diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16323-8.txt | 8794 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16323-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 186076 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16323-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 245568 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16323-h/16323-h.htm | 9018 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16323-h/images/farminglands.png | bin | 0 -> 51397 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16323-h/images/pointingfinger.png | bin | 0 -> 911 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16323.txt | 8794 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16323.zip | bin | 0 -> 186010 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
11 files changed, 26622 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16323-8.txt b/16323-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..96a45ef --- /dev/null +++ b/16323-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8794 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. October, +1863, No. IV., 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: The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. October, 1863, No. IV. + Devoted to Literature and National Policy. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: July 18, 2005 [EBook #16323] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY *** + + + + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Janet +Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + +THE + +CONTINENTAL MONTHLY: + +DEVOTED TO + +LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY. + + + * * * * * + +VOL. IV.--OCTOBER, 1863.--No. IV. + + * * * * * + +CONTENTS + +THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. +THE BROTHERS. +UNUTTERED. +WILLIAM LILLY ASTROLOGER. +JEFFERSON DAVIS—REPUDIATION, RECOGNITION, AND SLAVERY. +DIARY OF FRANCES KRASINSKA. +MAIDEN'S DREAMING. +THIRTY DAYS WITH THE SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT. +REASON, RHYME, AND RHYTHM. +TO A MOUSE. +CURRENCY AND THE NATIONAL FINANCES. +OCTOBER AFTERNOON IN THE HIGHLANDS. +THE ISLE OF SPRINGS. + CHAPTER III. + CHAPTER IV. +THE RESTORATION OF THE UNION. +WAS HE SUCCESSFUL? + CHAPTER IX. + CHAPTER X. +AMERICAN FINANCES AND RESOURCES. +VOICELESS SINGERS. +A DETECTIVE'S STORY. +LITERARY NOTICES. +CONTENTS.—No. XXIII. + + + + +THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. + + +An important discussion has arisen since the commencement of the war, +bearing upon the interests of the American Press. The Government has +seen fit, at various times, through its authorities, civil and military, +to suppress the circulation and even the publication of journals which, +in its judgment, gave aid and comfort to the enemy, either by disloyal +publications in reference to our affairs, or by encouraging and +laudatory statements concerning the enemy. The various papers of the +country have severally censured or commended the course of the +Government in this matter, and the issue between the Press and the +Authorities has been regarded as of a sufficiently serious nature to +demand a convocation of editors to consider the subject; of which +convention Horace Greeley was chairman. A few remarks on the nature of +the liberty of the press and on its relations to the governing powers +will not, therefore, at this time, be inopportune. + +Men are apt, at times, in the excitement of political partisanship, to +forget that the freedom of the press is, like all other social liberty, +relative and not absolute; that it is not license to publish whatsoever +they please, but only that which is _within certain defined limits_ +prescribed by the people as the legitimate extent to which expression +through the public prints should be permitted; and that it is because +these limits are regulated by the whole people, for the whole people, +and not by the arbitrary caprice of a single individual or of an +aristocracy, that the press is denominated free. Let it be remembered, +then, as a starting point, that the press is amenable to the people; +that it is controlled and regulated by them, and indebted to them for +whatever measure of freedom it enjoys. + +The scope of this liberty is carefully defined by the statutes, as also +the method by which its transgression is to be punished. These +enactments minutely define the nature of an infringement of their +provisions, and point out the various methods of procedure in order to +redress private grievance or to punish public wrong, in such instances. +These statutes emanate from the people, are the expression of their +will, and in consonance with them the action of the executive +authorities must proceed, whenever the civil law is sufficient for the +execution of legal measures. + +But there comes a time, in the course of a nation's existence, when the +usual and regular methods of its life are interrupted; when peaceful +systems and civilized adaptations are forced to give place to the ruder +and more peremptory modes of procedure which belong to seasons of +hostile strife. The slow, methodical, oftentimes tedious contrivances of +ordinary law, admirably adapted for periods of national quietude, are +utterly inadequate to the stern and unforeseen contingencies of civil +war. Laws which are commonly sufficient to secure justice and afford +protection, are then comparatively powerless for such ends. The large +measure of liberty of speech and of the press safely accorded when there +is ample time to correct false doctrines and to redress grievances +through common methods, is incompatible with the rigorous promptitude, +energy, celerity, and unity of action necessary to the preservation of +national existence in times of rebellion. If an individual be suspected +of conspiring against his country, at such a time, to leave him at +liberty while the usual processes of law were being undertaken, would +perhaps give him opportunity for consummating his designs and delivering +the republic into the hands of its enemies. If a portion of the press +circulate information calculated to aid the foe in the defeat of the +national armies, to endeavor to prevent this evil by the slow routine of +civil law, might result in the destruction of the state. The fact that +we raise armies to secure obedience commonly enforced by the ordinary +civil officers is a virtual and actual acknowledgment that a new order +of things has arisen for which the usual methods are insufficient, civil +authority inadequate, and to contend with which powers must be exercised +not before in vogue. Codes of procedure arranged for an established and +harmoniously working Government cannot answer all the requirements of +that Government when it is repudiated by a large body of its subjects, +and the existence of the nation itself is in peril. + +It is evident, therefore, that at times the accustomed methods of Civil +government must, in deference to national safety, be laid aside, to some +extent, and the more vigorous adaptations of Military government +substituted in their stead. But it does not follow from this that +_arbitrary_ power is necessarily employed, or that such methods are not +strictly legal. There is a despotic Civil government and a despotic +Military government, a free Civil government and a free Military +government. The Civil government of Russia is despotic; so would its +Military government be if internal strife should demand that military +authority supersede the civil; the Civil government of the United States +is free, so must its Military government be in order to be sustained. + +But what is a free Military government? There is precisely the same +difference between a free and a despotic _military_ polity as between a +free and a despotic _civil_ polity. It is the essential nature of +_despotic_ rule that it recognizes the fountain head of all power to be +the ruler, and the people are held as the mere creatures of his +pleasure. It is the essence of _free_ government that it regards the +people as the source of all power, and the rulers as their agents, +possessing only such authority as is committed by the former into the +hands of the latter. It matters not, therefore, whether a ruler be +exercising the civil power in times of peaceful national life, or +whether, in times of rebellion, he wields the military authority +essential to security, he is alike, at either time, a despot or a +republican, accordingly as he exercises his power without regard to the +will of the people, or as he exercises such power only as the national +voice delegates to him. + +Wendell Phillips said in his oration before the Smithsonian Institute: +'Abraham Lincoln sits to-day the greatest despot this side of China.' +The mistake of Mr. Phillips was this: He confounded the method of +exercising power with the nature of the power exercised. It is the +latter which decides the question of despotism or of freedom. The +methods of the republican governor and of the despot may be, in times of +war _must_ be, for the most part, identical. But the one is, +nevertheless, as truly a republican as the other is a despot. Freedom of +speech, freedom of the press, the right of travel, the writ of _habeas +corpus_--these insignia of liberty in a people are dispensed with in +despotic Governments, because the ruler chooses to deprive the people of +their benefits, and for that reason only; they were suspended in our +Government because the national safety seemed to demand it, and because +the President, as the accredited executive of the wishes of the people, +fulfilled their clearly indicated will. In the former case it is lordly +authority overriding the necks of the people for personal pride or +power; in the latter, it is the ripe fruit of republican civilization, +which, in times of danger, can with safety and security overleap, for +the moment, the mere forms of law, in order to secure its beneficial +results. They seem to resemble each other; but are as wide apart as +irreligion and that highest religious life which, transcending all +external observances, seems to the mere religious formalist to be +identical with it. + +But how is the Executive to ascertain the behest of the people? In +accordance with the modes which they, as a part of their behest, +indicate. But as there are two methods of fulfilling the wishes of the +people, one adapted to the ordinary routine of peaceful times, and +another to the more summary necessities of war, so there are two +methods, calculated for these diverse national states, by which the +Government must discover the will of the people. The slow, deliberate +action of the ballot box and of the legislative body is amply +expeditious for the purposes of undisturbed and tranquil periods. But in +times of rebellion or invasion, the waiting and delay which are often +essential to the prosecution of forms prescribed for undisturbed epochs +are, as has been said, simply impossible. War is a period in which +methods and procedures are required diametrically opposite to those +which are so fruitful of good in days of peace. The lawbreaker who comes +with an army at his back cannot be served with a sheriff's warrant, nor +arrested by a constable. War involves unforeseen emergencies, to meet +which there is no time for calling Congress together, or taking the +sense of the populace by a ballot. It is full of attempted surprises, +which must be guarded against on the instant, and of dangers which must +be quickly avoided, but for whose guardance or avoidance the statutes +make no provision. Hence arises a necessity for a mode of ascertaining +the will of the people other than the slow medium of formal legislation +or of balloting. + +The Government of the United States is the servant of its people. It was +ordained to insure for _them_ 'domestic tranquillity, provide for the +common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of +liberty to' themselves and their posterity. Its laws and statutes are +but the forms by which the people attempt to secure these things. But +the people are sovereign, even over their laws. As they have instituted +them _for their own good_, so may they dispense with them for their own +good, whenever the national safety requires this. As they have +established certain modes of lawful procedure _for their own security_, +so may they adopt other modes when their safety demands it. Their laws +and their codes of procedure are for their _uses_, not for their +destruction. 'When a sister State is endangered, red tape must be cut,' +said Governor Seymour, when it was telegraphed to him that some delaying +forms must be gone through in order to arm and send off our State +troops who were ordered to the defence of Harrisburg; and all the people +said, Amen! The people of the United States inaugurated a government, +whose forms of law were admirably suited to times of peace, but have +been found inadequate to seasons of intestine strife. They have, as we +have seen, superadded, in some degree, other methods of action, +indorsing and adopting those to which the Executive was compelled to +resort as better adapted to changed conditions. They have not done this +in accordance with prescribed forms, in all instances, because the forms +of _civil_ government do not provide for a condition of society in which +civil authority is virtually abrogated, to a greater or less extent, for +military authority. + +In the same way and by virtue of the same sovereignty, the people of the +United States may lay aside the common method of indicating their +pleasure to the Executive, and substitute one more in consonance with +the requirements of the times. They may make known that they _do_ lay +aside an established mode, either by a formal notice or by a general +tacit understanding, as the exigencies of the case require. They may +recognize the right, aye, the _duty_ of the Executive to act in +accordance with other methods than those prescribed for ordinary +seasons, in cases where the national security demands this. + +But this is not an abandonment of the methods and forms of law! This is +not the establishment of an _arbitrary_ government! This is not passing +from freedom to despotism! The _people_ of this country are sovereign, +let it be repeated. So long as its Government is conducted as its people +or as the majority of them wish, it is conducted in accordance with its +established principle. There were no freedom if the vital spirit of +liberty were to be held in bondage to the dead forms of powerless or +obsolete prescriptions in the very crisis of the nation's death +struggle! Freedom means freedom to act, in all cases and under all +circumstances, so as to secure the highest individual and national +well-being. It does _not_ mean freedom to establish certain codes of +procedure under certain regulations, and to be forever bound under these +when the preservation of liberty itself demands their temporary +abeyance. So long as the Government fulfils the wishes of the people, it +is not arbitrary, it is not despotic, no matter what methods an +emergency may require it to adopt for this purpose, or in what manner it +ascertains these wishes; provided always that the methods adopted and +the modes of ascertainment are also in accordance with the people's +desires. + +But how is the Executive to discover the will of the people if he does +not wait for its formal expression? How is he to be sure that he does +not outrun their desires? How is he to be checked and punished, should +he do so? Precisely the same law must apply here as has been indicated +to be the true one in reference to the fulfilment of the people's +behest. Fixed, definite, precise, formal expressions of popular will, +when time is wanting for these, must be replaced by those which are more +quickly ascertained and less systematically expressed. The Executive +must forecast the general desire and forestall its commands, regarding +the tacit acceptance of the people or their _informal_ laws, such as +resolutions, conventions, and various modes of expressing popular accord +or dissent, as indications of the course which they approve. Nor is this +an anomaly in our legal system. The citizen ordinarily is not at liberty +to take the law into his own hands; he must appeal to the constituted +authorities, and through the machinery of a law court obtain his redress +or protection. But there are times when contingencies arise in which +more wrong would be done by such delay than by a summary process +transcending the customary law. The man who sees a child, a woman, or +even an animal treated with cruelty, does not wait to secure protection +for the injured party by the common methods of legal procedure, but, on +the instant, prevents, with blows if need be, the outrage. He oversteps +the forms of law to secure the ends of law, and rests in the +consciousness that the law itself will accept his action. When the case +is more desperate, his usurpation of power generally prohibited to him +is still greater, up to that last extremity in which he deliberately +takes the whole law into his own hands, and, acting as accuser, witness, +judge, executioner, slays the individual who assaults him with deadly +weapons or with hostile intent. + +In this case now stands the nation. Along her borders flashes the steel +of hostile armies, their cannon thunder almost in hearing of our +capitol, their horses but recently trampled the soil of neighboring +States. A deadly enemy is trying to get its gripe upon the republic's +throat and its knife into her heart. The nation must act as an +individual would under similar circumstances; and the nation must act +through its Executive. If one person, attacked by another, should snatch +from the hands of a passer his cane, in order to defend his life; if, in +his struggles with his assailant, he should strike a second through +misconception, how immeasurably ridiculous would be the action of these +individuals, should they, while the death struggle were still raging, +berate the man, one for breaking the law by taking away his cane, and +the other for breaking the law by the commission of a battery! Every man +feels instinctively that in such a crisis all weapons of defence are at +his disposal, and that he takes them, _not_ in violation of law, but in +obedience to the law of extraordinary contingencies, which every +community adopts, but which no community can inscribe upon its statute +book, _because it is_ the law of contingencies. + +The Executive of this, as of every country, resorts to this law when, in +the nature of things, the statute law is inadequate. In doing this, he +does not violate law; he only adopts another kind of law. A subtle, +delicate law, indeed, which can neither be inscribed among the +enactments, nor exactly defined, circumscribed, or expressed. When it is +to be substituted for the ordinary modes of legal procedure, how far it +is to be used, when its use must cease--these are questions which the +people, as the sole final arbiters, must decide. As the individual in +society must judge wisely when the community will sanction his use of +the contingent law, the law of private military power, so to speak, in +his own behalf; so must the Executive judge when the urgency of the +national defence demands the exercise of the summary power in the place +of more technical methods. If the public sentiment of the community +sustain the individual, it is an indorsement that he acted justifiably +in accordance with this exceptional law; if it do not, he is liable for +an unwarranted usurpation of power. The Executive stands in the same +relation to the nation. The Mohammedans relate that the road to heaven +is two miles long, stretching over a fathomless abyss, the only pathway +across which is narrower than a razor's edge. Delicately balanced must +be the body which goes over in safety! The intangible path which the +Executive must walk to meet the people's wishes on the one side, and to +avoid their fears upon the other, in the national peril, is narrower +than the Mahommedan's road to heaven, and cautiously bold must be the +feet that safely tread it! Blessed shall that man be who succeeds in +crossing. The nations shall rise up and call him blessed, and succeeding +generations shall praise him. + +We come then to the relations of the press and the Executive. We have +seen that all liberty is _relative_, and not _absolute_; that the +people, the sovereigns in this country, have prescribed certain methods +for securing, in ordinary periods, those blessings which it is their +desire to enjoy; that when, under special contingencies, these methods +become insufficient for this purpose, the people may, in virtue of their +sovereignty, suspend them and adopt others adequate to the occasion; +that these may not, indeed, from their very nature, cannot be of a fixed +and circumscribed kind, but must give large discretionary power into the +hands of the Executive, to be used by him in a summary manner as +contingencies may indicate; that this abrogation or suspension, for the +time, of so much of the ordinary civil law, in favor of the contingent +law, is not an abandonment of free government for arbitary or despotic +government, because it is still in accordance with the will of the +people, and hence is merely the substitution of a new form of law, +which, being required for occasions when instant action is demanded, is +necessarily summary in its character; that the extent to which this law +is to be substituted for the ordinary one is to be discovered by the +Executive from the general sense of the nation, when it cannot be made +known through the common method of the ballot box and the legislature; +that in the people resides the power ultimately to determine whether +their wishes have been correctly interpreted or not; and, finally, that +the Executive is equally responsible for coming short of the behests of +the nation in the use of the contingent law or for transgressing the +boundaries within which they desire him to constrain his actions. + +The press of the United States has always been free to the extent that +it might publish whatsoever it listed, _within certain limits prescribed +by the law_. The press may still do this. But the nature of the law +which prescribes the limits has changed with the times. The constituted +authorities of the people of the United States are obliged now, in the +people's interest, to employ the processes of summary rather than those +of routine law. Hence when the press infringes too violently the +boundaries indicated, and persists in so doing, the sterner penalty +demanded by the dangers of the hour is enforced by the sterner method +likewise rendered necessary. So long as Executive action concerning the +press shall be _in accordance_ with the general sentiment of the people, +it will be within the strict scope of the highest law of the land. +Should the Executive persistently exercise this summary law in a manner +not countenanced by the nation, he is amenable to it under the strict +letter of the Constitution for high crimes or misdemeanors, not the +least of which would be the usurpation of powers not delegated to him by +the people. + +The Executive of the United States occupies at this time an exceedingly +trying and dangerous position, which demands for him the cordial, +patient, and delicate consideration of the American nation. He is placed +in a situation where the very existence of the republic requires that he +use powers not technically delegated to him, and in which the people +expect, yea, demand him, to adopt methods transcending the strict letter +of statute law, the use of which powers and the adoption of which +methods would be denounced as the worst of crimes, even made the basis +of an impeachment, should the mass of the populace be dissatisfied with +his proceedings. It is easy to find fault, easy in positions devoid of +public responsibility to think we see how errors might have been +avoided, how powers might have been more successfully employed and +greater results achieved. But the American Executive is surrounded with +difficulties too little appreciated by the public, while an almost +merciless criticism, emanating both from injudicious friends and +vigilant foes, follows his every action. Criticism should not be +relaxed; but it should be exercised by those only who are competent to +undertake its office. The perusal of the morning paper does not +ordinarily put us in possession of sufficient information to enable us +to understand, in all their bearings, the measures of the Government. +Something more is required than a reading of the accounts of battles +furnished by the correspondents of the press to entitle one to express +an opinion on military movements. It should not be forgotten that the +officers engaged in the army of the United States are better judges of +military affairs than civilians at home; that the proceedings of the +Government, with rare exceptions, possibly, are based upon a fuller +knowledge of all the facts relating to a special case, than is obtained +by private persons, and that its judgment is therefore more likely to be +correct, in any given instance, than our own. The injury done to the +national cause by the persistent animadversion of well-intentioned men, +who cannot conceive that their judgments may perchance be incorrect, is +scarcely less, than the openly hostile invective of the friends of the +South. The intelligent citizens of the North, especially those who +occupy prominent positions as teachers and instructors of the people +through the press, the pulpit, and other avenues, should ever be mindful +that the _political_ liberty which they possess of free thought and free +speech, has imposed upon them the moral duty of using this wisely for +the welfare of humanity, and that they cannot be faithless to this +obligation without injuring their fellow men and incurring a heavy moral +guilt. + + + + +THE BROTHERS. + +AN ALLEGORY. + +DEDICATION, TO ONE WHO WILL UNDERSTAND IT: + + + 'I love thee freely, as men strive for right; + I love thee purely, us they turn from praise + I love thee with the passion put to use + In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith; + I love thee with a love I seemed to lose + With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath, + Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose, + I shall but love thee dearer after death.' + + +The Creator still loved and guarded the earth, although its children had +departed from their early obedience. In evidence of His care, He sent, +from time to time, gifted spirits among men to aid them in developing +and elevating the souls so fallen from their primal innocence. These +spirits He clad in sensuous bodies, that they might be prepared to enter +the far country of Human Life. Earth was rapidly falling under the +merciless rule of a hopeless and crushing materialism, when He +determined upon sending among men, Anselm, the saint; Angelo, the tone +artist; Zophiel, the poet; and Jemschid, the painter. The spirits +murmured not, although they knew they were to relinquish their heaven +life for that torment of perpetual struggle which the forbidden +knowledge of Good and Evil has entailed upon all incarcerated in a human +form. + + _For self-abnegation is the law of heaven!_ + + * * * * * + +'Brothers,' said the merciful Father, 'go, and sin not, for of all +things that pass among men must a strict account be rendered. For are +not their evil deeds written upon the eternally living memory of a just +God? Evil lurks in the land of your exile; it may find its way into your +own hearts, for you are to become wholly human, and to lose for a time +the memory of your home in heaven. But even in that far country you will +find the Book of Life, which I have given for the guidance and +consolation of the fallen. For it is known even there that 'God is +Love!'' + + * * * * * + +Then the journey of the Heaven Brothers began through the blinding +clouds and trailing mists of chaos, in whose palpable gloom all memories +are obliterated. Naked, trembling, and human, they arrived upon the +shifting sands of the world of Time and Death. + +A vague, shadowy sense, like a forgotten dream which we struggle vainly +to recall, often flitted through their clay-clogged souls, of a +strangely glorious life in some higher sphere; but all attempts to give +definite form to such bewildering visions ended but in fantastic +reveries of mystic possibilities or dim yearnings of unseen glories. +They found the Book of Life, but they remembered not that the Father had +told them the Word was His. + +For the thread of _Identity_, on which are strung the pearls of +_Memory_, in the passage through chaos had snapped in twain! + + * * * * * + +Like the silver light through the storm clouds flitting over the fair +face of the moon, gleam the antenatal splendors through the gloom of the +earth life. + +As Anselm wonderingly turned the pages of the Book of Life, strange +memories awoke within him. So inextricably were the dreams of his past +woven with the burning visions of the Prophets, that the darkness of +Revelation, like the heaven vault at midnight, was illumined by the +light of distant worlds; his own vague reminiscences supplying the inner +sense of the inspired but mystic leaves. What wonder that he loved the +Book, when in its descriptions of the life to _come_, he felt the +history of the life already _past_; and through its sternest +threatenings, like the rainbow girdling storm clouds, shone the promise +of a blessed future! + +He spent the hours of exile in a constant effort to commune with the +Father; in humble prayer and supplication for strength to resist the +power of sin. For he feared the Evil which lurked in the land. He +examined the springs of his own actions, analyzed his motives, and +tortured himself lest any of the evils denounced in the Book should lurk +in the folds of his own soul. In contemplating the awful justice of the +Father, he sometimes forgot that He is Love. He feared close commune +with the children of the earth, for Evil dwelt among them; he looked not +into the winecup, nor danced with the maidens under the caressing +tendrils of the vine or the luxuriant branches of the myrtle--nay, the +rose cheek of the maiden was a terror to him, for lo! Evil might lurk +under its brilliant bloom. The Dread of Evil sapped the Joy of Life! + +He turned from all the lovely Present, to catch faint traces of the dim +Past, to picture the unseen Future, about which it is vain to disquiet +ourselves, since, like everything else, it rests upon the heart of God! +His life was holy, innocent, and self-sacrificing. He sought to serve +his fellow men, yet feared to give them his heart, lest he should rob +the Father of His just due. He knew not from his own experience that +Love is infinite, and grows on what it gives. He bore religious +consolation to the afflicted, aid to the needy, sympathy to the +suffering. He was universally esteemed, but the spirit of his brethren +broke not into joy at his approach, for the _trusting_ heart of genial +humanity throbbed not in his sad breast. He was no Pharisee, but he +dined not with the Publican, and the precious ointment of the Magdalen +never bathed his weary head. His language was: 'All is fleeting and +evil, save Thee, O my Father; in Thee alone can rest be found!' + +Solace for human anguish can only be found upon the heart of love. 'Thou +shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with +all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself!' Blessed Son of Mary! Thou +alone hast fully kept these _two_ commandments! + +'For wisdom is justified of her children!' + + * * * * * + +Angelo, Zophiel, and Jemschid also resolved to avoid the Evil spoken of +in the Book of Life. But the far country into which the Father had sent +them was lovely in their eyes, and they were charmed with the Beauty +with which He had surrounded them. They dreamed by the shady fountains, +with their silver flow and gentle ripples; roamed by the darker rivers +as they hurry on to plunge themselves into the sea; gazed on the +restless ocean breakers when the dying sun fringes their crest with +rainbow hues, and the flushing sky, to cool her burning blushes, flings +herself into the heart of the restless waters. They loved to breathe the +'difficult air' of mountain tops, so softly pillowed and curtained by +the fleecy vapors, which they win again from heaven in limpid streams, +leading them in wild leaps through gloomy chasms fringed by timid +harebells, whose soft blue eyes look love upon the rocks, while the +myriad forest leaves musically murmur above their flinty couch. They +watched the fitful shadow-dance of clouds over the green earth. They +loved to see these heaven tents where Beauty dwells chased by the young +zephyrs, or, driven on in heavy masses by the bolder winds, blush under +the fiery glances of the sun, and melt into the sky upon his nearer +approach. Ah! these clouds and vapors had more than human tenderness, +for had they not seen them throng around the ghastly disc of the +star-deserted moon, weaving their light webs into flowing veils to +shadow the majestic sorrow written upon her melancholy but lovely face, +shielding the mystic pallor of the virgin brow from the desecrating gaze +of the profane? + +The three brothers were happy upon earth, for they looked into the heart +of their fellow mortals, and felt the genial feeling beating there; and +so luxuriantly twined its vivid green around, that the evil core was +hidden from their charmed eyes, and they ceased not to bless the Father +for a gift so divine as Human Love! They could not weep and pray the +long night through, as did the saintly Anselm, for their eyes were +fastened upon the wildering lustre of the thronging stars as they wove +their magic rings through the dim abysses of distant space, yet the +incense of constant praise rose from their happy souls to the +Beauty-giving Father. + +They struggled to awake the sleeping powers of men to a perception of +the glories of creation; to lead them 'through nature up to nature's +God.' The Artist-Brothers were closely united in feeling, striving +through different mediums to refine the soul of man. + +For the spirit of Beauty always awakens the spirit of Love, sent by God +to elevate and consecrate the heart of man! + + * * * * * + +Of a more subtle genius and more daring spirit than Zophiel or Jemschid, +Angelo boldly launched into the bewildering chaos of the realm of +sound. As yet the laws of the Acoustic Prism were unknown; the +seven-ranged ladder was all unformed, and without its aid it seemed +impossible to scale the ever-renewing heights, to sound the ever-growing +depths of this enchanted kingdom. But Angelo was a bold adventurer. +Haunted by the heaven sounds, vague memories of his antenatal existence, +although he had entirely lost the _meaning_ of their flow, as one may +recall snatches of the melody of a song when he cannot remember one of +its words--he commenced his subtle task. He resolved the Acoustic Prism; +he built the seven-runged ladder; he charmed the wandering Tones, and +bound them in the holy laws of Rhythm. Divining the hidden secrets of +their affiliations, relations, loves, and hates, he wrought them into +gorgeous webs of harmonics, to clothe the tender but fiery soul of +ever-living melodies. Soothing their jarring dissonances into sweet +accord, he filled their pining wails with that 'divine sorrow,' that +mystic longing for the Infinite, which is the inner voice of every +created heart. If he could not find the _heaven sense_ of the tones, he +found their _earthly meaning_, and caused them to repeat or suggest +every joy and sorrow of which our nature is capable. He forced the +heaven tongue to become _human_, while it retained its _divine_. Without +a model or external archetype, he formed his realm and divined its +changing limits; wide enough to contain all that is noble, holy enough +to exclude all that is low or profane. He forever exorcised the spirits +of Evil--the strong Demons of materialism--from his rhythmed world. +Flinging his spells on the unseen air, he forced it to breathe his +passion, his sighs; he saddened it with his tears, kindled it with his +rapture, until fired and charged with the electric breath of the soul, +it glowed into an atmosphere of Life, swaying at will the wild and +restless heart. He created _Music, the only universal language_, holding +the keys of Memory, and wearing the crown of Hope. Angelo, strange +architect in that dim domain of chaos, thy creation, fleeting, +invisible, and unembodied, is in perpetual, flow; changeful as the play +of clouds, yet stable as the eternal laws by which they form their misty +towers, their glittering fanes, and foam-crested pinnacles! Trackless as +the wind, yet as powerful, thy sweet spirit, Music, floats wherever +beats the human heart, for Rhythm rocks the core of life. Music nerves +the soul with strength or dissolves it in love; she idealizes Pain into +soul-touching Beauty; assuming all garbs, robing herself in all modes, +and moving at ease through every phase of our complicated existence. +White and glittering are her robes, yet she is no aristocrat. She +disdains not to soothe the weary negro in his chains, or to rock the +cradle of the child of shame, as the betrayed and forsaken girl murmurs +broken-hearted lullabies around the young 'inheritor of pain.' She is +with the maiden in the graceful mazes of the gay Mazourka; she inflames +the savage in the barbaric clang of the fierce war-dance; or marks the +measured tramp of the drilled soldiery of civilization. She is in the +court of kings; she makes eloquent the ripe lip of the cultured beauty; +she chants in the dreary cell of the hermit; she lightens the dusty +wallet of the wanderer. She glitters through the dreams of the Poet; she +breathes through the direst tragedies of noblest souls. On--on she +floats through the wide world, everywhere present, everywhere welcome, +refining, and consecrating our dull life from the Baptismal Font to the +Grave! + +All the inner processes of life are guarded by the hand of nature. In +vain would the curiosity of the scalpel knife invade the sanctuary of +the beating heart to lay open the burning mystery of Being. The outraged +Life retreats before it to its last citadel, and the indignant heart, +upon its entrance, refuses to throb more. The citadel is taken; but the +secret of _Life_ is not to be discovered in the kingdom of _Death_. It +is because Music is essentially a _living_ art that we find it +impossible to read the mystery of its being. If Painting touch us, we +can always trace the emotion to its exciting cause; if we weep over the +pages of the Poet, it is because we find our own blighted hopes imaged +there. But why does Music sway us? Where did we learn that language +without words? in what consists its mystic affinities with our spirits? +Why does the harp of David soothe the insanity of Saul? Is not its +festal voice too triumphant to be the accompaniment of our own sad, +fallen being; its breath of sorrow too divine to be the echo of our +petty cares? All other arts arise from the facts of our earthly +existence, but Music has no external archetype, and refuses to submit +her ethereal soul to our curious analysis. _'I am so, because so I am,'_ +is the only answer she gives to the queries of materialism. Like the +primitive rock, the skeleton of earth's burning heart, she looms up +through the base of our existence. Addressing herself to some mystic +faculty born before thought or language, she lulls the suffering baby +into its first sleep, using perhaps the primeval and universal language +of the race. For the love which receives the New Born, cadences the +monotonous chant; and human sympathies are felt by the innocent and +confiding infant before his eyes are opened fully upon the light, before +his tongue can syllable a word, his ear detect their divisions, or his +mind divine their significations. But Music looms not only through the +base of our being; like the encompassing sky, her arch spans our +horizon. Lo! is it not the language through which the Angels convey the +secrets of their profound adoration to the Heart of God! + +'Having every one of them harps'--'and they _sung_ a new song'--in which +are to join 'every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and +under the earth, and such as are in the sea'--'and the number of them +was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.' +(Revelation, chap, v.) + + * * * * * + +While Angelo linked the fiery tones in rhythmed laws, Zophiel sketched +with glowing pen the joys of virtue, the glories of the intellect, and +the pleasures, pains, raptures, woes, and loves of the heart. The deeds +of heroes were sung in Epic; Dramas, Elegies, and Lyrics syllabled the +inner life; men listened to the ennobling strains, and became _freemen_ +as they heard. The intermingling flow of high thought and melodious +measures elevated and soothed the soul, and love for, and faith in, +humanity, were awakened and nourished by the true Poet. + +Jemschid wrought with brush and pencil, until the canvas imaged his +loved skies and mountains, glowed with the noble deeds of men, and +pictured that spiritual force which strangely characterizes and mingles +with the ethereal grace of woman's fragile form. + +Through the artists, life grew into loveliness, for all was idealized, +and the scattered and hidden beauties of the universe were brought to +light. The plan of creation is far too vast to be embraced in its +complex unity by the finite: it is the province of art to divide, +condense, concentrate, reunite, and rearrange the vast materials in +smaller frames, but the new work must always be a _whole_. Angelo +aroused and excited the emotions of the soul, which Zophiel analyzed and +described in words most eloquent; while Jemschid made clearer to his +brethren that Beauty of creation which is an ever visible proof of the +love of God. His portraits illumined the walls of the bereaved, keeping +fresh for them the images of the loved and lost. Historical pictures +enlarged the mind of his people, keeping before it the high deeds of its +children and stimulating to noble prowess. His landscapes warmed the +dingy city homes, bringing even there the blue sky, the clouds, the +streams, the forests, the mountains, moss, and flowers. + +Men became happier and better, for the Brothers, in showing the +_universal Beauty_, awakened the _universal Love_. + +For the true essence of man, made in the image of God, is also Love! + + * * * * * + +The artists turned not from the rose-cheek of the maiden, nor refused +the touch of the ruby lip; but they loved her too well to sully by one +wronging thought the tender confidence of perfect innocence, or cause +her guileless heart a single pang. For womanhood was holy in their +sight! + +Among earth's purest maidens shone a fair Lily, whose virgin leaves had +all grown toward the sky; whose cup of snow had never been filled save +by the dews of heaven; whose tall circlet of golden stamens seemed more +like altar lamps arranged to light a sanctuary, than meant to warm and +brighten the heart of human love. But the devotion of a noble heart is a +holy thing; Genius is full of magic power, and the maiden did not always +remain insensible to the love of Angelo, for he was spiritually +beautiful, and when he moved in the world of his own creation, his face +shone as it were the face of an angel. In ethereal 'fantasies' and +divine 'adagios,' he won the Lily to rest its snowy cup upon his manly +heart. He soothed the earth cares with the heaven tones and beautified +the bitter realities of life by transfiguring them into passionate +longings for the Perfect. Bathed in Music's heavenly dew, and warmed by +the fire of a young heart, the snow petals of the Lily multiplied, the +bud slowly oped, and allowed the perfumed heart to exhale its blessed +odor; and as Love threw his glowing light upon the leaves, they blushed +beneath his glance of fire--and thus the pale flower grew into a +fragrant Rose, around which one faithful Bulbul ever sang. Sheltered in +the close folds of the perfumed leaves, what chill could reach the heart +of Angelo? His Rose cradled his genius in her heart, while he poured for +her the golden flow of the tones, coloring them with the hues of Love, +and filling them with the joys of Purity and Peace. Alike in their +susceptibility to tenderness and beauty are the woman and the artist; +and she who would find full sympathy and comprehension must seek it in +his heart! + +Time passed on with Anselm, the Saint; Angelo, the Musician; Zophiel, +the Poet; Jemschid, the Painter. But the _artists_ grew not old, for +Beauty keeps green the heart of her worshippers; and Art, immortal +though she be, is indigenous, and, happy in her natal soil, exhausts not +the heart of her children. Anselm, however, seemed already old, with his +pure heart sick--sick for the Evil possessing the earth. Alas! holiness +is an exotic here, soon exhausting the soil of clay in which it pines, +and ever sighing to win its transplantation to its native clime. + + 'The Lethe of Nature + Can't trance him again, + Whose soul sees the Perfect + His eyes seek in vain.' + + * * * * * + +It was midnight, and Anselm, worn with fasts and pale with vigils, knelt +at his devotions in his lonely cell. Lo! a majestic form of fearful but +perfect beauty stood beside him. The Angel was clad in linen, white as +snow, and his voice startled the soul like the sound of the last +trumpet. + +'Gird up thy loins like a man, for the darksome doors of Death stand +open before thee, and this night thy Lord requires thy spirit!' said the +mighty messenger. + +Anselm trembled. He feared to stand before the All-seeing Eye, whose +dread majesty subdued his soul. + +'Behold! He putteth no trust in His saints, and the heavens are not +pure in His sight,' he murmured. But he hesitated not to obey, and +giving his hand to the Angel, said: + +'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!' + +His earnest lips still thrilling with a prayer for mercy, together they +departed 'for that bourne from which no traveller returns.' Between the +imperfections of the created and the perfections of the Creator, what +can fill the infinite abyss? Infinite Love alone! + + * * * * * + +The artist-brothers had never separated. Music, Poetry, and Painting +spring from the triune existence of man, represent his life in its +triune being, and thus move harmoniously together. + +They had made their home the happiest spot on earth. + +It was evening, and the Poet seemed lost in revery as he gazed on the +dying light. His hand rested tenderly on the shoulder of a dark but +brilliant woman, who loved him with the strength of a fervid soul. + +'Sibyl,' said he softly to his young wife, 'were I now to leave thee, +how many of my lines would remain written on thy heart?' + +'All! they are all graven there,' replied the enthusiast, 'for the +glowing words of a pure poet are the true echoes of a woman's soul!' + +The Painter sat near them, putting the last touches upon a picture of a +Virgin and Child, which he was striving so to finish that his brethren +might be able to grasp more fully that sweet scene of human love and +God's strange mercy. + +Tender were the shadows that fell from the veiling lashes on the rounded +cheek of his fair model; lustrous, yet soft and meek, the light from the +maiden's eye as she gazed upon the beautiful infant resting on her +bosom. The name of the child was Jemschid, and there was in that name a +charm sufficient to awaken her innocent love. + +She was the betrothed of the Painter. + +'Imogen!' said he to the fair model, 'I know not why the thought rushes +so sadly over me, but I feel I shall never finish this picture. The +traits escape me--I cannot find them.' + +'Never finish the beautiful Madonna, to which you have given so much +time, and on which you have expended so much care!' Then with a sudden +change of tone, in which astonishment darkened into fear, she exclaimed: +'Are you ill, Jemschid? You have already worked too long upon it. You +will destroy your health; you need rest.' + +'Nay, sweet Imogen, not so; I am well, quite well, and too happy for +words. But I cannot finish the picture. I have lost the expression for +the face of the Madonna. Six months ago, when I began it, your face was +so meek and tranquil it served me well, but now, even with its present +air of meek entreaty, it is too passionate for the mother of God. It is +far dearer thus to me, Imogen--but I can never finish the painting +now--and only an angel can, for your young face is fairer and purer than +aught else on earth.' + +Again fell the heavy lashes, half veiling the innocent love in the timid +eyes, as the Painter parted the massive braids from the spotless brow, +and softly kissed the snowy forehead of his betrothed. + +The harp of Angelo quivered, as the sun set behind the crimson clouds, +under his nervous touch. Some sadness seemed to weigh upon his buoyant +spirit too, in this eventful eve. His music always pictured the depths +of his own soul, and he forced the heaven tones to wail the human +Miserere. But the Beauty into which the sorrow was transfigured gave +promise that it would end in the triumphant chorus of the 'Hosanna in +Excelsis.' For music gives the absolute peace in the absolute conflict; +the absolute conflict to terminate in the absolute peace. + +Fair as the Angel of Hope, the Rose listened with her heart. Her +childlike, deep blue eyes were raised to heaven, while her long golden +curls, lighting rather than shading her pale brow, like the halos of dim +glory which the light vapors wreathe round the moon, mingled with the +darker flow of wavy hair falling upon the shoulder of the harpist, on +which she leaned as if to catch the flying sounds as they soared from +the heart of the loved one. + +'Thy song is very sad,' said the Rose, as her eyes rested tenderly upon +the inspired face. 'Is there no Gloria to-night, Angelo?' + +'I cannot sing it now, sweet Rosalie! The Hosanna is for heaven; not for +a world in which Love is, and Death may enter. If I am to lose thee, my +soul must chant the Miserere. Ah! that thought unmans me. I cannot part +from thee, sweet wife. Cling closer, closer to me, Rosalie. There! Death +must be strong to untwine that clasp! But he alone is strong--and +Love'-- + +'Love is stronger far!' cried the startled Rose, as she buried her face +in the bosom of her husband, to hide the unwonted tears which dimmed her +trustful eyes. + +'Parting! there is no parting for those whom God has joined. His ties +are for eternity. The Merciful parts not those whom He has made for each +other. Even if we must chant the Miserere here, together will we chant +the Gloria before the throne of our Creator. Ah, Angelo, do you not feel +that but _one_ life throbs in our _two_ hearts? Parting and Death are +only seeming!' + +Thus sped time on until midnight was upon the earth. The little group +were still together; mystic thoughts and previsions were upon them. +Zophiel read at intervals weird passages from the Book of Life; Jemschid +touched, now and then, the face of the Madonna, and some unwonted spirit +of sorrow brooded over the harp of Angelo. + +'Rosalie! once more the Miserere ere we sleep,' said he. Scarcely had he +commenced the solemn chant, when, suddenly resting his hand on the +chords, he cried: 'Hark! brothers. It is the voice of Anselm--he calls +he calls us--but I hear not what he says. Listen!' + +Lo! a Shining One from the court of the Great King suddenly stands among +them. His gossamer robes seemed woven of the deep blue of the fields of +space through which he had just passed, and the stars were glittering +through the graceful folds bound with rare devices, wrought from the +jasper, onyx, and chrysoprase of the heavenly city. + +'Brothers!' said the sweet voice of the beautiful vision, 'the term of +exile is past; the Father has sent me to recall His children.' + +But the heart of the artists sank, for the human love was strong in +their bosoms. + +Jemschid gazed upon the betrothed bride; the unfinished picture; and +tears rushed into his sad eyes. + +The Angel was touched with pity for the double grief of artist and +lover, and said: + +'Gaze not so sorrowfully upon the unwedded maiden; the unfinished +picture! She shall yet be thine-and the picture shall be dear to thy +fellow men. Lo! I am Rubi, the angel of Beauty!' + +Then, taking the brush in his glittering hands, with rapid touch he gave +the lovely face an expression of tender innocence, of virgin purity, of +maternal love and adoration, which will never cease to thrill the heart +of the faithful. + +'It is the Mother of our Lord!' said the astonished brothers, as they +gazed upon the finished work. + +'Zophiel!' continued the pitying angel, 'the lips of Sibyl shall repeat +thy songs, for they are all graven upon her heart! But you are now to +chant in heaven, and the canticle is to be for His praise who made all; +and when you exalt Him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; +for you can never go far enough! + +'Angelo! the Hosanna is for heaven. The Rose lingers not here to chant +alone the Miserere.' + +Alas! the wild human dread and sorrow overpowered all else in the +breasts of the brothers as they gazed upon the women of their love. A +strange smile played over the heavenly face of the Angel as he murmured: +_'Are they not safe in the bosom of the everlasting Love?'_ + + * * * * * + +Slowly through the Valley of the Shadow--and then more rapid than the +flight of thought, moved the brothers, on--on--through myriads upon +myriads of blazing suns, of starry universes; on--on--until they reached +the limits of space, the boundary of material worlds. The angels left +them as they entered the primeval night of chaos, the shoreless ocean +between the sensuous and spiritual life. For alone with God through +chaos do we arrive at the sensuous body; alone with God in chaos do we +leave this body of corruption, from which is evolved the Body of the +Spirit, 'glorious and unchangeable.' And again is clasped the thread of +_Identity,_ on which are strung the pearls of memory, and the Past and +Future of Time become the Eternal Present! + + * * * * * + +Clothed in immortal vesture, the brothers now stand before that Great +White Throne, which has no shadow, but is built of Light inaccessible, +and full of Glory. + +Summoned by the Holy Lawgiver, the meek Anselm knelt before Him, blinded +with splendor, dazzled with fathomless majesty. + +'Behold thy creature before thee for judgment, O Thou in whose sight the +angels are not pure! We are born to evil, and who may endure thy +justice? Look not into my weak and sinful heart, O God, but upon the +face of Thy Anointed, in whom is all my trust! Have mercy upon me!' + +Tears of mingled gratitude and penitence welled up, as in the days of +exile, from his self-accusing breast. + +Wonderful condescension the Father Himself wiped them from the downcast +eyes! + +And the Saviour of men clothed him in a garment of fine linen, white and +pure, and 'to him was given the hidden manna, and a white stone, and in +the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth +it.' + +Then the words over whose mystic meaning he had so often pondered, came, +like the sound of many waters, upon his ear: + +'And he that shall overcome, and keep my works unto the end, to him I +will give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of +iron, and as the vessel of a potter they shall be broken. + +'And I will give him the morning star.' + +Thus the humble and self-abnegating Anselm, who had kept the +commandments and loved his Maker, passed in glory to the Saints of +Power. The morn of the Eternal Present dawned upon him, and the sublime +'_vision in God_' was open before him. + + * * * * * + +Then were the artists summoned before the Throne. Awed yet enchanted, +they bowed before their Maker, with raised hands clasped in gratitude +for the happiness they had known on earth. Then spoke Angelo, the +musician: + +'Behold thy grateful children at thy feet, O Father of earth and heaven! +We truly repent of all we may have done amiss in Thy lower world. Thy +heritage was very fair, and the exceeding Beauty thereof covered the +Evil, and in all things were planted the germs of Good. 'Our prayer was +in our work,' and all things spake to us of Thee, for the hand of a +Father made all. Forgive us if we have loved life too well; we have +always felt that the rhythmed pulse of our own hearts throbbed but in +obedience to Thy tuneful laws! Loving our fellow men, we have labored to +awake them to a sense of Thy tenderness, O Creator of Love and of +Beauty, so unsparingly casting the ever-new glories around them! Father, +we have loved Thee in thy glorious creation. + +"For Thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things that +thou hast made, for thou didst not appoint or make anything hating it. +For He made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison +of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon earth. + +"For justice is perpetual and immortal.' + +"We have looked upon the rainbow, and blessed Him that made it: for it +was very beautiful in its brightness.' + +"For by the greatness of the Beauty, and of the creature, the Creator of +them may be seen so as to be known thereby.' + +"It is good to give praise to the Lord: to show forth thy loving +kindness in the morning, and thy truth in the night; + +"Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery, upon the harp +with a solemn sound. + +"For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works, and in the works +of thy hand I shall rejoice.' + +'Have mercy upon us for the sake of the Redeemer, whose Perfection +crowns the universe, who has not disdained to give Himself to us, and +for us: the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. Mercy for +ourselves--and for those whom we have left on earth, we beseech Thee!' + +Gently smiled the Virgin Mother, whose humble heart had cradled the +Everlasting Love! 'All generations shall call her blessed,' for on that +tender woman bosom rests that wondrous God-built arch spanning the awful +Chaim between the sinful human and the Perfect Infinite! 'For _He_ was +born of a Virgin.' + +The heart of Anselm throbbed through his garments white and pure; he +loved his brothers, and feared that human art would be deemed vain and +worthless in heaven. _For the saints forget that God himself is the +Great Artist!_ + +Then was there silence in heaven, and the brothers knelt before the +Throne. + +The Father spoke: + +'Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Enter into his gates +with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise, be thankful unto +him, and bless his name: the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath conquered. +He will give to him that overcometh to eat of the Tree of Life, which is +in the Paradise of God.' + +The silence that ensued was the bliss of heaven! + +As Rubi, the Angel of Beauty, advanced to greet the spirits whom he had +left on the confines of chaos, the triumphant song burst from the young +choir of angels: 'For they shall not hunger nor thirst any more; neither +shall the sun fall on them or any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the +midst of the throne, shall rule them, and shall lead them to the +fountains of the waters of life, and God shall wipe away all tears from +their fives.' + +Joy! joy! for the soul of the musician! The heart of the Rose had broken +while chanting the last Miserere, and she was again at his side to catch +his first Hosanna! + +'Angelo--Angelo--parting and death are only seeming!' + +To the soul of the poet was given the highest theme, the splendor and +love of the Eternal City, and power to join the scribes of heaven. And +the painter looked upon the face of the Virgin, the strange lights, the +forms of Cherubim and Seraphim, and the twelve gates and the golden +streets of that city; 'which needeth not sun or moon to shine in it, for +the glory of God hath enlightened it; and the Lamb is the light +thereof.' + +Who can imagine that region of supernal splendor, 'whose glories eye +hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the +heart of man to conceive'? + +The strings of Angelo's heaven harp quivered as though stirred by the +breath of God. + +Then did he first truly discern the _soul_ of that divine language whose +_form_ he had made known on earth. + +Then arose 'as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice +of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying: +Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.' + +Loud rang the heaven harps: 'Holy--Holy--Holy! To Him that sitteth on +the Throne, and to the Lamb, Benediction, and Honor, and Glory, and +Power, forever and ever!' + + + + +UNUTTERED. + + + Said a poet, sighing lowly, + As his life ebbed slowly, slowly, + And upon his pallid features shone the sun's last rosy light, + Shedding there a radiance tender, + Softened from the dazzling splendor + Of the burning clouds of sunset, gleaming in the west so bright, + Glancing redly, ere forever lost within the gloom of night: + + 'Gold and crimson clouds of even, + Kindling the blue vault of heaven, + Ye are types of airy fancies that within my spirit glow! + Thou, O Night, so darkly glooming, + And those brilliant tints entombing + In thy black and heavy shadows, thou art like this life of woe, + Prisoning all the glorious visions that still beat their wings to go! + + 'Oh, what brilliancy and glory + Had illumed my life's dull story, + Could those thoughts have found expression as within my soul they shone! + But though there like jewels gleaming, + And with golden splendor streaming, + Cold and dim their lustre faded, tarnished, like the sparkling stone + That, from out the blue waves taken, looks a pebble dull alone. + 'For within my heart forever + Was a never-dying river, + Was a spring of deathless music welling from my deepest soul! + And all Nature's deep intonings, + Merry songs, and plaintive meanings, + Floated softly through my spirit, swelling where those bright waves stole, + Till the prisoning walls seemed powerless 'gainst that billowy rush and roll. + + 'Oh, the surging thoughts and fancies; + Oh, the wondrous, wild romances + That from morn till dewy twilight murmured through my haunted brain! + Thoughts as sweet as summer roses, + And with music's dreamiest closes, + Dying faintly into silence, from the full and ringing strain + That through all my spirit sounded with a rapture half of pain. + + 'How I longed those words to utter + That within my heart would flutter, + Beating wild against their prison, as its walls they'd burst in twain: + But it broke not, throbbing only, + Aching in a silence lonely, + Till my very life was flooded with a wild, delicious pain; + Kindled with a blaze illuming all the chambers of my brain! + + 'And to me death had been glorious, + If those burning words, victorious, + Had at last surged o'er their prison, bearing my departing soul! + Gladly were my heart's blood given, + If those bonds I might have riven; + If, with every crimson lifedrop that from out my full heart stole, + I might hear that swelling chorus upward in its glory roll. + + 'Sad and low my heart is beating! + Each pulsation still repeating + 'All in vain those eager longings, all in vain that burning prayer. + See the breezes, 'mid the bowers, + Sigh above the fragrant flowers, + And from out those drooping roses, their heart-folded sweetness bear-- + But no heaven-sent wind shall whisper thy soul-breathings to the air.' + + 'But upon my darkened vision + Comes a gleam of light Elysian; + And a seraph voice breathes softly--'Answered yet shall be that prayer! + For the spirit crushed and broken + By those burning words unspoken, + Soon shall hear them swelling, floating far upon the heavenly air, + And its deepest inmost visions shall have perfect utterance there!'' + + + + +WILLIAM LILLY, ASTROLOGER. + + + A cunning man, hight Sidrophel, + That deals in destiny's dark counsels, + And sage opinions of the moon sells, + To whom all people, far and near, + On deep importances repair. + + * * * * * + + Do not our great reformers use + This Sidrophel to forebode news? + To write of victories next year, + And castles taken yet i' the air? + Of battles fought at sea, and ships + Sunk two years hence--the great eclipse? + A total overthrow given the king + In Cornwall, horse and foot, next spring?' + +Thus much, and more, wrote Butler in his 'Hudibras' of William Lilly, +who was famous in London during that eventful period of English history +from the time of Charles I, onward through the Commonwealth and the +Protectorate, to the Restoration: a time of civil commotions and wars, +when political parties and religious sects, striving for mastery, or +struggling for existence, made the lives and estates of men insecure, +and their outlook in many respects a troubled one. Lifelong connections +of families and neighbors were then rudely severed, and doubt, distrust, +and discontent filled all minds, or most. Of this widespread commotion +London was the active centre; and there a judgment of God, called the +plague, had, in the year 1625, desolated whole streets. The timid, +time-serving, faithless, a wavering host, peered anxiously into the +future, eager to know what might be hidden there, so that they could +shape their course accordingly for safety or for profit. Finding their +own short vision inadequate, they turned for aid to the professional +prophets of that troublous time--magicians who could call forth spirits +and make them speak, or astrologers who could read the stars, and show +how the great Disposer of events could be forestalled. These discoverers +of the hidden, disclosers of the future, though branded now as +impostors, were not therefore worse than their dupes; for in all ages +the two classes, deceivers and deceived, are essentially alike; +positives and negatives of the same thing. 'Men are not deceived; they +deceive themselves.' Witness a great American nation, in these latter +days, electing its ablest man to its highest place, and choosing between +a Fremont and a Buchanan! But let us turn quickly to the seventeenth +century again, and leave the nineteenth to its day of judgment. + +Among the many astrologers dwelling in London at the time of which we +treat, William Lilly was the most famous; and his life being of great +interest to himself, he wrote an account of it for the instruction of +mankind--or for some other purpose; and we will now get from it what we +conveniently can.[1] + +'I was born,' says this renowned astrologer, 'in the county of +Leicester, in an obscure town, in the northwest part thereof, called +Diseworth, seven miles south of the town of Derby, one mile from Castle +Donnington.' 'This town of Diseworth is divided into three parishes; one +part belongs under Lockington, in which stands my father's house (over +against the steeple), in which I was born' on the first day of May, +1602. After this rather too minute account of his birthplace, Lilly +tells us of his ancestors, substantial yeomen for many generations, who +'had much free land and many houses in the town;' but all the family +estates were 'sold by my grandfather and father, so that now our family +depends wholly on a college lease.' 'Of my infancy I can speak but +little; only I do remember that in the fourth year of my age I had the +measles.' 'My mother intended I should be a scholar from my infancy, +seeing my father's backslidings in the world, and no hopes by husbandry +to recruit a decayed estate.' Therefore, after some schooling at or near +home, the boy, when eleven years old, was sent to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, +Leicester, to the school of Mr. John Brinsley, who 'was very severe in +his life and conversation, and did breed up many scholars for the +universities; in religion he was a strict Puritan.' 'In the fourteenth +year of my age, about Michaelmas, I got a surfeit, and thereupon a +fever, by eating beechnuts.' 'In the sixteenth year of my age I was +exceedingly troubled in my dreams concerning my salvation and damnation, +and also concerning the safety and destruction of my father and mother: +in the nights I frequently wept and prayed, and mourned, for fear my +sins might offend God.' 'In the seventeenth year of my age my mother +died.' The next year, 'by reason of my father's poverty, I was enforced +to leave school, and so came home to my father's house, where I lived in +much penury one year, and taught school one quarter of a year, until +God's providence provided better for me. For the last two years of my +being at school I was of the highest form of the school, and chiefest of +that form. I could then speak Latin as well as English; could make +extempore verses upon any theme.' 'If any scholars from remote schools +came to dispute, I was ringleader to dispute with them.' 'All and every +of those scholars, who were of my form and standing, went to Cambridge, +and proved excellent divines; only I, poor William Lilly, was not so +happy, fortune then frowning on my father's condition, he not in any +capacity to maintain me at the university.' + +So this poor scholar, first of his class, bright visions of the +university, and of what might lie beyond, all fading into darkness, went +down to his father's house in the country, where his acquirements were +useless. He says: 'I could not work, drive plough, or endure any country +labor; my father oft would say, 'I was good for nothing,' and 'he was +willing to be rid of me.' A sorrowful time for the poor young fellow, +without any outlook toward a better. But at last, one Samuel Smatty, an +attorney, living in the neighborhood, took pity on the lad, and gave him +a letter to Gilbert Wright, of London, who wanted a youth who could read +and write, to attend him. Thereupon Lilly, in a suit of fustian, with +this letter in his pocket, and ten shillings, given him by his friends, +took leave of his father, who was then in Leicester jail for debt, and +set off for London with 'Bradshaw, the carrier.' He 'footed it all +along,' and was six days on the way; spending for food two shillings and +sixpence, and nothing for lodgings; but he was in good heart, I think, +for almost the only joyous expression in his autobiography is this one, +relating to this time: 'Hark, how the wagons crack with their rich +lading!' + +Gilbert Wright, who had been 'servant to the Lady Pawlet in +Hertfordshire,' had married a widow with property, and lived afterward +'on his annual rents;' or on his wife's, and 'was of no calling or +profession.' This man had real need of a servant who could read and +write, for he himself could do neither; but he was, however, 'a man of +excellent natural parts, and would speak publicly upon any occasion very +rationally and to the purpose.' Lilly was kindly received by Master +Wright, who found, it seems, employment enough for him. 'My work was to +go before my master to church; to attend my master when he went abroad; +to make clean his shoes; sweep the street; help to drive bucks when he +washed; fetch water in a tub from the Thames--I have helped to carry +eighteen tubs of water in one morning;--weed the garden. All manner of +drudgery I willingly performed.' + +Mrs. Wright, who brought money to her husband, brought also a jealous +disposition, and made his life uncomfortable. 'She was about seventy +years of age, he sixty-six,' 'yet was never any woman more jealous of a +husband than she!' She vexed more than one man, too, and her first +husband had temptations to cut his own throat and escape from trouble +so; but he, as we shall learn by and by, got some relief otherwise, and +lived till death came by better means. + +Tally had difficulty in keeping on good terms 'with two such opposite +natures' as those of his master and mistress, that he managed it +somehow, and says: 'However, as to the things of this world, I had +enough, and endured their discontents with much sereneness. My mistress +was very curious to know of such as were then called cunning, or wise +men, whether she should bury her husband. She frequently visited such +persons, and this begot in me a little desire to learn something that +way; but wanting money to buy books, I laid aside these notions, and +endeavored to please both master and mistress.' + +This mistress had a cancer in her left breast, and Lilly had much +noisome work to do for her; which he did faithfully and kindly. 'She was +so fond of me in the time of her sickness, she would never permit me out +of her chamber.' 'When my mistress died (1624) she had under her armhole +a small scarlet bag full of many things, which one that was there +delivered unto me. There were in this bag several sigils, some of +Jupiter in Trine; others of the nature of Venus; some of iron, and one +of gold, of pure virgin gold, of the bigness of a thirty-three shilling +piece of King James coin. In the circumference on one side was engraven, +_Vicit Leo de Tribu Judć Tetragrammation_~+~: within the middle there +was engraven a holy lamb. In the other circumference there was +_Amraphel_, and three ~+ + +~. In the middle, _Sanctus Petrus_, _Alpha_ +and _Omega_.' + +This sigil the woman got many years before of Dr. Samuel Foreman, a +magician or astrologer; the same who 'wrote in a book left behind him,' +'This I made the devil write with his own hand, in Lambeth Fields, 1596, +in June or July, as I now remember.' This sigil the woman got from the +doctor, who was evidently a foreman among liars, for her first husband, +who had been 'followed by a spirit which vocally and articulately +provoked him to cut his own throat.' Her husband, wearing this sigil +'till he died, was never more troubled by spirits' of this kind of call; +but on the woman herself it seems to have failed of effect, for though +she too wore it till she died, she was continually tormented by an +authentic spirit of jealousy--a torment to herself and to her husband. + +After this mistress had gone, Lilly lived very comfortably, his 'master +having a great affection' for him; and also a great confidence in him, +it seems; for when the plague (1625) began to rage in London, the master +went for safety into Leicestershire, leaving Lilly and a fellow servant +to keep the house, in which was much money and plate, belonging to his +master and others. Lilly was faithful to his charge in this fearful +time, and kept himself cheerful by amusements. 'I bought a bass viol, +and got a master to instruct me; the intervals of time I spent in +bowling in Lincoln's Inn Fields with Watt, the cobbler, Dick, the +blacksmith, and such-like companions.' Nor did he neglect more serious +business, but attended divine service at the church of St. Clement +Danes, where two ministers died in this time; but the third, Mr. +Whitacre, 'escaped not only then, but all contagion following,' though +he 'buried all manner of people, whether they died of the plague or +not,' and 'was given to drink, so that he seldom could preach more than +one quarter of an hour at a time.' This year of plague was indeed a +fearful one in London, and Lilly says elsewhere, 'I do well remember +this accident, that going in July, 1625, about half an hour after six in +the morning, to St. Antholine's church, I met only three persons on the +way, from my house over against Strand bridge, till I came there; so few +people were there alive and the streets so unfrequented.' 'About fifty +thousand people died that year;' but Lilly escaped death, though his +'conversation was daily with the infected.'[2] + +Master Wright did not continue long a widower, but took to himself +another wife, and a younger, who was of 'brown ruddy complexion,' and of +better disposition than her predecessor in the household. Master Wright +was probably a happy man for a time; but only for a short time; for in +May, 1627, he died, and the estate, by agreement of the parties in it, +was assigned to Lilly for payment of its debts. The trust was not +misplaced; the debts were all paid, and the remainder of the estate, +except an annuity of twenty pounds, which his master had settled on +Lilly, he returned to the executors. + +Mistress Wright, the widow, 'who had twice married old men,' had now +many suitors; 'old men, whom she declined; some gentlemen of decayed +fortunes, whom she liked not, for she was covetous and sparing;' +'however, all her talk was of husbands,' and, in short, William Lilly +became the happy man; made happy within four months of the death of the +old master. 'During all the time of her life, which was till October, +1633, we lived very lovingly; I frequenting no company at all; my +exercises were angling, in which I ever delighted; my companions, two +aged men.' 'I frequented lectures, and leaned in judgment to Puritanism; +and in October, 1627, I was made free of the Salters' company of +London.' + +Up to this time, therefore, the history of William Lilly, so far as he +has made it known, is briefly this: Born poor, the grandfather and +father having wasted the family estates, he was sent by his mother, who +intended him from his infancy for a scholar, to the school of +Ashby-de-la-Zouch; where, at one time, he was in trouble about his soul +and the souls of his parents; and he 'frequently wept, prayed, and +mourned, for fear his sins might offend God.' But the mother died, the +father got into prison for debt, and poor Lilly, who had made himself +the best scholar in the school, could not go up to the university as he +had hoped to do, but after a wretched year at his father's house, where +he was accounted useless and an encumbrance, he had to become the +servant of one who could neither read nor write, doing all kinds of +drudgery. Serving faithfully, the much-enduring young man won the love +and confidence of the old master and mistress, and at last married the +young widow, who was a wholesome-looking woman, of brown ruddy +complexion, and had property, which served, among other things, to make +Lilly 'free of the Salters' company.' Not a bad history, certainly, if +not one of the best: he was a thriving young man, not a complaining one; +but one who accepted the conditions under which he was placed, and made +the best of them; which is what all young men ought to do. + +And now Lilly--being a man of some property and standing, without any +profession or regular business, but with an inclination to the occult +arts, begot in him probably by the folly of old Mistress Wright--tells +us how he 'came to study astrology.' 'It happened on one Sunday, 1632, +as myself and a justice of peace's clerk were, before service, +discoursing of many things, he chanced to say that such a person was a +great scholar; nay, so learned that he could make an almanac, which to +me was strange: one speech begot another, till at last he said he could +bring me acquainted with one Evans, who lived in Gunpowder alley, who +formerly lived in Staffordshire, that was an excellent wise man, and +studied the black art. The same week (after) we went to see Mr. Evans. +When we came to his house, he, having been drunk the night before, was +upon his bed--if it be lawful to call that a bed whereon he lay.' 'He +was the most saturnine man my eyes ever beheld either before I practised +(astrology) or since: of middle stature, broad forehead, beetle browed, +thick shoulders, flat nosed, full lips, down looked, black, curling, +stiff hair, splay footed;' 'much addicted to debauchery, and then very +abusive and quarrelsome; seldom without a black eye, or one mischief or +another.' A very good description this, save that the shoulders of it +are between the brow and nose: not a handsome man, certainly; a kind of +white negro, we should say, and not the better for being white: +nevertheless men of high rank came to see him, and readers who have made +acquaintance with Sir Kenelm Digby will not be astonished to learn that +he was one of them. He came with Lord Bothwell, and 'desired Evans to +show them a spirit.' But 'after some time of invocation, Evans was taken +out of the room, and carried into the fields near Battersea causeway, +close to the Thames:' taken by the spirits, because the magician 'had +not at the time of invocation made any suffumigation;' for spirits must +always be treated gingerly. 'Sir Kenelm Digby and Lord Bothwell went +home without any harm;' which was better than they deserved. + +Lilly, after many lessons given him by this Evans, was doubtful about +the black art, as he might well be; but, he says, 'being now very +meanly introduced, I applied myself to study those books I had obtained, +many times twelve or fifteen or eighteen hours a day and night: I was +curious to discover whether there was any verity in the art or not. +Astrology at this time, viz. 1633, was very rare in London; few +professing it that understood anything thereof.' Lilly gives us next +some account of the astrologers of his time; but the reader need form no +further acquaintance of this kind; acquaintance with Lilly, who was the +best of them, will be enough for him. + +In October of this year, 1633, Lilly's wife died, and left him 'very +near to the value of one thousand pounds sterling'--all she had to +leave. He continued a widower 'a whole year,' which he, as that phrase +implies, held to be a long time in such bereavement--and followed his +studies in astrology very diligently. So diligently that he soon had +knowledge to impart to others, and he 'taught Sir George Knight +astrology, that part which concerns sickness, wherein he so profited +that in two or three months he would give a very good discovery of any +disease only by his figures.' + +With a new wife, which he got the next year (1634), Lilly had Ł500 +portion; but 'she was of the nature of Mars,' which is surely not a good +nature in a wife. In that same year he, with some 'other gentlemen,' +engaged in an adventure for hidden treasure: they 'played the hazel rod +round about the cloyster,' and digged, in the place indicated, six feet +deep, till they came to a coffin; but they did not open it, for which +they were afterward regretful, thinking that _it_ probably contained the +treasure. Suddenly, while they were at this work, a great wind arose, +'so high, so blustering, and loud,' that all were frightened, 'and knew +not what to think or do;' all save Lilly, who gave 'directions and +commands to dismiss the dćmons,' and then all became quiet again. These +doings Lilly did not approve, and says he 'could never again be induced +to join in such kind of work.' He engaged, however, in another +transaction of still worse character, which seems to have been even +more unpleasant to him; for he says: 'After that I became melancholy, +very much afflicted with the hypochondriac melancholy, growing lean and +spare, and every day worse; so that in the year 1635, my infirmity +continuing and my acquaintance increasing, I resolved to live in the +country, and in March and April, 1636, I removed my goods unto Hersham +(Horsham in Sussex, thirty-six miles from London), where I continued +until 1641, no notice being taken who or what I was:' and in this time +he burned some of his books, which treated of things he did not approve, +and which he disliked to practise; for this man really had a conscience +as good as the average, or even better: he was driven into solitude by +the reproaches of it--or, perhaps, by the scoldings of a wife who 'was +of the nature of Mars.' + +Thus far we have followed Lilly's account of himself closely, using +often his own words, because they give a more correct idea of the man +than could be got from the words of another; but henceforth to the end, +we will skip much and be brief. This astrologer did not always rely on +his special art to discover things hidden, but used often quite ordinary +means; sometimes such as are common to officers of detective police. His +confessions of doings in that kind are candid enough, and we must say of +his 'History of his Life and Times' that it is, on the whole, a simple, +truthful statement of facts; not an apology for a life at all; for he +seldom attempts to excuse or justify his actions, but leaves a plain +record with the reader for good or evil. + +A man, it is sometimes said, is to be judged by the company he keeps, +and we will therefore say a few words of this astrologer's friends. Of +men like William Pennington, of Muncaster, in Cumberland, 'of good +family and estate,' introduced to Lilly by David Ramsay, the king's +clockmaker, in 1634, who are otherwise unknown to us, we will say +nothing. But the reader surely knows something of Hugh Peters, the +Puritan preacher--who could do other things as well as preach: with him +Lilly had 'much conference and some private discourses,' and once in the +Christmas holidays, a time of leisure, Peters and the Lord Gray of Groby +invited him to Somerset House, and requested him to bring two of his +almanacs. At another time Peters took Lilly along with him into +Westminster Hall 'to hear the king tried.' But the most influential +friend, perhaps, was Sir Bulstrode Whitlocke, a man well known to +readers of English history as very prominent in the time of the +Commonwealth and Protectorate. He was high steward of Oxford, member of +the council of state, one of the keepers of the great seal, a man very +learned in the law, who made long discourses to Oliver Cromwell on the +matter of the kingship, and on other matters. He went to Sweden as +Cromwell's ambassador, and was one of the great men of that time, or one +of the considerable men. Sir Bulstrode, according to Ashmole, was +Lilly's patron; and indeed the great man did befriend him long, and help +him out of difficulties. The acquaintance began in this wise: Sir +Bulstrode being sick, Mrs. Lisle, 'wife to John Lisle,' afterward one of +the keepers of the great seal, came to Lilly, bringing a specimen of the +sick man. Whereupon the astrologer, having inspected the specimen, 'set +a figure,' and said, 'the sick for that time would recover, but by means +of a surfeit would dangerously relapse within one month; which he did, +by eating of trouts at Mr. Sands' house in Surrey.' Therefore, as there +could no longer be any doubt of Lilly's skill, he, at the time of Sir +Bulstrode's second sickness, was called to him daily; and though the +family physician said 'there was no hope of recovery,' the astrologer +said there was 'no danger of death,' and 'that he would be sufficiently +well in five or six weeks; and so he was.' This Mrs. Lisle, who brought +the specimen, being apparently one of Lilly's she friends, we will add +that she made herself remarkable by saying at the martyrdom of King +Charles I, in 1648, that 'her blood leaped within her to see the tyrant +fall.' For this, and for other things, the woman was finally beheaded; +it being impossible otherwise to stop her tongue; and I have no tear for +her. + +Lilly's most intimate friend, however, was Elias Ashmole, Esq. Born in +1617, the name for him agreed on among his friends was Thomas; but at +the baptismal font the godfather, 'by a more than ordinary impulse of +spirit,' said Elias; and under that prophetic name the boy grew up to +manhood, and became for a time rather famous in high places. He was a +learned antiquary, and made a description of the consular and imperial +coins at Oxford, and presented it, in three folio volumes, to the +library there. He made also a catalogue and description of the king's +medals; a book on the Order of the Garter; a book entitled, _Fasciculus +Chemicus_, and another, _Theatrum Chemicum_. He published, moreover, a +book called 'The Way to Bliss;' but if he himself ever arrived at that +thing, he found the way uncomfortable, if we may judge from his diary, +half filled with record of his ailments, surfeits, and diseases, and of +the sweatings, purgings, and leechings consequent thereupon, or intended +as preventives thereof. To one kind of bliss, however, he did certainly +attain--that of high society; dining often with lords, earls, and dukes, +bishops and archbishops, foreign envoys, ambassadors, and princes; and +they, many of them, came in turn, and dined with him, who had made a +book on the Order of the Garter, and who understood the art of dining. +Continental kings sent to this man chains of gold, and his gracious +majesty, Charles II, was very gracious to him, and gave him fat offices, +mostly sinecures: and over and above all he gave a pension. This world +is a very remarkable one--especially remarkable in the upper crust of +it. + +Lilly's acquaintance with Ashmole began in 1646, and continued till +death did them part in 1681. Through all these thirty-five years there +was a close intimacy, Ashmole being a frequent visitor at Lilly's house +in the country, staying there often months at a time, and Lilly in +return coming often to London, and staying weeks with his honored +friend--a kind of Damon and Pythias affair without the heroics. Ashmole, +we said, was famous in his time; but indeed he has a kind of fame now, +and cannot soon be altogether forgotten, for he founded the Ashmolean +Museum at Oxford, and in the library there the curious can probably find +all his books, and read them, if they will; but I, who have read one of +them, shall not seek for more.[3] + +But indeed Lilly attracted the attention of Oliver Cromwell himself, and +once had an interview with him--a remarkably silent one. The occasion of +it was as follows: The astrologer, in his _Martinus Anglicus_ +(astrological almanac) for 1650, had written that 'the Parliament should +not continue, but a new government should arise;' and the next year he +'was so bold as to aver therein that the Parliament stood upon a +tottering foundation, and that the commonalty and soldiers would join +together against it.' These things, and others, published in _Anglicus_, +offended the Presbyterians, and on motion of some one of them, it was +ordered that '_Anglicus_ should be inspected by the committee for +plundered ministers;' and the next day thereafter Lilly was brought +before the committee, which was very full that day (thirty-six in +number), for the matter was an interesting one, whispered of before in +private, and now made public by prophecy. The astrologer, by skilful +management of friends, and some lies of his own, got off without damage +to himself. + +At the close of the first day's proceedings in committee, as the +sergeant-at-arms was carrying Lilly away, he was commanded to bring him +into the committee room again. 'Oliver Cromwell, lieutenant-general of +the army, having never seen me, caused me to be produced again, where he +steadfastly beheld me for a good space, and then I went with the +messenger.' This first meeting was, it appears, the only one, for Lilly +speaks of no other; but Cromwell spoke a good word for him that same +night, and was ever after rather friendly to him, or at least tolerant +of him. The lieutenant-general, looking fixedly at this man 'for a good +space,' saw nothing very bad in him; and knowing that his prophecies +favored the good cause, he, a man of strong, practical sense, was +willing to let him work as one of the influences of that time. + +This was not Lilly's only appearance before Parliament; sixteen years +later we shall find him there again; but of that at its time; and we +will look first at some of his doings in the interim. With another +general our astrologer had a meeting too, but with him--General +Fairfax--there was talk, not so full of meaning to me as the silence of +Cromwell. 'There being,' says Lilly, 'in those times, some smart +difference between the army and Parliament, the headquarters of the army +were at Windsor, whither I was carried with a coach and four horses, and +John Boker (an astrologer) with me. We were welcomed thither, and +feasted in a garden where General Fairfax lodged. We were brought to the +general, who bid us kindly welcome to Windsor.' Lilly tells what Fairfax +said, and what he himself said in reply; but if these speeches were all +that was there said and done, the coach and four, and the time spent, +seem to me wasteful. The speeches ended, 'we departed, and went to visit +Mr. Peters (Hugh Peters), the minister, who lodged in the castle; whom +we found reading an idle pamphlet come from London that morning.' He +said--what gives proof, if proof be needed, that there was idle talk +current in that time, as indeed there is in all times. + +Our astrologer, professing a high art, standing above the common level, +did not give 'up to party what was meant for mankind.' The stars look +down, from their high places, on sublunary things, with a sublime +indifference; and he, their interpreter, was at the service of all +comers, or of all who could pay. Many came to him; among others came +'Madam Whorwood,' from King Charles, who intended to escape from Hampton +Court, where he was held prisoner by the army. She came to inquire 'in +what quarter of this nation he (the king) might be most safe?' Lilly, +after 'erection of his figure,' said, 'about twenty miles from London, +and in Essex,' 'he might continue undisturbed;' but the poor king, +misguided by himself, or others, 'went away in the night time westward, +and surrendered to Hammond in the Isle of Wight. Twice again, according +to Lilly, Madam Whorwood came to him, asking advice and assistance for +the king. This Madam Whorwood I have not met with elsewhere in my +reading, and the name may be a fictitious one; but that King Charles, in +his straits, sought aid of William Lilly, who by repute could read the +stars, is not improbable. In 1648, Lilly gave to the council of state +'some intelligence out of France,' which he got by means not +astrological, or in any way supernatural; and the council thereupon gave +him 'in money fifty pounds, and a pension of one hundred pounds per +annum,' which he received for two years, 'but no more.' + +So Lilly, whose business as astrological prophet brought him into close +contact with many kinds of men--men of all parties and sects--went on +getting information of all, and by all kinds of means; and imparting it +again to all who had need; but always he had an eye to the 'main +chance,' and provided well for himself. With each of his three wives he +got money. The second one, who, as we remember, 'was of the nature of +Mars,' died in February, 1654, and the bereaved man says that he +thereupon 'shed no tear;' which we can well believe. Dry eyed, or with +only such moisture as comes of joy, he, within eight months after the +departure of Mrs. Mars, took another to his bosom, one who, he says, 'is +signified in my nativity by Jupiter in Libra, and she is so totally in +her conditions, to my great comfort.' + +After the Restoration, Lilly was apprehended and committed to the Gate +House. 'I was had,' he says, 'into the guard room, which I thought to be +hell: some therein were sleeping, others swearing, others smoking +tobacco. In the chimney of the room I believe there were two bushels of +broken tobacco-pipes, and almost half one load of ashes.' A sad time and +place: but his 'old friend, Sir Edward Walker, garter king-at-arms,' +made interest for him in the right quarters, and he was released from +the place he 'thought to be hell.' In 1660 he sued out his pardon for +all offences 'under the broad seal of England.' + +Of Lilly's religion (so called) there is not much to be said: in early +life he 'leaned to Puritanism,' as we have been told, and he probably +leaned on that so long as he could find support in it; but after the +Restoration (in 1663) he was made churchwarden of Walton-upon-Thames, +and settled 'the affairs of that distracted parish' as well as he could; +and upon leaving the place, 'forgave them seven pounds' which was due to +him. + +Soon after this, when the great plague of 1665 came upon London, Lilly +gave up business there and retired into the country to his wife and +family, and continued there for the remainder of his life; going up to +the great city occasionally to visit his friends, or on calls to +business in his special line: one call from a high quarter came to him +in this shape: + + +'Monday, _22d October_, 1666. + +At the committee appointed to inquire after the causes of the late +fires: + +'_Ordered_, That Mr. Lilly attend the committee on Friday next, being +the 25th day of October, at two o'clock in the afternoon, in the +speaker's chamber, to answer such questions as shall be then and there +asked him. + +'ROBERT BROOKE.' + + +The question before Parliament was in relation to the great fire in +London: 'as to the causes of the late fire; whether there might be any +design therein;' and Lilly was supposed to know something about that +matter, because he, in his book or pamphlet entitled 'Monarchy or no +Monarchy,' published in 1651, had printed on page seventh a hieroglyphic +'representing a great sickness and mortality, wherein you may see the +representation of people in their winding sheets, persons digging graves +and sepultures, coffins, etc.;' and on another page another hieroglyphic +representing a fire: two twins topsy-turvy, and back to back, falling +headlong into a fire. 'The twins signify Gemini, a sign in astrology +which rules London:' all around stand figures, male and female, pouring +liquids (oil or water?) on the flames. When, therefore, the great fire +of 1666 followed the plague of the preceding year, these hieroglyphics +again attracted attention, and the maker of them was called before +Parliament to declare if he, who had foreseen these events, could see +into them, and give any explanation of their causes. But Lilly was +prudent: to the question, 'Did you foresee the year of the fire?' he +replied: 'I did not; nor was I desirous; of that I made no scrutiny.' As +to the cause of the fire, he said: 'I have taken much pains in the +search thereof, but cannot, or could not, give myself any the least +satisfaction therein: I conclude that it was only the finger of God; +but what instruments he used therein I am ignorant.' + +That William Lilly, who, as we have seen, was twice called before +Parliament and questioned, attracted much attention elsewhere by his +prophecies and publications, there can be no doubt; and his books found +many readers. Their titles, so far as known to us, are as follows: +'Supernatural Insight;' 'The White King's Prophecy;' 'The Starry +Messenger;' 'A Collection of Prophecies;' an introduction to astrology, +called, 'Christian Astrology;' 'The World's Catastrophe;' 'The +Prophecies of Merlin, with a Key thereto;' 'Trithemius of the Government +of the World by the Presiding Angels;' 'A Treatise of the Three Suns +seen the preceding winter,' which was the winter of 1648; 'An +Astronomical Judgment;' 'Annus Tenebrosus;' 'Merlinus Anglicus,' a kind +of astrological almanac, published annually for many years, containing +many prophecies--a work which got extensive circulation, 'the Anglicus +of 1658 being translated into the language spoken in Hamburg, printed +and cried about the streets as it is in London;' and his 'Majesty of +Sweden,' of whom 'honorable mention' was made in Anglicus, sent to the +author of it 'a gold chain and a medal worth about fifty pounds.' + +Of these books made by Lilly, we, having little knowledge, indeed none +at all of the most of them, do not propose to speak; but one who has +looked into the 'Introduction to Astrology' can say that it has +something of method and completeness, and he can readily conceive how +Lilly, studying astrology through long years very diligently, then +practising it, instructing other men in it, writing books about it, +could have himself some kind of belief in it; such belief at least as +many men have in the business they study, practise, and get fame and +pudding by. Consider, too, how his belief in his art must have been +strengthened and confirmed by the belief of other men in it; able men of +former times, and respectable men of his own time. Indeed we will say of +astrology generally that it is a much better thing than the spiritualism +of this present day, with its idle rappings and silly mediums. + +We have named some of Lilly's friends--those only of whom we happened to +have some knowledge; but he had many friends, or many acquaintances--a +large circle of them. There were 'astrologers' feasts' in those days, +held monthly or oftener. Ashmole (called, by a more than ordinary +impulse of spirit, Elias) makes record in his Diary: 'Aug. 1, 1650, the +astrologers' feast at Painter's Hall, where I dined;' 'Oct. 31, the +astrologers' feast;' and other entries there are to the same effect. +Some ten years after, Lilly seems to have had these festivals, or +similar ones, in his own house; and on the 24th October, 1660, one +Pepys, well known to literary men, 'passed the evening at Lilly's house, +where he had a club of his friends.'[4] + +Thus far, namely, to the year 1666, Lilly brought the history of his +life: and in the continuation of it by another hand, we learn that in +the country at Horsham, near London, 'he betook himself to the study of +physic;' and in 1670, his old and influential friend, Mr. Ashmole, got +for him from the archbishop of Canterbury a license for the practice of +it. 'Hereupon he began to practise more openly and with good success; +and every Saturday rode to Kingston, where the poorer sort flocked to +him from several parts, and received much benefit by his advice and +prescriptions, which he gave them freely and without money. From those +that were more able he now and then received a shilling, and sometimes a +half crown, if they offered it to him; otherwise he received nothing; +and in truth his charity toward poor people was very great, no less than +the care and pains he took in considering and weighing their particular +cases, and applying proper remedies to their infirmities, which gained +him extraordinary credit and estimation.' So William Lilly lived at +Horsham, publishing his 'astronomical judgments' yearly, and helping as +he could the poor there and in the neighborhood, till the 9th day of +June, 1681, when he died. The 'great agony' of his diseases, which were +complicated, he bore 'without complaint.' 'Immediately before his breath +went from him, he sneezed three times;' which, we will hope, cleared his +head of some nonsense. + +In the judgment of his contemporaries, this William Lilly, astrologer, +was, as we can see, 'a respectable man.' Such judgment, however, is +never conclusive; for the time clement is always a deceptive one; and, +as all navigators know, the land which looms high in the atmosphere of +to-day does often, in the clearer atmosphere of other days, prove to be +as flat as a panecake: but we must say of Lilly, that though +unfortunately an impostor, he was really rather above the common level +of mankind--a little hillock, if only of conglomerate or pudding stone: +for, in his pamphlet entitled 'Observations on the Life and Times of +Charles I,' where he, looking away from the stars and treating of the +past, is more level to our judgment, he is still worth reading; and does +therein give a more impartial and correct character of that unhappy king +than can be found in any other contemporary writing; agreeing well with +the best judgments of this present time, and showing Lilly to be a man +of ability above the common. On the whole, we will say of him, that he +was the product of a mother who was good for something, and of a father +who was good for nothing, or next to that; that with such parentage, and +under such circumstances as we have seen, he became an astrologer, the +best of his kind in that time. + +It would be easy to institute other moral reflections, and to pass +positive judgment on the man: but instead thereof I will place here two +questions: + +_First_: Did William Lilly, in the eighteenth year of his age, need +anything except a little cash capital to enable him to go up to the +university and become a respectable clergyman of the Church of England, +or the minister of some dissenting congregation, if he had liked that +better? + +_Second_: When this impostor and the clergymen, who as boys stood +together in the same form of the school at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, come +together before the judgment bar of the Most High, will the Great Judge +say to each of the clergymen: Come up hither; and to the impostor: +Depart, thou cursed? + +'A fool,' it is said, 'may ask questions which wise men cannot answer;' +and the writer, having done his part in asking, leaves the more +difficult part for the consideration of the reader.[5] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: The Lives of those eminent Antiquaries, Elias Ashmole, +Esquire, and Mr. William Lilly, written by themselves; containing first, +William Lilly's History of his Life and Times, with Notes by Mr Ashmole; +secondly, Lilly's Life and Death of Charles I; and lastly, the Life of +Elias Ashmole, Esq., by way of Diary, etc. London, 1774.] + +[Footnote 2: Lilly's Life and Death of King Charles I.] + +[Footnote 3: The Lives of those eminent Antiquaries, Ellas Ashmole and +William Lilly, &c. London, 1774.] + +[Footnote 4: See Pepys' Diary and Correspondence. London, 1858. Vol. i, +p. 116.] + +[Footnote 5: The reader will find this question already answered in the +pages of holy writ: 'For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his +Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to +his works.'--_Matt_, xvi, 27.--ED. CON.] + + + + +JEFFERSON DAVIS--REPUDIATION, RECOGNITION, AND SLAVERY. + + +LETTER NO. II, FROM HON. ROBERT J WALKER. + +LONDON, 10 HALF MOON STREET, PICCADILY} + _July 30th, 1863._ } + +In my publication of the 1st inst., it was proved by the two letters of +Mr. Jefferson Dans of the 25th May, 1849, and 29th August, 1849, that he +had earnestly advocated the repudiation of the bonds of the State of +Mississippi issued to the Union Bank. It was then shown that the High +Court of Errors and Appeals of Mississippi, the tribunal designated by +the Constitution of the State, had _unanimously_ decided that these +bonds were constitutional and valid, and that more than seven years +thereafter, Mr. Jefferson Davis had nevertheless sustained the +repudiation of those bonds. + +In his letter before quoted, of the 23d March last, Mr. Slidell, the +minister of Jefferson Davis at Paris, says, 'There is a wide difference +between these (Union) bonds and those of the Planters' Bank, for the +repudiation of which neither excuse nor palliation can be offered.' And +yet I shall now proceed to prove, that Mr. Jefferson Davis did not only +_palliate and excuse_, but justified the repudiation, in fact, of those +bonds by the State of Mississippi. First, then, has Mississippi +repudiated those bonds? The principal and interest now due on those +bonds exceed $5,000,000 (Ł1,000,000), and yet, for a quarter of a +century, the State has not paid one dollar of principal or interest. 2. +The State, by act of the Legislature (ch. 17), referred the question of +taxation for the payment of those bonds to the vote of the people, and +their decision was adverse. As there was no fund available for the +payment, except one to be derived from taxation, this popular vote (to +which the question was submitted by the Legislature) was a decision of +the State for repudiation, and against payment. 3. The State, at one +time (many years after the sale of the bonds), had made them receivable +in purchase of certain State lands, but, as this was 'at three times its +current value,' as shown by the London _Times_, in its article +heretofore quoted by me, this was only another form of repudiation. 4. +When a few of the bondholders commenced taking small portions of these +lands in payment, because they could get nothing else, the State +repealed the law (ch. 22), and provided no substitute. 