + 'I looked at him steadily in the eyes, as I gravely took up my + spatula, (I knew he thought it some deadly kind of dagger,) and + answered: + + ''I don't paint animals. + + 'He gave me a parting look, and 'abscondulated.' When I saw him + last, he was among the City Fathers! GALLI VAN T.' + + * * * * * + +_A SONG OF THE PRESENT._ + +BY EDWARD S. RAND, JR. + + Not to the Past whose smouldering embers lie, + Sad relics of the hopes we fondly nursed, + Not to the moments that have hurried by, + Whose joys and griefs are lived, the best, the worst. + + Not to the Future, 'tis a realm where dwell + Fair, misty ghosts, which fade as we draw near, + Whose fair mirages coming hours dispel, + A land whose hopes find no fruition here. + + But to the Present: be it dark or bright, + Stout-hearted greet it; turn its ill to good; + Throw on its clouds a soul-reflected light; + Its ills are blessings, rightly understood. + + Prate not of failing hopes, of fading flowers; + Whine not in melancholy, plaintive lays, + Of joys departed, vanished sunny hours; + A cheerful heart turns every thing to praise. + + Clouds can not always lower, the sun must shine; + Grief can not always last, joy's hour will come; + Seize as you may, each sunbeam, make it thine, + And make thy heart the sunshine's constant home. + + Nor for thyself alone, a sunny smile + Carries a magic nothing can withstand; + A cheerful look may many a care beguile, + And to the weary be a helping hand. + + Be brave--clasp thy great sorrows in thy arms; + Though eagle-like, they threat, with lifted crest, + The dread, the terror which thy soul alarms, + Shall turn a peaceful dove upon thy breast. + + * * * * * + +_A STRANGE STORY--ITS SEQUEL._ + +PREFACE. + +The often expressed wish of the American Press for an explanation of the +meaning of 'A Strange Story,' shall be complied with. It is purely and +simply this: Many novels, most of them, in fact, treat of the World; the +rest may be divided into those vaguely attempting to describe the works +of the Flesh and the Devil. This division of subjects is fatal to their +force; there was need to write a novel embracing them all; therefore 'A +Strange Story' was penned. Mrs. Colonel Poyntz personated the World, +Doctor Fenwick the Flesh, and Margrave, _alias_ Louis Grayle, certainly, +I may be allowed to say, played the Devil with marked ability. To give a +fitting _morale_ to all, the character of Lilian Ashleigh was thrown in; +the good genius, the conqueror of darkness, the positive of the +electrical battery meeting the negative and eliciting sparks of +triumphant light--such was the heroine. + +Man, conscious of a future life, and endowed with imagination, is not +content with things material, especially if his brain is crowded with +the thoughts of the brains of ten thousand dead authors, and his nervous +system is over-tasked and over-excited. In this condition he rushes +away--away from cool, pure, and lovely feature--burying himself in the +hot, spicy, and gorgeous dreams of Art. He would adore Cagliostro, while +he mocked Doctor Watts! Infatuated dreamer! Returning at last, by good +chance--or, rather, let me say, by the directing hand of +Providence--from his evil search of things tabooed, to admiration of the +Real, the Tangible, and the True; he will show himself as Doctor Fenwick +does in this sequel, a strong, sensible, family-man, with a clear head +and no-nonsense about him. + + +CHAPTER I. + +'I think,' said Faber, with a sigh, 'that I must leave Australia and go +to other lands, where I can make more money. You remember when that +Egyptian woman bore the last--positively the last--remains of Margrave, +or Louis Grayle, to the vessel?' + +'I do,' quoth Doctor Fenwick. + +'Well, a pencil dropped from the pocket of the inanimate form. I picked +it up, and on it was stamped in gilded letters: + + 'FABER, No. 4.' + +I believe it may belong to one of my family--lost, perhaps, in the ocean +of commerce.' + +'Who knows? We will think of this anon; but