5. The State, by +law, deprived the bondholders of the stock of the Planters' Bank +($2,000,000), and of the sinking fund pledged to the purchasers for the +redemption of these bonds when they were sold by the State. Surely there +is here ample evidence of repudiation and bad faith. + +The bonds issued by the State of Mississippi to the Planters' Bank were +based upon a law of the State, and affirmed, by name, in a specific +provision of the State Constitution of 1832. The State, through its +agent, received the money, and loaned it to the citizens of the State, +and the validity of these obligations is conceded by Mr. Slidell and Mr. +Davis. + +These bonds were for $2,000,000, bearing an interest of six per cent. +per annum, and were sold at a premium of 13-1/2 per cent For those +bonds, besides the premium, the State received $2,000,000 of stock of +the Planters' Bank, upon which, up to 1838, the State realized ten per +cent. dividends, being $200,000 per annum. In January, 1841, the +Legislature of Mississippi _unanimously_ adopted resolutions affirming +the validity of these bonds, and the duty of the State to pay them. +(Sen. Jour. 314.) + +In his message to the Legislature of 1843, Governor Tucker says: + + 'On the 1st of January, 1838, the State held stock in the Planters' + Bank for $2,000,000, which stock had, prior to that time, yielded + to the State a dividend of $200,000 per annum. I found also the + first instalment of the bonds issued on account of the Planters' + Bank, $125,000, due and unpaid, as well as the interest for several + years on said bonds.' (Sen. Jour. 25.) + +The Planters' Bank (as well as the State), by the express terms of the +law, was bound for the principal and interest of these bonds. Now, in +1839, Mississippi passed an act (Acts, ch. 42), 'to transfer the stock +now held by the State in the Planters' Bank, and invest the same in +stock of the Mississippi Railroad Company.' By the first section of this +act, the Governor was directed to subscribe for $2,000,000 of stock in +the railroad company for the State, and to pay for it by transferring to +the company the Planters' Bank stock, which had been secured to the +State by the sale of the Planters' Bank bonds. The 10th section released +the Planters' Bank from the obligation to provide for the payment of +these bonds or interest. Some enlightened members, including Judge +Gholson, afterward of the Federal Court, protested against this act as +unconstitutional, by impairing the obligation of contracts, and as a +fraud on the bondholders. + +They say in this protest: + + 'The money which paid for the stock proposed to be transferred from + the Planters' Bank to the Mississippi Railroad Company, was, under + the provisions of the charter, obtained by loans on the part of the + State, for the payment of which the stock, in addition to the faith + of the Government, was pledged to the holders of the bonds of the + State. By the terms of the contract between the commissioners on + the part of the State and the purchasers of the bonds, the interest + on the loans is required to be paid semiannually out of the + semiannual dividends _accruing upon the said stock_; and the + surplus of such dividends, after paying the said interest, is to be + converted into a _sinking fund_ for the payment and liquidation of + said loans. The bill, as the title purports, simply provides for + the transfer of the stock now held by the State in the Planters' + Bank, and that the same shall be invested in the stock of the + Mississippi Railroad Company, leading from Natchez to Canton, which + has banking privileges to twice the amount of capital stock paid + in. The transferring of the stock and dividend to another + irresponsible corporation, and the appropriation of the same to the + construction of a road, is a violation of and impairing the + obligation of the contract made and entered into with the + purchasers or holders of the bonds of the State, under a solemn act + of the Legislature. If it should be thought that a people, composed + of so much virtue, honor, and chivalry, as the noble and generous + Mississippians, would disdain, and consequently refrain, from + repealing or violating their plighted faith, it may be answered, + that the faith of the State, solemnly and sacredly pledged by an + act of the Legislature, with all the formality and solemnity of a + constitutional law, is violated by the provisions of this very bill + under consideration. The faith of the State is pledged to the + holders of the bonds, by the original and subsequent acts + incorporating the Planters' Bank, as solemnly as national or + legislative pledges can be made, that the stock and dividends + accruing thereon shall be faithfully appropriated to the redemption + and payment of said loans and all interest thereon, as they + respectively become due; the appropriation of this fund to an other + purpose is, therefore, a violation of the faith of the State.' + (House Jour. 443.) + +Thus was it, that the stock of the bank, which for so many years had +been yielding a dividend far exceeding the interest on the loan, and +which stock had been pledged for the redemption of the loan, was +diverted to the building of a railroad, which never did or could yield a +single dollar, and the company soon became insolvent. By another clause +of this act of 1839, the Planters' Bank, which, by the loan act, was +made responsible (together with the State) for the payment of these +bonds, was released from the obligation to make such payments. + +And now, what is the answer of Jefferson Davis on this subject? He says, +in his letter of the 25th May, 1849, before quoted: + + 'A smaller amount is due for what are termed Planters' Bank bonds + of Mississippi. These evidences of debt, as well as the coupons + issued to cover accruing interest, are receivable for State lands, + and no one has a right to assume they will not be provided for + otherwise, by or before the date at which the whole debt becomes + due.' + +To this the London _Times_ replied, in its editorial of the 13th July, +1849, before quoted, as follows: + + 'The assurance in this statement that the Planters' Bank, or + non-repudiated bonds, are receivable for State lands, requires this + addition, which Mr. Jefferson Davis has omitted, that they are only + so receivable upon land being taken at three times its current + value. The affirmation afterward, that no one has a right to assume + that these bonds will not be fully provided for before the date at + which the principal falls due, is simply to be met by the fact, + that portions of them fell due in 1841 and 1846, and that on these, + as well as on all the rest, both principal and interest remain + wholly unpaid.' + +Mr. Davis's 'palliation and excuse' for the non-payment of these bonds +was: 1st. That the principal was not due. If this were true, it would be +no excuse for the non-payment of the semi-annual interest. But the +statement of Jefferson Davis as to the principal was not true, as shown +by the _Times_, and as is clear upon the face of the law. Then, as to +the lands. The bonds, principal aid interest, were payable in money, and +it was a clear case of repudiation to substitute lands. But when, as +stated by the _Times_, this land was only receivable '_at three times +its current value_,' Mr. Davis's defence of the repudiation of the +Planters' Bank bonds by Mississippi, is exposed in all its deformity. +When, however, we reflect, as heretofore shown, that the law authorizing +the purchase of these lands by these bonds was repealed, and the +bondholders left without any relief, and the proposition for taxation to +pay the bonds definitively rejected, it is difficult to imagine a case +more atrocious than this. + +The whole debt, principal and interest, now due by the State of +Mississippi, including the Planters' and Union Bank bonds, exceeds +$11,250,000 (Ł2,250,000). Not a dollar of principal or interest has been +paid by the State for more than a fourth of a century on any of these +bonds. The repudiation is complete and final, so long as slavery exists +in Mississippi. Now, would it not seem reasonable that, before +Mississippi and the other Confederate States, including Florida and +Arkansas, ask another loan from Europe, they should first make some +provision for debts now due, or, at least, manifest a disposition to +make some arrangement for it at some future period. If a debtor fails to +meet his engagements, especially if he repudiates them on false and +fraudulent pretexts, he can borrow no more money, and the same rule +surely should apply to states or nations. Nor can any pledge of property +not in possession of such a borrower, or, if so, not placed in the hands +of the lender, change the position. It is (even if the power to pay +exists) still a question of good faith, and where that has been so often +violated, all subsequent pledges or promises should be regarded as +utterly worthless. + +The _Times_, in reference to the repudiation of its Union Bank bonds by +Mississippi, and the justification of that act by Jefferson Davis, says: + + 'Let it circulate throughout Europe that a member of the United + States Senate in 1849 has openly proclaimed, that at a recent + period the Governor and legislative assemblies of his own State + deliberately issued fraudulent bonds for five millions of dollars + to 'sustain the credit of a rickety bank;' that, the bonds in + question having been hypothecated abroad to innocent holders, such + holders have not only no claim against the community by whose + executive and representatives this act was committed, but that they + are to be taunted for appealing to the verdict of the civilized + world rather than to the judgment of the legal officers of the + State by whose functionaries they have been already robbed; and + that the ruin of toil-worn men, of women, of widows, and of + children, and the 'crocodile tears' which that ruin has occasioned, + is a subject of jest on the part of those by whom it has been + accomplished; and then let it be asked if any foreigner ever penned + a libel on the American character equal to that against the people + of Mississippi by their own Senator.' + +Such was the opinion then expressed by the London _Times_ of Jefferson +Davis and of the repudiation advocated by him. It was denounced as +_robbery_, 'the ruin of toil-worn men, of women, of widows, and of +children.' And what is to be thought of the '_faith_' of a so-called +Government, which has chosen this repudiator as their chief, and what of +the value of the Confederate bonds now issued by him? Why, the legal +tender notes of the so-called Confederate Government, fundable in a +stock bearing eight per cent, interest, is now worth in gold at their +own capital of Richmond, less than ten cents on the dollar (2_s._, on +the pound), whilst in two thirds of their territory such notes are +utterly worthless; and it is TREASON for any citizen of the +United States, North or South, or any ALIEN resident there, to +deal in them, or in Confederate bonds, or in the cotton pledged for +their payment. No form of Confederate bonds, or notes, or stock, will +ever be recognized by the Government of the United States, and the +cotton pledged by slaveholding traitors for the payment of the +Confederate bonds is all forfeited for treason, and confiscated to the +Federal Government by act of Congress. As our armies advance, this +cotton is either burned by the retreating rebel troops, or seized by our +forces, and shipped and sold from time to time, for the benefit of the +Federal Government. By reference to the census of 1860, it will be seen +that three fourths of the whole cotton crop was raised in States (now +held by the Federal army and navy) touching the Mississippi and its +tributaries, and all the other ports are either actually held or +blockaded by the Federal forces. The traitor pledge of this cotton is, +then, wholly unavailing; the bonds are utterly worthless; they could not +be sold at any price in the United States, and those who force them on +the London market, in the language of the _Times_, before quoted, will +only accomplish '_the ruin of toil-worn, men, of women, of widows, and +of children_.' + +But the advocacy of repudiation by Jefferson Davis has not been confined +to his own State, as I shall proceed to demonstrate in my next letter. + +R.J. WALKER. + + + + +DIARY OF FRANCES KRASINSKA; + +OR, LIFE IN POLAND DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, + + +Tuesday, _March 19th_. + +The Prince and Princess Lubomirski left us about half an hour ago; they +had decided upon going yesterday, but my father told them that Monday +was an unfortunate day, and fearing that this argument would not possess +sufficient weight, he ordered the wheels to be taken off their carriage. + +They overwhelmed me with kindness during their sojourn in the castle; +the princess, especially, treated me with great affability. Both she and +the prince take a deep interest in my future lot; they endeavored to +persuade my parents to send me to Warsaw to finish my education. + +A foreigner, Miss Strumle, who, however, receives universally the title +of madame, has recently opened a young ladies' boarding school in +Warsaw. This school enjoys a high reputation, and all the young ladies +of distinction are sent there to finish their education. It is the same +for a young lady to have been some time at Madame Strumle's as for a +young gentlemen to have been at Luneville. The prince palatine advised +my mother to send me for a year to Madame Strumle. My parents prefer the +Sisters of the Holy Sacrament; they say that nothing can be better than +a convent. + +I do not know what will be their final decision, but I feel restless and +agitated. I no longer find pleasure in my reading; my work is tedious to +me, and not so well executed as formerly; the future occupies my mind +much more than the present; in short, I am in a constant state of +excitement, as if awaiting some great event. Since the visit of the +prince and princess I have an entirely different opinion of myself, and +I am by no means so happy as I was before.... In truth, I no longer +understand myself. + + +Sunday, _March 24th_. + +Ah I God be praised, my suspense is over, and we leave day after +to-morrow for Warsaw. My parents have been suddenly called there on +matters of business connected with the recent death of my uncle, Blaise +Krasinski, who has left a large fortune and no children. I do not yet +know whether I am to be placed at a boarding school or not, but I +believe it will be a long time before I return to Maleszow. + +Ah! how happy the idea of this journey makes me! We will go a little out +of our way, that we may stop at Sulgostow. Her ladyship the starostine +has at length, after a very agreeable tour, returned to her palace. The +starost has introduced her to all his cousins, friends, and neighbors; +she was everywhere admirably received, and will now settle down in her +own mansion, at which prospect she is very well pleased; she has all the +necessary qualifications for becoming a good housekeeper. The Palatine +Swidzinski spoke of her so affectionately in one of his letters that my +parents wept hot tears, but tears of joy, so sweet and go rare. Barbara +has always been a source of happiness to her parents. + + +Warsaw, Sunday, _April 7th_. + +I can scarcely believe it, but here I am fairly installed in Madame +Strumle's famous boarding school. The princess palatine's advice has +prevailed, and Madame Strumle has received the preference over the +Sisters of the Holy Sacrament. God be praised, for I really was very +anxious to come here. I received a most flattering reception. + +On our way to Warsaw we stopped at Sulgustow. We found her ladyship the +starostine gay and most hospitable; the presence of our dear parents +filled the measure of her happiness. She assured me that the delight of +receiving one's parents in one's own house could be neither expressed +nor understood. 'You must yourself experience it,' added she, 'before +you can form any idea of it.' + +On the table were all the dishes, confections, and beverages preferred +by our parents. Barbara forgot nothing which could be agreeable to them, +and the starost aided her wonderfully in all her efforts. My mother +remarked that Barbara was still better since her marriage than before, +to which the starost replied: + +'Indeed, she is no better, for thus did I receive her from the hands of +your highnesses. But she gladly profits by the present opportunity to +testify her gratitude; she shows here those lovely and precious +qualities which you have cultivated in her soul, and during the past +three days she has been for her parents what she is every day for me.' + +There was no flattery in what the starost said--it came really from his +heart. He adores Barbara, and she respects, honors, and obeys him as if +he were her father. + +She understands perfectly the whole management of a household, and does +the honors of her mansion most gracefully. Every one praises her, and +the young ladies and waiting women who followed her from Maleszow are +delighted with their new position. + +My parents regretted the necessity of parting from their daughter; they +would willingly have remained longer; but I must confess I was very +anxious to see Warsaw, and was charmed when they received letters +obliging them to hasten their departure. + +It was really a true instinct which gave me a preference for this place. +I study well, and must improve. My education will be complete, and I may +perhaps become a superior woman, as I have always desired to do; but I +need much study and close application to bring me to that point; above +all, must I chain my wandering fancies, and not suffer them to stray +about so vaguely as I have hitherto done. + +Yesterday my mother came to take me to church. I made my confession, and +communed for the intention of using well the new acquirements which I +have now the opportunity of making. + +When I am well established here, I will write in my journal every day as +I did at Maleszow; but I am still in a state of excitement from all I +have seen, and I must first become better acquainted with my new +dwelling. + + +Wednesday, _April 17th_. + +I am already quite familiar with all the regulations of the school. I am +very well pleased with Madame Strumle; she has excellent manners, and is +very kind to me. I might perhaps regret our court, the magnificence, +bustle, and gayety of our castle, but there comes a time for everything, +and we live here very happily and comfortably. + +That which seems most strange and entirely new to me is, that there is +not even a little boy in the house, no men servants, women always, and +only women; they wait upon us even at table. + +There are about fifteen boarders, all young, and belonging to the best +families. + +Every one speaks highly of Miss Marianne, the Starost Swidzinski's +sister, now married to the Castellan of Polaniec; she spent two years at +the school, and has left an ineffaceable impression in the hearts of +Madame Strumle and her young companions. They say she was very +accomplished, very good and sensible, very gay, and very studious. + +My parents, after having made a thorough examination of the school, felt +quite satisfied; and truly they might well be so, for no one could be +more securely guarded in a convent than here. Madame keeps the key of +the front door always in her pocket; no one can go out or come in +without her knowledge, and were it not for two or three aged masters of +music and the languages, we might be in danger of forgetting the very +existence of _man_-kind. + +It is expressly forbidden to receive visits even from one's male cousins +within the walls of the school. The dancing master desired that the +young potockis should come and learn quadrilles with their sisters and +myself, but madame rejected this proposition at once, saying, 'These +gentlemen are not the brothers of all my boarders, and I cannot permit +them to enter my school.' + +We have masters in French and German, as also in drawing, music, and +embroidery. We learn music on a fine piano of five octaves and a half. +What an improvement on that of Maleszow! Some of the scholars play +polonaises very well, but not by rote; they read them from the notes. My +master tells me that in six months I will have reached this perfection; +but then I already had some ideas of music when I came. + +I draw quite well from the patterns set before me, but ere I proceed any +further, I wish to paint a tree in oil colors. On one of the branches I +will hang a garland of flowers, encircling the cypher of my parents, and +will thus testify to them my gratitude for all they have done for me, +and especially for the care they have bestowed upon my education. + +The young Princess Sapieha, who has been here a year, is at present +employed upon such a picture, and I envy her her pleasure every time my +eyes fall upon the work. + +What a fine effect my picture will make in our hall at Maleszow, beneath +the portrait of our good uncle, the Bishop of Kamieniec! + +Our dancing master, besides the minuet and quadrilles, teaches us to +walk and courtesy gracefully. To tell the truth, I was so ignorant when +I came, that I knew but one mode of making a salutation; but there are +several kinds, which must be employed toward personages of different +ranks; one for the king, another for the princes of the blood, and still +another for lords and ladies of rank. + +I learned first how to salute the prince royal, and succeeded quite +well; some day, perhaps, this knowledge may be useful to me. + +My lessons follow one another regularly, and I am so anxious to learn +that the time passes rapidly and agreeably. + +My mother is very much occupied with family affairs, and has been only +once to see me. + +When I first entered the school, everything surprised me, but what +seemed to me most strange was that I was continually reproved, and even +obliged to undergo real penance. An iron cross was placed at my back to +make me hold myself upright, and my limbs were enclosed in a kind of +wooden box, to straighten them. I must however think that they were +already quite straight enough. All that was not very amusing for me, who +thought myself already a young lady. Since Barbara's marriage I had +myself been asked in marriage, and the prince palatine had not treated +me as if I were a child! + +Madame Strumle has commanded me to omit in future these words from my +prayers: 'O my God, give me a good husband,' and to say instead, 'Give +me the grace to profit by the good education I am receiving.' + +One must here work continually, or think of one's work, and of nothing +else. + +Sunday, _April 28th_. + +I have been nearly three weeks at Madame Strumle's school, and my poor +journal has been quite neglected during all that time; but the +uniformity of my life, these monotonous hours, all passed in the +constant repetition of the same occupations, afford no matter for +interesting details or descriptions. + +At this very moment, when I hold the pen in my hand, I am ready to lay +it down, so great is the poverty of my observations. + +My parents will soon leave. The princess palatiness has honored me with +a visit; she remarked that my carriage was much improved. My masters are +all satisfied with the closeness of my application. Madame is especially +kind to me, and my companions are polite and friendly.... But is all +this worth the trouble of writing? + +I sometimes fancy that I am not really in Warsaw, so ignorant am I with +regard to all political events. I have seen neither the king nor the +royal family. At Maleszow we at least hear the news, and occasionally +see Borne distinguished men. + +The Duke of Courland is absent, and will not return for some time. + + +Sunday, _June 9th_ + +If I were to live forever in this school, I should give up writing in my +journal, and it really serves one very valuable purpose; for I find I am +in great danger of forgetting Polish. With the exception of the letters +I write to my parents, and the few words I say to my maid, I always +write and speak French. + +I progress in all my studies, and if I am sometimes melancholy, at least +my time is not lost. + +The princess palatiness has again been to see me. A month had passed +since her last visit; she found me considerably taller, and was kind +enough to praise my manners and bearing. + +I am the tallest of all our boarders, and it really pleases me +exceedingly to find that my waist is not quite a half yard round. + +Summer has come, the fine weather has returned, but I cannot go out--a +privation which is really quite vexatious. Ah! how I wish I were a +little bird! I would fly away, far away--and then I would return to my +cage. + +But my days and my nights must all be spent in this dull house and in +this ugly street; I believe that Cooper street (ulika Bednarska) is the +darkest, dingiest, and dirtiest street in Warsaw. God willing, next year +I shall be no longer here. + + +Friday, _July 28th_. + +Labor has at least the good quality of making the time pass more +rapidly; our days vanish one by one, without distractions or news from +without. + +I just now felt a desire to write in my journal, and when I consulted +the almanac to find out the day of the month, I was quite surprised to +find that seven whole weeks had passed since I had written a single word +in my poor diary. + +This day certainly deserves to be noted down, for never since I was born +did such a thing happen to me as I experienced this morning. I received +a letter by the mail, and the world is no longer ignorant that the +Countess Frances Krasinska is now living in Warsaw! I danced with joy +when I saw my letter, my own letter! It came from her ladyship, the +Starostine Swidzinska; I shall keep it as a precious and delightful +remembrance. My sister writes to me that she is quite well, and happy +beyond all I can imagine; she was kind enough to send me four gold +ducats, which she has saved from her own private purse. + +For the first time in my life I have money to spend as I will, which +gives me great pleasure. With the money came the desire to spend, and a +variety of projects; it seemed to me as if I could buy the whole city. + +Thanks to my parents, I need nothing, and I will buy nothing for myself; +but I would have liked to leave a pretty remembrance to each of my +companions, a gold ring, for example; but madame quite distressed me by +telling me that my four ducats would only buy four rings-a real +affliction to me, who had hope to purchase, besides the rings, a blonde +mantle for Madame Strumle herself.... All my projects are overturned; I +have learned that the mantle will cost at least a hundred ducats, and +have thence determined to give one ducat to the parish church, to have a +mass said in the chapel of Jesus to draw the blessing of Heaven upon the +affairs now occupying my parents, and for the continuation of the +happiness of her ladyship the starostine. I will have another ducat +changed into small coin, to be distributed among all the servants in the +house; there will still remain two ducats, which will buy a charming +collation for my companions on Sunday next. We will have coffee, an +excellent beverage, which we never see here, cakes, and fruit. Madame +Strumle willingly consented to this last project. + +May God reward my dear starostine for the happiness she has bestowed +upon me! There can be no greater pleasure than that of making presents +and regaling one's friends. If I am anxious to have a husband richer +than I am myself, it is solely that I may be very generous. + +I am not losing my time; I improve daily. I can already play several +minuets and cotillons from the notes, and will soon learn a polonaise. +The most fashionable one just now has a very strange name; it is called +the Thousand Fiends. + +In one month more I shall begin my tree in oil colors, with its +allegoric garland. + +Notwithstanding my more serious studies, I by no means neglect my little +feminine occupations. I am embroidering on canvas a huntsman carrying a +gun, and holding his hound by a leash. + +I read a great deal, I write under dictation, I copy good works, an +excellent method of forming one's own style. I speak French quite as +well as Polish, perhaps even better; in short, I think I will soon be +fitted to make my appearance in the best society. + +As for dancing, I need scarcely say that that progresses wonderfully; my +master, who has no reason to flatter me, assures me that in all Warsaw +no one dances better than I do. + +I occasionally visit the Prince and Princess Lubomirski, but at times +when they have no company. I always hear there many agreeable and +flattering things, especially from the prince. He is desirous that I +should leave school now, but the princess and my parents wish me to +remain here during the winter. It is now only the end of July! How many +hours and days must pass before the winter sets in! Will that time ever +come? + + +Thursday, _December 26th_. + +Finally, God be praised, the time has come for leaving school; a new +existence is opening before me; my journal will be overflowing, and I +shall have no lack of matter, but plenty of charming things to say. + +The prince and princess are so kind to me; they have obtained permission +from my parents for me to pass the winter with them, and they will +introduce me into society. I shall leave this place day after to-morrow, +and will reside with the Princess Lubomirska. I am quite sorry to part +from Madame Strumle and my companions, to many of whom I am sincerely +attached, but my joy is greater than my sorrow, for I shall see the +world, and fly away from this narrow cage. + +I shall be taken to court and presented to the king and the royal +family; the Duke of Courland is expected daily; I shall see him at last! + +The days have become intolerably long since I knew I was to leave +school. + + +WARSAW, Saturday, _December 28th, 1759_. + +Never, never can I forget this day. The Princess Lubomirska came for me +quite early. I bade adieu to Madame Strumle and my companions. I was +glad to go, and yet I wept when I parted from them! + +Before going to her own house, the princess took me to church; but I +could scarcely force my recollection; there was a whole future in my +brain, a whole world in my thoughts. + +I am now established with the princess; her palace is situated in the +quarter named after Cracow, nearly opposite to the residence of the +Prince Palatine of Red-Russia, Czartoryski. + +The palace in which we live is not very large, but very elegant; the +windows upon one side overlook the Vistula and a handsome garden. My +chamber is delightful, and will be still more agreeable in summer; it +communicates on the right with the apartments of the princess, and on +the left with my waiting maid's room. + +The tailor came yesterday to take my measure; he is to make me several +dresses. I do not know what they will be, as the princess has ordered +them without consulting my taste. She inspires me with so much respect, +or perhaps awe, that I do not venture to ask her the least question. I +am much less afraid of the prince; his manners are so gentle and +engaging. He has gone to Bialystok, where he expects to meet the Duke of +Courland; he is in high favor with the duke. + +We are to make some visits to-morrow, when the princess will introduce +me into some of the most distinguished houses; one must thus make one's +appearance, if one desires to be invited to balls and parties. I am +glad, and yet I am a little frightened at the idea of these visits: I +shall be so looked at, perhaps criticized; however, I shall see many new +things and will have much to observe, which thought affords me much +consolation in my new and trying position. + +Sunday, _December 29th_. + +At least, now I have some news to tell, and my journal will no longer be +so dry and uninteresting. The prince royal, accompanied by the prince +palatine, arrived yesterday about one o'clock. Indeed I am quite +confused by the palatine's overwhelming kindness; he received me as if I +had been his daughter, and there is no kind of friendship or interest +which he has not testified toward me. + +We accomplished our visits and went to about fifteen different houses, +but were not everywhere admitted. At the French and Spanish ambassadors' +and the prince primate's, etc., the princess merely left cards. + +Our first visit was to Madame Humiecka, wife of the swordbearer to the +crown; this lady is my aunt. We then went to see the Princess +Lubomirska, wife of the general of the advance guard of the royal +armies; she is a full cousin to the princess palatine. She was born a +Princess Czartoryska, is very young and very beautiful; she holds the +first rank among the younger ladies, and loves passionately everything +French. I am so glad I am a proficient in the French language; besides +being very useful, it will cause me to be much more sought after in +society. + +French is here spoken in nearly all the more distinguished houses; only +the older men retain the tiresome custom of mingling Latin in their +conversation; the young people avoid this pedantry and speak French, +which is much better; at least, I can understand them, which I cannot +the others. + +We also went to see the wife of the Grand-General Branicki. Her husband +is one of the most wealthy lords of Poland, but is not very favorably +regarded at court. + +We then visited the Princess Czartoryska, Palatiness of Red-Russia. The +conversation there was held entirely in Polish; she is quite aged, and +consequently no admirer of new fashions. She introduced to us her only +son, a very handsome young man, with polished and elegant manners; he +overwhelmed me with the most graceful compliments. This visit was more +agreeable than any of the others. But no--I think I was quite as much +pleased at the palace of the Castellane of Cracow, Poniatowska. She is +a very superior person; she talks a great deal, it is true, but then she +speaks with enthusiasm and in a very interesting manner. We found her +quite elated with the pleasure of welcoming her son after a long +absence. Many think that this much-loved son may one day be king of +Poland; I do not believe that will ever be, but I did not the less +examine him with great attention. I frankly confess that I was not +pleased with him, and yet he is handsome and amiable; but he has a kind +of stiffness in his manners, a pretension to dignity and to airs of +grandeur, which injure his bearing. + +I must not forget, in enumerating our visits, to mention that paid to +the Palatiness of Podolia, Rzewuska. This visit possessed a doubled +interest for me; I was anxious to see Rzewuski, the vice-grand-general +of the crown, because I had heard my father speak of him so often. + +The vice-grand-general, although belonging to an illustrious family, was +brought up among the children of the common people; he went barefooted +as they did, and shared all their pleasures (very rustic indeed, it +seems to me). This strange education has given him great strength and a +wonderful constitution. He is now quite aged; he is more than fifty +years old, and yet he walks and rides like a young man. Following the +old Polish custom, he permits his beard to grow, and this gives him a +very grave appearance. + +They say he has composed some very fine tragedies. We also called upon +Madame Brühl, who received us most politely. Her husband, the king's +favorite minister, is not much esteemed, but they are visited for the +sake of etiquette, and likewise for that of Madame Brühl, who is very +amiable. + +We saw too Madame Soltyk, Castellane of Sandomir; she is a widow, but +still young and beautiful. Her son is nine years old; he is a charming +child, already possessing all the manners of the best society. As we +entered, he offered me a chair, and made me, at the same time, a very +graceful compliment; the castellane was kind enough to say that he was a +great admirer of pretty faces and black eyes. The Bishop of Cracow is +this child's uncle; he was anxious to have the charge of him, but his +mother was not willing to part with him. + +Of all the persons whom I saw, I was the most pleased with Madame +Moszynska, the widow of the grand-treasurer of the crown. She received +me most affectionately, and I feel a strong attraction toward her. She +expressed much admiration for me; but indeed, I received commendation +everywhere, and everywhere did I hear that I was beautiful. Perhaps I +owe a great part of these praises to my costume; I was so well +dressed! ... much better than at Barbara's wedding! I wore a white silk +dress with gauze flounces, and my hair was dressed with pearls. + +If I had seen the Duke of Courland, I should have been perfectly +satisfied; but I met him in none of the houses to which I went. They say +he is so happy to be once more with his family that he devotes all his +time to them. This feeling seems very natural to me, for when I was at +boarding school, I was very melancholy whenever I thought of my parents, +and I felt an imperative desire to see them, surpassing anything I had +before experienced. + +The carnival will soon begin; every one says it will be very brilliant, +and that there will be many balls; it is impossible that I should not +somewhere meet the Duke of Courland. + + +Wednesday, _January 1st, 1750_. + +All my desires have been gratified, and far beyond my hopes; I have seen +the prince royal! I have seen and spoken to him! ... I must indeed be +dreaming; my mind is filled with the most lively impressions, strange +and wild fancies surge through my brain, and I feel at once exalted and +depressed, transported with joy and tremulous through fear. I would not +dare to confide to any one that which I am about to write; it is all +perhaps only illusion, deception, error.... But yet, I have always +hitherto judged correctly of the effect which I produced; I +instinctively divined the degree in which I pleased; I have never been +deceived; can I be mistaken now? ... And indeed, why should not a prince +find me beautiful, when all other men tell me that I am so? But there +was more than admiration in the prince royal's eyes, which have a +peculiarly penetrating expression; his look was more kind than ordinary +glances, and said more than any words. Perhaps all princes may be thus! + +But that I may remember during my whole life, or rather that I may one +day read all this again, I will now write down a detailed account of +last evening and of the few hours immediately preceding. + +Yesterday morning the Princess Lubomirska sent for me and said, 'To-day +is the last of the year, and there will be to-night a grand festival, a +masked ball; all the nobility will be there, and even the king and his +sons; at least, I think so. I have selected a dress for you; you will go +as a virgin of the sun.' + +I was so charmed with the choice of this costume, that I kissed the hand +of the princess. + +After dinner all the maids came to assist at my toilet, and most +assuredly it was no ordinary toilet. My hair was not powdered and I wore +no hoop, whence the prince said to me, quite gravely, 'This costume is +not at all in accordance with received notions and fashions; any other +woman would certainly be lost were she to wear it; but I am sure you +will supply by the severity of your deportment and the propriety of your +manners whatever may be lacking in dignity, or too light, in your +dress.' + +I did not forget his advice: notwithstanding my vivacity, I can assume +upon occasion a very majestic air; and indeed, I overheard some one +saying at the ball, 'Who is that queen in disguise?' + +Ah! I know that I was more beautiful than I usually am. My hair, without +powder and black as ebony, fell in curls over my forehead, my neck, and +my shoulders; my dress was made of white gauze, and had not that long +train which hides the feet and impedes the motions. I wore a zone of +gold and precious stones round my waist, and was entirely enveloped in a +transparent white veil; I seemed to be in a cloud. When I looked in my +mirror, I could scarcely recognize myself. + +The ball room, brilliantly lighted, and glittering with gold and the +most gorgeous costumes, presented a dazzling spectacle; the women, +nearly all robed in fancy dresses, were charming; I did not know to +which one I should give the preference. + +A few moments after our arrival, we learned that the Duke of Courland +was in the hall; my eyes sought and found him, surrounded by a brilliant +group of young men. His dress differed but little from that of the lords +of his court; but I could distinguish him among them all. His figure is +tall and dignified, his air noble and affable; his beautiful blue eyes +and his charming smile eclipse all that approach him; where he is, no +one can see anything but himself. + +I looked at him until our eyes met; then I avoided his gaze, but found +it always fixed upon me. But what was my confusion when I understood +that he was asking the Prince Palatine Lubomirski who I was! His face +lighted up with joy when he heard the answer; be made no delay in +approaching the Princess Lubomirska, and saluted her with a grace +peculiar to himself. After the exchange of the preliminary compliments, +the princess introduced me as her niece. I do not know what kind of a +courtesy I made, doubtless quite different from that which I had learned +from my dancing master; I was so agitated, and still am so much so, +that I cannot remember the words used by the prince as he saluted me; +but the impression is not fugitive like the words. + +What an evening! The prince opened the ball with the princess +palatiness, and danced the second polonaise--with me; he had then time +to speak to me; and I, at first so timid, embarrassed, and agitated, +found myself replying to him with inconceivable assurance. He questioned +me about my parents, my sister the starostine, and all the details of +her marriage. I was surprised to find him so well acquainted with my +family affairs; but then I remembered that Kochanowski, son of the +castellan, is his favorite. What a good, forgiving soul that Kochanowski +must have; not only has he digested the goose dressed with the black +sauce, but he has said so many kind things of us all! + +The prince danced with me nearly the whole evening, and talked all the +time ... The words would seem insignificant and absurd, were I to write +them down; but with him, tone, manner, expression, all speak and say +more than words, and yet his very words signify more, depict better, and +penetrate more deeply than those of others. I keep them in my memory, +and fear to weaken their impression should I write them. + +When, at midnight, the cannon were fired to announce the end of one year +and the beginning of another, the prince said to me, 'Ah! never can I +forget the hours I have just passed; this is not a new year which I am +beginning, but a new life which I am receiving.' + +This is but one of the many things he said to me; but as he always spoke +French, I should find great difficulty, in my present agitated state of +mind, in translating his conversation into Polish. + +All that I have read in Mademoiselle Scudery, or in Madame de Lafayette, +is flat, compared with what the prince himself said to me; but perhaps +this may all be nothing more than simple politeness. Ah! merciful +Heaven, if it should be indeed an illusion, a mere court flattery, +applicable to all women, or, perhaps,--a series of empty compliments, +due solely to my dress, which became me wonderfully well! I am a prey to +the most inconceivable perplexities, and dare confide in no one; I +should not venture to say to any one: 'Has he a real preference for me?' + +My parents are far away, and the princess does not invite my confidence; +I fear her as a cold, severe, and uninterested judge.... The prince +palatine is very kind, but can one expose to a man all the weakness of a +woman's heart? ... I am then abandoned to myself, without a standard of +judgment, without experience or advice.... Yesterday, I was at school, +studying as a child, and now I am thrown into a world entirely new, and +in which I am playing a part envied by all my sex.... I surely dream, or +I have lost my reason. + +In ten days Barbara will be here, and she must be my good angel; she +will guide and protect me: she is so wise, and has so much judgment! I +will be so glad to lay my soul bare before her; I have no fear of her, +she is so compassionate; she is beautiful and happy, and I have always +remarked that such women are the best. + +I have not seen my dear sister for nine months; but I see from her +letters that she is every day more and more loved by her husband, and +satisfied with her destiny. + +Shall I again see the prince royal? Will he recognize me in my ordinary +dress, and will he still think me beautiful?... + + + + +MAIDEN'S DREAMING. + + + Fast the sunset light is fading, + Nearer comes the lonely night, + On a maid intently dreaming + Dimly falls the evening light. + + Far into the future gazing, + Heeds she not the waning light; + By the fireside softly dreaming, + Heeds she not the minutes' flight. + + Heeds she not the firelight flickering + Bright upon her dark brown hair, + Tresses where the gold still lingers-- + Loth to quit a home so fair. + + On her lap a book is lying, + Clasped her hands upon her knee; + Dreaming of the distant future-- + Wonders what her fate will be. + + Dreams of knights of manly bearing, + Nodding plumes and shining casques, + Wearing all her favorite colors, + Quick to do whate'er she asks. + + Dreams of castles old and stately, + Vaulted halls all life and light, + Courtly nobles stepping through them, + Smiling dames with jewels bright. + + Round her own brow, in her dreaming, + She a coronet has bound; + Round her waist, so lithe and slender, + Venus' girdle she has wound. + + Charms the knights of manly bearing, + Courtly nobles seek her grace, + Maidens free from envious passions + Love her kind and smiling face. + + Now her dreams are growing fainter, + And her eyelids heavy grow; + Dull the waning firelight flickers + On her brow as white as snow. + + Lower droop the heavy eyelids-- + Weary eyes they cover quite-- + And the dreamy girl is sleeping + Softly in the red firelight. + + + + +THIRTY DAYS WITH THE SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT. + + +The 71st Regiment N.Y.S.N.G. left New York to aid in repelling the +invasion of Pennsylvania on the 17th of June. On the 19th, having +meantime determined to 'go to the wars,' Dick and I presented ourselves +at the armory, inquiring whether we could follow and join the regiment, +and were told briefly to report there at one o'clock on Monday next, and +go on with a squad. + +So at one o'clock on Monday we stood ready in the armory, duly clothed +in blue and buttons; but long after the appointed hour we waited without +moving, I taking the chance to practise in putting on my knapsack and +accoutrements, whose various straps and buckles seemed at first as +intricate as a ship's rigging, and benefiting by the kindly hints of +regular members who sent substitutes this trip. + +At length came the word, 'Fall in,' and the squad formed, about a +hundred. A few minutes' drill ensued, sufficing to show me that I needed +considerably more, and then out--down Broadway to Cortlandt +street--aboard the ferry boat--into the cars, and about half past seven +actually off, amid the cheers and wavings of the bystanders, men, women, +and children. + +'Gone for a soger!' Should I ever come back? Perhaps I should wish +myself home again soon enough. However, that couldn't be now, so good-by +everything and everybody, and into it head and heels. + +I went, among other reasons, chiefly to see _what it was like_, and I +will record my experience;--for though, since the war began, tales and +sketches of military life have been written and read without number, and +we have all become sufficiently learned in warlike matters to see how +ignorant of, and unprepared for war the nation was at the outbreak of +the rebellion; yet, all I saw and learned was new to me, and may prove +interesting to some others. + +Tuesday morning by daylight we were in Harrisburg, and marched from the +cars to the Capitol grounds through the just awaking town, escorted by +one policeman armed with a musket. There a wash at a hydrant refreshed +me--then to breakfast in a temporary shed-like erection near the depot. + +An army breakfast! Huge lumps of bread and salt junk, and coffee. To +this I knew it must come; but just then, after spending the night in the +cars, the most I could do was to swallow some coffee, scorning however +to join those who dispersed through the town for a civilized +breakfast--wherein I intended to be soldierly, though before long I +learned that your old soldier is the very man who goes upon the plan of +snatching comfort whenever he can. + +But the regiment was at Chambersburg; so for Chambersburg we took the +cars, a distance, I believe, of about fifty miles. + +Chambersburg, however, we were not destined to reach. Along the route we +met all sorts of rumors: 71st cut up; six men in the 8th killed; +fighting still going on a little in front, &c., &c.;--a prospect of +immediate work. So in ignorance and doubt we came to Carlisle. Here we +were greeted by part of the 71st, and the truth proved to be that the +8th and 71st had retreated to this place the night before. 'Not, not the +six hundred,' however, for the left wing of our regiment had somehow +been left behind, and nothing was certainly known of it. At all events, +we were to go no farther, and out of the cars we came. Old members +exchanged greetings, and recruits made acquaintances. + +But what were we going to do? I could not learn. We waited, having +stacked arms, some sleeping beneath the trees in the College grounds, +until the lieutenant-colonel appeared upon the scene. Then we marched, +back and forth; toward the cars--'going back to Harrisburg;' past the +cars--'no, not to Harrisburg'--through the main street, and turned away +from the town, still unconscious of officers' intentions. We privates +never know anything of plans or objects. We never know where we are +going till we get there, nor what we are to do till we do it, and then +we don't know what we are going to do next. I soon got used to this; and +although conjectures and prophecies fly through the ranks, of all kinds, +from shrewd to ridiculous, I very early learned it was sheer bother of +one's brains attempting to discover anything, and ceased to ask +questions or form theories--getting up when I heard 'Company I, fall +in,' without seeking to know whether it was for march, drill, picket +duty, or what not. Company officers seldom know more about the matter +than their men, and I speedily came to content myself with trying to +extract from past work and present position some general notion of the +'strategy' of our movements. Nor is this ignorance wholly unblissful, as +leaving always room for hope that the march is to be short or the coming +work pleasant. Well, in the present case, just out of the town we halted +in the Fair grounds; an ample field, a high tight face around it, a +large shed in the centre. We all stacked arms--most went to sleep. I +always took sleep when I could, because, in a regiment constantly on the +move as ours was, if you don't want it now, you will before long. + +By and by, in came the left wing, weary but safe, and were greeted with +three tremendous cheers. I hastened to find Company I. The first +lieutenant had come on with us--the captain I had not yet seen. To him I +was now introduced. + +Very soon the Fair ground was a camp; we on one side--the 8th N.Y., +Colonel Varian, opposite. Tents were up, fires blazing, and cooking and +eating going on. As I had not started with the regiment, I had no tent, +and none could be had here, so my camping consisted of piling my traps +in a heap. But I needed none, and indeed, throughout the whole time was +under one but twice. Tents are all very well, when you are quietly +encamped for any length, of time; but when, as with us, you are on the +more continually, I consider them a humbug and nuisance. You must carry +half a one all day, and at night join it with your comrade's half. The +common shelter tent, which is the only one that can be so carried, is a +poor protection against heavy rain, for the water can beat in at the +sides and form pools beneath you; against midday sun you can guard with +a blanket and two muskets, and at any other time you need no shelter. + +That night I went on guard. Two hours you watch, four for sleep, and +then two hours you watch again. All quiet, save that two or three +prisoners are brought in from the front to be deposited in limbo, and +gazed at in the morning by recruits who have never seen a live rebel. + +The most surprising thing I learned in these first days, was that +everything one has will certainly be stolen by his own regiment, even by +his own company, if he does not watch it carefully. This practice is +styled '_winning_.' It is simple, naked stealing, in no wise to be +excused or palliated, and utterly disgraceful. It imposes, moreover, the +grievous nuisance of remaining to guard your property when you would be +loafing about, or of carrying everything--no light load--with you, +wherever you go. Of course, all colonels should prevent this, and one of +any force and energy could easily do so; but Colonel ---- is not of that +kind. An excellent company officer, as I judge, he has not the activity +and nerve required in the commander of a regiment, and many a wish did +I hear expressed in those thirty days that his predecessor, Colonel +Martin, were still in command. Confidence in his bravery before the +enemy, was universal; but many things necessary to the decorum, +discipline, health, &c., of the regiment devolve duties finally upon the +colonel, for whose discharge other qualities than bravery are needed. + +The next afternoon, the 24th, our laziness is disturbed by orders to +take three days' rations; our knapsacks are to be sent to Harrisburg; we +are to pack up everything, to be ready to move, Nobody knows, of course, +what it means; but a decided conviction prevails that 'something heavy +is up.' Presently a hollow square is 'up,' formed of the 8th and +ourselves, field officers in the centre. Colonel Varian advances. +Unquestionably a speech. Perhaps a few Napoleonic words on the eve of +battle. No; Colonel Varian wishes to explain that it was nobody's fault +that our left wing was deserted at Chambersburg, in order to prevent ill +feeling between the regiments. He does so, and appeals to our +lieutenant-colonel. Our lieutenant-colonel verifies and indorses. +Perfectly satisfactory; in evidence of which the two commands exchange +cheers. + +Henceforth we and the 8th are fast friends. We have other friends +also--Captain Miller's battery, of Pennsylvania, has been in front with +us, and though out for 'the emergency,' declares it will stay as long as +the 71st. So we all fraternize, hailing any member as '8th,' '71st,' or +'Battery,' and cheer when we pass each other. The 8th are good cheerers, +and though we outnumbered them, I think they outdid us in three times +three and a 'tiger,' the inevitable refrain. The 'tiger' (sounding +tig-a-h-h) is the test of a cheer. If the cheer be a spontaneous burst +of hearty good feeling, the tiger concentrates its energy, and is full +and prolonged--if it be only the cheer courteous or the cheer civil, the +tiger will fall off and die prematurely. + +Just at dark we left camp, passed rapidly through the town, along the +turnpike about two miles, and halted in a cornfield beside the road, +where we formed line of battle. We received orders to 'load at will,' +and fire low. The 8th were on the opposite side of the road, and their +battery somewhere near us. After some time, nobody appearing, permission +was given to thrust our muskets by the bayonets in the ground; and soon +after, one by one, the men dropped off asleep. The evening had been +extremely sensational. The sudden departure, the rapid march, whither +and for what we knew not, yet full of momentary expectation; the orders +and preparations indicating the imminence of grim, perhaps ghastly work, +in the night hours; the line of men, stretching beyond sight in the +darkness, far from home, and, it might be, near to death, sleeping yet +waiting:--the total was singularly impressive. + +Nevertheless, I too was soon asleep, and slept undisturbed till morning. +Then, rebels or no rebels, we must have breakfast. There was none to be +had in the regiment; but the farmhouses supplied us, and an ancient dame +intermitted packing her goods for flight, to cook the pork which made +part of my three days' rations. Then I stretched myself beneath the +shade of a roadside house within sound of orders, and having nothing +else on hand, went to sleep again. + +I was now broken in. Camp rations I could eat; camp coffee, though +always _sans_ milk and often _sans_ sugar, I deemed good; a wash was a +luxury, not a necessity; and I could sleep anywhere. + +When I was aroused, I found a barricade thrown up across the road, and a +force of contrabands digging a trench across the field. A cavalry picket +reported the enemy within half a mile, advancing. The citizens came out +from Carlisle to aid us, and we went in line into the trenches. Two men +were detailed from each company to carry off the wounded; the red +hospital flag fluttered upon a house behind us, and the colonel, +passing in front, told us they were very near, and exhorted us not to +let them pass. But the day wore on to evening, and no rebels appeared, +and at dark we moved again. Starting in a heavy rain, we marched nine +miles to the borders of a town known as New Kingston. Here we halted +while quarters were hunted up. Every man, tired with the rapid walking +through rain and mud, squatted at once in the road, no matter where, and +then along the whole column singing began. A soldier will sing under all +circumstances, comfortable or uncomfortable. + +At length we moved into the town and took possession of a church, +distributing ourselves in aisles, pews, and pulpit. What little remained +of the night, we were glad to have in quiet. It had been questionable +whether we could reach Kingston, for on the march it was rumored that we +were flanked; and a man, emerging from the shade as we passed, had asked +a question of the chaplain, and, receiving no answer, had retreated a +few yards, and fired his piece in the air, which looked very like a +signal. The next morning, the 26th, we went into camp in woods just in +front of the town, while the general and the surgeon established +headquarters in the town. + +Here we repeated substantially the programme of the day before, except +that continuous rain was substituted for the baking sun, and proved far +more endurable. + +On the afternoon of the 27th we marched some seven or eight miles, and +encamped at night in Oyster Point, about two miles from Harrisburg. + +Sunday! the 28th of June. My first Sunday with the regiment. No rumors +of the enemy reach us, and to us privates the prospect is of a quiet +day. The boys gather round the chaplain for divine service. And as for a +few minutes we renew our connection with civilization, and, amid stacked +arms, tents, camp fires, and the paraphernalia of war, sing psalms and +hymns, and listen to the chaplain's prayer, I decide that this surpasses +all luxury possible in camp. I shall never forget that 'church.' + +But no Sunday in camp. Hardly were the services concluded, when we went +forward a little to an orchard, and then line of battle again. This +performance of 'laying for a fight' which never came, had by this time +grown tame, in fact intolerably stupid, and I for one was growing tired +of sitting in silence, when boom! crash! a cannon shot in front of us, +the smoke visible too, curling above the woods, and showing how near it +had been fired. A smothered 'Ah!' and 'Now you've got it, boys,' went +through the ranks. It was no humbug this time. The rebels were shelling +the woods as they advanced. + +But it appeared we were not to receive them at that spot, for suddenly +we were ordered off again, and marched across lots, to the destruction +of many a bushel of wheat, clear into the intrenchments in front of +Harrisburg. There for the remainder of the day we waited in line. Other +regiments, we knew not what, were near us in different positions. The +signal flags were waving, and officers galloping by constantly, of whom +the quartermaster was hailed with shouts of 'Grub, grub.' + +That night my company and two others went out on picket, taking position +near our camp of the day before. In the morning we advanced a little to +a lane--a cobbler's stall was converted into headquarters, and the half +of the company not on duty went foraging for dinner. Pigs and chickens +were captured, and cooking began in the kitchen of a deserted house +close by. Apple butter, too, the prevalent institution in Pennsylvania, +was found in plenty. So the two halves of the company relieved each +other in standing guard and picnicking. Meantime, however, the rebels, +from the woods just in front, were paying their respects with two-inch +shell, which shrieked and crashed through the branches, bursting over +us, around us, and many of them altogether too near to be pleasant. +Moreover, by one of those blunders which cannot always be avoided, some +of our own men, mistaking us, opened fire on our rear; but to this a +stop was speedily put by a flag of truce, improvised from a ramrod and a +white handkerchief. We were allowed to fire only three or four volleys +in return. This skirmishing tries courage, I believe, more than a +pitched battle. To lie on the ground for hours, two or three miles in +front of your main body, ten feet from the nearest man, and be fired at +without firing yourself or making any noise, is a different thing from +standing in your place amid the throng and all the noise, excitement, +and enthusiasm of a battle, earnestly occupied in firing as fast as you +can. In a battle all the circumstances combine to produce high +excitement and drive fear out of a man, leaving room only for that kind +of courage properly called fearlessness or _intrepidity_, belonging to +men like Governor Pickens, 'born insensible to fear.' But the highest +grade of courage is that which, despite of fear, stands firm. That is +the courage of principle, of _morale_, as opposed to purely physical +courage. It is the last degree--at the next step we rise into heroism. + +In the afternoon we were relieved by a Pennsylvania company, and as we +retired in full sight of the rebels, the rascals yelled at us, and gave +us several volleys, from which it is wonderful that every man escaped. + +That evening we moved to the extreme rear, into Fort Washington, on the +bank of the river in front of Harrisburg. Here it was said our advance +work was over, and we were promised comfortable quarters and rest. + +Any one nowadays can see a camp, but only one who has seen it can +understand how picturesque it is. The night scene at Harrisburg was +beautiful in the extreme. Behind us slept the city--we guarded it in +front, and the river rolled between. The moonlight, illuminating a most +exquisite scenery, between the foliage gave glimpses of that placid +stream, and shone upon the tents and bayonets of some six thousand men +within the formidable works; the expiring fires sent up wreaths of +smoke; grim guns looked over the ramparts down the gentle slope in front +and up the beautiful Cumberland Valley; and only the occasional call of +the sentry for the corporal of the guard broke the serene stillness. + +Here were our friends of the 8th, and here we regained our knapsacks. +Many of them had been 'gone through,' and everything 'won.' The 56th and +22d New York, the 23d and 18th Brooklyn, besides others, were encamped +inside. + +Here we were sworn into the United States service for thirty days from +the 17th June. + +On Wednesday, July 1st, all our prospect of camp life, with its +regularity of drill, inspection, and, above all, of rations, was dashed +by orders to move in the morning to Carlisle. General Knipe, riding +through camp, was asked where he was going to take us. 'Right into the +face of the enemy,' said he. 'Hi, hi!' shouted the men. + +So away we went again. I was detailed to guard baggage, and remained, +loading wagons, &c., subject to the quartermaster, and went on in the +cars to Carlisle, where, on the evening of the 3d, I joined the regiment +when it came in. + +Since we left Carlisle the rebels had been there and burned the +barracks. They had shelled the town the night before, and the 37th had +had a sharp skirmish with them. + +On the morning of the 4th July we started about ten thousand strong--a +movement in force. The battle of Gettysburg had been fought, the danger +to Harrisburg was past, and, without knowing exactly where we were +bound, it was plain that we were to cooperate with Meade. That day we +made a long march. Our knapsacks were left behind. The first six miles +were well enough. We move on slowly, the sun overclouded, the road good, +and marching, as always is allowed on a long march (save when we pass +through a town), without order or file. The men talk, laugh, and sing, +get water and tobacco from the roadside dwellers, and chaff them with +all sorts of absurd questions. The first six miles are pleasant. At the +foot of the South Mountains we rest. This is Papertown. Papertown, as +far as visible, consists of one house. From the piazza of said house, an +8th makes a speech: I am not near enough to hear, but suppose it funny, +for colonels and all laugh. Some go to eating, some to sleep, some take +the chance, as is wise, to wash their feet at the stream below, the best +preventive of blisters. + +In an hour it begins to rain, and we start to go through the Gap, along +which we meet squads of prisoners and deserters from Lee's army. Eleven +miles through that rain. I have never seen such rain before; it is +credited to the cannonading which for days past has been going on all +around. Trudge, trudge; in fifteen minutes soaked through, in half an +hour walking in six inches of water, in two hours walking in six inches +of mud. Then throw away blankets and overcoats--men fall behind done +up--men can go no farther for sore feet. + +At Pine Grove, that night, Company I, out of seventy men, musters thirty +at roll call. The different regiments scatter over half a mile of +ground. Every fence about is converted into fuel. The cattle and hogs in +the fields are levied upon--shot, dressed, cooked, and eaten. There is +nothing else to be had, and the wagons cannot follow us for some time +over such roads. So officers shut their eyes. It rains still, but we can +be no wetter than we are, so we lie down and take it. This is our +glorious Fourth! + +In the morning--Sunday morning again--there is nothing to eat. In the +town, which comprises half a dozen houses and an old foundery, the +answer is, 'The rebels has eat us all out.' A few secure loaves of +bread, paying as high as a dollar; another few boil what coffee they had +carried with them and contrived to save from the rain. The rest have +nothing. Henceforth the order of the day is march and starve, and the +story is only of ceaseless fatigue, hunger, and rain. Thus far we have +stood stiff and taken it cheerfully. There was growling before we got +through. + +Off again over the mountains. + +If I have enough to eat, I can stand anything--if not, I break down. In +two miles I 'caved in.' The captain thought the regiment would return +shortly. So I staid behind. On Monday afternoon, however, they had not +come back, and I started after them. I got a meal and passed the night +in a house on the mountain, and, after some sixteen miles' walking, +caught them on the broad turnpike the next day, and marched some seven +miles farther, to Funkstown, Pennsylvania. + +Here an episode. As we started the next morning (in the rain, of +course), I was sent to the rear to report to a sergeant. The sergeant, +with nine besides me, reported to the brigade quartermaster. The +quartermaster distributed the ten, with an equal number of the 23d, +through ten army wagons, to drive and guard. We went through +Chambersburg to Shippensburg, where we loaded with provisions. Here I +heard abundance of the doings of the rebels, who loaded seven hundred +wagons at this place. I bought Confederate money and got meals at a +hotel--at my own expense. + +On Friday evening, the 10th, we rejoined the column at Waynesboro', a +welcome arrival, for grub was terribly scarce. Here was the Sixth Corps, +Army of the Potomac, under General Neal--'Bucky Neal,' a 'Potomaker' +called him. For a time we belonged to it, and adorned our caps with the +badge of the corps, cut out of cracker. + +On Saturday evening we crossed the line into Maryland, fording the +Antietam creek, the bridge over which the rebs had burned; and Sunday we +footed it back and forth over roads and across lots, bringing up at +Cavetown. + +'Earthquakes, as usual,' wrote Lady Sale, in her 'Diary.' 'Rain, as +usual,' wrote we. And such rain! They do a heavy business in rain in +that region, and in thunder and lightning, too. I have heard Western +thunder storms described, but I doubt if they surpass such as are common +beneath these mountains. Four poor fellows of the 56th, who were sitting +beneath a tree, were struck by lightning--one of them killed. + +On Monday we camped at Boonsboro', and on Tuesday beside a part of +Meade's army. When I saw all the wagons here, and what an immense job it +is to move any considerable force, with all the delays that may come +from broken wheels, lame horses, and bad roads, I could not but smile at +the military critics at home, who show you how general this should have +made a rapid movement so; or general that hurled a force upon that +point, &c. + +Here, near Boonsboro', on Tuesday night, the 14th, news of the riot in +New York reached us. The near approach of the expiration of our time had +already made much talk of home, and now anxiety was doubled. Rumors flew +through camp, and all ears and mouths were open, and before we settled +for the night it came. Orderlies carried directions through the ranks to +have all ready and clean up pieces to go home. + +In the morning our Battery friends came up to say good-by. Seventy-first +buttons were exchanged for their crossed-cannon badges, songs sung and +cheers given _ad lib_. + +Soon we all started, bound, we knew, for the cars at Frederick City. The +last march! It was very warm, and the road across the mountains often +steep, but there was little straggling. + +Most incidents of soldier life grow tame, but to the last the spectacle +of the column on march retained its impressiveness for me. + +We passed through Frederick just at dusk--ejaculating tenderly 'Ah! ah!' +as fair damsels waved handkerchiefs at us--and went out to the junction. +The cars were ready. We had done the last march. Twenty-five miles that +day! And I had gone through this month of walking without foot trouble, +for which I am indebted to my 'pontoons,' i.e., Government shoes. Take +them large enough, and they are the only things to walk in. + +Marching is the hardest thing I met with. I have always been a regular +and good walker. But ordinary walking is no preparation for marching. +The weight of musket and accoutrements, the dust (rain and mud in our +case), the inability to see before you, and the necessity of keeping up +in place, are all wearing and nervously exhausting. + +We did not get off at once. Red tape delayed us, and we growled +savagely. But we had plenty to eat, and a river beside us. So, bathing +and eating, we passed Thursday in sight of the train. At length red tape +was untied, and Thursday night the 8th and 71st set off, in cattle cars. +This time the advance was a privilege. In Baltimore we were beset by +women trying to sell cakes, and boys trying to beg cartridges. Along the +road we ate, smoked, and slept. In Philadelphia we had 'supper' in the +'United States Volunteers' Refreshment Saloon.' I remember a bright girl +there, who got me a second cup of coffee. + +And so, Saturday morning, the 18th, we took the boat at Amboy, within +two hours of home! But there was less hilarity than usual on the return +of a regiment. Our news from the city was not the latest, and our +grimmest work might be to come--and in New York! Woe to any show of a +mob we had met! The indignation was deep and intense. + +But in two minutes after we landed on the Battery, papers were +circulated through the ranks, and we knew all was quiet. + +So up Broadway. We were too early in the street to gather much of a +crowd. Those who were out hailed us heartily, and at the corner of Grand +street or thereabouts an ardent individual from a fourth-story window, +plying two boards cymbal-wise (_clap_-boards, say), initiated a +respectable noise. And so round the corner and into the armory at Centre +Market. The campaign was over, and a few days after we were paid off and +mustered out. + +As I said, I went to see what it was like, and I saw. It is a strange +life, but a wholesome one, if you get a tolerable sufficiency to eat, +and not too heavy a dose of marching. So severe a time as we had is +terribly _physical_, and benumbs the brain somewhat. The campaign was +short, but the utmost was crowded into those thirty days. + +The first portion was advance work, always arduous. General Knipe's work +was to check the rebel advance. He did so by going to the front and +meeting them, and then retreating slowly before them, making a stand and +demonstration of fight, at which their advance would fall back on the +main body, at whose approach he would up stakes, run a few miles, and +make another show. Thus he gained ten days' time, which enabled General +Couch, in command of the department, to fortify, and collect and +organize troops, and probably saved Harrisburg. And for the manner in +which he did it, without, too, the loss of a man, he deserves credit. + +On the whole, did I like it? Well, I am glad I have been. But the exact +answer to that question is a sentence of Winthrop's, in his paper +'Washington as a Camp': 'It is monotonous, it is not monotonous, it is +laborious, it is lazy, it is a bore, it is a lark, it is half war, half +peace, and totally attractive, and not to be dispensed with from one's +experience in the nineteenth century.' + + + + +REASON, RHYME, AND RHYTHM. + + +CHAPTER VI.--TRUTH AND LOVE. + + +The Divine Attributes, the base of all true Art. + +Art must be based upon a study of Nature, upon a clear and comprehensive +knowledge of natural laws. No man was ever yet a _great_ poet without +being at the same time a profound philosopher, for Poetry is the blossom +and fragrance of all human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions, +and human emotions. The poet must have the ability to observe things as +they really are, in order to depict them with accuracy, unchanged by any +passion in the mind of the describer, whether the things to be depicted +are actually present to the senses, or have a place only in the memory. + +Nature may be regarded either as the home of man, and consequently +associated with all the phases of his existence; or as an assemblage of +symbols, manifesting the thoughts of the Creator. In accordance with the +first view, the poet may give it its place in the different scenes of +human life, animated with our passions, sympathizing with us, and +expressing our feelings; in the second, he must try to interpret this +divine language, to seize the idea gleaming through the veil of the +material envelope, for there is an established harmony between material +nature and intellectual. Every thought has its reflection in a visible +object which repeats it like an echo, reflects it like a mirror, +rendering it sensible first to the senses by the visible image, then to +the thought by the thought. + +Genius is the instinct of discovering some more of the words in this +divine language of universal analogies, the key of which God alone +possesses, but some portions of whose stores he sometimes deigns to +unclose for man. Therefore in earlier times the Prophet, an inspired +poet; and the poet, an uninspired prophet--were both considered holy. +They are now looked upon as insane or useless; and indeed, this is but a +logical consequence of the so-called _utilitarian_ views. If only the +material and palpable part of nature which may be calculated, percented, +turned into gold, or made to minister to sensual pleasures, is to be +regarded with interest; if the lessons of the harvest, with its 'good +seed and tares,' and the angels, its reapers; the teachings of the +sparrow and the Divine Love which watched over them; the grass and the +lilies of the field clothed in splendor by their Creator, are to awaken +neither hope nor fear--then men are right in despising those who +preserve a deep reverence for moral beauty; the idea of God in his +creation; and respect the language of images, the mysterious relations +between the visible and invisible worlds. Is it asked what does this +language prove? The answer is, God and Immortality! Alas! they are worth +nothing on 'Change! + +Yet let him who would study his own happiness and well-being, follow the +advice given in the Good Book: + + 'Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it, _for it is very + beautiful_. + + 'It encompasseth the heavens about with the circle of its glory; + the hands of the Most High have displayed it.' + +As creation is symbolic, and the province of the poet is humbly to +imitate the works of the Great Artist, we must expect to find him also +make use of symbolic language, imagery. + +Metaphor (metapherô) is the application of a physical fact to the moral +order; the association of an external material fact to one internal and +intellectual. As this association is not reflective, but spontaneous, +and is found pervading the infancy of languages; as it is intuitively +and generally understood; it must take place in accordance with a mental +law which establishes natural relations of analogy between the moral +world and the physical. To become perceptible, thought must be imaged, +reflected upon a sensuous form; the definition by an image is generally +the most clear and complete. We may have clear enough ideas of some +invisible truth in our own minds, but if we would convey our conception +to another, we cannot give it to him by a pure idea, for then we would +still be in the internal world of intellect; we must go out from this +internal world, we must seek a sign in the physical world that he can +see and contemplate; we select some phenomenon which can be easily +observed, and in accordance with the law of analogy of which we have +just spoken, we associate our thought with it, and in this manner we can +clearly communicate the thought we have conceived. + +Almost all the ideas we have of the moral world are expressed through +metaphors: thus we say the _movements_ or _emotions_ of the soul; the +_clearness_ or _coloring_ of a style; the _heat_ or _warmth_ of a +discourse; the _hardness_ or _softness_ of the heart, &c., &c. Language +_expresses_ the invisible thought of the soul; in accordance with the +etymology of the word (exprimere) it _presses_ them from the soul, from +the realm of internal thought, to transport them to the visible sphere. +But the etymology itself is nothing but a metaphor, for the immaterial +facts of the soul always remain in their own region inaccessible to the +senses, and the instinctive facts of the organism always remain in the +visible world, so that there can be no actual passage from one to the +other, for an immaterial fact cannot be changed into a material +one:--association, simultaneousness, correlation may obtain between +them, but nothing more. + +Saint Thomas Aquinas asserts 'that in our present state of degradation +the intellect comprehends nothing without an image.' Language is in +reality the association of material facts to facts of the will, heart, +and intellect. Apparently insufficient to give a full idea of material +things alone, it would seem almost impossible that it should ever be +able to express the facts of the invisible world; but the human spirit, +in accordance with the mental law impressed upon it by the Hand Divine, +seizes the analogies of the _moral_ phenomena with the phenomena of +_nature_, and, seeing physical facts used as symbols by the Creator to +convey ethical, also instinctively uses them to express the facts of the +moral world; and thus is born the _human Word_ which, invisibly +ploughing the waves of the unseen air, can convey the most subtile +thought, the most evanescent shade of feeling, the wildest, darkest, and +deepest emotion. Language is man's expression of the finite, with its +infinite meanings modified by the extent of his intelligence and his +power of expression. It is truly a universal possession, but every man +gifts it with his own individualities, his own idiosyncrasies. The +style, one might almost say, is the man. + +Thus the imagery of language finds its base in the very essence of our +being. The poet is one gifted to seize upon these hidden analogies, to +read these mystic symbols, and, through the force of his own +imagination, to reveal them to his brethren in truth and love. + +The imagination has two distinct functions. It combines, and by +combination creates new forms; it penetrates, analyzes, and realizes +truths _discoverable by no other faculty_. + +An imagination of high power of combination seizes and associates at the +_same moment all_ the important ideas of its work or poem, so that while +it is working with any one of them, it is at the same instant working +with and modifying them all in their several relations to it. It never +once loses sight of their bearings upon each other--as the volition +moves through every part of the body of a snake at the same moment, +uncoiling some of its involute rings at the very instant it is coiling +others. This faculty is inconceivable, admirable, almost divine; yet no +less an operation is necessary for the production of any great work, for +by the definition of unity of membership above given, not only certain +couples or groups of parts, but _all_ the parts of a noble work must be +separately imperfect; each must imply and ask for all the rest; the +glory of every one of them must consist in its relation to the rest; +neither while so much as _one_ is wanting can _any_ be right. This +faculty is indeed something that looks as if its possessor were made in +the Divine image! + + 'The hand that rounded Peter's dome, + And groined the aisles of Christian Rome, + Wrought in a sad sincerity; + Himself from God he could not free; + He builded better than he knew;-- + The conscious stone to beauty grew.' + +EMERSON. + + +By the power of the combining imagination various ideas are chosen from +an infinite mass, ideas which are separately imperfect, but which shall +together be perfect, and of whose unity therefore the idea must be +formed at the very moment they are seized, as it is only in that unity +that their appropriateness consists, and therefore only the conception +of that unity can prompt the preference. Therefore he alone can conceive +and compose who sees the _whole_ at once before him. + +Shakspeare is the great example of this marvellous power. Not only is +every word which falls from the lips of his various characters true to +his first conception of them, so true that we always know how they will +act under any given circumstances, and we could substitute no other +words than the words used by them without contradicting our first +impression of them; but every character with which they come in contact +is not only ever true to itself, but is precisely of the nature best +fitted to develop the traits, vices, or virtues of the main figure. So +perfect and complete is this lifelike unity, that we can scarcely think +of one of his leading characters without recalling all those with whom +it is associated. If we name Juliet, for instance, not only is her idea +inseparable from that of Romeo, but the whole train of Montagues and +Capulets, Mercutio, Tybalt, the garrulous nurse, the lean apothecary, +the lonely friar, sweep by. What an exquisite trait of the poetic +temperament, tenderness, and human sympathies of this same lonely friar +is given us in his exclamation: + + 'Here comes the lady: O, so light a foot + Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint.' + +It also explains to us that it was the good friar's unconscious +affection for Juliet, the pure sympathies of a lonely but loving heart, +which so imprudently induced him to unite the unfortunate young lovers. +The men and women of Shakspeare live and love, and we cannot think of +them without at the same time thinking of those with whom they lived and +whom they loved. Indeed, when we can wrest any character in a drama from +those which surround it, and study it apart, the unity of the _whole_ is +but apparent, never vital. Simplicity, harmony, life, power, truth, and +love, are all to be found in any high work of the _associative_ +imagination. + +We now proceed to characterize the _penetrative_ imagination, 'which +analyzes and realizes truths discoverable by no other faculty.' Of this +faculty Shakspeare is also master. Ruskin, from whom we continue to +quote, says: It never stops at crusts or ashes, or outward images of any +kind, but ploughing them all aside, plunges at once into the very +central fiery heart; its function and gift are the getting at the root; +its nature and dignity depend on its holding things always _by the +heart_. Take its hand from off the beating of that, and it will prophesy +no longer; it looks not into the eyes, it judges not by the voice, it +describes not by outward features; all that it affirms, judges, or +describes, it affirms from _within_. There is _no reasoning_ in it; it +works not by algebra nor by integral calculus; it is a piercing +Pholas-like mind's tongue that works and tastes into the very +rock-heart; no matter what be the subject submitted to it, substance or +spirit, all is alike divided asunder, joint and marrow; whatever utmost +truth, life, principle it has laid bare, and that which has no truth, +life, nor principle, is dissipated into its original smoke at a touch. +The whispers at men's ears it lifts into visible angels. Vials that have +lain sealed in the sea a thousand years it unseals, and brings out of +them genii. + +Every great conception of Art is held and treated by this faculty. Every +character touched by men like Ćschylus, Homer, Dante, or Shakspeare, is +by them held by the _heart_; and every circumstance or sentence of their +being, speaking, or seeming, is seized by a process from _within_, and +is referred to that inner secret spring of which the hold is never lost +for a moment; so that every sentence, as it has been thought out from +the heart, opens a way down to the heart, and leads us to the very +centre of life. Hence there is in every word set down by the Imagination +an awful undercurrent of meaning--an evidence and shadow upon it of the +deep places out of which it has come. + +In this it utterly differs from the Fancy, with which it is often +confounded. + +Fancy sees the outside, and is able to give a portrait of the outside, +clear, brilliant, and full of detail. The Imagination sees the heart and +inner nature, and makes them felt; but in the clear seeing of things +beneath, is often impatient of detailed interpretation, being sometimes +obscure, mysterious, and abrupt. Fancy, as she stays at the externals, +never feels. She is one of the hardest hearted of the intellectual +faculties; or, rather, one of the most purely and simply intellectual. +She cannot be made serious; no edge tools but she will play with; while +the Imagination cannot but be serious--she sees too far, too darkly, too +solemnly, too earnestly, to smile often! There is something in the heart +of everything, if we can reach it, at which we shall not be inclined to +laugh. Those who have the deepest sympathies are those who pierce +deepest, and those who have so pierced and seen the melancholy deeps of +things, are filled with the most intense passion and gentleness of +sympathy. The power of an imagination may almost be tested by its +accompanying degree of tenderness; thus there is no tenderness like +Dante's, nor any seriousness like his--such seriousness that he is quite +incapable of perceiving that which is commonplace or ridiculous. + +Imagination, being at the heart of things, poises herself there, and is +still, calm, and brooding; but Fancy, remaining on the outside of +things, cannot see them all at once, but runs hither and thither, and +round about, to see more and more, bounding merrily from point to point, +glittering here and there, but necessarily always settling, if she +settle at all, on a _point_ only, and never embracing the whole. From +these simple points she can strike out analogies and catch resemblances, +which are true so far as the point from which she looks is concerned, +but would be false, could she see through to the other side. This, +however, she does not care to do--the point of contact is enough for, +her; and even if there be a great gap between two things, she will +spring from one to the other like an electric spark, and glitter the +most brightly in her leaping. Fancy loves to follow long chains of +circumstance from link to link; but the Imagination grasps a link in the +middle that implies all the rest, and settles there. + + 'Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies, + [Imagination. + + The tufted crowtoe and pale jessamine, + [Nugatory. + + The white pink and the pansy streaked with jet, + [Fancy. + + The glowing violet, + [Imagination. + + The musk rose and the well attired woodbine, + [Fancy, vulgar. + + With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head, + [Imagination. + + And every flower that sad embroidery wears. + [Mixed. + + MILTON. + + + 'Oh, Proserpina, + For the flowers now that frighted thou lett'st fall + From Dis's wagon. Daffodils + That come before the swallow dare, and take + The winds of March with beauty. Violets, dim, + But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes + Or Cytherea's breath; pale primroses + That die unmarried, ere they can behold + Bright Phoebus in his strength, a malady + Most incident to maids.' + +Here the Imagination goes into the inmost soul of every flower, after +having touched them all with that heavenly timidness, the shadow of +Proserpine's; and, gilding them all with celestial gathering, never +stops on their spots or their bodily shape; while Milton sticks in the +stains upon them, and puts us off with that unhappy streak of jet in the +very flower that without this bit of paper staining would have been the +most precious to us of all. + + 'There is pansies--that's for thoughts.' + +Can the tender insight of the Imagination be more fully manifested than +in the grief of Constance? + + 'And, father cardinal, I have heard you say + That we shall see and know our friends in heaven: + If that be true, I shall see my boy again; + For, since the birth of Cain, the first male child, + To him that did but yesterday suspire, + There was not such a gracious creature born. + But now will canker sorrow eat my bud, + And chase the native beauty from his cheek; + And he will look as hollow as a ghost, + As dim and meagre as an ague's fit; + And so he'll die; and, rising so again, + When I shall meet him in the court of heaven + I shall not know him: therefore, never--never-- + Shall I behold my pretty Arthur more. + + * * * * * + + Grief fills the room up of my absent child, + Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me; + Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, + Remembers me of all his gracious parts, + Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form; + Then have I reason to be fond of grief. + + * * * * * + + O lord, my boy, my Arthur, my fair son! + My life, my joy, my food, my all the world! + My widow-comfort and my sorrow's cure.' + +This is the impassioned but simple eloquence of Nature, and Nature's +child: Shakspeare. + +In these examples the reader will not fail to remark that the +Imagination seems to gain much of its power from its love for and +sympathy with the objects described. Not only are the objects with which +it presents us _truthfully_ rendered, but always _lovingly_ treated. + +With the Greeks, the Graces were also the _Charities_ or _Loves_. It is +the love for living things and the sympathy felt in them that induce the +poet to give life and feeling to the plant, as Shelley to the 'Sensitive +Plant;' as Shakspeare, when he speaks to us through the sweet voices of +Ophelia and Perdita; as Wordsworth, in his poems to the Daisy, Daffodil, +and Celandine; as Burns in his Mountain Daisy. As a proof of the power +of the Imagination, through its _Truth,_ and _Love_, to invest the +lowest of God's creatures with interest, we offer the reader one of +these simple songs of the heart. + + +TO A MOUSE. + + +_On turning her up in her nest with the plough, +November, 1785._ + + Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie, + O, what a panic's in thy breastie! + Thou need na start awa sae hastie, + Wi' bickering brattle! + + I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, + Wi' murd'ring pattle! + + I'm truly sorry man's dominion + Has broken nature's social union, + An' justifies that ill opinion + Which makes thee startle + At me, thy poor earth-born companion + An' fellow mortal! + + I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve; + What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! + A daimen icher in a thrave + 'S a sma' request; + I'll get a blessin' wi' the lave + An' never miss't! + + Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin! + Its silly wa's the win's are strewin'! + An' naething, now, to big anew ane, + O' foppage green! + An' bleak December's winds ensuin', + Baith snell and keen! + + Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste, + An' weary winter comin' fast, + An' cozie here beneath the blast, + Thou thought to dwell, + Till crash! the cruel coulter past + Out thro' thy cell. + + That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble, + Has cost thee mony a weary nibble! + Now thou's turned out, for a' thy trouble, + Nor house nor hald, + To thole the winter's sleety dribble + An' cranreuch cold! + + But, mousie, thou art no thy lane, + In proving foresight may be vain: + The best laid schemes o' mice an' men + Gang aft agley, + An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, + For promised joy. + + Still thou art blest, compared with _me!_ + The _present_ only toucheth thee: + But och! I _backward_ cast my e'e, + On prospects drear; + An' _forward_, though I canna see, + I guess and fear! + +Poor Burns! Seventy years and more have passed since that cold November +morning on which he sang this simple and tender song, yet it is as fresh +in its rustic pathos, bathed in the quickening dews of the poet's heart, +as if it had sprung from the soul but an hour since: and fresh it will +still be long after the fragile hand now tracing this tribute to the +heart of love from which it flowed shall have been cold in an unknown +grave! + +Such poems are worth folios of the erudite and stilted pages which are +now so rapidly pouring their scoria around us. Men seem ashamed now to +be simply natural. Either they have ceased to love, or to believe in the +dignity of loving. The great barrier to all real greatness in this +present age of ours is the fear of ridicule, and the low and shallow +love of jest and jeer, so that if there be in any noble work a flaw or +failing, or unclipped vulnerable part where sarcasm may stick or stay, +it is caught at, pointed at, buzzed about, and fixed upon, and stung +into, as a recent wound is by flies, and nothing is ever taken seriously +or as it was meant, but always perverted and misunderstood. While this +spirit lasts, there can be no hope of the achievement of high things, +for men will not open the secrets of their hearts to us, if we intend to +desecrate the holy, or to broil themselves upon a fire of thorns. + +As the poet is full of love for all that God has made, because his +imagination enables him to seize it by the heart, he would in this love +fain gift the inanimate things of creation with life, that he might find +in them that happiness which pertains to the living; hence the constant +_personification_ of all that is in his pages. He personifies, he +individualizes, he gifts creation with life and passion, not willingly +considering any creature as subordinate to any purpose quite out of +itself, for then some of the pleasure he feels in its beauty is lost, +for his sense of its happiness is in that case destroyed, as its +emanation of inherent life is no longer pure. Thus the bending trunk, +waving to and fro in the wind above the waterfall, is beautiful because +it seems happy, though it is, indeed, perfectly useless to us. The same +trunk, hewn down and thrown across the stream, has lost its beauty. It +serves as a bridge--_it has become useful_, it lives no longer _for +itself_, and its pleasant beauty is gone, or that which it still retains +is purely typical, dependent on its lines and colors, not on its +functions. Saw it into planks, and though now fitted to become +permanently _useful_, its whole beauty is lost forever, or is to be +regained only in part, when decay and ruin shall have withdrawn it again +from _use_, and left it to receive from the hand of Nature the velvet +moss and varied lichen, which may again suggest ideas of inherent +happiness, and tint its mouldering sides with hues of life. For the +Imagination, unperverted, is essentially _loving_, and abhors all +utility based on the pain or destruction of any creature. It takes +delight in such ministering of objects to each other as is consistent +with the essence and energy of both, as in the clothing of the rock by +the herbage, and the feeding of the herbage by the stream. + +We have seen that the soul rejects exaggeration or falsehood in Art, and +indeed all high Art, that which men will not suffer to perish, has no +food, no delight, no care, no perception, except of truth; it is forever +looking under masks and burning up mists; no fairness of form, no +majesty of seeming will satisfy it; the first condition of its existence +is incapability of being deceived; and though it may dwell upon and +substantiate the fictions of fancy, yet its peculiar operation is to +trace to their farthest limits the _true laws_ and likelihoods even of +such fictitious creations. + +As to its love, that is not only seen in its wish and struggle to +quicken all with the warm throb of happy life, but is also clearly +manifested in the lingering over its creations with clinging fondness, +'hating nothing that it maketh,' pruning, elaborating, and laboring to +gift with beauty the works of its patient hands, finishing every line in +love, that it too may feel its creations to be 'good.' For Love not only +gives wings, but also vital heat and life, to Genius. + +Thus we again arrive at the fact that the two Divine attributes of Truth +and Love, in their finite form indeed, but still 'images,' are +absolutely necessary for the creation of any true work of Art. No work +can be great without their manifestation; unless they have brooded with +their silvery wings over its progress to perfection; and in exact +proportion to their manifestation will be its greatness. On these two +attributes in God repose in holy trust the universes He hath made; and +that which typifies or suggests His faithfulness and love to the soul +created to enjoy Him, must be a source, not only of Beauty, but of +Delight. + + 'For He made all things in wisdom; and Truth is perpetual and + immortal.' + + 'For Thou _lovest_ all things that are, and hatest none of the + things Thou hast made; for Thou didst not appoint or make anything, + hating it.' + +We make no attempt to give an enumeration of the attributes on which +Beauty is based; we would rather induce the reader to examine his +Maker's great Book of Symbols for himself. We hope we have turned his +attention to the fact that every Letter in this sacred Language is full +of meaning; enough to induce him to investigate the glorious mysteries +of the '_Open Secret_.' + +Whatever may be the decisions of the men of the senses, or the men of +the schools, let him fearlessly condemn any work in which he cannot find +wrought into its very heart suggestions or manifestations of the Divine +attributes, or an earnest effort on the part of its author, naive and +unconscious as it may be, to imitate the Spirit of the Great Artist. + +We have placed the Rosetta stone of Art, with its threefold inscriptions +in Sculpture, Painting and Music, with their union or _resumé_ in +Poetry, before him; we have given him the key to some of its wondrous +hieroglyphics; let him study the remaining letters of this mystical +alphabet for himself! These inscriptions are indeed trilingual, +phonetic, and sacred, yet the simple and loving soul may decipher them +without the genius of Champollion; their meaning is written within it. +It will readily learn to connect the sign with the thing signified, and +under the fleeting forms of rhythmed time and measured space, learn to +detect the immutable principles which are to be its glory and joy for +eternity! + + + + +CURRENCY AND THE NATIONAL FINANCES. + + +1. _History of the Bank of England, its Times and Traditions, from 1694 +to 1844._ By JOHN FRANCIS. First American Edition. _With Notes, +Additions, and an Appendix, including Statistics of the Bank to the +close of the year 1861._ By J. SMITH HOMANS, Author of the 'Cyclopćdia +of Commerce and Commercial Navigation.' New York. 8vo, pp.476. + +2. _Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Chairman of the +Committee of Ways and Means, in relation to the Issue of an Additional +Amount of United States Treasury Notes._ + +3. _Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances +of the United States for the Year ending June 30, 1862._ + +4. _The Tariff Question considered in regard to the Policy of England +and the Interests of the United States. With Statistical and Comparative +Tables._ By ERASTES B. BIGELOW. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 4to, pp. 103 +and 242. + +5. _The Bankers' Magazine and Statistical Register._ New York, monthly, +1861-2. Edited by J. SMITH HOMANS, jr. + + +The Bank of England was created during the urgent necessities of +national finance. It was a concession of a valuable privilege to a few +rich men, in consideration of their loaning the capital to the treasury. +'The estimates of Government expenditure in the year 1694 were +enormous,' says Macaulay, in his fourth volume. King William asked to +have the army increased to ninety-four thousand, at an annual expense of +about two and a half millions sterling--a small sum compared with what +it costs in the year 1862 to maintain an army of equal numbers. + +At the period of the charter of the bank, the minds of men were on the +rack to conceive new sources of revenue with which to meet the increased +expenditures of the nation. The land tax was renewed at four shillings +in the pound, and yielded a revenue of two millions. A poll tax was +established. Stamp duties, which had prevailed in the time of Charles II +had been allowed to expire, but were now revived, and have ever since +been among the most prolific sources of income, yielding to the British +Government in the year 1862 no less than Ł8,400,000 sterling. Hackney +coaches were taxed, notwithstanding the outcries of the coachmen and the +resistance of their wives, who assembled around Westminster Hall and +mobbed the members. A new duty on salt was imposed, and finally resort +was had to the lottery, whereby one million sterling was raised. All +these resources were not sufficient for the growing wants of the +Government, and the plan of the Bank of England was devised to furnish +immediate relief to the finances. Montague brought the measure forward +in Parliament, and 'he succeeded,' as Macaulay remarks, 'not only in +supplying the wants of the state for twelve months, but in creating a +great institution, which, after the lapse of more than a century and a +half, continues to flourish, and which he lived to see the stronghold, +through all vicissitudes, of the Whig party, and the bulwark, in +dangerous times, of the Protestant succession.' + +The birth of the bank and the birth of the English national debt were +both in King William's time. In 1691, when England was at war with +France, the national debt unfunded was Ł3,130,000, at an annual interest +of Ł232,000. In 1697, at the Peace of Ryswick, this debt had swollen to +Ł14,522,000. At the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713, it had reached +Ł34,000,000. The war with Spain in 1718 brought it up to forty millions +sterling. And here it might have rested, had the advice of Shakspeare +been followed: + + 'Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace.' + +But England went to war with Spain 'on the right of search.' From 1691 +to this time the debt had increased on an average about a million +sterling per year. As early as 1745 the credit of the bank was so +identified with that of the state, that during the invasion of the +Pretender, whose forces were at Derby, only one hundred and twenty miles +from London, the creditors of the bank flocked in crowds to its counter +to obtain specie for its notes. The merchants intervened and signed an +agreement to make the bank's notes receivable in all business +transactions. + +The war of the Austrian succession followed in 1742, and at the Peace of +Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, 'forever to be maintained,' the English were +saddled with a debt of Ł75,000,000. + + 'Peace hath her victories, + No less renowned than war.' + +It was early in the last century that the abuse of paper money gave a +lasting and unfavorable impression against such issues. The scheme of +John Law and the South Sea Bubble about the same time broke and +scattered their fragments over both England and France. It was in the +latter scheme or folly that Pope lost a large portion of his earnings, +from which we may infer that his temper was not improved. He wrote, in +his Third Epistle, dedicated to Lord Bathurst: + + 'Statesman and patriot ply alike the stocks; + Peeress and butler share alike the box; + And judges job, and bishops bite the town, + And mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown.' + +In the same 'Moral Essay' he alludes to paper money in the following +lines: + + 'Blest paper credit! last and best supply! + That lends corruption lighter wings to fly! + Gold imp'd by thee, can compass hardest things, + Can pocket states, can fetch or carry kings; + A single leaf shall waft an army o'er, + Or ship off senates to a distant shore; + A leaf, like Sibyl's, scatter to and fro + Our fates and fortunes, as the winds shall blow: + Pregnant with thousands flits the scrap unseen, + And silent sells a king, or buys a queen.' + +These are among the earliest tirades against paper money; which, like +many other good things, is condemned because its power has been abused +and prostituted. + +England's enormous debt, which should have warned the Georges against +further war, was not contracted without severe sacrifices. The legal +rate of interest at the opening of the funding system was six per cent. +In 1714 it was reduced to five per cent. Loans during the early wars of +the eighteenth century were raised on annuities for lives on very high +terms, fourteen per cent. being granted for single lives, twelve per +cent. for two lives, and ten per cent. for three lives. But so far was +England from being awake to the enormous debt she was creating by her +expensive wars, that the seventy-five millions existing in 1748 became +Ł132,000,000 at the close of the Seven Years' War in 1763. This volume +was enlarged at the end of the American Revolution to Ł231,000,000. +During all this time the bank was the lever with which these enormous +sums were raised; but the end was not yet. + +The French war with Napoleon became more exhaustive, and within twenty +years from the peace with America to the Peace of Amiens, in 1802, the +debt went up from Ł231,000,000 to Ł537,000,000 sterling. From this +period to 1815 the debt accumulated annually, until it reached its +maximum, or eight hundred and sixty-one millions sterling. + +During these severe changes, reverses, extravagance, and extraordinary +governmental expenditure, the bank was considered the prop of national +finance. The French Revolution and its consequent war with England led +to many heavy outlays by the British Government. In 1795 the bank +desired the chancellor of the exchequer to make his arrangements for the +year without 'any further assistance' from the bank. This was again +urged in 1796, and the bank appealed again to Mr. Pitt. + + 'The only reply from Mr. Pitt was a request for a further + accommodation, on the credit of the consolidated fund, which the + court refused to sanction, until they had received satisfaction on + the topic of the treasury bills, and requested Mr. Pitt to enter + into a full explanation on this subject, which was not even touched + upon in his letter. This resolution being communicated, Mr. Pitt + wrote to the governor and deputy-governor on the 12th August, that + 'they might depend upon measures being immediately taken for the + payment of one million, and a further payment, to the amount of one + million, being made in September, October, and November, in such + proportions as might be found convenient. But, as fresh bills might + arrive, he was under the necessity of requesting a latitude to an + amount not exceeding one million.' About the same period the court + 'desired the governor and deputy-governor would express their + earnest desire that some other means might be adopted for the + future payment of bills of exchange drawn on the treasury.' (_Vide_ + 'History Bank of England,' pp. 114, 115.) + +The circumstances of the nation and of the bank were known to the +capitalists and to the people. Hence various causes of uneasiness and +distress. The bank loaned the public treasury seven and a half millions +in the years 1794, 1795, 1796, and the more they loaned to the +exchequer, the less they could loan to the people. Thus followed a +diminution of gold in the bank, and hoarding by the people. Gold was +exported more freely to the Continent, and reduced accommodation was +given to the merchants. Finally, on the 26th February, 1797, the king's +council passed an order for the suspension of cash payments. + +The bank was on the eve of suspension in the year 1847. On the 25th of +October the cabinet authorized a violation of the charter, thereby +acknowledging the inability of the bank to maintain specie payments. +This order of Lord John Russell inspired fresh confidence, and the bank +immediately recovered strength, and reduced the rate of interest from 8 +per cent. in October to 7 per cent. in November, to 6 and 5 per cent. in +December, to 4 per cent. in January, and to 3-1/2 in June following. The +distress and revulsion of 1847 were consequent upon the over-trading +and railway mania of 1844, 1845, and 1846, and the failure of crops in +Ireland and England in 1847. + +The distress of England in 1847 was scarcely over when France was more +severely affected than at any period since the Continental War. Louis +Philippe abdicated in February, 1848, when consols closed at 88-7/8. By +the close of the week they fell to 83, upon the formation of a +provisional government. The political dissensions and commercial +revulsion led to a large withdrawal of gold from the Bank of France, and +finally the Government authorized, in March, the suspension of the bank, +which was followed by the suspension of the Bank of Belgium and by the +_Société Generale_. + +Again, in 1857, the Bank of England was on the verge of suspension. Lord +Palmerston and the then cabinet issued an order, November 12, +authorizing the bank, if they thought it advisable, again to violate the +charter; but it was found at the last moment unnecessary. + +November was the critical period of the year 1857. The _Times_ of +November 12, 1857, contained these announcements: + +1. Bank charter suspended. + +2. Interest in London, 10 per cent. + +3. " in Hamburg, 10 per cent. + +4. " in Paris, 8-1/2 per cent. + +5. " in New York, 25 per cent. + +6. Suspension of cash payments generally +by all banks in the United States. + +7. Two banks stopped in Glasgow, +and one in Liverpool, and a great bill +panic in London. + +8. Commercial credit and transactions +almost suspended in the country. + +9. Bullion in the bank, Ł7,170,000. + +10. Reserve notes in the bank, Ł975,000. + +11. Bank liabilities, Ł40,875,000. + + 'One gentleman, during the heat of the excitement at Glasgow, went + into the Union Bank and presented a check for Ł500. The teller + asked him if he wished gold. 'Gold!' replied he, 'no; give me + notes, and let the fools who are frightened get the gold,' Another + gentleman rushed into the same bank in a great state of excitement, + with a check for Ł1,400. On being asked if he wished gold he + replied, 'Yes.' 'Well,' said the teller, 'there is Ł1,000 in that + bag and Ł400 in this one.' The gentleman was so flurried by the + readiness with which the demand was granted that he lifted up the + bag with the Ł400 only, and walked off, leaving the Ł1,000 on the + counter. The teller, on discovering the bag, laid it aside for the + time. Late in the day the gentleman returned to the bank in great + distress, stating he had lost the bag with the Ł1,000, and could + not tell whether he dropped it in the crowd or left it behind him + on leaving the bank. 'Oh, you left it on the counter,' said the + teller, quietly, 'and if you call to-morrow you will get your + Ł1,000.' (_Vide_ 'History Bank of England,' p. 429.) + +The facts and statistics from the year 1844 to 1860 relating to the bank +are superadded to the English work by the American editor. Of the +important phases of this period the editor gives a slight sketch in the +following paragraphs. The prominent financial movements in England, +France, and the United States are given in the subsequent pages of the +volume. + + 'The sixteen years which followed the last charter of the bank have + been pregnant with important events of a financial character; the + most important, perhaps, during the whole history of the + institution. The bank has twice, during this short period, been on + the brink of suspension, and was relieved only by the interference + of Government. The second instance occurred after new gold, to the + extent of one hundred millions sterling, or more, had been poured + into Western Europe from California and Australia. The Bank of + France had, during the same period, suspended specie payment. Two + financial revulsions have occurred in the United States, when, with + few exceptions, the banks of the whole country suspended specie + payments. The production of gold and silver throughout the world, + which, up to 1844, was annually about ten or twelve millions + sterling, had recently advanced from twenty-five to thirty millions + sterling per annum, thus stimulating industry and production + largely throughout Europe and America. Sir Robert Peel, the author + of the new charter of the bank, has left the world's stage, after + witnessing the failure of the charter to fully accomplish the end + promised; Europe and America, Asia and Europe, have been knit + together by a wire cord, and capital is now subscribed to + + 'Put a girdle round about the earth,' + + whereby London may speak to San Francisco (the prospective + commercial centre of the world) in less than '_forty minutes_.' + During the same short space of sixteen years the suspended States + of this Union (five at least) have resumed payment of their + obligations; two violent wars, with sundry revolutions, have + occurred in Europe; the ancient city of the Cortez has been + conquered by the 'hordes of the North,' and magnanimously given up + by the captors to the possession of their weaker enemy, and + millions were paid to the latter for portions of their territory; + the northwest passage of the American continent has been + discovered; steam has accomplished wonders between Europe and + America, and between Europe and their distant colonies of Asia, + Africa, and Australia; Ireland has been on the verge of + starvation,[6] when 600,000 of her people died from hunger alone + and its effects, and her population was reduced two millions by + emigration and privation; England's minister has been expelled from + the capital of the United States; speculation has been rife in + Europe and America, and its inevitable effects, revulsion and + bankruptcy, have followed in its train; the railway and the + telegraph have brought remote regions together; China, with her + four hundred millions of people, has been conquered by the united + forces of the English and the French. + + 'The Bank of England, instead of pursuing one even course, with a + view to permanent commercial interests, has unfortunately, and, we + fear, from selfish and individual views, fostered speculation by + reducing her rate of discount to 2 per cent., and soon after, but + too late, discovered the error, and forced her borrowers to pay + from 6 to 10 per cent. + + 'We propose to give the leading events of each year, from 1844 to + 1861, referring the reader to authorities where more copious + information can be gained by those who wish to study the invariable + connection between commerce and money. + + 'The bank shares in the depressed period of 1847-8 fell to 180, + after having reached, in the flattering times of 1844-'5, 215 per + share, or 115 per cent. advance. Consols, at the same depressed + period, fell to 78-3/4, when starvation stared Ireland in its face, + and the bank simultaneously sought protection from the Cabinet.' + +Attention has been recently directed in this country to the premium on +gold, or to the alleged fall in the value of bank paper and Government +notes. Although the premium on gold as an article of merchandise has +reached a high rate during the present year, it will be seen, on +reference to the reliable tables in the History of the Bank of England, +that a great difference occurred during the suspension of the bank in +1797 to 1819. Gold at one time (1812) reached Ł5 8_s._, a difference of +30 per cent. The annexed table shows the changes from 1809 to 1821. + +YEARS |Price of |Difference| Nominal |Amount in + |Gold. |from Mint | Taxes. |Gold + | |prices. | |Currency. +------------------------|------------|----------|----------|---------- + | Ł s. d. |per cent. | Ł | Ł + | | | | +1809, | 4 9 10 | 16-1/3 |71,887,000|60,145,000 +1810, | 4 5 0 | 9-1/10 |74,815,000|68,106,000 +1811, | 4 17 1 | 24-1/2 |73,621,000|55,583,000 +1812, | 5 1 4 | 30 |73,707,000|51,595,000 +Sept. to Dec. 1812, | 5 8 0 | 38-1/2 | ... | ... +1813, | 5 6 2 | 36-1/10 |81,745,000|52,236,000 +Nov. 1812, to Mch. 1813 | 5 10 0 | 41 | ... | ... +1814, | 5 1 8 | 30-1/3 |83,726,000|58,333,000 +1815, | 4 12 9 | 18-8/9 |88,394,000|66,698,000 +1816, | 4 0 0 | 2-1/2 |78,909,000|72,062,000 +Oct. to Dec. 1816 | 3 18 6 | under 1 | ... | ... +1817, | 4 0 0 | 2-1/2 |58,757,000|57,259,000 +1818, | 4 1 5 | 5 |59,391,000|56,025,000 +1819, 4th Feb. | 4 3 0 | 6-1/3 |58,288,000|54,597,000 +1820, | 3 17 10-1/2| par. |59,812,000|59,812,000 +1821, | 3 17 10-1/2| par. |61,000,000|61,000,000 + +The increased volume of Government and bank paper afloat in the United +States since the 1st January, 1862, is conceded to be only temporary. +The Government is engaged in crushing the greatest rebellion known to +history; in doing this, the national expenditures are six or seven fold +what they ever were before, in a time of peace. During the four years +1813 to 1816, when war raged with England, the whole expenses of the +Government were $108,537,000. During the Mexican war, when the +disbursements of the treasury were much heavier, the average annual +expenses of the Government were about 35 to 48 millions. It will be well +to recur to these tabular details for future history. They are presented +as follows, for the whole period of the General Government. + +EXPENDITURES _of the United States, exclusive of Payments on account of +the Public Debt._ + +Years 1789-1792, Washington, $3,797,000 + " 1793-1796, " 12,083,000 + " 1797-1800, John Adams, 21,338,000 + " 1800-1804, Jefferson, 17,174,000 + " 1805-1808, " 23,927,000 + " 1809-1812, Madison, 36,147,000 + " 1813-1816, " 108,537,000 + " 1817-1821, Monroe, 58,698,000 + " 1821-1824, " 45,665,000 + " 1825-1828, John Quincy Adams, 49,313,000 + " 1829-1832, Jackson, 56,249,000 + " 1833-1836, " 87,130,000 + " 1837-1840, Van Buren, 112,188,000 + " 1841-1844, Harrison and Tyler, 81,216,000 + " 1846-1848, Polk, 146,924,000 + " 1849-1852, Taylor and Fillmore, 194,647,000 + " 1853-1856, Pierce, 211,099,000 + " 1857-1860, Buchanan, 262,974,000 + +During the past fiscal year, 1862-3 and the year 1863-4, the Government +expenditures are estimated at ten hundred millions of dollars. These +heavy disbursements cannot be carried on merely by the ordinary bank +paper and the gold and silver of the country. Instead of sixty-five +millions of dollars, the average annual expenditures of the Government +during the last administration, these now involve the sum of five +hundred millions annually. Hence the obvious obligation on the part of +the Government of putting in circulation the most reliable currency, and +of avoiding those of local banks, which do not possess the confidence of +the people at a distance. This can be done only by maintaining a +currency of Government paper which every holder will have full +confidence in, and in which no loss can be sustained. + +There is here no conflict or competition between the Government and the +State banks. The latter have the benefit of their legitimate circulation +in their own respective localities; while the national treasury +furnishes to the troops and to the creditors of the nation a circulation +of treasury notes which must possess confidence as long as the +Government lasts. + +The policy of the English Government in this respect was a wise one. At +the adoption of the last charter of the bank (1844) the Government +allowed the country banks to maintain from that time forward the +circulation then outstanding, which was not to be increased; and as fast +as the banks failed or were wound up voluntarily, their circulation was +retired and the vacuum became filled by the notes of the Bank of +England. The latter was forbidden by its new charter to exceed certain +prescribed limits in its issues. They could issue to the amount of their +capital, Ł14,000,000, and beyond that to the extent of gold in the +vaults. Thus the bank circulation of England, Scotland, and Ireland is +less now than in 1844, when the new principle was established, viz.: + +BANK CIRCULATION. + + Bank of England. Country Banks. Ireland. Scotland. TOTAL. + +1844, Ł22,015,000 Ł7,797,000 Ł7,716,000 Ł3,804,000 Ł41,325,000 +1862, 20,190,000 5,680,000 5,519,000 4,053,000 35,442,000 + +Had this principle been adopted in the United States at the same +period, the excesses and extravagance of 1856-'7 might have been +obviated, as well as the revulsion of the latter year, and the distress +which followed. + +Let us recur to the eventful history of the bank. Although a private +institution, owned and controlled by private capital, its large profits +accruing for the benefit of its own shareholders, yet it became so +closely interwoven with the commerce, manufactures, trade, and the +public finances of the nation, that it may be considered as in reality a +national institution. At its inception its whole capital was swallowed +by the treasury. This was a part of the contract of charter. Its +subsequent accumulations of capital, from Ł1,200,000, have likewise been +absorbed by the Government, until now the bank reports the Government +debt to them to be Ł11,015,100, and the Government securities held, to +be Ł11,064,000. Without the aid of the bank, the national treasury could +not, probably, have made the enormous disbursements which were actually +made between the commencement of the American Revolution in 1776, and +the termination of the continental war of 1815. The bank here furnished, +almost alone, 'the sinews of war.' + +During this eventful period there were large numbers of provincial banks +of issue created in England and Ireland. These were managed mainly with +a view to private profit, while the public interests have suffered +severely from the frequent expansions and contractions of the volume of +the currency through such private management, and from the numerous +failures of these concerns. The evils of this system were for many years +the subject of discussion in Parliament and among prominent journals. In +1826 the Edinburgh _Review_ expressed the opinion that + + 'So long, therefore, as any individual, or association of + individuals, may issue notes of a low value, to be used in the + common transactions of life, without lodging any security for their + ultimate payment, so long is it _certain_ that those panics which + must necessarily occur every now and then, and against which no + effectual precaution can be devised, must occasion the destruction + of a greater or smaller number of banking establishments, and by + consequence a ruinous fluctuation in the supply and value of + money.' (_Edinburgh Review_, February, 1826.) + +This was a period of great speculation in England. In the year 1823 no +less than 532 companies were chartered, with a nominal capital of 441 +millions sterling. These speculations were fostered by the increasing +volume of bank paper. The evil increased, and was allowed to exist until +the year 1844, when a stop was put to the further increase of the volume +of bank circulation, and to the further incorporation of joint stock +banks. + +We learn one lesson here, which may have a good effect upon us if we +will bear it in mind in our future legislation, and take warning from +the experiences of our contemporaries. We allude to the obvious +necessity in a country like ours, and, indeed, in any country, of +maintaining a national moneyed institution as a check upon the +vacillation, expansions, and contractions which mark the policy of small +banks of issue. This national institution, while free from individual +profit, and without power to grant individual favors, should create and +perform the functions of a national currency, and execute all the +details required by or for the national treasury. Its chief utility +would be as a check upon the excess to which all joint stock banks are +liable--a sort of controlling and conservative power to prevent that +mischief which our past experience shows has been the result of paper +money when issued merely for private gain. + +The advantage, the convenience, we may say the _necessity_, of a +national circulation of paper money, are fully demonstrated by our own +past history, and by the history of European nations. This circulation +should be dictated by the wants of the National Government, and +convertible, at the will of the holder, into specie. With these obvious +restraints it would accomplish its ends and aims. + +The Bank of England, in its early stages, was endangered by various and +extraordinary circumstances. Within three years of its establishment it +was compelled to suspend payment to its depositors in cash, and issued +certificates therefor payable ten per cent. every fortnight. In 1709 the +Sacheverell riots occurred in London, and fears were felt that the bank +would be sacked; but this violence was obviated by well-trained troops. +In 1718 John Law's bank was established in France, and for two years +kept the people in a ferment. This was followed by the South Sea scheme +in England, in 1720, 'a year (the historian Anderson says) remarkable +beyond any other which can be pitched upon for extraordinary and +romantic projects.' The bank, of course, suffered by these speculative +measures, and was repeatedly exposed to a run upon its specie resources. + +In 1722 the _rest_ (or reserve fund) was established by the bank, as a +measure to cover extraordinary losses in the future, and to inspire more +confidence among the public as to the ability of the bank to meet +reverses. This fund, in July, 1862, had accumulated to Ł3,132,500 +sterling, or about twenty-one and a half per cent. of the capital. + +The first forged note of the Bank of England was presented in the year +1758, or sixty-four years after the bank was established. In 1780 these +forgeries became more numerous, and were so well executed as to deceive +the officers of the bank. + +Let us now recur to some of the incidents connected with the bank in +early ages. Of these, the author, Mr. Francis, furnishes numerous +instances. + +Among other frauds upon the bank was that of clipping the guineas, by +one of the clerks employed in the bullion office. This occurred in 1767. + +The forgery of its notes having been made a capital offence, the waste +of life in consequence was severe. During the eight years, 1795 to 1803, +there were one hundred and forty executions for this crime; and two +hundred and nine between 1795 and 1809; and from 1797 to 1811 the +executions were 469. 'The visible connection between the issue of small +notes and the effusion of blood, is one of the most frightful parts of +this case.' + +In 1803 a fraud on the bank to the extent of Ł320,000 was perpetrated by +Mr. Robert Astlett, a cashier of the bank. This was in the re-issue of +exchequer bills that had been previously redeemed, but which were not +cancelled. This fraud amounted to about 2-1/2 per cent. of the capital, +and although it did not prevent a dividend, it prevented the +distribution of a bonus which would otherwise have been paid to the +shareholders. + +In the year 1822 another fraud on the bank came to light. This was +perpetrated by a bookkeeper, and amounted to Ł10,000. In 1824 the fraud +of Mr. Fauntleroy on the bank was discovered, amounting to Ł360,000. +This was done by forged powers of attorney for the transfer of +Government consols. + +The bank was brought near suspension again in 1825 by the imprudent +expansion of its notes. After the resumption of specie payments in +1820-'21, the true policy of the bank would have been to maintain an +even tenor of its way; instead of which it increased its circulation +twenty-five per cent. in the year 1825 (or from Ł18,292,000 to +Ł25,709,000), while the issues of the country banks were equally +enlarged, giving encouragement to violent speculation among the people. +The specie reserve of the Bank of England fell from Ł14,200,000 in +January 1824 to Ł1,024,000 in December, 1825. This difficulty of the +bank was relieved by the issue of a few thousand bills of Ł1 and Ł2. + +Speculation had been rife in 1824; no less than 624 companies were +started with a nominal capital of Ł372,000,000, including mining, gas, +insurance, railroad, steam, building, trading, provision, and other +companies. At the same time foreign loans were contracted in England to +the extent of Ł32,000,000, of which over three fourths were advanced in +cash. + +The country banks of England had increased their circulation from +Ł9,920,000 in 1823 to Ł14,980,000 in 1825, or over fifty per cent., thus +stimulating prices, and promoting speculation widely throughout the +country. + +Immediately following the revulsion at the close of the year 1825, Mr. +Huskisson's free trade policy was advocated in the House of Commons by a +vote of 223 to 40. In the same year lotteries were suppressed in +England. In 1828 branches of the Bank of England were established--a +measure, of course, unpopular among the provincial joint stock banks. + +In the year 1832-'3 were brought forward three important measures in +Parliament. One was the abolishment of the death penalty for forgery; +another was the modification of the usury laws; the third was the +re-charter of the bank. + +The last criminal executed for forgery was a man by the name of Maynard, +in December, 1829. Public sentiment had long been opposed to the +infliction of this punishment for the offence of forgery, and +transportation was now substituted in the prominent cases. England, at +the same time, opened the way for a gradual abolishment of the usury +laws. At first the relief was extended to short commercial paper, +afterward to all paper having not over twelve months to run, 1837; and +finally, in 1854, the usury laws were removed from all negotiable paper, +as well as from bonds and mortgages. + +By the new charter of 1833, Bank of England notes were, for the first +time, made a legal tender, except at the bank itself. Joint stock banks +were authorized in the metropolis, but were prohibited from issuing +notes. + +The English work of Mr. Francis is anecdotical in its character. The +American edition conveys to the reader, for the first time, a resumé of +the leading movements in Parliament on the subject of the bank, and its +close connection with the Government finances. The part which Mr. Pitt, +Mr. Canning, Sir Robert Peel, and other distinguished statesmen took in +the relations between the bank and the exchequer, is in the +supplementary portion of the new edition shown, as well as the views of +Lord Althorpe, Lord Ashburton, Lord Geo. Bentinck, Mr. Thomas Baring, +Lord Brougham, Mr. Gilbart, Sir James Graham, Lord King, Earl of +Liverpool, Jones Loyd, Lord Lyndhurst, Mr. Rothschild, and others who +exercised a large influence over the monetary interests of their day. + +In the consideration of the banking and currency questions of the day +and of the last and present century, it is desirable to have thus +brought together in a single work, a continuous history of the +institution which has had so large an influence upon the public +interests of Europe, and a review of the important circumstances which +marked the progress of the bank in its successful efforts to sustain +England against foreign enemies and domestic revulsions, an index to the +speculative movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when +commerce, trade, and the vast monetary interests of Europe and America +have been unnecessarily and cruelly involved. + +The letter addressed by Secretary Chase, of the Treasury Department, to +the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means of the House of +Representatives, and to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, +under date June 7th, 1862, suggested the power by Congress to the +treasury to issue $150,000,000 in treasury notes, in addition to this +sum, authorized by the act of February 25th, 1862; also, authority to +receive fifty millions of dollars on deposit, in addition to fifty +millions previously authorized by Congress. These suggestions were +favorably considered in both Houses, and the recommendations of the +Secretary were adopted fully, leading to the adoption of a national +system of finance, which will eventually reëstablish and preserve +national credit. Fears have been expressed in some quarters that this +increased volume of paper money would be a public evil, and serve to +disturb the value of property and the price of labor. This might be +reasonably anticipated if the country were at peace, and the Government +expenditures were upon a peace footing. + +But a state of things exists now in this country hitherto unknown. The +contracts of the Government involve the expenditure of larger sums than +were ever paid before in the same space of time by this or any other +Government. In the disbursements of these large sums it is an obvious +duty of Congress to provide a national circulation of uniform value +throughout the whole country--a circulation of a perfectly reliable +character, not subject in the least to the ordinary vicissitudes of +trade or to the revulsions which have frequently marked our history. +These revulsions have been witnessed, and their results seen by the +leading public men of the century. Mr. Madison saw at an early day the +importance of creating and sustaining a government circulation. His +language was: 'It is essential to every modification of the finances +that the benefits of an uniform national currency should be restored to +the community.' + +Mr. Calhoun, in 1816, said: 'By a sort of undercurrent, the power of +Congress to regulate the money of the country has caved in, and upon its +ruin have sprung up those institutions which now exercise the right of +making money in and for the United States.' + +'It is the duty of government,' says a well known writer, 'to interfere +to regulate every business or pursuit that might otherwise become +publicly injurious. On this principle it interferes to prevent the +circulation of spurious coin.' Counterfeit coin is more readily detected +than a fictitious paper currency, yet no sane man would advocate the +repeal of the laws which prohibit it. Why, then, permit the unlimited +manufacture of paper money of an unreliable character? + +In the consideration of this subject we should divest ourselves of all +selfish views of private profit and advantage. We should look only to +the public good, to stability in trade and commerce, and to the general +interests of the people at large as distinguished from those of a few +individuals. It is clearly then the province of government to establish +and to regulate the paper money of the nation, so that it shall possess +the following attributes: + +I. To be uniform in value throughout all portions of the country. + +II. To be perfectly reliable at all times as a medium for the payment of +debts. + +III. To be issued in limited amounts, and under the control of the +Government only. + +IV. To be convertible, at the pleasure of the holder, into gold or +silver. + +It must be conceded that these requisites do not belong, and never can +belong, to paper issued by joint stock banks, which are governed with a +view to the largest profit, and which are but little known beyond their +own immediate localities. + +Recent history assures us that abuses have been practised in reference +to the bank circulation of the country, which have led to violent +revulsions and severe loss. England experienced the same results between +the years 1790 and 1840, and to such an extent that in the year 1844 her +statesmen devised a system whereby no further expansion of paper money +should occur. The amount then existing was assumed to be a minimum of +the amount required for commercial transactions, and it was ordered that +all bank issues beyond that sum shall be represented by a deposit of +gold. + +If the Bank of England had been governed by considerations of public +welfare, and not by those of private interest, it would not have reduced +the rate of interest to 2-1/2 per cent. in 1844-'5, thus producing +violent speculation, and leading to the revulsion of 1849. Nor would the +bank have established low rates of interest only in the year 1857, thus +leading this powerful institution to the verge of bankruptcy, and to the +clemency of the British Cabinet in November of that year. + +England has checked the paper circulation of the country, but has not +withdrawn from the bank the power to promote speculation by extravagant +loans at a low rate of discount. + +The Governments of France and England have both assumed control of the +paper currency of their respective countries. This is sound policy, and +it is one of the prerogatives that must be exercised, in its full force, +by the Government of the United States and by all other governments, if +stability, permanency, consistency are to be observed or maintained for +the people. This is obviously necessary in a time of peace and +prosperity; it is perhaps more so in a time of rebellion or war, like +the present. Circumstances may arise where it will be the course of +wisdom and safety to suspend specie payment; and, in some extreme +exigencies, to forbid the export of specie. + +This position was well explained by Mr. J.W. Gilbart, manager of the +London and Westminster Bank, who, in his testimony before Sir Robert +Peel, in 1843, said, 'If I were prime minister, I would immediately, on +the commencement of war, issue an order in council for the bank to stop +payment. I stated also that I spoke as a politician, not as a banker. +* * * I came to the conclusion that, under the circumstances of the war of +1797, a suspension of cash payments was not a matter of choice, _but of +necessity_.' (_Vide_ 'History of the Bank of England,' New York edition, +p. 130.) + +We come now to consider what is necessary, in order to restore the +currency of the United States to a specie footing. This restoration is +demanded alike by motives of justice and sound policy. No contracts can +be well entered into, unless the currency of the country is upon a +substantial and permanent footing of redemption. It is a matter which +concerns every individual in the community; it is especially so to the +General Government in view of its extraordinary expenditures: and no +commercial prosperity can be maintained without it. + +A restoration of public and private credit can be accomplished only by +an observance of those sound principles of finance that have been +announced by the wise men of our own and other countries. Mr. Alexander +Hamilton, Mr. Gallatin, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, each in his turn +advocated a national institution, by which the currency of the country +could be placed upon a reliable and permanent footing. Such an +institution should control the currency and receive surplus capital on +deposit; but need not interfere with the legitimate operations of the +State banks as borrowers and lenders of money, nor encourage in the +slightest degree, through loans, any speculative movements among the +people. + +In the next place our people must resort to and maintain more economy in +their individual expenditure, and thus preserve a balance of foreign +trade in our own favor. It is shown that, during the fiscal year ending +30 June, 1860, there were imported into the United States goods, wholly +manufactured, of the value of ... $166,073,000, partially manufactured, +62,720,000. + +We can dispense with two thirds of such articles during our present +national reverses, and rely upon our own domestic labor for similar +products, viz.: + + Manufactures of Wool, $37,937,000 + " of Silk, 32,948,000 + " of Cotton, 32,558,000 + " of Flax, 10,736,000 + Laces and Embroideries, 4,017,000 + Gunny Cloths, Mattings, 2,386,000 + Clothing, 2,101,000 + Iron, and Manufactures of Iron and Steel, 18,694,000 + China and Earthenware, 4,387,000 + Clocks, Chronometers, Watches, 2,890,000 + Boots, Shoes, and Gloves, 2,230,000 + Miscellaneous, 15,189,000 + ----------- + 166,073,000 + +besides other articles exceeding one hundred millions in value. + +Rather than send abroad thirty or forty millions in gold annually, as we +have done of late years, let us dispense with foreign woollen goods, +silk and cotton goods, laces, &c., and encourage our own mills, at least +until the war and its debt are over. + +Mr. Madison said much in a few words, when he said: + + 'The theory of '_let us alone_' supposes that all nations concur in + a perfect freedom of commercial intercourse. Were this the case, + they would, in a commercial view, be but one nation, as much as the + several districts composing a particular nation; and the theory + would be as applicable to the former as the latter. But this golden + age of free trade has not yet arrived, nor is there a single nation + that has set the example. No nation can, indeed, safely do so, + until a reciprocity, at least, be insured to it. * * A nation, + leaving its foreign trade, in all cases, to regulate itself, might + soon find it regulated by other nations into subserviency to a + foreign interest.' + +There is much good sense, too, in the views promulgated by another +president, who said, in relation to our independence of other nations: + + 'The tariff bill before us, embraces the design of fostering, + protecting, and preserving within ourselves the means of national + defence and independence, _particularly in a state of war_. * * + *The experience of the late war (1812) taught us a lesson, and one + never to be forgotten. If our liberty and republican form of + government, procured for us by our Revolutionary fathers, are worth + the blood and treasure at which they were obtained, it surely is + our duty to protect and defend them. * * * What is the real + situation of the agriculturist? Where has the American farmer a + market for his surplus product? Except for cotton, he has neither a + foreign nor home market. Does not this clearly prove, when there is + no market either at home or abroad, that there is too much labor + employed in agriculture, and that the channels of labor should be + multiplied? Common sense points out the remedy. Draw from + agriculture the superabundant labor; employ it in mechanism and + manufactures; thereby creating a home-market for your + bread-stuffs, and distributing labor to the most profitable account + and benefits to the country. Take from agriculture in the United + States six hundred thousand men, women and children, and you will + at once give a home-market for more bread-stuffs than all Europe + now furnishes us. In short, sir, _we have been too long subject to + the policy of British merchants_. It is time that we should become + a little more Americanized; and, instead of feeding the paupers and + laborers of England, feed our own; or else, in a short time, by + continuing our present policy, we shall be rendered paupers + ourselves.' + +Mr. Bigelow, in his late and highly valuable work on the tariff, says +truly (p. 103): + + 'Can any one question that our home production far outweighs in + importance all other material interests of the nation? * * * It is + the nation of great internal resources, of vigorous productive + power and self-dependent strength, which is always best prepared + and most able, not only to defend itself, but to lend others a + helping hand.' + +If our people would maintain their own national integrity, their own +individual independence, and their true status in the great family of +nations of the earth, they will [at least until the present rebellion is +crushed, and until the public debt thereby created shall be +extinguished] pursue a strict course of public and private economy. Let +us encourage and support our own manufactures, and thereby contribute to +the subsistence and wealth of our own laborers instead of contributing +millions annually to the pauper labor of European nations; especially of +those nations that have failed to give us countenance in the present +struggle and that have, on the contrary, given both direct and indirect +aid to the rebels of the South. + +The United States have within themselves, in great abundance, +contributed by a bountiful Providence, the leading products of the +earth. In metals and in agricultural products, we exceed any and all +other countries of the earth. If we encourage the labor of our own +people in the development of the great resources of the country, we +shall not only preserve our own commercial independence, but we shall +soon be, as we ought to be in view of such advantages, the creditor +nation of the world, and compel other countries to resort to us for the +raw materials for their own manufacturing districts. + +With the aid of the vast iron and coal mines of our own country, we can +construct and keep in force an adequate navy for peace or for war. Our +skilled industry can produce firearms equal to any in the world. The +vast agricultural resources of the West yield abundance for ourselves +and a large surplus for other countries. The breadstuffs of the West and +Northwest; the tobacco of the Middle States, and the cotton of the South +are in demand, throughout nearly all Europe. Let us then be independent +ourselves of foreign manufacturers, and endeavor to place the rest of +the world under obligations to our own country for the necessaries of +life. This will do more to preserve peace than all the arguments of +cabinets or the combined navies and armies of the world. + +Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell said,[7] in parliament, in 1842, +five years before the famine in Ireland: 'We are not, we cannot be, +independent of foreign nations, any more than they can of us: * * * two +millions of our people have been dependent on foreign countries for +their daily food. At least five millions of our people are dependent on +the supplies of cotton from America, of foreign wool or foreign silk. * +* * The true independence of a great commercial nation is to be found, +not in raising all the produce it requires within its own bound, _but in +attaining such a preëminence in commerce that the time can never arise +when other nations will not be compelled, for their own sales, to +minister to its wants_.' + +Now this principle, enunciated twenty years ago by men, who now hold the +reins of the English Government, _is especially one for us to bear in +mind_. While England, from her limited surface, can never be independent +of other countries for the supply of food, we may say, and we can +demonstrate, that the United States can reach that preëminence to which +the great English statesman alluded--a preëminence which he would gladly +attain for his own countrymen. + +To the General Government was confided by the framers of the +Constitution the power to 'coin money, and regulate the value thereof;' +and the States were forbidden to 'emit bills of credit;' from which we +may infer that it was intended to place the control of the currency in +the hands of the General Government. It will be generally conceded that +it would be wiser to have one central point of issue than several +hundred as at present. There should be but one form for, and one source +of, the currency. It should emanate from a source where the power cannot +be abused, and where the interests of the people at large, and not of +individuals, will be consulted. + +The people have thus an interest at stake. It is for their benefit that +a national circulation, of a perfectly reliable character, should be +established. The remark made by Sir Robert Peel, in parliament, in May, +1844, at the time of the recharter of the bank, applies with equal force +to the national currency of this or any other country. + + 'There is no contract, public or private, national or individual, + which is unaffected by it. The enterprises of trade--the + arrangements made in all the domestic relations of society--the + wages of labor--pecuniary transactions of the highest amount and + the lowest--the payment of the national debt--the provision for the + national expenditure--the command which the coin of the lowest + denomination has over the necessaries of life--are all affected by + the decision to which we may come.' + +Sir Robert Peel wisely comprehended the powers and attributes of a +national currency, and we may wisely adopt his idea that such a national +currency, controlled by the national legislature, for the use and +benefit of the people, is the only one that can be safely adopted. + + * * * * * + +The national banking system established by Congress, in the year 1863, +at the suggestion of Secretary Chase, of the Treasury Department, is the +initiatory step toward a highly desirable reform in the paper currency +of the country. Already over seventy national banks have been organized, +under the act of Congress, with a combined capital of ten millions of +dollars, whose circulation will have not only a uniform appearance, but +a uniform value throughout the whole country. Numerous others are in +process of organization. To the community at large the new system is +desirable, because it secures to the people a currency of uniform value +and perfect reliability. The notes of these institutions will be at par +in every State in the Union, and holders may rely upon the certainty of +redemption upon demand: whether the institution be solvent or not--in +existence or not--the Government holds adequate security for instant +redemption of all notes issued under the law. + +This feature of the paper currency of the country is one that has long +been needed. For the want of it the States have been for many years +crowded with a currency of unequal market value, and of doubtful +security. Added to this is a marked feature of the new system which did +not pertain to the Bank of the United States in its best days. Its +workings are free from individual favoritism. No loans are granted to +political or personal friends, at the risk of the Government, and all +temptation to needless and hurtful expansion is thus destroyed. There is +no mammoth institution, under the control of one or a few individuals, +liable at times to be prostituted to political and personal ends of an +objectionable character. While the banks under the new system are spread +over a large space, they perform what is needed of the best managed +institutions; and although perfectly independent of each other in their +liabilities, expenses, losses, and in their action generally, yet +together they form a practical unit, and will be serviceable in +counteracting that tendency to inflation and speculation which has +marked many years in the commercial history of this country. + +We consider the Bank Act of 1863 as one of the most important features +of the Thirty-seventh Congress, and of this Administration. It will +create a link long wanted between the States and Territories, and do +much to strengthen the Union and maintain commercial prosperity. The +country will hereafter honor Secretary Chase for the conception and +success of this scheme, even if there were no other distinguished traits +in his administration of the Treasury and the Government finances. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 6: 'The scenes exhibited far exceeded in horror _anything yet +recorded in European history_.' (Alison.) America, in her own fulness, +sent succor to famished Ireland, in 1847, and when her own day of +travail came near, in 1861, England volunteered no helping hand to her +kindred.] + +[Footnote 7: See 'History of the Bank of England,' p. 851.] + + + + +OCTOBER AFTERNOON IN THE HIGHLANDS. + + + Slowly toward the western mountains + Sinks the gold October sun; + Longer grow the deepening shadows, + And the day is nearly done. + + Rosy gleams the quiet River + 'Neath the crimson-tinted sky; + White-winged vessels, wind-forsaken, + On the waveless waters lie. + + Glow the autumn-tinted valleys, + On the hills soft shadows rest, + Growing warmer, purple glowing, + As the sun sinks toward the west. + + Slanting sunlight through the Cedars, + Scarlet Maples all aglow, + Long rays streaming through the forests, + Gleam the dead leaves lying low. + + Golden sunshine on the cornfields, + Glittering ripples on the stream. + And the still pools in the meadows + Catch the soft October gleam. + + Warmer grows the purple mountains, + Lower sinks the glowing sun, + Soon will fade the streaming sunlight-- + See, the day is nearly done! + + + + +THE ISLE OF SPRINGS. + +CHAPTER III. + +THE COUNTRY + + +After having been detained in town several days longer than I had +reckoned on, by heavy rains, which ran through the streets in rivers, +and filled the bed of Sandy Gully, through which we must pass, with a +rushing torrent of irresistible strength, a small party of us left +Kingston one morning for the mountains of St. Andrew and Metcalfe, among +which lie the stations of the American missionaries whom we had come to +join. We were mounted on the small horses of the country, whose first +appearance excited some doubts in the mind of a friend whether he was to +carry the horse or the horse him. However, they are not quite ponies, +and their blood is more noble than their size, being a good deal of it +Arab. They are decidedly preferable for mountain travel to larger +animals. + +We directed our course over the hot plains towards the mountains which +rose invitingly before us, ready to receive us into their green depths. +On leaving the town, we passed first through sandy lanes bordered by +cactus hedges, rising in columnar rows, and then came out upon the +excellent macadamized road over which thirteen of the sixteen miles of +our journey lay. As we went along we met a continual succession of +groups of the country people, mostly women and children, coming into +Kingston with their weekly load of provisions to sell. They eyed us with +expressions varying from good-natured cordiality to sullenness, and +occasionally we heard a rude remark at the expense of the 'Buckras;' but +for the most part their demeanor was civil and pleasant. Most of them +had the headloads without which a negro woman seems hardly complete in +the road, varying in dimensions from a huge basket of yams or bananas to +an ounce vial. How such a slight thing manages to keep its perpendicular +with their careless, swinging gait, is something marvellous, but they +manage it to perfection. Almost every group, in addition, had a +well-laden donkey--comical little creatures, looking hardly bigger under +their huge hampers than well-sized Newfoundland dogs, and hurrying +nimbly along, with a speed that betokened a wholesome remembrance of a +good many hard thrashings in the past and a reasonable dread of similar +ones in the future. If I held the doctrine of transmigration, I should +be firmly persuaded that the souls of parish beadles, drunken captains, +and other petty tyrants, shifted quarters into the bodies of Jamaica +negroes' donkeys. One patriotic black woman, whose donkey was rather +refractory, relieved her mind by exclaiming, in a tone of infinite +disgust, 'O-h-h you Roo-shan!' accompanying her objurgation by several +emphatic demonstrations on his hide of how she was disposed to treat a +'Rooshan' at that present moment.[8] + +Going on, we passed several beautiful 'pens,' as farms devoted to +grazing are called. These near town are little more than mere pieces of +land surrounding elegant villas, the residence of wealthy gentlemen +whose business lies in Kingston. Here you see 'the one-storied house of +the tropics, with its green jalousies and deep veranda,' surrounded by +handsomely kept meadows of the succulent Guinea grass, which clothes so +large a part of the island with its golden green, and enclosed by wire +fences or by the intricate but delicate logwood hedges, or else by stone +walls. On either side of the carriage road which swept round before the +most elegant of these villas, that of Mr. Porteous, we noticed rows of +the mystic century plant. + +At last we left the comparatively arid plain, with its scantier +vegetation, and began to ascend Stony Hill, which is 1,360 feet high +where the road passes over it. The cool air passing through the gap, and +our increasing elevation, now began to temper the heat, and soon the +clouds began to gather again, and a slight rain fell. But I did not +notice it, for every step of the journey now seemed to bring me farther +into the heart of fairyland. It was not any variety of colors, but the +unutterable depth of green, enclosing us, as we ascended, more and more +completely in its boundless exuberance. From that moment the richest +verdure of my native country has seemed pale and poor. Reaching the top +of the hill, we saw above us the higher range, looking down on us +through the shifting mists, with that inexpressible gracefulness which +tempers the grandeur of tropical mountains. + +We descended the hill on the other side into a small inland valley, +containing the two estates of Golden Spring and Temple Hall. The +former, which presented nothing very noticeable then, has since passed +under the management of a gentleman who to a judicious and energetic +personal oversight has added a kindliness and strict honesty in his +dealings with the laborers much more desirable than frequent in the +island. As a result of this, Golden Spring has become a garden. A great +many more dilapidated estates would become gardens under the same +efficacious mode of treatment. + +The streams were so swollen by the rain that on coming to what is +commonly a trifling rivulet, we found it so high as to cost us some +trouble to cross. However, we all got over, although one servant boy +with his pack horse was caught by the current and carried down several +rods almost into the river, which was rushing by in a turbid torrent. I +ought to have been much alarmed, but having a happy way, in new +circumstances, of taking it for granted that everything which happens is +just what ought to happen then and there, I stood composedly on the +farther bank, nothing doubting that the boy and the beast had their own +good reasons for striking out a new track, and it was not till they were +both safe on land that I learned with some consternation that they had +come within an inch of being drowned. + +At length we turned aside into a byroad leading up a steep hill, +slippery with mud, and left this pleasant valley. I passed through it +many a time afterwards, and never lost the impression of its peaceful +richness. + +We now found ourselves in the wild country in which our missionary +stations lie. Hills rose around on every side; their surfaces broken and +furrowed into every fantastic variety of shape, with only distance +enough between their bases for the mountain streams to flow. In our +latitude such a country would be much of the time a bleak desolation. +But here the mantle of glorious and everlasting green softens and +enriches the broken and fluctuating surfaces into luxuriant and cloying +beauty. In such an ocean of verdure we now found ourselves, its emerald +waves rolling above, below, and around us. Our road, when once we had +surmounted the short hill, was a narrow, winding bridle path, which kept +along almost upon a level over a continual succession of natural +causeways, spanning the gullies with such an appearance of art as I have +never seen elsewhere. I afterward learned that these are dikes of trap, +from which the softer rock has been gradually disintegrated, leaving +them thus happily arranged for human convenience. + +After three miles' travel over these roads of nature's making, in a rain +which at last became quite uncomfortable, we came finally to Oberlin +Mission House. A West Indian country house, without fire or carpets, +must be very pleasingly fitted up not to look dreary in a wet day, and +Oberlin House appeared rather cheerless as we alighted with streaming +garments, the romance pretty well soaked out of us for the time. But +after supper and a change of clothes, and the clearing away of the +clouds, our dismal spirits cleared up too, and we went out into the +garden to enjoy the rare flowers and plants--the crimson-leaved +ponsetto, the Bleeding Heart, with its ensanguined centre, the curiously +pied and twisted Croton Pictum, the Plumbago, well named from the leaden +hue of its flowers, the long, deep-red leaves of the Dragon's Blood, the +purple magnificence of the Passion flower, relieved by the more familiar +beauty of the Four o'clock and of the Martinique rose. Seeing something +that pleased me, I stepped forward to view it more narrowly, when a +sudden access of acute pain in one foot, quickly spreading to the knee, +admonished me that I had got into mischief in the shape of an ant's +nest, and gave me the first instalment of a lesson I learned in due time +very thoroughly, that the beauties of Jamaica are to be enjoyed with a +very cautious regard to the paramount rights of the insect creation. + +When I went to bed, I found the bedclothes saturated with dampness. But +I learned that it was like a Newport fog, too saline to be mischievous. +The atmosphere of the island, even in the brightest and most elastic +weather, is so impregnated with moisture, that a Leyden jar will lose +its charge in being taken across the room, and an electrical machine +will not work without a pan of coals under the cylinder. But as no part +of the island is more than twenty-five miles from the sea, this +continual moisture appears to be quite innocuous, its worst effect being +the musty smell which it causes in everything in the mountains, where +there is the most rain. Use fortunately takes from us the perception of +this, or it would be quite intolerable. Perpetual summer, and the utmost +glory of earth, sky, and sea, are not to be enjoyed without drawbacks +that would make a careful housekeeper very doubtful about the +desirableness of the exchange. And so ended my first day in the country. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE ISLAND + + +I had intended writing some of my first impressions about Jamaica, +particularly its negro population. But I find, on reviewing my residence +of five years and a half in the tranquil island, that first impressions +melt so imperceptibly into final conclusions, that it appears best not +to attempt a too formal separation of them. Before recounting the +results of my own experience, however, in any form, it will not be amiss +to attempt some general description of the island and of its population, +and to give a slight sketch of its history. + +The parallel of 18° N lat. passes through the island of Jamaica, which +has thus a true tropical climate. It is 160 miles in length and 40 in +average breadth, having thus a plane area of 6,400 square miles, being +about equal to the united area of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Although +the third in size of the Greater Antilles, it comes at a great remove +after Hayti, the second, being not more than one-fourth as large. Nor +does it compare in fertility with either Hayti or Cuba. The former +island is the centre of geological upheaval, and the great rounded +masses, sustaining a soil of inexhaustible depth, run off from thence +splintering into sharp ridges, which in Jamaica become veritable knife +edges, sustaining a soil comparatively thin. The character of the island +is that of a mountain mass, which, as the ancient watermark on the +northern coast shows, has at some remote period been tilted over, and +has shot out an immense amount of detritus on its southern side, forming +thus the plains which extend along a good part of that coast, varying in +breadth from ten to twenty miles, besides the alluvial peninsula of +Vere. In the interior, also, there is an upland basin of considerable +extent, looking like the dry bed of a former lake, which now forms the +chief part of the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. The mountain mass +which makes the body of the island, running in various ranges through +its whole length, culminates in the eastern part of it in the Blue +Mountains, whose principal summit, the Blue Mountain Peak, is 7,500 feet +high. It is said that Columbus, wishing to give Queen Isabella an +impression of the appearance of these, took a sheet of tissue paper, and +crumpling it up in his hand, threw it on a table, exclaiming, 'There! +such is their appearance.' The device used by the great discoverer to +convey to the mind of the royal Mother of America some image of her +new-found realms, forcibly recurs to the mind of the traveller as he +sails along the southeastern coast, and notices the strange contortions +of the mountain surfaces. But seen from the northern shore, at a greater +distance, through the purple haze which envelops them, their outlines +leave a different impression. I shall always remember their aspect of +graceful sublimity, as seen from Golden Vale, in Portland, and of +massive sweetness, as seen from Hermitage House, in the parish of St. +George. The gray buttresses of their farthest western peak, itself over +5,000 feet in height, rose in full view of a station where I long +resided, and the region covered by their lower spurs, ranging in +elevation from seven to ten and twelve hundred feet, is that which +especially deserves the name of the 'well-watered land,' or, as it is +poetically rendered, the 'isle of springs,' of which Jamaica, or perhaps +more exactly Xaymaca, is the Indian equivalent. There you meet in most +abundance with those crystal rivulets, every few hundred yards threading +the road, and going to swell the wider streams which every mile or two +cross the traveller's way, laving his horse's sides with refreshing +coolness, as they hurry on in their tortuous course from the mountain +heights to the sea. Farther west the mountains and hills assume gentler +and more rounded forms, particularly in the parish of St. Anne, the +Garden of Jamaica. I regret that I know only by report the scenes of +Eden-like loveliness of this delightful parish. It is principally +devoted to grazing, and its pastures are maintained in a park-like +perfection. Grassy eminences, crowned with woods, and covered with herds +of horses and the handsome Jamaica cattle, descend, in successive +undulations, to the sea. Over these, from the deck of a vessel a few +miles out, may be seen falling the silver threads of many cascades. +Excellent roads traverse the parish, which is inhabited by a gentry in +easy circumstances, and by a contented and thriving yeomanry. St. Anne +appears to be truly a Christian Arcadia. + +In respect of climate and vegetation, there are three Jamaicas--Jamaica +of the plains, Jamaica of the uplands, and Jamaica of the high +mountains. The highest summit of the mountain region, is below the line +at which snow is ever formed in this latitude, and it is disputed +whether an evanescent hoarfrost even is sometimes seen upon it. As high +as four and five thousand feet there are residences, which, however, +purchase freedom from the lowland heats at the expense of being a large +part of the time enveloped in chilling fogs. Here the properly tropical +productions cease to thrive, and melancholy caricatures of northern +vegetables and fruits take their place. You see in the Kingston market +diminutive and watery potatoes and apples, that have come down from the +clouds, and on St. Catherine's Peak I once picked a few strawberries, +which had about as much savor as so many chips. The noble forest trees +of the lower mountains, as you go up, give way to an exuberant but +spongy growth of tree-ferns and bushes. Great herds of wild swine, +descended from those introduced by the Spaniards, roam these secluded +thickets, and once furnished subsistence to the runaway negroes who, +under the name of Maroons, for several generations annoyed and terrified +the island. + +In these high mountains the sense of deep solitude is at once heightened +and softened by the flute-like notes of the solitaire. I shall never +forget the impression produced by first hearing this. It was on the top +of St. Catherine's Peak, fifty-two hundred feet above the sea, in the +early morning, when the mountain solitude seemed most profound, that my +companion and I heard from the adjacent woods its mysterious note. It +was a soft and clear tone, somewhat prolonged, and ending in a +modulation which imparted to it an indescribable effect, as if of +supernal melancholy. It seemed almost as if some mild angel were +lingering pensively upon the mountain tops, before pursuing his downward +flight among the unhappy sons of men. + +The uplands of the island, from 800 to 1,500 feet above the sea, are a +cheerful, sunny region, in which the tropical heat is tempered by +almost constant refreshing breezes, and, in the eastern part at least, +by abundant showers. Some of the western parishes not unfrequently +suffer terribly from drought. There are two or three which have not even +a spring, depending wholly upon rain water collected in tanks. These +sometimes become dry, causing unutterable distress both to man and +beast. We hear even sometimes of poor people starving during these +seasons of drought. But our more favored region in the east scarcely +knows dearth. Our mighty mountain neighbors seldom permitted us even to +fear it, and were more apt to send us a deluge than a drought. + +In the uplands our winter temperature was commonly about 75° in the +shade at noon, and the summer temperature about ten degrees higher. The +nights are almost always agreeably cool, and frequent showers and +breezes allay the sultriness of the days. I never saw the thermometer +above 90° in the shade, and seldom below 65°. It once fell to 54°, to +the lamentable discomfort of our feelings and fingers. Of course, where +the sun for months is nearly vertical, and twice in the summer actually +so, the heat of his direct beams is intense. But those careful +precautions of avoiding travelling in the middle of the day, on which +some lay such stress, we never concerned ourselves with in Jamaica, and +I could not discover that we were ever the worse for it. An umbrella was +enough to stand between us and mischief. + +On the whole, it may safely be said that there is no climate more like +that which we imagine of Eden than that of the highland region of +Jamaica during a large part of the year. It is true that after a while +northern constitutions begin to miss the stimulus of occasional cold. +But for a few years nothing could be more delightful. The chief drawback +is that at uncertain cycles there come incessant deluges of rain for +months together, making it dreary and uncomfortable both in doors and +out. Years will sometimes pass before there is any excessive amount of +these, and then sometimes for years together they will prevail to a most +disagreeable extent. They break up the mountain roads and swell the +mountain streams to such a degree as to render travelling almost +impossible, and in a country where your friends are few, you do not like +to be kept back from seeing them by the imminent risk of finding no road +at all on the side of a hill where at best there is barely room enough +between the bank and the gully for one horse to pass another, or of +finding yourself between two turns of a stream, with a sudden shower +making it impossible for you to get either forward or back. But during +my residence I had just enough of these adventures to give a pleasant +zest to life. And after a tremendous rain of hours, when the sun +reappeared, and the banks of fleecy cloud were once more seen floating +tranquilly in heaven, and the streams ran again crystal clear, and the +hills smiled again in all the glory of their brilliant green, and the +air had again its wonted temper, at once balmy and elastic, it was +enough to make amends for all previous discomfort. + +Although no part of the island is peculiarly favorable to constitutions +of the European race, yet with prudence and temperance foreigners find +this midland region reasonably healthy. The missionaries, who have +mostly resided in the uplands, have but seldom fallen victims to fevers. +Foreigners must not expect to live here without occasional attacks of +fever; but with care, there need be little apprehension of a fatal +result, except to those of a sanguine temperament or of a corpulent +habit. And the general exemption from the dreadful ravages of +consumption may well be thought to compensate the somewhat greater risks +from fever. Even on the plains, that immense mortality of whites from +the mother country which once gave to Jamaica the ominous name of 'The +Grave of Europeans,' was caused as much by their reckless intemperance +as by any necessity of the climate. Or, rather, habits which in Great +Britain might have been indulged in with comparative impunity, in +Jamaica were rapidly fatal. It is said that another cause of the +excessive mortality among the overseers was that they were often +secretly poisoned by the blacks. On some plantations, I have heard it +said, overseer after overseer was poisoned off, almost as soon as he +arrived. In most cases, I dare say, it would be found that over-liberal +potations of Jamaica rum were the poison that did the mischief. But the +reports have probably some foundation in truth. An oppressed race, +seldom daring to strike openly, would be very apt to devise subtle ways +of vengeance. It will be remembered that one of the most frequent items +in our own Southern newspapers used to be accounts of attempts made by +slave girls to poison their masters' families. Arsenic, which they +commonly used, is a clumsy means, almost sure to be detected; but in the +West Indies, where the proportion of native Africans was always very +large, the African sorcerers, the dreaded Obi-men, who exercise so +baleful a power over the imaginations of the blacks, appear also to have +availed themselves of other than imaginary charms to keep up their +credit as the disposers of life and death, and to have often gained such +a knowledge of slow vegetable poisons as made them formidable helpers of +revenge, whether against their own race or against the race of their +oppressors. In a recent Jamaica story of Captain Mayne Reid's, the plot +centres in the hideous figure of an old Obi-man, who wreaks his revenge +for former wrongs in this secret way, destroying victim after victim +from among the lords of the soil. The piece is stocked with horrors +enough for the most ravenous devourer of yellow-covered literature, but +nevertheless it is so true to the conditions of life in the old days of +Jamaica, that it is well worth reading for a lively sense of the time +when the fearful influences of savage heathenism, slavery, and tropical +passion were working together in that land of rarest beauty and of +foulest sin. Evil enough remains, but, thank God, the hideous shadows of +the past have fled away forever. + +But these tragical remembrances and suspicions belong rather to the +plains, into which we are about to descend. Here we feel distinctly that +we are in the tropics. The sweltering heat, tempered, indeed, by the +land and sea breezes, but still sufficiently oppressive, and almost the +same day and night, leaves no doubt of this fact. Vegetation, too, +appears more distinctly tropical. The character of the landscape in the +two regions is quite different. In the uplands the wealth of glowing +green swallows up peculiarities of form, and presents little difference +of color except the endless diversity of its own shades. There are, +however, some distinct features of the landscape. Conspicuous on every +hillside are the groves 'where the mango apples grow,' their mass of +dense rounded foliage looking not unlike our maples, and giving a +pleasant sense of home to the northern sojourner. The feathery bamboo, +most gigantic of grasses, runs in plumy lines across the country. Around +the negro cottages, here and there, rise groups of the cocoanut palms, +giving, more than anything else, a tropical character to the landscape. +On a distant eminence may perhaps be seen a lofty ceiba or cotton tree, +its white trunk rising sixty or seventy feet from the ground without a +limb, and then putting out huge, scraggy arms, loaded with parasites. +Every lesser feature is swamped in verdure, except that here and there +the whitewashed walls of a negro cottage of the better sort gleam +pleasantly forth from embowering hedges and fruit trees. I do not know +how Wordsworth's advice to make country houses as much as possible of +the color of the surrounding country may apply among the gray hills of +Westmoreland; but among the green hills of Jamaica, the white which he +deprecates forms a welcome relief to the splendid monotony of glowing +emerald. It is not amiss to call it emerald, for there are so many +plants here with glossy leaves, that under the brilliant sunlight the +lustre of the green is almost more than the eye can bear. To the +southward of Oberlin station, formerly belonging to our mission, rises a +range of verdant hills, which in some lights has so much the pure, +continuous color of a gem, as almost to realize Arabian fables to the +eye. Indeed, I have gazed at it sometimes with such a feeling as Aladdin +had when the magician had left him confined in the Hall of Jewels, and +have almost wished for an earthquake to cleave its oppressive superbness +and give a refreshing sight of the blue sea beyond. + +But on descending to the plains, where there is less moisture, and where +vegetation therefore is scantier, we find the unwonted forms of growth +more distinct, and have the full sense of being in a southern land. Here +the thorn palms, the cactus hedges, the penguin fences, resembling huge +pineapple plants, and various trees and shrubs, being seen more +isolated, make a stronger impression of the peculiarities of tropical +forms. Here too we meet in greater abundance with the cocoanut tree, +occasionally forming long avenues of lofty palms on the estates. And +here we see more frequently the huge squares of many acres, heavy with +the luxuriant wealth of the cane, and thronged by dusky laborers. The +heat, which in the uplands is pleasant, though rather too steady in the +plains, becomes oppressive and enervating. The distinction between the +wet and dry seasons, also, is much more distinctly marked, and, in +short, everything corresponds more fully with the usual idea of a +tropical land. + +The luxuriance and the glory of nature are the same now as ever; but +everywhere over the island the traveller sees the melancholy evidences +of the decay of former wealth. You may travel over miles and miles on +the plains once rich with the cane, or ridge after ridge in the uplands +once covered with the dark-green coffee plantations, which now are +almost a wilderness. To quote the language of another, 'ridges, +overgrown with guava bushes, mark the cornfields; rank vegetation fills +the courtyard, and even bursts through the once hospitable roof. A curse +seems to have fallen upon the land, as if this generation were atoning +for the sins of the past. For while we lament the ruin of the present +proprietors, we cannot forget the unrequited toil which in times gone by +created the wealth they have lost; nor that hapless race, the original +owners of the soil, whose fate darkens the saddest page in history.' + +A passing traveller will see little to compensate the sadness occasioned +by old magnificence thus in ruins, strewing the whole island with its +melancholy wrecks. What there is to set off against it, we shall +consider hereafter. + +What survives of the agriculture and commerce of Jamaica is still, as +formerly, mainly dependent on the two great staples, sugar and coffee; +the former being raised chiefly in the plains and valleys, the latter in +the uplands and mountains. There was, it is said, an indigenous sugar +cane in the West Indies, when first discovered; but if so, it has long +been supplanted by the Mauritius cane, which is now cultivated. The +joints of the cane, being cut and laid horizontally in furrows, which +are then covered over, spring up in a crop which comes to maturity in +about a year; and when this is cut, the roots rattoon, or send up shoots +for five or six years in succession. This is one reason why Jamaica +sugar planters find it so hard to compete with Cuban production. On the +deep soil of Cuba the cane rattoons, it is said, not five or six, but +forty years in succession. + +The coffee plant is a beautiful shrub. Left to itself, it would grow +twenty or thirty feet high; but it is kept down to such a height as that +the berries can easily be picked by the hand. Its glossy, dark-green +leaves resemble a good deal the jessamine; and the resemblance is +increased during the time of flowering, by the beautiful white blossoms, +of a faint, delicate fragrance, which are scattered over the branches +like a light powdering of snow. It thrives well in a moist air; and +coffee plantations may be seen clothing the sides of mountains three, +four, and even five thousand feet above the sea. The history of the way +in which coffee was introduced to the West Indies is really quite a +little romance, though an authentic one. It is well known that Holland +used to practise the most odious commercial monopoly ever known among +Christian nations. Her spice islands were guarded with a cruel jealousy +rivalling the fables of the dragon that guarded the golden apples; and +her great coffee island, Java, was equally locked up from the world. To +give a spice plant or a coffee plant to a stranger, was an offence +inexorably punished with death. A single coffee plant, however, was +allowed to come to Europe as an ornament to the conservatory of a +wealthy Amsterdam burgomaster. This was still more jealously watched +than its fellows in the East Indies; but at length a French visitor +managed to secrete a living berry, and, taking it with him to Paris, to +raise a plant. From this again a young plant was taken to Martinique, +one of the French West Indies. When the young stranger, freighted with +such possibilities of wealth, arrived there, it was found that the +exposure of the voyage had nearly extinguished its vitality. It was +tended with the most anxious care; but for two or three years it +continued to languish, and threatened by an untimely death to give Dutch +selfishness a triumph after all. At last, however, it took a happy +start, and from that plant the whole West Indies have derived their +coffee. It was introduced into Jamaica in 1720, and Temple Hall, one of +the two estates which I have mentioned as being in the beautiful valley +between Kingston and the American Mission, has the honor of showing the +oldest coffee walk in the island. + +Jamaica coffee is of an excellent quality; the berries, it is said, if +kept two years, being equal to the best Mocha. As some one laments that +the cooks and grooms of the Romans spoke better Latin than even Milton +among the moderns could write, so I can boast in behalf of the Jamaica +negroes, that even Delmonico, unless he could secure the services of one +of them who understands the true method of reducing the browned berry to +an impalpable powder, by pulverizing it between a flat stone and a round +one, must give up all hopes of presenting his guests with the ideal cup +of coffee. I would give the whole process by which an amber-colored +stream, of perfect flavor, might be poured out, without a trace of +sediment, to the very last drop, did I not reflect with pity that +probably in all the wide extent of my country there is neither the +apparatus of grinding nor the sable domestic with skill to use it. Nay, +even in Jamaica, where one would think they could afford to be slow +_for_ a good thing, since they are so amazingly slow _to_ every good +thing, I grieve to say that the barbarous mill, hacking and mangling the +fragrant berry, has almost universally supplanted the more laborious +ancient method by which it was gently reduced to its most perfect +attrition, yielding up every particle of its aromatic strength. Thus the +modern demon of expedition, to whom quickness is so much more than +quality, has invaded even the slumberous repose of our fair island, +bringing under his arm, not a locomotive, but a coffee mill. There are, +to be sure, two or three locomotives on the twelve-mile railway between +Kingston and Spanishtown, but it would be a cruel sarcasm to intimate +that the genius of expedition ever brought them. + +There are several other vegetable products of Jamaica, which it owes +likewise to a happy accident. The mango, for instance, which now grows +in such profusion on uplands and plains, that if the groves should be +cut down, the face of the country would seem naked, was a spoil of war, +being brought from a French ship destined for Martinique, somewhere +about 1790. At first it is said the mangoes sold for a guinea a piece, +with the express stipulation that the seed should be returned. Now, in a +good bearing season, I have actually seen a narrow mountain road fetlock +deep with decaying mangoes, besides the thousands consumed by man and +beast. During the summer, in the good years, they furnish the main +subsistence to the negro children, and a large part of the subsistence +of the adults, and make a grateful and wholesome change from the yam and +salt fish which constitute the staples of their diet the rest of the +time. It is this, probably, which has given rise to the absurd report +that the negroes live principally on fruits spontaneously growing. + +The young leaves of the mango are of a brownish red; and amid the +general profusion of green, they impart a not ungrateful relief to the +eye. Even their russet blossoms have a pleasant look. But in a good +season, when the fruit is ripe, the groves have a magnificently rich +appearance. Rows upon rows of yellow fruit look like lines of golden +apples. Most people are extravagantly fond of them; but for myself I +must say that, excepting the superb 'No. 11'--so named from being thus +numbered on the captured French ship--and one or two other rare kinds, I +concur with the late Prof. Adams, of Amherst, in thinking that a very +good mango might be made by steeping raw cotton in turpentine, and +sprinkling a little sugar over it. + +Another fortuitous gift to Jamaica, so far as human intention is +concerned, was the invaluable donation of the Guinea grass. Toward a +century ago some African birds were brought as a present to a gentleman +in the west of the island. Some grass seeds had been brought along for +their feed; and when they reached their journey's end, the seeds were +thrown away. After a while it was noticed that the cattle were very +eager to reach the grass growing on a certain spot, and on examination +it was found that the seeds thrown away had come up as a grass of +remarkable succulence and nutritiousness. It was soon distributed, and +now it is spread over the island. You pass rich meadows of it on every +lowland estate; and it clothes hundreds of hills to their tops with its +yellowish green. I do not see what the island would do without it. The +pens or grazing farms in particular have been almost wholly created by +it. + +Jamaica has, of course, the usual West Indian fruits, the orange, the +shaddock, the lime, the pineapple, the guava, the nispero, the banana, +the cocoanut, and many others not much known abroad. But the +lusciousness of tropical fruits compares ill with the thousand delicate +flavors which cultivation has extended through our temperate clime; +while, at the same time, steam makes nearly all the best fruits of the +West Indies familiar to our markets. The resident of New York or +Philadelphia, and still more of Baltimore has small occasion to wish +himself in the tropics for the sake of fruit. + +The great staple of negro existence, and therefore the great staple of +existence to the immense majority of the inhabitants, is the yam. There +are some indigenous kinds; but the species most in use appear to have +been brought in by the imported African slaves. This solid edible dwarfs +our potatoes, a single root varying in weight from five to ten pounds, +and sometimes even reaching the weight of fifty pounds. They are of all +shapes, globular, finger shaped, and long; and the latter, with their +thick, brown rinds, look more like billets of wood, crusted with earth, +than anything else. People in this country are apt to imagine them to be +a huge kind of sweet potato, with which they have no other connection +than that both are edible roots. The white yams, boiled and mashed, are +scarcely distinguishable from very superior white potatoes. Above ground +the plant is a vine, requiring to be trained on a pole, and a yamfield +looks precisely like a vineyard. But oh, the difference! while the +vineyard calls up a thousand recollections of laughing girls treading +the grape, and the sunny lands of story, a yamfield reminds you only +that under the ground is a bulky esculent, which some months hence will +be put into a negro pot, and boiled and eaten, with an utter absence of +poetry, or of anything but appetite and salt. It is plain that in this +case solid usefulness stands no chance with erratic and rather +loose-mannered brilliancy. And yet some kinds of yam in flower diffuse a +fragrance more exquisite, I am persuaded, than comes from any vineyard. +So that, after all, their homely prose has some flavor of poetry, which, +when African poets arise, will doubtless be duly canonized in song. + +As yet the small freeholders have chiefly occupied themselves in raising +these 'ground provisions,' as yams, plantains, bananas, and the various +vegetables are called. But they are more and more largely planting cane +and coffee, greatly to their own advantage and that of the island. + +If in this favored zone the earth is pleasant underneath, nothing can be +more glorious than the heavens above. Being under the parallel of 18° N. +lat., of course we have a full view of all the northern heavens, and of +all the southern heavens, except 18° about the South Pole. The rarefied +atmosphere gives peculiar brilliancy to the stars; and on a clear +night--and most nights are clear--the heavens are indeed flooded with +white fire, while, according to the season of the year, Orion and his +northern company appear with a lustre unwonted to us, or the Scorpion +unfolds his sparkling length, or the Ship displays its glittering +confusion of stars, or the Southern Cross rears aloft its sacred symbol. +Meanwhile, well down toward the northern horizon, the pole star holds +its fixed position, and the Great and the Little Bear, dipping toward +the ocean wave, but not yet dipping in it, pursue their nightly +revolutions. Long after sunset, and long before sunrise, night after +night, the faint, nebulous gleam of the zodiacal lights stretches up +toward the zenith. The shortness of the twilight frequently leaves the +fugacious planet, Mercury, so seldom seen at the north, in distinct +view. While Venus not merely casts a shadow in a clear night, as she +does with us, but when she is brightest, actually shines through the +clouds with an illumining power. + +Alternating with these glories of the starry firmament, the moon at the +full fills the lower air with a soft, yet bright light, in which you can +read without difficulty the smallest print. Under this milder +illumination, the overpowering luxuriance of the landscape loses its +oppressiveness, the hills assume more rounded forms, and from the +general obscurity, the palms, a tree made for moonlight, stand out in +soft distinctness. At such a time we forget the foul crimes which +disfigure the past, and the vices which degrade the present of this fair +land, and can easily imagine ourselves in the garden where the yet +unfallen progenitors of mankind walked under a firmament 'glowing with +living sapphires,' and together hymned the praises of their Creator. +Daylight chases away this illusion, but brings back the reality of +Christian work, whose rugged but cheerful tasks replace the delicious +but ineffectual dreams of Paradise Lost, by the hope of contributing, in +some humble measure, toward restoring in a province of fallen earth the +lineaments of Paradise Regained. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 8: This was during the Crimean war.] + + + + +THE RESTORATION OF THE UNION. + + +God is on the side of our country. Let us reverently thank him that he +has favored the general march of our arms toward the sacred end of our +exertions--the defeat of the daring attempt against the unity of our +national power and the integrity of our free institutions. Not always in +human affairs has the cause of right and freedom prevailed. In the +gradual development of human society, as unfolded in the lapse of long +ages, the oppressor has generally triumphed, and history has full often +been compelled to record the failure of the noblest efforts, and the +downfall of the most righteous designs conceived for the benefit of man. +Such has been the experience of the race in those parts of the world +which have longest been the theatre of human enterprise and of +established government. But the American continent seems to present an +exception to this uniformity of sinister events: it is destined to be +the seat of civil liberty. The success of our institutions in +withstanding the awful trial to which they have just been subjected, +indicates the existence of providential designs toward our favored +country, not to be thwarted by any mortal agency at home or abroad. Such +a combination of hostile elements, so powerful and determined, has never +before assailed any political structure without overthrowing it. The +failure in the present instance shows that our great destiny will be +accomplished in the face of all obstacles, however insurmountable they +may appear to be. + +Providence always accomplishes its ends by appropriate +instrumentalities; and in our case there are natural causes adequate to +the great result which seems to be inevitable. In North America the +principle of equal rights and of unobstructed individual progress has +become the fundamental law of society. It is needless to trace the +origin and growth of this principle; but its operation has been so +powerful and productive, so fully imbued with moral and intellectual +power, so solid and safe as a basis of national organization, as shown +in the marvellous history of the United States, that no uncongenial +principle is capable of resisting it, or even of maintaining an +existence by its side. This is true not only with regard to that +antagonistic principle which is now desperately but hopelessly waging a +suicidal war within the bosom of the great republic; but it is equally +true with regard to that insidious germ of despotism, which threatens to +push its way through the soil of a neighboring country, displacing the +free institutions which have long and sadly languished amid the civil +wars of a most unhappy people. The same vigorous vitality which will +renew the growth of our national authority and maintain it in the Union, +will, at the same time, establish its predominant influence on the +continent. Having overborne and rooted out every opposing principle +within the boundaries of our own imperial domain, its growth will be so +majestic that every unfriendly influence which may possibly have secured +a feeble foothold in its vicinity during its perilous struggle, will +soon wither in the shadow of its greatness and disappear from around it. +Foreign nations may exert their sinister authority in the Old World, and +plant their peculiar institutions in that congenial soil, with their +accustomed success; but no amount of skilful manipulation will preserve +these exotics when transplanted in the American soil. The prevailing +elements are not suited to their organization; they cannot be +naturalized and acclimated. This continent, with its peculiar population +and antecedents, has its own political _fauna_ and _flora_, fixed by +nature and destiny, which cannot be utterly changed at the will of any +human authority. + +The most wicked and disastrous experiment of the age has been tried upon +the grandest scale. It was a bold undertaking to break up the American +Union, and to arrest the progress of its benign principles. To the great +relief and joy of almost universal humanity, the monstrous attempt is +about to result in disgraceful failure. Yet this prodigious enterprise +of destruction was initiated under the most favorable circumstances, +with the most auspicious promise for its fatal success. The malignant +envy of all the instruments of despotism throughout the whole civilized +world were brought to bear against us for the accomplishment of a work +of stupendous ruin--the annihilation of American nationality, American +power, and American freedom. All the bad, restless, retrogressive +elements of our own population sought alliance with the foreign enemies +of human liberty; and, for the most selfish and detestable of all social +and political schemes, attempted to prostrate the paternal government of +their country, before the expiration of the first century of its +unexampled career. Vast armies of deluded citizens, led by degenerate +sons of the republic--ingrates, educated at her own military +schools--have impiously defied her lawful authority, and sometimes +assailed her with unnatural triumph over her arms; while foreign +capital, subsidized by prospective piratical plunder, has filled the +ocean with daring cruisers to destroy her commerce, and thus to weaken +the right hand of her power. Feathers from the wing of her own eagle +have plumed the arrows directed at her heart; while the barb has been +steeled and sharpened by the aid of mercenary enemies in distant +lands--aid purchased by means of the robberies which have desolated one +half the land. Deep and dangerous have been the wounds inflicted on our +unhappy country through this shameless combination of traitors at home +and enemies of humanity abroad; but she still stands erect, though +bleeding, with her great strength yet comparatively undiminished, and +with her foot uplifted ready to be planted on the breast of her +prostrate foes. She holds aloft the glorious banner, its stars still +undimmed, and with her mild but penetrating voice, she still proclaims +the principles of universal freedom to all who may choose to claim it; +and with the sublimity of the most exalted human charity, she invites +even the fallen enemy--the misguided betrayers of their country--to +return to her bosom and share the protection of her generous +institutions. In the hour of her triumph she seeks no bloody vengeance, +but tenders a magnanimous forgiveness to her repenting children, wooing +them back to the shelter of re-established liberty and vindicated law. +All hail to the republic in the splendor of her coming triumph and the +renewal of her beneficent power! + +It has not been within the ability of reckless treason and armed +rebellion to break down the Constitution of the country and permanently +destroy its institutions; so will it be as far beyond the capacity, as +it ought to be distant from the thoughts of the men now wielding the +Federal authority, to operate unauthorized changes in the fundamental +law which they have solemnly sworn to support. The strength of the +people has been put forth, through the Government--their blood has been +profusely poured out, for the sole purpose of maintaining its legitimate +ascendency, and of overthrowing and removing the obstacles opposed by +the hand of treason to its constitutional action. To uphold the +supremacy of the Constitution and laws, is the very object of the war; +and it would be a gross perversion of the authority conferred and a +palpable misuse of the means so amply provided by Congress, to use them +for the purpose of defeating the very end intended to be accomplished. +Neither the legislative nor the executive department of the Government +could legitimately undertake to destroy or change the Constitution, from +which both derive their existence and all their lawful power. It is true +that pending a war, either foreign or civil, the Constitution itself +confers extraordinary powers upon the Government--powers far +transcending those which it may properly exercise in time of peace. +These war powers, however, great as they are, and limited only by the +laws of and usages civilized nations, are not extra-constitutional; they +are expressly conferred, and are quite as legitimate as those more +moderate ones which appropriately belong to the Government in ordinary +times. But when there is no longer any war--when the Government shall +have succeeded in completely suppressing the rebellion--what then will +be the proper principle of action? Will not the Constitution of itself, +by the simple force of its own terms, revert to its ordinary operation, +and spread its benign protection over every part of the country? Will +not all the States, returning to their allegiance, be entitled to hold +their place in the Union, upon the same footing which they held prior to +the fatal attempt at secession? These are indeed momentous questions, +demanding a speedy solution. + +If we say that the Federal Government may put the States upon any +different footing than that established by the existing Constitution, +then we virtually abrogate that instrument which accurately prescribes +the means by which alone its provisions can be altered or amended. But, +on the other hand, if we concede the right of each State, after making +war on the Union until it is finally conquered, quietly to return and +take its place again with all the rights and privileges it held before, +just as if nothing had happened in the _interim_, then, indeed, do we +make of the Federal Government a veritable temple of discord. We subject +it to the danger of perpetual convulsions, without the power to protect +itself except by the repetition of sanguinary wars, whenever the caprice +or ambition of any State might lead her into the experiment of +rebellion. Between these two unreasonable and contradictory +alternatives--the right of the Government to change its forms, and the +right of the rebellious State to assume its place in the union without +conditions--there must be some middle ground upon which both parties may +stand securely without doing violence to any constitutional principle. +The Federal Government is clothed with power, and has imposed upon it +the duty, to conquer the rebellion. This is an axiom in the political +philosophy of every true Union man, and we therefore do not stop to +argue a point disputed only by the enemies of our cause. But if the +Government has power to conquer the domestic enemy in arms against it, +then, as a necessary consequence, it must be the sole judge as to when +the conquest has been accomplished; in other words, it must pronounce +when and in what manner the state of internal war shall cease to exist. +This implies nothing more than the right claimed by every belligerent +power, and always exercised by the conqueror--that of deciding for +itself how far the war shall be carried--what amount of restraint and +punishment shall be inflicted--what terms of peace shall be imposed. +The Constitution of the United States does not seem to contemplate the +holding, by the Federal Government, of any State as a conquered and +dependent province; but in authorizing it to suppress rebellion, it +confers every power necessary to do the work effectually. It authorizes +the use of the whole military means of the Government, to be applied in +the most unrestricted manner, for the destruction of the rebellious +power. If a State be in rebellion, then the State itself may be held and +restrained by military power, so long as may be necessary, in order to +secure its obedience to the Federal laws and the due performance of its +constitutional obligations. It would be contradictory and wholly +destructive of the right of suppressing rebellion by military power, to +admit the irreconcilable right of the State unconditionally to assume +its place in the Union, only to renew the war at its own pleasure. +Acting in good faith, the Federal Government has the undoubted right to +provide for its own security, and to follow its military measures with +all those supplementary proceedings which are usual and appropriate to +this end. This principle surely cannot be questioned; and if so, it +involves everything, leaving the question one only of practical +expediency and of good faith in the choice of means. + +But it is said there is and indeed can be no war between the Government +and any of the States; but only between the former, and certain +rebellious individuals in the States. We are well aware that in the +ordinary operation of the Federal Government, it acts directly on +individuals and not on States. The cause of this arrangement and its +purpose are well understood. But in case of war or insurrection, the +power must be coextensive with the emergency which calls it forth. If +States are actually in rebellion, then of necessity the Government must +treat that fact according to its real nature. The fiction of supposing +the State to be loyal when its citizens are all traitors, and of +considering it incapable of insurrection when all its authorities are +notoriously in open rebellion, would be not less pernicious in its folly +and imbecility than it would be absurd to the common sense of mankind. +Undoubtedly it may be true in some instances, that the rebellion has +usurped authority in the States. The will of the people may have been +utterly disregarded, and set aside by violence or fraud. The +insurrectionary government of the State may be only the government _de +facto_ and not _de jure_, using these terms with reference only to the +State and its people, and not with reference to the paramount authority +of the Union which, under all circumstances, deprives the +insurrectionary State organization of any legal character whatever. In +all cases of such usurped authority, the people of the States would have +the unquestionable right to be restored to the Union upon the terms of +their recent connection, without any conditions whatever. It would be +the solemn duty of the United States to defend each one of its members +from the violence which might thus have overthrown its legitimate +government. But, on the other hand, when the people of the States +themselves have inaugurated the insurrectionary movement and have +voluntarily sustained it in its war upon the Government, then no such +favor can reasonably be claimed for them. If excitement and delusion +have suddenly hurried them into rebellion against their better judgments +and their real inclinations, they are to be pitied for their misfortune, +and ought to be treated with great leniency and favor; but they cannot +claim exemption from those conditions which may be imperatively demanded +for the future security and tranquillity of the country. + +If by possibility there might be some technical legal difficulty in this +view, there would be none whatever of a practical nature; for any mind +gifted with the most ordinary endowment of reason would not fail to be +impressed with the gross inconsistency and inequality of holding that +rebels may not only set aside the Constitution at their will and make +war for its destruction, but may set it up again and claim its +protection; while its defenders and faithful asserters must be held to +such strict and impracticable regard for its provisions that they may +not take the precautions necessary to preserve it, even in the emergency +of putting down a rebellion against it. Such an irrational predicament +of constitutional difficulties and political contradictions would soon +necessitate its own solution. The revolution on the one side would +induce a similar revolutionary movement on the other; attempted +destruction by violence would justify the measures necessary to the +restoration of the Government and to its permanent security in the +future. There would be little hesitation in adopting these measures in +spite of any doubt as to their regularity. The public safety would be +acknowledged as the supreme law, and they who had placed themselves in +the attitude of public enemies could not complain of the rigid +application of its requirements to them. + +The most inveterate of the rebels certainly do not anticipate the +relaxation of this principle. They are careful to make known to the +Southern people the impossibility of returning to the Union, except upon +such conditions as may be prescribed by the conquering power. It is true +they do this to deter their followers from indulging the thought of any +restoration of their former Federal relations; but this fact of itself +shows their consciousness of the justice of the position. They have +betrayed their people into a situation from which they cannot reasonably +hope to escape without making important concessions to the Federal +Government. Their effort now is to convince the misguided population of +the South that the required concessions will be more intolerable than +the indefinite continuance of a hopeless and destructive civil war. + +There is no necessity, however, to go beyond the limits of the +Constitution; nor is there any reason to believe that the Government, in +any event, will be disposed to exact terms inconsistent with the true +spirit of our institutions. A great danger, such as now threatens our +country, might, in some circumstances, justify a revolution, altering +even the fundamental laws, for the purpose of preserving our national +unity. The justification would depend upon the nature of the +circumstances--the extremity and urgency of the peril; and the change +would be recognized and defended as the result of violence, irregular +and revolutionary. At a more tranquil period, in the absence of danger +and excitement, it would be practicable to return to the former +principles of political action; or, in case of necessity, the sanction +of the people might be obtained in the forms prescribed by the +Constitution, and the change found necessary in the revolutionary period +would either be approved and retained, modified, or altogether rejected. + +But fortunately no constitutional obstacle whatever stands in the way of +making such stipulations as may be appropriate between the Federal +Government and the States; nor would they at all imply any admission of +the right of secession, or of the actual efficacy of the attempted +withdrawal from the Union. On the contrary, any agreement with the State +would, _ex vi termini_, admit the integrity of its organization under +the Constitution. Special agreements are usually made whenever a new +State is admitted into the Union; and as all the States, old and new, +stand upon an equal footing, there can be nothing in the ordinances +usually adopted by the new States, conflicting with the principles on +which the Government is organized. The States are prohibited from +making 'any agreement or compact' with each other, without the consent +of the Federal Government; but there is no prohibition against making +such agreements with the Federal Government itself. What the new States +may do upon entering the Union, the old States may do at any time upon +the same conditions This principle was settled upon the admission of +Texas into the Union; it has been sanctioned in many other instances; +and we are not aware that there is or can be any question of its +soundness. Surely, if there could ever be an occasion proper for a +solemn compact between the General Government and any of the separate +States, it will be found at the conclusion of this unhappy war, when it +will be necessary to heal the wounds of the country, and provide for its +permanent peace and security. To quell an insurrection so extensive, +involving so many States in its daring treason, especially when it has +assumed an organized form and been recognized not only by other nations +but even by ourselves, as a belligerent entitled to the rights of war, +implies the necessity, in addition to the annihilation of its armies and +all its warlike resources, of removing the causes of its +dissatisfaction, and destroying its means of exciting disturbance. The +Government is by no means bound unconditionally to recognize the old +relations of States which, as such, have taken part in the rebellion; +which have themselves repudiated all their constitutional rights and +obligations; and which may again, at any time, renew the war, from the +same impulse and for the same cause. On the contrary, the close of the +disastrous contest will be a most favorable opportunity for compelling +the conquered insurrection to submit to terms such as will deprive it of +all capacity for similar mischief in the future. The insurrection will +not be effectually suppressed unless its active principle is destroyed. +Nothing can be plainer than the right and the solemn duty of the +Government in this great emergency. + +Supposing these principles to be admitted, there still remains for +determination the most important question as to the nature of the +conditions which ought to be exacted of the returning States--a problem +of the most difficult character, involving the most delicate of all +considerations, and demanding for its solution the highest practical +statesmanship and the most profound wisdom, based upon moderation, +firmness, liberality, and justice. In this problem several elements +exist in complicated combination, and each one of these must be fairly +considered in the adjustment whenever it may be made. The measures of +safety which the Government has been compelled to adopt in the progress +of the war, and to which it may be committed without recall; the +condition of the rebellious States, and their demands and propositions; +and finally, the interests, rights, and just expectations of the African +race, which has become so intimately involved in this terrible +strife--all these must be weighed accurately in the scales of truth, and +with the impartial hand of disinterested patriotism. No mere partisan +considerations, no promptings of selfish ambition, and no miserable +sectional enmities or fierce desires for revenge, ought to be allowed to +mingle with our thoughts and feelings when we approach this great +subject of restoring peace and harmony to the people and States of this +mighty republic. Awful will be the responsibility of those men in +authority, who shall fail to rise to the height of this momentous +emergency in the history of our country--who shall be wanting in the +courage, the purity, the magnanimity necessary to save the nation from +disunion and anarchy. + +What ought to be the conditions upon which the rebellious States are to +be reëstablished in their old relations, it is perhaps premature now to +attempt to determine. The war is not yet closed, although we are +sufficiently sanguine to believe that we have already seen 'the +beginning of the end.' But the still nearer approach of the final acts +in the great drama will give a mighty impetus to events, and many great +changes will be wrought in the condition of the Southern people, and in +their feelings toward the Union, against which too many of them are +still breathing hate and vengeance. They have scarcely yet been +sufficiently chastened even by the fiery ordeal through which they have +been compelled to pass. Every day, however, increases the bitterness of +the scourge under which they suffer, and if it does not avail to humble +them, it tends at least to convince them, in their hearts, of the +terrible mistake into which they have been led. We may well hope and +believe that the masses of the people will soon be brought to that +rational frame of mind which will incline them to acknowledge the +irresistible exigencies of their situation, and to make those +concessions that may be found indispensable to peace and union. As we +approach the moment of decisive action, experience will teach us the +solemn duty devolving upon us. While we may not at present anticipate +fully what will then be necessary, we can nevertheless determine some +few principles of a general nature which must control the adjustment. + +We will be compelled to consider not only the duty which the Government +owes the people, in the matter of their own permanent security, but also +the obligations it has assumed, the promises it has made, and the hopes +it has excited in the bondsmen of the rebellious States. There must be +good faith toward the black man. It would be infamous to have incited +him to escape from slavery only to remand him again, upon the +restoration of the Union, to the tender mercies of his master. What +differences of opinion may have existed in the beginning as to the +legality and policy of the Proclamation and of employing the liberated +slaves as soldiers, the Government and people are too far committed in +this line of action to be able now to withdraw without dishonour and +foul injustice. Many of the consequences of the war may be remedied, and +even the last vestiges of them obliterated. Cities may be rebuilt, +desolated fields made to bloom again with prosperity, and commerce may +return to its old channels with even increased activity and volume. Many +wounds may be healed, and may separations may be brought to an end by +the renewal of friendships broken by the war; but the separation of the +slave from his mater, so far as it has been caused by any action of the +Government, can never be remedied. That must be an eternal separation, +resting for its security upon the humanity as well as the honor of the +American people. What! Shall we restore the States unconditionally, and +permit the fugitive slave law again to operate as it did before the +rebellion? Shall we consent to see the men whom we have invited away +from the South dragged back into slavery tenfold more severe by reason +of our act inducing them to escape? This is plainly impossible. Argument +is wholly out of place; felling and conscience revolt at the very idea. +It may be admitted that this question, with its peculiar complications, +presents the most difficult and dangerous of all problems; but there is +no alternative: we must meet and solve it at the close of this +rebellion. We have to combat the selfish interests of a class still +powerful, aided by the great strength of a popular prejudice almost +universal. The emergency will require the exertion of all our wisdom and +all our energy. + +The vast body of slaves in the South have not yet been incited to +action, either by the movements of our armies or by the potency of the +Proclamation. Whether they will be, and to what extent, depends upon the +continuance of the war, and its future progress. The result in this +particular remains to be seen, and cannot now be anticipated. What legal +effect the measures of the Government may have upon the slaves remaining +in the South would be a question for the decision of the courts; and +doubtless most of them would be entitled to liberation as the penalty of +the treason of their masters, who may have participated in the +rebellion. But it is well worthy of consideration whether it would not +be wise and better for all parties, including the slaves, to commute +this penalty by a compact with the States for the gradual emancipation +of the slaves remaining at the time of the negotiation. The sudden and +utter overthrow of the existing organization of labor and capital in +those States, coming in addition to the awful devastation which the war +has produced, will deal a disastrous blow, not alone to those +unfortunate States, but to the commerce and industry of the whole +country. + +But neither the Government of the United States alone, nor this together +with the Africans, liberated and unliberated, can prescribe their own +requirements, as the law of the emergency, without reference to other +great interests involved. The question must necessarily be controlled by +the sum of all the political elements which enter into it. It is +desirable to restore the States to the Union with as little +dissatisfaction as possible, and even with all the alleviation which can +properly be afforded to the misfortunes of the people who have so sadly +erred in their duty to themselves and to their country. After any +settlement--the most favorable that can be made--heavy will be the +punishment inflicted by the great contest upon the unhappy population of +the rebellious region. In many things, it is true, they will suffer only +in common with the people of all the States; but they will also have +their own peculiar misfortunes in addition to the common burdens. A +generous Government, in the hour of its triumph, will seek to lessen +rather than to aggravate their misfortunes, even though resulting from +their crimes. Having received them back into the bosom of the Union, it +will do so heartily and magnanimously, yielding everything which does +not involve a violation of principle, and endanger the future +tranquillity of the country. The harmony of the States, their +homogeneity, and their general progress in all that contributes to the +greatness and happiness of communities, ought to be, and doubtless will +be, the benign object of the Government in the settlement of the +existing difficulty. If these high purposes necessarily require in their +development a provision for the rapid disappearance of slavery, the +requirement will not arise from any remaining hostility to the returning +States; on the contrary, it will look to their own improvement and +prosperity, quite as much as to the peace and security of the whole +country. The day will yet arrive when these States themselves will +gratefully acknowledge that all the sacrifices of the war will be fully +compensated by the advantages of that great and fundamental change, +which they will undoubtedly now accept only with the utmost reluctance +and aversion. + + + + +WAS HE SUCCESSFUL? + + 'Do but grasp into the thick of human life! Every one _lives_ + it--to not many is it _known_; and seize it where you will, it be + interesting.'--GOETHE. + + 'SUCCESSFUL.--Terminating in accomplishing what is wished or + intended.'