hark! the tea-bell is rung; +let us enter the house.' + + +CHAPTER II. + +'Good gracious! Doctor Faber, I am so glad to see you. Sit right down in +this easy-chair. We've muffins for tea, and some preserves sent all the +way from dear Old England. Now, Allen, be lively to-night, and show us +how that cold chicken should be carved.' + +Thus Lilian, Doctor Fenwick's wife, rattled on. She had grown very stout +in the five years passed since 'A Strange Story' was written, and now +weighed full thirteen stone, was red-cheeked and merry as a cricket. +Mrs. Ashleigh, too, had grown very stout and red-cheeked, and was +bustling around when the two doctors entered the room. + +'How much do you think I weigh?' asked Fenwick of Doctor Faber. + +'About fifteen stone,' answered the old doctor, while he dissected a +side-bone of the chicken. 'I think you did well to begin farming in +earnest. There is nothing like good hard work to cure the dyspepsia and +romantic dreams.' + +'Indeed, dear doctor, and you have reason, to be sure,' said Mrs. +Ashleigh. 'And pray, don't you think, now, that Lilian is a great deal +more comely since she has given up worsted-work and dawdling, and taken +to filling her duties as housewife?' + +'To be sure I do.' + +The doctor here passed the muffins to Lilian. She helped herself to a +brown one, remarking: + +'It is such a blessed thing to have a fine appetite, and be able to eat +half-a-dozen muffins for tea! Oh! by the way, Allen, I wish you would +buy three or four more barrels of pale ale--we are nearly out.' + + +CHAPTER III. + +'Here ye are, gen-till-men! This fine de-tersive soap--on-ly thrippence +a tab-let--takes stains out of all kinds of things. Step up while there +air a few tab-lets left of this in-im-a-table art-tickle unsold.' + +'Who's that guy in the soap-trade?' asked one policeman of another one +as they passed along Lowther Arcade and saw the man whose conversation +is reported above. + +'He's a deep one, hi know,' said the one asked. ''Is name is Grayle, +Louis Grayle. There's hodd stories 'bout 'im, werry hodd. 'E tries to +work a werry wiry dodge on the johnny-raws, bout bein' ha 'undred hand +ten years hold. Says 'e's got some kind o' water wot kips hun' from +growink hold, My heye! strikes me if 'e 'ad, 'e wouldn't bein' sellin' +soap 'bout 'ere. Go hup to 'im hand tell 'im to move hon, 'e's ben +wurkin this lay long enough, I _ham_ thinkin'. + +Such, gentle reader, was the condition of Louis Grayle when I last saw +him. By the assistance of confederates and other means, he had imposed +on our good friend Doctor Fenwick, in former years, and nearly driven +that poor gentleman crazy during his celibacy, especially as the doctor +in all this period would smoke hasheesh and drink laudanum +cocktails--two little facts neglected to be mentioned in 'A Strange +Story.' Now, he was poor as a crow, this Louis Grayle, and was only too +glad to turn the information he had learned of Haroun of Aleppo, to +profitable account--the most valuable knowledge he had gained from that +Oriental sage being the composition of a soap, good to erase stains from +habits. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Mrs. Colonel Poyntz having rendered herself generally disagreeable to +even the London world of fashion, by her commanding presence, has been +quietly put aside, and at latest accounts, every thing else having +failed, had taken up fugitive American secessionists for subjects, and +reports of revolvers and pokers (a slavish game of cards) were +circulated as filling the air she ruled. + + +CHAPTER V. + +Doctor Fenwick is now the father of four small tow-headed children, who +poss the long Australian days teasing a tame Kangaroo and stoning the +loud-laughing great kingfisher and other birds, catalogue of which is +mislaid. His wife has not had a single nervous attack for years, and +probably never will have another. Doctor Faber married Mrs. Ashleigh! + +Doctor Fenwick, it is needless to say, has thrown his library of +Alchemists, Rosicrucianists, Mesmerists, Spiritualists, +Transcendentalists, and all other trashy lists into the fire, together +with several pounds of bang, hasheesh, cocculus indicus, and opium. He +at this present time of writing, is an active, industrious, intelligent, +and practical man, finding in the truthful working out THE great +problem, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, an +exceeding great reward. + +THE END. + + * * * * * + +_WHAT THEN?