--WEBSTER'S _Dictionary_. + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Hiram was never in serious difficulty before. + +When he came carefully to survey the situation, he felt greatly +embarrassed, and in real distress. To understand this, you have only to +recollect what value he placed on church membership. In this he was +perfectly sincere. He felt, too, as he afterward expressed it to Mr. +Bennett, that he had not 'acted just right toward Emma Tenant,' but he +had not the least idea the matter could possibly become a subject of +church discipline. The day for such extraordinary supervision over one's +private affairs had gone by, it is true, but Dr. Chellis, roused and +indignant, would no doubt revive it on this occasion. + +Hiram had absented himself the first Sunday after his interview with his +clergyman, but on the following he ventured to take his accustomed seat. +The distant looks and cold return to his greeting which he received from +the principal members of the congregation, were unmistakable. Even the +female portion, with whom he was such a favorite, had evidently declared +against him. + +He had gone too far. + +However, he went into Sunday school, and took his accustomed seat with +the class under his instruction. It was the first time he had been with +it since he left town to attend on his mother. The young gentleman who +had assumed a temporary charge of this class, which was one of the +finest in the school, shook hands with cool politeness with Hiram, but +did not offer to yield the seat. The latter, already nervous and ill at +ease by reason of his reception among his acquaintances, did not dare +assume his old place, lest he should be told he had been superseded. He +contented himself with greeting his pupils, who appeared glad to see +him, and sitting quietly by while they recited their lesson. Then, +taking advantage of the few moments remaining, he gave them a pathetic +account of the loss of his mother, and exhorted them all to honor and +obey their parents. In the afternoon he did not go back to church, but +went to hear Dr. Pratt, the clergyman who, the reader may recollect, had +been recommended by Mr. Bennett on Hiram's first coming to new York. Our +hero was not at all pleased with this latter gentleman. The fact is, to +a person of Hiram's subtle intellect, a man like Dr. Chellis was a +thousand times more acceptable than a milk-and-water divine. + +From Dr. Pratt's, Hiram proceeded to his room, to take a careful survey +of his position, and, as we said at the beginning of the chapter, he +found himself in serious difficulty, greatly embarrassed and in real +distress. He could not join another church, for a letter had been +formally refused from his own. He could not remain where he was, for the +feeling there was too strong against him, besides, evidently, Dr. +Chellis was determined to institute damaging charges against him. He +thought of attempting to make friends with Mr. and Mrs. Tenant, and +humbly asking them to intercede for him, but the recollection of his +last interview with Mrs, Tenant discouraged any hope of success. Emma, +alas! was away, far away, else he would go and appeal to her--not to +reinstate him as her accepted, but--to aid him to get right with Dr. +Chellis. Such were some of the thoughts that went through his brain as +he sat alone by his open window quite into the twilight. He felt worse +and worse. Prayer did not help him, and every chapter which he read in +the Bible added to his misery. At last it occurred to him to step to his +cousin's house, not far distant, and talk the whole matter over there. + +Although Mr. Bennett's family were out of town during the summer, he was +obliged to remain most of the season, on account of his business. Up to +this time he had not mentioned the fact of the breaking his engagement; +indeed, he had avoided the subject whenever the two had met, because he +knew he was wrong, and there was something about Mr. Bennett, +notwithstanding his keen, shrewd, adroit mercantile habits, which was +very straightforward and aboveboard, and which Hiram disliked to +encounter. Besides, he had always been praised by his cousin for his +tact and management, and he felt exceedingly mortified at being obliged +to confess himself cornered. But something must be done, and that +speedily. Yes, he would go and consult him. Hiram took his hat and +walked slowly to Mr. Bennett's house. He found him extended on a sofa in +his front parlor, quite alone and in the dark, enjoying apparently with +much zest a fine Havana segar. It was by its light that Hiram was +enabled to discover the smoker. + +'Why, Hiram, is it you? Glad to see you!'--so his greeting ran. 'Didn't +know you ever went out Sunday evenings except to church. Take a +segar--oh, you don't smoke. It's deuced lonesome here without the folks. +Must try and get off for a week or two myself. Why didn't I think to ask +you to come and stay with me? Well, we will have some light on the +occasion, and a cup of tea.' And he rose to ring the bell. + +'Not just yet, if you please,' said Hiram, checking the other. 'I want +to have some conversation with you, and I need your advice. I am in +trouble.' + +By a singular coincidence, these were the very words which Mr. Tenant +employed when he went to consult his friend Dr. Chellis. As Hiram +differed totally from Mr. Tenant, so did the drygoods jobbing merchant +from the Doctor. Both were first-rate advisers in their way: the Doctor +in a humane and noble sort, after his kind; the merchant in a shrewd, +adroit, quick-witted, fertile manner, after his kind. + +Mr. Bennett and Hiram both sat on the sofa, even as the Doctor and Mr. +Tenant had sat together. It was quite dark, as I have said, and this +gave Hiram a certain advantage in telling his story, for he dreaded his +cousin's scrutinizing glance. + +Mr. Bennett was much alarmed at Hiram's announcement. 'In trouble?' What +could that mean but financial disaster? + +'I was afraid he would speculate too much,' said Mr. Bennett to himself; +'but how could he have got such a blow as this? I saw him the day after +his return, and he said everything had gone well in his absence.' + +He settled himself, however, resolutely to hear the worst, and, to his +praise be it spoken, fully determined to do what he could to aid the +young man in his difficulties. + +Hiram was brief in his communication. When he chose, he could go as +straight to the point as any one. He did not attempt to gloss over his +story, but put his cousin in possession of the facts pretty much as the +reader understands them. + +It is doubtful if Mr. Bennett was much relieved by the communication. +Indeed, I think he would have preferred to have some pecuniary tangle +out of which to extricate his cousin. In fact, it was impossible for him +to suppress a feeling of contempt, not to say disgust, at Hiram's +conduct. For, worldly minded as he was, It was what he never would have +been guilty of. Indeed, it so happened that Mr. Bennett had actually +married his wife under circumstances quite similar, three months after +her father's failure, and one month after his death; so that where be +expected a fortune, he had taken a portionless wife and her widowed +mother. What is more, he did it cheerfully, and was, as he used to say, +the happiest fellow in the world in consequence. It would have been +singular, therefore, if while hearing Hiram's story he had not recurred +to his own history. In indulging his contempt for him, he unconsciously +practised an innocent self-flattery. + +He did not immediately reply after Hiram concluded, but waited for this +feeling to subside, and for the old worldly leaven to work again. + +'A nice mess you're in,' he said, at length, 'and all from not seeking +my advice in time. Do you know, Hiram, you made a great mistake in +giving up that girl? I'm not talking of any matter of affection or +sentiment or happiness, or about violating pledges and promises. That is +your own affair, and I've nothing to do with it. I have often told you +that you have much to learn yet, and here is a tremendous blunder to +prove it. The connection would have been as good as a hundred thousand +dollars cash capital, if the girl hadn't a cent. That clique is a +powerful one, and they all hang together. Mark my words: they won't let +the old man go under, and it would have been a fortune to you to have +stood by him. You've taken a country view of this business, Hiram. There +every man tries to pull his neighbor down. Here, we try to build one +another up.' + +'You are doubtless correct,' replied Hiram, 'but the mischief is done, +and I want you to help me remedy it. If you can't aid me, nobody can.' + +Mr. Bennett was not insensible to the compliment. + +'Certainly, certainly,' he answered, 'you know you can count on me. I +have always told you that you could, and I meant what I said. But you +must permit me to point out your mistakes, and I tell you you should +have asked my advice in this affair.' + +'Very true.' + +'You think Dr. Chellis won't yield?' + +'I am sure of it.' + +Mr. Bennett sat fixed in thought for at least five minutes, during which +time, I am inclined to think, Hiram's countenance, could it have been +seen through the darkness, would have been a study for an artist. For it +doubtless exhibited (because it could _not_ be seen) his actual feelings +and anxieties. He was startled at last into an exclamation of fright by +receiving an unexpected slap on his shoulder, which came from Mr. +Bennett, who, rising at that moment, gave this as a token of having +arrived at a happy solution of the difficulty. In this respect he was as +abrupt as Dr. Chellis had been with his friend. + +'The thing is settled. There is but one course to pursue, and you must +take it. I will explain when we can have more light on the subject, to +say nothing of our cup of tea.' + +He rang the bell, the parlor was lighted, and tea served, when Mr. +Bennett again broke the silence. + +'Hiram,' he said, abruptly, 'you must quit the Presbyterian church.' + +Hiram's heart literally stopped beating. He turned deadly pale. + +Mr. Bennett perceived it. 'Don't be frightened,' he said. 'You have made +a great mistake, and I would help you repair it. I repeat, you must quit +the Presbyterian church, and you must join ours. You must indeed,' he +continued, seeing Hiram look undecided. + +'Does it teach the true salvation?' asked Hiram, doubtingly. + +'How can you ask such a question?' replied Mr. Bennett, in a severe +tone; 'are we not in the apostolic line? Are not the ordinances +administered by a clergy whose succession has never been broken? +You--you Presbyterians, _may_ possibly be saved by the grace of God, but +you have really no church, no priesthood, no ordinances. We won't +discuss this. I will introduce you to our clergyman, and you shall +examine the subject for yourself. Perhaps you don't know it, Hiram, but +I have been confirmed; yes, I was confirmed last spring. When I had that +fit of sickness in the winter, I thought more about these matters than I +ever did before, and I came to the conclusion that it was my duty to be +confirmed. I have felt much more comfortable ever since, I assure you. +My wife, you know, is a strict churchwoman. She and you will agree first +rate if you come with us. For my part, I don't pretend to be so very +exact. I believe in the spirit more than the letter, and our clergyman +don't find any fault with me. What say you, will you call on him? If +yes, I will open up a little plan which I have this moment concocted for +your particular benefit. But you must first become a churchman. + +Hiram sat stupefied, horrified, in a trance, in a maze. Cast loose from +his church, within whose pale he was accustomed to think salvation could +only be found, the possibility that there might be hope for him in +another quarter nearly took away his senses. He had been accustomed to +regard the Episcopalians as little better than Papists, and _they_ were +the veritable children of wrath. Could he have been mistaken? He was now +willing to hope so. It could certainly do no harm to confer with the +clergyman. He would hear what he had to say, and then judge for himself, +and so he told his cousin. + +'All right; you talk like a sensible man. Now, Hiram, between us two, I +am going to find you a wife.' + +Hiram started. His pulse began again to beat naturally. + +'Yes, I have found you a wife, that is, if you will do as I advise you, +instead of following your own head. I tell you what it is, Hiram; you're +green in these matters.' + +Hiram smiled an incredulous smile, and asked, in a tone which betrayed a +good deal of interest, 'Who is the young lady?' + +'Never mind who she is until you come over to us. Then my wife shall +introduce you. But I'll tell you this much, Hiram: she has a clear two +hundred thousand dollars--no father, no mother, already of age, in our +first society, and very aristocratic.' + +'Is she pious?' asked Hiram, eagerly. + +'Excessively so. Fact is, she is the strictest young woman in the church +in--Lent. She belongs to all the charitable societies, and gives away I +don't know how much.' + +'Humph,' responded Hiram. The last recommendation did not seem specially +to take with him. Still his eyes glistened at the recital. He could not +resist asking several questions about the young lady, but Mr. Bennett +was firm, and would not communicate further till Hiram's decision was +made. + +Thus conversing, they fell into a pleasant mood, and so the evening wore +away. When Hiram rose to leave, he found it was nearly midnight. His +cousin insisted he should remain with him, and Hiram was glad to accept +the invitation. He did not feel like returning to his solitary room with +his mind unsettled and his feelings discomposed. + +In a most confidential mood the two walked up stairs together, and Mr. +Bennett bade Hiram good night in a tone so cheerful that the latter +entered his room quite reassured. He proceeded, as was his habit, to +read a chapter in the Bible, but his teeth chattered when, on opening +the volume, he discovered it to be--the prayer book!--something he had +been accustomed to hold in utter abomination. He controlled his feelings +sufficiently to glance through the book, and at last, selecting a +chapter from the Psalter, he perused it and retired. He dreamed that he +was married to the rich girl, and had the two hundred thousand dollars +safe in his possession. And so real did this seem that he woke in the +morning greatly disappointed to find himself minus so respectable a sum. + +'I must not lose the chance,' said Hiram to himself, as he jumped out of +bed. 'With that amount in cash I would teach all South street a lesson. +I wonder if this is the true church after all;' and he took up the +prayer book this time without fear, as if determined to find out. + +He spent some time in reading the prayers, and confessed to himself that +they were quite unobjectionable. Mr. Bennett's warning that there was no +certainty of salvation, out of the _church_ (i.e. his church) was not +without its effect. As Hiram sought religion for the purpose of security +on the other side, you can readily suppose any question of the validity +of his title would make him very nervous; once convinced of his mistake, +he would hasten to another church, just as he would change his insurance +policies, when satisfied of the insolvency of the company which had +taken his risks. + +After breakfast Hiram renewed the subject of the last night's +conversation, and Mr. Bennett was pleased to find that his views were +already undergoing a decided change. + +'Now, Hiram,' he exclaimed, 'if you do come over to us, it's no reason +you should join _my_ church. You may not like our clergyman. You know, +when you first came to New York, I recommended you to join Dr. Pratt's +congregation instead of Dr. Chellis's; but you wanted severe preaching, +and you have had it. Now there are similar varieties among the +Episcopalians. Dr. Wing, though a strict churchman, will give you sharp +exercise, if you listen to him. He will handle you without gloves. He is +fond of using the sword of the spirit, and you had best stand from +under, or he will cleave you through and through. My clergyman, Mr. +Myrtle, is a very different man. He believes in the gospel as a message +of peace and love, and his sermons are beautiful. One feels so safe and +happy to hear him discourse of the mercy of God, and the joys of +heaven.' + +'Nevertheless,' replied Hiram, stoutly, 'I hold to my old opinion, and I +confess I prefer such a preacher as Dr. Wing to one like Mr. Myrtle. But +under existing circumstances I shall go with you.' + +He was thinking about the splendid match Mr. Bennett had hinted at. + +'I am glad to hear you say so,' said Mr. Bennett; 'it will bring us more +frequently together. You have a brilliant future, if you will listen to +me; but it won't do to make another blunder, such as you have just +committed.' + +'I suppose you will tell me now about that young lady?' asked Hiram, +with an interest he could not conceal. + +'Not one word, not one syllable,' replied the other, good humoredly, +'until you are actually within the pale. Don't be alarmed,' he +continued, seeing Hiram look disappointed. 'To tell you would not do the +least good, and might frustrate my plans. But I will work the matter for +you, my boy, if it is a possible thing; and for my part I see no +difficulty in it. When my family come in town we will organize. Meantime +let me ask, have you learned to waltz?' + +'To waltz?' exclaimed Hiram, in horror. 'No. I don't even know how to +_dance_; I was taught to believe it sinful. As to waltzing, how can you +ask me if I practise such a disgusting, such an immoral style of +performance, invented by infidel German students to give additional zest +to their orgies.' + +'Did Dr. Chellis tell you that,' said Mr. Bennett, with something like a +sneer. + +'No; I read it in the _Christian Herald_.' + +'I thought so. Dr. Chellis has too much sense to utter such stuff.' + +'Does Mr. Myrtle approve of waltzing?' inquired Hiram, with a groan. + +'Hiram, don't be a goose. Of course, Mr. Myrtle does not exactly +_approve_ of it. That is, he don't waltz himself, his wife don't waltz, +and his children are not old enough; but he does not object to any +'rational amusement,' and he leaves his congregation to decide what _is_ +rational.' + +'Well, I shall not waltz, that's certain.' + +'Yes you will, too. The girl you are to marry--the girl who has a clear +two hundred thousand in her own right--_she_ waltzes, and _you_ have got +to waltz.' + +Hiram's head swam, as if already giddy in the revolving maze; but it was +the thought of the two hundred thousand dollars, nothing else, which +turned his brain. The color in his face went and came; he hesitated. + +'I will think of it,' at last he ejaculated. + +'Of course you will,' cried Mr. Bennett, 'of course you will, and decide +like a sensible man afterward, not like an idiot; but you must decide +quick, for I must put you in training for the fall campaign.' + +'What do you mean?' + +'Why, simply this; the girl will not look at you unless you are a +fashionable fellow--don't put on any more wry faces, but think of the +prize--and I must have you well up in all the accomplishments. For the +rest, you are what I call, a finely-formed, good-looking, and rather +graceful fellow, if you are my cousin.' + +Hiram's features relaxed. + +'When can I call on Mr. Myrtle?' he asked. + +'Not for several weeks. He is taking a longer vacation than usual. +However, come with me every Sunday, and you will hear Mr. Strang, our +curate, who officiates in Mr. Myrtle's absence. A most excellent man, +and a very fair preacher.' + +'Have you a Sunday school connected with the church?' + +'Do you think we are heathen, Hiram? Have we a Sunday school? I should +suppose so! What is more, the future Mrs. Meeker is one of the +teachers,' + +'Yet she waltzes?' + +'Yet she waltzes.' + +'Well, I hope I shall understand this better by and by.' + +'Certainly you will.' + +The two proceeded down town to their business. + + * * * * * + +In a very few days after, Hiram Meeker was the pupil--the private +pupil--of Signor Alberto, dancing master to _the_ aristocracy of the +town. [That is not what he called himself, but I wish to be +intelligible.] Alberto had directions to perfect his pupil in every step +practised in the world of fashion. Hiram proved an apt and ready +scholar. He gave this new branch of education the same care and +assiduity that he always practised in everything he undertook. Mr. +Bennett was not out of the way in praising his parts. Signor Alberto was +delighted with his pupil. His rapid progress was a source of great +pleasure to the master. To be sure, he could not get on quite as well as +if he had consented to go in with a class; but this Hiram would not +think of. Still the matter was managed without much difficulty, as the +Signor could always command supernumeraries. + +When it came to the waltz, Alberto was kind enough to introduce to Hiram +a young lady--a friend of his--who, he said, was perfectly familiar with +every measure; and who would, as a particular favor, take the steps with +him, under the master's special direction. It took Hiram's breath away, +poor fellow, to be thrown so closely into the embraces of such a +fine-looking, and by no means diffident damsel. It was what he had not +been accustomed to. True, _he_ had been in the habit at one time of +playing the flirt, of holding the girls' hands in his, and pressing them +significantly, and sighing and talking sentimental nonsense; but here +the tables were turned. Hiram was the bashful one, and the young lady +apparently the flirt. She explained, with, tantalizing _nonchalance_, +how he ought to take a more encircling hold of her waist. She +illustrated _practically_ the different methods--close waltzing, medium +waltzing, and waltzing at arms' length. She would waltz light and +heavy--observing to Hiram that he might on some occasion have an awkward +partner, and it was well to be prepared. + +To better explain, the young lady would become the gentleman; and in +whirling Hiram round, she exhibited a strength and vigor truly +astonishing. + +All the while Hiram, with quick breath, and heightened color, and +whirling brain, was striving hard and failing fast to keep his wits +about him. What was most annoying of all, the young lady, though so +accommodating and familiar as a partner to practise with under the +master's eye, when the exercise was over appeared perfectly and +absolutely indifferent to Hiram. She was quite insensible to every +little byplay of his to attract her notice, which, as he advanced in her +acquaintance, he began to practice before the lesson commenced, or after +it was finished. The fact is, whoever or whatever she might be, she +evidently held Hiram in great contempt as a greenhorn. Strange to say, +for once all his powers of fascination failed; and the more he tried to +call them forth, the more signal was his discomfiture. It does not +appear that Hiram, after finishing his education with Signor Alberto, +attempted to continue his acquaintance with his partner in the waltz. +Once during the course he did ask the young lady where she lived, and +intimated that he would be pleased to call and see her; but the +observation was received with such evident signs of dissatisfaction, +that he never renewed the subject, and it is doubtful if he ever +explained to himself satisfactorily his failure to get in the good +graces of such a handsome girl and so perfect a waltzer. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The Rev. Augustus Myrtle, rector of St. Jude's, was one of those +circumstances of nature which are only to be encountered in metropolitan +life. This seems a paradox. I will explain. All his qualities were born +with him, not acquired, and those qualities could only shine in the +aristocratic and fashionable circles of a large city. As animals by +instinct avoid whatever is noxious and hurtful, so Augustus Myrtle from +his infancy by instinct avoided all poor people and all persons not in +the 'very first society.' + +Children are naturally democrats; school is a great leveller. Augustus +Myrtle recognized no such propositions. While a boy at the academy, +while a youth in college, he sought the intimacy of boys and youths of +rich persons of _ton_. It was not enough that a young fellow was well +bred and had a good social position--he must be rich. It was not enough +that he was rich--he must have position. + +I do not think that Augustus Myrtle sat down carefully to calculate all +this. So I say it was instinctive--born with him. A person who frequents +only the society of the well bred and the wealthy must, to a degree at +least, possess refined and elegant and expensive tastes, and it was so +in the case of Myrtle. His tastes were refined and elegant and +expensive. + +His parents were themselves people of respectability, but very poor. His +mother used to say that her son's decided predilections were in +consequence of her unfortunate state of mind the season Augustus was +born, when poverty pinched the family sharply. Mr. Myrtle was a man of +collegiate education, with an excellent mind, but totally unfitted for +active life. The result was, after marrying a poor girl, who was, +however, of the 'aristocracy,' he became, through the influence of her +friends, the librarian of the principal library in a neighboring city, +with a fair salary, on which, with occasional sums received for +literary productions, he managed to bring up and support his small +family. At times, when some unexpected expenses had to be incurred, as I +have hinted, poverty seemed to poor Mrs. Myrtle a very great hardship, +and such was their situation the year Augustus was born. + +He was the only son, and the hope of the parents centred on him. It was +settled that he should be sent to the best schools and to a first-class +college. He had, perhaps, rather more than ordinary ability, the power +to display to the best advantage the talents and acquirements he did +possess, together with attractive manners, which, though reserved, were +pleasing. He was slight, gracefully formed, and a little above the +ordinary height. He had a dark complexion, a face thin and colorless, +with fine, large, black eyes. + +When I say Augustus Myrtle sought only the intimacy of the rich and well +bred, you must not suppose he was a toady, or practised obsequiously. +Not at all. He mingled with his associates, assuming to be one of +them--their equal. True, his want of money led to desperate economical +contrivances behind the scenes, but on the stage he betrayed by no sign +that affairs did not flow as smoothly with him as with his companions. +In all this, he had in his mother great support and encouragement. Her +relations were precisely of the stamp Augustus desired to cultivate, and +this gave him many advantages. As usually happens, he found what he +sought. By the aid of the associations he had formed with so much +assiduity, to say nothing of his own personal recommendations, he +married a nice girl, the only child of a widowed lady _in the right +'set' and with sixty thousand dollars_, besides a considerable +expectancy on the mother's decease. Shortly after, he became rector of +St. Jude's, the most exclusive 'aristocratic' religious establishment in +New York. + +At this present period, the Rev. Augustus Myrtle was but thirty-five, +and, from his standing and influence, he considered it no presumption to +look forward to the time when he should become bishop of the diocese. + +His health was excellent, if we may except some _very_ slight +indications of weakness of the larynx, which had been the cause of his +making two excursions to Europe, each of six months' duration, which +were coupled with an appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars by his +indulgent congregation to pay expenses. + + * * * * * + + +While Mr. Myrtle and his family were still absent, Hiram had made very +sensible progress in mastering the mysteries of the Episcopal form of +worship, and became fully versed in certain doctrinal points, embracing +all questions of what constitutes a 'church' and a proper 'succession.' +His investigations were carried on under the direction of the Rev. Mr. +Strang, a man of feeble mind (Mr. Myrtle was careful to have no one near +him unless the contrast was to his advantage), but a worthy and +conscientious person, who believed he was doing Heaven service in +bringing Hiram into the fold of the true church. Hiram was again in his +element as an object of religious interest. Before the rector had +returned, he became very impatient to see him. It was a long while since +he had been at communion, and he began to fear his hold on heaven would +be weakened by so long an absence from that sacrament. Besides, he felt +quite prepared and ready to be confirmed. + +The Myrtles returned at last. In due time, Mrs. Bennett talked the whole +matter over with Mrs. Myrtle. Hiram was represented as 'a very rich +young merchant, destined to be a leading man in the city--of an ancient +and honorable New England family--very desirable in the church--a +cousin'--[here several sentences were uttered in a whisper, accompanied +by nods and signs significant, which I shall never be able to +translate]--'must secure him--ripe for it now.' + +I think I forgot to say that Mrs. Myrtle and Mrs. Bennett were in the +same 'set' as young ladies, and were very intimate. + +The nest day Mrs. Bennett opened the subject to Mr. Myrtle, his wife +having duly prepared him. The object was to introduce Hiram into the +church in the most effective manner. This could only be done through the +instrumentality of the reverend gentleman himself. Everything went +smoothly. Mr. Myrtle was not insensible to the value of infusing new and +fresh elements into his congregation. + +'Of course,' he observed, 'this wealthy young man will take an entire +pew.' (The annual auction of rented pews was soon to come off, and Mr. +Myrtle liked marvellously to see strong competition. It spoke well for +the church.) + +'He will _purchase_ a pew, if a desirable one can be had,' answered Mrs. +Bennett. + +'Oh, that is well. How fortunate! The Winslows are going to Europe to +reside, and I think will sell theirs. One of the best in the church. +Pray ask Mr. Bennett to look after it.' + +'Thank you. How very considerate, how very thoughtful! We will see to it +at once.' + +The interview ended, after some further conversation, in a manner most +satisfactory. + + * * * * * + +It was a magnificent autumnal afternoon, the second week of October, +when Hiram Meeker, by previous appointment, called at the residence of +the Rev. Augustus Myrtle. The house was built on to the church, so as to +correspond in architecture, and exhibited great taste in exterior as +well as interior arrangement. Hiram walked up the steps and boldly rang +the bell. He had improved a good deal in some respects since his passage +at arms with Dr. Chellis, and while under the auspices of Mr. Bennett. +He had laid aside the creamy air he used so frequently to assume, and +had hardened himself, so to speak, against contingencies. I was saying +he marched boldly up and rang the bell. + +A footman in unexceptionable livery opened the door. Mr. Myrtle was +engaged, but on Hiram's sending in his name, he was ushered into the +front parlor, and requested to sit, and informed that Mr. Myrtle would +see him in a few minutes. This gave Hiram time to look about him. + +It so happened that it was the occasion of a preliminary gathering for +the season (there had been no meeting since June) of those who belonged +to the 'Society for the Relief of Reduced Ladies of former Wealth and +Refinement.' This 'relief' consisted in furnishing work to the +recipients of the _bounty_ at prices about one quarter less than they +could procure elsewhere, and without experiencing a sense of obligation +which these charitable ladies managed to call forth. + +There was already in the back parlor a bevy of six or eight, principally +young, fine-looking, and admirably dressed women. + +Arrayed in the most expensive silks, of rich colors, admirably +corresponding with the season, fitted in a mode the most faultless to +the exquisite forms of these fair creatures, or made dexterously to +conceal any natural defect, they rose, they sat, they walked up and down +the room, greeting from time to time the new comers as they arrived. + +The conversation turned meanwhile on the way the summer had been spent, +and much delicate gossip was broached or hinted at, but not entered +into. Next the talk was about dress. The names of the several +fashionable dressmakers were quoted as authority for this, and +denunciatory of that. Congratulations were exchanged: 'How charmingly +you look--how sweet that is--what a lovely bonnet!' + +All this Hiram Meeker drank in with open ears and eyes, for from where +he was sitting, he could see everything that was going on, as well as +hear every word. + +One thing particularly impressed him. He felt that never before had he +been in such society. The ladies of Dr. Chellis's church were +intelligent, refined, and well bred, but here was TON--that +unmistakable, unquestionable _ton_ which arrogates everything unto +itself, claims everything, and with a certain class _is_ everything. + +I need not say, to a person of Hiram's keen and appreciative sense, the +picture before him was most attractive. How perfect was every point in +it! What minute and fastidious attention had been devoted to every +article of dress! How every article had been specially _designed_ to set +off and adorn! The hat, how charming; the hair, how exquisitely coiffed; +the shawl, how magnificent; the dress how rich! The gloves, of what +admirable tint, and how neatly fitted; and how wonderfully were the +walking boots adapted to display foot and ankle! And these did not +distinguish one, but _every one_ present. + +I do not wonder Hiram was carried away by the spectacle. There is +something very overpowering in such a scene. Who is sufficient to resist +its seductive influences? + +In the midst of what might be called a trance, when Hiram's senses were +wrapt in a sort of charmed Elysium, the Rev. Augustus Myrtle entered the +room. He did not look toward Hiram, but passed directly into the back +parlor. He walked along, not as if he were stepping on eggs, but very +smoothly and noiselessly, as if treading (as he was doing) on the finest +of velvet carpets. + +Instantly what a flutter! How they ran up to him, ambitious to get the +first salute, and to proffer the first congratulation! How gracefully +the Rev. Augustus Myrtle received each! Two or three there were (there +were reasons, doubtless) whose cheeks he kissed decorously, yet possibly +with some degree of relish. The rest had to content themselves with +shaking hands. Many and various were the compliments he received. Their +'delight to see him, how well he was looking,' and so forth. + +Presently he started to leave them. + +'Oh, you must not run off so soon, we shall follow you to your +_sanctum_.' + +'An engagement,' replied Mr. Myrtle, glancing into the other room. + +A score of handsome eyes were turned in the direction where Hiram was +seated, listening with attention, and watching everything. Discomfited +by such an array, he colored, coughed, and nervously shifted his +position. Some laughed. The rest looked politely indifferent. + +'A connection of the Bennetts,' whispered Mrs. Myrtle, 'a fine young +man, immensely rich. He is to come in future to our church.' + +'Ah,' 'Yes,' 'Indeed,' 'Excellent.' Such were the responses. + +Meanwhile Mr. Myrtle had greeted Hiram courteously, and invited him to +his library. This was across the hall, in a room which formed a part of +the church edifice. + +As Hiram followed Mr. Myrtle out of the parlor, several of the ladies +took another look at him. They could not but remark that he was finely +formed, fashionably dressed, and, thanks to Signor Alberto, of a very +graceful carriage. + +The interview between Mr. Myrtle and Hiram was brief. The latter, +thoroughly tutored by his cousin, was careful to say nothing about his +previous conviction and wonderful conversion, but left Mr. Myrtle, as +was very proper, to lead in the conversation. He had previously talked +with Mr. Strang, which, with the recommendation of Mrs. Bennett, left no +doubt in his mind as to Hiram's fitness to receive confirmation. + +It was very hard for him to be informed that his early baptism must go +for nothing--what time his father and mother, in their ignorance and +simplicity, brought their child to present before God, and receive the +beautiful rite of the sprinkling of water. + +A dreadful mistake they made, since no properly consecrated hands +administered on that occasion. But nevertheless, Hiram is safe. Lucky +fellow, he has discovered the mistake, and repaired it in season. + +'I think, Mr. Meeker, your conversations with Mr. Strang have proved +very instructive to you. Here is a work I have written, which embraces +the whole of my controversy with Mr. Howland on the true church (and +there is not salvation in any other) and the apostolic succession. +Having read and approved this,' he added with a pleasant smile, 'I will +vouch for you as a good churchman.' + +Hiram was delighted. He took the volume, and was about to express his +thanks, when Mrs. Myrtle appeared at the door, which had been left open. + +'My dear, I regret to disturb you, but'-- + +'I will join you at once,' said Mr. Myrtle, rising. This is Mr. Meeker, +a cousin of your friend Mrs. Bennett'--as if she did not know it. + +Mrs. Myrtle bowed graciously, and said, with charming condescension: + +'Then it is _you_ I have heard such a good report of. You are coming to +our church away from----' + +'Never mind from where, my dear,' said Mr, Myrtle pleasantly, and he +bowed Hiram out in a manner which positively charmed our hero. + +That evening Mr. Bennett told Hiram he had purchased a pew for +him--price sixteen hundred and fifty dollars. + +'Sixteen hundred and fifty dollars,' exclaimed the other, in amazement. + +'Yes.' + +'Why, I can't stand that. The dearest pews in Dr. Chellis's church were +not over six hundred. You are joking.' + +'You are an idiot,' retorted Mr. Bennett, half pettishly, half +playfully. 'Have you not placed yourself in my hands? Shall I not manage +your interests as I please? I say I want sixteen hundred and fifty +dollars. I know you can draw the money without the least inconvenience. +If I thought you could not, I would advance it myself. Are you content?' + +Hiram nodded a doubtful assent. + +How fortunate,' continued Mr. Bennett, that the Winslows are going to +Europe, and how lucky I got there the minute I did! Young Bishop came in +just as I closed the purchase. I know what _he_ wanted it for, and I +know what _I_ wanted it for. Hiram, a word in your ear--your pew is +immediately in front of our heiress! Bravo, old fellow! Now, will you +pay up?' + +Hiram nodded this time with satisfaction. + +The second Sunday thereafter one might observe that the Winslows' pew +had been newly cushioned and carpeted, and otherwise put in order. +Several prayer books and a Bible, elegantly bound, and lettered 'H. +Meeker,' were placed in it. This could not escape the notice of the very +elegant and fashionably dressed young lady in the next slip. Strange to +say, the pew contained no occupant. But just before the service was +about to commence, Hiram, purposely a little late, walked quietly in, +and took possession of his property. His _pose_ was capital. His ease +and _nonchalance_ were perfectly unexceptionable, evidencing _haut ton_. +He had been practising for weeks. + +'Who can he be?' asked the elegant and fashionably dressed young lady of +herself. She was left to wonder. When he walked homeward, Hiram was +informed by Mr. Bennett that the elegant and fashionably dressed young +lady was Miss Arabella Thorne, without father, without mother, of age, +and possessed of a clear sum of two hundred thousand dollars in her own +right! + + + + +AMERICAN FINANCES AND RESOURCES. + + +LETTER NO. I, FROM HON. ROBERT J. WALKER. + +LONDON, 10 Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, _August 5, 1863_. + +The question has been often asked me, here and on the continent, _how +has your Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. Chase) so marvellously sustained +American credit during this rebellion, and when will your finances +collapse?_ This question I have frequently answered in conversations +with European statesmen and bankers, and the discussion has closed +generally in decided approval of Mr. Chase's financial policy, and great +confidence in the wonderful resources of the United States. + +Thus encouraged, I have concluded to discuss the question in a series of +letters, explaining Mr. Chase's system and stating the reasons of its +remarkable success. The interest in such a topic is not confined to the +United States, nor to the present period, but extends to all times and +nations. Indeed, finance, as a science, belongs to the world. It is a +principal branch of the doctrine of 'the wealth of nations,' discussed, +during the last century, with so much ability by Adam Smith. Although +many great principles were then settled, yet political economy is +emphatically progressive, especially the important branches of credit, +currency, taxation, and revenue. + +Mr. Chase's success has been complete under the most appalling +difficulties. The preceding administration, by their treasonable course, +and anti-coercion heresies, had almost paralyzed the Government. They +had increased the rate of interest of Federal loans from six to nearly +twelve per cent. per annum. Their Vice-president (Mr. Breckenridge), +their Finance Minister (Mr. Cobb), their Secretary of War (Mr. Floyd), +their Secretary of the Interior (Mr. Thompson), are now in the traitor +army. Even the President (Mr. Buchanan), with an evident purpose of +aiding the South to dissolve the Union, had announced in his messages +the absurd political paradox, that _a State has no right to secede, but +that the Government has no right to prevent its secession_. It was a +conspiracy of traitors, at the head of which stood the President, +secretly pledged, at Ostend and Cininnati, to the South (as the price of +their support), to aid them to control or destroy the republic. Thus was +it that, in time of profound peace, when our United States six per +cents. commanded a few weeks before a large premium, and our debt was +less than $65,000,000, that Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of the Treasury +(Mr. Cobb) was borrowing money at an interest of nearly twelve per cent. +per annum. Most fortunately that accursed administration was drawing to +a close, or the temporary overthrow of the Government would have been +effected. Never did any minister of finance undertake a task apparently +so hopeless as that so fully accomplished by Mr. Chase in reviving the +public credit. A single fact will illustrate the extraordinary result. +At the close of the fiscal year ending 1st July, 1860, our public debt +was only $64,769,703, and Secretary Cobb was borrowing money at twelve +per cent. per annum. On the first of July 1863, in the midst of a +stupendous rebellion, our debt was $1,097,274,000, and Mr. Chase had +reduced the average rate of interest to 3.89 per cent. per annum, whilst +the highest rate was 7.30 for a comparatively small sum to be paid off +next year. This is a financial achievement without a parallel in the +history of the world. If I speak on this subject with some enthusiasm, +it is in no egotistical spirit, for Mr. Chase's system differs in many +respects widely from that adopted by me as Minister of Finance during +the Mexican war, and which raised United States _five per cents._ to a +premium. But my system was based on specie, or its real and convertible +equivalent, and would not have answered the present emergency, which, by +our enormous expenditure, necessarily forced a partial and temporary +suspension of specie payments upon our banks and Government. Mr. Chase's +system is exclusively his own, and, in many of its aspects, is without a +precedent in history. When first proposed by him it had very few +friends, and was forced upon a reluctant Congress by the great +emergency, presenting the alternative of its adoption or financial ruin. +Indeed, upon a test vote in Congress in February last, it had failed, +when the premium on gold rose immediately over twenty per cent. This +caused a reconsideration, when the bills were passed and the premium on +gold was immediately reduced more than the previous rise, exhibiting the +extraordinary difference in a few days of twenty-three per cent., in the +absence of any intermediate Federal victories in the field. + +Such are the facts. Let me now proceed to detail the causes of these +remarkable results. The first element in the success of any Minister of +Finance is the just confidence of the country in his ability, integrity, +candor, courage, and patriotism. He may find it necessary, in some great +emergency, like our rebellion, to diverge somewhat from the _via trita_ +of the past, and enter upon paths not lighted by the lamp of experience. +He must never, however, abandon great principles, which are as +unchangeable as the laws developed by the physical sciences. When Mr. +Chase, in his first annual Treasury Report of the 9th of December, 1861, +recommended his system of United States banks, organized by Congress +throughout the country, furnishing a circulation based upon private +means and credit, but secured also by an adequate amount of Federal +stock, held by the Government as security for its redemption, it was +very unpopular, and encountered most violent opposition. The State +banks, and all the great interests connected with them, were arrayed +against the proposed system. When we reflect that many of these banks +(especially in the great State of New York) were based on State stocks, +and in many States that the banks yielded large revenues to the local +Government;--when we see, by our Census Tables of 1860 (p. 193), that +these banks numbered 1642, with a capital paid up of $421,890,095, loans +$691,495,580, and a circulation and deposits, including specie, of +$544,469,134,--we may realize in part the tremendous power arrayed +against the Secretary. This opposition was so formidable, that neither +in the public press nor in Congress did this recommendation of Mr. Chase +receive any considerable support. Speaking of the _currency_ issued by +the State banks, and of the substitute proposed by Mr. Chase, he +presented the following views in his first annual Report before referred +to, of December, 1861:-- + + 'The whole of this circulation constitutes a loan without interest + from the people to the banks, costing them nothing except the + expense of issue and redemption and the interest on the specie kept + on hand for the latter purpose; and it deserves consideration + whether sound policy does not require that the advantages of this + loan be transferred in part at least, from the banks, representing + only the interests of the stockholders, to the Government, + representing the aggregate interests of the whole people. + + 'It has been well questioned by the most eminent statesmen whether + a currency of bank notes, issued by local institutions under State + laws, is not, in fact, prohibited by the national Constitution. + Such emissions certainly fall within the spirit, if not within the + letter, of the constitutional prohibition of the emission of bills + of credit by the States, and of the making by them of anything + except gold and silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts. + 'However this may be, it is too clear to be reasonably disputed + that Congress, under its constitutional powers to lay taxes, to + regulate commerce, and to regulate the value of coin, possesses + ample authority to control the credit circulation which enters so + largely into the transactions of commerce and affects in so many + ways the value of coin. + + 'In the judgment of the Secretary the time has arrived when + Congress should exercise this authority. The value of the existing + bank note circulation depends on the laws of thirty-four States and + the character of some sixteen hundred private corporations. It is + usually furnished in greatest proportions by institutions of least + actual capital. Circulation, commonly, is in the inverse ratio of + solvency. Well-founded institutions, of large and solid capital, + have, in general, comparatively little circulation; while weak + corporations almost invariably seek to sustain themselves by + obtaining from the people the largest possible credit in this form. + Under such a system, or rather lack of system, great fluctuations, + and heavy losses in discounts and exchanges, are inevitable; and + not unfrequently, through failures of the issuing institutions, + considerable portions of the circulation become suddenly worthless + in the hands of the people. The recent experience of several States + in the valley of the Mississippi painfully illustrates the justice + of these observations; and enforces by the most cogent practical + arguments the duty of protecting commerce and industry against the + recurrence of such disorders. + + 'The Secretary thinks it possible to combine with this protection a + provision for circulation, safe to the community and convenient for + the Government. + + 'Two plans for effecting this object are suggested. The first + contemplates the gradual withdrawal from circulation of the notes + of private corporations and for the issue, in their stead of United + States notes, payable in coin on demand, in amounts sufficient for + the useful ends of a representative currency. The second + contemplates the preparation and delivery, to institutions and + associations, of notes prepared for circulation under national + direction, and to be secured as to prompt convertibility into coin + by the pledge of United States bonds and other needful regulations. + + 'The first of these plans was partially adopted at the last session + of Congress in the provision authorizing the Secretary to issue + United States notes, payable in coin, to an amount not exceeding + fifty millions of dollars. That provision may be so extended as to + reach the average circulation of the country, while a moderate tax, + gradually augmented, on bank notes, will relieve the national from + the competition of local circulation. It has been already suggested + that the substitution of a national for a State currency, upon this + plan, would be equivalent to a loan to the Government without + interest, except on the fund to be kept in coin, and without + expense, except the cost of preparation, issue, and redemption; + while the people would gain the additional advantage of a uniform + currency, and relief from a considerable burden in the form of + interest on debt. These advantages are, doubtless, considerable; + and if a scheme can be devised by which such a circulation will be + certainly and strictly confined to the real needs of the people, + and kept constantly equivalent to specie by prompt and certain + redemption in coin, it will hardly fail of legislative sanction. + + 'The plan, however, is not without serious inconveniences and + hazards. The temptation, especially great in times of pressure and + danger, to issue notes without adequate provision for redemption; + the ever-present liability to be called on for redemption beyond + means, however carefully provided and managed; the hazards of + panics, precipitating demands for coin, concentrated on a few + points and a single fund; the risk of a depreciated, depreciating, + and finally worthless paper money; the immeasurable evils of + dishonored public faith and national bankruptcy; all these are + possible consequence of the adoption of a system of government + circulation. It may be said, and perhaps truly, that they are less + deplorable than those of an irredeemable bank circulation. Without + entering into that comparison, the Secretary contents himself with + observing that, in his judgment, these possible disasters so far + outweigh the probable benefits of the plan that he feels himself + constrained to forbear recommending its adoption. + + 'The second plan suggested remains for examination. Its principal + features are, (1st) a circulation of notes bearing a common + impression and authenticated by a common authority; (2d) the + redemption of these notes by the associations and institutions to + which they may be delivered for issue; and (3d) the security of + that redemption by the pledge of the United States stocks, and an + adequate provision of specie. + + 'In this plan the people, in their ordinary business, would find + the advantages of uniformity in currency; of uniformity in + security; of effectual safeguard, if effectual safeguard is + possible, against depreciation; and of protection from losses in + discount and exchanges; while in the operations of the Government + the people would find the further advantage of a large demand for + Government securities, of increased facilities for obtaining the + loans required by the war, and of some alleviation of the burdens + on industry through a diminution in the rate of interest, or a + participation in the profit of circulation, without risking the + perils of a great money monopoly. + + 'A further and important advantage to the people may be reasonably + expected in the increased security of the Union, springing from the + common interest in its preservation, created by the distribution of + its stocks to associations throughout the country, as the basis of + their circulation. + + 'The Secretary entertains the opinion that if a credit circulation + in any form be desirable, it is most desirable in this. The notes + thus issued and secured would, in his judgment, form the safest + currency which this country has ever enjoyed; while their + receivability for all Government dues, except customs, would make + them, wherever payable, of equal value, as a currency, in every + part of the Union. The large amount of specie now in the United + States, reaching a total of not less than two hundred and + seventy-five millions of dollars, will easily support payments of + duties in coin, while these payments and ordinary demands will aid + in retaining this specie in the country as a solid basis both of + circulation and loans. + + 'The whole circulation of the country, except a limited amount of + foreign coin, would, after the lapse of two or three years, bear + the impress of the nation whether in coin or notes; while the + amount of the latter, always easily ascertainable, and, of course, + always generally known, would not be likely to be increased beyond + the real wants of business. + + 'He expresses an opinion in favor of this plan with the greater + confidence, because it has the advantage of recommendation from + experience. It is not an untried theory. In the State of New York, + and in one or more of the other States, it has been subjected, in + its most essential parts, to the test of experiment, and has been + found practicable and useful. The probabilities of success will not + be diminished but increased by its adoption under national sanction + and for the whole country. + + 'It only remains to add that the plan is recommended by one other + consideration, which, in the judgment of the Secretary, is entitled + to much influence. It avoids almost, if not altogether, the evils + of a great and sudden change in the currency by offering + inducements to solvent existing institutions to withdraw the + circulation issued under State authority, and substitute that + provided by the authority of the Union. Thus, through the voluntary + action of the existing institutions, aided by wise legislation, the + great transition from a currency heterogeneous, unequal, and + unsafe, to one uniform, equal, and safe, may be speedily and almost + imperceptibly accomplished. + + 'If the Secretary has omitted the discussion of the question of the + constitutional power of Congress to put this plan into operation, + it is because no argument is necessary to establish the proposition + that the power to regulate commerce and the value of coin includes + the power to regulate the currency of the country, or the + collateral proposition that the power to effect the end includes + the power to adopt the necessary and expedient means. + + 'The Secretary entertains the hope that the plan now submitted, if + adopted with the limitations and safeguards which the experience + and wisdom of senators and representatives will, doubtless, + suggest, may impart such value and stability to Government + securities that it will not be difficult to obtain the additional + loans required for the service of the current and the succeeding + year at fair and reasonable rates; especially if the public credit + be supported by sufficient and certain provision for the payment of + interest and ultimate redemption of the principal.' + +Congress adjourned after a session of eight months, and failed to adopt +Mr. Chase's recommendation. Indeed, it had then but few advocates in +Congress or the country. Events rolled on, and our debt, as anticipated +by Mr. Chase, became of vast dimensions. In his Report of December, +1861, the public debt on the 30th June, 1862 (the close of the fiscal +year), was estimated by the Secretary at $517,372,800; and it was +$514,211,371, or more than $3,000,000 less than the estimate. In his +Report of December 4, 1862, our debt, on the 30th June, 1863, was +estimated by Mr. Chase at $1,122,297,403, and it was $1,097,274,000, +being $25,023,403 less than the estimate. The _average_ rate of interest +on this debt was 3.89, being $41,927,980, of which $30,141,080 was +payable in gold, and $11,786,900 payable in Federal currency. It will +thus be seen that the whole truth, as to our heavy debt, was always +distinctly stated in advance by Mr. Chase, and that the debt has not now +quite reached his estimate. Long before the date of the second annual +Report of the Secretary, the banks had suspended specie payments, and +the Secretary renewed his former recommendation on that subject in these +words:-- + + 'While the Secretary thus repeats the preference he has heretofore + expressed for a United States note circulation, even when issued + direct by the Government, and dependent on the action of the + Government for regulation and final redemption, over the note + circulation of the numerous and variously organized and variously + responsible banks now existing in the country; and while he now + sets forth, more fully than heretofore, the grounds of that + preference, he still adheres to the opinion expressed in his last + Report, that a circulation furnished by the Government, but issued + by banking associations, organized under a general act of Congress, + is to be preferred to either. Such a circulation, uniform in + general characteristics, and amply secured as to prompt + convertibility by national bonds deposited in the treasury, by the + associations receiving it, would unite, in his judgment, more + elements of soundness and utility than can be combined in any + other. + + 'A circulation composed exclusively of notes issued directly by the + Government, or of such notes and coin, is recommended mainly by two + considerations:--the first derived from the facility with which it + may be provided in emergencies, and the second, from its cheapness. + + 'The principal objections to such a circulation as a permanent + system are, 1st, the facility of excessive expansion when + expenditures exceed revenue; 2d, the danger of lavish and corrupt + expenditure, stimulated by facility of expansion; 3d, the danger of + fraud in management and supervision; 4th, the impossibility of + providing it in sufficient amounts for the wants of the people + whenever expenditures are reduced to equality with revenue or below + it. + + 'These objections are all serious. The last requires some + elucidation. It will be easily understood, however, if it be + considered that a government issuing a credit circulation cannot + supply, in any given period, an amount of currency greater than the + excess of its disbursements over its receipts. To that amount, it + may create a debt in small notes, and these notes may be used as + currency. This is precisely the way in which the existing currency + of United States notes is supplied. That portion of the expenditure + not met by revenue or loans has been met by the issue of these + notes. Debt in this form has been substituted for various debts in + other forms. Whenever, therefore, the country shall be restored to + a healthy normal condition, and receipts exceed expenditures, the + supply of United States notes will be arrested, and must + progressively diminish. Whatever demand may be made for their + redemption in coin must hasten this diminution; and there can be no + reissue; for reissue, under the conditions, necessarily implies + disbursement, and the revenue, upon the supposition, supplies more + than is needed for that purpose. There is, then, no mode in which a + currency in United States notes can be permanently maintained, + except by loans of them, when not required for disbursement, on + deposits of coin, or pledge of securities, or in some other way. + This would convert the treasury into a government bank, with all + its hazards and mischiefs. + + 'If these reasonings be sound, little room can remain for doubt + that the evils certain to arise from such a scheme of currency, if + adopted as a permanent system, greatly overbalance the temporary + though not inconsiderable advantages offered by it. + + 'It remains to be considered what results may be reasonably + expected from an act authorizing the organization of banking + associations, such as the Secretary proposed in his last Report. + + 'The central idea of the proposed measure is the establishment of + one sound, uniform circulation, of equal value throughout the + country, upon the foundation of national credit combined with + private capital. + + 'Such a currency, it is believed, can be secured through banking + associations organized under national legislation. + + 'It is proposed that these associations be entirely voluntary. Any + persons, desirous of employing real capital in sufficient amounts, + can, if the plan be adopted, unite together under proper articles, + and having contributed the requisite capital, can invest such part + of it, not less than a fixed minimum, in United States bonds, and, + having deposited these bonds with the proper officer of the United + States, can receive United States notes in such denominations as + may be desired, and employ them as money in discounts and + exchanges. The stockholders of any existing banks can, in like + manner, organize under the act, and transfer, by such degrees as + may be found convenient, the capital of the old to the use of the + new associations. The notes thus put into circulation will be + payable, until resumption, in United States notes, and, after + resumption, in specie, by the association which issues them, on + demand; and if not so paid will be redeemable at the treasury of + the United States from the proceeds of the bonds pledged in + security. In the practical working of the plan, if sanctioned by + Congress, redemption at one or more of the great commercial + centres, will probably be provided for by all the associations + which circulate the notes, and, in case any association shall fail + in such redemption, the treasurer of the United States will + probably, under discretionary authority, pay the notes, and cancel + the public debt held as security. + + 'It seems difficult to conceive of a note circulation which will + combine higher local and general credit than this. After a few + years no other circulation would be used, nor could the issues of + the national circulation be easily increased beyond the legitimate + demands of business. Every dollar of circulation would represent + real capital, actually invested in national stocks, and the total + amount issued could always be easily and quickly ascertained from + the books of the treasury. These circumstances, if they might not + wholly remove the temptation to excessive issues, would certainly + reduce it to the lowest point, while the form of the notes, the + uniformity of the devices, the signatures of national officers, and + the imprint of the national seal authenticating the declaration + borne on each that it is secured by bonds which represent the faith + and capital of the whole country, could not fail to make every note + as good in any part of the world as the best known and best + esteemed national securities. + + 'The Secretary has already mentioned the support to public credit + which may be expected from the proposed associations. The + importance of this point may excuse some additional observations. + + 'The organization proposed, if sanctioned by Congress, would + require, within a very few years, for deposit as security for + circulation, bonds of the United States to an amount not less than + $250,000,000. It may well be expected, indeed, since the + circulation, by uniformity in credit and value, and capacity of + quick and cheap transportation, will be likely to be used more + extensively than any hitherto issued, that the demand for bonds + will overpass this limit. Should Congress see fit to restrict the + privilege of deposit to the bonds known as five-twenties, + authorized by the act of last session, the demand would promptly + absorb all of that description already issued and make large room + for more. A steady market for the bonds would thus be established + and the negotiation of them greatly facilitated. + + 'But it is not in immediate results that the value of this support + would be only or chiefly seen. There are always holders who desire + to sell securities of whatever kind. If buyers are few or + uncertain, the market value must decline. But the plan proposed + would create a constant demand, equalling and often exceeding the + supply. Thus a steady uniformity in price would be maintained, and + generally at a rate somewhat above those of bonds of equal credit, + but not available to banking associations. It is not easy to + appreciate the full benefits of such conditions to a government + obliged to borrow. + + 'Another advantage to be derived from such associations would be + found in the convenient agencies which they would furnish for the + deposit of public moneys. + + 'The Secretary does not propose to interfere with the independent + treasury. It may be advantageously retained, with the assistant + treasurers already established in the most important cities, where + the customs may be collected as now, in coin or treasury notes + issued directly by the Government, but not furnished to banking + associations. + + 'But whatever the advantages of such arrangements in the commercial + cities in relation to customs, it seems clear that the secured + national circulation furnished to the banking associations should + be received everywhere for all other dues than customs, and that + these associations will constitute the best and safest depositaries + of the revenues derived from such receipts. The convenience and + utility to the Government of their employment in this capacity, and + often, also, as agents for payments and as distributors of stamps, + need no demonstration. The necessity for some other depositaries + than surveyors of ports, receivers, postmasters, and other + officers, of whose responsibilities and fitness, in many cases, + nothing satisfactory can be known, is acknowledged by the provision + for selection by the Secretary contained in the internal revenue + act; and it seems very clear that the public interest will be + secured far more certainly by the organization and employment of + associations organized as proposed than by any official selection. + + 'Another and very important advantage of the proposed plan has + already been adverted to. It will reconcile, as far as practicable, + the interest of existing institutions with those of the whole + people. + + 'All changes, however important, should be introduced with caution, + and proceeded in with careful regard to every affected interest. + Rash innovation is not less dangerous than stupefied inaction. The + time has come when a circulation of United States notes, in some + form, must be employed. The people demand uniformity in currency, + and claim, at least, part of the benefit of debt without interest, + made into money, hitherto enjoyed exclusively by the banks. These + demands are just and must be respected. But there need be no sudden + change; there need be no hurtful interference with existing + interests. As yet the United States note circulation hardly fills + the vacuum caused by the temporary withdrawal of coin; it does not, + perhaps, fully meet the demand for increased circulation created by + the increased number, variety, and activity of payments in money. + There is opportunity, therefore, for the wise and beneficial + regulation of its substitution for other circulation. The mode of + substitution, also, may be judiciously adapted to actual + circumstances. The plan suggested consults both purposes. It + contemplates gradual withdrawal of bank note circulation, and + proposes a United States note circulation, furnished to banking + associations, in the advantages of which they may participate in + full proportion to the care and responsibility assumed and the + services performed by them. The promptitude and zeal with which + many of the existing institutions came to the financial support of + the Government in the dark days which followed the outbreak of the + rebellion is not forgotten. They ventured largely, and boldly, and + patriotically on the side of the Union and the constitutional + supremacy of the nation over States and citizens. It does not at + all detract from the merit of the act that the losses, which they + feared but unhesitatingly risked, were transmuted into unexpected + gains. It is a solid recommendation of the suggested plan that it + offers the opportunity to these and kindred institutions to + reorganize, continue their business under the proposed act, and + with little loss and much advantage, participate in maintaining the + new and uniform national currency. + + 'The proposed plan is recommended, finally, by the firm anchorage + it will supply to the union of the States. Every banking + association whose bonds are deposited in the treasury of the Union; + every individual who holds a dollar of the circulation secured by + such deposit; every merchant, every manufacturer, every farmer, + every mechanic, interested in transactions dependent for success + on the credit of that circulation, will feel as an injury every + attempt to rend the national unity, with the permanence and + stability of which all their interests are so closely and vitally + connected. Had the system been possible, and had it actually + existed two years ago, can it be doubted that the national + interests and sentiments enlisted by it for the Union would have so + strengthened the motives for adhesion derived from other sources + that the wild treason of secession would have been impossible? + + 'The Secretary does not yield to the phantasy that taxation is a + blessing and debt a benefit; but it is the duty of public men to + extract good from evil whenever it is possible. The burdens of + taxation may be lightened and even made productive of incidental + benefits by wise, and aggravated and made intolerable by unwise, + legislation. In like manner debt, by no means desirable in itself, + may, when circumstances compel nations to incur its obligations, be + made by discreet use less burdensome, and even instrumental in the + promotion of public and private security and welfare. + + 'The rebellion has brought a great debt upon us. It is proposed to + use a part of it in such a way that the sense of its burden may be + lost in the experience of incidental advantages. The issue of + United States notes is such a use; but if exclusive, is hazardous + and temporary. The security by national bonds of similar notes + furnished to banking associations is such a use, and is + comparatively safe and permanent; and with this use may be + connected, for the present, and occasionally, as circumstances may + require, hereafter, the use of the ordinary United States notes in + limited amounts. + + 'No very early day will probably witness the reduction of the + public debt to the amount required as a basis for secured + circulation. Should no future wars arrest reduction and again + demand expenditures beyond revenue, that day will, however, at + length come. When it shall arrive the debt may be retained on low + interest at that amount, or some other security for circulation may + be devised, or, possibly, the vast supplies of our rich mines may + render all circulation unadvisable except gold and the absolute + representatives and equivalents, dollar for dollar, of gold in the + treasury or on safe deposit elsewhere. But these considerations may + be for another generation. + + 'The Secretary forbears extended argument on the constitutionality + of the suggested system. It is proposed as an auxiliary to the + power to borrow money; as an agency of the power to collect and + disburse taxes; and as an exercise of the power to regulate + commerce, and of the power to regulate the value of coin. Of the + two first sources of power nothing need be said. The argument + relating to them was long since exhausted, and is well known. Of + the other two there is not room, nor does it seem needful to say + much. If Congress can prescribe the structure, equipment, and + management of vessels to navigate rivers flowing between or through + different States as a regulation of commerce, Congress may + assuredly determine what currency shall be employed in the + interchange of their commodities, which is the very essence of + commerce. Statesmen who have agreed in little else have concurred + in the opinion that the power to regulate coin is, in substance and + effect, a power to regulate currency, and that the framers of the + Constitution so intended. It may well enough be admitted that while + Congress confines its regulation to weight, fineness, shape, and + device, banks and individuals may issue notes for currency in + competition with coin. But it is difficult to conceive by what + process of logic the unquestioned power to regulate coin can be + separated from the power to maintain or restore its circulation, by + excluding from currency all private or corporate substitutes which + affect its value, whenever Congress shall see fit to exercise that + power for that purpose. + + 'The recommendations, now submitted, of the limited issue of United + States notes as a wise expedient for the present time, and as an + occasional expedient for future times, and of the organization of + banking associations to supply circulation secured by national + bonds and convertible always into United States notes, and after + resumption of specie payments, into coin, are prompted by no favor + to excessive issues of any description of credit money. + + 'On the contrary, it is the Secretary's firm belief that by no + other path can the resumption of specie payments be so surely + reached and so certainly maintained. United States notes receivable + for bonds bearing a secure specie interest are next best to notes + convertible into coin. The circulation of banking associations + organized under a general act of Congress, secured by such bonds, + can be most surely and safely maintained at the point of certain + convertibility into coin. If, temporarily, these associations + redeem their issues with United States notes, resumption of specie + payments will not thereby be delayed or endangered, but hastened + and secured; for, just as soon as victory shall restore peace, the + ample revenue, already secured by wise legislation, will enable the + Government, through advantageous purchases of specie, to replace at + once large amounts, and, at no distant day, the whole, of this + circulation by coin, without detriment to any interest, but, on the + contrary, with great and manifest benefit to all interests. + + 'The Secretary recommends, therefore, no mere paper money scheme, + but, on the contrary, a series of measures looking to a safe and + gradual return to gold and silver as the only permanent basis, + standard, and measure of values recognized by the + Constitution--between which and an irredeemable paper currency, as + he believes, the choice is now to be made.' + +Congress, however, was still unwilling to adopt the recommendations of +the Secretary, until the necessity was demonstrated by the course of +events. On reference to the laws, which are printed in the Appendix, it +will be found, that the great features of the system of the Secretary +were as follows: + +1. A loan to the Government upon its bonds reimbursable in twenty years, +but redeemable after five years, at the option of the nation, the +interest being six per cent., payable semi-annually in _coin_, as is +also the principal. + +2. The issue of United States legal tender notes, receivable for all +dues to the nation except customs, and fundable in this United States +5--20 six per cent. stock. + +3. The authorization of the banks recommended in his Report, whose +circulation would be secured not only by private capital, but by +adequate deposits of United States stock with the Government. + +4. To maintain, in the meantime, as near to specie as practicable, this +Federal Currency,--1st, by making it receivable in all dues to the +Government except for customs; 2d, by the privilege of funding it in +United States stock; 3d, by enhancing the benefit of this privilege, not +only by making the stock, both principal and interest, payable in +specie, but by making it gradually the ultimate basis of our whole bank +circulation, which, as shown by the census tables before referred to +(including deposits), nearly doubles every decade. + +5. By imposing such a tax on the circulation of the State banks, as, +together with State or municipal taxes, would induce them to transfer +their capital to the new banks proposed by the Secretary. + +6. To relieve the _new banks_ from all State or municipal taxation. + +7. In lieu thereof, to impose a moderate Federal tax on all bank +circulation, as a bonus to be paid cheerfully by these banks for the +great privilege of furnishing ultimately the whole paper currency of the +country, and the other advantages secured by these bills. + +This tax, as proposed by the Secretary, was one per cent. semi-annually, +which _in effect_ would have reduced the interest on our principal loans +from six to four per cent. per annum, so far as those loans were made +the basis of bank circulation. Congress, however, fixed this tax at +about one half, thus making the interest on such loans equivalent in +fact to five per cent. per annum, so far as such loans, at the option of +the holder, are made the basis of banking and of bank circulation. This +is a privilege which gives great additional value to these loans, for +the right to issue the bank paper circulation of the country free from +State or municipal taxes, is worth far more than one half per cent, +semi-annually, to be paid on such circulation. That this privilege is +worth more than the Federal tax, is proved by the fact, that many banks +are already being organized under this system, and by the further fact, +that more than $200,000,000 of legal tenders have already been funded in +this stock, and the process continues at the rate of from one to two +millions of dollars a day. It will be observed, that the holders of such +bonds can keep them, _if they please_, disconnected with all banks, +receiving the principal at maturity, as well as the semi-annual +interest, in gold, free from all taxes. + +This system has been attended with complete success, and notwithstanding +the increase of our debt, the premium on gold, for our Federal currency, +fundable in this stock, has fallen from 73 per cent. in February last, +before the adoption of Mr. Chase's system, to 27 per cent. at present; +and before the 30th of June next, it is not doubted that this premium +must disappear. No loyal American doubts the complete suppression of the +rebellion before that date, in which event, our Federal currency will +rise at once to the par of gold. In the meantime, however, gold is at a +premium of 27 per cent., which is the least profit (independent of +future advance above par) so soon to be realized by those purchasing +this currency now, and waiting its appreciation, or investing it in our +United States 5--20 six per cent. stock. + +But, besides the financial benefits to the Government of Mr. Chase's +system, its other advantages are great indeed. It will ultimately +displace our whole State bank system and circulation, and give us a +_national currency_, based on ample private capital and Federal stocks, +a currency of _uniform_ value throughout the country, and always +certainly convertible on demand into coin. Besides, by displacing the +State bank circulation, the whole bank note currency of the Union will +be based on the stocks of the Government, and give to every citizen who +holds the bonds or the currency (which will embrace the whole community +in every State), a direct interest in the maintenance of the Union. + +The annual losses which our people sustain under the separate State bank +system, in the rate of exchange, is enormous, whilst the constant and +ever-recurring insolvency of so many of these institutions, accompanied +by eight general bank suspensions of specie payment, have, from time to +time, spread ruin and devastation throughout the country. I believe +that, in a period of twenty years, the saving to the people of the +United States, by the substitution of the new system, would reach a sum +very nearly approaching the total amount of our public debt, and in time +largely exceeding it. As a question, then, of national wealth, as well +as national unity, I believe the gain to the country in time by the +adoption of the new system, will far exceed the cost of the war. It was +the State bank system in the rebel States that furnished to secession +mainly the sinews of war. These banks are now generally insolvent, but, +if the banking system now proposed had been in existence, and the +circulating medium in all the States had been an uniform national +currency based entirely on the stocks of the United States, the +rebellion could never have occurred. Every bank, and all its +stockholders, and all the holders of the stock and notes of all the +banks, embracing our whole paper currency, would have been united to the +Government by an interest so direct and universal, that rebellion would +have been impossible. Hamilton and Madison, Story and Marshall, and the +Supreme Court of the United States, have declared that to the Federal +Government belongs the 'entire regulation of the currency of the +country.' That power they have now exercised in the adoption of the +system recommended by the Secretary. Our whole currency, in coin as well +as paper, will soon, now, all be national, which is the most important +measure for the security and perpetuity of the Union, and the welfare of +the people, ever adopted by Congress. It is to Congress that the +Constitution grants the exclusive power 'to regulate commerce with +foreign nations and among the States;' and a sound, uniform currency, in +coin, or convertible on demand into coin, is one of the most essential +instrumentalities connected with trade and exchanges. + +After these preliminary remarks, I shall proceed with the discussion of +the subject in my next letter. + +R.J. WALKER. + + + + +VOICELESS SINGERS. + + + A bird is singing in the leaves + That quiver on yon linden tree; + So soft and clear the song he sings, + The roses listen dreamily. + + The crimson buds in clusters cling; + The full, sweet roses blush with bloom; + And, white as ocean's swaying foam, + The lily trembles from the gloom. + + I know not why that happy strain + That dies so softly on the air, + That perfect utterance of joy, + Has left a strange, dim sadness there. + + Perchance the song, so silver-sweet, + The roses' regal blossoms shrine: + Perchance the bending lily droops, + And trembles, 'neath its thrill divine. + + It may be that all beauteous things, + Though lacking music's perfect key, + Have with their inmost being twined + The hidden chords of melody. + + So pine they all, to hear again + The song they know, but cannot sing; + The living utterance, full and clear, + Whose voiceless breathings round them cling. + + Yet still those accents waken not; + The bird has left the linden tree; + A summer silence falls once more + Upon the listening rose and me. + + + + +A DETECTIVE'S STORY. + + +The following is a true story, by a late well-known member of the +Detective service, and, with, the exception of some names of persons and +places, is given precisely as he himself related it. + +Late one Friday afternoon, in the latter part of November, 18--, I was +sent for by the chief of the New York Police, and was told there was a +case for me. It was a counterfeiting affair. Notes had been forged on a +Pennsylvania bank; two men had been apprehended, and were in custody. +The first, Springer, had turned State's evidence on his accomplice; who, +according to his account, was the prime mover in the business. This man, +Daniel Hawes by name, had transferred the notes to a third party, of +whom nothing had been ascertained except that he was a young man, wrote +a beautiful hand, and had been in town the Monday before. He was the man +I was to catch. + +It was sundown when I left the superintendent's office. I had not much +to guide me: there were hundreds of young men who wrote a beautiful +hand, and had been in town last Monday. But I did not trouble myself +about what I did not know: I confined myself to what I did know. Upon +reflection I thought it probable that _my man_ had been in intimate +relations with Hawes for the last few days, probably since Monday last, +although it was not known that he had been in town since that day. He +might not be a resident in the city; but I decided to seek him +here--since, if he had not left town before the arrest of Springer and +Hawes, he would not just now run the risk of falling into the hands of +the police by going to any railroad station or steamer wharf. + +I determined, therefore, to follow up the track of Hawes, and thereby, +if possible, strike that of his confederate--which was, in fact, all +that could be done. + +Hawes was a small broker. He lived in Eighteenth street, and had an +office in Wall street. + +He lived too far up town, I thought, to go home every day to his dinner; +he went then, most probably, always to the same eating house, and one +not far from his office. + +After inquiring at several restaurants near by, I came to one in Liberty +street, where, on asking if Mr. Hawes was in the habit of dining there, +the waiter said yes. + +'Have you seen a young man here with him, lately?' I inquired. + +'No--no one in particular,' replied the waiter. + +'Are you sure of it? Come, think.' + +After scratching his head for a moment, he said: + +'Yes, there has been a young man here speaking to him once or twice.' + +'How did he look?' + +'He was short, and had black hair and eyes.' + +'Who is he? What does he do?' + +'He is clerk to Mr. L----, the linen importer.' + +'Where does Mr. L---- live?' + +The waiter did not know. Looking into a Directory, I ascertained his +residence to be in Fourteenth street. The stores by this time were +closed, so I went immediately to Mr. L----'s house, and asked to see +him. He was at dinner. + +'I am sorry to disturb him,' said I to the servant, 'but I wish to speak +with him a moment on a matter of importance, and cannot wait.' + +Mr. L---- came out, evidently annoyed at the intrusion. + +'Have you such a person in your employment?' said I, describing him. + +'No, sir, I have not.' + +'You had such a person?' + +'I have not now.' + +'Did you discharge him?' + +'Yes.' + +'Why?' + +'What business is that of your's?' he asked, rather huffily. + +'My name, sir, is M----, of the police. I am after this fellow, that's +all. Tell me, if you please, why you discharged him?' + +'Oh, I beg your pardon,' said Mr. L----. 'I took you for one of his +rascally associates. I discharged him a week or ten days ago. He was a +dissipated, good-for-nothing fellow.' + +'Was he your bookkeeper?' + +'No, he was a junior clerk.' + +'Have you any of his handwriting that you can show me?' + +He fumbled in a side pocket and drew out a pocketbook from which he took +a memorandum of agreement, or some paper of the sort, to the bottom of +which a signature was attached as witness. + +'That's his writing,' said he. + +It was a stiff schoolboy's scrawl. + +This was not my man then. I apologized to Mr. L---- for the trouble I +had given him, and withdrew. + +Lost time, said I to myself. I am on the wrong track. I must back to the +eating house, and begin the chase again from the point where I left off. +I saw the same waiter. + +'I want you to think again,' said I, 'Try hard to remember whether there +was never any other man here with Hawes on any occasion.' + +After reflecting for a little while, he said he thought he recollected +his going up stairs not long ago, with another man, to a private room. + +'Did you wait on him yourself at the time you speak of?' I asked. + +'No--most likely it was Joe Harris.' + +'Will you send for him, if you please.' + +Joe Harris came. + +'You waited on Mr. Hawes a few days ago, when he dined with another +gentleman in a private room up stairs, didn't you?' + +'Yes, sir.' + +'Who was that other man?' + +'He is a young man who is clerk in a livery stable in Sullivan street.' + +'What are his looks?' + +'He is tall and light haired.' + +'Do you know his name?' + +'His name is Edgar.' + +I hurried up to Sullivan street, went into the first livery stable I +came to, inquired for the proprietor, and asked him if he had a young +man in his stable of the name of Edgar. + +He said he had. + +'Does he keep your books?' + +'Yes, he takes orders for me.' + +'Let me see some of his handwriting, if you please.' + +He stepped back into the office and took from a desk a little order +book. I opened it: there were some orders, hastily written, no doubt, +but in a hand almost like beautiful copperplate. + +This was my man--I felt nearly certain of it. I asked where he lived, +and was told, with his mother, a widow woman, at such a number in Hudson +street. I started for the place. It was now nine o'clock. Arriving at +the house, I rang the bell. It was answered by a servant girl. + +'Does Mr. Edgar live here?' I inquired. + +'Yes, sir.' + +'Is he at home?' + +'No, sir.' + +'When will he come home?' + +'I don't know.' + +'Does he sleep here?' + +'Sometimes he does, and sometimes he doesn't.' + +'Where is he likely to be found? I should like to see him.' + +She said she really didn't know, unless perhaps he might be at a +billiard saloon not far off. I went there. A noisy crowd was around the +bar. I looked around the room and closely scrutinized every face. No +tall, light-haired young man was there. I asked the barkeeper if Mr. +Edgar had been there that evening. He said no, he had not seen anything +of him for two or three days, I asked him if there was any other place +he knew of that Edgar frequented, and was told he went a good deal to a +bowling alley in West Broadway near Duane street. Not much yet, I +thought, as I hurried on to West Broadway. Descending a few steps into a +basement, I entered a sort of vestibule or office to the bowling saloon. +'Has Mr. Edgar been here this evening?' I inquired of the man in +attendance. + +'He is here now,' was the reply, 'in the other room, through that door.' + +I passed through the door indicated into the bowling alley, and accosted +the marker: + +'Is Mr. Edgar here?' + +'He has just gone--fifteen minutes ago.' + +'Do you know where he went to?' + +'Seems to me some of them said something about going to the Lafayette +Theatre.' + +I am on his track now--I said to myself--only fifteen minutes behind +him. I bent my steps to the theatre--taking with, me a comrade in the +police service, whom I had encountered as I was leaving the saloon. We +hurried on with the utmost rapidity, but on reaching the theatre, found, +to my disgust, what I had already feared, that the play was over, and +the theatre just closed. + +'Better give it up for to-night,' said my companion; 'we know enough +about him now, and can take up the search again to-morrow.' + +'It won't do, Clarke,' said I, 'we have inquired for him at too many +places. Stay, I've a notion he may be heard of at some of these oyster +cellars hereabouts.' + +I went down into one of them, and asked if a tall young man with light +hair had been there that evening. A tall young man with light hair and +mustache had come in from the theatre with a lady, and had just left. I +asked my informant if he knew the lady. She was a Miss Kearney, he +answered. + +'What?' I continued, 'didn't her sister marry the actor Levison?' + +'Yes, the same person.' + +'He lives in Walker street, near the Bowery, I believe?' + +'Yes, I think so,' replied the man. + +I considered a moment. Of course no one could tell me where Edgar had +gone to; but I was tolerably certain he had gone home with the girl. +Where she lived I did not know, but I thought it probable the actor +could tell me. So we started on to Walker street. There are--or were at +the time I speak of--several boarding houses in Walker street. We passed +one or two three-story houses with marble steps. 'Shall I ask along +here?' said Clarke. 'No,' I answered; 'poor actors don't board there; we +must look for him farther on.' We kept on, and after a little while, we +found one that seemed to me to be likely to be the house we were looking +for. I rang the bell and inquired for Mr. Levison. He was gone to bed. +It was now twelve o'clock. I desired the man that opened the door to +tell him that some one was below who wished to see him immediately. He +soon returned, saying that Mr. Levison was in bed, and could not be +disturbed: I must leave my business, or call again next day. + +I thought it necessary to frighten him a little; so I sent up word that +I was an officer of police, and he must come down instantly, or I should +go up and fetch him. In a few moments the actor made his appearance, +terribly frightened. Before I could say anything he began to pour out +such a flood of questions and asseverations that I could not get a word +in: What did I want with him? I had come to the wrong man; he hadn't +been doing anything, etc., etc. 'I don't want you,' I began--but it was +of no use, I could not stop him; his character was excellent, anybody +would vouch for him; I ought to be more sure what I was about before I +roused people from their beds at midnight, etc., etc. His huddled words +and apprehensive looks made me suspect there was something wrong with +him; but it was no concern of mine then. I seized him by the shoulder, +and ordered him to be quiet. + +'Don't utter another word,' said I, 'except to answer my questions, or +I'll carry you off and lock you up. I have not come to arrest you. I +only want to ask you a few questions. Haven't you a sister-in-law named +Miss Kearney?' + +'Yes, what do you want with her?' + +'I am not going to do her any harm. I only want to know where she +lives.' + +'Oh I she lives in ---- street.' + +'Do you know the number?' + +'Goodness, yes; it is number 34. I have boarded there myself until only +a little while ago.' + +'Indeed!' + +'Yes, I have got a dead-latch key somewhere about.' + +'The deuce you have! Give it to me; it is just what I want.' + +'Give you a dead-latch key! a pretty notion!' + +'I wouldn't give it to any man--not to all the detective squad in New +York.' + +'Look here, my friend, I am M----, pretty well known in this town. I +have a good many opportunities in the course of my business to do people +good turns, and not a few to do them ill turns. It is a convenient +vocation to pay off scores, particularly to persons of your sort. If you +will give me that key, I'll make it worth your while the first chance I +have. If you don't, you'll be sorry; that's all." + +I gave him a significant look as I concluded. He looked me in the face a +minute--as if to see how much I meant, or if I suspected anything; then +turned and ran up stairs. In a few moments he came down, and handed me +the key. I took it with satisfaction. + +'Now,' said I, 'you'll have no objections to telling me where your +sister-in-law's room in the house is.' + +'Third story, back room, second door to the left from the head of the +stairs.' + +'Thank you, good night.' + +We walked rapidly to ---- street, and reaching the house, I stopped a +moment to examine my pistols, by the street lamp, and then softly opened +the door. Clarke and I stepped in, and I shut the door. + +Leaving my comrade in the hall, I crept noiselessly up stairs, and +tapped at the door of the room. + +'Who is there?' called out a woman's voice. 'Open the door,' I replied, +'and I'll tell you what I want.' + +'You can't come in. I have gone to bed.' + +'Oh, well, I am a married man; I'll do you no harm; but you must let me +in, or I shall force the door.' + +After a moment's delay the door was opened by a young woman in a morning +wrapper, who stood as if awaiting an explanation of the intrusion. I +passed by her, and walked up to a young man sitting in a low chair by +the fire, and tapping him on the shoulder, said: 'You are my prisoner.' +He raised his head and looked up. 'Why, Bill,' I exclaimed, 'is this +you? I have been looking for you all night under a wrong name. If I had +known it was you, I'd have caught you in an hour.' And so I would. + +It is only necessary to say further, that he was the man I was set to +catch. I may add, however, that a large amount of the counterfeit notes, +and the plates on which they were printed, were secured, and the +criminal sent to Sing Sing in due course of law. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + +FLOWER FOR THE PARLOUR AND GARDEN. By EDWARD SPRAGUE RAND, jr. Boston: +J.E. Tilton & Co. Price $2.50. + +J.E. Tilton & Co. are the publishers of the series of photographic and +lithographic cards of flowers, leaves, mosses, butterflies, +hummingbirds, &c., noted for their beauty of execution. 'Flowers are so +universally loved, and accepted everywhere as necessities of the moral +life, that whatever can be done to render their cultivation easy, and +to bring them to perfection in the vicinity of, or within, the +household, must be regarded as a benefaction.' This benefit our author +has certainly conferred upon us. The gift is from one who must himself +have loved these lily cups and floral bells of perfume, and will be +warmly welcomed by all who prize their loveliness. In the pages of this +book may be found accurate and detailed information on all subjects +likely to be of interest to their cultivators. We give a list of the +contents of its chapters, to show how wide a field it covers. Chap. I. +The Green-House and Conservatory. Chap. II. Window Gardening. Chap. +III, IV, V, VI. Plants for Window Gardening. VII. Cape Bulbs. VIII. +Dutch Bulbs. IX. The Culture of the Tube Rose. X. The Gladiolus and its +culture. XI. How to force flowers to bloom in Winter. XII. Balcony +Gardening. XIII. The Wardian Case and Winter Garden. XIV. Stocking and +Managing Wardian Cases. XV. Hanging Baskets and Suitable Plants, and +Treatment of Ivy. XVI. The Waltonian Case. XVII. The Aquarium and Water +Plants. XVIII. How to grow specimen Plants. XIX. Out Door Gardening, +Hot Beds. XX. The Garden. XXI. Small Trees and Shrubs. XXII. Hardy +Herbaceous Plants. XXIII. Hardy Annuals. XXIV. Bedding Plants. XXV. +Hardy and half hardy Garden Bulbs. XXVI. Spring Flowers and where to +find them. + +The appearance of this book is singularly elegant, its tinted paper soft +and creamy, its type clear and beautiful, its quotations evince poetic +culture, and its illustrations are exquisitely graceful. It is a real +pleasure to turn over its attractive leaves with the names of loved old +flower-friends greeting us on every page, and new claimants with new +hopes and types of beauty constantly starting up before us. What with +Waltonian cases, hanging baskets, Wardian cases, &c., our ladies may +adorn their parlors with _artistic_ taste with these fragrant, fragile, +rainbow-hued children of Nature. + + 'Bright gems of earth, in which perchance we see + "What Eden was, what Paradise may be.' + +'From the contemplation of nature's beauty there is but the uplifting of +the eye to the footstool of the Creator.' + + +HOSPITAL TRANSPORTS. A Memoir of the Embarkation of the Sick and +Wounded from the Peninsula of Virginia in the Summer of 1862. Compiled +and published at the request of the Sanitary Commission. Boston: +Ticknor & Fields. For sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York. + +A book which should be in the hands of all who love their country. The +Sanitary Commission deserve the undying gratitude of the nation. Their +organization is one of pure benevolence; the men and women working +effectively through its beneficent channel have given evidence of some +of the noblest and divinest attributes of the human soul. It is +difficult to form any idea of the magnitude and importance of the work +the commission has achieved. 'Never till every soldier whose last +moments it has soothed, till every soldier whose flickering life it has +gently steadied into continuance, whose waning reason it has softly +lulled into quiet, whose chilled blood it has warmed into healthful +play, whose failing frame it has nourished into strength, whose fainting +heart it has comforted with sympathy,--never, until every full soul has +poured out its story of gratitude and thanksgiving, will the record be +complete; but long before that time, ever since the moment that its +helping hand was first held forth, comes the Blessed Voice: 'Inasmuch as +ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done +it unto me.'' + +'The blessings of thousands who were ready to perish, and tens of +thousands who love their country and their kind, rest upon those who +originated, and those who sustain this noble work.' + +This book is full of vivid interest, of true incident, of graphic +sketches, of loyalty, patriotism, and self-abnegation, whether of men or +of noble women, and recommends itself to all who love and would fain +succor the human race. + + +AUSTIN ELLIOT. BY HENRY KINGSLEY, Author of Ravenshoe, etc. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. For sale by D. Appleton & Co. New York. + +A graphic novel of considerable ability, and more than usual interest. +The tone is highly moral throughout. The lessons on duelling are +excellent. Would that our young men would lay them to heart! The +characters are, many of them, well drawn and sustained--we confess to a +sincere affection for the Highlander, Gil Macdonald, and the Scotch +sheep-dog, Robin. Many of the scenes in which they appear are full of +simple and natural pathos. + + +HUSBAND AND WIFE; or, The Science of Human Development through +Inherited Tendencies. By the Author of the Parent's Guide, etc. +Carleton, publisher, 413 Broadway, New York. + +A suggestive book on an important subject. The writer assumes that +'there are _laws_ of hereditary transmission in the mental and moral, as +well as the physical constitution. Precisely what these laws are, she +does not assume to state. Such as are well known will however be helpful +to all, and will facilitate the discovery of those yet hidden from us. +Women, who bear such an important part in parentage, should be the most +clear-sighted students of nature in these things. It is to woman that +humanity must look for the abatement of many frightful evils, +malformation, idiocy, insanity, &c., yet the principles pertaining to +the knowledge of her own duties and powers, which ought to be a part of +the instruction of every woman, are rarely placed before her. Much that +pertains to the same phenomena among the lower animals may properly +constitute a part of her studies in natural history; but with the laws +which govern the most momentous of all social effects--the moral and +mental constitution of individuals composing society--with the gravest +of possible results to herself--the embodiment of power and weakness, +capacity or incapacity, worth or worthlessness in her own offspring, she +is forbidden all acquaintance. Yet when she assumes the duties and +responsibilities of maternity, such knowledge would be more valuable to +her and to those dearest to her, than all of the treasures of the +gold-bearing lands, if poured at her feet.' + +The laws of hereditary transmission make the staple of this book. It is +written by a lady, and will commend itself to all interested in this +subject. Pearl, in the Scarlet Letter, and Elsie Venner, are artistic +exemplifications of such disregarded truths. + + +VICTOR HUGO, by a Witness of his Life: Madame HUGO. +Translated from the French, by CHARLES EDWIN WILBOUR, +translator of 'Les Miserables.' Carleton, publisher, 413 Broadway, New +York. + +A biography of a remarkable man, written by a constant observer of his +actions, almost a second self, can scarcely fail to prove interesting. +In this case the interest is increased by its close connection with a +popular novel. Indeed, the readers of 'Les Miserables' will be +astonished to find what a flood of light is thrown upon that master work +by this charming life-history of its author. Marius is but a free +variation of Victor Hugo himself. In Joly, the old school-mate of the +Pension Cordier, the author of Jean Valjean becomes closely acquainted +with a real galley slave. In short, the great romance is a part of the +life of Victor Hugo, and cannot be fully understood without the +biography--its completion.' + + +LIFE AND TIMES OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, BARONET. + +J. MUNSELL, 78 State street, Albany, announces for publication +by subscription, 'The Life and Times of Sir William Johnson, Baronet.' +The work is by William L. Stone, son of Colonel Stone, well known as +editor and biographer. The materials of this Life were derived from +original papers furnished by the family of Sir William, from his own +diary, and other sources which have never before been consulted. The +work was begun by the late William L. Stone, has been completed by his +son, and with the Lives of Brant and Red Jacket, brings down the history +of the Six Nations and their relations with Great Britain, from 1560 to +1824. The edition will be very nearly confined to the number subscribed +for. Price $5, payable on delivery. + +Sir William Johnson was Superintendent of Indian Affairs in this country +before the Revolution, was distinguished in Colonial history, and active +in the French and Indian war. His life was one of romantic interest and +vicissitude. The work is highly spoken of by the literati who have seen +the advance sheets. Jared Sparks, George Bancroft, F. Parkman, G.W. +Curtis, Lewis Cass, &c., testify to its interest and historical +accuracy. From the well-known ability of its author, it may be safely +and highly commended to the reading and thinking public. + + +BEYOND THE LINES; or, a Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie. By Captain J.J. +Geer, late of General Buckland's Staff. Philadelphia: J.W. Daughaday, +publisher, 1308 Chestnut street. + +CAPTAIN JOHN J. GEER was, before the war, a minister of the Methodist +Church in Ohio, was taken prisoner before the battle of Shiloh, in a +skirmish with Beauregard's pickets, passed some months in rebel +prisons, made his escape, and pleasantly tells the story of his +adventures. He reports that the large slave-holders and the wretched +clay-eaters are all Secessionists, but that a large middle class, +people who own but few slaves and till their own fields, are mostly +true to the Union, in the parts of the South he visited. The book is +one of incident, contains many curious pictures of life and character, +and will address itself to a large class of readers. + + +THE AMBER GODS, AND OTHER STORIES. By Harriet Elizabeth Prescott. +Ticknor & Fields, Boston. For sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York. + +The many readers of Miss Prescott will be glad to welcome the present +collection of her very popular tales. It contains: The Amber Gods. In a +Cellar. Knitting Sale-Socks. Circumstance. Desert Lands. Midsummer and +May. The South Breaker. + +Few writers have attained distinction and recognition so immediately as +Miss Prescott. Her fancy is brilliant, her style glowing, and culture +and varied information mark the products of her pen. + + +PHILIP VAN ARTEVELDE; a Dramatic Romance. Ticknor & Fields, Boston. For +sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York. + +An historical romance, cast in a dramatic and rhythmical form, by Henry +Taylor. It has been too long known to the community to require any +commendation at the present date. It has gone through many editions in +England. We are glad to see it in the convenient and pleasant form of +Ticknor's "Blue and Gold," so well known to American readers. + + +THE BRITISH AMERICAN; a Colonial Magazine. Published monthly by Messrs. +Rollo & Adam, 61 King street, Toronto, Canada West. + +The articles of this magazine are of varied interest, generally well +written and able. "What is Spectrum Analysis?" given by the Editor in +the August number, is a contribution of research and merit. + + +THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER. Boston: By the proprietors, at Walker, Wise & +Co.'s, 245 Washington street. + +Contents: Tertullian and Montanism. The Reality of Fiction. Rome in the +Middle Age. Zschokke's Religious Meditations. Henry James on Creation. +Loyalty in the West. Altar, Pulpit, and Platform, A Month of Victory +and its Results. Review of Current Literature. Theology. + + + + +The Continental Monthly + + +The readers of the CONTINENTAL are aware of the important position it +has assumed, of the influence which it exerts, and of the brilliant +array of political and literary talent of the highest order which +supports it. No publication of the kind has, in this country, so +successfully combined the energy and freedom of the daily newspaper with +the higher literary tone of the first-class monthly; and it is very +certain that no magazine has given wider range to its contributors, or +preserved itself so completely from the narrow influences of party or of +faction. In times like the present, such a journal is either a power in +the land or it is nothing. That the CONTINENTAL is not the latter is +abundantly evidenced _by what it has done_--by the reflection of its +counsels in many important public events, and in the character and power +of those who are its staunchest supporters. + +Though but little more than a year has elapsed since the CONTINENTAL was +first established, it has during that time acquired a strength and a +political significance elevating it to a position far above that +previously occupied by any publication of the kind in America. In proof +of which assertion we call attention to the following facts: + +1. Of its POLITICAL articles republished in pamphlet form, a single one +has had, thus far, a circulation of _one hundred and six thousand_ +copies. + +2. From its LITERARY department, a single serial novel, "Among the +Pines," has, within a very few months, sold nearly _thirty-five +thousand_ copies. Two other series of its literary articles have also +been republished in book form, while the first portion of a third is +already in press. + +No more conclusive facts need be alleged to prove the excellence of the +contributions to the CONTINENTAL, or their _extraordinary popularity_; +and its conductors are determined that it shall not fall behind. +Preserving all "the boldness, vigor, and ability" which a thousand +journals have attributed to it, it will greatly enlarge its circle of +action, and discuss, fearlessly and frankly, every principle involved in +the great questions of the day. The first minds of the country, +embracing the men most familiar with its diplomacy and most +distinguished for ability, are among its contributors; and it is no mere +"flattering promise of a prospectus" to say that this "magazine for the +times" will employ the first intellect in America, under auspices which +no publication ever enjoyed before in this country. + +While the CONTINENTAL will express decided opinions on the great +questions of the day, it will not be a mere political journal: much the +larger portion of its columns will be enlivened, as heretofore, by +tales, poetry, and humor. In a word, the CONTINENTAL will be found, +under its new staff of Editors, occupying a position and presenting +attractions never before found in a magazine. + + * * * * * + +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_. + +JOHN F. TROW, 50 Greene St., N.Y., +PUBLISHER FOR THE PROPRIETORS. + +[Graphic: Right-pointing hand] As an inducement to new subscribers, the +Publisher offers the following liberal premiums: + +[Graphic: Right-pointing hand] Any person remitting $3, in advance, +will receive the magazine from July, 1862, to January, 1864 thus +securing the whole of MR. KIMBALL'S and MR. KIRKE'S new serials, which +are alone worth the price of subscription. Or, if preferred, a +subscriber can take the magazine for 1863 and a copy of "Among the +Pines," or of "Undercurrents of Wall Street," by R.B. KIMBALL, bound in +cloth, or of "Sunshine in Thought," by CHARLES GODFREY LELAND (retail +price, $1 25.) The book to be sent postage paid. + +[Graphic: Right-pointing hand] Any person remitting $4 50, will receive +the magazine from its commencement, January, 1862, to January, 1864, +thus securing MR. KIMBALL'S "Was He Successful?" and MR. KIRKE'S "Among +the Pines," and "Merchant's Story," and nearly 3,000 octavo pages of the +best literature in the world. Premium subscribers to pay their own +postage. + +[Illustration: THE FINEST FARMING LANDS, WHEAT, CORN, COTTON, FRUITS & +VEGETABLES] + + +~EQUAL TO ANY IN THE WORLD!!!