_ + +BY J. HAL. ELLIOT. + + God's pity on them! Human souls, I mean, + Crushed down and hid 'neath squalid rags and dirt, + And bodies which no common sore can hurt; + All this between + Those souls, and life--corrupt, defiled, unclean. + + And more--hard faces, pinched by starving years. + Cold, stolid, grimy faces--vacant eyes, + Wishful anon, as when one looks and dies; + But never tears! + Tears would not help them--battling constant jeers. + + Forms, trained to bend and grovel from the first, + Crouching through life forever in the dark, + Aimlessly creeping toward an unseen mark; + And no one durst + Deny their horrid dream, that they are curst. + + And life for them! dare we call life its name? + O God! an arid sea of burning sand, + Eternal blackness! death on every hand! + A smothered flame, + Writhing and blasting in the tortured frame. + + And death! we shudder when we speak the word; + 'Tis all the same to them--or life, or death; + They breathe them both with every fevered breath; + When have they heard, + That cool Bethesda's waters might be stirred! + + They live among us--live and die to-day; + We brush them with our garments on the street, + And track their footsteps with our dainty feet; + 'Poor common clay!' + We curl our lips--and that is what we say. + + God's pity on them! and on us as well: + They live and die like brutes, and we like men: + Both go alone into the dark--what then? + Or heaven, or hell? + They suffered in this life! Stop! Who can tell? + + * * * * * + +The last stranger who visited Washington Irving, before his death, was +Theodore Tilton, who published shortly afterward an account of the +interview. Mr. Tilton wrote also a private letter to a friend, giving an +interesting reminiscence, which he did not mention in his published +account. The following is an extract from this letter, now first made +public: + + + As I was about parting from Mr. Irving, at the door-step, he held + my hand a few moments, and said: + + 'You know Henry Ward Beecher?' + + 'Yes,' I replied, 'he is an intimate friend.' + + 'I have never seen him,' said he, 'tell me how he looks.' + + I described, in a few words, Mr. Beecher's personal appearance; + when Mr. Irving remarked: + + 'I take him to be a man always in fine health and cheery spirits.' + + I replied that he was hale, vigorous, and full of life; that every + drop of his blood bubbled with good humor. + + 'His writings,' said Knickerbocker, 'are full of human kindness. I + think he must have a great power of enjoyment.' + + 'Yes,' I added, 'to hear him laugh is as if one had spilt over you + a pitcher of wine.' + + 'It is a good thing for a man to laugh well,' returned the old + gentleman, smiling. He then observed: + + 'I have read many of your friend's writings; he draws charming + pictures; he inspires and elevates one's mind; I wish I could once + take him by the hand.' + + At which I instantly said: + + 'I will ask him to make you a visit.' + + 'Tell him I will give him a Scotch welcome; tell him that I love + him, though I never have seen his face.' + + These words were spoken with such evident sincerity, that + Sunnyside will always have a sunnier place in my memory, because + of the old man's genial tribute to my dear friend. + + I am ever yours, + THEODORE TILTON. + + * * * * * + +The following paragraph from the _Boston Traveller,_ contains a few +facts well worth noting: + + 'The secession sympathizers in the North have two favorite dodges + for the service of their friends, the enemy. The first is, to + magnify the numbers of the rebel forces, placing them at 500,000 + men, whereas they never have had above half as many men in the + field, all told, and counting negroes as well as white men. The + other is, to magnify the cost of the war on the side of the + Federalists. They tell us that our public war-debt, by the close of + the current fiscal year, June 30, 1862, will be $1,200,000,000, + (twelve hundred million dollars.) They know better than this, for + that debt will, at the date named, be not much above $620,000,000, + which would be no greater burden on the country than was that which + it owed in 1815, perhaps not so great a burden as that was. People + should not allow themselves to be frightened by the prophecies of + men who, if they could be sure of preserving slavery in all its + force, would care for nothing else.' + +It is always easy to make up a gloomy statement, and this has been done +of late to perfection by the demo-secessionists among us. It is an easy +matter to assume, as has been done, the maximum war expenditure for one +single day, and say that it is the average. It is easy, too, to say that +'You can never whip the South,' and point to Richmond 'bounce' in +confirmation. It will all avail nothing. Slavery is going--of _that_ +rest assured--and the South is to be thoroughly Northed with new blood. +_Delenda est Dixie._ + +Our 'private' readers in the army--of whom we have enough, we are proud +to say, to constitute a pretty large-sized public--may rest assured that +accounts will not be settled with the South without very serious +consideration of what is due to the soldier for his services 'in +snatching the common-weal from the jaws of hell,' as the Latin memorial +to Pitt, on the Dedham stone hath it. It has been said that republics +are ungrateful; but in this instance the adage must fall to the ground. +The soldier will be as much needed after the war, to settle the South, +'North it,' and preserve the Union by his intellect and his industry, as +he now is to reestablish it by his bravery. + +We find the following in the Boston _Courier_ of March 29th: + + 'Our attention has been called to a statement in the + _CONTINENTAL MONTHLY MAGAZINE_, to the effect, that certain + interesting 'Notes on the Gulf States,' which have recently + appeared in this paper were reproductions, with certain + alterations, of letters which were printed in the _Knickerbocker + Magazine_ several years ago. The statement made is not positive, + but made with such qualifications as might lead to the inference + that the comparison was not very carefully made. We can only + say, that we have had no opportunity to confer with our distant + correspondent, who handed us the whole series of 'Notes' + together, in manuscript, for publication; nor had we any reason + to believe that they were ever printed before, either in whole + or in part. We can say nothing further, until we know more about + the grounds for the intimation of the CONTINENTAL MONTHLY.' + +We were guarded in our statement, not having at hand, when we wrote the +paragraph referred to, more than three or four numbers of the Courier +containing the Gulf States articles, and not desiring to give the +accusation a needlessly harsh expression, knowing well that the best +informed editor may have at times old literary notes passed upon him for +new ones. What we _do_ say, is simply that several columns of the +articles which appeared as original in the Boston _Courier,_ were +_literal reprints_ from a series which appeared in the _Knickerbocker_ +Magazine in 1847. + + + + +_THE OFFICIAL WAR MAP--NOW READY_ + +_HAZARD'S_ + +_RAILROAD AND MILITARY MAP OF THE SOUTHERN STATES_ + +Compiled from the most authentic sources, and the United States Coast +Surveys, by the Committee on Inland Transportation of the Board of Trade +of Philadelphia, and superbly engraved in the finest style of map +making. + +The information for this map was recently obtained by A PERSONAL TOUR +THROUGH THE SOUTH, as well as by the information given by THE PRESIDENT +OF EVERY RAILROAD; the corrections make it COMPLETE TO THE PRESENT HOUR; +and it gives so recent and such valuable facts concerning all the +Railroads, that the War Department immediately authorized its +publication, and distributed ONE THOUSAND COPIES among the Generals and +Colonels of the Army; that order having been supplied, no further delay +in issuing the map will occur, and subscribers can now be supplied at +the following prices: + +In Sheets, Carefully Colored, $1.00 +In Sheets, Carefully Colored, in a Neat Cloth Case, 1.50 +The Same, Carefully Colored, Mounted on Muslin, Folded, 2.50 + Do. Carefully Colored, on Rollers, Varnished, 2.50 + Do. Carefully Colored, Beautifully Mounted and + Framed for Office Use, 3.00 + +Several weighty reasons for purchasing "HAZARD'S RAILROAD AND +MILITARY MAP OF THE SOUTHERN STATES." + +1st. It is the official map; and therefore must be the best and the most +reliable, which is everything, particularly at this time when a good map +is of such universal interest. This is the ONLY MAP that has been +officially adopted for Government purposes. + +2d. The Coast is so distinct and accurate, it shows every little island +and inlet, and is as correct as the large maps issued by the Coast +Survey Office. + +3d. It is very cheap. It is thirty-two by fifty-five inches, and is one +of the best specimens of map engraving ever done in this country. + +4th. It presents the whole Southern States at one view, and the +railroads are so distinctly marked as to show at a glance the most +important strategical points. + +GENERAL MCCLELLAN has acknowledged in several communications the "_great +importance to his movements of the accurate information in regard to the +Southern Railroads, conveyed in this map_." + +Testimonials of the same character have been received from Prof. A.D. +BACHE, of the Coast Survey Department, as to the great accuracy of the +coast line; and _one hundred extra copies ordered "to distribute among +the Commanders of the Atlantic and Gulf Squadrons,"_ which have been +furnished. + +While ADOPTED FOR ITS ACCURACY by the MILITARY AUTHORITIES, as has been +stated, it is yet more especially a COMMERCIAL MAP, and was at first +intended expressly for that purpose. Hence, its value will be +undiminished when the war is over, and renewed attention is directed to +that section. + +After what has been said of THE GREAT VALUE OF THIS MAP TO EVERY +INTELLIGENT MAN, is there any one who will be without it? particularly +since its price has been made as low as that of inferior maps, in order +to keep up with the times. We are constantly told by those who already +have several of the maps rushed upon the public, that they have laid +them aside and use only this one. + +ACCURACY AND DISTINCTNESS are the characteristics of this map, the only +one sanctioned by the Government. + +Just published and for sale by + +CHAS. T. EVANS, General Agent for New-York State, + +532 BROADWAY, NEW-YORK + + + + + +_WASHINGTON_ + +_LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY,_ + +NO. 98 BROADWAY, NEW-YORK. + + +THIS COMPANY ISSUES POLICIES OF ALL KINDS UPON THE MOST +FAVORABLE TERMS. + +CLAIMS PROMPTLY SETTLED. + + +DIRECTORS. + +Cyrus Curtiss, +Cleayton Newbold, +Robert B. Minturn, +George Griswold, Jr., +Roland G. Mitchell, +Frederick G. Foster, +Henry S. Fearing, +John Caswell, +Arthur F. Willmarth. +Thomas Hope, +Ellwood Walter. +Benjamin W. Bonney, +Franklin F. Randolph, +Frederick W. Macy, +Henry Swift, +David A. Wood, +Frederick Tracy, +William H. Aspinwall, +Henry W. Peck, +George N. Lawrence, +Thomas H. Faile, +Lewis F. Battelle, +James Ponnett, +Levi P. Morton, +Effingham Townsend, +William F. Mott, Jr., +Andrew V. Stout, +Abiel A. Low, +Gustav Schwab, +Wellington Clapp, +Merritt Trimble, +Leopold Bierwirth, +George A. Robbins, +Robert R. Willets, +James B. Johnston, +David Wagstaff, +Abraham Bininger, +James Thomson, +Thomas A. Patteson, +Robert H. Berdell, +John G. Vose, +John H. Sherwood, +W.A. Brewer, Jr., +Jeremiah C. Garthwaite, +Frederick Wood, +Frederick Croswell, +Matthew Mitchell, +Thomas B. Fitch. + +CLEAYTON NEWBOLD, _Vice-President_. +CYRUS CURTISS, _President_. +GEO. T. ELLIOT, JR., M.D., _Medical Examiner_. +W.A. BREWER, Jr., _Sec'ty_. +GEO. M. GRIGGS, _General Agent for the State of New-York_. + +AGENTS WANTED IN EVERY STATE. + + + + + +_HOME INSURANCE COMPANY_ +_OF NEW YORK,_ +OFFICE, ........ 