~ + +MAY BE PROCURED + +AT FROM $8 TO $12 PER ACRE, + +Near Markets, Schools, Railroads, Churches, and all the blessings of +Civilization. + +1,200,000 Acres, in Farms of 40, 80, 120, 160 Acres and upwards, in +ILLINOIS, the Garden State of America. + + * * * * * + +The Illinois Central Railroad Company offer, ON LONG CREDIT, the +beautiful and fertile PRAIRIE LANDS lying along the whole line of their +Railroad, 700 MILES IN LENGTH, upon the most Favorable Terms for +enabling Farmers, Manufacturers, Mechanics and Workingmen to make for +themselves and their families a competency, and a HOME they can call +THEIR OWN, as will appear from the following statements: + +~ILLINOIS~. + +Is about equal in extent to England, with a population of 1,722,686, and +a soil capable of supporting 20,000,000. No State in the Valley of the +Mississippi offers so great an inducement to the settler as the State of +Illinois. There is no part of the world where all the conditions of +climate and soil so admirably combine to produce those two great +staples, CORN and WHEAT. + +~CLIMATE~. + +Nowhere can the industrious farmer secure such immoderate results from +his labor as on these deep, rich, loamy soils, cultivated with so much +ease. The climate from the extreme southern part of the State to the +Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, a distance of nearly 200 +miles, is well adapted to Winter. + +~WHEAT, CORN, COTTON, TOBACCO~. + +Peaches, Pears, Tomatoes, and every variety of fruit and vegetables is +grown in great abundance, from which Chicago and other Northern markets +are furnished from four to six weeks earlier than their immediate +vicinity. Between the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis Railway and the +Kankakeo and Illinois Rivers, (a distance of 115 miles on the Branch, +and 135 miles on the Main Trunk,) lies the great Corn and Stock raising +portion of the State. + +~THE ORDINARY YIELD~. + +of Corn is from 50 to 80 bushels per acre. Cattle, Horses, Mules, Sheep +and Hogs are raised here at a small cost, and yield large profits. It is +believed that no section of country presents greater inducements for +Dairy Farming than the Prairies of Illinois, a branch of farming to +which but little attention has been paid, and which must yield sure +profitable results. Between the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, and +Chicago and Dunleith,(a distance of 56 miles on the Branch and 147 miles +by the Main Trunk,) Timothy Hay, Spring Wheat, Corn, &c., are produced +in great abundance. + +~AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS~. + +The Agricultural products of Illinois are greater than those of any +other State. The Wheat crop of 1861 was estimated at 85,000,000 +bushels, while the Corn crop yields not less than 140,000,000 bushels +besides the crop of Oats, Barley, Rye, Buckwheat, Potatoes, Sweet +Potatoes, Pumpkins, Squashes, Flax, Hemp, Peas, Clover, Cabbage, Beets, +Tobacco, Sorgheim, Grapes, Peaches, Apples, &c., which go to swell the +vast aggregate of production in this fertile region. Over Four Million +tons of produce were sent out the State of Illinois during the past +year. + +~STOCK RAISING~. + +In Central and Southern Illinois uncommon advantages are presented for +the extension of Stock raising. All kinds of Cattle, Horses, Mules, +Sheep, Hogs, &c., of the best breeds, yield handsome profits; large +fortunes have already been made, and the field is open for others to +enter with the fairest prospects of like results. DAIRY FARMING also +presents its inducements to many. + +~CULTIVATION OF COTTON~. + +_The experiments in Cotton culture are of very great promise. Commencing +in latitude 39 deg. 30 min. (see Mattoon on the Branch, and Assumption +on the Main Line), the Company owns thousands of acres well adapted to +the perfection of this fibre. A settler having a family of young +children, can turn their youthful labor to a most profitable account in +the growth and perfection of this plant_. + +~THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD~. + +Traverses the whole length of the State, from the banks of the +Mississippi and Lake Michigan to the Ohio. As its name imports, the +Railroad runs through the centre of the State, and on either side of +the road along its whole length lie the lands offered for sale. + +~CITIES, TOWNS, MARKETS, DEPOTS~. + +There are Ninety-eight Depots on the Company's Railway, giving about one +every seven miles. Cities, Towns and Villages are situated at convenient +distances throughout the whole route, where every desirable commodity +may be found as readily as in the oldest cities of the Union, and where +buyers are to be met for all kinds of farm produce. + +~EDUCATION~. + +Mechanics and working-men will find the free school system encouraged by +the State, and endowed with a large revenue for the support of the +schools. Children can live in sight of the school, the college, the +church, and grow up with the prosperity of the leading State in the +Great Western Empire. + + * * * * * + +~PRICES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT--ON LONG CREDIT~. + +80 acres at $10 per acre. with interest at 6 per ct. annually on the +following terms: + + Cash payment.............$18.00 + Payment in one year.......48.00 + " in two years......48.00 + " in three years....48.00 + " in four years....236.00 + " in five years....224.00 + " in six years.....212.00 + " in seven years...206.00 + +40 acres, at $10.00 per acre: + Cash payment.............$24.00 + Payment in one year.......24.00 + " in two years......24.00 + " in three years....24.00 + " in four years....118.00 + " in five years....112.00 + " in six years.....106.00 + " in seven years...100.00 + +Commissioner. Illinois Central Railroad, Chicago, Ill. + + + + +THE + +CONTINENTAL + +MONTHLY. + +DEVOTED TO + +Literature and National Policy. + + + * * * * * + +NOVEMBER, 1863. + + * * * * * + + + + +NEW YORK: + +~JOHN F. TROW, 50 GREENE STREET~ + +(FOR THE PROPRIETORS). + +HENRY DEXTER AND SINCLAIR TOUSEY. + +WASHINGTON, D.C.: FRANCK TAYLOR. + + + + +CONTENTS.--No. XXIII. + + +The Defence and Evacuation of Winchester. By Hon. F.P. + Stanton, 481 + +The Two Southern Mothers. By Isabella MacFarlane, 490 + +Diary of Frances Krasinska, 491 + +November. By E.W.C., 500 + +The Assizes of Jerusalem. By Prof. Andrew Ten Brook, 501 + +Letters to Professor S.F.B. Morse. By Rev. Dr. Henry, 514 + +Buckle, Draper, and the Law of Human Development. By + Edward B. Freeland, 529 + +Treasure Trove, 545 + +Matter and Spirit. By Lieut. E. Phelps. With Reply of Hon. + F.P. Stanton, 546 + +Extraterritoriality in China. By Dr. Macgowan, 556 + +Reason, Rhyme, and Rhythm. By Mrs. Martha W. Cook, 567 + +The Lions of Scotland. By W. Francis Williams, 584 + +We Two. By Clarence Butler, 591 + +Patriotism and Provincialism. By H. Clay Preuss, 592 + +Literary Notices, 594 + +Editor's Table, 598 + + * * * * * + + +'EDMUND KIRKE,' author of 'Among the Pines.' &c., and until recently +one of the Editors of this Magazine, is prepared to accept a limited +number of invitations to Lecture before Literary Associations, during +the coming fall and winter, on 'The Southern Whites: Their Social and +Political Characteristics.' He can be addressed 'care of Continental +Monthly, New York.' + +All communications, whether concerning MSS. or on business, should be +addressed to + +~JOHN F. TROW, Publisher~, + +50 GREENE STREET, NEW YORK. + + * * * * * + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by John F. +Trow, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States +for the Southern District of New York. + + +JOHN F TROW, PRINTER. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. +October, 1863, No. IV., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY *** + +***** This file should be named 16323-8.txt or 16323-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/2/16323/ + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Janet +Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/16323-8.zip b/16323-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3ad0ff --- /dev/null +++ b/16323-8.zip diff --git a/16323-h.zip b/16323-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e30df4 --- /dev/null +++ b/16323-h.zip diff --git a/16323-h/16323-h.htm b/16323-h/16323-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5697c07 --- /dev/null +++ b/16323-h/16323-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9018 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Continental Monthly, VOL. IV. OCTOBER, 1863. No. IV. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + p { text-align: justify; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + + .author {text-align: right; margin-right: 5%;} + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i3 {display: block; margin-left: 3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem span.i10 {display: block; margin-left: 10em;} + .poem span.i14 {display: block; margin-left: 14em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. October, +1863, No. IV., 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: The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. October, 1863, No. IV. + Devoted to Literature and National Policy. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: July 18, 2005 [EBook #16323] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY *** + + + + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Janet +Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h2>THE</h2> + +<h2>CONTINENTAL MONTHLY:</h2> + +<h3>DEVOTED TO</h3> + +<h3>LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY.</h3> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3> +VOL. IV.—OCTOBER, 1863.—No. IV.<br /> +</h3> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td><a href="#THE_FREEDOM_OF_THE_PRESS">THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#THE_BROTHERS">THE BROTHERS.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#UNUTTERED">UNUTTERED.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#WILLIAM_LILLY_ASTROLOGER">WILLIAM LILLY ASTROLOGER.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#JEFFERSON_DAVIS_REPUDIATION_RECOGNITION_AND_SLAVERY">JEFFERSON DAVIS—REPUDIATION, RECOGNITION, AND SLAVERY.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#DIARY_OF_FRANCES_KRASINSKA">DIARY OF FRANCES KRASINSKA.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#MAIDENS_DREAMING">MAIDEN'S DREAMING.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#THIRTY_DAYS_WITH_THE_SEVENTY-FIRST_REGIMENT">THIRTY DAYS WITH THE SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#REASON_RHYME_AND_RHYTHM">REASON, RHYME, AND RHYTHM.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><a href="#TO_A_MOUSE">TO A MOUSE.</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#CURRENCY_AND_THE_NATIONAL_FINANCES">CURRENCY AND THE NATIONAL FINANCES.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#OCTOBER_AFTERNOON_IN_THE_HIGHLANDS">OCTOBER AFTERNOON IN THE HIGHLANDS.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#THE_ISLE_OF_SPRINGS">THE ISLE OF SPRINGS.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#THE_RESTORATION_OF_THE_UNION">THE RESTORATION OF THE UNION.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#WAS_HE_SUCCESSFUL">WAS HE SUCCESSFUL?</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#AMERICAN_FINANCES_AND_RESOURCES">AMERICAN FINANCES AND RESOURCES.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#VOICELESS_SINGERS">VOICELESS SINGERS.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#A_DETECTIVES_STORY">A DETECTIVE'S STORY.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#LITERARY_NOTICES">LITERARY NOTICES.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#CONTENTS_No_XXIII">CONTENTS.—No. XXIII.</a></td></tr> +</table> + + +<p><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="THE_FREEDOM_OF_THE_PRESS" id="THE_FREEDOM_OF_THE_PRESS"></a>THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.</h3> + + +<p>An important discussion has arisen since the commencement of the war, +bearing upon the interests of the American Press. The Government has +seen fit, at various times, through its authorities, civil and military, +to suppress the circulation and even the publication of journals which, +in its judgment, gave aid and comfort to the enemy, either by disloyal +publications in reference to our affairs, or by encouraging and +laudatory statements concerning the enemy. The various papers of the +country have severally censured or commended the course of the +Government in this matter, and the issue between the Press and the +Authorities has been regarded as of a sufficiently serious nature to +demand a convocation of editors to consider the subject; of which +convention Horace Greeley was chairman. A few remarks on the nature of +the liberty of the press and on its relations to the governing powers +will not, therefore, at this time, be inopportune.</p> + +<p>Men are apt, at times, in the excitement of political partisanship, to +forget that the freedom of the press is, like all other social liberty, +relative and not absolute; that it is not license to publish whatsoever +they please, but only that which is <i>within certain defined limits</i> +prescribed by the people as the legitimate extent to which expression +through the public prints should be permitted; and that it is because +these limits are regulated by the whole people, for the whole people, +and not by the arbitrary caprice of a single individual or of an +aristocracy, that the press is denominated free. Let it be remembered, +then, as a starting point, that the press is amenable to the people; +that it is controlled and regulated by them, and indebted to them for +whatever measure of freedom it enjoys.</p> + +<p>The scope of this liberty is carefully defined by the statutes, as also +the method by which its transgression is to be punished. These +enactments minutely define the nature of an infringement of their +provisions, and point out the various methods of procedure in order to +redress private grievance or to punish public wrong, in such instances. +These statutes emanate from the people, are the expression of their +will, and in consonance with them the action of the executive +authorities must proceed, whenever the civil law is sufficient for the +execution of legal measures.</p> + +<p>But there comes a time, in the course of a nation's existence, when the<a name="Page_362" id="Page_362"></a> +usual and regular methods of its life are interrupted; when peaceful +systems and civilized adaptations are forced to give place to the ruder +and more peremptory modes of procedure which belong to seasons of +hostile strife. The slow, methodical, oftentimes tedious contrivances of +ordinary law, admirably adapted for periods of national quietude, are +utterly inadequate to the stern and unforeseen contingencies of civil +war. Laws which are commonly sufficient to secure justice and afford +protection, are then comparatively powerless for such ends. The large +measure of liberty of speech and of the press safely accorded when there +is ample time to correct false doctrines and to redress grievances +through common methods, is incompatible with the rigorous promptitude, +energy, celerity, and unity of action necessary to the preservation of +national existence in times of rebellion. If an individual be suspected +of conspiring against his country, at such a time, to leave him at +liberty while the usual processes of law were being undertaken, would +perhaps give him opportunity for consummating his designs and delivering +the republic into the hands of its enemies. If a portion of the press +circulate information calculated to aid the foe in the defeat of the +national armies, to endeavor to prevent this evil by the slow routine of +civil law, might result in the destruction of the state. The fact that +we raise armies to secure obedience commonly enforced by the ordinary +civil officers is a virtual and actual acknowledgment that a new order +of things has arisen for which the usual methods are insufficient, civil +authority inadequate, and to contend with which powers must be exercised +not before in vogue. Codes of procedure arranged for an established and +harmoniously working Government cannot answer all the requirements of +that Government when it is repudiated by a large body of its subjects, +and the existence of the nation itself is in peril.</p> + +<p>It is evident, therefore, that at times the accustomed methods of Civil +government must, in deference to national safety, be laid aside, to some +extent, and the more vigorous adaptations of Military government +substituted in their stead. But it does not follow from this that +<i>arbitrary</i> power is necessarily employed, or that such methods are not +strictly legal. There is a despotic Civil government and a despotic +Military government, a free Civil government and a free Military +government. The Civil government of Russia is despotic; so would its +Military government be if internal strife should demand that military +authority supersede the civil; the Civil government of the United States +is free, so must its Military government be in order to be sustained.</p> + +<p>But what is a free Military government? There is precisely the same +difference between a free and a despotic <i>military</i> polity as between a +free and a despotic <i>civil</i> polity. It is the essential nature of +<i>despotic</i> rule that it recognizes the fountain head of all power to be +the ruler, and the people are held as the mere creatures of his +pleasure. It is the essence of <i>free</i> government that it regards the +people as the source of all power, and the rulers as their agents, +possessing only such authority as is committed by the former into the +hands of the latter. It matters not, therefore, whether a ruler be +exercising the civil power in times of peaceful national life, or +whether, in times of rebellion, he wields the military authority +essential to security, he is alike, at either time, a despot or a +republican, accordingly as he exercises his power without regard to the +will of the people, or as he exercises such power only as the national +voice delegates to him.</p> + +<p>Wendell Phillips said in his oration before the Smithsonian Institute: +'Abraham Lincoln sits to-day the greatest despot this side of China.' +The <a name="Page_363" id="Page_363"></a>mistake of Mr. Phillips was this: He confounded the method of +exercising power with the nature of the power exercised. It is the +latter which decides the question of despotism or of freedom. The +methods of the republican governor and of the despot may be, in times of +war <i>must</i> be, for the most part, identical. But the one is, +nevertheless, as truly a republican as the other is a despot. Freedom of +speech, freedom of the press, the right of travel, the writ of <i>habeas +corpus</i>—these insignia of liberty in a people are dispensed with in +despotic Governments, because the ruler chooses to deprive the people of +their benefits, and for that reason only; they were suspended in our +Government because the national safety seemed to demand it, and because +the President, as the accredited executive of the wishes of the people, +fulfilled their clearly indicated will. In the former case it is lordly +authority overriding the necks of the people for personal pride or +power; in the latter, it is the ripe fruit of republican civilization, +which, in times of danger, can with safety and security overleap, for +the moment, the mere forms of law, in order to secure its beneficial +results. They seem to resemble each other; but are as wide apart as +irreligion and that highest religious life which, transcending all +external observances, seems to the mere religious formalist to be +identical with it.</p> + +<p>But how is the Executive to ascertain the behest of the people? In +accordance with the modes which they, as a part of their behest, +indicate. But as there are two methods of fulfilling the wishes of the +people, one adapted to the ordinary routine of peaceful times, and +another to the more summary necessities of war, so there are two +methods, calculated for these diverse national states, by which the +Government must discover the will of the people. The slow, deliberate +action of the ballot box and of the legislative body is amply +expeditious for the purposes of undisturbed and tranquil periods. But in +times of rebellion or invasion, the waiting and delay which are often +essential to the prosecution of forms prescribed for undisturbed epochs +are, as has been said, simply impossible. War is a period in which +methods and procedures are required diametrically opposite to those +which are so fruitful of good in days of peace. The lawbreaker who comes +with an army at his back cannot be served with a sheriff's warrant, nor +arrested by a constable. War involves unforeseen emergencies, to meet +which there is no time for calling Congress together, or taking the +sense of the populace by a ballot. It is full of attempted surprises, +which must be guarded against on the instant, and of dangers which must +be quickly avoided, but for whose guardance or avoidance the statutes +make no provision. Hence arises a necessity for a mode of ascertaining +the will of the people other than the slow medium of formal legislation +or of balloting.</p> + +<p>The Government of the United States is the servant of its people. It was +ordained to insure for <i>them</i> 'domestic tranquillity, provide for the +common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of +liberty to' themselves and their posterity. Its laws and statutes are +but the forms by which the people attempt to secure these things. But +the people are sovereign, even over their laws. As they have instituted +them <i>for their own good</i>, so may they dispense with them for their own +good, whenever the national safety requires this. As they have +established certain modes of lawful procedure <i>for their own security</i>, +so may they adopt other modes when their safety demands it. Their laws +and their codes of procedure are for their <i>uses</i>, not for their +destruction. 'When a sister State is endangered, red tape must be cut,' +said Governor Seymour, when it was telegraphed to him that some delaying +forms must be gone <a name="Page_364" id="Page_364"></a>through in order to arm and send off our State +troops who were ordered to the defence of Harrisburg; and all the people +said, Amen! The people of the United States inaugurated a government, +whose forms of law were admirably suited to times of peace, but have +been found inadequate to seasons of intestine strife. They have, as we +have seen, superadded, in some degree, other methods of action, +indorsing and adopting those to which the Executive was compelled to +resort as better adapted to changed conditions. They have not done this +in accordance with prescribed forms, in all instances, because the forms +of <i>civil</i> government do not provide for a condition of society in which +civil authority is virtually abrogated, to a greater or less extent, for +military authority.</p> + +<p>In the same way and by virtue of the same sovereignty, the people of the +United States may lay aside the common method of indicating their +pleasure to the Executive, and substitute one more in consonance with +the requirements of the times. They may make known that they <i>do</i> lay +aside an established mode, either by a formal notice or by a general +tacit understanding, as the exigencies of the case require. They may +recognize the right, aye, the <i>duty</i> of the Executive to act in +accordance with other methods than those prescribed for ordinary +seasons, in cases where the national security demands this.</p> + +<p>But this is not an abandonment of the methods and forms of law! This is +not the establishment of an <i>arbitrary</i> government! This is not passing +from freedom to despotism! The <i>people</i> of this country are sovereign, +let it be repeated. So long as its Government is conducted as its people +or as the majority of them wish, it is conducted in accordance with its +established principle. There were no freedom if the vital spirit of +liberty were to be held in bondage to the dead forms of powerless or +obsolete prescriptions in the very crisis of the nation's death +struggle! Freedom means freedom to act, in all cases and under all +circumstances, so as to secure the highest individual and national +well-being. It does <i>not</i> mean freedom to establish certain codes of +procedure under certain regulations, and to be forever bound under these +when the preservation of liberty itself demands their temporary +abeyance. So long as the Government fulfils the wishes of the people, it +is not arbitrary, it is not despotic, no matter what methods an +emergency may require it to adopt for this purpose, or in what manner it +ascertains these wishes; provided always that the methods adopted and +the modes of ascertainment are also in accordance with the people's +desires.</p> + +<p>But how is the Executive to discover the will of the people if he does +not wait for its formal expression? How is he to be sure that he does +not outrun their desires? How is he to be checked and punished, should +he do so? Precisely the same law must apply here as has been indicated +to be the true one in reference to the fulfilment of the people's +behest. Fixed, definite, precise, formal expressions of popular will, +when time is wanting for these, must be replaced by those which are more +quickly ascertained and less systematically expressed. The Executive +must forecast the general desire and forestall its commands, regarding +the tacit acceptance of the people or their <i>informal</i> laws, such as +resolutions, conventions, and various modes of expressing popular accord +or dissent, as indications of the course which they approve. Nor is this +an anomaly in our legal system. The citizen ordinarily is not at liberty +to take the law into his own hands; he must appeal to the constituted +authorities, and through the machinery of a law court obtain his redress +or protection. But there are times when contingencies arise in which +more wrong would be done by such delay than by a summary process +transcending the <a name="Page_365" id="Page_365"></a>customary law. The man who sees a child, a woman, or +even an animal treated with cruelty, does not wait to secure protection +for the injured party by the common methods of legal procedure, but, on +the instant, prevents, with blows if need be, the outrage. He oversteps +the forms of law to secure the ends of law, and rests in the +consciousness that the law itself will accept his action. When the case +is more desperate, his usurpation of power generally prohibited to him +is still greater, up to that last extremity in which he deliberately +takes the whole law into his own hands, and, acting as accuser, witness, +judge, executioner, slays the individual who assaults him with deadly +weapons or with hostile intent.</p> + +<p>In this case now stands the nation. Along her borders flashes the steel +of hostile armies, their cannon thunder almost in hearing of our +capitol, their horses but recently trampled the soil of neighboring +States. A deadly enemy is trying to get its gripe upon the republic's +throat and its knife into her heart. The nation must act as an +individual would under similar circumstances; and the nation must act +through its Executive. If one person, attacked by another, should snatch +from the hands of a passer his cane, in order to defend his life; if, in +his struggles with his assailant, he should strike a second through +misconception, how immeasurably ridiculous would be the action of these +individuals, should they, while the death struggle were still raging, +berate the man, one for breaking the law by taking away his cane, and +the other for breaking the law by the commission of a battery! Every man +feels instinctively that in such a crisis all weapons of defence are at +his disposal, and that he takes them, <i>not</i> in violation of law, but in +obedience to the law of extraordinary contingencies, which every +community adopts, but which no community can inscribe upon its statute +book, <i>because it is</i> the law of contingencies.</p> + +<p>The Executive of this, as of every country, resorts to this law when, in +the nature of things, the statute law is inadequate. In doing this, he +does not violate law; he only adopts another kind of law. A subtle, +delicate law, indeed, which can neither be inscribed among the +enactments, nor exactly defined, circumscribed, or expressed. When it is +to be substituted for the ordinary modes of legal procedure, how far it +is to be used, when its use must cease—these are questions which the +people, as the sole final arbiters, must decide. As the individual in +society must judge wisely when the community will sanction his use of +the contingent law, the law of private military power, so to speak, in +his own behalf; so must the Executive judge when the urgency of the +national defence demands the exercise of the summary power in the place +of more technical methods. If the public sentiment of the community +sustain the individual, it is an indorsement that he acted justifiably +in accordance with this exceptional law; if it do not, he is liable for +an unwarranted usurpation of power. The Executive stands in the same +relation to the nation. The Mohammedans relate that the road to heaven +is two miles long, stretching over a fathomless abyss, the only pathway +across which is narrower than a razor's edge. Delicately balanced must +be the body which goes over in safety! The intangible path which the +Executive must walk to meet the people's wishes on the one side, and to +avoid their fears upon the other, in the national peril, is narrower +than the Mahommedan's road to heaven, and cautiously bold must be the +feet that safely tread it! Blessed shall that man be who succeeds in +crossing. The nations shall rise up and call him blessed, and succeeding +generations shall praise him.</p> + +<p>We come then to the relations of the <a name="Page_366" id="Page_366"></a>press and the Executive. We have +seen that all liberty is <i>relative</i>, and not <i>absolute</i>; that the +people, the sovereigns in this country, have prescribed certain methods +for securing, in ordinary periods, those blessings which it is their +desire to enjoy; that when, under special contingencies, these methods +become insufficient for this purpose, the people may, in virtue of their +sovereignty, suspend them and adopt others adequate to the occasion; +that these may not, indeed, from their very nature, cannot be of a fixed +and circumscribed kind, but must give large discretionary power into the +hands of the Executive, to be used by him in a summary manner as +contingencies may indicate; that this abrogation or suspension, for the +time, of so much of the ordinary civil law, in favor of the contingent +law, is not an abandonment of free government for arbitary or despotic +government, because it is still in accordance with the will of the +people, and hence is merely the substitution of a new form of law, +which, being required for occasions when instant action is demanded, is +necessarily summary in its character; that the extent to which this law +is to be substituted for the ordinary one is to be discovered by the +Executive from the general sense of the nation, when it cannot be made +known through the common method of the ballot box and the legislature; +that in the people resides the power ultimately to determine whether +their wishes have been correctly interpreted or not; and, finally, that +the Executive is equally responsible for coming short of the behests of +the nation in the use of the contingent law or for transgressing the +boundaries within which they desire him to constrain his actions.</p> + +<p>The press of the United States has always been free to the extent that +it might publish whatsoever it listed, <i>within certain limits prescribed +by the law</i>. The press may still do this. But the nature of the law +which prescribes the limits has changed with the times. The constituted +authorities of the people of the United States are obliged now, in the +people's interest, to employ the processes of summary rather than those +of routine law. Hence when the press infringes too violently the +boundaries indicated, and persists in so doing, the sterner penalty +demanded by the dangers of the hour is enforced by the sterner method +likewise rendered necessary. So long as Executive action concerning the +press shall be <i>in accordance</i> with the general sentiment of the people, +it will be within the strict scope of the highest law of the land. +Should the Executive persistently exercise this summary law in a manner +not countenanced by the nation, he is amenable to it under the strict +letter of the Constitution for high crimes or misdemeanors, not the +least of which would be the usurpation of powers not delegated to him by +the people.</p> + +<p>The Executive of the United States occupies at this time an exceedingly +trying and dangerous position, which demands for him the cordial, +patient, and delicate consideration of the American nation. He is placed +in a situation where the very existence of the republic requires that he +use powers not technically delegated to him, and in which the people +expect, yea, demand him, to adopt methods transcending the strict letter +of statute law, the use of which powers and the adoption of which +methods would be denounced as the worst of crimes, even made the basis +of an impeachment, should the mass of the populace be dissatisfied with +his proceedings. It is easy to find fault, easy in positions devoid of +public responsibility to think we see how errors might have been +avoided, how powers might have been more successfully employed and +greater results achieved. But the American Executive is surrounded with +difficulties too little appreciated by the public, while an almost +merciless criticism, emanating both from injudicious friends and +vigilant foes, follows his every action.<a name="Page_367" id="Page_367"></a> Criticism should not be +relaxed; but it should be exercised by those only who are competent to +undertake its office. The perusal of the morning paper does not +ordinarily put us in possession of sufficient information to enable us +to understand, in all their bearings, the measures of the Government. +Something more is required than a reading of the accounts of battles +furnished by the correspondents of the press to entitle one to express +an opinion on military movements. It should not be forgotten that the +officers engaged in the army of the United States are better judges of +military affairs than civilians at home; that the proceedings of the +Government, with rare exceptions, possibly, are based upon a fuller +knowledge of all the facts relating to a special case, than is obtained +by private persons, and that its judgment is therefore more likely to be +correct, in any given instance, than our own. The injury done to the +national cause by the persistent animadversion of well-intentioned men, +who cannot conceive that their judgments may perchance be incorrect, is +scarcely less, than the openly hostile invective of the friends of the +South. The intelligent citizens of the North, especially those who +occupy prominent positions as teachers and instructors of the people +through the press, the pulpit, and other avenues, should ever be mindful +that the <i>political</i> liberty which they possess of free thought and free +speech, has imposed upon them the moral duty of using this wisely for +the welfare of humanity, and that they cannot be faithless to this +obligation without injuring their fellow men and incurring a heavy moral +guilt.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="THE_BROTHERS" id="THE_BROTHERS"></a>THE BROTHERS.</h3> + +<h4>AN ALLEGORY.</h4> + +<h4>DEDICATION, TO ONE WHO WILL UNDERSTAND IT:</h4> + + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">'I love thee freely, as men strive for right;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i4">I love thee purely, us they turn from praise<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i4">I love thee with the passion put to use<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i4">In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i4">I love thee with a love I seemed to lose<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i4">With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i4">Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i4">I shall but love thee dearer after death.'<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<p>The Creator still loved and guarded the earth, although its children had +departed from their early obedience. In evidence of His care, He sent, +from time to time, gifted spirits among men to aid them in developing +and elevating the souls so fallen from their primal innocence. These +spirits He clad in sensuous bodies, that they might be prepared to enter +the far country of Human Life. Earth was rapidly falling under the +merciless rule of a hopeless and crushing materialism, when He +determined upon sending among men, Anselm, the saint; Angelo, the tone +artist; Zophiel, the poet; and Jemschid, the painter. The spirits +murmured not, although they knew they were to relinquish their heaven +life for that torment of perpetual struggle which the forbidden +knowledge of Good and Evil has entailed upon all incarcerated in a human +form.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368"></a><i>For self-abnegation is the law of heaven!</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>'Brothers,' said the merciful Father, 'go, and sin not, for of all +things that pass among men must a strict account be rendered. For are +not their evil deeds written upon the eternally living memory of a just +God? Evil lurks in the land of your exile; it may find its way into your +own hearts, for you are to become wholly human, and to lose for a time +the memory of your home in heaven. But even in that far country you will +find the Book of Life, which I have given for the guidance and +consolation of the fallen. For it is known even there that 'God is +Love!''</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Then the journey of the Heaven Brothers began through the blinding +clouds and trailing mists of chaos, in whose palpable gloom all memories +are obliterated. Naked, trembling, and human, they arrived upon the +shifting sands of the world of Time and Death.</p> + +<p>A vague, shadowy sense, like a forgotten dream which we struggle vainly +to recall, often flitted through their clay-clogged souls, of a +strangely glorious life in some higher sphere; but all attempts to give +definite form to such bewildering visions ended but in fantastic +reveries of mystic possibilities or dim yearnings of unseen glories. +They found the Book of Life, but they remembered not that the Father had +told them the Word was His.</p> + +<p>For the thread of <i>Identity</i>, on which are strung the pearls of +<i>Memory</i>, in the passage through chaos had snapped in twain!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Like the silver light through the storm clouds flitting over the fair +face of the moon, gleam the antenatal splendors through the gloom of the +earth life.</p> + +<p>As Anselm wonderingly turned the pages of the Book of Life, strange +memories awoke within him. So inextricably were the dreams of his past +woven with the burning visions of the Prophets, that the darkness of +Revelation, like the heaven vault at midnight, was illumined by the +light of distant worlds; his own vague reminiscences supplying the inner +sense of the inspired but mystic leaves. What wonder that he loved the +Book, when in its descriptions of the life to <i>come</i>, he felt the +history of the life already <i>past</i>; and through its sternest +threatenings, like the rainbow girdling storm clouds, shone the promise +of a blessed future!</p> + +<p>He spent the hours of exile in a constant effort to commune with the +Father; in humble prayer and supplication for strength to resist the +power of sin. For he feared the Evil which lurked in the land. He +examined the springs of his own actions, analyzed his motives, and +tortured himself lest any of the evils denounced in the Book should lurk +in the folds of his own soul. In contemplating the awful justice of the +Father, he sometimes forgot that He is Love. He feared close commune +with the children of the earth, for Evil dwelt among them; he looked not +into the winecup, nor danced with the maidens under the caressing +tendrils of the vine or the luxuriant branches of the myrtle—nay, the +rose cheek of the maiden was a terror to him, for lo! Evil might lurk +under its brilliant bloom. The Dread of Evil sapped the Joy of Life!</p> + +<p>He turned from all the lovely Present, to catch faint traces of the dim +Past, to picture the unseen Future, about which it is vain to disquiet +ourselves, since, like everything else, it rests upon the heart of God! +His life was holy, innocent, and self-sacrificing. He sought to serve +his fellow men, yet feared to give them his heart, lest he should rob +the Father of His just due. He knew not from his own experience that +Love is infinite, and grows on <a name="Page_369" id="Page_369"></a>what it gives. He bore religious +consolation to the afflicted, aid to the needy, sympathy to the +suffering. He was universally esteemed, but the spirit of his brethren +broke not into joy at his approach, for the <i>trusting</i> heart of genial +humanity throbbed not in his sad breast. He was no Pharisee, but he +dined not with the Publican, and the precious ointment of the Magdalen +never bathed his weary head. His language was: 'All is fleeting and +evil, save Thee, O my Father; in Thee alone can rest be found!'</p> + +<p>Solace for human anguish can only be found upon the heart of love. 'Thou +shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with +all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself!' Blessed Son of Mary! Thou +alone hast fully kept these <i>two</i> commandments!</p> + +<p>'For wisdom is justified of her children!'</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Angelo, Zophiel, and Jemschid also resolved to avoid the Evil spoken of +in the Book of Life. But the far country into which the Father had sent +them was lovely in their eyes, and they were charmed with the Beauty +with which He had surrounded them. They dreamed by the shady fountains, +with their silver flow and gentle ripples; roamed by the darker rivers +as they hurry on to plunge themselves into the sea; gazed on the +restless ocean breakers when the dying sun fringes their crest with +rainbow hues, and the flushing sky, to cool her burning blushes, flings +herself into the heart of the restless waters. They loved to breathe the +'difficult air' of mountain tops, so softly pillowed and curtained by +the fleecy vapors, which they win again from heaven in limpid streams, +leading them in wild leaps through gloomy chasms fringed by timid +harebells, whose soft blue eyes look love upon the rocks, while the +myriad forest leaves musically murmur above their flinty couch. They +watched the fitful shadow-dance of clouds over the green earth. They +loved to see these heaven tents where Beauty dwells chased by the young +zephyrs, or, driven on in heavy masses by the bolder winds, blush under +the fiery glances of the sun, and melt into the sky upon his nearer +approach. Ah! these clouds and vapors had more than human tenderness, +for had they not seen them throng around the ghastly disc of the +star-deserted moon, weaving their light webs into flowing veils to +shadow the majestic sorrow written upon her melancholy but lovely face, +shielding the mystic pallor of the virgin brow from the desecrating gaze +of the profane?</p> + +<p>The three brothers were happy upon earth, for they looked into the heart +of their fellow mortals, and felt the genial feeling beating there; and +so luxuriantly twined its vivid green around, that the evil core was +hidden from their charmed eyes, and they ceased not to bless the Father +for a gift so divine as Human Love! They could not weep and pray the +long night through, as did the saintly Anselm, for their eyes were +fastened upon the wildering lustre of the thronging stars as they wove +their magic rings through the dim abysses of distant space, yet the +incense of constant praise rose from their happy souls to the +Beauty-giving Father.</p> + +<p>They struggled to awake the sleeping powers of men to a perception of +the glories of creation; to lead them 'through nature up to nature's +God.' The Artist-Brothers were closely united in feeling, striving +through different mediums to refine the soul of man.</p> + +<p>For the spirit of Beauty always awakens the spirit of Love, sent by God +to elevate and consecrate the heart of man!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Of a more subtle genius and more daring spirit than Zophiel or Jemschid, +Angelo boldly launched into the bewildering chaos of the realm of +sound.<a name="Page_370" id="Page_370"></a> As yet the laws of the Acoustic Prism were unknown; the +seven-ranged ladder was all unformed, and without its aid it seemed +impossible to scale the ever-renewing heights, to sound the ever-growing +depths of this enchanted kingdom. But Angelo was a bold adventurer. +Haunted by the heaven sounds, vague memories of his antenatal existence, +although he had entirely lost the <i>meaning</i> of their flow, as one may +recall snatches of the melody of a song when he cannot remember one of +its words—he commenced his subtle task. He resolved the Acoustic Prism; +he built the seven-runged ladder; he charmed the wandering Tones, and +bound them in the holy laws of Rhythm. Divining the hidden secrets of +their affiliations, relations, loves, and hates, he wrought them into +gorgeous webs of harmonics, to clothe the tender but fiery soul of +ever-living melodies. Soothing their jarring dissonances into sweet +accord, he filled their pining wails with that 'divine sorrow,' that +mystic longing for the Infinite, which is the inner voice of every +created heart. If he could not find the <i>heaven sense</i> of the tones, he +found their <i>earthly meaning</i>, and caused them to repeat or suggest +every joy and sorrow of which our nature is capable. He forced the +heaven tongue to become <i>human</i>, while it retained its <i>divine</i>. Without +a model or external archetype, he formed his realm and divined its +changing limits; wide enough to contain all that is noble, holy enough +to exclude all that is low or profane. He forever exorcised the spirits +of Evil—the strong Demons of materialism—from his rhythmed world. +Flinging his spells on the unseen air, he forced it to breathe his +passion, his sighs; he saddened it with his tears, kindled it with his +rapture, until fired and charged with the electric breath of the soul, +it glowed into an atmosphere of Life, swaying at will the wild and +restless heart. He created <i>Music, the only universal language</i>, holding +the keys of Memory, and wearing the crown of Hope. Angelo, strange +architect in that dim domain of chaos, thy creation, fleeting, +invisible, and unembodied, is in perpetual, flow; changeful as the play +of clouds, yet stable as the eternal laws by which they form their misty +towers, their glittering fanes, and foam-crested pinnacles! Trackless as +the wind, yet as powerful, thy sweet spirit, Music, floats wherever +beats the human heart, for Rhythm rocks the core of life. Music nerves +the soul with strength or dissolves it in love; she idealizes Pain into +soul-touching Beauty; assuming all garbs, robing herself in all modes, +and moving at ease through every phase of our complicated existence. +White and glittering are her robes, yet she is no aristocrat. She +disdains not to soothe the weary negro in his chains, or to rock the +cradle of the child of shame, as the betrayed and forsaken girl murmurs +broken-hearted lullabies around the young 'inheritor of pain.' She is +with the maiden in the graceful mazes of the gay Mazourka; she inflames +the savage in the barbaric clang of the fierce war-dance; or marks the +measured tramp of the drilled soldiery of civilization. She is in the +court of kings; she makes eloquent the ripe lip of the cultured beauty; +she chants in the dreary cell of the hermit; she lightens the dusty +wallet of the wanderer. She glitters through the dreams of the Poet; she +breathes through the direst tragedies of noblest souls. On—on she +floats through the wide world, everywhere present, everywhere welcome, +refining, and consecrating our dull life from the Baptismal Font to the +Grave!</p> + +<p>All the inner processes of life are guarded by the hand of nature. In +vain would the curiosity of the scalpel knife invade the sanctuary of +the beating heart to lay open the burning mystery of Being. The outraged +Life retreats before it to its last citadel, and the indignant heart, +upon its entrance, refuses to throb more. The citadel is <a name="Page_371" id="Page_371"></a>taken; but the +secret of <i>Life</i> is not to be discovered in the kingdom of <i>Death</i>. It +is because Music is essentially a <i>living</i> art that we find it +impossible to read the mystery of its being. If Painting touch us, we +can always trace the emotion to its exciting cause; if we weep over the +pages of the Poet, it is because we find our own blighted hopes imaged +there. But why does Music sway us? Where did we learn that language +without words? in what consists its mystic affinities with our spirits? +Why does the harp of David soothe the insanity of Saul? Is not its +festal voice too triumphant to be the accompaniment of our own sad, +fallen being; its breath of sorrow too divine to be the echo of our +petty cares? All other arts arise from the facts of our earthly +existence, but Music has no external archetype, and refuses to submit +her ethereal soul to our curious analysis. <i>'I am so, because so I am,'</i> +is the only answer she gives to the queries of materialism. Like the +primitive rock, the skeleton of earth's burning heart, she looms up +through the base of our existence. Addressing herself to some mystic +faculty born before thought or language, she lulls the suffering baby +into its first sleep, using perhaps the primeval and universal language +of the race. For the love which receives the New Born, cadences the +monotonous chant; and human sympathies are felt by the innocent and +confiding infant before his eyes are opened fully upon the light, before +his tongue can syllable a word, his ear detect their divisions, or his +mind divine their significations. But Music looms not only through the +base of our being; like the encompassing sky, her arch spans our +horizon. Lo! is it not the language through which the Angels convey the +secrets of their profound adoration to the Heart of God!</p> + +<p>'Having every one of them harps'—'and they <i>sung</i> a new song'—in which +are to join 'every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and +under the earth, and such as are in the sea'—'and the number of them +was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.' +(Revelation, chap, v.)</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>While Angelo linked the fiery tones in rhythmed laws, Zophiel sketched +with glowing pen the joys of virtue, the glories of the intellect, and +the pleasures, pains, raptures, woes, and loves of the heart. The deeds +of heroes were sung in Epic; Dramas, Elegies, and Lyrics syllabled the +inner life; men listened to the ennobling strains, and became <i>freemen</i> +as they heard. The intermingling flow of high thought and melodious +measures elevated and soothed the soul, and love for, and faith in, +humanity, were awakened and nourished by the true Poet.</p> + +<p>Jemschid wrought with brush and pencil, until the canvas imaged his +loved skies and mountains, glowed with the noble deeds of men, and +pictured that spiritual force which strangely characterizes and mingles +with the ethereal grace of woman's fragile form.</p> + +<p>Through the artists, life grew into loveliness, for all was idealized, +and the scattered and hidden beauties of the universe were brought to +light. The plan of creation is far too vast to be embraced in its +complex unity by the finite: it is the province of art to divide, +condense, concentrate, reunite, and rearrange the vast materials in +smaller frames, but the new work must always be a <i>whole</i>. Angelo +aroused and excited the emotions of the soul, which Zophiel analyzed and +described in words most eloquent; while Jemschid made clearer to his +brethren that Beauty of creation which is an ever visible proof of the +love of God. His portraits illumined the walls of the bereaved, keeping +fresh for them the images of the loved and lost. Historical pictures +enlarged the mind of his people, keeping before it the high deeds of its +chil<a name="Page_372" id="Page_372"></a>dren and stimulating to noble prowess. His landscapes warmed the +dingy city homes, bringing even there the blue sky, the clouds, the +streams, the forests, the mountains, moss, and flowers.</p> + +<p>Men became happier and better, for the Brothers, in showing the +<i>universal Beauty</i>, awakened the <i>universal Love</i>.</p> + +<p>For the true essence of man, made in the image of God, is also Love!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The artists turned not from the rose-cheek of the maiden, nor refused +the touch of the ruby lip; but they loved her too well to sully by one +wronging thought the tender confidence of perfect innocence, or cause +her guileless heart a single pang. For womanhood was holy in their +sight!</p> + +<p>Among earth's purest maidens shone a fair Lily, whose virgin leaves had +all grown toward the sky; whose cup of snow had never been filled save +by the dews of heaven; whose tall circlet of golden stamens seemed more +like altar lamps arranged to light a sanctuary, than meant to warm and +brighten the heart of human love. But the devotion of a noble heart is a +holy thing; Genius is full of magic power, and the maiden did not always +remain insensible to the love of Angelo, for he was spiritually +beautiful, and when he moved in the world of his own creation, his face +shone as it were the face of an angel. In ethereal 'fantasies' and +divine 'adagios,' he won the Lily to rest its snowy cup upon his manly +heart. He soothed the earth cares with the heaven tones and beautified +the bitter realities of life by transfiguring them into passionate +longings for the Perfect. Bathed in Music's heavenly dew, and warmed by +the fire of a young heart, the snow petals of the Lily multiplied, the +bud slowly oped, and allowed the perfumed heart to exhale its blessed +odor; and as Love threw his glowing light upon the leaves, they blushed +beneath his glance of fire—and thus the pale flower grew into a +fragrant Rose, around which one faithful Bulbul ever sang. Sheltered in +the close folds of the perfumed leaves, what chill could reach the heart +of Angelo? His Rose cradled his genius in her heart, while he poured for +her the golden flow of the tones, coloring them with the hues of Love, +and filling them with the joys of Purity and Peace. Alike in their +susceptibility to tenderness and beauty are the woman and the artist; +and she who would find full sympathy and comprehension must seek it in +his heart!</p> + +<p>Time passed on with Anselm, the Saint; Angelo, the Musician; Zophiel, +the Poet; Jemschid, the Painter. But the <i>artists</i> grew not old, for +Beauty keeps green the heart of her worshippers; and Art, immortal +though she be, is indigenous, and, happy in her natal soil, exhausts not +the heart of her children. Anselm, however, seemed already old, with his +pure heart sick—sick for the Evil possessing the earth. Alas! holiness +is an exotic here, soon exhausting the soil of clay in which it pines, +and ever sighing to win its transplantation to its native clime.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">'The Lethe of Nature</span><br /> +<span class="i4">Can't trance him again,</span><br /> +<span class="i3">Whose soul sees the Perfect</span><br /> +<span class="i4">His eyes seek in vain.'</span><br /> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It was midnight, and Anselm, worn with fasts and pale with vigils, knelt +at his devotions in his lonely cell. Lo! a majestic form of fearful but +perfect beauty stood beside him. The Angel was clad in linen, white as +snow, and his voice startled the soul like the sound of the last +trumpet.</p> + +<p>'Gird up thy loins like a man, for the darksome doors of Death stand +open before thee, and this night thy Lord requires thy spirit!' said the +mighty messenger.</p> + +<p>Anselm trembled. He feared to stand before the All-seeing Eye, whose +dread majesty subdued his soul.</p> + +<p>'Behold! He putteth no trust in His <a name="Page_373" id="Page_373"></a>saints, and the heavens are not +pure in His sight,' he murmured. But he hesitated not to obey, and +giving his hand to the Angel, said:</p> + +<p>'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!'</p> + +<p>His earnest lips still thrilling with a prayer for mercy, together they +departed 'for that bourne from which no traveller returns.' Between the +imperfections of the created and the perfections of the Creator, what +can fill the infinite abyss? Infinite Love alone!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The artist-brothers had never separated. Music, Poetry, and Painting +spring from the triune existence of man, represent his life in its +triune being, and thus move harmoniously together.</p> + +<p>They had made their home the happiest spot on earth.</p> + +<p>It was evening, and the Poet seemed lost in revery as he gazed on the +dying light. His hand rested tenderly on the shoulder of a dark but +brilliant woman, who loved him with the strength of a fervid soul.</p> + +<p>'Sibyl,' said he softly to his young wife, 'were I now to leave thee, +how many of my lines would remain written on thy heart?'</p> + +<p>'All! they are all graven there,' replied the enthusiast, 'for the +glowing words of a pure poet are the true echoes of a woman's soul!'</p> + +<p>The Painter sat near them, putting the last touches upon a picture of a +Virgin and Child, which he was striving so to finish that his brethren +might be able to grasp more fully that sweet scene of human love and +God's strange mercy.</p> + +<p>Tender were the shadows that fell from the veiling lashes on the rounded +cheek of his fair model; lustrous, yet soft and meek, the light from the +maiden's eye as she gazed upon the beautiful infant resting on her +bosom. The name of the child was Jemschid, and there was in that name a +charm sufficient to awaken her innocent love.</p> + +<p>She was the betrothed of the Painter.</p> + +<p>'Imogen!' said he to the fair model, 'I know not why the thought rushes +so sadly over me, but I feel I shall never finish this picture. The +traits escape me—I cannot find them.'</p> + +<p>'Never finish the beautiful Madonna, to which you have given so much +time, and on which you have expended so much care!' Then with a sudden +change of tone, in which astonishment darkened into fear, she exclaimed: +'Are you ill, Jemschid? You have already worked too long upon it. You +will destroy your health; you need rest.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, sweet Imogen, not so; I am well, quite well, and too happy for +words. But I cannot finish the picture. I have lost the expression for +the face of the Madonna. Six months ago, when I began it, your face was +so meek and tranquil it served me well, but now, even with its present +air of meek entreaty, it is too passionate for the mother of God. It is +far dearer thus to me, Imogen—but I can never finish the painting +now—and only an angel can, for your young face is fairer and purer than +aught else on earth.'</p> + +<p>Again fell the heavy lashes, half veiling the innocent love in the timid +eyes, as the Painter parted the massive braids from the spotless brow, +and softly kissed the snowy forehead of his betrothed.</p> + +<p>The harp of Angelo quivered, as the sun set behind the crimson clouds, +under his nervous touch. Some sadness seemed to weigh upon his buoyant +spirit too, in this eventful eve. His music always pictured the depths +of his own soul, and he forced the heaven tones to wail the human +Miserere. But the Beauty into which the sorrow was transfigured gave +promise that it would end in the triumphant chorus of the 'Hosanna in +Excelsis.' For music gives the absolute peace in the absolute <a name="Page_374" id="Page_374"></a>conflict; +the absolute conflict to terminate in the absolute peace.</p> + +<p>Fair as the Angel of Hope, the Rose listened with her heart. Her +childlike, deep blue eyes were raised to heaven, while her long golden +curls, lighting rather than shading her pale brow, like the halos of dim +glory which the light vapors wreathe round the moon, mingled with the +darker flow of wavy hair falling upon the shoulder of the harpist, on +which she leaned as if to catch the flying sounds as they soared from +the heart of the loved one.</p> + +<p>'Thy song is very sad,' said the Rose, as her eyes rested tenderly upon +the inspired face. 'Is there no Gloria to-night, Angelo?'</p> + +<p>'I cannot sing it now, sweet Rosalie! The Hosanna is for heaven; not for +a world in which Love is, and Death may enter. If I am to lose thee, my +soul must chant the Miserere. Ah! that thought unmans me. I cannot part +from thee, sweet wife. Cling closer, closer to me, Rosalie. There! Death +must be strong to untwine that clasp! But he alone is strong—and +Love'—</p> + +<p>'Love is stronger far!' cried the startled Rose, as she buried her face +in the bosom of her husband, to hide the unwonted tears which dimmed her +trustful eyes.</p> + +<p>'Parting! there is no parting for those whom God has joined. His ties +are for eternity. The Merciful parts not those whom He has made for each +other. Even if we must chant the Miserere here, together will we chant +the Gloria before the throne of our Creator. Ah, Angelo, do you not feel +that but <i>one</i> life throbs in our <i>two</i> hearts? Parting and Death are +only seeming!'</p> + +<p>Thus sped time on until midnight was upon the earth. The little group +were still together; mystic thoughts and previsions were upon them. +Zophiel read at intervals weird passages from the Book of Life; Jemschid +touched, now and then, the face of the Madonna, and some unwonted spirit +of sorrow brooded over the harp of Angelo.</p> + +<p>'Rosalie! once more the Miserere ere we sleep,' said he. Scarcely had he +commenced the solemn chant, when, suddenly resting his hand on the +chords, he cried: 'Hark! brothers. It is the voice of Anselm—he calls +he calls us—but I hear not what he says. Listen!'</p> + +<p>Lo! a Shining One from the court of the Great King suddenly stands among +them. His gossamer robes seemed woven of the deep blue of the fields of +space through which he had just passed, and the stars were glittering +through the graceful folds bound with rare devices, wrought from the +jasper, onyx, and chrysoprase of the heavenly city.</p> + +<p>'Brothers!' said the sweet voice of the beautiful vision, 'the term of +exile is past; the Father has sent me to recall His children.'</p> + +<p>But the heart of the artists sank, for the human love was strong in +their bosoms.</p> + +<p>Jemschid gazed upon the betrothed bride; the unfinished picture; and +tears rushed into his sad eyes.</p> + +<p>The Angel was touched with pity for the double grief of artist and +lover, and said:</p> + +<p>'Gaze not so sorrowfully upon the unwedded maiden; the unfinished +picture! She shall yet be thine-and the picture shall be dear to thy +fellow men. Lo! I am Rubi, the angel of Beauty!'</p> + +<p>Then, taking the brush in his glittering hands, with rapid touch he gave +the lovely face an expression of tender innocence, of virgin purity, of +maternal love and adoration, which will never cease to thrill the heart +of the faithful.</p> + +<p>'It is the Mother of our Lord!' said the astonished brothers, as they +gazed upon the finished work.</p> + +<p>'Zophiel!' continued the pitying angel, 'the lips of Sibyl shall repeat +thy songs, for they are all graven upon her <a name="Page_375" id="Page_375"></a>heart! But you are now to +chant in heaven, and the canticle is to be for His praise who made all; +and when you exalt Him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; +for you can never go far enough!</p> + +<p>'Angelo! the Hosanna is for heaven. The Rose lingers not here to chant +alone the Miserere.'</p> + +<p>Alas! the wild human dread and sorrow overpowered all else in the +breasts of the brothers as they gazed upon the women of their love. A +strange smile played over the heavenly face of the Angel as he murmured: +<i>'Are they not safe in the bosom of the everlasting Love?'</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Slowly through the Valley of the Shadow—and then more rapid than the +flight of thought, moved the brothers, on—on—through myriads upon +myriads of blazing suns, of starry universes; on—on—until they reached +the limits of space, the boundary of material worlds. The angels left +them as they entered the primeval night of chaos, the shoreless ocean +between the sensuous and spiritual life. For alone with God through +chaos do we arrive at the sensuous body; alone with God in chaos do we +leave this body of corruption, from which is evolved the Body of the +Spirit, 'glorious and unchangeable.' And again is clasped the thread of +<i>Identity,</i> on which are strung the pearls of memory, and the Past and +Future of Time become the Eternal Present!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Clothed in immortal vesture, the brothers now stand before that Great +White Throne, which has no shadow, but is built of Light inaccessible, +and full of Glory.</p> + +<p>Summoned by the Holy Lawgiver, the meek Anselm knelt before Him, blinded +with splendor, dazzled with fathomless majesty.</p> + +<p>'Behold thy creature before thee for judgment, O Thou in whose sight the +angels are not pure! We are born to evil, and who may endure thy +justice? Look not into my weak and sinful heart, O God, but upon the +face of Thy Anointed, in whom is all my trust! Have mercy upon me!'</p> + +<p>Tears of mingled gratitude and penitence welled up, as in the days of +exile, from his self-accusing breast.</p> + +<p>Wonderful condescension the Father Himself wiped them from the downcast +eyes!</p> + +<p>And the Saviour of men clothed him in a garment of fine linen, white and +pure, and 'to him was given the hidden manna, and a white stone, and in +the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth +it.'</p> + +<p>Then the words over whose mystic meaning he had so often pondered, came, +like the sound of many waters, upon his ear:</p> + +<p>'And he that shall overcome, and keep my works unto the end, to him I +will give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of +iron, and as the vessel of a potter they shall be broken.</p> + +<p>'And I will give him the morning star.'</p> + +<p>Thus the humble and self-abnegating Anselm, who had kept the +commandments and loved his Maker, passed in glory to the Saints of +Power. The morn of the Eternal Present dawned upon him, and the sublime +'<i>vision in God</i>' was open before him.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Then were the artists summoned before the Throne. Awed yet enchanted, +they bowed before their Maker, with raised hands clasped in gratitude +for the happiness they had known on earth. Then spoke Angelo, the +musician:</p> + +<p>'Behold thy grateful children at thy feet, O Father of earth and heaven! +We truly repent of all we may have done amiss in Thy lower world. Thy +heritage was very fair, and the exceeding Beauty thereof covered the +Evil, <a name="Page_376" id="Page_376"></a>and in all things were planted the germs of Good. 'Our prayer was +in our work,' and all things spake to us of Thee, for the hand of a +Father made all. Forgive us if we have loved life too well; we have +always felt that the rhythmed pulse of our own hearts throbbed but in +obedience to Thy tuneful laws! Loving our fellow men, we have labored to +awake them to a sense of Thy tenderness, O Creator of Love and of +Beauty, so unsparingly casting the ever-new glories around them! Father, +we have loved Thee in thy glorious creation.</p> + +<p>"For Thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things that +thou hast made, for thou didst not appoint or make anything hating it. +For He made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison +of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon earth.</p> + +<p>"For justice is perpetual and immortal.'</p> + +<p>"We have looked upon the rainbow, and blessed Him that made it: for it +was very beautiful in its brightness.'</p> + +<p>"For by the greatness of the Beauty, and of the creature, the Creator of +them may be seen so as to be known thereby.'</p> + +<p>"It is good to give praise to the Lord: to show forth thy loving +kindness in the morning, and thy truth in the night;</p> + +<p>"Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery, upon the harp +with a solemn sound.</p> + +<p>"For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works, and in the works +of thy hand I shall rejoice.'</p> + +<p>'Have mercy upon us for the sake of the Redeemer, whose Perfection +crowns the universe, who has not disdained to give Himself to us, and +for us: the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. Mercy for +ourselves—and for those whom we have left on earth, we beseech Thee!'</p> + +<p>Gently smiled the Virgin Mother, whose humble heart had cradled the +Everlasting Love! 'All generations shall call her blessed,' for on that +tender woman bosom rests that wondrous God-built arch spanning the awful +Chaim between the sinful human and the Perfect Infinite! 'For <i>He</i> was +born of a Virgin.'</p> + +<p>The heart of Anselm throbbed through his garments white and pure; he +loved his brothers, and feared that human art would be deemed vain and +worthless in heaven. <i>For the saints forget that God himself is the +Great Artist!</i></p> + +<p>Then was there silence in heaven, and the brothers knelt before the +Throne.</p> + +<p>The Father spoke:</p> + +<p>'Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Enter into his gates +with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise, be thankful unto +him, and bless his name: the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath conquered. +He will give to him that overcometh to eat of the Tree of Life, which is +in the Paradise of God.'</p> + +<p>The silence that ensued was the bliss of heaven!</p> + +<p>As Rubi, the Angel of Beauty, advanced to greet the spirits whom he had +left on the confines of chaos, the triumphant song burst from the young +choir of angels: 'For they shall not hunger nor thirst any more; neither +shall the sun fall on them or any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the +midst of the throne, shall rule them, and shall lead them to the +fountains of the waters of life, and God shall wipe away all tears from +their fives.'</p> + +<p>Joy! joy! for the soul of the musician! The heart of the Rose had broken +while chanting the last Miserere, and she was again at his side to catch +his first Hosanna!</p> + +<p>'Angelo—Angelo—parting and death are only seeming!'</p> + +<p>To the soul of the poet was given the highest theme, the splendor and +love of the Eternal City, and power to join the scribes of heaven.<a name="Page_377" id="Page_377"></a> And +the painter looked upon the face of the Virgin, the strange lights, the +forms of Cherubim and Seraphim, and the twelve gates and the golden +streets of that city; 'which needeth not sun or moon to shine in it, for +the glory of God hath enlightened it; and the Lamb is the light +thereof.'</p> + +<p>Who can imagine that region of supernal splendor, 'whose glories eye +hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the +heart of man to conceive'?</p> + +<p>The strings of Angelo's heaven harp quivered as though stirred by the +breath of God.</p> + +<p>Then did he first truly discern the <i>soul</i> of that divine language whose +<i>form</i> he had made known on earth.</p> + +<p>Then arose 'as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice +of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying: +Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.'</p> + +<p>Loud rang the heaven harps: 'Holy—Holy—Holy! To Him that sitteth on +the Throne, and to the Lamb, Benediction, and Honor, and Glory, and +Power, forever and ever!'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="UNUTTERED" id="UNUTTERED"></a>UNUTTERED.</h3> + + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Said a poet, sighing lowly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">As his life ebbed slowly, slowly,</span><br /> +And upon his pallid features shone the sun's last rosy light,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Shedding there a radiance tender,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Softened from the dazzling splendor</span><br /> +Of the burning clouds of sunset, gleaming in the west so bright,<br /> +Glancing redly, ere forever lost within the gloom of night:<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'Gold and crimson clouds of even,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Kindling the blue vault of heaven,</span><br /> +Ye are types of airy fancies that within my spirit glow!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Thou, O Night, so darkly glooming,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">And those brilliant tints entombing</span><br /> +In thy black and heavy shadows, thou art like this life of woe,<br /> +Prisoning all the glorious visions that still beat their wings to go!<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'Oh, what brilliancy and glory</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Had illumed my life's dull story,</span><br /> +Could those thoughts have found expression as within my soul they shone!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">But though there like jewels gleaming,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">And with golden splendor streaming,</span><br /> +Cold and dim their lustre faded, tarnished, like the sparkling stone<br /> +That, from out the blue waves taken, looks a pebble dull alone.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'For within my heart forever</span><br /><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Was a never-dying river,</span><br /> +Was a spring of deathless music welling from my deepest soul!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">And all Nature's deep intonings,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Merry songs, and plaintive meanings,</span><br /> +Floated softly through my spirit, swelling where those bright waves stole,<br /> +Till the prisoning walls seemed powerless 'gainst that billowy rush and roll.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'Oh, the surging thoughts and fancies;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Oh, the wondrous, wild romances</span><br /> +That from morn till dewy twilight murmured through my haunted brain!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Thoughts as sweet as summer roses,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">And with music's dreamiest closes,</span><br /> +Dying faintly into silence, from the full and ringing strain<br /> +That through all my spirit sounded with a rapture half of pain.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'How I longed those words to utter</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">That within my heart would flutter,</span><br /> +Beating wild against their prison, as its walls they'd burst in twain:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">But it broke not, throbbing only,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Aching in a silence lonely,</span><br /> +Till my very life was flooded with a wild, delicious pain;<br /> +Kindled with a blaze illuming all the chambers of my brain!<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'And to me death had been glorious,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">If those burning words, victorious,</span><br /> +Had at last surged o'er their prison, bearing my departing soul!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Gladly were my heart's blood given,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">If those bonds I might have riven;</span><br /> +If, with every crimson lifedrop that from out my full heart stole,<br /> +I might hear that swelling chorus upward in its glory roll.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'Sad and low my heart is beating!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Each pulsation still repeating</span><br /> +'All in vain those eager longings, all in vain that burning prayer.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">See the breezes, 'mid the bowers,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Sigh above the fragrant flowers,</span><br /> +And from out those drooping roses, their heart-folded sweetness bear—<br /> +But no heaven-sent wind shall whisper thy soul-breathings to the air.'<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'But upon my darkened vision</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Comes a gleam of light Elysian;</span><br /> +And a seraph voice breathes softly—'Answered yet shall be that prayer!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">For the spirit crushed and broken</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">By those burning words unspoken,</span><br /> +Soon shall hear them swelling, floating far upon the heavenly air,<br /> +And its deepest inmost visions shall have perfect utterance there!''<br /> +<br /><br /></p> + +<p><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379"></a></p> +<h3><a name="WILLIAM_LILLY_ASTROLOGER" id="WILLIAM_LILLY_ASTROLOGER"></a>WILLIAM LILLY, ASTROLOGER.</h3> + + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'A cunning man, hight Sidrophel,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">That deals in destiny's dark counsels,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">And sage opinions of the moon sells,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">To whom all people, far and near,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">On deep importances repair.<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:1em;' /> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Do not our great reformers use<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">This Sidrophel to forebode news?<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">To write of victories next year,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">And castles taken yet i' the air?<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of battles fought at sea, and ships<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sunk two years hence—the great eclipse?<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">A total overthrow given the king<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">In Cornwall, horse and foot, next spring?'<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Thus much, and more, wrote Butler in his 'Hudibras' of William Lilly, +who was famous in London during that eventful period of English history +from the time of Charles I, onward through the Commonwealth and the +Protectorate, to the Restoration: a time of civil commotions and wars, +when political parties and religious sects, striving for mastery, or +struggling for existence, made the lives and estates of men insecure, +and their outlook in many respects a troubled one. Lifelong connections +of families and neighbors were then rudely severed, and doubt, distrust, +and discontent filled all minds, or most. Of this widespread commotion +London was the active centre; and there a judgment of God, called the +plague, had, in the year 1625, desolated whole streets. The timid, +time-serving, faithless, a wavering host, peered anxiously into the +future, eager to know what might be hidden there, so that they could +shape their course accordingly for safety or for profit. Finding their +own short vision inadequate, they turned for aid to the professional +prophets of that troublous time—magicians who could call forth spirits +and make them speak, or astrologers who could read the stars, and show +how the great Disposer of events could be forestalled. These discoverers +of the hidden, disclosers of the future, though branded now as +impostors, were not therefore worse than their dupes; for in all ages +the two classes, deceivers and deceived, are essentially alike; +positives and negatives of the same thing. 'Men are not deceived; they +deceive themselves.' Witness a great American nation, in these latter +days, electing its ablest man to its highest place, and choosing between +a Fremont and a Buchanan! But let us turn quickly to the seventeenth +century again, and leave the nineteenth to its day of judgment.</p> + +<p>Among the many astrologers dwelling in London at the time of which we +treat, William Lilly was the most famous; and his life being of great +interest to himself, he wrote an account of it for the instruction of +mankind—or for some other purpose; and we will now get from it what we +conveniently can.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>'I was born,' says this renowned astrologer, 'in the county of +Leicester, in an obscure town, in the northwest part thereof, called +Diseworth, seven miles south of the town of Derby, one mile from Castle +Donnington.' 'This town of Diseworth is divided into three parishes; one +part belongs under Lockington, in which stands my father's house (over +against the steeple), in which I was born' on the first day of May, +1602. After this rather too minute account of his birthplace, Lilly +tells us of his ancestors, substantial yeomen for many generations, who +'had much free land and many houses in the town;' but all the family +estates were 'sold by my grandfather and father, so that now our family +depends wholly <a name="Page_380" id="Page_380"></a>on a college lease.' 'Of my infancy I can speak but +little; only I do remember that in the fourth year of my age I had the +measles.' 'My mother intended I should be a scholar from my infancy, +seeing my father's backslidings in the world, and no hopes by husbandry +to recruit a decayed estate.' Therefore, after some schooling at or near +home, the boy, when eleven years old, was sent to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, +Leicester, to the school of Mr. John Brinsley, who 'was very severe in +his life and conversation, and did breed up many scholars for the +universities; in religion he was a strict Puritan.' 'In the fourteenth +year of my age, about Michaelmas, I got a surfeit, and thereupon a +fever, by eating beechnuts.' 'In the sixteenth year of my age I was +exceedingly troubled in my dreams concerning my salvation and damnation, +and also concerning the safety and destruction of my father and mother: +in the nights I frequently wept and prayed, and mourned, for fear my +sins might offend God.' 'In the seventeenth year of my age my mother +died.' The next year, 'by reason of my father's poverty, I was enforced +to leave school, and so came home to my father's house, where I lived in +much penury one year, and taught school one quarter of a year, until +God's providence provided better for me. For the last two years of my +being at school I was of the highest form of the school, and chiefest of +that form. I could then speak Latin as well as English; could make +extempore verses upon any theme.' 'If any scholars from remote schools +came to dispute, I was ringleader to dispute with them.' 'All and every +of those scholars, who were of my form and standing, went to Cambridge, +and proved excellent divines; only I, poor William Lilly, was not so +happy, fortune then frowning on my father's condition, he not in any +capacity to maintain me at the university.'</p> + +<p>So this poor scholar, first of his class, bright visions of the +university, and of what might lie beyond, all fading into darkness, went +down to his father's house in the country, where his acquirements were +useless. He says: 'I could not work, drive plough, or endure any country +labor; my father oft would say, 'I was good for nothing,' and 'he was +willing to be rid of me." A sorrowful time for the poor young fellow, +without any outlook toward a better. But at last, one Samuel Smatty, an +attorney, living in the neighborhood, took pity on the lad, and gave him +a letter to Gilbert Wright, of London, who wanted a youth who could read +and write, to attend him. Thereupon Lilly, in a suit of fustian, with +this letter in his pocket, and ten shillings, given him by his friends, +took leave of his father, who was then in Leicester jail for debt, and +set off for London with 'Bradshaw, the carrier.' He 'footed it all +along,' and was six days on the way; spending for food two shillings and +sixpence, and nothing for lodgings; but he was in good heart, I think, +for almost the only joyous expression in his autobiography is this one, +relating to this time: 'Hark, how the wagons crack with their rich +lading!'</p> + +<p>Gilbert Wright, who had been 'servant to the Lady Pawlet in +Hertfordshire,' had married a widow with property, and lived afterward +'on his annual rents;' or on his wife's, and 'was of no calling or +profession.' This man had real need of a servant who could read and +write, for he himself could do neither; but he was, however, 'a man of +excellent natural parts, and would speak publicly upon any occasion very +rationally and to the purpose.' Lilly was kindly received by Master +Wright, who found, it seems, employment enough for him. 'My work was to +go before my master to church; to attend my master when he went abroad; +to make clean his shoes; sweep the street; help to drive bucks when he +washed; fetch water in a tub from the Thames—I have helped to <a name="Page_381" id="Page_381"></a>carry +eighteen tubs of water in one morning;—weed the garden. All manner of +drudgery I willingly performed.'</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wright, who brought money to her husband, brought also a jealous +disposition, and made his life uncomfortable. 'She was about seventy +years of age, he sixty-six,' 'yet was never any woman more jealous of a +husband than she!' She vexed more than one man, too, and her first +husband had temptations to cut his own throat and escape from trouble +so; but he, as we shall learn by and by, got some relief otherwise, and +lived till death came by better means.</p> + +<p>Tally had difficulty in keeping on good terms 'with two such opposite +natures' as those of his master and mistress, that he managed it +somehow, and says: 'However, as to the things of this world, I had +enough, and endured their discontents with much sereneness. My mistress +was very curious to know of such as were then called cunning, or wise +men, whether she should bury her husband. She frequently visited such +persons, and this begot in me a little desire to learn something that +way; but wanting money to buy books, I laid aside these notions, and +endeavored to please both master and mistress.'</p> + +<p>This mistress had a cancer in her left breast, and Lilly had much +noisome work to do for her; which he did faithfully and kindly. 'She was +so fond of me in the time of her sickness, she would never permit me out +of her chamber.' 'When my mistress died (1624) she had under her armhole +a small scarlet bag full of many things, which one that was there +delivered unto me. There were in this bag several sigils, some of +Jupiter in Trine; others of the nature of Venus; some of iron, and one +of gold, of pure virgin gold, of the bigness of a thirty-three shilling +piece of King James coin. In the circumference on one side was engraven, +<i>Vicit Leo de Tribu Judæ Tetragrammation</i><b>+</b>: within the middle there +was engraven a holy lamb. In the other circumference there was +<i>Amraphel</i>, and three <b>+ + +</b>. In the middle, <i>Sanctus Petrus</i>, <i>Alpha</i> +and <i>Omega</i>.'</p> + +<p>This sigil the woman got many years before of Dr. Samuel Foreman, a +magician or astrologer; the same who 'wrote in a book left behind him,' +'This I made the devil write with his own hand, in Lambeth Fields, 1596, +in June or July, as I now remember.' This sigil the woman got from the +doctor, who was evidently a foreman among liars, for her first husband, +who had been 'followed by a spirit which vocally and articulately +provoked him to cut his own throat.' Her husband, wearing this sigil +'till he died, was never more troubled by spirits' of this kind of call; +but on the woman herself it seems to have failed of effect, for though +she too wore it till she died, she was continually tormented by an +authentic spirit of jealousy—a torment to herself and to her husband.</p> + +<p>After this mistress had gone, Lilly lived very comfortably, his 'master +having a great affection' for him; and also a great confidence in him, +it seems; for when the plague (1625) began to rage in London, the master +went for safety into Leicestershire, leaving Lilly and a fellow servant +to keep the house, in which was much money and plate, belonging to his +master and others. Lilly was faithful to his charge in this fearful +time, and kept himself cheerful by amusements. 'I bought a bass viol, +and got a master to instruct me; the intervals of time I spent in +bowling in Lincoln's Inn Fields with Watt, the cobbler, Dick, the +blacksmith, and such-like companions.' Nor did he neglect more serious +business, but attended divine service at the church of St. Clement +Danes, where two ministers died in this time; but the third, Mr. +Whitacre, 'escaped not only then, but all contagion following,' though +he 'buried all manner of people, whether they died of the plague or +not,' and 'was given to drink, so that he seldom <a name="Page_382" id="Page_382"></a>could preach more than +one quarter of an hour at a time.' This year of plague was indeed a +fearful one in London, and Lilly says elsewhere, 'I do well remember +this accident, that going in July, 1625, about half an hour after six in +the morning, to St. Antholine's church, I met only three persons on the +way, from my house over against Strand bridge, till I came there; so few +people were there alive and the streets so unfrequented.' 'About fifty +thousand people died that year;' but Lilly escaped death, though his +'conversation was daily with the infected.'<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Master Wright did not continue long a widower, but took to himself +another wife, and a younger, who was of 'brown ruddy complexion,' and of +better disposition than her predecessor in the household. Master Wright +was probably a happy man for a time; but only for a short time; for in +May, 1627, he died, and the estate, by agreement of the parties in it, +was assigned to Lilly for payment of its debts. The trust was not +misplaced; the debts were all paid, and the remainder of the estate, +except an annuity of twenty pounds, which his master had settled on +Lilly, he returned to the executors.</p> + +<p>Mistress Wright, the widow, 'who had twice married old men,' had now +many suitors; 'old men, whom she declined; some gentlemen of decayed +fortunes, whom she liked not, for she was covetous and sparing;' +'however, all her talk was of husbands,' and, in short, William Lilly +became the happy man; made happy within four months of the death of the +old master. 'During all the time of her life, which was till October, +1633, we lived very lovingly; I frequenting no company at all; my +exercises were angling, in which I ever delighted; my companions, two +aged men.' 'I frequented lectures, and leaned in judgment to Puritanism; +and in October, 1627, I was made free of the Salters' company of +London.'</p> + +<p>Up to this time, therefore, the history of William Lilly, so far as he +has made it known, is briefly this: Born poor, the grandfather and +father having wasted the family estates, he was sent by his mother, who +intended him from his infancy for a scholar, to the school of +Ashby-de-la-Zouch; where, at one time, he was in trouble about his soul +and the souls of his parents; and he 'frequently wept, prayed, and +mourned, for fear his sins might offend God.' But the mother died, the +father got into prison for debt, and poor Lilly, who had made himself +the best scholar in the school, could not go up to the university as he +had hoped to do, but after a wretched year at his father's house, where +he was accounted useless and an encumbrance, he had to become the +servant of one who could neither read nor write, doing all kinds of +drudgery. Serving faithfully, the much-enduring young man won the love +and confidence of the old master and mistress, and at last married the +young widow, who was a wholesome-looking woman, of brown ruddy +complexion, and had property, which served, among other things, to make +Lilly 'free of the Salters' company.' Not a bad history, certainly, if +not one of the best: he was a thriving young man, not a complaining one; +but one who accepted the conditions under which he was placed, and made +the best of them; which is what all young men ought to do.</p> + +<p>And now Lilly—being a man of some property and standing, without any +profession or regular business, but with an inclination to the occult +arts, begot in him probably by the folly of old Mistress Wright—tells +us how he 'came to study astrology.' 'It happened on one Sunday, 1632, +as myself and a justice of peace's clerk were, before service, +discoursing of many things, he chanced to say that such a person was a +great scholar; nay, so learned that he could make an almanac, which to +me was strange: one speech <a name="Page_383" id="Page_383"></a>begot another, till at last he said he could +bring me acquainted with one Evans, who lived in Gunpowder alley, who +formerly lived in Staffordshire, that was an excellent wise man, and +studied the black art. The same week (after) we went to see Mr. Evans. +When we came to his house, he, having been drunk the night before, was +upon his bed—if it be lawful to call that a bed whereon he lay.' 'He +was the most saturnine man my eyes ever beheld either before I practised +(astrology) or since: of middle stature, broad forehead, beetle browed, +thick shoulders, flat nosed, full lips, down looked, black, curling, +stiff hair, splay footed;' 'much addicted to debauchery, and then very +abusive and quarrelsome; seldom without a black eye, or one mischief or +another.' A very good description this, save that the shoulders of it +are between the brow and nose: not a handsome man, certainly; a kind of +white negro, we should say, and not the better for being white: +nevertheless men of high rank came to see him, and readers who have made +acquaintance with Sir Kenelm Digby will not be astonished to learn that +he was one of them. He came with Lord Bothwell, and 'desired Evans to +show them a spirit.' But 'after some time of invocation, Evans was taken +out of the room, and carried into the fields near Battersea causeway, +close to the Thames:' taken by the spirits, because the magician 'had +not at the time of invocation made any suffumigation;' for spirits must +always be treated gingerly. 'Sir Kenelm Digby and Lord Bothwell went +home without any harm;' which was better than they deserved.</p> + +<p>Lilly, after many lessons given him by this Evans, was doubtful about +the black art, as he might well be; but, he says, 'being now very +meanly introduced, I applied myself to study those books I had obtained, +many times twelve or fifteen or eighteen hours a day and night: I was +curious to discover whether there was any verity in the art or not. +Astrology at this time, viz. 1633, was very rare in London; few +professing it that understood anything thereof.' Lilly gives us next +some account of the astrologers of his time; but the reader need form no +further acquaintance of this kind; acquaintance with Lilly, who was the +best of them, will be enough for him.</p> + +<p>In October of this year, 1633, Lilly's wife died, and left him 'very +near to the value of one thousand pounds sterling'—all she had to +leave. He continued a widower 'a whole year,' which he, as that phrase +implies, held to be a long time in such bereavement—and followed his +studies in astrology very diligently. So diligently that he soon had +knowledge to impart to others, and he 'taught Sir George Knight +astrology, that part which concerns sickness, wherein he so profited +that in two or three months he would give a very good discovery of any +disease only by his figures.'</p> + +<p>With a new wife, which he got the next year (1634), Lilly had £500 +portion; but 'she was of the nature of Mars,' which is surely not a good +nature in a wife. In that same year he, with some 'other gentlemen,' +engaged in an adventure for hidden treasure: they 'played the hazel rod +round about the cloyster,' and digged, in the place indicated, six feet +deep, till they came to a coffin; but they did not open it, for which +they were afterward regretful, thinking that <i>it</i> probably contained the +treasure. Suddenly, while they were at this work, a great wind arose, +'so high, so blustering, and loud,' that all were frightened, 'and knew +not what to think or do;' all save Lilly, who gave 'directions and +commands to dismiss the dæmons,' and then all became quiet again. These +doings Lilly did not approve, and says he 'could never again be induced +to join in such kind of work.' He engaged, however, in another +transaction of still worse character, which seems to <a name="Page_384" id="Page_384"></a>have been even +more unpleasant to him; for he says: 'After that I became melancholy, +very much afflicted with the hypochondriac melancholy, growing lean and +spare, and every day worse; so that in the year 1635, my infirmity +continuing and my acquaintance increasing, I resolved to live in the +country, and in March and April, 1636, I removed my goods unto Hersham +(Horsham in Sussex, thirty-six miles from London), where I continued +until 1641, no notice being taken who or what I was:' and in this time +he burned some of his books, which treated of things he did not approve, +and which he disliked to practise; for this man really had a conscience +as good as the average, or even better: he was driven into solitude by +the reproaches of it—or, perhaps, by the scoldings of a wife who 'was +of the nature of Mars.'</p> + +<p>Thus far we have followed Lilly's account of himself closely, using +often his own words, because they give a more correct idea of the man +than could be got from the words of another; but henceforth to the end, +we will skip much and be brief. This astrologer did not always rely on +his special art to discover things hidden, but used often quite ordinary +means; sometimes such as are common to officers of detective police. His +confessions of doings in that kind are candid enough, and we must say of +his 'History of his Life and Times' that it is, on the whole, a simple, +truthful statement of facts; not an apology for a life at all; for he +seldom attempts to excuse or justify his actions, but leaves a plain +record with the reader for good or evil.</p> + +<p>A man, it is sometimes said, is to be judged by the company he keeps, +and we will therefore say a few words of this astrologer's friends. Of +men like William Pennington, of Muncaster, in Cumberland, 'of good +family and estate,' introduced to Lilly by David Ramsay, the king's +clockmaker, in 1634, who are otherwise unknown to us, we will say +nothing. But the reader surely knows something of Hugh Peters, the +Puritan preacher—who could do other things as well as preach: with him +Lilly had 'much conference and some private discourses,' and once in the +Christmas holidays, a time of leisure, Peters and the Lord Gray of Groby +invited him to Somerset House, and requested him to bring two of his +almanacs. At another time Peters took Lilly along with him into +Westminster Hall 'to hear the king tried.' But the most influential +friend, perhaps, was Sir Bulstrode Whitlocke, a man well known to +readers of English history as very prominent in the time of the +Commonwealth and Protectorate. He was high steward of Oxford, member of +the council of state, one of the keepers of the great seal, a man very +learned in the law, who made long discourses to Oliver Cromwell on the +matter of the kingship, and on other matters. He went to Sweden as +Cromwell's ambassador, and was one of the great men of that time, or one +of the considerable men. Sir Bulstrode, according to Ashmole, was +Lilly's patron; and indeed the great man did befriend him long, and help +him out of difficulties. The acquaintance began in this wise: Sir +Bulstrode being sick, Mrs. Lisle, 'wife to John Lisle,' afterward one of +the keepers of the great seal, came to Lilly, bringing a specimen of the +sick man. Whereupon the astrologer, having inspected the specimen, 'set +a figure,' and said, 'the sick for that time would recover, but by means +of a surfeit would dangerously relapse within one month; which he did, +by eating of trouts at Mr. Sands' house in Surrey.' Therefore, as there +could no longer be any doubt of Lilly's skill, he, at the time of Sir +Bulstrode's second sickness, was called to him daily; and though the +family physician said 'there was no hope of recovery,' the astrologer +said there was 'no danger of death,' and 'that he would be sufficiently +well in five or six weeks; and so he was.'<a name="Page_385" id="Page_385"></a> This Mrs. Lisle, who brought +the specimen, being apparently one of Lilly's she friends, we will add +that she made herself remarkable by saying at the martyrdom of King +Charles I, in 1648, that 'her blood leaped within her to see the tyrant +fall.' For this, and for other things, the woman was finally beheaded; +it being impossible otherwise to stop her tongue; and I have no tear for +her.</p> + +<p>Lilly's most intimate friend, however, was Elias Ashmole, Esq. Born in +1617, the name for him agreed on among his friends was Thomas; but at +the baptismal font the godfather, 'by a more than ordinary impulse of +spirit,' said Elias; and under that prophetic name the boy grew up to +manhood, and became for a time rather famous in high places. He was a +learned antiquary, and made a description of the consular and imperial +coins at Oxford, and presented it, in three folio volumes, to the +library there. He made also a catalogue and description of the king's +medals; a book on the Order of the Garter; a book entitled, <i>Fasciculus +Chemicus</i>, and another, <i>Theatrum Chemicum</i>. He published, moreover, a +book called 'The Way to Bliss;' but if he himself ever arrived at that +thing, he found the way uncomfortable, if we may judge from his diary, +half filled with record of his ailments, surfeits, and diseases, and of +the sweatings, purgings, and leechings consequent thereupon, or intended +as preventives thereof. To one kind of bliss, however, he did certainly +attain—that of high society; dining often with lords, earls, and dukes, +bishops and archbishops, foreign envoys, ambassadors, and princes; and +they, many of them, came in turn, and dined with him, who had made a +book on the Order of the Garter, and who understood the art of dining. +Continental kings sent to this man chains of gold, and his gracious +majesty, Charles II, was very gracious to him, and gave him fat offices, +mostly sinecures: and over and above all he gave a pension. This world +is a very remarkable one—especially remarkable in the upper crust of +it.</p> + +<p>Lilly's acquaintance with Ashmole began in 1646, and continued till +death did them part in 1681. Through all these thirty-five years there +was a close intimacy, Ashmole being a frequent visitor at Lilly's house +in the country, staying there often months at a time, and Lilly in +return coming often to London, and staying weeks with his honored +friend—a kind of Damon and Pythias affair without the heroics. Ashmole, +we said, was famous in his time; but indeed he has a kind of fame now, +and cannot soon be altogether forgotten, for he founded the Ashmolean +Museum at Oxford, and in the library there the curious can probably find +all his books, and read them, if they will; but I, who have read one of +them, shall not seek for more.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>But indeed Lilly attracted the attention of Oliver Cromwell himself, and +once had an interview with him—a remarkably silent one. The occasion of +it was as follows: The astrologer, in his <i>Martinus Anglicus</i> +(astrological almanac) for 1650, had written that 'the Parliament should +not continue, but a new government should arise;' and the next year he +'was so bold as to aver therein that the Parliament stood upon a +tottering foundation, and that the commonalty and soldiers would join +together against it.' These things, and others, published in <i>Anglicus</i>, +offended the Presbyterians, and on motion of some one of them, it was +ordered that '<i>Anglicus</i> should be inspected by the committee for +plundered ministers;' and the next day thereafter Lilly was brought +before the committee, which was very full that day (thirty-six in +number), for the matter was an interesting one, whispered of before in +private, and now made public by prophecy. The astrologer, by skilful +management <a name="Page_386" id="Page_386"></a>of friends, and some lies of his own, got off without damage +to himself.</p> + +<p>At the close of the first day's proceedings in committee, as the +sergeant-at-arms was carrying Lilly away, he was commanded to bring him +into the committee room again. 'Oliver Cromwell, lieutenant-general of +the army, having never seen me, caused me to be produced again, where he +steadfastly beheld me for a good space, and then I went with the +messenger.' This first meeting was, it appears, the only one, for Lilly +speaks of no other; but Cromwell spoke a good word for him that same +night, and was ever after rather friendly to him, or at least tolerant +of him. The lieutenant-general, looking fixedly at this man 'for a good +space,' saw nothing very bad in him; and knowing that his prophecies +favored the good cause, he, a man of strong, practical sense, was +willing to let him work as one of the influences of that time.</p> + +<p>This was not Lilly's only appearance before Parliament; sixteen years +later we shall find him there again; but of that at its time; and we +will look first at some of his doings in the interim. With another +general our astrologer had a meeting too, but with him—General +Fairfax—there was talk, not so full of meaning to me as the silence of +Cromwell. 'There being,' says Lilly, 'in those times, some smart +difference between the army and Parliament, the headquarters of the army +were at Windsor, whither I was carried with a coach and four horses, and +John Boker (an astrologer) with me. We were welcomed thither, and +feasted in a garden where General Fairfax lodged. We were brought to the +general, who bid us kindly welcome to Windsor.' Lilly tells what Fairfax +said, and what he himself said in reply; but if these speeches were all +that was there said and done, the coach and four, and the time spent, +seem to me wasteful. The speeches ended, 'we departed, and went to visit +Mr. Peters (Hugh Peters), the minister, who lodged in the castle; whom +we found reading an idle pamphlet come from London that morning.' He +said—what gives proof, if proof be needed, that there was idle talk +current in that time, as indeed there is in all times.</p> + +<p>Our astrologer, professing a high art, standing above the common level, +did not give 'up to party what was meant for mankind.' The stars look +down, from their high places, on sublunary things, with a sublime +indifference; and he, their interpreter, was at the service of all +comers, or of all who could pay. Many came to him; among others came +'Madam Whorwood,' from King Charles, who intended to escape from Hampton +Court, where he was held prisoner by the army. She came to inquire 'in +what quarter of this nation he (the king) might be most safe?' Lilly, +after 'erection of his figure,' said, 'about twenty miles from London, +and in Essex,' 'he might continue undisturbed;' but the poor king, +misguided by himself, or others, 'went away in the night time westward, +and surrendered to Hammond in the Isle of Wight. Twice again, according +to Lilly, Madam Whorwood came to him, asking advice and assistance for +the king. This Madam Whorwood I have not met with elsewhere in my +reading, and the name may be a fictitious one; but that King Charles, in +his straits, sought aid of William Lilly, who by repute could read the +stars, is not improbable. In 1648, Lilly gave to the council of state +'some intelligence out of France,' which he got by means not +astrological, or in any way supernatural; and the council thereupon gave +him 'in money fifty pounds, and a pension of one hundred pounds per +annum,' which he received for two years, 'but no more.'</p> + +<p>So Lilly, whose business as astrological prophet brought him into close +contact with many kinds of men—men of all parties and sects—went on +getting information of all, and by all kinds <a name="Page_387" id="Page_387"></a>of means; and imparting it +again to all who had need; but always he had an eye to the 'main +chance,' and provided well for himself. With each of his three wives he +got money. The second one, who, as we remember, 'was of the nature of +Mars,' died in February, 1654, and the bereaved man says that he +thereupon 'shed no tear;' which we can well believe. Dry eyed, or with +only such moisture as comes of joy, he, within eight months after the +departure of Mrs. Mars, took another to his bosom, one who, he says, 'is +signified in my nativity by Jupiter in Libra, and she is so totally in +her conditions, to my great comfort.'</p> + +<p>After the Restoration, Lilly was apprehended and committed to the Gate +House. 'I was had,' he says, 'into the guard room, which I thought to be +hell: some therein were sleeping, others swearing, others smoking +tobacco. In the chimney of the room I believe there were two bushels of +broken tobacco-pipes, and almost half one load of ashes.' A sad time and +place: but his 'old friend, Sir Edward Walker, garter king-at-arms,' +made interest for him in the right quarters, and he was released from +the place he 'thought to be hell.' In 1660 he sued out his pardon for +all offences 'under the broad seal of England.'