112 and 114 BROADWAY. + +CASH CAPITAL, $1,000,000. +ASSETS, 1st January, 1860, $1,458,396 28 +LIABILITIES 42,580 43 + + +THIS COMPANY INSURES AGAINST LOSS AND DAMAGE BY +FIRE, ON FAVORABLE TERMS. +LOSSES EQUITABLY ADJUSTED AND PROMPTLY PAID. + +DIRECTORS. + +Charles J. Martin, +A.F. Willmarth, +William G. Lambert, +George C. Collins, +Danford N. Barney, +Lucius Hopkins, +Thomas Messenger, +William H. Mellen, +Charles B. Hatch, +B. Watson Bull, +Homer Morgan, +L. Roberts, +Levi P. Stone, +James Humphrey, +George Pearce, +Ward A. Work, +James Lowe, +Isaac H. Frothingham, +Charles A. Bulkley, +Albert Jewitt, +George D. Morgan, +Theodore McNamee, +Richard Bigelow, +Oliver E. Wood, +Alfred S. Barnes, +George Bliss, +Roe Lockwood, +Levi P. Morton, +Curtis Noble, +John B. Hutchinson +Charles P. Baldwin. +Amos T. Dwight, +Henry A. Hurlbut, +Jesse Hoyt, +William Sturgis, Jr., +John R. Ford, +Sidney Mason, +Geo. T. Stedman, Cinn. +Cyrus Yale, Jr., +William R. Fosdick, +F.H. Cossitt, +David I. Boyd, Albany, +S.B. Caldwell, +A.J. Wills, +W.H. Townsend. + +CHARLES J. MARTIN, PRESIDENT. +JOHN MCGEE, SECRETARY. +A.F. WILLMARTH, VICE PRESIDENT. + + + + +_WILCOX & GIBBS_ +SEWING MACHINE + +PRICE, $30. + +[Illustration of hand, used as a bullet] REMARKABLE FOR ITS SIMPLICITY. + +"Has evident points of superiority as a FAMILY MACHINE over all +others."--_Philadelphia Press_. + +MANUFACTURED BY +JAMES WILLCOX, +No. 508 BROADWAY, opposite St. Nicholas Hotel, New-York. + + + + + +_NOW READY._ +In one Vol., 12mo. $1.25. + +Undercurrents of Wall Street: +The Romance of Business. + +BY RICHARD B. KIMBALL, +AUTHOR OF "ST. LEGER." + +Also, in one Vol., 12mo. $1.25. A new edition of +St. Leger. + +_G. P. PUTNAM, 532 BROADWAY._ + +[Illustration of hand, used as a bullet] Orders should be sent at once to +secure a prompt supply. + + + + + +_DESTINED TO BE THE BOOK OF THE SEASON._ + +As published in the pages of THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY, it has been +pronounced by the Press to be +"SUPERIOR TO UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." +"FULL OF ABSORBING INTEREST." +"Whether invented or not, True, because true to Life."--HORACE GREELEY. + +WILL SHORTLY BE PUBLISHED, + +_In a handsome 12mo vol. of 330 pages, cloth, $1, +AMONG THE PINES,_ +BY EDMUND KIRKE. + +Read the following Notices from the Press: + +"It contains the most vivid and lifelike representation of a specimen +family of poor South-Carolina whites we have ever read."--E.P. WHIPPLE, +in the _Boston Transcript_. + +"It is full of absorbing interest."--_Whig_, Quincy, Ill. + +"It gives some curious Ideas of Southern Social Life."--_Post_, Boston. + +"The most lifelike delineations of Southern Life ever written."--_Spy_, +Columbia, Pa. + +"One of the most attractive series of papers ever published, and +embodying only facts"--C.C. HAZEWELL, in the _Traveller_, Boston. + +"A very graphic picture of life among the clay-eaters and +turpentine-makers."--_Lorain News_, Oberlin, Ohio. + +"The author wields a ready and graphic pen."--_Times_, Armenia, N.Y. + +"There are passages in it of the most thrilling dramatic +power."--_Journal_, Roxbury, Mass. + +"It is the best and most truthful sketch of Southern Life and Character +we have ever read"--R. SHELTON MACKENZIE; in the _Press_, Philadelphia. + +"Has a peculiar interest just now, and deserves a wide +reading."--_Dispatch_, Amsterdam, N.Y. + +"An intensely vivid description of things as they occur on a Southern +Plantation"--_Union_ Lancaster, Pa. + +"The author is one of the finest descriptive writers in the +country."