</p> + +<p>Of Lilly's religion (so called) there is not much to be said: in early +life he 'leaned to Puritanism,' as we have been told, and he probably +leaned on that so long as he could find support in it; but after the +Restoration (in 1663) he was made churchwarden of Walton-upon-Thames, +and settled 'the affairs of that distracted parish' as well as he could; +and upon leaving the place, 'forgave them seven pounds' which was due to +him.</p> + +<p>Soon after this, when the great plague of 1665 came upon London, Lilly +gave up business there and retired into the country to his wife and +family, and continued there for the remainder of his life; going up to +the great city occasionally to visit his friends, or on calls to +business in his special line: one call from a high quarter came to him +in this shape:</p> + +<p class='author'> +'Monday, 22<i>d October</i>, 1666.<br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>At the committee appointed to inquire after the causes of the late +fires:</p> + +<p>'<i>Ordered</i>, That Mr. Lilly attend the committee on Friday next, +being the 25th day of October, at two o'clock in the afternoon, in +the speaker's chamber, to answer such questions as shall be then +and there asked him. </p></div> + +<p class='author'> +'<span class="smcap">Robert Brooke</span>.'<br /> +</p> + +<p>The question before Parliament was in relation to the great fire in +London: 'as to the causes of the late fire; whether there might be any +design therein;' and Lilly was supposed to know something about that +matter, because he, in his book or pamphlet entitled 'Monarchy or no +Monarchy,' published in 1651, had printed on page seventh a hieroglyphic +'representing a great sickness and mortality, wherein you may see the +representation of people in their winding sheets, persons digging graves +and sepultures, coffins, etc.;' and on another page another hieroglyphic +representing a fire: two twins topsy-turvy, and back to back, falling +headlong into a fire. 'The twins signify Gemini, a sign in astrology +which rules London:' all around stand figures, male and female, pouring +liquids (oil or water?) on the flames. When, therefore, the great fire +of 1666 followed the plague of the preceding year, these hieroglyphics +again attracted attention, and the maker of them was called before +Parliament to declare if he, who had foreseen these events, could see +into them, and give any explanation of their causes. But Lilly was +prudent: to the question, 'Did you foresee the year of the fire?' he +replied: 'I did not; nor was I desirous; of that I made no scrutiny.' As +to the cause of the fire, he said: 'I have taken much pains in the +search thereof, but cannot, or could not, give myself any the least +satisfaction therein: I conclude that it was only the finger of<a name="Page_388" id="Page_388"></a> God; +but what instruments he used therein I am ignorant.'</p> + +<p>That William Lilly, who, as we have seen, was twice called before +Parliament and questioned, attracted much attention elsewhere by his +prophecies and publications, there can be no doubt; and his books found +many readers. Their titles, so far as known to us, are as follows: +'Supernatural Insight;' 'The White King's Prophecy;' 'The Starry +Messenger;' 'A Collection of Prophecies;' an introduction to astrology, +called, 'Christian Astrology;' 'The World's Catastrophe;' 'The +Prophecies of Merlin, with a Key thereto;' 'Trithemius of the Government +of the World by the Presiding Angels;' 'A Treatise of the Three Suns +seen the preceding winter,' which was the winter of 1648; 'An +Astronomical Judgment;' 'Annus Tenebrosus;' 'Merlinus Anglicus,' a kind +of astrological almanac, published annually for many years, containing +many prophecies—a work which got extensive circulation, 'the Anglicus +of 1658 being translated into the language spoken in Hamburg, printed +and cried about the streets as it is in London;' and his 'Majesty of +Sweden,' of whom 'honorable mention' was made in Anglicus, sent to the +author of it 'a gold chain and a medal worth about fifty pounds.'</p> + +<p>Of these books made by Lilly, we, having little knowledge, indeed none +at all of the most of them, do not propose to speak; but one who has +looked into the 'Introduction to Astrology' can say that it has +something of method and completeness, and he can readily conceive how +Lilly, studying astrology through long years very diligently, then +practising it, instructing other men in it, writing books about it, +could have himself some kind of belief in it; such belief at least as +many men have in the business they study, practise, and get fame and +pudding by. Consider, too, how his belief in his art must have been +strengthened and confirmed by the belief of other men in it; able men of +former times, and respectable men of his own time. Indeed we will say of +astrology generally that it is a much better thing than the spiritualism +of this present day, with its idle rappings and silly mediums.</p> + +<p>We have named some of Lilly's friends—those only of whom we happened to +have some knowledge; but he had many friends, or many acquaintances—a +large circle of them. There were 'astrologers' feasts' in those days, +held monthly or oftener. Ashmole (called, by a more than ordinary +impulse of spirit, Elias) makes record in his Diary: 'Aug. 1, 1650, the +astrologers' feast at Painter's Hall, where I dined;' 'Oct. 31, the +astrologers' feast;' and other entries there are to the same effect. +Some ten years after, Lilly seems to have had these festivals, or +similar ones, in his own house; and on the 24th October, 1660, one +Pepys, well known to literary men, 'passed the evening at Lilly's house, +where he had a club of his friends.'<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>Thus far, namely, to the year 1666, Lilly brought the history of his +life: and in the continuation of it by another hand, we learn that in +the country at Horsham, near London, 'he betook himself to the study of +physic;' and in 1670, his old and influential friend, Mr. Ashmole, got +for him from the archbishop of Canterbury a license for the practice of +it. 'Hereupon he began to practise more openly and with good success; +and every Saturday rode to Kingston, where the poorer sort flocked to +him from several parts, and received much benefit by his advice and +prescriptions, which he gave them freely and without money. From those +that were more able he now and then received a shilling, and sometimes a +half crown, if they offered it to him; otherwise he received nothing; +and in truth his charity toward poor people was very great, no less than +the care <a name="Page_389" id="Page_389"></a>and pains he took in considering and weighing their particular +cases, and applying proper remedies to their infirmities, which gained +him extraordinary credit and estimation.' So William Lilly lived at +Horsham, publishing his 'astronomical judgments' yearly, and helping as +he could the poor there and in the neighborhood, till the 9th day of +June, 1681, when he died. The 'great agony' of his diseases, which were +complicated, he bore 'without complaint.' 'Immediately before his breath +went from him, he sneezed three times;' which, we will hope, cleared his +head of some nonsense.</p> + +<p>In the judgment of his contemporaries, this William Lilly, astrologer, +was, as we can see, 'a respectable man.' Such judgment, however, is +never conclusive; for the time clement is always a deceptive one; and, +as all navigators know, the land which looms high in the atmosphere of +to-day does often, in the clearer atmosphere of other days, prove to be +as flat as a panecake: but we must say of Lilly, that though +unfortunately an impostor, he was really rather above the common level +of mankind—a little hillock, if only of conglomerate or pudding stone: +for, in his pamphlet entitled 'Observations on the Life and Times of +Charles I,' where he, looking away from the stars and treating of the +past, is more level to our judgment, he is still worth reading; and does +therein give a more impartial and correct character of that unhappy king +than can be found in any other contemporary writing; agreeing well with +the best judgments of this present time, and showing Lilly to be a man +of ability above the common. On the whole, we will say of him, that he +was the product of a mother who was good for something, and of a father +who was good for nothing, or next to that; that with such parentage, and +under such circumstances as we have seen, he became an astrologer, the +best of his kind in that time.</p> + +<p>It would be easy to institute other moral reflections, and to pass +positive judgment on the man: but instead thereof I will place here two +questions:</p> + +<p><i>First</i>: Did William Lilly, in the eighteenth year of his age, need +anything except a little cash capital to enable him to go up to the +university and become a respectable clergyman of the Church of England, +or the minister of some dissenting congregation, if he had liked that +better?</p> + +<p><i>Second</i>: When this impostor and the clergymen, who as boys stood +together in the same form of the school at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, come +together before the judgment bar of the Most High, will the Great Judge +say to each of the clergymen: Come up hither; and to the impostor: +Depart, thou cursed?</p> + +<p>'A fool,' it is said, 'may ask questions which wise men cannot answer;' +and the writer, having done his part in asking, leaves the more +difficult part for the consideration of the reader.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3><p><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390"></a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The Lives of those eminent Antiquaries, Elias Ashmole, +Esquire, and Mr. William Lilly, written by themselves; containing first, +William Lilly's History of his Life and Times, with Notes by Mr Ashmole; +secondly, Lilly's Life and Death of Charles I; and lastly, the Life of +Elias Ashmole, Esq., by way of Diary, etc. London, 1774.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Lilly's Life and Death of King Charles I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The Lives of those eminent Antiquaries, Ellas Ashmole and +William Lilly, &c. London, 1774.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> See Pepys' Diary and Correspondence. London, 1858. Vol. i, +p. 116.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The reader will find this question already answered in the +pages of holy writ: 'For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his +Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to +his works.'—<i>Matt</i>, xvi, 27.—<span class="smcap">Ed. Con</span>.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="JEFFERSON_DAVIS_REPUDIATION_RECOGNITION_AND_SLAVERY" id="JEFFERSON_DAVIS_REPUDIATION_RECOGNITION_AND_SLAVERY"></a>JEFFERSON DAVIS—REPUDIATION, RECOGNITION, AND SLAVERY.</h3> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">letter no. ii, from hon. robert j walker.</span></h4> + +<p class='author'> +<span class="smcap">London, 10 Half Moon Street, Piccadily</span>}<br /> +<i>July 30th, 1863.</i> }<br /> +</p> + +<p>In my publication of the 1st inst., it was proved by the two letters of +Mr. Jefferson Dans of the 25th May, 1849, and 29th August, 1849, that he +had earnestly advocated the repudiation of the bonds of the State of +Mississippi issued to the Union Bank. It was then shown that the High +Court of Errors and Appeals of Mississippi, the tribunal designated by +the Constitution of the State, had <i>unanimously</i> decided that these +bonds were constitutional and valid, and that more than seven years +thereafter, Mr. Jefferson Davis had nevertheless sustained the +repudiation of those bonds.</p> + +<p>In his letter before quoted, of the 23d March last, Mr. Slidell, the +minister of Jefferson Davis at Paris, says, 'There is a wide difference +between these (Union) bonds and those of the Planters' Bank, for the +repudiation of which neither excuse nor palliation can be offered.' And +yet I shall now proceed to prove, that Mr. Jefferson Davis did not only +<i>palliate and excuse</i>, but justified the repudiation, in fact, of those +bonds by the State of Mississippi. First, then, has Mississippi +repudiated those bonds? The principal and interest now due on those +bonds exceed $5,000,000 (£1,000,000), and yet, for a quarter of a +century, the State has not paid one dollar of principal or interest. 2. +The State, by act of the Legislature (ch. 17), referred the question of +taxation for the payment of those bonds to the vote of the people, and +their decision was adverse. As there was no fund available for the +payment, except one to be derived from taxation, this popular vote (to +which the question was submitted by the Legislature) was a decision of +the State for repudiation, and against payment. 3. The State, at one +time (many years after the sale of the bonds), had made them receivable +in purchase of certain State lands, but, as this was 'at three times its +current value,' as shown by the London <i>Times</i>, in its article +heretofore quoted by me, this was only another form of repudiation. 4. +When a few of the bondholders commenced taking small portions of these +lands in payment, because they could get nothing else, the State +repealed the law (ch. 22), and provided no substitute. 5. The State, by +law, deprived the bondholders of the stock of the Planters' Bank +($2,000,000), and of the sinking fund pledged to the purchasers for the +redemption of these bonds when they were sold by the State. Surely there +is here ample evidence of repudiation and bad faith.</p> + +<p>The bonds issued by the State of Mississippi to the Planters' Bank were +based upon a law of the State, and affirmed, by name, in a specific +provision of the State Constitution of 1832. The State, through its +agent, received the money, and loaned it to the citizens of the State, +and the validity of these obligations is conceded by Mr. Slidell and Mr. +Davis.</p> + +<p>These bonds were for $2,000,000, bearing an interest of six per cent. +per annum, and were sold at a premium of 13-1/2 per cent For those +bonds, besides the premium, the State received $2,000,000 of stock of +the Planters' Bank, upon which, up to 1838, the State realized ten per +cent. dividends, being $200,000 per annum. In January, 1841, the +Legislature of Mississippi <i>unanimously</i> adopted resolutions affirm<a name="Page_391" id="Page_391"></a>ing +the validity of these bonds, and the duty of the State to pay them. +(Sen. Jour. 314.)</p> + +<p>In his message to the Legislature of 1843, Governor Tucker says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'On the 1st of January, 1838, the State held stock in the Planters' +Bank for $2,000,000, which stock had, prior to that time, yielded +to the State a dividend of $200,000 per annum. I found also the +first instalment of the bonds issued on account of the Planters' +Bank, $125,000, due and unpaid, as well as the interest for several +years on said bonds.' (Sen. Jour. 25.) </p></div> + +<p>The Planters' Bank (as well as the State), by the express terms of the +law, was bound for the principal and interest of these bonds. Now, in +1839, Mississippi passed an act (Acts, ch. 42), 'to transfer the stock +now held by the State in the Planters' Bank, and invest the same in +stock of the Mississippi Railroad Company.' By the first section of this +act, the Governor was directed to subscribe for $2,000,000 of stock in +the railroad company for the State, and to pay for it by transferring to +the company the Planters' Bank stock, which had been secured to the +State by the sale of the Planters' Bank bonds. The 10th section released +the Planters' Bank from the obligation to provide for the payment of +these bonds or interest. Some enlightened members, including Judge +Gholson, afterward of the Federal Court, protested against this act as +unconstitutional, by impairing the obligation of contracts, and as a +fraud on the bondholders.</p> + +<p>They say in this protest:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'The money which paid for the stock proposed to be transferred from +the Planters' Bank to the Mississippi Railroad Company, was, under +the provisions of the charter, obtained by loans on the part of the +State, for the payment of which the stock, in addition to the faith +of the Government, was pledged to the holders of the bonds of the +State. By the terms of the contract between the commissioners on +the part of the State and the purchasers of the bonds, the interest +on the loans is required to be paid semiannually out of the +semiannual dividends <i>accruing upon the said stock</i>; and the +surplus of such dividends, after paying the said interest, is to be +converted into a <i>sinking fund</i> for the payment and liquidation of +said loans. The bill, as the title purports, simply provides for +the transfer of the stock now held by the State in the Planters' +Bank, and that the same shall be invested in the stock of the +Mississippi Railroad Company, leading from Natchez to Canton, which +has banking privileges to twice the amount of capital stock paid +in. The transferring of the stock and dividend to another +irresponsible corporation, and the appropriation of the same to the +construction of a road, is a violation of and impairing the +obligation of the contract made and entered into with the +purchasers or holders of the bonds of the State, under a solemn act +of the Legislature. If it should be thought that a people, composed +of so much virtue, honor, and chivalry, as the noble and generous +Mississippians, would disdain, and consequently refrain, from +repealing or violating their plighted faith, it may be answered, +that the faith of the State, solemnly and sacredly pledged by an +act of the Legislature, with all the formality and solemnity of a +constitutional law, is violated by the provisions of this very bill +under consideration. The faith of the State is pledged to the +holders of the bonds, by the original and subsequent acts +incorporating the Planters' Bank, as solemnly as national or +legislative pledges can be made, that the stock and dividends +accruing thereon shall be faithfully appropriated to the redemption +and payment of said loans and all interest thereon, as they +respectively become due; the appropriation of this fund to an other +purpose is, therefore, a violation of the faith of the State.' +(House Jour. 443.) </p></div> + +<p>Thus was it, that the stock of the bank, which for so many years had +been yielding a dividend far exceeding the interest on the loan, and +which stock had been pledged for the redemption of the loan, was +diverted to the building of a railroad, which never did or could yield a +single dollar, and the company soon became insolvent. By another clause +of this act of 1839, the Planters' Bank, which, by the loan <a name="Page_392" id="Page_392"></a>act, was +made responsible (together with the State) for the payment of these +bonds, was released from the obligation to make such payments.</p> + +<p>And now, what is the answer of Jefferson Davis on this subject? He says, +in his letter of the 25th May, 1849, before quoted:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'A smaller amount is due for what are termed Planters' Bank bonds +of Mississippi. These evidences of debt, as well as the coupons +issued to cover accruing interest, are receivable for State lands, +and no one has a right to assume they will not be provided for +otherwise, by or before the date at which the whole debt becomes +due.' </p></div> + +<p>To this the London <i>Times</i> replied, in its editorial of the 13th July, +1849, before quoted, as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'The assurance in this statement that the Planters' Bank, or +non-repudiated bonds, are receivable for State lands, requires this +addition, which Mr. Jefferson Davis has omitted, that they are only +so receivable upon land being taken at three times its current +value. The affirmation afterward, that no one has a right to assume +that these bonds will not be fully provided for before the date at +which the principal falls due, is simply to be met by the fact, +that portions of them fell due in 1841 and 1846, and that on these, +as well as on all the rest, both principal and interest remain +wholly unpaid.' </p></div> + +<p>Mr. Davis's 'palliation and excuse' for the non-payment of these bonds +was: 1st. That the principal was not due. If this were true, it would be +no excuse for the non-payment of the semi-annual interest. But the +statement of Jefferson Davis as to the principal was not true, as shown +by the <i>Times</i>, and as is clear upon the face of the law. Then, as to +the lands. The bonds, principal aid interest, were payable in money, and +it was a clear case of repudiation to substitute lands. But when, as +stated by the <i>Times</i>, this land was only receivable '<i>at three times +its current value</i>,' Mr. Davis's defence of the repudiation of the +Planters' Bank bonds by Mississippi, is exposed in all its deformity. +When, however, we reflect, as heretofore shown, that the law authorizing +the purchase of these lands by these bonds was repealed, and the +bondholders left without any relief, and the proposition for taxation to +pay the bonds definitively rejected, it is difficult to imagine a case +more atrocious than this.</p> + +<p>The whole debt, principal and interest, now due by the State of +Mississippi, including the Planters' and Union Bank bonds, exceeds +$11,250,000 (£2,250,000). Not a dollar of principal or interest has been +paid by the State for more than a fourth of a century on any of these +bonds. The repudiation is complete and final, so long as slavery exists +in Mississippi. Now, would it not seem reasonable that, before +Mississippi and the other Confederate States, including Florida and +Arkansas, ask another loan from Europe, they should first make some +provision for debts now due, or, at least, manifest a disposition to +make some arrangement for it at some future period. If a debtor fails to +meet his engagements, especially if he repudiates them on false and +fraudulent pretexts, he can borrow no more money, and the same rule +surely should apply to states or nations. Nor can any pledge of property +not in possession of such a borrower, or, if so, not placed in the hands +of the lender, change the position. It is (even if the power to pay +exists) still a question of good faith, and where that has been so often +violated, all subsequent pledges or promises should be regarded as +utterly worthless.</p> + +<p>The <i>Times</i>, in reference to the repudiation of its Union Bank bonds by +Mississippi, and the justification of that act by Jefferson Davis, says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'Let it circulate throughout Europe that a member of the United +States Senate in 1849 has openly proclaimed, that at a recent +period the Governor and legislative assemblies of his own State +deliberately issued fraudulent bonds for five millions of dollars +to 'sustain the credit of a rickety bank;' <a name="Page_393" id="Page_393"></a>that, the bonds in +question having been hypothecated abroad to innocent holders, such +holders have not only no claim against the community by whose +executive and representatives this act was committed, but that they +are to be taunted for appealing to the verdict of the civilized +world rather than to the judgment of the legal officers of the +State by whose functionaries they have been already robbed; and +that the ruin of toil-worn men, of women, of widows, and of +children, and the 'crocodile tears' which that ruin has occasioned, +is a subject of jest on the part of those by whom it has been +accomplished; and then let it be asked if any foreigner ever penned +a libel on the American character equal to that against the people +of Mississippi by their own Senator.' </p></div> + +<p>Such was the opinion then expressed by the London <i>Times</i> of Jefferson +Davis and of the repudiation advocated by him. It was denounced as +<i>robbery</i>, 'the ruin of toil-worn men, of women, of widows, and of +children.' And what is to be thought of the '<i>faith</i>' of a so-called +Government, which has chosen this repudiator as their chief, and what of +the value of the Confederate bonds now issued by him? Why, the legal +tender notes of the so-called Confederate Government, fundable in a +stock bearing eight per cent, interest, is now worth in gold at their +own capital of Richmond, less than ten cents on the dollar (2<i>s.</i>, on +the pound), whilst in two thirds of their territory such notes are +utterly worthless; and it is <span class="smcap">treason</span> for any citizen of the +United States, North or South, or any <span class="smcap">alien</span> resident there, to +deal in them, or in Confederate bonds, or in the cotton pledged for +their payment. No form of Confederate bonds, or notes, or stock, will +ever be recognized by the Government of the United States, and the +cotton pledged by slaveholding traitors for the payment of the +Confederate bonds is all forfeited for treason, and confiscated to the +Federal Government by act of Congress. As our armies advance, this +cotton is either burned by the retreating rebel troops, or seized by our +forces, and shipped and sold from time to time, for the benefit of the +Federal Government. By reference to the census of 1860, it will be seen +that three fourths of the whole cotton crop was raised in States (now +held by the Federal army and navy) touching the Mississippi and its +tributaries, and all the other ports are either actually held or +blockaded by the Federal forces. The traitor pledge of this cotton is, +then, wholly unavailing; the bonds are utterly worthless; they could not +be sold at any price in the United States, and those who force them on +the London market, in the language of the <i>Times</i>, before quoted, will +only accomplish '<i>the ruin of toil-worn, men, of women, of widows, and +of children</i>.'</p> + +<p>But the advocacy of repudiation by Jefferson Davis has not been confined +to his own State, as I shall proceed to demonstrate in my next letter.</p> + +<p class='author'><span class="smcap">R.J. Walker</span>.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394"></a></p> +<h3><a name="DIARY_OF_FRANCES_KRASINSKA" id="DIARY_OF_FRANCES_KRASINSKA"></a>DIARY OF FRANCES KRASINSKA.</h3> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">or, life in poland during the eighteenth century</span>,</h4> + +<p class='author'> +Tuesday, <i>March 19th</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>The Prince and Princess Lubomirski left us about half an hour ago; they +had decided upon going yesterday, but my father told them that Monday +was an unfortunate day, and fearing that this argument would not possess +sufficient weight, he ordered the wheels to be taken off their carriage.</p> + +<p>They overwhelmed me with kindness during their sojourn in the castle; +the princess, especially, treated me with great affability. Both she and +the prince take a deep interest in my future lot; they endeavored to +persuade my parents to send me to Warsaw to finish my education.</p> + +<p>A foreigner, Miss Strumle, who, however, receives universally the title +of madame, has recently opened a young ladies' boarding school in +Warsaw. This school enjoys a high reputation, and all the young ladies +of distinction are sent there to finish their education. It is the same +for a young lady to have been some time at Madame Strumle's as for a +young gentlemen to have been at Luneville. The prince palatine advised +my mother to send me for a year to Madame Strumle. My parents prefer the +Sisters of the Holy Sacrament; they say that nothing can be better than +a convent.</p> + +<p>I do not know what will be their final decision, but I feel restless and +agitated. I no longer find pleasure in my reading; my work is tedious to +me, and not so well executed as formerly; the future occupies my mind +much more than the present; in short, I am in a constant state of +excitement, as if awaiting some great event. Since the visit of the +prince and princess I have an entirely different opinion of myself, and +I am by no means so happy as I was before....In truth, I no longer +understand myself.</p> + + +<p class='author'> +Sunday, <i>March 24th</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Ah! God be praised, my suspense is over, and we leave day after +to-morrow for Warsaw. My parents have been suddenly called there on +matters of business connected with the recent death of my uncle, Blaise +Krasinski, who has left a large fortune and no children. I do not yet +know whether I am to be placed at a boarding school or not, but I +believe it will be a long time before I return to Maleszow.</p> + +<p>Ah! how happy the idea of this journey makes me! We will go a little out +of our way, that we may stop at Sulgostow. Her ladyship the starostine +has at length, after a very agreeable tour, returned to her palace. The +starost has introduced her to all his cousins, friends, and neighbors; +she was everywhere admirably received, and will now settle down in her +own mansion, at which prospect she is very well pleased; she has all the +necessary qualifications for becoming a good housekeeper. The Palatine +Swidzinski spoke of her so affectionately in one of his letters that my +parents wept hot tears, but tears of joy, so sweet and go rare. Barbara +has always been a source of happiness to her parents.</p> + +<p class='author'> +Warsaw, Sunday, <i>April 7th</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>I can scarcely believe it, but here I am fairly installed in Madame +Strumle's famous boarding school. The princess palatine's advice has +prevailed, and Madame Strumle has received the preference over the +Sisters of the Holy Sacrament. God be praised, for I really was very +anxious to come here. I received a most flattering reception.</p> + +<p>On our way to Warsaw we stopped at Sulgustow. We found her ladyship <a name="Page_395" id="Page_395"></a>the +starostine gay and most hospitable; the presence of our dear parents +filled the measure of her happiness. She assured me that the delight of +receiving one's parents in one's own house could be neither expressed +nor understood. 'You must yourself experience it,' added she, 'before +you can form any idea of it.'</p> + +<p>On the table were all the dishes, confections, and beverages preferred +by our parents. Barbara forgot nothing which could be agreeable to them, +and the starost aided her wonderfully in all her efforts. My mother +remarked that Barbara was still better since her marriage than before, +to which the starost replied:</p> + +<p>'Indeed, she is no better, for thus did I receive her from the hands of +your highnesses. But she gladly profits by the present opportunity to +testify her gratitude; she shows here those lovely and precious +qualities which you have cultivated in her soul, and during the past +three days she has been for her parents what she is every day for me.'</p> + +<p>There was no flattery in what the starost said—it came really from his +heart. He adores Barbara, and she respects, honors, and obeys him as if +he were her father.</p> + +<p>She understands perfectly the whole management of a household, and does +the honors of her mansion most gracefully. Every one praises her, and +the young ladies and waiting women who followed her from Maleszow are +delighted with their new position.</p> + +<p>My parents regretted the necessity of parting from their daughter; they +would willingly have remained longer; but I must confess I was very +anxious to see Warsaw, and was charmed when they received letters +obliging them to hasten their departure.</p> + +<p>It was really a true instinct which gave me a preference for this place. +I study well, and must improve. My education will be complete, and I may +perhaps become a superior woman, as I have always desired to do; but I +need much study and close application to bring me to that point; above +all, must I chain my wandering fancies, and not suffer them to stray +about so vaguely as I have hitherto done.</p> + +<p>Yesterday my mother came to take me to church. I made my confession, and +communed for the intention of using well the new acquirements which I +have now the opportunity of making.</p> + +<p>When I am well established here, I will write in my journal every day as +I did at Maleszow; but I am still in a state of excitement from all I +have seen, and I must first become better acquainted with my new +dwelling.</p> + +<p class='author'> +Wednesday, <i>April 17 th</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>I am already quite familiar with all the regulations of the school. I am +very well pleased with Madame Strumle; she has excellent manners, and is +very kind to me. I might perhaps regret our court, the magnificence, +bustle, and gayety of our castle, but there comes a time for everything, +and we live here very happily and comfortably.</p> + +<p>That which seems most strange and entirely new to me is, that there is +not even a little boy in the house, no men servants, women always, and +only women; they wait upon us even at table.</p> + +<p>There are about fifteen boarders, all young, and belonging to the best +families.</p> + +<p>Every one speaks highly of Miss Marianne, the Starost Swidzinski's +sister, now married to the Castellan of Polaniec; she spent two years at +the school, and has left an ineffaceable impression in the hearts of +Madame Strumle and her young companions. They say she was very +accomplished, very good and sensible, very gay, and very studious.</p> + +<p>My parents, after having made a thorough examination of the school, felt +quite satisfied; and truly they might well be so, for no one could be +more securely guarded in a convent <a name="Page_396" id="Page_396"></a>than here. Madame keeps the key of +the front door always in her pocket; no one can go out or come in +without her knowledge, and were it not for two or three aged masters of +music and the languages, we might be in danger of forgetting the very +existence of <i>man</i>-kind.</p> + +<p>It is expressly forbidden to receive visits even from one's male cousins +within the walls of the school. The dancing master desired that the +young potockis should come and learn quadrilles with their sisters and +myself, but madame rejected this proposition at once, saying, 'These +gentlemen are not the brothers of all my boarders, and I cannot permit +them to enter my school.'</p> + +<p>We have masters in French and German, as also in drawing, music, and +embroidery. We learn music on a fine piano of five octaves and a half. +What an improvement on that of Maleszow! Some of the scholars play +polonaises very well, but not by rote; they read them from the notes. My +master tells me that in six months I will have reached this perfection; +but then I already had some ideas of music when I came.</p> + +<p>I draw quite well from the patterns set before me, but ere I proceed any +further, I wish to paint a tree in oil colors. On one of the branches I +will hang a garland of flowers, encircling the cypher of my parents, and +will thus testify to them my gratitude for all they have done for me, +and especially for the care they have bestowed upon my education.</p> + +<p>The young Princess Sapieha, who has been here a year, is at present +employed upon such a picture, and I envy her her pleasure every time my +eyes fall upon the work.</p> + +<p>What a fine effect my picture will make in our hall at Maleszow, beneath +the portrait of our good uncle, the Bishop of Kamieniec!</p> + +<p>Our dancing master, besides the minuet and quadrilles, teaches us to +walk and courtesy gracefully. To tell the truth, I was so ignorant when +I came, that I knew but one mode of making a salutation; but there are +several kinds, which must be employed toward personages of different +ranks; one for the king, another for the princes of the blood, and still +another for lords and ladies of rank.</p> + +<p>I learned first how to salute the prince royal, and succeeded quite +well; some day, perhaps, this knowledge may be useful to me.</p> + +<p>My lessons follow one another regularly, and I am so anxious to learn +that the time passes rapidly and agreeably.</p> + +<p>My mother is very much occupied with family affairs, and has been only +once to see me.</p> + +<p>When I first entered the school, everything surprised me, but what +seemed to me most strange was that I was continually reproved, and even +obliged to undergo real penance. An iron cross was placed at my back to +make me hold myself upright, and my limbs were enclosed in a kind of +wooden box, to straighten them. I must however think that they were +already quite straight enough. All that was not very amusing for me, who +thought myself already a young lady. Since Barbara's marriage I had +myself been asked in marriage, and the prince palatine had not treated +me as if I were a child!</p> + +<p>Madame Strumle has commanded me to omit in future these words from my +prayers: 'O my God, give me a good husband,' and to say instead, 'Give +me the grace to profit by the good education I am receiving.'</p> + +<p>One must here work continually, or think of one's work, and of nothing +else.</p> + +<p class='author'> +Sunday, <i>April 28th</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>I have been nearly three weeks at Madame Strumle's school, and my poor +journal has been quite neglected during all that time; but the +uniformity of my life, these monotonous hours, all passed in the +constant repetition of the <a name="Page_397" id="Page_397"></a>same occupations, afford no matter for +interesting details or descriptions.</p> + +<p>At this very moment, when I hold the pen in my hand, I am ready to lay +it down, so great is the poverty of my observations.</p> + +<p>My parents will soon leave. The princess palatiness has honored me with +a visit; she remarked that my carriage was much improved. My masters are +all satisfied with the closeness of my application. Madame is especially +kind to me, and my companions are polite and friendly.... But is all +this worth the trouble of writing?</p> + +<p>I sometimes fancy that I am not really in Warsaw, so ignorant am I with +regard to all political events. I have seen neither the king nor the +royal family. At Maleszow we at least hear the news, and occasionally +see Borne distinguished men.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Courland is absent, and will not return for some time.</p> + +<p class='author'> +Sunday, <i>June 9th</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>If I were to live forever in this school, I should give up writing in my +journal, and it really serves one very valuable purpose; for I find I am +in great danger of forgetting Polish. With the exception of the letters +I write to my parents, and the few words I say to my maid, I always +write and speak French.</p> + +<p>I progress in all my studies, and if I am sometimes melancholy, at least +my time is not lost.</p> + +<p>The princess palatiness has again been to see me. A month had passed +since her last visit; she found me considerably taller, and was kind +enough to praise my manners and bearing.</p> + +<p>I am the tallest of all our boarders, and it really pleases me +exceedingly to find that my waist is not quite a half yard round.</p> + +<p>Summer has come, the fine weather has returned, but I cannot go out—a +privation which is really quite vexatious. Ah! how I wish I were a +little bird! I would fly away, far away—and then I would return to my +cage.</p> + +<p>But my days and my nights must all be spent in this dull house and in +this ugly street; I believe that Cooper street (ulika Bednarska) is the +darkest, dingiest, and dirtiest street in Warsaw. God willing, next year +I shall be no longer here.</p> + +<p class='author'> +Friday, <i>July 28th</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Labor has at least the good quality of making the time pass more +rapidly; our days vanish one by one, without distractions or news from +without.</p> + +<p>I just now felt a desire to write in my journal, and when I consulted +the almanac to find out the day of the month, I was quite surprised to +find that seven whole weeks had passed since I had written a single word +in my poor diary.</p> + +<p>This day certainly deserves to be noted down, for never since I was born +did such a thing happen to me as I experienced this morning. I received +a letter by the mail, and the world is no longer ignorant that the +Countess Frances Krasinska is now living in Warsaw! I danced with joy +when I saw my letter, my own letter! It came from her ladyship, the +Starostine Swidzinska; I shall keep it as a precious and delightful +remembrance. My sister writes to me that she is quite well, and happy +beyond all I can imagine; she was kind enough to send me four gold +ducats, which she has saved from her own private purse.</p> + +<p>For the first time in my life I have money to spend as I will, which +gives me great pleasure. With the money came the desire to spend, and a +variety of projects; it seemed to me as if I could buy the whole city.</p> + +<p>Thanks to my parents, I need nothing, and I will buy nothing for myself; +but I would have liked to leave a pretty remembrance to each of my +companions, a gold ring, for example; but madame quite distressed me by +telling me that my four ducats would only buy four rings-a real +affliction to me, <a name="Page_398" id="Page_398"></a>who had hope to purchase, besides the rings, a blonde +mantle for Madame Strumle herself.... All my projects are overturned; I +have learned that the mantle will cost at least a hundred ducats, and +have thence determined to give one ducat to the parish church, to have a +mass said in the chapel of Jesus to draw the blessing of Heaven upon the +affairs now occupying my parents, and for the continuation of the +happiness of her ladyship the starostine. I will have another ducat +changed into small coin, to be distributed among all the servants in the +house; there will still remain two ducats, which will buy a charming +collation for my companions on Sunday next. We will have coffee, an +excellent beverage, which we never see here, cakes, and fruit. Madame +Strumle willingly consented to this last project.</p> + +<p>May God reward my dear starostine for the happiness she has bestowed +upon me! There can be no greater pleasure than that of making presents +and regaling one's friends. If I am anxious to have a husband richer +than I am myself, it is solely that I may be very generous.</p> + +<p>I am not losing my time; I improve daily. I can already play several +minuets and cotillons from the notes, and will soon learn a polonaise. +The most fashionable one just now has a very strange name; it is called +the Thousand Fiends.</p> + +<p>In one month more I shall begin my tree in oil colors, with its +allegoric garland.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding my more serious studies, I by no means neglect my little +feminine occupations. I am embroidering on canvas a huntsman carrying a +gun, and holding his hound by a leash.</p> + +<p>I read a great deal, I write under dictation, I copy good works, an +excellent method of forming one's own style. I speak French quite as +well as Polish, perhaps even better; in short, I think I will soon be +fitted to make my appearance in the best society.</p> + +<p>As for dancing, I need scarcely say that that progresses wonderfully; my +master, who has no reason to flatter me, assures me that in all Warsaw +no one dances better than I do.</p> + +<p>I occasionally visit the Prince and Princess Lubomirski, but at times +when they have no company. I always hear there many agreeable and +flattering things, especially from the prince. He is desirous that I +should leave school now, but the princess and my parents wish me to +remain here during the winter. It is now only the end of July! How many +hours and days must pass before the winter sets in! Will that time ever +come?</p> + +<p class='author'> +Thursday, <i>December 26th</i><br /> +</p> + +<p>Finally, God be praised, the time has come for leaving school; a new +existence is opening before me; my journal will be overflowing, and I +shall have no lack of matter, but plenty of charming things to say.</p> + +<p>The prince and princess are so kind to me; they have obtained permission +from my parents for me to pass the winter with them, and they will +introduce me into society. I shall leave this place day after to-morrow, +and will reside with the Princess Lubomirska. I am quite sorry to part +from Madame Strumle and my companions, to many of whom I am sincerely +attached, but my joy is greater than my sorrow, for I shall see the +world, and fly away from this narrow cage.</p> + +<p>I shall be taken to court and presented to the king and the royal +family; the Duke of Courland is expected daily; I shall see him at last!</p> + +<p>The days have become intolerably long since I knew I was to leave +school.</p> + + +<p class='author'> +<span class="smcap">warsaw</span>, Saturday, <i>December 28th. 1759</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Never, never can I forget this day. The Princess Lubomirska came for me +quite early. I bade adieu to Madame Strumle and my companions. I was +glad to go, and yet I wept when I parted from them!</p> + +<p><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399"></a>Before going to her own house, the princess took me to church; but I +could scarcely force my recollection; there was a whole future in my +brain, a whole world in my thoughts.</p> + +<p>I am now established with the princess; her palace is situated in the +quarter named after Cracow, nearly opposite to the residence of the +Prince Palatine of Red-Russia, Czartoryski.</p> + +<p>The palace in which we live is not very large, but very elegant; the +windows upon one side overlook the Vistula and a handsome garden. My +chamber is delightful, and will be still more agreeable in summer; it +communicates on the right with the apartments of the princess, and on +the left with my waiting maid's room.</p> + +<p>The tailor came yesterday to take my measure; he is to make me several +dresses. I do not know what they will be, as the princess has ordered +them without consulting my taste. She inspires me with so much respect, +or perhaps awe, that I do not venture to ask her the least question. I +am much less afraid of the prince; his manners are so gentle and +engaging. He has gone to Bialystok, where he expects to meet the Duke of +Courland; he is in high favor with the duke.</p> + +<p>We are to make some visits to-morrow, when the princess will introduce +me into some of the most distinguished houses; one must thus make one's +appearance, if one desires to be invited to balls and parties. I am +glad, and yet I am a little frightened at the idea of these visits: I +shall be so looked at, perhaps criticized; however, I shall see many new +things and will have much to observe, which thought affords me much +consolation in my new and trying position.</p> + +<p class='author'> +Sunday, <i>December 29th</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>At least, now I have some news to tell, and my journal will no longer be +so dry and uninteresting. The prince royal, accompanied by the prince +palatine, arrived yesterday about one o'clock. Indeed I am quite +confused by the palatine's overwhelming kindness; he received me as if I +had been his daughter, and there is no kind of friendship or interest +which he has not testified toward me.</p> + +<p>We accomplished our visits and went to about fifteen different houses, +but were not everywhere admitted. At the French and Spanish ambassadors' +and the prince primate's, etc., the princess merely left cards.</p> + +<p>Our first visit was to Madame Humiecka, wife of the swordbearer to the +crown; this lady is my aunt. We then went to see the Princess +Lubomirska, wife of the general of the advance guard of the royal +armies; she is a full cousin to the princess palatine. She was born a +Princess Czartoryska, is very young and very beautiful; she holds the +first rank among the younger ladies, and loves passionately everything +French. I am so glad I am a proficient in the French language; besides +being very useful, it will cause me to be much more sought after in +society.</p> + +<p>French is here spoken in nearly all the more distinguished houses; only +the older men retain the tiresome custom of mingling Latin in their +conversation; the young people avoid this pedantry and speak French, +which is much better; at least, I can understand them, which I cannot +the others.</p> + +<p>We also went to see the wife of the Grand-General Branicki. Her husband +is one of the most wealthy lords of Poland, but is not very favorably +regarded at court.</p> + +<p>We then visited the Princess Czartoryska, Palatiness of Red-Russia. The +conversation there was held entirely in Polish; she is quite aged, and +consequently no admirer of new fashions. She introduced to us her only +son, a very handsome young man, with polished and elegant manners; he +overwhelmed me with the most graceful compliments. This visit was more +agreeable than any of the others. But no—I think I was quite as much +pleased at the palace of the Castellane <a name="Page_400" id="Page_400"></a>of Cracow, Poniatowska. She is +a very superior person; she talks a great deal, it is true, but then she +speaks with enthusiasm and in a very interesting manner. We found her +quite elated with the pleasure of welcoming her son after a long +absence. Many think that this much-loved son may one day be king of +Poland; I do not believe that will ever be, but I did not the less +examine him with great attention. I frankly confess that I was not +pleased with him, and yet he is handsome and amiable; but he has a kind +of stiffness in his manners, a pretension to dignity and to airs of +grandeur, which injure his bearing.</p> + +<p>I must not forget, in enumerating our visits, to mention that paid to +the Palatiness of Podolia, Rzewuska. This visit possessed a doubled +interest for me; I was anxious to see Rzewuski, the vice-grand-general +of the crown, because I had heard my father speak of him so often.</p> + +<p>The vice-grand-general, although belonging to an illustrious family, was +brought up among the children of the common people; he went barefooted +as they did, and shared all their pleasures (very rustic indeed, it +seems to me). This strange education has given him great strength and a +wonderful constitution. He is now quite aged; he is more than fifty +years old, and yet he walks and rides like a young man. Following the +old Polish custom, he permits his beard to grow, and this gives him a +very grave appearance.</p> + +<p>They say he has composed some very fine tragedies. We also called upon +Madame Brühl, who received us most politely. Her husband, the king's +favorite minister, is not much esteemed, but they are visited for the +sake of etiquette, and likewise for that of Madame Brühl, who is very +amiable.</p> + +<p>We saw too Madame Soltyk, Castellane of Sandomir; she is a widow, but +still young and beautiful. Her son is nine years old; he is a charming +child, already possessing all the manners of the best society. As we +entered, he offered me a chair, and made me, at the same time, a very +graceful compliment; the castellane was kind enough to say that he was a +great admirer of pretty faces and black eyes. The Bishop of Cracow is +this child's uncle; he was anxious to have the charge of him, but his +mother was not willing to part with him.</p> + +<p>Of all the persons whom I saw, I was the most pleased with Madame +Moszynska, the widow of the grand-treasurer of the crown. She received +me most affectionately, and I feel a strong attraction toward her. She +expressed much admiration for me; but indeed, I received commendation +everywhere, and everywhere did I hear that I was beautiful. Perhaps I +owe a great part of these praises to my costume; I was so well +dressed! ... much better than at Barbara's wedding! I wore a white silk +dress with gauze flounces, and my hair was dressed with pearls.</p> + +<p>If I had seen the Duke of Courland, I should have been perfectly +satisfied; but I met him in none of the houses to which I went. They say +.e is so happy to be once more with his family that he devotes all his +time to them. This feeling seems very natural to me, for when I was at +boarding school, I was very melancholy whenever I thought of my parents, +and I felt an imperative desire to see them, surpassing anything I had +before experienced.</p> + +<p>The carnival will soon begin; every one says it will be very brilliant, +and that there will be many balls; it is impossible that I should not +somewhere meet the Duke of Courland.</p> + +<p class='author'> +Wednesday, <i>January 1st, 1750</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>All my desires have been gratified, and far beyond my hopes; I have seen +the prince royal! I have seen and spoken to him! ... I must indeed be +dreaming; my mind is filled with the most lively impressions, strange +and wild fancies surge through my brain, and I feel at once exalted and +depressed, transported with joy and <a name="Page_401" id="Page_401"></a>tremulous through fear. I would not +dare to confide to any one that which I am about to write; it is all +perhaps only illusion, deception, error.... But yet, I have always +hitherto judged correctly of the effect which I produced; I +instinctively divined the degree in which I pleased; I have never been +deceived; can I be mistaken now? ... And indeed, why should not a prince +find me beautiful, when all other men tell me that I am so? But there +was more than admiration in the prince royal's eyes, which have a +peculiarly penetrating expression; his look was more kind than ordinary +glances, and said more than any words. Perhaps all princes may be thus!</p> + +<p>But that I may remember during my whole life, or rather that I may one +day read all this again, I will now write down a detailed account of +last evening and of the few hours immediately preceding.</p> + +<p>Yesterday morning the Princess Lubomirska sent for me and said, 'To-day +is the last of the year, and there will be to-night a grand festival, a +masked ball; all the nobility will be there, and even the king and his +sons; at least, I think so. I have selected a dress for you; you will go +as a virgin of the sun.'</p> + +<p>I was so charmed with the choice of this costume, that I kissed the hand +of the princess.</p> + +<p>After dinner all the maids came to assist at my toilet, and most +assuredly it was no ordinary toilet. My hair was not powdered and I wore +no hoop, whence the prince said to me, quite gravely, 'This costume is +not at all in accordance with received notions and fashions; any other +woman would certainly be lost were she to wear it; but I am sure you +will supply by the severity of your deportment and the propriety of your +manners whatever may be lacking in dignity, or too light, in your +dress.'</p> + +<p>I did not forget his advice: notwithstanding my vivacity, I can assume +upon occasion a very majestic air; and indeed, I overheard some one +saying at the ball, 'Who is that queen in disguise?'</p> + +<p>Ah! I know that I was more beautiful than I usually am. My hair, without +powder and black as ebony, fell in curls over my forehead, my neck, and +my shoulders; my dress was made of white gauze, and had not that long +train which hides the feet and impedes the motions. I wore a zone of +gold and precious stones round my waist, and was entirely enveloped in a +transparent white veil; I seemed to be in a cloud. When I looked in my +mirror, I could scarcely recognize myself.</p> + +<p>The ball room, brilliantly lighted, and glittering with gold and the +most gorgeous costumes, presented a dazzling spectacle; the women, +nearly all robed in fancy dresses, were charming; I did not know to +which one I should give the preference.</p> + +<p>A few moments after our arrival, we learned that the Duke of Courland +was in the hall; my eyes sought and found him, surrounded by a brilliant +group of young men. His dress differed but little from that of the lords +of his court; but I could distinguish him among them all. His figure is +tall and dignified, his air noble and affable; his beautiful blue eyes +and his charming smile eclipse all that approach him; where he is, no +one can see anything but himself.</p> + +<p>I looked at him until our eyes met; then I avoided his gaze, but found +it always fixed upon me. But what was my confusion when I understood +that he was asking the Prince Palatine Lubomirski who I was! His face +lighted up with joy when he heard the answer; be made no delay in +approaching the Princess Lubomirska, and saluted her with a grace +peculiar to himself. After the exchange of the preliminary compliments, +the princess introduced me as her niece. I do not know what kind of a +courtesy I made, doubtless quite different from that which I had learned +<a name="Page_402" id="Page_402"></a>from my dancing master; I was so agitated, and still am so much so, +that I cannot remember the words used by the prince as he saluted me; +but the impression is not fugitive like the words.</p> + +<p>What an evening! The prince opened the ball with the princess +palatiness, and danced the second polonaise—with me; he had then time +to speak to me; and I, at first so timid, embarrassed, and agitated, +found myself replying to him with inconceivable assurance. He questioned +me about my parents, my sister the starostine, and all the details of +her marriage. I was surprised to find him so well acquainted with my +family affairs; but then I remembered that Kochanowski, son of the +castellan, is his favorite. What a good, forgiving soul that Kochanowski +must have; not only has he digested the goose dressed with the black +sauce, but he has said so many kind things of us all!</p> + +<p>The prince danced with me nearly the whole evening, and talked all the +time ... The words would seem insignificant and absurd, were I to write +them down; but with him, tone, manner, expression, all speak and say +more than words, and yet his very words signify more, depict better, and +penetrate more deeply than those of others. I keep them in my memory, +and fear to weaken their impression should I write them.</p> + +<p>When, at midnight, the cannon were fired to announce the end of one year +and the beginning of another, the prince said to me, 'Ah! never can I +forget the hours I have just passed; this is not a new year which I am +beginning, but a new life which I am receiving.'</p> + +<p>This is but one of the many things he said to me; but as he always spoke +French, I should find great difficulty, in my present agitated state of +mind, in translating his conversation into Polish.</p> + +<p>All that I have read in Mademoiselle Scudery, or in Madame de Lafayette, +is flat, compared with what the prince himself said to me; but perhaps +this may all be nothing more than simple politeness. Ah! merciful +Heaven, if it should be indeed an illusion, a mere court flattery, +applicable to all women, or, perhaps,—a series of empty compliments, +due solely to my dress, which became me wonderfully well! I am a prey to +the most inconceivable perplexities, and dare confide in no one; I +should not venture to say to any one: 'Has he a real preference for me?'</p> + +<p>My parents are far away, and the princess does not invite my confidence; +I fear her as a cold, severe, and uninterested judge.... The prince +palatine is very kind, but can one expose to a man all the weakness of a +woman's heart? ... I am then abandoned to myself, without a standard of +judgment, without experience or advice.... Yesterday, I was at school, +studying as a child, and now I am thrown into a world entirely new, and +in which I am playing a part envied by all my sex.... I surely dream, or +I have lost my reason.</p> + +<p>In ten days Barbara will be here, and she must be my good angel; she +will guide and protect me: she is so wise, and has so much judgment! I +will be so glad to lay my soul bare before her; I have no fear of her, +she is so compassionate; she is beautiful and happy, and I have always +remarked that such women are the best.</p> + +<p>I have not seen my dear sister for nine months; but I see from her +letters that she is every day more and more loved by her husband, and +satisfied with her destiny.</p> + +<p>Shall I again see the prince royal? Will he recognize me in my ordinary +dress, and will he still think me beautiful?...</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403"></a></p> +<h3><a name="MAIDENS_DREAMING" id="MAIDENS_DREAMING"></a>MAIDEN'S DREAMING.</h3> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Fast the sunset light is fading,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Nearer comes the lonely night,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">On a maid intently dreaming<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Dimly falls the evening light.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Far into the future gazing,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Heeds she not the waning light;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">By the fireside softly dreaming,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Heeds she not the minutes' flight.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Heeds she not the firelight flickering<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Bright upon her dark brown hair,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Tresses where the gold still lingers—<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Loth to quit a home so fair.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">On her lap a book is lying,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Clasped her hands upon her knee;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Dreaming of the distant future—<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Wonders what her fate will be.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Dreams of knights of manly bearing,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Nodding plumes and shining casques,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Wearing all her favorite colors,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Quick to do whate'er she asks.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Dreams of castles old and stately,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Vaulted halls all life and light,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Courtly nobles stepping through them,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Smiling dames with jewels bright.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Round her own brow, in her dreaming,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">She a coronet has bound;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Round her waist, so lithe and slender,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Venus' girdle she has wound.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Charms the knights of manly bearing,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Courtly nobles seek her grace,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Maidens free from envious passions<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Love her kind and smiling face.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Now her dreams are growing fainter,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And her eyelids heavy grow;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Dull the waning firelight flickers<br /></span> +<span class="i4">On her brow as white as snow.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Lower droop the heavy eyelids—<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Weary eyes they cover quite—<br /></span> +<span class="i3">And the dreamy girl is sleeping<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Softly in the red firelight.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404"></a></p> +<h3><a name="THIRTY_DAYS_WITH_THE_SEVENTY-FIRST_REGIMENT" id="THIRTY_DAYS_WITH_THE_SEVENTY-FIRST_REGIMENT"></a>THIRTY DAYS WITH THE SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.</h3> + + +<p>The 71st Regiment N.Y.S.N.G. left New York to aid in repelling the +invasion of Pennsylvania on the 17th of June. On the 19th, having +meantime determined to 'go to the wars,' Dick and I presented ourselves +at the armory, inquiring whether we could follow and join the regiment, +and were told briefly to report there at one o'clock on Monday next, and +go on with a squad.</p> + +<p>So at one o'clock on Monday we stood ready in the armory, duly clothed +in blue and buttons; but long after the appointed hour we waited without +moving, I taking the chance to practise in putting on my knapsack and +accoutrements, whose various straps and buckles seemed at first as +intricate as a ship's rigging, and benefiting by the kindly hints of +regular members who sent substitutes this trip.</p> + +<p>At length came the word, 'Fall in,' and the squad formed, about a +hundred. A few minutes' drill ensued, sufficing to show me that I needed +considerably more, and then out—down Broadway to Cortlandt +street—aboard the ferry boat—into the cars, and about half past seven +actually off, amid the cheers and wavings of the bystanders, men, women, +and children.</p> + +<p>'Gone for a soger!' Should I ever come back? Perhaps I should wish +myself home again soon enough. However, that couldn't be now, so good-by +everything and everybody, and into it head and heels.</p> + +<p>I went, among other reasons, chiefly to see <i>what it was like</i>, and I +will record my experience;—for though, since the war began, tales and +sketches of military life have been written and read without number, and +we have all become sufficiently learned in warlike matters to see how +ignorant of, and unprepared for war the nation was at the outbreak of +the rebellion; yet, all I saw and learned was new to me, and may prove +interesting to some others.</p> + +<p>Tuesday morning by daylight we were in Harrisburg, and marched from the +cars to the Capitol grounds through the just awaking town, escorted by +one policeman armed with a musket. There a wash at a hydrant refreshed +me—then to breakfast in a temporary shed-like erection near the depot.</p> + +<p>An army breakfast! Huge lumps of bread and salt junk, and coffee. To +this I knew it must come; but just then, after spending the night in the +cars, the most I could do was to swallow some coffee, scorning however +to join those who dispersed through the town for a civilized +breakfast—wherein I intended to be soldierly, though before long I +learned that your old soldier is the very man who goes upon the plan of +snatching comfort whenever he can.</p> + +<p>But the regiment was at Chambersburg; so for Chambersburg we took the +cars, a distance, I believe, of about fifty miles.</p> + +<p>Chambersburg, however, we were not destined to reach. Along the route we +met all sorts of rumors: 71st cut up; six men in the 8th killed; +fighting still going on a little in front, &c., &c.;—a prospect of +immediate work. So in ignorance and doubt we came to Carlisle. Here we +were greeted by part of the 71st, and the truth proved to be that the +8th and 71st had retreated to this place the night before. 'Not, not the +six hundred,' however, for the left wing of our regiment had somehow +been left behind, and nothing was certainly known of it. At all events, +we were to go no farther, and out of the cars we came. Old members +exchanged greetings, and recruits made acquaintances.</p> + +<p>But what were we going to do? I could not learn. We waited, having +<a name="Page_405" id="Page_405"></a>stacked arms, some sleeping beneath the trees in the College grounds, +until the lieutenant-colonel appeared upon the scene. Then we marched, +back and forth; toward the cars—'going back to Harrisburg;' past the +cars—'no, not to Harrisburg'—through the main street, and turned away +from the town, still unconscious of officers' intentions. We privates +never know anything of plans or objects. We never know where we are +going till we get there, nor what we are to do till we do it, and then +we don't know what we are going to do next. I soon got used to this; and +although conjectures and prophecies fly through the ranks, of all kinds, +from shrewd to ridiculous, I very early learned it was sheer bother of +one's brains attempting to discover anything, and ceased to ask +questions or form theories—getting up when I heard 'Company I, fall +in,' without seeking to know whether it was for march, drill, picket +duty, or what not. Company officers seldom know more about the matter +than their men, and I speedily came to content myself with trying to +extract from past work and present position some general notion of the +'strategy' of our movements. Nor is this ignorance wholly unblissful, as +leaving always room for hope that the march is to be short or the coming +work pleasant. Well, in the present case, just out of the town we halted +in the Fair grounds; an ample field, a high tight face around it, a +large shed in the centre. We all stacked arms—most went to sleep. I +always took sleep when I could, because, in a regiment constantly on the +move as ours was, if you don't want it now, you will before long.</p> + +<p>By and by, in came the left wing, weary but safe, and were greeted with +three tremendous cheers. I hastened to find Company I. The first +lieutenant had come on with us—the captain I had not yet seen. To him I +was now introduced.</p> + +<p>Very soon the Fair ground was a camp; we on one side—the 8th N.Y., +Colonel Varian, opposite. Tents were up, fires blazing, and cooking and +eating going on. As I had not started with the regiment, I had no tent, +and none could be had here, so my camping consisted of piling my traps +in a heap. But I needed none, and indeed, throughout the whole time was +under one but twice. Tents are all very well, when you are quietly +encamped for any length, of time; but when, as with us, you are on the +more continually, I consider them a humbug and nuisance. You must carry +half a one all day, and at night join it with your comrade's half. The +common shelter tent, which is the only one that can be so carried, is a +poor protection against heavy rain, for the water can beat in at the +sides and form pools beneath you; against midday sun you can guard with +a blanket and two muskets, and at any other time you need no shelter.</p> + +<p>That night I went on guard. Two hours you watch, four for sleep, and +then two hours you watch again. All quiet, save that two or three +prisoners are brought in from the front to be deposited in limbo, and +gazed at in the morning by recruits who have never seen a live rebel.</p> + +<p>The most surprising thing I learned in these first days, was that +everything one has will certainly be stolen by his own regiment, even by +his own company, if he does not watch it carefully. This practice is +styled '<i>winning</i>.' It is simple, naked stealing, in no wise to be +excused or palliated, and utterly disgraceful. It imposes, moreover, the +grievous nuisance of remaining to guard your property when you would be +loafing about, or of carrying everything—no light load—with you, +wherever you go. Of course, all colonels should prevent this, and one of +any force and energy could easily do so; but Colonel—— is not of that +kind. An excellent company officer, as I judge, he has not the activity +and nerve required in the commander of a regiment, and many a wish <a name="Page_406" id="Page_406"></a>did +I hear expressed in those thirty days that his predecessor, Colonel +Martin, were still in command. Confidence in his bravery before the +enemy, was universal; but many things necessary to the decorum, +discipline, health, &c., of the regiment devolve duties finally upon the +colonel, for whose discharge other qualities than bravery are needed.</p> + +<p>The next afternoon, the 24th, our laziness is disturbed by orders to +take three days' rations; our knapsacks are to be sent to Harrisburg; we +are to pack up everything, to be ready to move, Nobody knows, of course, +what it means; but a decided conviction prevails that 'something heavy +is up.' Presently a hollow square is 'up,' formed of the 8th and +ourselves, field officers in the centre. Colonel Varian advances. +Unquestionably a speech. Perhaps a few Napoleonic words on the eve of +battle. No; Colonel Varian wishes to explain that it was nobody's fault +that our left wing was deserted at Chambersburg, in order to prevent ill +feeling between the regiments. He does so, and appeals to our +lieutenant-colonel. Our lieutenant-colonel verifies and indorses. +Perfectly satisfactory; in evidence of which the two commands exchange +cheers.</p> + +<p>Henceforth we and the 8th are fast friends. We have other friends +also—Captain Miller's battery, of Pennsylvania, has been in front with +us, and though out for 'the emergency,' declares it will stay as long as +the 71st. So we all fraternize, hailing any member as '8th,' '71st,' or +'Battery,' and cheer when we pass each other. The 8th are good cheerers, +and though we outnumbered them, I think they outdid us in three times +three and a 'tiger,' the inevitable refrain. The 'tiger' (sounding +tig-a-h-h) is the test of a cheer. If the cheer be a spontaneous burst +of hearty good feeling, the tiger concentrates its energy, and is full +and prolonged—if it be only the cheer courteous or the cheer civil, the +tiger will fall off and die prematurely.</p> + +<p>Just at dark we left camp, passed rapidly through the town, along the +turnpike about two miles, and halted in a cornfield beside the road, +where we formed line of battle. We received orders to 'load at will,' +and fire low. The 8th were on the opposite side of the road, and their +battery somewhere near us. After some time, nobody appearing, permission +was given to thrust our muskets by the bayonets in the ground; and soon +after, one by one, the men dropped off asleep. The evening had been +extremely sensational. The sudden departure, the rapid march, whither +and for what we knew not, yet full of momentary expectation; the orders +and preparations indicating the imminence of grim, perhaps ghastly work, +in the night hours; the line of men, stretching beyond sight in the +darkness, far from home, and, it might be, near to death, sleeping yet +waiting:—the total was singularly impressive.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, I too was soon asleep, and slept undisturbed till morning. +Then, rebels or no rebels, we must have breakfast. There was none to be +had in the regiment; but the farmhouses supplied us, and an ancient dame +intermitted packing her goods for flight, to cook the pork which made +part of my three days' rations. Then I stretched myself beneath the +shade of a roadside house within sound of orders, and having nothing +else on hand, went to sleep again.</p> + +<p>I was now broken in. Camp rations I could eat; camp coffee, though +always <i>sans</i> milk and often <i>sans</i> sugar, I deemed good; a wash was a +luxury, not a necessity; and I could sleep anywhere.</p> + +<p>When I was aroused, I found a barricade thrown up across the road, and a +force of contrabands digging a trench across the field. A cavalry picket +reported the enemy within half a mile, advancing. The citizens came out +from Carlisle to aid us, and we went in line into the trenches. Two men +were detailed from each company to carry off the wounded; the red +hospital <a name="Page_407" id="Page_407"></a>flag fluttered upon a house behind us, and the colonel, +passing in front, told us they were very near, and exhorted us not to +let them pass. But the day wore on to evening, and no rebels appeared, +and at dark we moved again. Starting in a heavy rain, we marched nine +miles to the borders of a town known as New Kingston. Here we halted +while quarters were hunted up. Every man, tired with the rapid walking +through rain and mud, squatted at once in the road, no matter where, and +then along the whole column singing began. A soldier will sing under all +circumstances, comfortable or uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>At length we moved into the town and took possession of a church, +distributing ourselves in aisles, pews, and pulpit. What little remained +of the night, we were glad to have in quiet. It had been questionable +whether we could reach Kingston, for on the march it was rumored that we +were flanked; and a man, emerging from the shade as we passed, had asked +a question of the chaplain, and, receiving no answer, had retreated a +few yards, and fired his piece in the air, which looked very like a +signal. The next morning, the 26th, we went into camp in woods just in +front of the town, while the general and the surgeon established +headquarters in the town.</p> + +<p>Here we repeated substantially the programme of the day before, except +that continuous rain was substituted for the baking sun, and proved far +more endurable.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the 27th we marched some seven or eight miles, and +encamped at night in Oyster Point, about two miles from Harrisburg.</p> + +<p>Sunday! the 28th of June. My first Sunday with the regiment. No rumors +of the enemy reach us, and to us privates the prospect is of a quiet +day. The boys gather round the chaplain for divine service. And as for a +few minutes we renew our connection with civilization, and, amid stacked +arms, tents, camp fires, and the paraphernalia of war, sing psalms and +hymns, and listen to the chaplain's prayer, I decide that this surpasses +all luxury possible in camp. I shall never forget that 'church.'</p> + +<p>But no Sunday in camp. Hardly were the services concluded, when we went +forward a little to an orchard, and then line of battle again. This +performance of 'laying for a fight' which never came, had by this time +grown tame, in fact intolerably stupid, and I for one was growing tired +of sitting in silence, when boom! crash! a cannon shot in front of us, +the smoke visible too, curling above the woods, and showing how near it +had been fired. A smothered 'Ah!' and 'Now you've got it, boys,' went +through the ranks. It was no humbug this time. The rebels were shelling +the woods as they advanced.</p> + +<p>But it appeared we were not to receive them at that spot, for suddenly +we were ordered off again, and marched across lots, to the destruction +of many a bushel of wheat, clear into the intrenchments in front of +Harrisburg. There for the remainder of the day we waited in line. Other +regiments, we knew not what, were near us in different positions. The +signal flags were waving, and officers galloping by constantly, of whom +the quartermaster was hailed with shouts of 'Grub, grub.'</p> + +<p>That night my company and two others went out on picket, taking position +near our camp of the day before. In the morning we advanced a little to +a lane—a cobbler's stall was converted into headquarters, and the half +of the company not on duty went foraging for dinner. Pigs and chickens +were captured, and cooking began in the kitchen of a deserted house +close by. Apple butter, too, the prevalent institution in Pennsylvania, +was found in plenty. So the two halves of the company relieved each +other in standing guard and picnicking. Meantime, however, the rebels, +from the woods just in front, were paying their respects with two-inch +shell, <a name="Page_408" id="Page_408"></a>which shrieked and crashed through the branches, bursting over +us, around us, and many of them altogether too near to be pleasant. +Moreover, by one of those blunders which cannot always be avoided, some +of our own men, mistaking us, opened fire on our rear; but to this a +stop was speedily put by a flag of truce, improvised from a ramrod and a +white handkerchief. We were allowed to fire only three or four volleys +in return. This skirmishing tries courage, I believe, more than a +pitched battle. To lie on the ground for hours, two or three miles in +front of your main body, ten feet from the nearest man, and be fired at +without firing yourself or making any noise, is a different thing from +standing in your place amid the throng and all the noise, excitement, +and enthusiasm of a battle, earnestly occupied in firing as fast as you +can. In a battle all the circumstances combine to produce high +excitement and drive fear out of a man, leaving room only for that kind +of courage properly called fearlessness or <i>intrepidity</i>, belonging to +men like Governor Pickens, 'born insensible to fear.' But the highest +grade of courage is that which, despite of fear, stands firm. That is +the courage of principle, of <i>morale</i>, as opposed to purely physical +courage. It is the last degree—at the next step we rise into heroism.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon we were relieved by a Pennsylvania company, and as we +retired in full sight of the rebels, the rascals yelled at us, and gave +us several volleys, from which it is wonderful that every man escaped.</p> + +<p>That evening we moved to the extreme rear, into Fort Washington, on the +bank of the river in front of Harrisburg. Here it was said our advance +work was over, and we were promised comfortable quarters and rest.</p> + +<p>Any one nowadays can see a camp, but only one who has seen it can +understand how picturesque it is. The night scene at Harrisburg was +beautiful in the extreme. Behind us slept the city—we guarded it in +front, and the river rolled between. The moonlight, illuminating a most +exquisite scenery, between the foliage gave glimpses of that placid +stream, and shone upon the tents and bayonets of some six thousand men +within the formidable works; the expiring fires sent up wreaths of +smoke; grim guns looked over the ramparts down the gentle slope in front +and up the beautiful Cumberland Valley; and only the occasional call of +the sentry for the corporal of the guard broke the serene stillness.</p> + +<p>Here were our friends of the 8th, and here we regained our knapsacks. +Many of them had been 'gone through,' and everything 'won.' The 56th and +22d New York, the 23d and 18th Brooklyn, besides others, were encamped +inside.</p> + +<p>Here we were sworn into the United States service for thirty days from +the 17th June.</p> + +<p>On Wednesday, July 1st, all our prospect of camp life, with its +regularity of drill, inspection, and, above all, of rations, was dashed +by orders to move in the morning to Carlisle. General Knipe, riding +through camp, was asked where he was going to take us. 'Right into the +face of the enemy,' said he. 'Hi, hi!' shouted the men.</p> + +<p>So away we went again. I was detailed to guard baggage, and remained, +loading wagons, &c., subject to the quartermaster, and went on in the +cars to Carlisle, where, on the evening of the 3d, I joined the regiment +when it came in.</p> + +<p>Since we left Carlisle the rebels had been there and burned the +barracks. They had shelled the town the night before, and the 37th had +had a sharp skirmish with them.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 4th July we started about ten thousand strong—a +movement in force. The battle of Gettysburg had been fought, the danger +to Harrisburg was past, and, without knowing exactly where we were +bound, it was plain that we were to cooperate <a name="Page_409" id="Page_409"></a>with Meade. That day we +made a long march. Our knapsacks were left behind. The first six miles +were well enough. We move on slowly, the sun overclouded, the road good, +and marching, as always is allowed on a long march (save when we pass +through a town), without order or file. The men talk, laugh, and sing, +get water and tobacco from the roadside dwellers, and chaff them with +all sorts of absurd questions. The first six miles are pleasant. At the +foot of the South Mountains we rest. This is Papertown. Papertown, as +far as visible, consists of one house. From the piazza of said house, an +8th makes a speech: I am not near enough to hear, but suppose it funny, +for colonels and all laugh. Some go to eating, some to sleep, some take +the chance, as is wise, to wash their feet at the stream below, the best +preventive of blisters.</p> + +<p>In an hour it begins to rain, and we start to go through the Gap, along +which we meet squads of prisoners and deserters from Lee's army. Eleven +miles through that rain. I have never seen such rain before; it is +credited to the cannonading which for days past has been going on all +around. Trudge, trudge; in fifteen minutes soaked through, in half an +hour walking in six inches of water, in two hours walking in six inches +of mud. Then throw away blankets and overcoats—men fall behind done +up—men can go no farther for sore feet.</p> + +<p>At Pine Grove, that night, Company I, out of seventy men, musters thirty +at roll call. The different regiments scatter over half a mile of +ground. Every fence about is converted into fuel. The cattle and hogs in +the fields are levied upon—shot, dressed, cooked, and eaten. There is +nothing else to be had, and the wagons cannot follow us for some time +over such roads. So officers shut their eyes. It rains still, but we can +be no wetter than we are, so we lie down and take it. This is our +glorious Fourth!</p> + +<p>In the morning—Sunday morning again—there is nothing to eat. In the +town, which comprises half a dozen houses and an old foundery, the +answer is, 'The rebels has eat us all out.' A few secure loaves of +bread, paying as high as a dollar; another few boil what coffee they had +carried with them and contrived to save from the rain. The rest have +nothing. Henceforth the order of the day is march and starve, and the +story is only of ceaseless fatigue, hunger, and rain. Thus far we have +stood stiff and taken it cheerfully. There was growling before we got +through.</p> + +<p>Off again over the mountains.</p> + +<p>If I have enough to eat, I can stand anything—if not, I break down. In +two miles I 'caved in.' The captain thought the regiment would return +shortly. So I staid behind. On Monday afternoon, however, they had not +come back, and I started after them. I got a meal and passed the night +in a house on the mountain, and, after some sixteen miles' walking, +caught them on the broad turnpike the next day, and marched some seven +miles farther, to Funkstown, Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>Here an episode. As we started the next morning (in the rain, of +course), I was sent to the rear to report to a sergeant. The sergeant, +with nine besides me, reported to the brigade quartermaster. The +quartermaster distributed the ten, with an equal number of the 23d, +through ten army wagons, to drive and guard. We went through +Chambersburg to Shippensburg, where we loaded with provisions. Here I +heard abundance of the doings of the rebels, who loaded seven hundred +wagons at this place. I bought Confederate money and got meals at a +hotel—at my own expense.</p> + +<p>On Friday evening, the 10th, we rejoined the column at Waynesboro', a +welcome arrival, for grub was terribly scarce. Here was the Sixth Corps, +Army of the Potomac, under General Neal—'Bucky Neal,' a 'Potomaker'<a name="Page_410" id="Page_410"></a> +called him. For a time we belonged to it, and adorned our caps with the +badge of the corps, cut out of cracker.</p> + +<p>On Saturday evening we crossed the line into Maryland, fording the +Antietam creek, the bridge over which the rebs had burned; and Sunday we +footed it back and forth over roads and across lots, bringing up at +Cavetown.</p> + +<p>'Earthquakes, as usual,' wrote Lady Sale, in her 'Diary.' 'Rain, as +usual,' wrote we. And such rain! They do a heavy business in rain in +that region, and in thunder and lightning, too. I have heard Western +thunder storms described, but I doubt if they surpass such as are common +beneath these mountains. Four poor fellows of the 56th, who were sitting +beneath a tree, were struck by lightning—one of them killed.</p> + +<p>On Monday we camped at Boonsboro', and on Tuesday beside a part of +Meade's army. When I saw all the wagons here, and what an immense job it +is to move any considerable force, with all the delays that may come +from broken wheels, lame horses, and bad roads, I could not but smile at +the military critics at home, who show you how general this should have +made a rapid movement so; or general that hurled a force upon that +point, &c.</p> + +<p>Here, near Boonsboro', on Tuesday night, the 14th, news of the riot in +New York reached us. The near approach of the expiration of our time had +already made much talk of home, and now anxiety was doubled. Rumors flew +through camp, and all ears and mouths were open, and before we settled +for the night it came. Orderlies carried directions through the ranks to +have all ready and clean up pieces to go home.</p> + +<p>In the morning our Battery friends came up to say good-by. Seventy-first +buttons were exchanged for their crossed-cannon badges, songs sung and +cheers given <i>ad lib</i>.</p> + +<p>Soon we all started, bound, we knew, for the cars at Frederick City. The +last march! It was very warm, and the road across the mountains often +steep, but there was little straggling.</p> + +<p>Most incidents of soldier life grow tame, but to the last the spectacle +of the column on march retained its impressiveness for me.</p> + +<p>We passed through Frederick just at dusk—ejaculating tenderly 'Ah! ah!' +as fair damsels waved handkerchiefs at us—and went out to the junction. +The cars were ready. We had done the last march. Twenty-five miles that +day! And I had gone through this month of walking without foot trouble, +for which I am indebted to my 'pontoons,' i.e., Government shoes. Take +them large enough, and they are the only things to walk in.</p> + +<p>Marching is the hardest thing I met with. I have always been a regular +and good walker. But ordinary walking is no preparation for marching. +The weight of musket and accoutrements, the dust (rain and mud in our +case), the inability to see before you, and the necessity of keeping up +in place, are all wearing and nervously exhausting.</p> + +<p>We did not get off at once. Red tape delayed us, and we growled +savagely. But we had plenty to eat, and a river beside us. So, bathing +and eating, we passed Thursday in sight of the train. At length red tape +was untied, and Thursday night the 8th and 71st set off, in cattle cars. +This time the advance was a privilege. In Baltimore we were beset by +women trying to sell cakes, and boys trying to beg cartridges. Along the +road we ate, smoked, and slept. In Philadelphia we had 'supper' in the +'United States Volunteers' Refreshment Saloon.' I remember a bright girl +there, who got me a second cup of coffee.</p> + +<p>And so, Saturday morning, the 18th, we took the boat at Amboy, within +two hours of home! But there was less hilarity than usual on the return +of a regiment. Our news from the city was not the latest, and our +grimmest <a name="Page_411" id="Page_411"></a>work might be to come—and in New York! Woe to any show of a +mob we had met! The indignation was deep and intense.</p> + +<p>But in two minutes after we landed on the Battery, papers were +circulated through the ranks, and we knew all was quiet.</p> + +<p>So up Broadway. We were too early in the street to gather much of a +crowd. Those who were out hailed us heartily, and at the corner of Grand +street or thereabouts an ardent individual from a fourth-story window, +plying two boards cymbal-wise (<i>clap</i>-boards, say), initiated a +respectable noise. And so round the corner and into the armory at Centre +Market. The campaign was over, and a few days after we were paid off and +mustered out.</p> + +<p>As I said, I went to see what it was like, and I saw. It is a strange +life, but a wholesome one, if you get a tolerable sufficiency to eat, +and not too heavy a dose of marching. So severe a time as we had is +terribly <i>physical</i>, and benumbs the brain somewhat. The campaign was +short, but the utmost was crowded into those thirty days.</p> + +<p>The first portion was advance work, always arduous. General Knipe's work +was to check the rebel advance. He did so by going to the front and +meeting them, and then retreating slowly before them, making a stand and +demonstration of fight, at which their advance would fall back on the +main body, at whose approach he would up stakes, run a few miles, and +make another show. Thus he gained ten days' time, which enabled General +Couch, in command of the department, to fortify, and collect and +organize troops, and probably saved Harrisburg. And for the manner in +which he did it, without, too, the loss of a man, he deserves credit.</p> + +<p>On the whole, did I like it? Well, I am glad I have been. But the exact +answer to that question is a sentence of Winthrop's, in his paper +'Washington as a Camp': 'It is monotonous, it is not monotonous, it is +laborious, it is lazy, it is a bore, it is a lark, it is half war, half +peace, and totally attractive, and not to be dispensed with from one's +experience in the nineteenth century.'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="REASON_RHYME_AND_RHYTHM" id="REASON_RHYME_AND_RHYTHM"></a>REASON, RHYME, AND RHYTHM.</h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VI.—TRUTH AND LOVE.</h4> + + +<p class='center'>The Divine Attributes, the base of all true Art.</p> + +<p>Art must be based upon a study of Nature, upon a clear and comprehensive +knowledge of natural laws. No man was ever yet a <i>great</i> poet without +being at the same time a profound philosopher, for Poetry is the blossom +and fragrance of all human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions, +and human emotions. The poet must have the ability to observe things as +they really are, in order to depict them with accuracy, unchanged by any +passion in the mind of the describer, whether the things to be depicted +are actually present to the senses, or have a place only in the memory.</p> + +<p>Nature may be regarded either as the home of man, and consequently +associated with all the phases of his existence; or as an assemblage of +symbols, manifesting the thoughts of the Creator. In accordance with the +first <a name="Page_412" id="Page_412"></a>view, the poet may give it its place in the different scenes of +human life, animated with our passions, sympathizing with us, and +expressing our feelings; in the second, he must try to interpret this +divine language, to seize the idea gleaming through the veil of the +material envelope, for there is an established harmony between material +nature and intellectual. Every thought has its reflection in a visible +object which repeats it like an echo, reflects it like a mirror, +rendering it sensible first to the senses by the visible image, then to +the thought by the thought.</p> + +<p>Genius is the instinct of discovering some more of the words in this +divine language of universal analogies, the key of which God alone +possesses, but some portions of whose stores he sometimes deigns to +unclose for man. Therefore in earlier times the Prophet, an inspired +poet; and the poet, an uninspired prophet—were both considered holy. +They are now looked upon as insane or useless; and indeed, this is but a +logical consequence of the so-called <i>utilitarian</i> views. If only the +material and palpable part of nature which may be calculated, percented, +turned into gold, or made to minister to sensual pleasures, is to be +regarded with interest; if the lessons of the harvest, with its 'good +seed and tares,' and the angels, its reapers; the teachings of the +sparrow and the Divine Love which watched over them; the grass and the +lilies of the field clothed in splendor by their Creator, are to awaken +neither hope nor fear—then men are right in despising those who +preserve a deep reverence for moral beauty; the idea of God in his +creation; and respect the language of images, the mysterious relations +between the visible and invisible worlds. Is it asked what does this +language prove? The answer is, God and Immortality! Alas! they are worth +nothing on 'Change!</p> + +<p>Yet let him who would study his own happiness and well-being, follow the +advice given in the Good Book:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it, <i>for it is very +beautiful</i>.</p> + +<p>'It encompasseth the heavens about with the circle of its glory; +the hands of the Most High have displayed it.' </p></div> + +<p>As creation is symbolic, and the province of the poet is humbly to +imitate the works of the Great Artist, we must expect to find him also +make use of symbolic language, imagery.</p> + +<p>Metaphor (metapherô) is the application of a physical fact to the moral +order; the association of an external material fact to one internal and +intellectual. As this association is not reflective, but spontaneous, +and is found pervading the infancy of languages; as it is intuitively +and generally understood; it must take place in accordance with a mental +law which establishes natural relations of analogy between the moral +world and the physical. To become perceptible, thought must be imaged, +reflected upon a sensuous form; the definition by an image is generally +the most clear and complete. We may have clear enough ideas of some +invisible truth in our own minds, but if we would convey our conception +to another, we cannot give it to him by a pure idea, for then we would +still be in the internal world of intellect; we must go out from this +internal world, we must seek a sign in the physical world that he can +see and contemplate; we select some phenomenon which can be easily +observed, and in accordance with the law of analogy of which we have +just spoken, we associate our thought with it, and in this manner we can +clearly communicate the thought we have conceived.</p> + +<p>Almost all the ideas we have of the moral world are expressed through +metaphors: thus we say the <i>movements</i> or <i>emotions</i> of the soul; the +<i>clearness</i> or <i>coloring</i> of a style; the <i>heat</i> or <i>warmth</i> of a +discourse; the <i>hardness</i> or <i>softness</i> of the heart, &c., &c. Language +<i>expresses</i> the invisible thought of the <a name="Page_413" id="Page_413"></a>soul; in accordance with the +etymology of the word (exprimere) it <i>presses</i> them from the soul, from +the realm of internal thought, to transport them to the visible sphere. +But the etymology itself is nothing but a metaphor, for the immaterial +facts of the soul always remain in their own region inaccessible to the +senses, and the instinctive facts of the organism always remain in the +visible world, so that there can be no actual passage from one to the +other, for an immaterial fact cannot be changed into a material +one:—association, simultaneousness, correlation may obtain between +them, but nothing more.</p> + +<p>Saint Thomas Aquinas asserts 'that in our present state of degradation +the intellect comprehends nothing without an image.' Language is in +reality the association of material facts to facts of the will, heart, +and intellect. Apparently insufficient to give a full idea of material +things alone, it would seem almost impossible that it should ever be +able to express the facts of the invisible world; but the human spirit, +in accordance with the mental law impressed upon it by the Hand Divine, +seizes the analogies of the <i>moral</i> phenomena with the phenomena of +<i>nature</i>, and, seeing physical facts used as symbols by the Creator to +convey ethical, also instinctively uses them to express the facts of the +moral world; and thus is born the <i>human Word</i> which, invisibly +ploughing the waves of the unseen air, can convey the most subtile +thought, the most evanescent shade of feeling, the wildest, darkest, and +deepest emotion. Language is man's expression of the finite, with its +infinite meanings modified by the extent of his intelligence and his +power of expression. It is truly a universal possession, but every man +gifts it with his own individualities, his own idiosyncrasies. The +style, one might almost say, is the man.</p> + +<p>Thus the imagery of language finds its base in the very essence of our +being. The poet is one gifted to seize upon these hidden analogies, to +read these mystic symbols, and, through the force of his own +imagination, to reveal them to his brethren in truth and love.</p> + +<p>The imagination has two distinct functions. It combines, and by +combination creates new forms; it penetrates, analyzes, and realizes +truths <i>discoverable by no other faculty</i>.</p> + +<p>An imagination of high power of combination seizes and associates at the +<i>same moment all</i> the important ideas of its work or poem, so that while +it is working with any one of them, it is at the same instant working +with and modifying them all in their several relations to it. It never +once loses sight of their bearings upon each other—as the volition +moves through every part of the body of a snake at the same moment, +uncoiling some of its involute rings at the very instant it is coiling +others. This faculty is inconceivable, admirable, almost divine; yet no +less an operation is necessary for the production of any great work, for +by the definition of unity of membership above given, not only certain +couples or groups of parts, but <i>all</i> the parts of a noble work must be +separately imperfect; each must imply and ask for all the rest; the +glory of every one of them must consist in its relation to the rest; +neither while so much as <i>one</i> is wanting can <i>any</i> be right. This +faculty is indeed something that looks as if its possessor were made in +the Divine image!</p> + + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'The hand that rounded Peter's dome,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">And groined the aisles of Christian Rome,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Wrought in a sad sincerity;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Himself from God he could not free;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">He builded better than he knew;—<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">The conscious stone to beauty grew.'<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Emerson</span>.</p> + + +<p>By the power of the combining imagination various ideas are chosen from +an infinite mass, ideas which are separately imperfect, but which shall +together be perfect, and of whose unity therefore the idea must be +formed at <a name="Page_414" id="Page_414"></a>the very moment they are seized, as it is only in that unity +that their appropriateness consists, and therefore only the conception +of that unity can prompt the preference. Therefore he alone can conceive +and compose who sees the <i>whole</i> at once before him.</p> + +<p>Shakspeare is the great example of this marvellous power. Not only is +every word which falls from the lips of his various characters true to +his first conception of them, so true that we always know how they will +act under any given circumstances, and we could substitute no other +words than the words used by them without contradicting our first +impression of them; but every character with which they come in contact +is not only ever true to itself, but is precisely of the nature best +fitted to develop the traits, vices, or virtues of the main figure. So +perfect and complete is this lifelike unity, that we can scarcely think +of one of his leading characters without recalling all those with whom +it is associated. If we name Juliet, for instance, not only is her idea +inseparable from that of Romeo, but the whole train of Montagues and +Capulets, Mercutio, Tybalt, the garrulous nurse, the lean apothecary, +the lonely friar, sweep by. What an exquisite trait of the poetic +temperament, tenderness, and human sympathies of this same lonely friar +is given us in his exclamation:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'Here comes the lady: O, so light a foot<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It also explains to us that it was the good friar's unconscious +affection for Juliet, the pure sympathies of a lonely but loving heart, +which so imprudently induced him to unite the unfortunate young lovers. +The men and women of Shakspeare live and love, and we cannot think of +them without at the same time thinking of those with whom they lived and +whom they loved. Indeed, when we can wrest any character in a drama from +those which surround it, and study it apart, the unity of the <i>whole</i> is +but apparent, never vital. Simplicity, harmony, life, power, truth, and +love, are all to be found in any high work of the <i>associative</i> +imagination.</p> + +<p>We now proceed to characterize the <i>penetrative</i> imagination, 'which +analyzes and realizes truths discoverable by no other faculty.' Of this +faculty Shakspeare is also master. Ruskin, from whom we continue to +quote, says: It never stops at crusts or ashes, or outward images of any +kind, but ploughing them all aside, plunges at once into the very +central fiery heart; its function and gift are the getting at the root; +its nature and dignity depend on its holding things always <i>by the +heart</i>. Take its hand from off the beating of that, and it will prophesy +no longer; it looks not into the eyes, it judges not by the voice, it +describes not by outward features; all that it affirms, judges, or +describes, it affirms from <i>within</i>. There is <i>no reasoning</i> in it; it +works not by algebra nor by integral calculus; it is a piercing +Pholas-like mind's tongue that works and tastes into the very +rock-heart; no matter what be the subject submitted to it, substance or +spirit, all is alike divided asunder, joint and marrow; whatever utmost +truth, life, principle it has laid bare, and that which has no truth, +life, nor principle, is dissipated into its original smoke at a touch. +The whispers at men's ears it lifts into visible angels. Vials that have +lain sealed in the sea a thousand years it unseals, and brings out of +them genii.</p> + +<p>Every great conception of Art is held and treated by this faculty. Every +character touched by men like Æschylus, Homer, Dante, or Shakspeare, is +by them held by the <i>heart</i>; and every circumstance or sentence of their +being, speaking, or seeming, is seized by a process from <i>within</i>, and +is referred to that inner secret spring of which the hold is never lost +for a moment; so that every sentence, as it has been thought out from +the heart, opens a way down to the heart, and leads us <a name="Page_415" id="Page_415"></a>to the very +centre of life. Hence there is in every word set down by the Imagination +an awful undercurrent of meaning—an evidence and shadow upon it of the +deep places out of which it has come.</p> + +<p>In this it utterly differs from the Fancy, with which it is often +confounded.</p> + +<p>Fancy sees the outside, and is able to give a portrait of the outside, +clear, brilliant, and full of detail. The Imagination sees the heart and +inner nature, and makes them felt; but in the clear seeing of things +beneath, is often impatient of detailed interpretation, being sometimes +obscure, mysterious, and abrupt. Fancy, as she stays at the externals, +never feels. She is one of the hardest hearted of the intellectual +faculties; or, rather, one of the most purely and simply intellectual. +She cannot be made serious; no edge tools but she will play with; while +the Imagination cannot but be serious—she sees too far, too darkly, too +solemnly, too earnestly, to smile often! There is something in the heart +of everything, if we can reach it, at which we shall not be inclined to +laugh. Those who have the deepest sympathies are those who pierce +deepest, and those who have so pierced and seen the melancholy deeps of +things, are filled with the most intense passion and gentleness of +sympathy. The power of an imagination may almost be tested by its +accompanying degree of tenderness; thus there is no tenderness like +Dante's, nor any seriousness like his—such seriousness that he is quite +incapable of perceiving that which is commonplace or ridiculous.</p> + +<p>Imagination, being at the heart of things, poises herself there, and is +still, calm, and brooding; but Fancy, remaining on the outside of +things, cannot see them all at once, but runs hither and thither, and +round about, to see more and more, bounding merrily from point to point, +glittering here and there, but necessarily always settling, if she +settle at all, on a <i>point</i> only, and never embracing the whole. From +these simple points she can strike out analogies and catch resemblances, +which are true so far as the point from which she looks is concerned, +but would be false, could she see through to the other side. This, +however, she does not care to do—the point of contact is enough for, +her; and even if there be a great gap between two things, she will +spring from one to the other like an electric spark, and glitter the +most brightly in her leaping. Fancy loves to follow long chains of +circumstance from link to link; but the Imagination grasps a link in the +middle that implies all the rest, and settles there.</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i14">[Imagination.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">The tufted crowtoe and pale jessamine,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i14">[Nugatory.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">The white pink and the pansy streaked with jet,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i14">[Fancy.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">The glowing violet,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i14">[Imagination.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">The musk rose and the well attired woodbine,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i14">[Fancy, vulgar.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i14">[Imagination.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">And every flower that sad embroidery wears.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i14">[Mixed.<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Milton</span>.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">'Oh, Proserpina,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">For the flowers now that frighted thou lett'st fall<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">From Dis's wagon. Daffodils<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">That come before the swallow dare, and take<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">The winds of March with beauty. Violets, dim,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or Cytherea's breath; pale primroses<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">That die unmarried, ere they can behold<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Bright Phoebus in his strength, a malady<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Most incident to maids.'<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>Here the Imagination goes into the inmost soul of every flower, after +having touched them all with that heavenly timidness, the shadow of +Proserpine's; and, gilding them all with celestial gathering, never +stops on their spots or their bodily shape; while Milton sticks in the +stains upon them, and puts us off with that unhappy streak of jet in the +very flower that without <a name="Page_416" id="Page_416"></a>this bit of paper staining would have been the +most precious to us of all.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'There is pansies—that's for thoughts.'</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Can the tender insight of the Imagination be more fully manifested than +in the grief of Constance?</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'And, father cardinal, I have heard you say<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">That we shall see and know our friends in heaven:<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">If that be true, I shall see my boy again;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">For, since the birth of Cain, the first male child,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">To him that did but yesterday suspire,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">There was not such a gracious creature born.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">But now will canker sorrow eat my bud,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">And chase the native beauty from his cheek;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">And he will look as hollow as a ghost,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">As dim and meagre as an ague's fit;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">And so he'll die; and, rising so again,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">When I shall meet him in the court of heaven<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">I shall not know him: therefore, never—never—<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Shall I behold my pretty Arthur more.<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em;' /> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Grief fills the room up of my absent child,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Remembers me of all his gracious parts,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Then have I reason to be fond of grief.<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em;' /> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">O lord, my boy, my Arthur, my fair son!<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">My life, my joy, my food, my all the world!<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">My widow-comfort and my sorrow's cure.'<br /><br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>This is the impassioned but simple eloquence of Nature, and Nature's +child: Shakspeare.</p> + +<p>In these examples the reader will not fail to remark that the +Imagination seems to gain much of its power from its love for and +sympathy with the objects described. Not only are the objects with which +it presents us <i>truthfully</i> rendered, but always <i>lovingly</i> treated.</p> + +<p>With the Greeks, the Graces were also the <i>Charities</i> or <i>Loves</i>. It is +the love for living things and the sympathy felt in them that induce the +poet to give life and feeling to the plant, as Shelley to the 'Sensitive +Plant;' as Shakspeare, when he speaks to us through the sweet voices of +Ophelia and Perdita; as Wordsworth, in his poems to the Daisy, Daffodil, +and Celandine; as Burns in his Mountain Daisy. As a proof of the power +of the Imagination, through its <i>Truth,</i> and <i>Love</i>, to invest the +lowest of God's creatures with interest, we offer the reader one of +these simple songs of the heart.</p> + + +<h4><a name="TO_A_MOUSE" id="TO_A_MOUSE"></a>TO A MOUSE.</h4> + + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>On turning her up in her nest with the plough</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>November, 1785</i>.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O, what a panic's in thy breastie!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou need na start awa sae hastie,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Wi' bickering brattle!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Wi' murd'ring pattle!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I'm truly sorry man's dominion<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has broken nature's social union,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' justifies that ill opinion<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Which makes thee startle<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At me, thy poor earth-born companion<br /></span> +<span class="i4">An' fellow mortal!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A daimen icher in a thrave<br /></span> +<span class="i4">'S a sma' request;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I'll get a blessin' wi' the lave<br /></span> +<span class="i4">An' never miss't!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Its silly wa's the win's are strewin'!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' naething, now, to big anew ane,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">O' foppage green!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' bleak December's winds ensuin',<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Baith snell and keen!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' weary winter comin' fast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' cozie here beneath the blast,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Thou thought to dwell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till crash! the cruel coulter past<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Out thro' thy cell.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now thou's turned out, for a' thy trouble,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Nor house nor hald,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To thole the winter's sleety dribble<br /></span> +<span class="i4">An' cranreuch cold!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But, mousie, thou art no thy lane,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In proving foresight may be vain:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The best laid schemes o' mice an' men<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Gang aft agley,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">For promised joy.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Still thou art blest, compared with <i>me!</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0">The <i>present</i> only toucheth thee:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But och! I <i>backward</i> cast my e'e,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">On prospects drear;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' <i>forward</i>, though I canna see,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">I guess and fear!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417"></a>Poor Burns! Seventy years and more have passed since that cold November +morning on which he sang this simple and tender song, yet it is as fresh +in its rustic pathos, bathed in the quickening dews of the poet's heart, +as if it had sprung from the soul but an hour since: and fresh it will +still be long after the fragile hand now tracing this tribute to the +heart of love from which it flowed shall have been cold in an unknown +grave!</p> + +<p>Such poems are worth folios of the erudite and stilted pages which are +now so rapidly pouring their scoria around us. Men seem ashamed now to +be simply natural. Either they have ceased to love, or to believe in the +dignity of loving. The great barrier to all real greatness in this +present age of ours is the fear of ridicule, and the low and shallow +love of jest and jeer, so that if there be in any noble work a flaw or +failing, or unclipped vulnerable part where sarcasm may stick or stay, +it is caught at, pointed at, buzzed about, and fixed upon, and stung +into, as a recent wound is by flies, and nothing is ever taken seriously +or as it was meant, but always perverted and misunderstood. While this +spirit lasts, there can be no hope of the achievement of high things, +for men will not open the secrets of their hearts to us, if we intend to +desecrate the holy, or to broil themselves upon a fire of thorns.</p> + +<p>As the poet is full of love for all that God has made, because his +imagination enables him to seize it by the heart, he would in this love +fain gift the inanimate things of creation with life, that he might find +in them that happiness which pertains to the living; hence the constant +<i>personification</i> of all that is in his pages. He personifies, he +individualizes, he gifts creation with life and passion, not willingly +considering any creature as subordinate to any purpose quite out of +itself, for then some of the pleasure he feels in its beauty is lost, +for his sense of its happiness is in that case destroyed, as its +emanation of inherent life is no longer pure. Thus the bending trunk, +waving to and fro in the wind above the waterfall, is beautiful because +it seems happy, though it is, indeed, perfectly useless to us. The same +trunk, hewn down and thrown across the stream, has lost its beauty. It +serves as a bridge—<i>it has become useful</i>, it lives no longer <i>for +itself</i>, and its pleasant beauty is gone, or that which it still retains +is purely typical, dependent on its lines and colors, not on its +functions. Saw it into planks, and though now fitted to become +permanently <i>useful</i>, its whole beauty is lost forever, or is to be +regained only in part, when decay and ruin shall have withdrawn it again +from <i>use</i>, and left it to receive from the hand of Nature the velvet +moss and varied lichen, which may again suggest ideas of inherent +happiness, and tint its mouldering sides with hues of life. For the +Imagination, unperverted, is essentially <i>loving</i>, and abhors all +utility based on the pain or destruction of any creature. It takes +delight in such ministering of objects to each other as is consistent +with the essence and energy of both, as in the clothing of the rock by +the herbage, and the feeding of the herbage by the stream.</p> + +<p>We have seen that the soul rejects exaggeration or falsehood in Art, and +indeed all high Art, that which men will not suffer to perish, has no +food, no delight, no care, no perception, except of truth; it is forever +looking under masks and burning up mists; no fairness of form, no +majesty of seeming will satisfy it; the first condition of its existence +is incapability of being deceived; and though it may dwell upon and +substantiate the fictions of fancy, yet its peculiar operation is to +trace to their farthest limits the <i>true laws</i> and likelihoods even of +such fictitious creations.</p> + +<p>As to its love, that is not only seen in its wish and struggle to +quicken all with the warm throb of happy life, <a name="Page_418" id="Page_418"></a>but is also clearly +manifested in the lingering over its creations with clinging fondness, +'hating nothing that it maketh,' pruning, elaborating, and laboring to +gift with beauty the works of its patient hands, finishing every line in +love, that it too may feel its creations to be 'good.' For Love not only +gives wings, but also vital heat and life, to Genius.</p> + +<p>Thus we again arrive at the fact that the two Divine attributes of Truth +and Love, in their finite form indeed, but still 'images,' are +absolutely necessary for the creation of any true work of Art. No work +can be great without their manifestation; unless they have brooded with +their silvery wings over its progress to perfection; and in exact +proportion to their manifestation will be its greatness. On these two +attributes in God repose in holy trust the universes He hath made; and +that which typifies or suggests His faithfulness and love to the soul +created to enjoy Him, must be a source, not only of Beauty, but of +Delight.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'For He made all things in wisdom; and Truth is perpetual and +immortal.'</p> + +<p>'For Thou <i>lovest</i> all things that are, and hatest none of the +things Thou hast made; for Thou didst not appoint or make anything, +hating it.' </p></div> + +<p>We make no attempt to give an enumeration of the attributes on which +Beauty is based; we would rather induce the reader to examine his +Maker's great Book of Symbols for himself. We hope we have turned his +attention to the fact that every Letter in this sacred Language is full +of meaning; enough to induce him to investigate the glorious mysteries +of the '<i>Open Secret</i>.'</p> + +<p>Whatever may be the decisions of the men of the senses, or the men of +the schools, let him fearlessly condemn any work in which he cannot find +wrought into its very heart suggestions or manifestations of the Divine +attributes, or an earnest effort on the part of its author, naive and +unconscious as it may be, to imitate the Spirit of the Great Artist.</p> + +<p>We have placed the Rosetta stone of Art, with its threefold inscriptions +in Sculpture, Painting and Music, with their union or <i>resumé</i> in +Poetry, before him; we have given him the key to some of its wondrous +hieroglyphics; let him study the remaining letters of this mystical +alphabet for himself! These inscriptions are indeed trilingual, +phonetic, and sacred, yet the simple and loving soul may decipher them +without the genius of Champollion; their meaning is written within it. +It will readily learn to connect the sign with the thing signified, and +under the fleeting forms of rhythmed time and measured space, learn to +detect the immutable principles which are to be its glory and joy for +eternity!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419"></a></p> +<h3><a name="CURRENCY_AND_THE_NATIONAL_FINANCES" id="CURRENCY_AND_THE_NATIONAL_FINANCES"></a>CURRENCY AND THE NATIONAL FINANCES.</h3> + + +<p>1. <i>History of the Bank of England, its Times and Traditions, from 1694 +to 1844.</i> By <span class="smcap">John Francis</span>. First American Edition. <i>With Notes, +Additions, and an Appendix, including Statistics of the Bank to the +close of the year 1861.</i> By <span class="smcap">J. Smith Homans</span>, Author of the +'Cyclopædia of Commerce and Commercial Navigation.' New York. 8vo, +pp.476.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Chairman of the +Committee of Ways and Means, in relation to the Issue of an Additional +Amount of United States Treasury Notes.</i></p> + +<p>3. <i>Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances +of the United States for the Year ending June 30, 1862.</i></p> + +<p>4. <i>The Tariff Question considered in regard to the Policy of England +and the Interests of the United States. With Statistical and Comparative +Tables.</i> By <span class="smcap">Erastes B. Bigelow</span>. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. +4to, pp. 103 and 242.</p> + +<p>5. <i>The Bankers' Magazine and Statistical Register.</i> New York, monthly, +1861-2. Edited by <span class="smcap">J. Smith Homans</span>, jr.</p> + + +<p>The Bank of England was created during the urgent necessities of +national finance. It was a concession of a valuable privilege to a few +rich men, in consideration of their loaning the capital to the treasury. +'The estimates of Government expenditure in the year 1694 were +enormous,' says Macaulay, in his fourth volume. King William asked to +have the army increased to ninety-four thousand, at an annual expense of +about two and a half millions sterling—a small sum compared with what +it costs in the year 1862 to maintain an army of equal numbers.</p> + +<p>At the period of the charter of the bank, the minds of men were on the +rack to conceive new sources of revenue with which to meet the increased +expenditures of the nation. The land tax was renewed at four shillings +in the pound, and yielded a revenue of two millions. A poll tax was +established. Stamp duties, which had prevailed in the time of Charles II +had been allowed to expire, but were now revived, and have ever since +been among the most prolific sources of income, yielding to the British +Government in the year 1862 no less than £8,400,000 sterling. Hackney +coaches were taxed, notwithstanding the outcries of the coachmen and the +resistance of their wives, who assembled around Westminster Hall and +mobbed the members. A new duty on salt was imposed, and finally resort +was had to the lottery, whereby one million sterling was raised. All +these resources were not sufficient for the growing wants of the +Government, and the plan of the Bank of England was devised to furnish +immediate relief to the finances. Montague brought the measure forward +in Parliament, and 'he succeeded,' as Macaulay remarks, 'not only in +supplying the wants of the state for twelve months, but in creating a +great institution, which, after the lapse of more than a century and a +half, continues to flourish, and which he lived to see the stronghold, +through all vicissitudes, of the Whig party, and the bulwark, in +dangerous times, of the Protestant succession.'</p> + +<p>The birth of the bank and the birth of the English national debt were +both in King William's time. In 1691, when England was at war with +France, the national debt unfunded was £3,130,000, at an annual interest +of £232,000. In 1697, at the Peace of Ryswick, this debt had swollen to +£14,522,000. At the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713, it had reached +£34,000,000. The war with Spain in 1718 brought it up to forty millions +sterling. And here it might have rested, had the advice of Shakspeare +been followed:</p> + +<p> +'Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace.'<br /> +</p> + +<p>But England went to war with Spain 'on the right of search.' From 1691 +to <a name="Page_420" id="Page_420"></a>this time the debt had increased on an average about a million +sterling per year. As early as 1745 the credit of the bank was so +identified with that of the state, that during the invasion of the +Pretender, whose forces were at Derby, only one hundred and twenty miles +from London, the creditors of the bank flocked in crowds to its counter +to obtain specie for its notes. The merchants intervened and signed an +agreement to make the bank's notes receivable in all business +transactions.</p> + +<p>The war of the Austrian succession followed in 1742, and at the Peace of +Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, 'forever to be maintained,' the English were +saddled with a debt of £75,000,000.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'Peace hath her victories,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">No less renowned than war.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It was early in the last century that the abuse of paper money gave a +lasting and unfavorable impression against such issues. The scheme of +John Law and the South Sea Bubble about the same time broke and +scattered their fragments over both England and France. It was in the +latter scheme or folly that Pope lost a large portion of his earnings, +from which we may infer that his temper was not improved. He wrote, in +his Third Epistle, dedicated to Lord Bathurst:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'Statesman and patriot ply alike the stocks;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Peeress and butler share alike the box;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And judges job, and bishops bite the town,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In the same 'Moral Essay' he alludes to paper money in the following +lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">'Blest paper credit! last and best supply!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That lends corruption lighter wings to fly!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Gold imp'd by thee, can compass hardest things,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Can pocket states, can fetch or carry kings;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A single leaf shall waft an army o'er,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or ship off senates to a distant shore;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A leaf, like Sibyl's, scatter to and fro<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Our fates and fortunes, as the winds shall blow:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Pregnant with thousands flits the scrap unseen,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And silent sells a king, or buys a queen.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>These are among the earliest tirades against paper money; which, like +many other good things, is condemned because its power has been abused +and prostituted.</p> + +<p>England's enormous debt, which should have warned the Georges against +further war, was not contracted without severe sacrifices. The legal +rate of interest at the opening of the funding system was six per cent. +In 1714 it was reduced to five per cent. Loans during the early wars of +the eighteenth century were raised on annuities for lives on very high +terms, fourteen per cent. being granted for single lives, twelve per +cent. for two lives, and ten per cent. for three lives. But so far was +England from being awake to the enormous debt she was creating by her +expensive wars, that the seventy-five millions existing in 1748 became +£132,000,000 at the close of the Seven Years' War in 1763. This volume +was enlarged at the end of the American Revolution to £231,000,000. +During all this time the bank was the lever with which these enormous +sums were raised; but the end was not yet.</p> + +<p>The French war with Napoleon became more exhaustive, and within twenty +years from the peace with America to the Peace of Amiens, in 1802, the +debt went up from £231,000,000 to £537,000,000 sterling. From this +period to 1815 the debt accumulated annually, until it reached its +maximum, or eight hundred and sixty-one millions sterling.</p> + +<p>During these severe changes, reverses, extravagance, and extraordinary +governmental expenditure, the bank was considered the prop of national +finance. The French Revolution and its consequent war with England led +to many heavy outlays by the British Government. In 1795 the bank +desired the chancellor of the exchequer to make his arrangements for the +year without 'any further assistance' from the bank. This was again +urged in<a name="Page_421" id="Page_421"></a> 1796, and the bank appealed again to Mr. Pitt.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'The only reply from Mr. Pitt was a request for a further +accommodation, on the credit of the consolidated fund, which the +court refused to sanction, until they had received satisfaction on +the topic of the treasury bills, and requested Mr. Pitt to enter +into a full explanation on this subject, which was not even touched +upon in his letter. This resolution being communicated, Mr. Pitt +wrote to the governor and deputy-governor on the 12th August, that +'they might depend upon measures being immediately taken for the +payment of one million, and a further payment, to the amount of one +million, being made in September, October, and November, in such +proportions as might be found convenient. But, as fresh bills might +arrive, he was under the necessity of requesting a latitude to an +amount not exceeding one million.' About the same period the court +'desired the governor and deputy-governor would express their +earnest desire that some other means might be adopted for the +future payment of bills of exchange drawn on the treasury.' (<i>Vide</i> +'History Bank of England,' pp. 114, 115.) </p></div> + +<p>The circumstances of the nation and of the bank were known to the +capitalists and to the people. Hence various causes of uneasiness and +distress. The bank loaned the public treasury seven and a half millions +in the years 1794, 1795, 1796, and the more they loaned to the +exchequer, the less they could loan to the people. Thus followed a +diminution of gold in the bank, and hoarding by the people. Gold was +exported more freely to the Continent, and reduced accommodation was +given to the merchants. Finally, on the 26th February, 1797, the king's +council passed an order for the suspension of cash payments.</p> + +<p>The bank was on the eve of suspension in the year 1847. On the 25th of +October the cabinet authorized a violation of the charter, thereby +acknowledging the inability of the bank to maintain specie payments. +This order of Lord John Russell inspired fresh confidence, and the bank +immediately recovered strength, and reduced the rate of interest from 8 +per cent. in October to 7 per cent. in November, to 6 and 5 per cent. in +December, to 4 per cent. in January, and to 3-1/2 in June following. The +distress and revulsion of 1847 were consequent upon the over-trading and +railway mania of 1844, 1845, and 1846, and the failure of crops in +Ireland and England in 1847.</p> + +<p>The distress of England in 1847 was scarcely over when France was more +severely affected than at any period since the Continental War. Louis +Philippe abdicated in February, 1848, when consols closed at 88-7/8. By +the close of the week they fell to 83, upon the formation of a +provisional government. The political dissensions and commercial +revulsion led to a large withdrawal of gold from the Bank of France, and +finally the Government authorized, in March, the suspension of the bank, +which was followed by the suspension of the Bank of Belgium and by the +<i>Société Generale</i>.</p> + +<p>Again, in 1857, the Bank of England was on the verge of suspension. Lord +Palmerston and the then cabinet issued an order, November 12, +authorizing the bank, if they thought it advisable, again to violate the +charter; but it was found at the last moment unnecessary.</p> + +<p>November was the critical period of the year 1857. The <i>Times</i> of +November 12, 1857, contained these announcements:</p> + +<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Times financial announcements"> + +<tr><td>1.</td><td>Bank charter suspended.</td><td align='right'> </td></tr> + +<tr><td>2.</td><td>Interest in London,</td><td align='right'>10 per cent.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>3.</td><td>Interest in Hamburg,</td><td align='right'>10 per cent.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>4.</td><td>Interest in Paris,</td><td align='right'>8-1/2 per cent.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>5.</td><td>Interest in New York,</td><td align='right'>25 per cent.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>6.</td><td>Suspension of cash payments generally</td><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>by all banks in the United States.</td><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td>7.</td><td>Two banks stopped in Glasgow,</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>and one in Liverpool, and a great bill</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>panic in London.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>8.</td><td>Commercial credit and transactions</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td>almost suspended in the country.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>9.</td><td>Bullion in the bank,</td><td align='right'>£7,170,000.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>10.</td><td>Reserve notes in the bank,</td><td align='right'>£975,000.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>11.</td><td>Bank liabilities,</td><td align='right'>£40,875,000.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422"></a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'One gentleman, during the heat of the excitement at Glasgow, went +into the Union Bank and presented a check for £500. The teller +asked him if he wished gold. 'Gold!' replied he, 'no; give me +notes, and let the fools who are frightened get the gold,' Another +gentleman rushed into the same bank in a great state of excitement, +with a check for £1,400. On being asked if he wished gold he +replied, 'Yes.' 'Well,' said the teller, 'there is £1,000 in that +bag and £400 in this one.' The gentleman was so flurried by the +readiness with which the demand was granted that he lifted up the +bag with the £400 only, and walked off, leaving the £1,000 on the +counter. The teller, on discovering the bag, laid it aside for the +time. Late in the day the gentleman returned to the bank in great +distress, stating he had lost the bag with the £1,000, and could +not tell whether he dropped it in the crowd or left it behind him +on leaving the bank. 'Oh, you left it on the counter,' said the +teller, quietly, 'and if you call to-morrow you will get your +£1,000.' (<i>Vide</i> ' History Bank of England,' p. 429.) </p></div> + +<p>The facts and statistics from the year 1844 to 1860 relating to the bank +are superadded to the English work by the American editor. Of the +important phases of this period the editor gives a slight sketch in the +following paragraphs. The prominent financial movements in England, +France, and the United States are given in the subsequent pages of the +volume.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'The sixteen years which followed the last charter of the bank have +been pregnant with important events of a financial character; the +most important, perhaps, during the whole history of the +institution. The bank has twice, during this short period, been on +the brink of suspension, and was relieved only by the interference +of Government. The second instance occurred after new gold, to the +extent of one hundred millions sterling, or more, had been poured +into Western Europe from California and Australia. The Bank of +France had, during the same period, suspended specie payment. Two +financial revulsions have occurred in the United States, when, with +few exceptions, the banks of the whole country suspended specie +payments. The production of gold and silver throughout the world, +which, up to 1844, was annually about ten or twelve millions +sterling, had recently advanced from twenty-five to thirty millions +sterling per annum, thus stimulating industry and production +largely throughout Europe and America. Sir Robert Peel, the author +of the new charter of the bank, has left the world's stage, after +witnessing the failure of the charter to fully accomplish the end +promised; Europe and America, Asia and Europe, have been knit +together by a wire cord, and capital is now subscribed to</p> + +<p> +'Put a girdle round about the earth,'<br /> +</p> + +<p>whereby London may speak to San Francisco (the prospective +commercial centre of the world) in less than '<i>forty minutes</i>.' +During the same short space of sixteen years the suspended States +of this Union (five at least) have resumed payment of their +obligations; two violent wars, with sundry revolutions, have +occurred in Europe; the ancient city of the Cortez has been +conquered by the 'hordes of the North,' and magnanimously given up +by the captors to the possession of their weaker enemy, and +millions were paid to the latter for portions of their territory; +the northwest passage of the American continent has been +discovered; steam has accomplished wonders between Europe and +America, and between Europe and their distant colonies of Asia, +Africa, and Australia; Ireland has been on the verge of +starvation,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> when 600,000 of her people died from hunger alone +and its effects, and her population was reduced two millions by +emigration and privation; England's minister has been expelled from +the capital of the United States; speculation has been rife in +Europe and America, and its inevitable effects, revulsion and +bankruptcy, have followed in its train; the railway and the +telegraph have brought remote regions together; China, with her +four hundred millions of people, has been conquered by the united +forces of the English and the French.</p> + +<p>'The Bank of England, instead of pursuing one even course, with a +view <a name="Page_423" id="Page_423"></a>to permanent commercial interests, has unfortunately, and, we +fear, from selfish and individual views, fostered speculation by +reducing her rate of discount to 2 per cent., and soon after, but +too late, discovered the error, and forced her borrowers to pay +from 6 to 10 per cent.</p> + +<p>'We propose to give the leading events of each year, from 1844 to +1861, referring the reader to authorities where more copious +information can be gained by those who wish to study the invariable +connection between commerce and money.</p> + +<p>'The bank shares in the depressed period of 1847-8 fell to 180, +after having reached, in the flattering times of 1844-'5, 215 per +share, or 115 per cent. advance. Consols, at the same depressed +period, fell to 78-3/4, when starvation stared Ireland in its face, +and the bank simultaneously sought protection from the Cabinet.' </p></div> + +<p>Attention has been recently directed in this country to the premium on +gold, or to the alleged fall in the value of bank paper and Government +notes. Although the premium on gold as an article of merchandise has +reached a high rate during the present year, it will be seen, on +reference to the reliable tables in the History of the Bank of England, +that a great difference occurred during the suspension of the bank in +1797 to 1819. Gold at one time (1812) reached £5 8<i>s.</i>, a difference of +30 per cent. The annexed table shows the changes from 1809 to 1821.<br /><br /></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="4" summary="Gold Price comparison"> + +<tr><td>YEARS</td><td> </td><td align='center'>Price of</td><td> </td><td align='right'>Difference from</td><td> </td><td align='center'>Nominal</td><td align='center'>Amount in</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td align='center'>Gold.</td><td> </td><td align='right'>Mint Prices.</td><td> </td><td align='center'>Taxes</td><td align='center'>Gold Currency</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td align='center'>£</td><td align='center'>s.</td><td>d.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td align='center'>£</td><td align='center'>£</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1809,</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>9</td><td>10</td><td align='right'>16-1/3</td><td align='center'>per cent.</td><td align='right'>71,887,000</td><td align='right'>60,145,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1810,</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>5</td><td>0</td><td align='right'>9-1/10</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>74,815,000</td><td align='right'>68,106,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1811,</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>17</td><td>1</td><td align='right'>24-1/2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>73,621,000</td><td align='right'>55,583,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1812,</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>1</td><td>4</td><td align='right'>30</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>73,707,000</td><td align='right'>51,595,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Sept. to Dec. 1812,</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>8</td><td>0</td><td align='right'>38-1/2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>...</td><td align='center'>...</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1813,</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>6</td><td>2</td><td align='right'>36-1/10</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>81,745,000</td><td align='right'>52,236,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Nov. 1812, to Mch. 1813</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>10</td><td>0</td><td align='right'>41</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>...</td><td align='center'>...</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1814,</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>1</td><td>8</td><td align='right'>30-1/3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>83,726,000</td><td align='right'>58,333,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1815,</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>12</td><td>9</td><td align='right'>18-8/9</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>88,394,000</td><td align='right'>66,698,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1816,</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>0</td><td>0</td><td align='right'>2-1/2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>78,909,000</td><td align='right'>72,062,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Oct. to Dec. 1816,</td><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>18</td><td>6</td><td align='right'>under 1</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>...</td><td align='center'>...</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1817,</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>0</td><td>0</td><td align='right'>2-1/2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>58,757,000</td><td align='right'>57,259,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1818,</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>1</td><td>5</td><td align='right'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>59,391,000</td><td align='right'>56,025,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1819, 4th Feb.</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>3</td><td>0</td><td align='right'>6-1/3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>58,288,000</td><td align='right'>54,597,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1820,</td><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>17</td><td align='right'>10-1/2</td><td align='right'>par.</td><td align='center'> </td><td align='right'>59,812,000</td><td align='right'>59,812,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>1821,</td><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>17</td><td align='right'>10-1/2</td><td align='right'>par.</td><td align='center'> </td><td align='right'>61,000,000</td><td align='right'>61,000,000</td></tr> +</table> +<p>The increased volume of Government and bank paper afloat in the United +States since the 1st January, 1862, is conceded to be only temporary. +The Government is engaged in crushing the greatest rebellion known to +history; in doing this, the national expenditures are six or seven fold +what they ever were before, in a time of peace. During the four years +1813 to 1816, when war raged with England, the whole expenses of the +Government were $108,537,000. During the Mexican war, when the +disbursements of the treasury were much heavier, the average annual +expenses of the Government were about 35 to 48 millions. It will be well +to recur to these tabular details for future history. They are presented +as follows, for the whole period of the General Government.<br /><br /></p> + +<p><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424"></a>EXPENDITURES <i>of the United States, exclusive of Payments on account of +the Public Debt.</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="8" summary="Government Expenditure during the Mexican War"> + +<tr><td>Years</td><td>1789-1792,</td><td align='center'>Washington,</td><td align='right'>$3,797,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1793-1796,</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>12,083,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1797-1800,</td><td align='center'>John Adams,</td><td align='right'>21,338,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1800-1804,</td><td align='center'>Jefferson,</td><td align='right'>17,174,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1805-1808,</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>23,927,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1809-1812,</td><td align='center'>Madison,</td><td align='right'>36,147,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1813-1816,</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>108,537,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1817-1821,</td><td align='center'>Monroe,</td><td align='right'>58,698,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1821-1824,</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>45,665,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1825-1828,</td><td align='center'>John Quincy Adams,</td><td align='right'>49,313,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1829-1832,</td><td align='center'>Jackson,</td><td align='right'>56,249,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1833-1836,</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>87,130,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1837-1840,</td><td align='center'>Van Buren,</td><td align='right'>112,188,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1841-1844,</td><td align='center'>Harrison and Tyler,</td><td align='right'>81,216,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1846-1848,</td><td align='center'>Polk,</td><td align='right'>146,924,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1849-1852,</td><td align='center'>Taylor and Fillmore,</td><td align='right'>194,647,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1853-1856,</td><td align='center'>Pierce,</td><td align='right'>211,099,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>1857-1860,</td><td align='center'>Buchanan,</td><td align='right'>262,974,000</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>During the past fiscal year, 1862-3 and the year 1863-4, the Government +expenditures are estimated at ten hundred millions of dollars. These +heavy disbursements cannot be carried on merely by the ordinary bank +paper and the gold and silver of the country. Instead of sixty-five +millions of dollars, the average annual expenditures of the Government +during the last administration, these now involve the sum of five +hundred millions annually. Hence the obvious obligation on the part of +the Government of putting in circulation the most reliable currency, and +of avoiding those of local banks, which do not possess the confidence of +the people at a distance. This can be done only by maintaining a +currency of Government paper which every holder will have full +confidence in, and in which no loss can be sustained.</p> + +<p>There is here no conflict or competition between the Government and the +State banks. The latter have the benefit of their legitimate circulation +in their own respective localities; while the national treasury +furnishes to the troops and to the creditors of the nation a circulation +of treasury notes which must possess confidence as long as the +Government lasts.</p> + +<p>The policy of the English Government in this respect was a wise one. At +the adoption of the last charter of the bank (1844) the Government +allowed the country banks to maintain from that time forward the +circulation then outstanding, which was not to be increased; and as fast +as the banks failed or were wound up voluntarily, their circulation was +retired and the vacuum became filled by the notes of the Bank of +England. The latter was forbidden by its new charter to exceed certain +prescribed limits in its issues. They could issue to the amount of their +capital, £14,000,000, and beyond that to the extent of gold in the +vaults. Thus the bank circulation of England, Scotland, and Ireland is +less now than in 1844, when the new principle was established, viz.:<br /><br /></p> + +<h4>BANK CIRCULATION.</h4> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Bank Circulation"> +<tr><td> </td><td>Bank of England.</td><td align='center'>Country Banks.</td><td align='center'>Ireland.</td><td align='center'>Scotland.</td><td align='center'>Total.</td></tr> +<tr><td>1844,</td><td>£22,015,000</td><td>£7,797,000</td><td>£7,716,000</td><td>£3,804,000</td><td>£41,325,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1862,</td><td>£20,190,000</td><td>£5,680,000</td><td>£5,519,000</td><td>£4,053,000</td><td>£35,442,000</td></tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425"></a>Had this principle been adopted in the United States at the same +period, the excesses and extravagance of 1856-'7 might have been +obviated, as well as the revulsion of the latter year, and the distress +which followed.</p> + +<p>Let us recur to the eventful history of the bank. Although a private +institution, owned and controlled by private capital, its large profits +accruing for the benefit of its own share-holders, yet it became so +closely inter-woven with the commerce, manufactures, trade, and the +public finances of the nation, that it may be considered as in reality a +national institution. At its inception its whole capital was swallowed +by the treasury. This was a part of the contract of charter. Its +subsequent accumulations of capital, from £1,200,000, have likewise been +absorbed by the Government, until now the bank reports the Government +debt to them to be £11,015,100, and the Government securities held, to +be £11,064,000. Without the aid of the bank, the national treasury could +not, probably, have made the enormous disbursements which were actually +made between the commencement of the American Revolution in 1776, and +the termination of the continental war of 1815. The bank here furnished, +almost alone, 'the sinews of war.'</p> + +<p>During this eventful period there were large numbers of provincial banks +of issue created in England and Ireland. These were managed mainly with +a view to private profit, while the public interests have suffered +severely from the frequent expansions and contractions of the volume of +the currency through such private management, and from the numerous +failures of these concerns. The evils of this system were for many years +the subject of discussion in Parliament and among prominent journals. In +1826 the Edinburgh <i>Review</i> expressed the opinion that</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'So long, therefore, as any individual, or association of +individuals, may issue notes of a low value, to be used in the +common transactions of life, without lodging any security for their +ultimate payment, so long is it <i>certain</i> that those panics which +must necessarily occur every now and then, and against which no +effectual precaution can be devised, must occasion the destruction +of a greater or smaller number of banking establishments, and by +consequence a ruinous fluctuation in the supply and value of +money.' (<i>Edinburgh Review</i>, February, 1826.) </p></div> + +<p>This was a period of great speculation in England. In the year 1823 no +less than 532 companies were chartered, with a nominal capital of 441 +millions sterling. These speculations were fostered by the increasing +volume of bank paper. The evil increased, and was allowed to exist until +the year 1844, when a stop was put to the further increase of the volume +of bank circulation, and to the further incorporation of joint stock +banks.</p> + +<p>We learn one lesson here, which may have a good effect upon us if we +will bear it in mind in our future legislation, and take warning from +the experiences of our contemporaries. We allude to the obvious +necessity in a country like ours, and, indeed, in any country, of +maintaining a national moneyed institution as a check upon the +vacillation, expansions, and contractions which mark the policy of small +banks of issue. This national institution, while free from individual +profit, and without power to grant individual favors, should create and +perform the functions of a national currency, and execute all the +details required by or for the national treasury. Its chief utility +would be as a check upon the excess to which all joint stock banks are +liable—a sort of controlling and conservative power to prevent that +mischief which our past experience shows has been the result of paper +money when issued merely for private gain.</p> + +<p>The advantage, the convenience, we may say the <i>necessity</i>, of a +national circulation of paper money, are fully demonstrated by our own +past history, <a name="Page_426" id="Page_426"></a>and by the history of European nations. This circulation +should be dictated by the wants of the National Government, and +convertible, at the will of the holder, into specie. With these obvious +restraints it would accomplish its ends and aims.</p> + +<p>The Bank of England, in its early stages, was endangered by various and +extraordinary circumstances. Within three years of its establishment it +was compelled to suspend payment to its depositors in cash, and issued +certificates therefor payable ten per cent. every fortnight. In 1709 the +Sacheverell riots occurred in London, and fears were felt that the bank +would be sacked; but this violence was obviated by well-trained troops. +In 1718 John Law's bank was established in France, and for two years +kept the people in a ferment. This was followed by the South Sea scheme +in England, in 1720, 'a year (the historian Anderson says) remarkable +beyond any other which can be pitched upon for extraordinary and +romantic projects.' The bank, of course, suffered by these speculative +measures, and was repeatedly exposed to a run upon its specie resources.</p> + +<p>In 1722 the <i>rest</i> (or reserve fund) was established by the bank, as a +measure to cover extraordinary losses in the future, and to inspire more +confidence among the public as to the ability of the bank to meet +reverses. This fund, in July, 1862, had accumulated to £3,132,500 +sterling, or about twenty-one and a half per cent. of the capital.</p> + +<p>The first forged note of the Bank of England was presented in the year +1758, or sixty-four years after the bank was established. In 1780 these +forgeries became more numerous, and were so well executed as to deceive +the officers of the bank.</p> + +<p>Let us now recur to some of the incidents connected with the bank in +early ages. Of these, the author, Mr. Francis, furnishes numerous +instances.</p> + +<p>Among other frauds upon the bank was that of clipping the guineas, by +one of the clerks employed in the bullion office. This occurred in 1767.</p> + +<p>The forgery of its notes having been made a capital offence, the waste +of life in consequence was severe. During the eight years, 1795 to 1803, +there were one hundred and forty executions for this crime; and two +hundred and nine between 1795 and 1809; and from 1797 to 1811 the +executions were 469. 'The visible connection between the issue of small +notes and the effusion of blood, is one of the most frightful parts of +this case.'</p> + +<p>In 1803 a fraud on the bank to the extent of £320,000 was perpetrated by +Mr. Robert Astlett, a cashier of the bank. This was in the re-issue of +exchequer bills that had been previously redeemed, but which were not +cancelled. This fraud amounted to about 2-1/2 per cent. of the capital, +and although it did not prevent a dividend, it prevented the +distribution of a bonus which would otherwise have been paid to the +shareholders.</p> + +<p>In the year 1822 another fraud on the bank came to light. This was +perpetrated by a bookkeeper, and amounted to £10,000. In 1824 the fraud +of Mr. Fauntleroy on the bank was discovered, amounting to £360,000. +This was done by forged powers of attorney for the transfer of +Government consols.</p> + +<p>The bank was brought near suspension again in 1825 by the imprudent +expansion of its notes. After the resumption of specie payments in +1820-'21, the true policy of the bank would have been to maintain an +even tenor of its way; instead of which it increased its circulation +twenty-five per cent. in the year 1825 (or from £18,292,000 to +£25,709,000), while the issues of the country banks were equally +enlarged, giving encouragement to violent speculation among the people. +The specie reserve of the Bank of England fell from £14,200,000 in +January 1824 to £1,024,000 in December, 1825.<a name="Page_427" id="Page_427"></a> This difficulty of the +bank was relieved by the issue of a few thousand bills of £1 and £2.</p> + +<p>Speculation had been rife in 1824; no less than 624 companies were +started with a nominal capital of £372,000,000, including mining, gas, +insurance, railroad, steam, building, trading, provision, and other +companies. At the same time foreign loans were contracted in England to +the extent of £32,000,000, of which over three fourths were advanced in +cash.</p> + +<p>The country banks of England had increased their circulation from +£9,920,000 in 1823 to £14,980,000 in 1825, or over fifty per cent., thus +stimulating prices, and promoting speculation widely throughout the +country.</p> + +<p>Immediately following the revulsion at the close of the year 1825, Mr. +Huskisson's free trade policy was advocated in the House of Commons by a +vote of 223 to 40. In the same year lotteries were suppressed in +England. In 1828 branches of the Bank of England were established—a +measure, of course, unpopular among the provincial joint stock banks.</p> + +<p>In the year 1832-'3 were brought forward three important measures in +Parliament. One was the abolishment of the death penalty for forgery; +another was the modification of the usury laws; the third was the +re-charter of the bank.</p> + +<p>The last criminal executed for forgery was a man by the name of Maynard, +in December, 1829. Public sentiment had long been opposed to the +infliction of this punishment for the offence of forgery, and +transportation was now substituted in the prominent cases. England, at +the same time, opened the way for a gradual abolishment of the usury +laws. At first the relief was extended to short commercial paper, +afterward to all paper having not over twelve months to run, 1837; and +finally, in 1854, the usury laws were removed from all negotiable paper, +as well as from bonds and mortgages.</p> + +<p>By the new charter of 1833, Bank of England notes were, for the first +time, made a legal tender, except at the bank itself. Joint stock banks +were authorized in the metropolis, but were prohibited from issuing +notes.</p> + +<p>The English work of Mr. Francis is anecdotical in its character. The +American edition conveys to the reader, for the first time, a resumé of +the leading movements in Parliament on the subject of the bank, and its +close connection with the Government finances. The part which Mr. Pitt, +Mr. Canning, Sir Robert Peel, and other distinguished statesmen took in +the relations between the bank and the exchequer, is in the +supplementary portion of the new edition shown, as well as the views of +Lord Althorpe, Lord Ashburton, Lord Geo. Bentinck, Mr. Thomas Baring, +Lord Brougham, Mr. Gilbart, Sir James Graham, Lord King, Earl of +Liverpool, Jones Loyd, Lord Lyndhurst, Mr. Rothschild, and others who +exercised a large influence over the monetary interests of their day.</p> + +<p>In the consideration of the banking and currency questions of the day +and of the last and present century, it is desirable to have thus +brought together in a single work, a continuous history of the +institution which has had so large an influence upon the public +interests of Europe, and a review of the important circumstances which +marked the progress of the bank in its successful efforts to sustain +England against foreign enemies and domestic revulsions, an index to the +speculative movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when +commerce, trade, and the vast monetary interests of Europe and America +have been unnecessarily and cruelly involved.</p> + +<p>The letter addressed by Secretary Chase, of the Treasury Department, to +the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means of the House of +Representatives, and to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, +under date June 7th, 1862, suggested the power by<a name="Page_428" id="Page_428"></a> Congress to the +treasury to issue $150,000,000 in treasury notes, in addition to this +sum, authorized by the act of February 25th, 1862; also, authority to +receive fifty millions of dollars on deposit, in addition to fifty +millions previously authorized by Congress. These suggestions were +favorably considered in both Houses, and the recommendations of the +Secretary were adopted fully, leading to the adoption of a national +system of finance, which will eventually reëstablish and preserve +national credit. Fears have been expressed in some quarters that this +increased volume of paper money would be a public evil, and serve to +disturb the value of property and the price of labor. This might be +reasonably anticipated if the country were at peace, and the Government +expenditures were upon a peace footing.</p> + +<p>But a state of things exists now in this country hitherto unknown. The +contracts of the Government involve the expenditure of larger sums than +were ever paid before in the same space of time by this or any other +Government. In the disbursements of these large sums it is an obvious +duty of Congress to provide a national circulation of uniform value +throughout the whole country—a circulation of a perfectly reliable +character, not subject in the least to the ordinary vicissitudes of +trade or to the revulsions which have frequently marked our history. +These revulsions have been witnessed, and their results seen by the +leading public men of the century. Mr. Madison saw at an early day the +importance of creating and sustaining a government circulation. His +language was: 'It is essential to every modification of the finances +that the benefits of an uniform national currency should be restored to +the community.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Calhoun, in 1816, said: 'By a sort of undercurrent, the power of +Congress to regulate the money of the country has caved in, and upon its +ruin have sprung up those institutions which now exercise the right of +making money in and for the United States.'</p> + +<p>'It is the duty of government,' says a well known writer, 'to interfere +to regulate every business or pursuit that might otherwise become +publicly injurious. On this principle it interferes to prevent the +circulation of spurious coin.' Counterfeit coin is more readily detected +than a fictitious paper currency, yet no sane man would advocate the +repeal of the laws which prohibit it. Why, then, permit the unlimited +manufacture of paper money of an unreliable character?</p> + +<p>In the consideration of this subject we should divest ourselves of all +selfish views of private profit and advantage. We should look only to +the public good, to stability in trade and commerce, and to the general +interests of the people at large as distinguished from those of a few +individuals. It is clearly then the province of government to establish +and to regulate the paper money of the nation, so that it shall possess +the following attributes:</p> + +<p>I. To be uniform in value throughout all portions of the country.</p> + +<p>II. To be perfectly reliable at all times as a medium for the payment of +debts.</p> + +<p>III. To be issued in limited amounts, and under the control of the +Government only.</p> + +<p>IV. To be convertible, at the pleasure of the holder, into gold or +silver.</p> + +<p>It must be conceded that these requisites do not belong, and never can +belong, to paper issued by joint stock banks, which are governed with a +view to the largest profit, and which are but little known beyond their +own immediate localities.</p> + +<p>Recent history assures us that abuses have been practised in reference +to the bank circulation of the country, which have led to violent +revulsions and severe loss. England experienced the same results between +the years 1790 and 1840, and to such an extent that in the year 1844 her +statesmen devised a sys<a name="Page_429" id="Page_429"></a>tem whereby no further expansion of paper money +should occur. The amount then existing was assumed to be a minimum of +the amount required for commercial transactions, and it was ordered that +all bank issues beyond that sum shall be represented by a deposit of +gold.</p> + +<p>If the Bank of England had been governed by considerations of public +welfare, and not by those of private interest, it would not have reduced +the rate of interest to 2-1/2 per cent. in 1844-'5, thus producing +violent speculation, and leading to the revulsion of 1849. Nor would the +bank have established low rates of interest only in the year 1857, thus +leading this powerful institution to the verge of bankruptcy, and to the +clemency of the British Cabinet in November of that year.</p> + +<p>England has checked the paper circulation of the country, but has not +withdrawn from the bank the power to promote speculation by extravagant +loans at a low rate of discount.</p> + +<p>The Governments of France and England have both assumed control of the +paper currency of their respective countries. This is sound policy, and +it is one of the prerogatives that must be exercised, in its full force, +by the Government of the United States and by all other governments, if +stability, permanency, consistency are to be observed or maintained for +the people. This is obviously necessary in a time of peace and +prosperity; it is perhaps more so in a time of rebellion or war, like +the present. Circumstances may arise where it will be the course of +wisdom and safety to suspend specie payment; and, in some extreme +exigencies, to forbid the export of specie.</p> + +<p>This position was well explained by Mr. J.W. Gilbart, manager of the +London and Westminster Bank, who, in his testimony before Sir Robert +Peel, in 1843, said, 'If I were prime minister, I would immediately, on +the commencement of war, issue an order in council for the bank to stop +payment. I stated also that I spoke as a politician, not as a banker. * +* * I came to the conclusion that, under the circumstances of the war of +1797, a suspension of cash payments was not a matter of choice, <i>but of +necessity</i>.' (<i>Vide</i> 'History of the Bank of England,' New York edition, +p. 130.)</p> + +<p>We come now to consider what is necessary, in order to restore the +currency of the United States to a specie footing. This restoration is +demanded alike by motives of justice and sound policy. No contracts can +be well entered into, unless the currency of the country is upon a +substantial and permanent footing of redemption. It is a matter which +concerns every individual in the community; it is especially so to the +General Government in view of its extraordinary expenditures: and no +commercial prosperity can be maintained without it.</p> + +<p>A restoration of public and private credit can be accomplished only by +an observance of those sound principles of finance that have been +announced by the wise men of our own and other countries. Mr. Alexander +Hamilton, Mr. Gallatin, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, each in his turn +advocated a national institution, by which the currency of the country +could be placed upon a reliable and permanent footing. Such an +institution should control the currency and receive surplus capital on +deposit; but need not interfere with the legitimate operations of the +State banks as borrowers and lenders of money, nor encourage in the +slightest degree, through loans, any speculative movements among the +people.</p> + +<p>In the next place our people must resort to and maintain more economy in +their individual expenditure, and thus preserve a balance of foreign +trade in our own favor. It is shown that, during the fiscal year ending +30 June, 1860, there were imported into the United States goods, wholly +manufactured, of the value of ... $166,073,000, partially manufactured, +62,720,000.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430"></a>We can dispense with two thirds of such articles during our present +national reverses, and rely upon our own domestic labor for similar +products, viz.:<br /><br /></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Manufactures"> + +<tr><td>Manufactures of Wool,</td><td align='right'>$37,937,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Manufactures of Silk,</td><td align='right'>32,948,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Manufactures of Cotton,</td><td align='right'>32,558,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Manufactures of Flax,</td><td align='right'>10,736,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Laces and Embroideries,</td><td align='right'>4,017,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Gunny Cloths, Mattings,</td><td align='right'>2,386,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Clothing</td><td align='right'>2,101,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Iron, and Manufactures of Iron and Steel</td><td align='right'>18,694,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>China and Earthenware,</td><td align='right'>4,387,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Clocks, Chronometers, Watches,</td><td align='right'>2,890</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Boots, Shoes and Gloves,</td><td align='right'>2,230,000</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Miscellaneous</td><td align='right'>15,189</td></tr> + +<tr><td></td><td align='right'>——————</td></tr> + +<tr><td></td><td align='right'>166,073,000</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>besides other articles exceeding one hundred millions in value.</p> + +<p>Rather than send abroad thirty or forty millions in gold annually, as we +have done of late years, let us dispense with foreign woollen goods, +silk and cotton goods, laces, &c., and encourage our own mills, at least +until the war and its debt are over.</p> + +<p>Mr. Madison said much in a few words, when he said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'The theory of '<i>let us alone</i>' supposes that all nations concur in +a perfect freedom of commercial intercourse. Were this the case, +they would, in a commercial view, be but one nation, as much as the +several districts composing a particular nation; and the theory +would be as applicable to the former as the latter. But this golden +age of free trade has not yet arrived, nor is there a single nation +that has set the example. No nation can, indeed, safely do so, +until a reciprocity, at least, be insured to it. * * A nation, +leaving its foreign trade, in all cases, to regulate itself, might +soon find it regulated by other nations into subserviency to a +foreign interest.' </p></div> + +<p>There is much good sense, too, in the views promulgated by another +president, who said, in relation to our independence of other nations:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'The tariff bill before us, embraces the design of fostering, +protecting, and preserving within ourselves the means of national +defence and independence, <i>particularly in a state of war</i>. * * * The +experience of the late war (1812) taught us a lesson, and one never to +be forgotten. If our liberty and republican form of government, procured +for us by our Revolutionary fathers, are worth the blood and treasure at +which they were obtained, it surely is our duty to protect and defend +them. * * * What is the real situation of the agriculturist? Where has +the American farmer a market for his surplus product? Except for cotton, +he has neither a foreign nor home market. Does not this clearly prove, +when there is no market either at home or abroad, that there is too much +labor employed in agriculture, and that the channels of labor should be +multiplied? Common sense points out the remedy. Draw from agriculture +the superabundant labor; employ it in mechanism and manufactures; +thereby creating a home-market for your bread-stuffs, and distributing +labor to the most profitable account and benefits to the country. Take +from agriculture in the United States six hundred thousand men, women +and children, and you will at once give a home-market for more +bread-stuffs than all Europe now furnishes us. In short, sir, <i>we have +been too long subject to the policy of British merchants</i>. It is time +that we should become a little more Americanized; and, instead of +feeding the paupers and laborers of England, feed our own; or else, in a +short time, by continuing our present policy, we shall be rendered +paupers ourselves.' +</p></div> + +<p>Mr. Bigelow, in his late and highly valuable work on the tariff, says +truly (p. 103):</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'Can any one question that our home production far outweighs in +importance all other material interests of the nation? * * * It is +the nation of great internal resources, of vigorous productive +power and self-dependent strength, which is always best prepared +and most able, not only to defend itself, but to lend others a +helping hand.' </p></div> + +<p>If our people would maintain their own national integrity, their own +individual independence, and their true status in the great family of +nations of the earth, they will [at least until the present rebellion is +crushed, and until the public debt thereby created shall be +extinguished] pursue a strict <a name="Page_431" id="Page_431"></a>course of public and private economy. Let +us encourage and support our own manufactures, and thereby contribute to +the subsistence and wealth of our own laborers instead of contributing +millions annually to the pauper labor of European nations; especially of +those nations that have failed to give us countenance in the present +struggle and that have, on the contrary, given both direct and indirect +aid to the rebels of the South.</p> + +<p>The United States have within themselves, in great abundance, +contributed by a bountiful Providence, the leading products of the +earth. In metals and in agricultural products, we exceed any and all +other countries of the earth. If we encourage the labor of our own +people in the development of the great resources of the country, we +shall not only preserve our own commercial independence, but we shall +soon be, as we ought to be in view of such advantages, the creditor +nation of the world, and compel other countries to resort to us for the +raw materials for their own manufacturing districts.</p> + +<p>With the aid of the vast iron and coal mines of our own country, we can +construct and keep in force an adequate navy for peace or for war. Our +skilled industry can produce firearms equal to any in the world. The +vast agricultural resources of the West yield abundance for ourselves +and a large surplus for other countries. The breadstuffs of the West and +Northwest; the tobacco of the Middle States, and the cotton of the South +are in demand, throughout nearly all Europe. Let us then be independent +ourselves of foreign manufacturers, and endeavor to place the rest of +the world under obligations to our own country for the necessaries of +life. This will do more to preserve peace than all the arguments of +cabinets or the combined navies and armies of the world.</p> + +<p>Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell said,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> in parliament, in 1842, +five years before the famine in Ireland: 'We are not, we cannot be, +independent of foreign nations, any more than they can of us: * * * two +millions of our people have been dependent on foreign countries for +their daily food. At least five millions of our people are dependent on +the supplies of cotton from America, of foreign wool or foreign silk. * +* * The true independence of a great commercial nation is to be found, +not in raising all the produce it requires within its own bound, <i>but in +attaining such a preëminence in commerce that the time can never arise +when other nations will not be compelled, for their own sales, to +minister to its wants</i>.'</p> + +<p>Now this principle, enunciated twenty years ago by men, who now hold the +reins of the English Government, <i>is especially one for us to bear in +mind</i>. While England, from her limited surface, can never be independent +of other countries for the supply of food, we may say, and we can +demonstrate, that the United States can reach that preëminence to which +the great English statesman alluded—a preëminence which he would gladly +attain for his own countrymen.</p> + +<p>To the General Government was confided by the framers of the +Constitution the power to 'coin money, and regulate the value thereof;' +and the States were forbidden to 'emit bills of credit;' from which we +may infer that it was intended to place the control of the currency in +the hands of the General Government. It will be generally conceded that +it would be wiser to have one central point of issue than several +hundred as at present. There should be but one form for, and one source +of, the currency. It should emanate from a source where the power cannot +be abused, and where the interests of the people at large, and not of +individuals, will be consulted.</p> + +<p>The people have thus an interest at stake. It is for their benefit that +a national circulation, of a perfectly reli<a name="Page_432" id="Page_432"></a>able character, should be +established. The remark made by Sir Robert Peel, in parliament, in May, +1844, at the time of the recharter of the bank, applies with equal force +to the national currency of this or any other country.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'There is no contract, public or private, national or individual, +which is unaffected by it. The enterprises of trade—the +arrangements made in all the domestic relations of society—the +wages of labor—pecuniary transactions of the highest amount and +the lowest—the payment of the national debt—the provision for the +national expenditure—the command which the coin of the lowest +denomination has over the necessaries of life—are all affected by +the decision to which we may come.' </p></div> + +<p>Sir Robert Peel wisely comprehended the powers and attributes of a +national currency, and we may wisely adopt his idea that such a national +currency, controlled by the national legislature, for the use and +benefit of the people, is the only one that can be safely adopted.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The national banking system established by Congress, in the year 1863, +at the suggestion of Secretary Chase, of the Treasury Department, is the +initiatory step toward a highly desirable reform in the paper currency +of the country. Already over seventy national banks have been organized, +under the act of Congress, with a combined capital of ten millions of +dollars, whose circulation will have not only a uniform appearance, but +a uniform value throughout the whole country. Numerous others are in +process of organization. To the community at large the new system is +desirable, because it secures to the people a currency of uniform value +and perfect reliability. The notes of these institutions will be at par +in every State in the Union, and holders may rely upon the certainty of +redemption upon demand: whether the institution be solvent or not—in +existence or not—the Government holds adequate security for instant +redemption of all notes issued under the law.</p> + +<p>This feature of the paper currency of the country is one that has long +been needed. For the want of it the States have been for many years +crowded with a currency of unequal market value, and of doubtful +security. Added to this is a marked feature of the new system which did +not pertain to the Bank of the United States in its best days. Its +workings are free from individual favoritism. No loans are granted to +political or personal friends, at the risk of the Government, and all +temptation to needless and hurtful expansion is thus destroyed. There is +no mammoth institution, under the control of one or a few individuals, +liable at times to be prostituted to political and personal ends of an +objectionable character. While the banks under the new system are spread +over a large space, they perform what is needed of the best managed +institutions; and although perfectly independent of each other in their +liabilities, expenses, losses, and in their action generally, yet +together they form a practical unit, and will be serviceable in +counteracting that tendency to inflation and speculation which has +marked many years in the commercial history of this country.</p> + +<p>We consider the Bank Act of 1863 as one of the most important features +of the Thirty-seventh Congress, and of this Administration. It will +create a link long wanted between the States and Territories, and do +much to strengthen the Union and maintain commercial prosperity. The +country will hereafter honor Secretary Chase for the conception and +success of this scheme, even if there were no other distinguished traits +in his administration of the Treasury and the Government finances.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3><p><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433"></a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> 'The scenes exhibited far exceeded in horror <i>anything yet +recorded in European history</i>.' (Alison.) America, in her own fulness, +sent succor to famished Ireland, in 1847, and when her own day of +travail came near, in 1861, England volunteered no helping hand to her +kindred.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See 'History of the Bank of England,' p. 851.<br /><br /></p></div></div> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="OCTOBER_AFTERNOON_IN_THE_HIGHLANDS" id="OCTOBER_AFTERNOON_IN_THE_HIGHLANDS"></a>OCTOBER AFTERNOON IN THE HIGHLANDS.</h3> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">Slowly toward the western mountains<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">Sinks the gold October sun;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Longer grow the deepening shadows,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">And the day is nearly done.<br /><br /></span> + +<span class="i2">Rosy gleams the quiet River<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">'Neath the crimson-tinted sky;<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">White-winged vessels, wind-forsaken,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">On the waveless waters lie.<br /><br /></span> + +<span class="i2">Glow the autumn-tinted valleys,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">On the hills soft shadows rest,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Growing warmer, purple glowing,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">As the sun sinks toward the west.<br /><br /></span> + +<span class="i2">Slanting sunlight through the Cedars,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">Scarlet Maples all aglow,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Long rays streaming through the forests,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">Gleam the dead leaves lying low.<br /><br /></span> + +<span class="i2">Golden sunshine on the cornfields,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">Glittering ripples on the stream.<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the still pools in the meadows<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">Catch the soft October gleam.<br /><br /></span> + +<span class="i2">Warmer grows the purple mountains,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">Lower sinks the glowing sun,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i2">Soon will fade the streaming sunlight—<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i3">See, the day is nearly done!<br /><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +</div></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="THE_ISLE_OF_SPRINGS" id="THE_ISLE_OF_SPRINGS"></a>THE ISLE OF SPRINGS.</h3> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3> + + +<h4>THE COUNTRY</h4> + + +<p>After having been detained in town several days longer than I had +reckoned on, by heavy rains, which ran through the streets in rivers, +and filled the bed of Sandy Gully, through which we must pass, with a +rushing torrent of irresistible strength, a small party of us left +Kingston one morning for the mountains of St. Andrew and Metcalfe, among +which lie the stations of the American missionaries whom we had come to +join. We were mounted on the small horses of the country, whose first +appearance excited some doubts in the mind of a friend whether he was to +carry the horse or the horse him. However, they are not quite ponies, +and <a name="Page_434" id="Page_434"></a>their blood is more noble than their size, being a good deal of it +Arab. They are decidedly preferable for mountain travel to larger +animals.</p> + +<p>We directed our course over the hot plains towards the mountains which +rose invitingly before us, ready to receive us into their green depths. +On leaving the town, we passed first through sandy lanes bordered by +cactus hedges, rising in columnar rows, and then came out upon the +excellent macadamized road over which thirteen of the sixteen miles of +our journey lay. As we went along we met a continual succession of +groups of the country people, mostly women and children, coming into +Kingston with their weekly load of provisions to sell. They eyed us with +expressions varying from good-natured cordiality to sullenness, and +occasionally we heard a rude remark at the expense of the 'Buckras;' but +for the most part their demeanor was civil and pleasant. Most of them +had the headloads without which a negro woman seems hardly complete in +the road, varying in dimensions from a huge basket of yams or bananas to +an ounce vial. How such a slight thing manages to keep its perpendicular +with their careless, swinging gait, is something marvellous, but they +manage it to perfection. Almost every group, in addition, had a +well-laden donkey—comical little creatures, looking hardly bigger under +their huge hampers than well-sized Newfoundland dogs, and hurrying +nimbly along, with a speed that betokened a wholesome remembrance of a +good many hard thrashings in the past and a reasonable dread of similar +ones in the future. If I held the doctrine of transmigration, I should +be firmly persuaded that the souls of parish beadles, drunken captains, +and other petty tyrants, shifted quarters into the bodies of Jamaica +negroes' donkeys. One patriotic black woman, whose donkey was rather +refractory, relieved her mind by exclaiming, in a tone of infinite +disgust, 'O-h-h you Roo-shan!' accompanying her objurgation by several +emphatic demonstrations on his hide of how she was disposed to treat a +'Rooshan' at that present moment.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>Going on, we passed several beautiful 'pens,' as farms devoted to +grazing are called. These near town are little more than mere pieces of +land surrounding elegant villas, the residence of wealthy gentlemen +whose business lies in Kingston. Here you see 'the one-storied house of +the tropics, with its green jalousies and deep veranda,' surrounded by +handsomely kept meadows of the succulent Guinea grass, which clothes so +large a part of the island with its golden green, and enclosed by wire +fences or by the intricate but delicate logwood hedges, or else by stone +walls. On either side of the carriage road which swept round before the +most elegant of these villas, that of Mr. Porteous, we noticed rows of +the mystic century plant.</p> + +<p>At last we left the comparatively arid plain, with its scantier +vegetation, and began to ascend Stony Hill, which is 1,360 feet high +where the road passes over it. The cool air passing through the gap, and +our increasing elevation, now began to temper the heat, and soon the +clouds began to gather again, and a slight rain fell. But I did not +notice it, for every step of the journey now seemed to bring me farther +into the heart of fairyland. It was not any variety of colors, but the +unutterable depth of green, enclosing us, as we ascended, more and more +completely in its boundless exuberance. From that moment the richest +verdure of my native country has seemed pale and poor. Reaching the top +of the hill, we saw above us the higher range, looking down on us +through the shifting mists, with that inexpressible gracefulness which +tempers the grandeur of tropical mountains.</p> + +<p>We descended the hill on the other side into a small inland valley, +containing the two estates of Golden<a name="Page_435" id="Page_435"></a> Spring and Temple Hall. The +former, which presented nothing very noticeable then, has since passed +under the management of a gentleman who to a judicious and energetic +personal oversight has added a kindliness and strict honesty in his +dealings with the laborers much more desirable than frequent in the +island. As a result of this, Golden Spring has become a garden. A great +many more dilapidated estates would become gardens under the same +efficacious mode of treatment.</p> + +<p>The streams were so swollen by the rain that on coming to what is +commonly a trifling rivulet, we found it so high as to cost us some +trouble to cross. However, we all got over, although one servant boy +with his pack horse was caught by the current and carried down several +rods almost into the river, which was rushing by in a turbid torrent. I +ought to have been much alarmed, but having a happy way, in new +circumstances, of taking it for granted that everything which happens is +just what ought to happen then and there, I stood composedly on the +farther bank, nothing doubting that the boy and the beast had their own +good reasons for striking out a new track, and it was not till they were +both safe on land that I learned with some consternation that they had +come within an inch of being drowned.</p> + +<p>At length we turned aside into a byroad leading up a steep hill, +slippery with mud, and left this pleasant valley. I passed through it +many a time afterwards, and never lost the impression of its peaceful +richness.</p> + +<p>We now found ourselves in the wild country in which our missionary +stations lie. Hills rose around on every side; their surfaces broken and +furrowed into every fantastic variety of shape, with only distance +enough between their bases for the mountain streams to flow. In our +latitude such a country would be much of the time a bleak desolation. +But here the mantle of glorious and everlasting green softens and +enriches the broken and fluctuating surfaces into luxuriant and cloying +beauty. In such an ocean of verdure we now found ourselves, its emerald +waves rolling above, below, and around us. Our road, when once we had +surmounted the short hill, was a narrow, winding bridle path, which kept +along almost upon a level over a continual succession of natural +causeways, spanning the gullies with such an appearance of art as I have +never seen elsewhere. I afterward learned that these are dikes of trap, +from which the softer rock has been gradually disintegrated, leaving +them thus happily arranged for human convenience.</p> + +<p>After three miles' travel over these roads of nature's making, in a rain +which at last became quite uncomfortable, we came finally to Oberlin +Mission House. A West Indian country house, without fire or carpets, +must be very pleasingly fitted up not to look dreary in a wet day, and +Oberlin House appeared rather cheerless as we alighted with streaming +garments, the romance pretty well soaked out of us for the time. But +after supper and a change of clothes, and the clearing away of the +clouds, our dismal spirits cleared up too, and we went out into the +garden to enjoy the rare flowers and plants—the crimson-leaved +ponsetto, the Bleeding Heart, with its ensanguined centre, the curiously +pied and twisted Croton Pictum, the Plumbago, well named from the leaden +hue of its flowers, the long, deep-red leaves of the Dragon's Blood, the +purple magnificence of the Passion flower, relieved by the more familiar +beauty of the Four o'clock and of the Martinique rose. Seeing something +that pleased me, I stepped forward to view it more narrowly, when a +sudden access of acute pain in one foot, quickly spreading to the knee, +admonished me that I had got into mischief in the shape of an ant's +nest, and gave me the first instalment of a lesson I learned in due time +very thoroughly, that the beauties of Jamaica are to be <a name="Page_436" id="Page_436"></a>enjoyed with a +very cautious regard to the paramount rights of the insect creation.</p> + +<p>When I went to bed, I found the bedclothes saturated with dampness. But +I learned that it was like a Newport fog, too saline to be mischievous. +The atmosphere of the island, even in the brightest and most elastic +weather, is so impregnated with moisture, that a Leyden jar will lose +its charge in being taken across the room, and an electrical machine +will not work without a pan of coals under the cylinder. But as no part +of the island is more than twenty-five miles from the sea, this +continual moisture appears to be quite innocuous, its worst effect being +the musty smell which it causes in everything in the mountains, where +there is the most rain. Use fortunately takes from us the perception of +this, or it would be quite intolerable. Perpetual summer, and the utmost +glory of earth, sky, and sea, are not to be enjoyed without drawbacks +that would make a careful housekeeper very doubtful about the +desirableness of the exchange. And so ended my first day in the country.<br /><br /></p> + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + +<h4>GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE ISLAND</h4> + + +<p>I had intended writing some of my first impressions about Jamaica, +particularly its negro population. But I find, on reviewing my residence +of five years and a half in the tranquil island, that first impressions +melt so imperceptibly into final conclusions, that it appears best not +to attempt a too formal separation of them. Before recounting the +results of my own experience, however, in any form, it will not be amiss +to attempt some general description of the island and of its population, +and to give a slight sketch of its history.</p> + +<p>The parallel of 18° N lat. passes through the island of Jamaica, which +has thus a true tropical climate. It is 160 miles in length and 40 in +average breadth, having thus a plane area of 6,400 square miles, being +about equal to the united area of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Although +the third in size of the Greater Antilles, it comes at a great remove +after Hayti, the second, being not more than one-fourth as large. Nor +does it compare in fertility with either Hayti or Cuba. The former +island is the centre of geological upheaval, and the great rounded +masses, sustaining a soil of inexhaustible depth, run off from thence +splintering into sharp ridges, which in Jamaica become veritable knife +edges, sustaining a soil comparatively thin. The character of the island +is that of a mountain mass, which, as the ancient watermark on the +northern coast shows, has at some remote period been tilted over, and +has shot out an immense amount of detritus on its southern side, forming +thus the plains which extend along a good part of that coast, varying in +breadth from ten to twenty miles, besides the alluvial peninsula of +Vere. In the interior, also, there is an upland basin of considerable +extent, looking like the dry bed of a former lake, which now forms the +chief part of the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. The mountain mass +which makes the body of the island, running in various ranges through +its whole length, culminates in the eastern part of it in the Blue +Mountains, whose principal summit, the Blue Mountain Peak, is 7,500 feet +high. It is said that Columbus, wishing to give Queen Isabella an +impression of the appearance of these, took a sheet of tissue paper, and +crumpling it up in his hand, threw it on a table, exclaiming, 'There! +such is their appearance.' The device used by the great discoverer to +convey to the mind of the royal Mother of America some image of her +new-found realms, forcibly recurs to the mind of the traveller as he +sails along the southeastern coast, and notices the strange contortions +of the mountain surfaces. But seen from the northern shore, at a greater +distance, through the purple haze which envel<a name="Page_437" id="Page_437"></a>ops them, their outlines +leave a different impression. I shall always remember their aspect of +graceful sublimity, as seen from Golden Vale, in Portland, and of +massive sweetness, as seen from Hermitage House, in the parish of St. +George. The gray buttresses of their farthest western peak, itself over +5,000 feet in height, rose in full view of a station where I long +resided, and the region covered by their lower spurs, ranging in +elevation from seven to ten and twelve hundred feet, is that which +especially deserves the name of the 'well-watered land,' or, as it is +poetically rendered, the 'isle of springs,' of which Jamaica, or perhaps +more exactly Xaymaca, is the Indian equivalent. There you meet in most +abundance with those crystal rivulets, every few hundred yards threading +the road, and going to swell the wider streams which every mile or two +cross the traveller's way, laving his horse's sides with refreshing +coolness, as they hurry on in their tortuous course from the mountain +heights to the sea. Farther west the mountains and hills assume gentler +and more rounded forms, particularly in the parish of St. Anne, the +Garden of Jamaica. I regret that I know only by report the scenes of +Eden-like loveliness of this delightful parish. It is principally +devoted to grazing, and its pastures are maintained in a park-like +perfection. Grassy eminences, crowned with woods, and covered with herds +of horses and the handsome Jamaica cattle, descend, in successive +undulations, to the sea. Over these, from the deck of a vessel a few +miles out, may be seen falling the silver threads of many cascades. +Excellent roads traverse the parish, which is inhabited by a gentry in +easy circumstances, and by a contented and thriving yeomanry. St. Anne +appears to be truly a Christian Arcadia.</p> + +<p>In respect of climate and vegetation, there are three Jamaicas—Jamaica +of the plains, Jamaica of the uplands, and Jamaica of the high +mountains. The highest summit of the mountain region, is below the line +at which snow is ever formed in this latitude, and it is disputed +whether an evanescent hoarfrost even is sometimes seen upon it. As high +as four and five thousand feet there are residences, which, however, +purchase freedom from the lowland heats at the expense of being a large +part of the time enveloped in chilling fogs. Here the properly tropical +productions cease to thrive, and melancholy caricatures of northern +vegetables and fruits take their place. You see in the Kingston market +diminutive and watery potatoes and apples, that have come down from the +clouds, and on St. Catherine's Peak I once picked a few strawberries, +which had about as much savor as so many chips. The noble forest trees +of the lower mountains, as you go up, give way to an exuberant but +spongy growth of tree-ferns and bushes. Great herds of wild swine, +descended from those introduced by the Spaniards, roam these secluded +thickets, and once furnished subsistence to the runaway negroes who, +under the name of Maroons, for several generations annoyed and terrified +the island.</p> + +<p>In these high mountains the sense of deep solitude is at once heightened +and softened by the flute-like notes of the solitaire. I shall never +forget the impression produced by first hearing this. It was on the top +of St. Catherine's Peak, fifty-two hundred feet above the sea, in the +early morning, when the mountain solitude seemed most profound, that my +companion and I heard from the adjacent woods its mysterious note. It +was a soft and clear tone, somewhat prolonged, and ending in a +modulation which imparted to it an indescribable effect, as if of +supernal melancholy. It seemed almost as if some mild angel were +lingering pensively upon the mountain tops, before pursuing his downward +flight among the unhappy sons of men.</p> + +<p>The uplands of the island, from 800 to 1,500 feet above the sea, are a +cheer<a name="Page_438" id="Page_438"></a>ful, sunny region, in which the tropical heat is tempered by +almost constant refreshing breezes, and, in the eastern part at least, +by abundant showers. Some of the western parishes not unfrequently +suffer terribly from drought. There are two or three which have not even +a spring, depending wholly upon rain water collected in tanks. These +sometimes become dry, causing unutterable distress both to man and +beast. We hear even sometimes of poor people starving during these +seasons of drought. But our more favored region in the east scarcely +knows dearth. Our mighty mountain neighbors seldom permitted us even to +fear it, and were more apt to send us a deluge than a drought.</p> + +<p>In the uplands our winter temperature was commonly about 75° in the +shade at noon, and the summer temperature about ten degrees higher. The +nights are almost always agreeably cool, and frequent showers and +breezes allay the sultriness of the days. I never saw the thermometer +above 90° in the shade, and seldom below 65°. It once fell to +54°, to the lamentable discomfort of our feelings and fingers. Of +course, where the sun for months is nearly vertical, and twice in the +summer actually so, the heat of his direct beams is intense. But those +careful precautions of avoiding travelling in the middle of the day, on +which some lay such stress, we never concerned ourselves with in +Jamaica, and I could not discover that we were ever the worse for it. An +umbrella was enough to stand between us and mischief. +</p> + +<p>On the whole, it may safely be said that there is no climate more like +that which we imagine of Eden than that of the highland region of +Jamaica during a large part of the year. It is true that after a while +northern constitutions begin to miss the stimulus of occasional cold. +But for a few years nothing could be more delightful. The chief drawback +is that at uncertain cycles there come incessant deluges of rain for +months together, making it dreary and uncomfortable both in doors and +out. Years will sometimes pass before there is any excessive amount of +these, and then sometimes for years together they will prevail to a most +disagreeable extent. They break up the mountain roads and swell the +mountain streams to such a degree as to render travelling almost +impossible, and in a country where your friends are few, you do not like +to be kept back from seeing them by the imminent risk of finding no road +at all on the side of a hill where at best there is barely room enough +between the bank and the gully for one horse to pass another, or of +finding yourself between two turns of a stream, with a sudden shower +making it impossible for you to get either forward or back. But during +my residence I had just enough of these adventures to give a pleasant +zest to life. And after a tremendous rain of hours, when the sun +reappeared, and the banks of fleecy cloud were once more seen floating +tranquilly in heaven, and the streams ran again crystal clear, and the +hills smiled again in all the glory of their brilliant green, and the +air had again its wonted temper, at once balmy and elastic, it was +enough to make amends for all previous discomfort.</p> + +<p>Although no part of the island is peculiarly favorable to constitutions +of the European race, yet with prudence and temperance foreigners find +this midland region reasonably healthy. The missionaries, who have +mostly resided in the uplands, have but seldom fallen victims to fevers. +Foreigners must not expect to live here without occasional attacks of +fever; but with care, there need be little apprehension of a fatal +result, except to those of a sanguine temperament or of a corpulent +habit. And the general exemption from the dreadful ravages of +consumption may well be thought to compensate the somewhat greater risks +from fever. Even on the plains, that <a name="Page_439" id="Page_439"></a>immense mortality of whites from +the mother country which once gave to Jamaica the ominous name of 'The +Grave of Europeans,' was caused as much by their reckless intemperance +as by any necessity of the climate. Or, rather, habits which in Great +Britain might have been indulged in with comparative impunity, in +Jamaica were rapidly fatal. It is said that another cause of the +excessive mortality among the overseers was that they were often +secretly poisoned by the blacks. On some plantations, I have heard it +said, overseer after overseer was poisoned off, almost as soon as he +arrived. In most cases, I dare say, it would be found that over-liberal +potations of Jamaica rum were the poison that did the mischief. But the +reports have probably some foundation in truth. An oppressed race, +seldom daring to strike openly, would be very apt to devise subtle ways +of vengeance. It will be remembered that one of the most frequent items +in our own Southern newspapers used to be accounts of attempts made by +slave girls to poison their masters' families. Arsenic, which they +commonly used, is a clumsy means, almost sure to be detected; but in the +West Indies, where the proportion of native Africans was always very +large, the African sorcerers, the dreaded Obi-men, who exercise so +baleful a power over the imaginations of the blacks, appear also to have +availed themselves of other than imaginary charms to keep up their +credit as the disposers of life and death, and to have often gained such +a knowledge of slow vegetable poisons as made them formidable helpers of +revenge, whether against their own race or against the race of their +oppressors. In a recent Jamaica story of Captain Mayne Reid's, the plot +centres in the hideous figure of an old Obi-man, who wreaks his revenge +for former wrongs in this secret way, destroying victim after victim +from among the lords of the soil. The piece is stocked with horrors +enough for the most ravenous devourer of yellow-covered literature, but +nevertheless it is so true to the conditions of life in the old days of +Jamaica, that it is well worth reading for a lively sense of the time +when the fearful influences of savage heathenism, slavery, and tropical +passion were working together in that land of rarest beauty and of +foulest sin. Evil enough remains, but, thank God, the hideous shadows of +the past have fled away forever.</p> + +<p>But these tragical remembrances and suspicions belong rather to the +plains, into which we are about to descend. Here we feel distinctly that +we are in the tropics. The sweltering heat, tempered, indeed, by the +land and sea breezes, but still sufficiently oppressive, and almost the +same day and night, leaves no doubt of this fact. Vegetation, too, +appears more distinctly tropical. The character of the landscape in the +two regions is quite different. In the uplands the wealth of glowing +green swallows up peculiarities of form, and presents little difference +of color except the endless diversity of its own shades. There are, +however, some distinct features of the landscape. Conspicuous on every +hillside are the groves 'where the mango apples grow,' their mass of +dense rounded foliage looking not unlike our maples, and giving a +pleasant sense of home to the northern sojourner. The feathery bamboo, +most gigantic of grasses, runs in plumy lines across the country. Around +the negro cottages, here and there, rise groups of the cocoanut palms, +giving, more than anything else, a tropical character to the landscape. +On a distant eminence may perhaps be seen a lofty ceiba or cotton tree, +its white trunk rising sixty or seventy feet from the ground without a +limb, and then putting out huge, scraggy arms, loaded with parasites. +Every lesser feature is swamped in verdure, except that here and there +the white-washed walls of a negro cottage of the better sort gleam +pleasantly forth from <a name="Page_440" id="Page_440"></a>embowering hedges and fruit trees. I do not know +how Wordsworth's advice to make country houses as much as possible of +the color of the surrounding country may apply among the gray hills of +Westmoreland; but among the green hills of Jamaica, the white which he +deprecates forms a welcome relief to the splendid monotony of glowing +emerald. It is not amiss to call it emerald, for there are so many +plants here with glossy leaves, that under the brilliant sunlight the +lustre of the green is almost more than the eye can bear. To the +southward of Oberlin station, formerly belonging to our mission, rises a +range of verdant hills, which in some lights has so much the pure, +continuous color of a gem, as almost to realize Arabian fables to the +eye. Indeed, I have gazed at it sometimes with such a feeling as Aladdin +had when the magician had left him confined in the Hall of Jewels, and +have almost wished for an earthquake to cleave its oppressive superbness +and give a refreshing sight of the blue sea beyond.</p> + +<p>But on descending to the plains, where there is less moisture, and where +vegetation therefore is scantier, we find the unwonted forms of growth +more distinct, and have the full sense of being in a southern land. Here +the thorn palms, the cactus hedges, the penguin fences, resembling huge +pineapple plants, and various trees and shrubs, being seen more +isolated, make a stronger impression of the peculiarities of tropical +forms. Here too we meet in greater abundance with the cocoanut tree, +occasionally forming long avenues of lofty palms on the estates. And +here we see more frequently the huge squares of many acres, heavy with +the luxuriant wealth of the cane, and thronged by dusky laborers. The +heat, which in the uplands is pleasant, though rather too steady in the +plains, becomes oppressive and enervating. The distinction between the +wet and dry seasons, also, is much more distinctly marked, and, in +short, everything corresponds more fully with the usual idea of a +tropical land.</p> + +<p>The luxuriance and the glory of nature are the same now as ever; but +everywhere over the island the traveller sees the melancholy evidences +of the decay of former wealth. You may travel over miles and miles on +the plains once rich with the cane, or ridge after ridge in the uplands +once covered with the dark-green coffee plantations, which now are +almost a wilderness. To quote the language of another, 'ridges, +overgrown with guava bushes, mark the cornfields; rank vegetation fills +the courtyard, and even bursts through the once hospitable roof. A curse +seems to have fallen upon the land, as if this generation were atoning +for the sins of the past. For while we lament the ruin of the present +proprietors, we cannot forget the unrequited toil which in times gone by +created the wealth they have lost; nor that hapless race, the original +owners of the soil, whose fate darkens the saddest page in history.'</p> + +<p>A passing traveller will see little to compensate the sadness occasioned +by old magnificence thus in ruins, strewing the whole island with its +melancholy wrecks. What there is to set off against it, we shall +consider hereafter.</p> + +<p>What survives of the agriculture and commerce of Jamaica is still, as +formerly, mainly dependent on the two great staples, sugar and coffee; +the former being raised chiefly in the plains and valleys, the latter in +the uplands and mountains. There was, it is said, an indigenous sugar +cane in the West Indies, when first discovered; but if so, it has long +been supplanted by the Mauritius cane, which is now cultivated. The +joints of the cane, being cut and laid horizontally in furrows, which +are then covered over, spring up in a crop which comes to maturity in +about a year; and when this is cut, the roots rattoon, or send up shoots +for five or six years in succession. This is one reason why Jamaica +sugar planters find it so <a name="Page_441" id="Page_441"></a>hard to compete with Cuban production. On the +deep soil of Cuba the cane rattoons, it is said, not five or six, but +forty years in succession.</p> + +<p>The coffee plant is a beautiful shrub. Left to itself, it would grow +twenty or thirty feet high; but it is kept down to such a height as that +the berries can easily be picked by the hand. Its glossy, dark-green +leaves resemble a good deal the jessamine; and the resemblance is +increased during the time of flowering, by the beautiful white blossoms, +of a faint, delicate fragrance, which are scattered over the branches +like a light powdering of snow. It thrives well in a moist air; and +coffee plantations may be seen clothing the sides of mountains three, +four, and even five thousand feet above the sea. The history of the way +in which coffee was introduced to the West Indies is really quite a +little romance, though an authentic one. It is well known that Holland +used to practise the most odious commercial monopoly ever known among +Christian nations. Her spice islands were guarded with a cruel jealousy +rivalling the fables of the dragon that guarded the golden apples; and +her great coffee island, Java, was equally locked up from the world. To +give a spice plant or a coffee plant to a stranger, was an offence +inexorably punished with death. A single coffee plant, however, was +allowed to come to Europe as an ornament to the conservatory of a +wealthy Amsterdam burgomaster. This was still more jealously watched +than its fellows in the East Indies; but at length a French visitor +managed to secrete a living berry, and, taking it with him to Paris, to +raise a plant. From this again a young plant was taken to Martinique, +one of the French West Indies. When the young stranger, freighted with +such possibilities of wealth, arrived there, it was found that the +exposure of the voyage had nearly extinguished its vitality. It was +tended with the most anxious care; but for two or three years it +continued to languish, and threatened by an untimely death to give Dutch +selfishness a triumph after all. At last, however, it took a happy +start, and from that plant the whole West Indies have derived their +coffee. It was introduced into Jamaica in 1720, and Temple Hall, one of +the two estates which I have mentioned as being in the beautiful valley +between Kingston and the American Mission, has the honor of showing the +oldest coffee walk in the island.