--_Journal_, Boston, Mass. + +"It presents a vivid picture of Plantation Life, with something of the +action of a character that is more than likely to pass from story into +history before the cause of the Rebellion is rooted out."--_Gazette_, +Taunton, Mass. + +"A most powerful production, which can not be read without exciting +great and continued interest"--_Palladium_, New-Haven. + +PUBLISHED BY +J.R. GILMORE, +532 BROADWAY, NEW-YORK, +And 110 TREMONT STREET, BOSTON + +Orders from the Trade will be filled in the order in which they are +received. +_Single Copies sent, postpaid, by mail, on receipt of $1._ + + + + + +_THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY._ + +PUBLISHER'S NOTICE. + +THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY Has passed its experimental ordeal, and stands +firmly established in popular regard. It was started at a period when +any new literary enterprise was deemed almost foolhardy, but the +publisher believed that the time had arrived for just such a Magazine. +Fearlessly advocating the doctrine of ultimate and gradual Emancipation, +for the sake of the UNION and the WHITE MAN, it has found favor in +quarters where censure was expected, and patronage where opposition only +was looked for. While holding firmly to its _own opinions_, it has +opened its pages to POLITICAL WRITERS _of widely different views_, and +has made a feature of employing the literary labors of the _younger_ +race of American writers. How much has been gained by thus giving, +practically, the fullest freedom to the expression of opinion, and by +the infusion of fresh blood into literature, has been felt from month to +month in its constantly increasing circulation. + +The most eminent of our Statesmen have furnished THE CONTINENTAL many of +its political articles, and the result is, it has not given labored +essays fit only for a place in ponderous encyclopedias, but fresh, +vigorous, and practical contributions on men and things as they exist. + +It will be our effort to go on in the path we have entered, and as a +guarantee of the future, we may point to the array of live and brilliant +talent which has brought so many encomiums on our Magazine. The able +political articles which have given it so much reputation will be +continued in each issue, and in this number is commenced a new Serial by +Richard D. Kimball, the eminent author of the 'Under-Currents of +Wall-Street,' 'St. Leger,' etc., entitled, + + +_WAS HE SUCCESSFUL?_ + +An account of the Life and Conduct of Hiram Meeker, one of the leading +men in the mercantile community, and 'a bright and shining light' in the +Church, recounting what he did, and how he made his money. This work +which will excel the previous brilliant productions of this author. + +The UNION--The Union of ALL THE STATES--that indicates our politics. To +be content with no ground lower than the highest--that is the standard +of our literary character. + +We hope all who are friendly to the spread of our political views, and +all who are favorable to the diffusion of a live, fresh, and energetic +literature, will lend us their aid to increase our circulation. There is +not one of our readers who may not influence one or two more, and there +is in every town in the loyal States some active person whose time might +be profitably employed in procuring subscribers to our work. To +encourage such to act for us we offer the following very liberal + +TERMS TO CLUBS. + +Two copies for one year, Five dollars. +Three copies for one year, Six dollars. +Six copies for one year, Eleven dollars. +Eleven copies for one year, Twenty dollars. +Twenty copies for one year, Thirty-six dollars. + +PAID IN ADVANCE. +_Postage, Thirty-six Cents a year_, TO BE PAID BY THE SUBSCRIBER. + +SINGLE COPIES. +Three Dollars a year, IN ADVANCE.--_Postage paid, by the Publisher_. + +J.R. GILMORE, 532 Broadway, New-York, +and 110 Tremont Street, Boston. + +_CHARLES T. 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