</p> + +<p>Jamaica coffee is of an excellent quality; the berries, it is said, if +kept two years, being equal to the best Mocha. As some one laments that +the cooks and grooms of the Romans spoke better Latin than even Milton +among the moderns could write, so I can boast in behalf of the Jamaica +negroes, that even Delmonico, unless he could secure the services of one +of them who understands the true method of reducing the browned berry to +an impalpable powder, by pulverizing it between a flat stone and a round +one, must give up all hopes of presenting his guests with the ideal cup +of coffee. I would give the whole process by which an amber-colored +stream, of perfect flavor, might be poured out, without a trace of +sediment, to the very last drop, did I not reflect with pity that +probably in all the wide extent of my country there is neither the +apparatus of grinding nor the sable domestic with skill to use it. Nay, +even in Jamaica, where one would think they could afford to be slow +<i>for</i> a good thing, since they are so amazingly slow <i>to</i> every good +thing, I grieve to say that the barbarous mill, hacking and mangling the +fragrant berry, has almost universally supplanted the more laborious +ancient method by which it was gently reduced to its most perfect +attrition, yielding up every particle of its aromatic strength. Thus the +modern demon of expedition, to whom quickness is so much more than +quality, has invaded even the slumberous repose of our fair island, +bringing under his arm, not a locomotive, but a <a name="Page_442" id="Page_442"></a>coffee mill. There are, +to be sure, two or three locomotives on the twelve-mile railway between +Kingston and Spanishtown, but it would be a cruel sarcasm to intimate +that the genius of expedition ever brought them.</p> + +<p>There are several other vegetable products of Jamaica, which it owes +likewise to a happy accident. The mango, for instance, which now grows +in such profusion on uplands and plains, that if the groves should be +cut down, the face of the country would seem naked, was a spoil of war, +being brought from a French ship destined for Martinique, somewhere +about 1790. At first it is said the mangoes sold for a guinea a piece, +with the express stipulation that the seed should be returned. Now, in a +good bearing season, I have actually seen a narrow mountain road fetlock +deep with decaying mangoes, besides the thousands consumed by man and +beast. During the summer, in the good years, they furnish the main +subsistence to the negro children, and a large part of the subsistence +of the adults, and make a grateful and wholesome change from the yam and +salt fish which constitute the staples of their diet the rest of the +time. It is this, probably, which has given rise to the absurd report +that the negroes live principally on fruits spontaneously growing.</p> + +<p>The young leaves of the mango are of a brownish red; and amid the +general profusion of green, they impart a not ungrateful relief to the +eye. Even their russet blossoms have a pleasant look. But in a good +season, when the fruit is ripe, the groves have a magnificently rich +appearance. Rows upon rows of yellow fruit look like lines of golden +apples. Most people are extravagantly fond of them; but for myself I +must say that, excepting the superb 'No. 11'—so named from being thus +numbered on the captured French ship—and one or two other rare kinds, I +concur with the late Prof. Adams, of Amherst, in thinking that a very +good mango might be made by steeping raw cotton in turpentine, and +sprinkling a little sugar over it.</p> + +<p>Another fortuitous gift to Jamaica, so far as human intention is +concerned, was the invaluable donation of the Guinea grass. Toward a +century ago some African birds were brought as a present to a gentleman +in the west of the island. Some grass seeds had been brought along for +their feed; and when they reached their journey's end, the seeds were +thrown away. After a while it was noticed that the cattle were very +eager to reach the grass growing on a certain spot, and on examination +it was found that the seeds thrown away had come up as a grass of +remarkable succulence and nutritiousness. It was soon distributed, and +now it is spread over the island. You pass rich meadows of it on every +lowland estate; and it clothes hundreds of hills to their tops with its +yellowish green. I do not see what the island would do without it. The +pens or grazing farms in particular have been almost wholly created by +it.</p> + +<p>Jamaica has, of course, the usual West Indian fruits, the orange, the +shaddock, the lime, the pineapple, the guava, the nispero, the banana, +the cocoanut, and many others not much known abroad. But the +lusciousness of tropical fruits compares ill with the thousand delicate +flavors which cultivation has extended through our temperate clime; +while, at the same time, steam makes nearly all the best fruits of the +West Indies familiar to our markets. The resident of New York or +Philadelphia, and still more of Baltimore has small occasion to wish +himself in the tropics for the sake of fruit.</p> + +<p>The great staple of negro existence, and therefore the great staple of +existence to the immense majority of the inhabitants, is the yam. There +are some indigenous kinds; but the species most in use appear to have +been brought in by the imported African slaves. This solid edible dwarfs +our potatoes, a sin<a name="Page_443" id="Page_443"></a>gle root varying in weight from five to ten pounds, +and sometimes even reaching the weight of fifty pounds. They are of all +shapes, globular, finger shaped, and long; and the latter, with their +thick, brown rinds, look more like billets of wood, crusted with earth, +than anything else. People in this country are apt to imagine them to be +a huge kind of sweet potato, with which they have no other connection +than that both are edible roots. The white yams, boiled and mashed, are +scarcely distinguishable from very superior white potatoes. Above ground +the plant is a vine, requiring to be trained on a pole, and a yamfield +looks precisely like a vineyard. But oh, the difference! while the +vineyard calls up a thousand recollections of laughing girls treading +the grape, and the sunny lands of story, a yamfield reminds you only +that under the ground is a bulky esculent, which some months hence will +be put into a negro pot, and boiled and eaten, with an utter absence of +poetry, or of anything but appetite and salt. It is plain that in this +case solid usefulness stands no chance with erratic and rather +loose-mannered brilliancy. And yet some kinds of yam in flower diffuse a +fragrance more exquisite, I am persuaded, than comes from any vineyard. +So that, after all, their homely prose has some flavor of poetry, which, +when African poets arise, will doubtless be duly canonized in song.</p> + +<p>As yet the small freeholders have chiefly occupied themselves in raising +these 'ground provisions,' as yams, plantains, bananas, and the various +vegetables are called. But they are more and more largely planting cane +and coffee, greatly to their own advantage and that of the island.</p> + +<p>If in this favored zone the earth is pleasant underneath, nothing can be +more glorious than the heavens above. Being under the parallel of 18° N. +lat., of course we have a full view of all the northern heavens, and of +all the southern heavens, except 18° about the South Pole. The rarefied +atmosphere gives peculiar brilliancy to the stars; and on a clear +night—and most nights are clear—the heavens are indeed flooded with +white fire, while, according to the season of the year, Orion and his +northern company appear with a lustre unwonted to us, or the Scorpion +unfolds his sparkling length, or the Ship displays its glittering +confusion of stars, or the Southern Cross rears aloft its sacred symbol. +Meanwhile, well down toward the northern horizon, the pole star holds +its fixed position, and the Great and the Little Bear, dipping toward +the ocean wave, but not yet dipping in it, pursue their nightly +revolutions. Long after sunset, and long before sunrise, night after +night, the faint, nebulous gleam of the zodiacal lights stretches up +toward the zenith. The shortness of the twilight frequently leaves the +fugacious planet, Mercury, so seldom seen at the north, in distinct +view. While Venus not merely casts a shadow in a clear night, as she +does with us, but when she is brightest, actually shines through the +clouds with an illumining power.</p> + +<p>Alternating with these glories of the starry firmament, the moon at the +full fills the lower air with a soft, yet bright light, in which you can +read without difficulty the smallest print. Under this milder +illumination, the overpowering luxuriance of the landscape loses its +oppressiveness, the hills assume more rounded forms, and from the +general obscurity, the palms, a tree made for moonlight, stand out in +soft distinctness. At such a time we forget the foul crimes which +disfigure the past, and the vices which degrade the present of this fair +land, and can easily imagine ourselves in the garden where the yet +unfallen progenitors of mankind walked under a firmament 'glowing with +living sapphires,' and together hymned the praises of their Creator. +Daylight chases away this illusion, but <a name="Page_444" id="Page_444"></a>brings back the reality of +Christian work, whose rugged but cheerful tasks replace the delicious +but ineffectual dreams of Paradise Lost, by the hope of contributing, in +some humble measure, toward restoring in a province of fallen earth the +lineaments of Paradise Regained.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> This was during the Crimean war.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="THE_RESTORATION_OF_THE_UNION" id="THE_RESTORATION_OF_THE_UNION"></a>THE RESTORATION OF THE UNION.<br /><br /></h3> + + +<p>God is on the side of our country. Let us reverently thank him that he +has favored the general march of our arms toward the sacred end of our +exertions—the defeat of the daring attempt against the unity of our +national power and the integrity of our free institutions. Not always in +human affairs has the cause of right and freedom prevailed. In the +gradual development of human society, as unfolded in the lapse of long +ages, the oppressor has generally triumphed, and history has full often +been compelled to record the failure of the noblest efforts, and the +downfall of the most righteous designs conceived for the benefit of man. +Such has been the experience of the race in those parts of the world +which have longest been the theatre of human enterprise and of +established government. But the American continent seems to present an +exception to this uniformity of sinister events: it is destined to be +the seat of civil liberty. The success of our institutions in +withstanding the awful trial to which they have just been subjected, +indicates the existence of providential designs toward our favored +country, not to be thwarted by any mortal agency at home or abroad. Such +a combination of hostile elements, so powerful and determined, has never +before assailed any political structure without overthrowing it. The +failure in the present instance shows that our great destiny will be +accomplished in the face of all obstacles, however insurmountable they +may appear to be.</p> + +<p>Providence always accomplishes its ends by appropriate +instrumentalities; and in our case there are natural causes adequate to +the great result which seems to be inevitable. In North America the +principle of equal rights and of unobstructed individual progress has +become the fundamental law of society. It is needless to trace the +origin and growth of this principle; but its operation has been so +powerful and productive, so fully imbued with moral and intellectual +power, so solid and safe as a basis of national organization, as shown +in the marvellous history of the United States, that no uncongenial +principle is capable of resisting it, or even of maintaining an +existence by its side. This is true not only with regard to that +antagonistic principle which is now desperately but hopelessly waging a +suicidal war within the bosom of the great republic; but it is equally +true with regard to that insidious germ of despotism, which threatens to +push its way through the soil of a neighboring country, displacing the +free institutions which have long and sadly languished amid the civil +wars of a most unhappy people. The same vigorous vitality which will +renew the growth of our national authority and maintain it in the Union, +will, at the same time, establish its predominant influence on the +continent. Having overborne and rooted out every opposing principle +within the boundaries of our own imperial domain, its growth will be so +majestic that every unfriendly influence which may possibly have secured +a feeble foothold in its vicinity during <a name="Page_445" id="Page_445"></a>its perilous struggle, will +soon wither in the shadow of its greatness and disappear from around it. +Foreign nations may exert their sinister authority in the Old World, and +plant their peculiar institutions in that congenial soil, with their +accustomed success; but no amount of skilful manipulation will preserve +these exotics when transplanted in the American soil. The prevailing +elements are not suited to their organization; they cannot be +naturalized and acclimated. This continent, with its peculiar population +and antecedents, has its own political <i>fauna</i> and <i>flora</i>, fixed by +nature and destiny, which cannot be utterly changed at the will of any +human authority.</p> + +<p>The most wicked and disastrous experiment of the age has been tried upon +the grandest scale. It was a bold undertaking to break up the American +Union, and to arrest the progress of its benign principles. To the great +relief and joy of almost universal humanity, the monstrous attempt is +about to result in disgraceful failure. Yet this prodigious enterprise +of destruction was initiated under the most favorable circumstances, +with the most auspicious promise for its fatal success. The malignant +envy of all the instruments of despotism throughout the whole civilized +world were brought to bear against us for the accomplishment of a work +of stupendous ruin—the annihilation of American nationality, American +power, and American freedom. All the bad, restless, retrogressive +elements of our own population sought alliance with the foreign enemies +of human liberty; and, for the most selfish and detestable of all social +and political schemes, attempted to prostrate the paternal government of +their country, before the expiration of the first century of its +unexampled career. Vast armies of deluded citizens, led by degenerate +sons of the republic—ingrates, educated at her own military +schools—have impiously defied her lawful authority, and sometimes +assailed her with unnatural triumph over her arms; while foreign +capital, subsidized by prospective piratical plunder, has filled the +ocean with daring cruisers to destroy her commerce, and thus to weaken +the right hand of her power. Feathers from the wing of her own eagle +have plumed the arrows directed at her heart; while the barb has been +steeled and sharpened by the aid of mercenary enemies in distant +lands—aid purchased by means of the robberies which have desolated one +half the land. Deep and dangerous have been the wounds inflicted on our +unhappy country through this shameless combination of traitors at home +and enemies of humanity abroad; but she still stands erect, though +bleeding, with her great strength yet comparatively undiminished, and +with her foot uplifted ready to be planted on the breast of her +prostrate foes. She holds aloft the glorious banner, its stars still +undimmed, and with her mild but penetrating voice, she still proclaims +the principles of universal freedom to all who may choose to claim it; +and with the sublimity of the most exalted human charity, she invites +even the fallen enemy—the misguided betrayers of their country—to +return to her bosom and share the protection of her generous +institutions. In the hour of her triumph she seeks no bloody vengeance, +but tenders a magnanimous forgiveness to her repenting children, wooing +them back to the shelter of re-established liberty and vindicated law. +All hail to the republic in the splendor of her coming triumph and the +renewal of her beneficent power!</p> + +<p>It has not been within the ability of reckless treason and armed +rebellion to break down the Constitution of the country and permanently +destroy its institutions; so will it be as far beyond the capacity, as +it ought to be distant from the thoughts of the men now wielding the +Federal authority, to operate unauthorized changes in the fundamental +law which they have solemnly sworn to support. The strength <a name="Page_446" id="Page_446"></a>of the +people has been put forth, through the Government—their blood has been +profusely poured out, for the sole purpose of maintaining its legitimate +ascendency, and of overthrowing and removing the obstacles opposed by +the hand of treason to its constitutional action. To uphold the +supremacy of the Constitution and laws, is the very object of the war; +and it would be a gross perversion of the authority conferred and a +palpable misuse of the means so amply provided by Congress, to use them +for the purpose of defeating the very end intended to be accomplished. +Neither the legislative nor the executive department of the Government +could legitimately undertake to destroy or change the Constitution, from +which both derive their existence and all their lawful power. It is true +that pending a war, either foreign or civil, the Constitution itself +confers extraordinary powers upon the Government—powers far +transcending those which it may properly exercise in time of peace. +These war powers, however, great as they are, and limited only by the +laws of and usages civilized nations, are not extra-constitutional; they +are expressly conferred, and are quite as legitimate as those more +moderate ones which appropriately belong to the Government in ordinary +times. But when there is no longer any war—when the Government shall +have succeeded in completely suppressing the rebellion—what then will +be the proper principle of action? Will not the Constitution of itself, +by the simple force of its own terms, revert to its ordinary operation, +and spread its benign protection over every part of the country? Will +not all the States, returning to their allegiance, be entitled to hold +their place in the Union, upon the same footing which they held prior to +the fatal attempt at secession? These are indeed momentous questions, +demanding a speedy solution.</p> + +<p>If we say that the Federal Government may put the States upon any +different footing than that established by the existing Constitution, +then we virtually abrogate that instrument which accurately prescribes +the means by which alone its provisions can be altered or amended. But, +on the other hand, if we concede the right of each State, after making +war on the Union until it is finally conquered, quietly to return and +take its place again with all the rights and privileges it held before, +just as if nothing had happened in the <i>interim</i>, then, indeed, do we +make of the Federal Government a veritable temple of discord. We subject +it to the danger of perpetual convulsions, without the power to protect +itself except by the repetition of sanguinary wars, whenever the caprice +or ambition of any State might lead her into the experiment of +rebellion. Between these two unreasonable and contradictory +alternatives—the right of the Government to change its forms, and the +right of the rebellious State to assume its place in the union without +conditions—there must be some middle ground upon which both parties may +stand securely without doing violence to any constitutional principle. +The Federal Government is clothed with power, and has imposed upon it +the duty, to conquer the rebellion. This is an axiom in the political +philosophy of every true Union man, and we therefore do not stop to +argue a point disputed only by the enemies of our cause. But if the +Government has power to conquer the domestic enemy in arms against it, +then, as a necessary consequence, it must be the sole judge as to when +the conquest has been accomplished; in other words, it must pronounce +when and in what manner the state of internal war shall cease to exist. +This implies nothing more than the right claimed by every belligerent +power, and always exercised by the conqueror—that of deciding for +itself how far the war shall be carried—what amount of restraint and +punishment shall be inflicted—what terms of peace <a name="Page_447" id="Page_447"></a>shall be imposed. +The Constitution of the United States does not seem to contemplate the +holding, by the Federal Government, of any State as a conquered and +dependent province; but in authorizing it to suppress rebellion, it +confers every power necessary to do the work effectually. It authorizes +the use of the whole military means of the Government, to be applied in +the most unrestricted manner, for the destruction of the rebellious +power. If a State be in rebellion, then the State itself may be held and +restrained by military power, so long as may be necessary, in order to +secure its obedience to the Federal laws and the due performance of its +constitutional obligations. It would be contradictory and wholly +destructive of the right of suppressing rebellion by military power, to +admit the irreconcilable right of the State unconditionally to assume +its place in the Union, only to renew the war at its own pleasure. +Acting in good faith, the Federal Government has the undoubted right to +provide for its own security, and to follow its military measures with +all those supplementary proceedings which are usual and appropriate to +this end. This principle surely cannot be questioned; and if so, it +involves everything, leaving the question one only of practical +expediency and of good faith in the choice of means.</p> + +<p>But it is said there is and indeed can be no war between the Government +and any of the States; but only between the former, and certain +rebellious individuals in the States. We are well aware that in the +ordinary operation of the Federal Government, it acts directly on +individuals and not on States. The cause of this arrangement and its +purpose are well understood. But in case of war or insurrection, the +power must be coextensive with the emergency which calls it forth. If +States are actually in rebellion, then of necessity the Government must +treat that fact according to its real nature. The fiction of supposing +the State to be loyal when its citizens are all traitors, and of +considering it incapable of insurrection when all its authorities are +notoriously in open rebellion, would be not less pernicious in its folly +and imbecility than it would be absurd to the common sense of mankind. +Undoubtedly it may be true in some instances, that the rebellion has +usurped authority in the States. The will of the people may have been +utterly disregarded, and set aside by violence or fraud. The +insurrectionary government of the State may be only the government <i>de +facto</i> and not <i>de jure</i>, using these terms with reference only to the +State and its people, and not with reference to the paramount authority +of the Union which, under all circumstances, deprives the +insurrectionary State organization of any legal character whatever. In +all cases of such usurped authority, the people of the States would have +the unquestionable right to be restored to the Union upon the terms of +their recent connection, without any conditions whatever. It would be +the solemn duty of the United States to defend each one of its members +from the violence which might thus have overthrown its legitimate +government. But, on the other hand, when the people of the States +themselves have inaugurated the insurrectionary movement and have +voluntarily sustained it in its war upon the Government, then no such +favor can reasonably be claimed for them. If excitement and delusion +have suddenly hurried them into rebellion against their better judgments +and their real inclinations, they are to be pitied for their misfortune, +and ought to be treated with great leniency and favor; but they cannot +claim exemption from those conditions which may be imperatively demanded +for the future security and tranquillity of the country.</p> + +<p>If by possibility there might be some technical legal difficulty in this +view, there would be none whatever of a practical nature; for any mind +gifted <a name="Page_448" id="Page_448"></a>with the most ordinary endowment of reason would not fail to be +impressed with the gross inconsistency and inequality of holding that +rebels may not only set aside the Constitution at their will and make +war for its destruction, but may set it up again and claim its +protection; while its defenders and faithful asserters must be held to +such strict and impracticable regard for its provisions that they may +not take the precautions necessary to preserve it, even in the emergency +of putting down a rebellion against it. Such an irrational predicament +of constitutional difficulties and political contradictions would soon +necessitate its own solution. The revolution on the one side would +induce a similar revolutionary movement on the other; attempted +destruction by violence would justify the measures necessary to the +restoration of the Government and to its permanent security in the +future. There would be little hesitation in adopting these measures in +spite of any doubt as to their regularity. The public safety would be +acknowledged as the supreme law, and they who had placed themselves in +the attitude of public enemies could not complain of the rigid +application of its requirements to them.</p> + +<p>The most inveterate of the rebels certainly do not anticipate the +relaxation of this principle. They are careful to make known to the +Southern people the impossibility of returning to the Union, except upon +such conditions as may be prescribed by the conquering power. It is true +they do this to deter their followers from indulging the thought of any +restoration of their former Federal relations; but this fact of itself +shows their consciousness of the justice of the position. They have +betrayed their people into a situation from which they cannot reasonably +hope to escape without making important concessions to the Federal +Government. Their effort now is to convince the misguided population of +the South that the required concessions will be more intolerable than +the indefinite continuance of a hopeless and destructive civil war.</p> + +<p>There is no necessity, however, to go beyond the limits of the +Constitution; nor is there any reason to believe that the Government, in +any event, will be disposed to exact terms inconsistent with the true +spirit of our institutions. A great danger, such as now threatens our +country, might, in some circumstances, justify a revolution, altering +even the fundamental laws, for the purpose of preserving our national +unity. The justification would depend upon the nature of the +circumstances—the extremity and urgency of the peril; and the change +would be recognized and defended as the result of violence, irregular +and revolutionary. At a more tranquil period, in the absence of danger +and excitement, it would be practicable to return to the former +principles of political action; or, in case of necessity, the sanction +of the people might be obtained in the forms prescribed by the +Constitution, and the change found necessary in the revolutionary period +would either be approved and retained, modified, or altogether rejected.</p> + +<p>But fortunately no constitutional obstacle whatever stands in the way of +making such stipulations as may be appropriate between the Federal +Government and the States; nor would they at all imply any admission of +the right of secession, or of the actual efficacy of the attempted +withdrawal from the Union. On the contrary, any agreement with the State +would, <i>ex vi termini</i>, admit the integrity of its organization under +the Constitution. Special agreements are usually made whenever a new +State is admitted into the Union; and as all the States, old and new, +stand upon an equal footing, there can be nothing in the ordinances +usually adopted by the new States, conflicting with the principles on +which the Government is organized. The States are prohibited from +making<a name="Page_449" id="Page_449"></a> 'any agreement or compact' with each other, without the consent +of the Federal Government; but there is no prohibition against making +such agreements with the Federal Government itself. What the new States +may do upon entering the Union, the old States may do at any time upon +the same conditions This principle was settled upon the admission of +Texas into the Union; it has been sanctioned in many other instances; +and we are not aware that there is or can be any question of its +soundness. Surely, if there could ever be an occasion proper for a +solemn compact between the General Government and any of the separate +States, it will be found at the conclusion of this unhappy war, when it +will be necessary to heal the wounds of the country, and provide for its +permanent peace and security. To quell an insurrection so extensive, +involving so many States in its daring treason, especially when it has +assumed an organized form and been recognized not only by other nations +but even by ourselves, as a belligerent entitled to the rights of war, +implies the necessity, in addition to the annihilation of its armies and +all its warlike resources, of removing the causes of its +dissatisfaction, and destroying its means of exciting disturbance. The +Government is by no means bound unconditionally to recognize the old +relations of States which, as such, have taken part in the rebellion; +which have themselves repudiated all their constitutional rights and +obligations; and which may again, at any time, renew the war, from the +same impulse and for the same cause. On the contrary, the close of the +disastrous contest will be a most favorable opportunity for compelling +the conquered insurrection to submit to terms such as will deprive it of +all capacity for similar mischief in the future. The insurrection will +not be effectually suppressed unless its active principle is destroyed. +Nothing can be plainer than the right and the solemn duty of the +Government in this great emergency.</p> + +<p>Supposing these principles to be admitted, there still remains for +determination the most important question as to the nature of the +conditions which ought to be exacted of the returning States—a problem +of the most difficult character, involving the most delicate of all +considerations, and demanding for its solution the highest practical +statesmanship and the most profound wisdom, based upon moderation, +firmness, liberality, and justice. In this problem several elements +exist in complicated combination, and each one of these must be fairly +considered in the adjustment whenever it may be made. The measures of +safety which the Government has been compelled to adopt in the progress +of the war, and to which it may be committed without recall; the +condition of the rebellious States, and their demands and propositions; +and finally, the interests, rights, and just expectations of the African +race, which has become so intimately involved in this terrible +strife—all these must be weighed accurately in the scales of truth, and +with the impartial hand of disinterested patriotism. No mere partisan +considerations, no promptings of selfish ambition, and no miserable +sectional enmities or fierce desires for revenge, ought to be allowed to +mingle with our thoughts and feelings when we approach this great +subject of restoring peace and harmony to the people and States of this +mighty republic. Awful will be the responsibility of those men in +authority, who shall fail to rise to the height of this momentous +emergency in the history of our country—who shall be wanting in the +courage, the purity, the magnanimity necessary to save the nation from +disunion and anarchy.</p> + +<p>What ought to be the conditions upon which the rebellious States are to +be reëstablished in their old relations, it is perhaps premature now to +attempt <a name="Page_450" id="Page_450"></a>to determine. The war is not yet closed, although we are +sufficiently sanguine to believe that we have already seen 'the +beginning of the end.' But the still nearer approach of the final acts +in the great drama will give a mighty impetus to events, and many great +changes will be wrought in the condition of the Southern people, and in +their feelings toward the Union, against which too many of them are +still breathing hate and vengeance. They have scarcely yet been +sufficiently chastened even by the fiery ordeal through which they have +been compelled to pass. Every day, however, increases the bitterness of +the scourge under which they suffer, and if it does not avail to humble +them, it tends at least to convince them, in their hearts, of the +terrible mistake into which they have been led. We may well hope and +believe that the masses of the people will soon be brought to that +rational frame of mind which will incline them to acknowledge the +irresistible exigencies of their situation, and to make those +concessions that may be found indispensable to peace and union. As we +approach the moment of decisive action, experience will teach us the +solemn duty devolving upon us. While we may not at present anticipate +fully what will then be necessary, we can nevertheless determine some +few principles of a general nature which must control the adjustment.</p> + +<p>We will be compelled to consider not only the duty which the Government +owes the people, in the matter of their own permanent security, but also +the obligations it has assumed, the promises it has made, and the hopes +it has excited in the bondsmen of the rebellious States. There must be +good faith toward the black man. It would be infamous to have incited +him to escape from slavery only to remand him again, upon the +restoration of the Union, to the tender mercies of his master. What +differences of opinion may have existed in the beginning as to the +legality and policy of the Proclamation and of employing the liberated +slaves as soldiers, the Government and people are too far committed in +this line of action to be able now to withdraw without dishonour and +foul injustice. Many of the consequences of the war may be remedied, and +even the last vestiges of them obliterated. Cities may be rebuilt, +desolated fields made to bloom again with prosperity, and commerce may +return to its old channels with even increased activity and volume. Many +wounds may be healed, and may separations may be brought to an end by +the renewal of friendships broken by the war; but the separation of the +slave from his mater, so far as it has been caused by any action of the +Government, can never be remedied. That must be an eternal separation, +resting for its security upon the humanity as well as the honor of the +American people. What! Shall we restore the States unconditionally, and +permit the fugitive slave law again to operate as it did before the +rebellion? Shall we consent to see the men whom we have invited away +from the South dragged back into slavery tenfold more severe by reason +of our act inducing them to escape? This is plainly impossible. Argument +is wholly out of place; felling and conscience revolt at the very idea. +It may be admitted that this question, with its peculiar complications, +presents the most difficult and dangerous of all problems; but there is +no alternative: we must meet and solve it at the close of this +rebellion. We have to combat the selfish interests of a class still +powerful, aided by the great strength of a popular prejudice almost +universal. The emergency will require the exertion of all our wisdom and +all our energy.</p> + +<p>The vast body of slaves in the South have not yet been incited to +action, either by the movements of our armies or by the potency of the +Proclamation. Whether they will be, and to what extent, depends upon the +continuance of <a name="Page_451" id="Page_451"></a>the war, and its future progress. The result in this +particular remains to be seen, and cannot now be anticipated. What legal +effect the measures of the Government may have upon the slaves remaining +in the South would be a question for the decision of the courts; and +doubtless most of them would be entitled to liberation as the penalty of +the treason of their masters, who may have participated in the +rebellion. But it is well worthy of consideration whether it would not +be wise and better for all parties, including the slaves, to commute +this penalty by a compact with the States for the gradual emancipation +of the slaves remaining at the time of the negotiation. The sudden and +utter overthrow of the existing organization of labor and capital in +those States, coming in addition to the awful devastation which the war +has produced, will deal a disastrous blow, not alone to those +unfortunate States, but to the commerce and industry of the whole +country.</p> + +<p>But neither the Government of the United States alone, nor this together +with the Africans, liberated and unliberated, can prescribe their own +requirements, as the law of the emergency, without reference to other +great interests involved. The question must necessarily be controlled by +the sum of all the political elements which enter into it. It is +desirable to restore the States to the Union with as little +dissatisfaction as possible, and even with all the alleviation which can +properly be afforded to the misfortunes of the people who have so sadly +erred in their duty to themselves and to their country. After any +settlement—the most favorable that can be made—heavy will be the +punishment inflicted by the great contest upon the unhappy population of +the rebellious region. In many things, it is true, they will suffer only +in common with the people of all the States; but they will also have +their own peculiar misfortunes in addition to the common burdens. A +generous Government, in the hour of its triumph, will seek to lessen +rather than to aggravate their misfortunes, even though resulting from +their crimes. Having received them back into the bosom of the Union, it +will do so heartily and magnanimously, yielding everything which does +not involve a violation of principle, and endanger the future +tranquillity of the country. The harmony of the States, their +homogeneity, and their general progress in all that contributes to the +greatness and happiness of communities, ought to be, and doubtless will +be, the benign object of the Government in the settlement of the +existing difficulty. If these high purposes necessarily require in their +development a provision for the rapid disappearance of slavery, the +requirement will not arise from any remaining hostility to the returning +States; on the contrary, it will look to their own improvement and +prosperity, quite as much as to the peace and security of the whole +country. The day will yet arrive when these States themselves will +gratefully acknowledge that all the sacrifices of the war will be fully +compensated by the advantages of that great and fundamental change, +which they will undoubtedly now accept only with the utmost reluctance +and aversion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452"></a></p> +<h3><a name="WAS_HE_SUCCESSFUL" id="WAS_HE_SUCCESSFUL"></a>WAS HE SUCCESSFUL?</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'Do but grasp into the thick of human life! Every one <i>lives</i> +it—to not many is it <i>known</i>; and seize it where you will, it be +interesting.'—<span class="smcap">Goethe</span>.</p> + +<p>'SUCCESSFUL.—Terminating in accomplishing what is wished or +intended.'—<span class="smcap">Webster's</span> <i>Dictionary</i>. </p></div> + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3> + + +<p>Hiram was never in serious difficulty before.</p> + +<p>When he came carefully to survey the situation, he felt greatly +embarrassed, and in real distress. To understand this, you have only to +recollect what value he placed on church membership. In this he was +perfectly sincere. He felt, too, as he afterward expressed it to Mr. +Bennett, that he had not 'acted just right toward Emma Tenant,' but he +had not the least idea the matter could possibly become a subject of +church discipline. The day for such extraordinary supervision over one's +private affairs had gone by, it is true, but Dr. Chellis, roused and +indignant, would no doubt revive it on this occasion.</p> + +<p>Hiram had absented himself the first Sunday after his interview with his +clergyman, but on the following he ventured to take his accustomed seat. +The distant looks and cold return to his greeting which he received from +the principal members of the congregation, were unmistakable. Even the +female portion, with whom he was such a favorite, had evidently declared +against him.</p> + +<p>He had gone too far.</p> + +<p>However, he went into Sunday school, and took his accustomed seat with +the class under his instruction. It was the first time he had been with +it since he left town to attend on his mother. The young gentleman who +had assumed a temporary charge of this class, which was one of the +finest in the school, shook hands with cool politeness with Hiram, but +did not offer to yield the seat. The latter, already nervous and ill at +ease by reason of his reception among his acquaintances, did not dare +assume his old place, lest he should be told he had been superseded. He +contented himself with greeting his pupils, who appeared glad to see +him, and sitting quietly by while they recited their lesson. Then, +taking advantage of the few moments remaining, he gave them a pathetic +account of the loss of his mother, and exhorted them all to honor and +obey their parents. In the afternoon he did not go back to church, but +went to hear Dr. Pratt, the clergyman who, the reader may recollect, had +been recommended by Mr. Bennett on Hiram's first coming to new York. Our +hero was not at all pleased with this latter gentleman. The fact is, to +a person of Hiram's subtle intellect, a man like Dr. Chellis was a +thousand times more acceptable than a milk-and-water divine.</p> + +<p>From Dr. Pratt's, Hiram proceeded to his room, to take a careful survey +of his position, and, as we said at the beginning of the chapter, he +found himself in serious difficulty, greatly embarrassed and in real +distress. He could not join another church, for a letter had been +formally refused from his own. He could not remain where he was, for the +feeling there was too strong against him, besides, evidently, Dr. +Chellis was determined to institute damaging charges against him. He +thought of attempting to make friends with Mr. and Mrs. Tenant, and +humbly asking them to intercede for him, but the recollection of his +last interview with Mrs, Tenant discouraged any hope of success. Emma, +alas! was <a name="Page_453" id="Page_453"></a>away, far away, else he would go and appeal to her—not to +reinstate him as her accepted, but—to aid him to get right with Dr. +Chellis. Such were some of the thoughts that went through his brain as +he sat alone by his open window quite into the twilight. He felt worse +and worse. Prayer did not help him, and every chapter which he read in +the Bible added to his misery. At last it occurred to him to step to his +cousin's house, not far distant, and talk the whole matter over there.</p> + +<p>Although Mr. Bennett's family were out of town during the summer, he was +obliged to remain most of the season, on account of his business. Up to +this time he had not mentioned the fact of the breaking his engagement; +indeed, he had avoided the subject whenever the two had met, because he +knew he was wrong, and there was something about Mr. Bennett, +notwithstanding his keen, shrewd, adroit mercantile habits, which was +very straightforward and aboveboard, and which Hiram disliked to +encounter. Besides, he had always been praised by his cousin for his +tact and management, and he felt exceedingly mortified at being obliged +to confess himself cornered. But something must be done, and that +speedily. Yes, he would go and consult him. Hiram took his hat and +walked slowly to Mr. Bennett's house. He found him extended on a sofa in +his front parlor, quite alone and in the dark, enjoying apparently with +much zest a fine Havana segar. It was by its light that Hiram was +enabled to discover the smoker.</p> + +<p>'Why, Hiram, is it you? Glad to see you!'—so his greeting ran. 'Didn't +know you ever went out Sunday evenings except to church. Take a +segar—oh, you don't smoke. It's deuced lonesome here without the folks. +Must try and get off for a week or two myself. Why didn't I think to ask +you to come and stay with me? Well, we will have some light on the +occasion, and a cup of tea.' And he rose to ring the bell.</p> + +<p>'Not just yet, if you please,' said Hiram, checking the other. 'I want +to have some conversation with you, and I need your advice. I am in +trouble.'</p> + +<p>By a singular coincidence, these were the very words which Mr. Tenant +employed when he went to consult his friend Dr. Chellis. As Hiram +differed totally from Mr. Tenant, so did the drygoods jobbing merchant +from the Doctor. Both were first-rate advisers in their way: the Doctor +in a humane and noble sort, after his kind; the merchant in a shrewd, +adroit, quick-witted, fertile manner, after his kind.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bennett and Hiram both sat on the sofa, even as the Doctor and Mr. +Tenant had sat together. It was quite dark, as I have said, and this +gave Hiram a certain advantage in telling his story, for he dreaded his +cousin's scrutinizing glance.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bennett was much alarmed at Hiram's announcement. 'In trouble?' What +could that mean but financial disaster?</p> + +<p>'I was afraid he would speculate too much,' said Mr. Bennett to himself; +'but how could he have got such a blow as this? I saw him the day after +his return, and he said everything had gone well in his absence.'</p> + +<p>He settled himself, however, resolutely to hear the worst, and, to his +praise be it spoken, fully determined to do what he could to aid the +young man in his difficulties.</p> + +<p>Hiram was brief in his communication. When he chose, he could go as +straight to the point as any one. He did not attempt to gloss over his +story, but put his cousin in possession of the facts pretty much as the +reader understands them.</p> + +<p>It is doubtful if Mr. Bennett was much relieved by the communication. +Indeed, I think he would have preferred to have some pecuniary tangle +out of which to extricate his cousin. In fact, it was impossible for him +to suppress a feeling of contempt, not to say disgust, at Hiram's +conduct. For, worldly <a name="Page_454" id="Page_454"></a>minded as he was, It was what he never would have +been guilty of. Indeed, it so happened that Mr. Bennett had actually +married his wife under circumstances quite similar, three months after +her father's failure, and one month after his death; so that where he +expected a fortune, he had taken a portionless wife and her widowed +mother. What is more, he did it cheerfully, and was, as he used to say, +the happiest fellow in the world in consequence. It would have been +singular, therefore, if while hearing Hiram's story he had not recurred +to his own history. In indulging his contempt for him, he unconsciously +practised an innocent self-flattery.</p> + +<p>He did not immediately reply after Hiram concluded, but waited for this +feeling to subside, and for the old worldly leaven to work again.</p> + +<p>'A nice mess you're in,' he said, at length, 'and all from not seeking +my advice in time. Do you know, Hiram, you made a great mistake in +giving up that girl? I'm not talking of any matter of affection or +sentiment or happiness, or about violating pledges and promises. That is +your own affair, and I've nothing to do with it. I have often told you +that you have much to learn yet, and here is a tremendous blunder to +prove it. The connection would have been as good as a hundred thousand +dollars cash capital, if the girl hadn't a cent. That clique is a +powerful one, and they all hang together. Mark my words: they won't let +the old man go under, and it would have been a fortune to you to have +stood by him. You've taken a country view of this business, Hiram. There +every man tries to pull his neighbor down. Here, we try to build one +another up.'</p> + +<p>'You are doubtless correct,' replied Hiram, 'but the mischief is done, +and I want you to help me remedy it. If you can't aid me, nobody can.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Bennett was not insensible to the compliment.</p> + +<p>'Certainly, certainly,' he answered, 'you know you can count on me. I +have always told you that you could, and I meant what I said. But you +must permit me to point out your mistakes, and I tell you you should +have asked my advice in this affair.'</p> + +<p>'Very true.'</p> + +<p>'You think Dr. Chellis won't yield?'</p> + +<p>'I am sure of it.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Bennett sat fixed in thought for at least five minutes, during which +time, I am inclined to think, Hiram's countenance, could it have been +seen through the darkness, would have been a study for an artist. For it +doubtless exhibited (because it could <i>not</i> be seen) his actual feelings +and anxieties. He was startled at last into an exclamation of fright by +receiving an unexpected slap on his shoulder, which came from Mr. +Bennett, who, rising at that moment, gave this as a token of having +arrived at a happy solution of the difficulty. In this respect he was as +abrupt as Dr. Chellis had been with his friend.</p> + +<p>'The thing is settled. There is but one course to pursue, and you must +take it. I will explain when we can have more light on the subject, to +say nothing of our cup of tea.'</p> + +<p>He rang the bell, the parlor was lighted, and tea served, when Mr. +Bennett again broke the silence.</p> + +<p>'Hiram,' he said, abruptly, 'you must quit the Presbyterian church.'</p> + +<p>Hiram's heart literally stopped beating. He turned deadly pale.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bennett perceived it. 'Don't be frightened,' he said. 'You have made +a great mistake, and I would help you repair it. I repeat, you must quit +the Presbyterian church, and you must join ours. You must indeed,' he +continued, seeing Hiram look undecided.</p> + +<p>'Does it teach the true salvation?' asked Hiram, doubtingly.</p> + +<p>'How can you ask such a question?' replied Mr. Bennett, in a severe +tone; 'are we not in the apostolic line? Are not the ordinances +administered by a clergy whose succession has never been <a name="Page_455" id="Page_455"></a>broken? +You—you Presbyterians, <i>may</i> possibly be saved by the grace of God, but +you have really no church, no priesthood, no ordinances. We won't +discuss this. I will introduce you to our clergyman, and you shall +examine the subject for yourself. Perhaps you don't know it, Hiram, but +I have been confirmed; yes, I was confirmed last spring. When I had that +fit of sickness in the winter, I thought more about these matters than I +ever did before, and I came to the conclusion that it was my duty to be +confirmed. I have felt much more comfortable ever since, I assure you. +My wife, you know, is a strict churchwoman. She and you will agree first +rate if you come with us. For my part, I don't pretend to be so very +exact. I believe in the spirit more than the letter, and our clergyman +don't find any fault with me. What say you, will you call on him? If +yes, I will open up a little plan which I have this moment concocted for +your particular benefit. But you must first become a churchman.</p> + +<p>Hiram sat stupefied, horrified, in a trance, in a maze. Cast loose from +his church, within whose pale he was accustomed to think salvation could +only be found, the possibility that there might be hope for him in +another quarter nearly took away his senses. He had been accustomed to +regard the Episcopalians as little better than Papists, and <i>they</i> were +the veritable children of wrath. Could he have been mistaken? He was now +willing to hope so. It could certainly do no harm to confer with the +clergyman. He would hear what he had to say, and then judge for himself, +and so he told his cousin.</p> + +<p>'All right; you talk like a sensible man. Now, Hiram, between us two, I +am going to find you a wife.'</p> + +<p>Hiram started. His pulse began again to beat naturally.</p> + +<p>'Yes, I have found you a wife, that is, if you will do as I advise you, +instead of following your own head. I tell you what it is, Hiram; you're +green in these matters.'</p> + +<p>Hiram smiled an incredulous smile, and asked, in a tone which betrayed a +good deal of interest, 'Who is the young lady?'</p> + +<p>'Never mind who she is until you come over to us. Then my wife shall +introduce you. But I'll tell you this much, Hiram: she has a clear two +hundred thousand dollars—no father, no mother, already of age, in our +first society, and very aristocratic.'</p> + +<p>'Is she pious?' asked Hiram, eagerly.</p> + +<p>'Excessively so. Fact is, she is the strictest young woman in the church +in—Lent. She belongs to all the charitable societies, and gives away I +don't know how much.'</p> + +<p>'Humph,' responded Hiram. The last recommendation did not seem specially +to take with him. Still his eyes glistened at the recital. He could not +resist asking several questions about the young lady, but Mr. Bennett +was firm, and would not communicate further till Hiram's decision was +made.</p> + +<p>Thus conversing, they fell into a pleasant mood, and so the evening wore +away. When Hiram rose to leave, he found it was nearly midnight. His +cousin insisted he should remain with him, and Hiram was glad to accept +the invitation. He did not feel like returning to his solitary room with +his mind unsettled and his feelings discomposed.</p> + +<p>In a most confidential mood the two walked up stairs together, and Mr. +Bennett bade Hiram good night in a tone so cheerful that the latter +entered his room quite reassured. He proceeded, as was his habit, to +read a chapter in the Bible, but his teeth chattered when, on opening +the volume, he discovered it to be—the prayer book!—something he had +been accustomed to hold in utter abomination. He controlled his feelings +sufficiently to glance through the book, and at last, selecting a +chapter from the Psalter, he perused it and retired. He dreamed that he +was married to the rich girl, and had <a name="Page_456" id="Page_456"></a>the two hundred thousand dollars +safe in his possession. And so real did this seem that he woke in the +morning greatly disappointed to find himself minus so respectable a sum.</p> + +<p>'I must not lose the chance,' said Hiram to himself, as he jumped out of +bed. 'With that amount in cash I would teach all South street a lesson. +I wonder if this is the true church after all;' and he took up the +prayer book this time without fear, as if determined to find out.</p> + +<p>He spent some time in reading the prayers, and confessed to himself that +they were quite unobjectionable. Mr. Bennett's warning that there was no +certainty of salvation, out of the <i>church</i> (i.e. his church) was not +without its effect. As Hiram sought religion for the purpose of security +on the other side, you can readily suppose any question of the validity +of his title would make him very nervous; once convinced of his mistake, +he would hasten to another church, just as he would change his insurance +policies, when satisfied of the insolvency of the company which had +taken his risks.</p> + +<p>After breakfast Hiram renewed the subject of the last night's +conversation, and Mr. Bennett was pleased to find that his views were +already undergoing a decided change.</p> + +<p>'Now, Hiram,' he exclaimed, 'if you do come over to us, it's no reason +you should join <i>my</i> church. You may not like our clergyman. You know, +when you first came to New York, I recommended you to join Dr. Pratt's +congregation instead of Dr. Chellis's; but you wanted severe preaching, +and you have had it. Now there are similar varieties among the +Episcopalians. Dr. Wing, though a strict churchman, will give you sharp +exercise, if you listen to him. He will handle you without gloves. He is +fond of using the sword of the spirit, and you had best stand from +under, or he will cleave you through and through. My clergyman, Mr. +Myrtle, is a very different man. He believes in the gospel as a message +of peace and love, and his sermons are beautiful. One feels so safe and +happy to hear him discourse of the mercy of God, and the joys of +heaven.'</p> + +<p>'Nevertheless,' replied Hiram, stoutly, 'I hold to my old opinion, and I +confess I prefer such a preacher as Dr. Wing to one like Mr. Myrtle. But +under existing circumstances I shall go with you.'</p> + +<p>He was thinking about the splendid match Mr. Bennett had hinted at.</p> + +<p>'I am glad to hear you say so,' said Mr. Bennett; 'it will bring us more +frequently together. You have a brilliant future, if you will listen to +me; but it won't do to make another blunder, such as you have just +committed.'</p> + +<p>'I suppose you will tell me now about that young lady?' asked Hiram, +with an interest he could not conceal.</p> + +<p>'Not one word, not one syllable,' replied the other, good humoredly, +'until you are actually within the pale. Don't be alarmed,' he +continued, seeing Hiram look disappointed. 'To tell you would not do the +least good, and might frustrate my plans. But I will work the matter for +you, my boy, if it is a possible thing; and for my part I see no +difficulty in it. When my family come in town we will organize. Meantime +let me ask, have you learned to waltz?'</p> + +<p>'To waltz?' exclaimed Hiram, in horror. 'No. I don't even know how to +<i>dance</i>; I was taught to believe it sinful. As to waltzing, how can you +ask me if I practise such a disgusting, such an immoral style of +performance, invented by infidel German students to give additional zest +to their orgies.'</p> + +<p>'Did Dr. Chellis tell you that,' said Mr. Bennett, with something like a +sneer.</p> + +<p>'No; I read it in the <i>Christian Herald</i>.'</p> + +<p>'I thought so. Dr. Chellis has too much sense to utter such stuff.'</p> + +<p>'Does Mr. Myrtle approve of waltzing?' inquired Hiram, with a groan.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457"></a>'Hiram, don't be a goose. Of course, Mr. Myrtle does not exactly +<i>approve</i> of it. That is, he don't waltz himself, his wife don't waltz, +and his children are not old enough; but he does not object to any +'rational amusement,' and he leaves his congregation to decide what <i>is</i> +rational.'</p> + +<p>'Well, I shall not waltz, that's certain.'</p> + +<p>'Yes you will, too. The girl you are to marry—the girl who has a clear +two hundred thousand in her own right—<i>she</i> waltzes, and <i>you</i> have got +to waltz.'</p> + +<p>Hiram's head swam, as if already giddy in the revolving maze; but it was +the thought of the two hundred thousand dollars, nothing else, which +turned his brain. The color in his face went and came; he hesitated.</p> + +<p>'I will think of it,' at last he ejaculated.</p> + +<p>'Of course you will,' cried Mr. Bennett, 'of course you will, and decide +like a sensible man afterward, not like an idiot; but you must decide +quick, for I must put you in training for the fall campaign.'</p> + +<p>'What do you mean?'</p> + +<p>'Why, simply this; the girl will not look at you unless you are a +fashionable fellow—don't put on any more wry faces, but think of the +prize—and I must have you well up in all the accomplishments. For the +rest, you are what I call, a finely-formed, good-looking, and rather +graceful fellow, if you are my cousin.'</p> + +<p>Hiram's features relaxed.</p> + +<p>'When can I call on Mr. Myrtle?' he asked.</p> + +<p>'Not for several weeks. He is taking a longer vacation than usual. +However, come with me every Sunday, and you will hear Mr. Strang, our +curate, who officiates in Mr. Myrtle's absence. A most excellent man, +and a very fair preacher.'</p> + +<p>'Have you a Sunday school connected with the church?'</p> + +<p>'Do you think we are heathen, Hiram? Have we a Sunday school? I should +suppose so! What is more, the future Mrs. Meeker is one of the +teachers,'</p> + +<p>'Yet she waltzes?'</p> + +<p>'Yet she waltzes.'</p> + +<p>'Well, I hope I shall understand this better by and by.'</p> + +<p>'Certainly you will.'</p> + +<p>The two proceeded down town to their business.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In a very few days after, Hiram Meeker was the pupil—the private +pupil—of Signor Alberto, dancing master to <i>the</i> aristocracy of the +town. [That is not what he called himself, but I wish to be +intelligible.] Alberto had directions to perfect his pupil in every step +practised in the world of fashion. Hiram proved an apt and ready +scholar. He gave this new branch of education the same care and +assiduity that he always practised in everything he undertook. Mr. +Bennett was not out of the way in praising his parts. Signor Alberto was +delighted with his pupil. His rapid progress was a source of great +pleasure to the master. To be sure, he could not get on quite as well as +if he had consented to go in with a class; but this Hiram would not +think of. Still the matter was managed without much difficulty, as the +Signor could always command supernumeraries.</p> + +<p>When it came to the waltz, Alberto was kind enough to introduce to Hiram +a young lady—a friend of his—who, he said, was perfectly familiar with +every measure; and who would, as a particular favor, take the steps with +him, under the master's special direction. It took Hiram's breath away, +poor fellow, to be thrown so closely into the embraces of such a +fine-looking, and by no means diffident damsel. It was what he had not +been accustomed to. True, <i>he</i> had been in the habit at one time of +playing the flirt, of holding the girls' hands in his, and pressing them +significantly, and sighing and talking sentimental nonsense; but here +the tables were turned. Hiram was the bashful one, and the <a name="Page_458" id="Page_458"></a>young lady +apparently the flirt. She explained, with, tantalizing <i>nonchalance</i>, +how he ought to take a more encircling hold of her waist. She +illustrated <i>practically</i> the different methods—close waltzing, medium +waltzing, and waltzing at arms' length. She would waltz light and +heavy—observing to Hiram that he might on some occasion have an awkward +partner, and it was well to be prepared.</p> + +<p>To better explain, the young lady would become the gentleman; and in +whirling Hiram round, she exhibited a strength and vigor truly +astonishing.</p> + +<p>All the while Hiram, with quick breath, and heightened color, and +whirling brain, was striving hard and failing fast to keep his wits +about him. What was most annoying of all, the young lady, though so +accommodating and familiar as a partner to practise with under the +master's eye, when the exercise was over appeared perfectly and +absolutely indifferent to Hiram. She was quite insensible to every +little byplay of his to attract her notice, which, as he advanced in her +acquaintance, he began to practice before the lesson commenced, or after +it was finished. The fact is, whoever or whatever she might be, she +evidently held Hiram in great contempt as a greenhorn. Strange to say, +for once all his powers of fascination failed; and the more he tried to +call them forth, the more signal was his discomfiture. It does not +appear that Hiram, after finishing his education with Signor Alberto, +attempted to continue his acquaintance with his partner in the waltz. +Once during the course he did ask the young lady where she lived, and +intimated that he would be pleased to call and see her; but the +observation was received with such evident signs of dissatisfaction, +that he never renewed the subject, and it is doubtful if he ever +explained to himself satisfactorily his failure to get in the good +graces of such a handsome girl and so perfect a waltzer.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3> + + +<p>The Rev. Augustus Myrtle, rector of St. Jude's, was one of those +circumstances of nature which are only to be encountered in metropolitan +life. This seems a paradox. I will explain. All his qualities were born +with him, not acquired, and those qualities could only shine in the +aristocratic and fashionable circles of a large city. As animals by +instinct avoid whatever is noxious and hurtful, so Augustus Myrtle from +his infancy by instinct avoided all poor people and all persons not in +the 'very first society.'</p> + +<p>Children are naturally democrats; school is a great leveller. Augustus +Myrtle recognized no such propositions. While a boy at the academy, +while a youth in college, he sought the intimacy of boys and youths of +rich persons of <i>ton</i>. It was not enough that a young fellow was well +bred and had a good social position—he must be rich. It was not enough +that he was rich—he must have position.</p> + +<p>I do not think that Augustus Myrtle sat down carefully to calculate all +this. So I say it was instinctive—born with him. A person who frequents +only the society of the well bred and the wealthy must, to a degree at +least, possess refined and elegant and expensive tastes, and it was so +in the case of Myrtle. His tastes were refined and elegant and +expensive.</p> + +<p>His parents were themselves people of respectability, but very poor. His +mother used to say that her son's decided predilections were in +consequence of her unfortunate state of mind the season Augustus was +born, when poverty pinched the family sharply. Mr. Myrtle was a man of +collegiate education, with an excellent mind, but totally unfitted for +active life. The result was, after marrying a poor girl, who was, +however, of the 'aristocracy,' he became, through the influence of her +friends, the librarian of the principal library in a neighboring city, +with a fair salary, on which, with occa<a name="Page_459" id="Page_459"></a>sional sums received for +literary productions, he managed to bring up and support his small +family. At times, when some unexpected expenses had to be incurred, as I +have hinted, poverty seemed to poor Mrs. Myrtle a very great hardship, +and such was their situation the year Augustus was born.</p> + +<p>He was the only son, and the hope of the parents centred on him. It was +settled that he should be sent to the best schools and to a first-class +college. He had, perhaps, rather more than ordinary ability, the power +to display to the best advantage the talents and acquirements he did +possess, together with attractive manners, which, though reserved, were +pleasing. He was slight, gracefully formed, and a little above the +ordinary height. He had a dark complexion, a face thin and colorless, +with fine, large, black eyes.</p> + +<p>When I say Augustus Myrtle sought only the intimacy of the rich and well +bred, you must not suppose he was a toady, or practised obsequiously. +Not at all. He mingled with his associates, assuming to be one of +them—their equal. True, his want of money led to desperate economical +contrivances behind the scenes, but on the stage he betrayed by no sign +that affairs did not flow as smoothly with him as with his companions. +In all this, he had in his mother great support and encouragement. Her +relations were precisely of the stamp Augustus desired to cultivate, and +this gave him many advantages. As usually happens, he found what he +sought. By the aid of the associations he had formed with so much +assiduity, to say nothing of his own personal recommendations, he +married a nice girl, the only child of a widowed lady <i>in the right +'set' and with sixty thousand dollars</i>, besides a considerable +expectancy on the mother's decease. Shortly after, he became rector of +St. Jude's, the most exclusive 'aristocratic' religious establishment in +New York.</p> + +<p>At this present period, the Rev. Augustus Myrtle was but thirty-five, +and, from his standing and influence, he considered it no presumption to +look forward to the time when he should become bishop of the diocese.</p> + +<p>His health was excellent, if we may except some <i>very</i> slight +indications of weakness of the larynx, which had been the cause of his +making two excursions to Europe, each of six months' duration, which +were coupled with an appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars by his +indulgent congregation to pay expenses.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p>While Mr. Myrtle and his family were still absent, Hiram had made very +sensible progress in mastering the mysteries of the Episcopal form of +worship, and became fully versed in certain doctrinal points, embracing +all questions of what constitutes a 'church' and a proper 'succession.' +His investigations were carried on under the direction of the Rev. Mr. +Strang, a man of feeble mind (Mr. Myrtle was careful to have no one near +him unless the contrast was to his advantage), but a worthy and +conscientious person, who believed he was doing Heaven service in +bringing Hiram into the fold of the true church. Hiram was again in his +element as an object of religious interest. Before the rector had +returned, he became very impatient to see him. It was a long while since +he had been at communion, and he began to fear his hold on heaven would +be weakened by so long an absence from that sacrament. Besides, he felt +quite prepared and ready to be confirmed.</p> + +<p>The Myrtles returned at last. In due time, Mrs. Bennett talked the whole +matter over with Mrs. Myrtle. Hiram was represented as 'a very rich +young merchant, destined to be a leading man in the city—of an ancient +and honorable New England family—very desirable in the church—a +cousin'—[here several sentences were uttered in a whisper, accompanied +by nods and signs significant, which I shall never be <a name="Page_460" id="Page_460"></a>able to +translate]—'must secure him—ripe for it now.'</p> + +<p>I think I forgot to say that Mrs. Myrtle and Mrs. Bennett were in the +same 'set' as young ladies, and were very intimate.</p> + +<p>The nest day Mrs. Bennett opened the subject to Mr. Myrtle, his wife +having duly prepared him. The object was to introduce Hiram into the +church in the most effective manner. This could only be done through the +instrumentality of the reverend gentleman himself. Everything went +smoothly. Mr. Myrtle was not insensible to the value of infusing new and +fresh elements into his congregation.</p> + +<p>'Of course,' he observed, 'this wealthy young man will take an entire +pew.' (The annual auction of rented pews was soon to come off, and Mr. +Myrtle liked marvellously to see strong competition. It spoke well for +the church.)</p> + +<p>'He will <i>purchase</i> a pew, if a desirable one can be had,' answered Mrs. +Bennett.</p> + +<p>'Oh, that is well. How fortunate! The Winslows are going to Europe to +reside, and I think will sell theirs. One of the best in the church. +Pray ask Mr. Bennett to look after it.'</p> + +<p>'Thank you. How very considerate, how very thoughtful! We will see to it +at once.'</p> + +<p>The interview ended, after some further conversation, in a manner most +satisfactory.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It was a magnificent autumnal afternoon, the second week of October, +when Hiram Meeker, by previous appointment, called at the residence of +the Rev. Augustus Myrtle. The house was built on to the church, so as to +correspond in architecture, and exhibited great taste in exterior as +well as interior arrangement. Hiram walked up the steps and boldly rang +the bell. He had improved a good deal in some respects since his passage +at arms with Dr. Chellis, and while under the auspices of Mr. Bennett. +He had laid aside the creamy air he used so frequently to assume, and +had hardened himself, so to speak, against contingencies. I was saying +he marched boldly up and rang the bell.</p> + +<p>A footman in unexceptionable livery opened the door. Mr. Myrtle was +engaged, but on Hiram's sending in his name, he was ushered into the +front parlor, and requested to sit, and informed that Mr. Myrtle would +see him in a few minutes. This gave Hiram time to look about him.</p> + +<p>It so happened that it was the occasion of a preliminary gathering for +the season (there had been no meeting since June) of those who belonged +to the 'Society for the Relief of Reduced Ladies of former Wealth and +Refinement.' This 'relief' consisted in furnishing work to the +recipients of the <i>bounty</i> at prices about one quarter less than they +could procure elsewhere, and without experiencing a sense of obligation +which these charitable ladies managed to call forth.</p> + +<p>There was already in the back parlor a bevy of six or eight, principally +young, fine-looking, and admirably dressed women.</p> + +<p>Arrayed in the most expensive silks, of rich colors, admirably +corresponding with the season, fitted in a mode the most faultless to +the exquisite forms of these fair creatures, or made dexterously to +conceal any natural defect, they rose, they sat, they walked up and down +the room, greeting from time to time the new comers as they arrived.</p> + +<p>The conversation turned meanwhile on the way the summer had been spent, +and much delicate gossip was broached or hinted at, but not entered +into. Next the talk was about dress. The names of the several +fashionable dressmakers were quoted as authority for this, and +denunciatory of that. Congratulations were exchanged: 'How charmingly +you look—how sweet that is—what a lovely bonnet!'</p> + +<p>All this Hiram Meeker drank in with <a name="Page_461" id="Page_461"></a>open ears and eyes, for from where +he was sitting, he could see everything that was going on, as well as +hear every word.</p> + +<p>One thing particularly impressed him. He felt that never before had he +been in such society. The ladies of Dr. Chellis's church were +intelligent, refined, and well bred, but here was <span class="smcap">TON</span>—that +unmistakable, unquestionable <i>ton</i> which arrogates everything unto +itself, claims everything, and with a certain class <i>is</i> everything.</p> + +<p>I need not say, to a person of Hiram's keen and appreciative sense, the +picture before him was most attractive. How perfect was every point in +it! What minute and fastidious attention had been devoted to every +article of dress! How every article had been specially <i>designed</i> to set +off and adorn! The hat, how charming; the hair, how exquisitely coiffed; +the shawl, how magnificent; the dress how rich! The gloves, of what +admirable tint, and how neatly fitted; and how wonderfully were the +walking boots adapted to display foot and ankle! And these did not +distinguish one, but <i>every one</i> present.</p> + +<p>I do not wonder Hiram was carried away by the spectacle. There is +something very overpowering in such a scene. Who is sufficient to resist +its seductive influences?</p> + +<p>In the midst of what might be called a trance, when Hiram's senses were +wrapt in a sort of charmed Elysium, the Rev. Augustus Myrtle entered the +room. He did not look toward Hiram, but passed directly into the back +parlor. He walked along, not as if he were stepping on eggs, but very +smoothly and noiselessly, as if treading (as he was doing) on the finest +of velvet carpets.</p> + +<p>Instantly what a flutter! How they ran up to him, ambitious to get the +first salute, and to proffer the first congratulation! How gracefully +the Rev. Augustus Myrtle received each! Two or three there were (there +were reasons, doubtless) whose cheeks he kissed decorously, yet possibly +with some degree of relish. The rest had to content themselves with +shaking hands. Many and various were the compliments he received. Their +'delight to see him, how well he was looking,' and so forth.</p> + +<p>Presently he started to leave them.</p> + +<p>'Oh, you must not run off so soon, we shall follow you to your +<i>sanctum</i>.'</p> + +<p>'An engagement,' replied Mr. Myrtle, glancing into the other room.</p> + +<p>A score of handsome eyes were turned in the direction where Hiram was +seated, listening with attention, and watching everything. Discomfited +by such an array, he colored, coughed, and nervously shifted his +position. Some laughed. The rest looked politely indifferent.</p> + +<p>'A connection of the Bennetts,' whispered Mrs. Myrtle, 'a fine young +man, immensely rich. He is to come in future to our church.'</p> + +<p>'Ah,' 'Yes,' 'Indeed,' 'Excellent.' Such were the responses.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Mr. Myrtle had greeted Hiram courteously, and invited him to +his library. This was across the hall, in a room which formed a part of +the church edifice.</p> + +<p>As Hiram followed Mr. Myrtle out of the parlor, several of the ladies +took another look at him. They could not but remark that he was finely +formed, fashionably dressed, and, thanks to Signor Alberto, of a very +graceful carriage.</p> + +<p>The interview between Mr. Myrtle and Hiram was brief. The latter, +thoroughly tutored by his cousin, was careful to say nothing about his +previous conviction and wonderful conversion, but left Mr. Myrtle, as +was very proper, to lead in the conversation. He had previously talked +with Mr. Strang, which, with the recommendation of Mrs. Bennett, left no +doubt in his mind as to Hiram's fitness to receive confirmation.</p> + +<p>It was very hard for him to be informed that his early baptism must go +<a name="Page_462" id="Page_462"></a>for nothing—what time his father and mother, in their ignorance and +simplicity, brought their child to present before God, and receive the +beautiful rite of the sprinkling of water.</p> + +<p>A dreadful mistake they made, since no properly consecrated hands +administered on that occasion. But nevertheless, Hiram is safe. Lucky +fellow, he has discovered the mistake, and repaired it in season.</p> + +<p>'I think, Mr. Meeker, your conversations with Mr. Strang have proved +very instructive to you. Here is a work I have written, which embraces +the whole of my controversy with Mr. Howland on the true church (and +there is not salvation in any other) and the apostolic succession. +Having read and approved this,' he added with a pleasant smile, 'I will +vouch for you as a good churchman.'</p> + +<p>Hiram was delighted. He took the volume, and was about to express his +thanks, when Mrs. Myrtle appeared at the door, which had been left open.</p> + +<p>'My dear, I regret to disturb you, but'—</p> + +<p>'I will join you at once,' said Mr. Myrtle, rising. This is Mr. Meeker, +a cousin of your friend Mrs. Bennett'—as if she did not know it.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Myrtle bowed graciously, and said, with charming condescension:</p> + +<p>'Then it is <i>you</i> I have heard such a good report of. You are coming to +our church away from——'</p> + +<p>'Never mind from where, my dear,' said Mr, Myrtle pleasantly, and he +bowed Hiram out in a manner which positively charmed our hero.</p> + +<p>That evening Mr. Bennett told Hiram he had purchased a pew for +him—price sixteen hundred and fifty dollars.</p> + +<p>'Sixteen hundred and fifty dollars,' exclaimed the other, in amazement.</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'Why, I can't stand that. The dearest pews in Dr. Chellis's church were +not over six hundred. You are joking.'</p> + +<p>'You are an idiot,' retorted Mr. Bennett, half pettishly, half +playfully. 'Have you not placed yourself in my hands? Shall I not manage +your interests as I please? I say I want sixteen hundred and fifty +dollars. I know you can draw the money without the least inconvenience. +If I thought you could not, I would advance it myself. Are you content?'</p> + +<p>Hiram nodded a doubtful assent.</p> + +<p>How fortunate,' continued Mr. Bennett, that the Winslows are going to +Europe, and how lucky I got there the minute I did! Young Bishop came in +just as I closed the purchase. I know what <i>he</i> wanted it for, and I +know what <i>I</i> wanted it for. Hiram, a word in your ear—your pew is +immediately in front of our heiress! Bravo, old fellow! Now, will you +pay up?'</p> + +<p>Hiram nodded this time with satisfaction.</p> + +<p>The second Sunday thereafter one might observe that the Winslows' pew +had been newly cushioned and carpeted, and otherwise put in order. +Several prayer books and a Bible, elegantly bound, and lettered 'H. +Meeker,' were placed in it. This could not escape the notice of the very +elegant and fashionably dressed young lady in the next slip. Strange to +say, the pew contained no occupant. But just before the service was +about to commence, Hiram, purposely a little late, walked quietly in, +and took possession of his property. His <i>pose</i> was capital. His ease +and <i>nonchalance</i> were perfectly unexceptionable, evidencing <i>haut ton</i>. +He had been practising for weeks.</p> + +<p>'Who can he be?' asked the elegant and fashionably dressed young lady of +herself. She was left to wonder. When he walked homeward, Hiram was +informed by Mr. Bennett that the elegant and fashionably dressed young +lady was Miss Arabella Thorne, without father, without mother, of age, +and possessed of a clear sum of two hundred thousand dollars in her own +right!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463"></a></p> +<h3><a name="AMERICAN_FINANCES_AND_RESOURCES" id="AMERICAN_FINANCES_AND_RESOURCES"></a>AMERICAN FINANCES AND RESOURCES.</h3> + + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">letter no. i, from hon. robert j. walker.</span></p> + +<p class='author'><span class="smcap">London</span>, 10 Half Moon Street, Piccadilly,}<br /> +<i>August 5, 1863</i>.}</p> + +<p>The question has been often asked me, here and on the continent, <i>how +has your Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. Chase) so marvellously sustained +American credit during this rebellion, and when will your finances +collapse?</i> This question I have frequently answered in conversations +with European statesmen and bankers, and the discussion has closed +generally in decided approval of Mr. Chase's financial policy, and great +confidence in the wonderful resources of the United States.</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged, I have concluded to discuss the question in a series of +letters, explaining Mr. Chase's system and stating the reasons of its +remarkable success. The interest in such a topic is not confined to the +United States, nor to the present period, but extends to all times and +nations. Indeed, finance, as a science, belongs to the world. It is a +principal branch of the doctrine of 'the wealth of nations,' discussed, +during the last century, with so much ability by Adam Smith. Although +many great principles were then settled, yet political economy is +emphatically progressive, especially the important branches of credit, +currency, taxation, and revenue.</p> + +<p>Mr. Chase's success has been complete under the most appalling +difficulties. The preceding administration, by their treasonable course, +and anti-coercion heresies, had almost paralyzed the Government. They +had increased the rate of interest of Federal loans from six to nearly +twelve per cent. per annum. Their Vice-president (Mr. Breckenridge), +their Finance Minister (Mr. Cobb), their Secretary of War (Mr. Floyd), +their Secretary of the Interior (Mr. Thompson), are now in the traitor +army. Even the President (Mr. Buchanan), with an evident purpose of +aiding the South to dissolve the Union, had announced in his messages +the absurd political paradox, that <i>a State has no right to secede, but +that the Government has no right to prevent its secession</i>. It was a +conspiracy of traitors, at the head of which stood the President, +secretly pledged, at Ostend and Cininnati, to the South (as the price of +their support), to aid them to control or destroy the republic. Thus was +it that, in time of profound peace, when our United States six per +cents. commanded a few weeks before a large premium, and our debt was +less than $65,000,000, that Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of the Treasury +(Mr. Cobb) was borrowing money at an interest of nearly twelve per cent. +per annum. Most fortunately that accursed administration was drawing to +a close, or the temporary overthrow of the Government would have been +effected. Never did any minister of finance undertake a task apparently +so hopeless as that so fully accomplished by Mr. Chase in reviving the +public credit. A single fact will illustrate the extraordinary result. +At the close of the fiscal year ending 1st July, 1860, our public debt +was only $64,769,703, and Secretary Cobb was borrowing money at twelve +per cent. per annum. On the first of July 1863, in the midst of a +stupendous rebellion, our debt was $1,097,274,000, and Mr. Chase had +reduced the average rate of interest to 3.89 per cent. per annum, whilst +the highest rate was 7.30 for a comparatively small sum to be paid off +next year. This is a financial achievement without a parallel in the +history of the world. If I speak on this subject with some enthusiasm, +it is in no egotistical <a name="Page_464" id="Page_464"></a>spirit, for Mr. Chase's system differs in many +respects widely from that adopted by me as Minister of Finance during +the Mexican war, and which raised United States <i>five per cents.</i> to a +premium. But my system was based on specie, or its real and convertible +equivalent, and would not have answered the present emergency, which, by +our enormous expenditure, necessarily forced a partial and temporary +suspension of specie payments upon our banks and Government. Mr. Chase's +system is exclusively his own, and, in many of its aspects, is without a +precedent in history. When first proposed by him it had very few +friends, and was forced upon a reluctant Congress by the great +emergency, presenting the alternative of its adoption or financial ruin. +Indeed, upon a test vote in Congress in February last, it had failed, +when the premium on gold rose immediately over twenty per cent. This +caused a reconsideration, when the bills were passed and the premium on +gold was immediately reduced more than the previous rise, exhibiting the +extraordinary difference in a few days of twenty-three per cent., in the +absence of any intermediate Federal victories in the field.</p> + +<p>Such are the facts. Let me now proceed to detail the causes of these +remarkable results. The first element in the success of any Minister of +Finance is the just confidence of the country in his ability, integrity, +candor, courage, and patriotism. He may find it necessary, in some great +emergency, like our rebellion, to diverge somewhat from the <i>via trita</i> +of the past, and enter upon paths not lighted by the lamp of experience. +He must never, however, abandon great principles, which are as +unchangeable as the laws developed by the physical sciences. When Mr. +Chase, in his first annual Treasury Report of the 9th of December, 1861, +recommended his system of United States banks, organized by Congress +throughout the country, furnishing a circulation based upon private +means and credit, but secured also by an adequate amount of Federal +stock, held by the Government as security for its redemption, it was +very unpopular, and encountered most violent opposition. The State +banks, and all the great interests connected with them, were arrayed +against the proposed system. When we reflect that many of these banks +(especially in the great State of New York) were based on State stocks, +and in many States that the banks yielded large revenues to the local +Government;—when we see, by our Census Tables of 1860 (p. 193), that +these banks numbered 1642, with a capital paid up of $421,890,095, loans +$691,495,580, and a circulation and deposits, including specie, of +$544,469,134,—we may realize in part the tremendous power arrayed +against the Secretary. This opposition was so formidable, that neither +in the public press nor in Congress did this recommendation of Mr. Chase +receive any considerable support. Speaking of the <i>currency</i> issued by +the State banks, and of the substitute proposed by Mr. Chase, he +presented the following views in his first annual Report before referred +to, of December, 1861:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'The whole of this circulation constitutes a loan without interest +from the people to the banks, costing them nothing except the +expense of issue and redemption and the interest on the specie kept +on hand for the latter purpose; and it deserves consideration +whether sound policy does not require that the advantages of this +loan be transferred in part at least, from the banks, representing +only the interests of the stockholders, to the Government, +representing the aggregate interests of the whole people.</p> + +<p>'It has been well questioned by the most eminent statesmen whether +a currency of bank notes, issued by local institutions under State +laws, is not, in fact, prohibited by the national Constitution. +Such emissions certainly fall within the spirit, if not within the +letter, of the constitutional prohibition of the emission of bills +of credit by the States, and of the making by them of anything +except gold and silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts. +<a name="Page_465" id="Page_465"></a>'However this may be, it is too clear to be reasonably disputed +that Congress, under its constitutional powers to lay taxes, to +regulate commerce, and to regulate the value of coin, possesses +ample authority to control the credit circulation which enters so +largely into the transactions of commerce and affects in so many +ways the value of coin.</p> + +<p>'In the judgment of the Secretary the time has arrived when +Congress should exercise this authority. The value of the existing +bank note circulation depends on the laws of thirty-four States and +the character of some sixteen hundred private corporations. It is +usually furnished in greatest proportions by institutions of least +actual capital. Circulation, commonly, is in the inverse ratio of +solvency. Well-founded institutions, of large and solid capital, +have, in general, comparatively little circulation; while weak +corporations almost invariably seek to sustain themselves by +obtaining from the people the largest possible credit in this form. +Under such a system, or rather lack of system, great fluctuations, +and heavy losses in discounts and exchanges, are inevitable; and +not unfrequently, through failures of the issuing institutions, +considerable portions of the circulation become suddenly worthless +in the hands of the people. The recent experience of several States +in the valley of the Mississippi painfully illustrates the justice +of these observations; and enforces by the most cogent practical +arguments the duty of protecting commerce and industry against the +recurrence of such disorders.</p> + +<p>'The Secretary thinks it possible to combine with this protection a +provision for circulation, safe to the community and convenient for +the Government.</p> + +<p>'Two plans for effecting this object are suggested. The first +contemplates the gradual withdrawal from circulation of the notes +of private corporations and for the issue, in their stead of United +States notes, payable in coin on demand, in amounts sufficient for +the useful ends of a representative currency. The second +contemplates the preparation and delivery, to institutions and +associations, of notes prepared for circulation under national +direction, and to be secured as to prompt convertibility into coin +by the pledge of United States bonds and other needful regulations.</p> + +<p>'The first of these plans was partially adopted at the last session +of Congress in the provision authorizing the Secretary to issue +United States notes, payable in coin, to an amount not exceeding +fifty millions of dollars. That provision may be so extended as to +reach the average circulation of the country, while a moderate tax, +gradually augmented, on bank notes, will relieve the national from +the competition of local circulation. It has been already suggested +that the substitution of a national for a State currency, upon this +plan, would be equivalent to a loan to the Government without +interest, except on the fund to be kept in coin, and without +expense, except the cost of preparation, issue, and redemption; +while the people would gain the additional advantage of a uniform +currency, and relief from a considerable burden in the form of +interest on debt. These advantages are, doubtless, considerable; +and if a scheme can be devised by which such a circulation will be +certainly and strictly confined to the real needs of the people, +and kept constantly equivalent to specie by prompt and certain +redemption in coin, it will hardly fail of legislative sanction.</p> + +<p>'The plan, however, is not without serious inconveniences and +hazards. The temptation, especially great in times of pressure and +danger, to issue notes without adequate provision for redemption; +the ever-present liability to be called on for redemption beyond +means, however carefully provided and managed; the hazards of +panics, precipitating demands for coin, concentrated on a few +points and a single fund; the risk of a depreciated, depreciating, +and finally worthless paper money; the immeasurable evils of +dishonored public faith and national bankruptcy; all these are +possible consequence of the adoption of a system of government +circulation. It may be said, and perhaps truly, that they are less +deplorable than those of an irredeemable bank circulation. Without +entering into that comparison, the Secretary contents himself with +observing that, in his judgment, these possible disasters so far +outweigh the probable benefits of the plan that he feels himself +constrained to forbear recommending its adoption.</p> + +<p>'The second plan suggested remains for examination. Its principal +features are, (1st) a circulation of notes bearing a common +impression and authenticated <a name="Page_466" id="Page_466"></a>by a common authority; (2d) the +redemption of these notes by the associations and institutions to +which they may be delivered for issue; and (3d) the security of +that redemption by the pledge of the United States stocks, and an +adequate provision of specie.</p> + +<p>'In this plan the people, in their ordinary business, would find +the advantages of uniformity in currency; of uniformity in +security; of effectual safeguard, if effectual safeguard is +possible, against depreciation; and of protection from losses in +discount and exchanges; while in the operations of the Government +the people would find the further advantage of a large demand for +Government securities, of increased facilities for obtaining the +loans required by the war, and of some alleviation of the burdens +on industry through a diminution in the rate of interest, or a +participation in the profit of circulation, without risking the +perils of a great money monopoly.</p> + +<p>'A further and important advantage to the people may be reasonably +expected in the increased security of the Union, springing from the +common interest in its preservation, created by the distribution of +its stocks to associations throughout the country, as the basis of +their circulation.</p> + +<p>'The Secretary entertains the opinion that if a credit circulation +in any form be desirable, it is most desirable in this. The notes +thus issued and secured would, in his judgment, form the safest +currency which this country has ever enjoyed; while their +receivability for all Government dues, except customs, would make +them, wherever payable, of equal value, as a currency, in every +part of the Union. The large amount of specie now in the United +States, reaching a total of not less than two hundred and +seventy-five millions of dollars, will easily support payments of +duties in coin, while these payments and ordinary demands will aid +in retaining this specie in the country as a solid basis both of +circulation and loans.</p> + +<p>'The whole circulation of the country, except a limited amount of +foreign coin, would, after the lapse of two or three years, bear +the impress of the nation whether in coin or notes; while the +amount of the latter, always easily ascertainable, and, of course, +always generally known, would not be likely to be increased beyond +the real wants of business.</p> + +<p>'He expresses an opinion in favor of this plan with the greater +confidence, because it has the advantage of recommendation from +experience. It is not an untried theory. In the State of New York, +and in one or more of the other States, it has been subjected, in +its most essential parts, to the test of experiment, and has been +found practicable and useful. The probabilities of success will not +be diminished but increased by its adoption under national sanction +and for the whole country.</p> + +<p>'It only remains to add that the plan is recommended by one other +consideration, which, in the judgment of the Secretary, is entitled +to much influence. It avoids almost, if not altogether, the evils +of a great and sudden change in the currency by offering +inducements to solvent existing institutions to withdraw the +circulation issued under State authority, and substitute that +provided by the authority of the Union. Thus, through the voluntary +action of the existing institutions, aided by wise legislation, the +great transition from a currency heterogeneous, unequal, and +unsafe, to one uniform, equal, and safe, may be speedily and almost +imperceptibly accomplished.</p> + +<p>'If the Secretary has omitted the discussion of the question of the +constitutional power of Congress to put this plan into operation, +it is because no argument is necessary to establish the proposition +that the power to regulate commerce and the value of coin includes +the power to regulate the currency of the country, or the +collateral proposition that the power to effect the end includes +the power to adopt the necessary and expedient means.</p> + +<p>'The Secretary entertains the hope that the plan now submitted, if +adopted with the limitations and safeguards which the experience +and wisdom of senators and representatives will, doubtless, +suggest, may impart such value and stability to Government +securities that it will not be difficult to obtain the additional +loans required for the service of the current and the succeeding +year at fair and reasonable rates; especially if the public credit +be supported by sufficient and certain provision for the payment of +interest and ultimate redemption of the principal.' </p></div> + +<p>Congress adjourned after a session of eight months, and failed to adopt +Mr.<a name="Page_467" id="Page_467"></a> Chase's recommendation. Indeed, it had then but few advocates in +Congress or the country. Events rolled on, and our debt, as anticipated +by Mr. Chase, became of vast dimensions. In his Report of December, +1861, the public debt on the 30th June, 1862 (the close of the fiscal +year), was estimated by the Secretary at $517,372,800; and it was +$514,211,371, or more than $3,000,000 less than the estimate. In his +Report of December 4, 1862, our debt, on the 30th June, 1863, was +estimated by Mr. Chase at $1,122,297,403, and it was $1,097,274,000, +being $25,023,403 less than the estimate. The <i>average</i> rate of interest +on this debt was 3.89, being $41,927,980, of which $30,141,080 was +payable in gold, and $11,786,900 payable in Federal currency. It will +thus be seen that the whole truth, as to our heavy debt, was always +distinctly stated in advance by Mr. Chase, and that the debt has not now +quite reached his estimate. Long before the date of the second annual +Report of the Secretary, the banks had suspended specie payments, and +the Secretary renewed his former recommendation on that subject in these +words:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>'While the Secretary thus repeats the preference he has heretofore +expressed for a United States note circulation, even when issued +direct by the Government, and dependent on the action of the +Government for regulation and final redemption, over the note +circulation of the numerous and variously organized and variously +responsible banks now existing in the country; and while he now +sets forth, more fully than heretofore, the grounds of that +preference, he still adheres to the opinion expressed in his last +Report, that a circulation furnished by the Government, but issued +by banking associations, organized under a general act of Congress, +is to be preferred to either. Such a circulation, uniform in +general characteristics, and amply secured as to prompt +convertibility by national bonds deposited in the treasury, by the +associations receiving it, would unite, in his judgment, more +elements of soundness and utility than can be combined in any +other.</p> + +<p>'A circulation composed exclusively of notes issued directly by the +Government, or of such notes and coin, is recommended mainly by two +considerations:—the first derived from the facility with which it +may be provided in emergencies, and the second, from its cheapness.</p> + +<p>'The principal objections to such a circulation as a permanent +system are, 1st, the facility of excessive expansion when +expenditures exceed revenue; 2d, the danger of lavish and corrupt +expenditure, stimulated by facility of expansion; 3d, the danger of +fraud in management and supervision; 4th, the impossibility of +providing it in sufficient amounts for the wants of the people +whenever expenditures are reduced to equality with revenue or below +it.</p> + +<p>'These objections are all serious. The last requires some +elucidation. It will be easily understood, however, if it be +considered that a government issuing a credit circulation cannot +supply, in any given period, an amount of currency greater than the +excess of its disbursements over its receipts. To that amount, it +may create a debt in small notes, and these notes may be used as +currency. This is precisely the way in which the existing currency +of United States notes is supplied. That portion of the expenditure +not met by revenue or loans has been met by the issue of these +notes. Debt in this form has been substituted for various debts in +other forms. Whenever, therefore, the country shall be restored to +a healthy normal condition, and receipts exceed expenditures, the +supply of United States notes will be arrested, and must +progressively diminish. Whatever demand may be made for their +redemption in coin must hasten this diminution; and there can be no +reissue; for reissue, under the conditions, necessarily implies +disbursement, and the revenue, upon the supposition, supplies more +than is needed for that purpose. There is, then, no mode in which a +currency in United States notes can be permanently maintained, +except by loans of them, when not required for disbursement, on +deposits of coin, or pledge of securities, or in some other way. +This would convert the treasury into a government bank, with all +its hazards and mischiefs.</p> + +<p>'If these reasonings be sound, little room can remain for doubt +that the <a name="Page_468" id="Page_468"></a>evils certain to arise from such a scheme of currency, if +adopted as a permanent system, greatly overbalance the temporary +though not inconsiderable advantages offered by it.</p> + +<p>'It remains to be considered what results may be reasonably +expected from an act authorizing the organization of banking +associations, such as the Secretary proposed in his last Report.</p> + +<p>'The central idea of the proposed measure is the establishment of +one sound, uniform circulation, of equal value throughout the +country, upon the foundation of national credit combined with +private capital.</p> + +<p>'Such a currency, it is believed, can be secured through banking +associations organized under national legislation.</p> + +<p>'It is proposed that these associations be entirely voluntary. Any +persons, desirous of employing real capital in sufficient amounts, +can, if the plan be adopted, unite together under proper articles, +and having contributed the requisite capital, can invest such part +of it, not less than a fixed minimum, in United States bonds, and, +having deposited these bonds with the proper officer of the United +States, can receive United States notes in such denominations as +may be desired, and employ them as money in discounts and +exchanges. The stockholders of any existing banks can, in like +manner, organize under the act, and transfer, by such degrees as +may be found convenient, the capital of the old to the use of the +new associations. The notes thus put into circulation will be +payable, until resumption, in United States notes, and, after +resumption, in specie, by the association which issues them, on +demand; and if not so paid will be redeemable at the treasury of +the United States from the proceeds of the bonds pledged in +security. In the practical working of the plan, if sanctioned by +Congress, redemption at one or more of the great commercial +centres, will probably be provided for by all the associations +which circulate the notes, and, in case any association shall fail +in such redemption, the treasurer of the United States will +probably, under discretionary authority, pay the notes, and cancel +the public debt held as security.</p> + +<p>'It seems difficult to conceive of a note circulation which will +combine higher local and general credit than this. After a few +years no other circulation would be used, nor could the issues of +the national circulation be easily increased beyond the legitimate +demands of business. Every dollar of circulation would represent +real capital, actually invested in national stocks, and the total +amount issued could always be easily and quickly ascertained from +the books of the treasury. These circumstances, if they might not +wholly remove the temptation to excessive issues, would certainly +reduce it to the lowest point, while the form of the notes, the +uniformity of the devices, the signatures of national officers, and +the imprint of the national seal authenticating the declaration +borne on each that it is secured by bonds which represent the faith +and capital of the whole country, could not fail to make every note +as good in any part of the world as the best known and best +esteemed national securities.</p> + +<p>'The Secretary has already mentioned the support to public credit +which may be expected from the proposed associations. The +importance of this point may excuse some additional observations.</p> + +<p>'The organization proposed, if sanctioned by Congress, would +require, within a very few years, for deposit as security for +circulation, bonds of the United States to an amount not less than +$250,000,000. It may well be expected, indeed, since the +circulation, by uniformity in credit and value, and capacity of +quick and cheap transportation, will be likely to be used more +extensively than any hitherto issued, that the demand for bonds +will overpass this limit. Should Congress see fit to restrict the +privilege of deposit to the bonds known as five-twenties, +authorized by the act of last session, the demand would promptly +absorb all of that description already issued and make large room +for more. A steady market for the bonds would thus be established +and the negotiation of them greatly facilitated.</p> + +<p>'But it is not in immediate results that the value of this support +would be only or chiefly seen. There are always holders who desire +to sell securities of whatever kind. If buyers are few or +uncertain, the market value must decline. But the plan proposed +would create a constant demand, equalling and often exceeding the +supply. Thus a steady uniformity in price would be <a name="Page_469" id="Page_469"></a>maintained, and +generally at a rate somewhat above those of bonds of equal credit, +but not available to banking associations. It is not easy to +appreciate the full benefits of such conditions to a government +obliged to borrow.</p> + +<p>'Another advantage to be derived from such associations would be +found in the convenient agencies which they would furnish for the +deposit of public moneys.</p> + +<p>'The Secretary does not propose to interfere with the independent +treasury. It may be advantageously retained, with the assistant +treasurers already established in the most important cities, where +the customs may be collected as now, in coin or treasury notes +issued directly by the Government, but not furnished to banking +associations.</p> + +<p>'But whatever the advantages of such arrangements in the commercial +cities in relation to customs, it seems clear that the secured +national circulation furnished to the banking associations should +be received everywhere for all other dues than customs, and that +these associations will constitute the best and safest depositaries +of the revenues derived from such receipts. The convenience and +utility to the Government of their employment in this capacity, and +often, also, as agents for payments and as distributors of stamps, +need no demonstration. The necessity for some other depositaries +than surveyors of ports, receivers, postmasters, and other +officers, of whose responsibilities and fitness, in many cases, +nothing satisfactory can be known, is acknowledged by the provision +for selection by the Secretary contained in the internal revenue +act; and it seems very clear that the public interest will be +secured far more certainly by the organization and employment of +associations organized as proposed than by any official selection.</p> + +<p>'Another and very important advantage of the proposed plan has +already been adverted to. It will reconcile, as far as practicable, +the interest of existing institutions with those of the whole +people.</p> + +<p>'All changes, however important, should be introduced with caution, +and proceeded in with careful regard to every affected interest. +Rash innovation is not less dangerous than stupefied inaction. The +time has come when a circulation of United States notes, in some +form, must be employed. The people demand uniformity in currency, +and claim, at least, part of the benefit of debt without interest, +made into money, hitherto enjoyed exclusively by the banks. These +demands are just and must be respected. But there need be no sudden +change; there need be no hurtful interference with existing +interests. As yet the United States note circulation hardly fills +the vacuum caused by the temporary withdrawal of coin; it does not, +perhaps, fully meet the demand for increased circulation created by +the increased number, variety, and activity of payments in money. +There is opportunity, therefore, for the wise and beneficial +regulation of its substitution for other circulation. The mode of +substitution, also, may be judiciously adapted to actual +circumstances. The plan suggested consults both purposes. It +contemplates gradual withdrawal of bank note circulation, and +proposes a United States note circulation, furnished to banking +associations, in the advantages of which they may participate in +full proportion to the care and responsibility assumed and the +services performed by them. The promptitude and zeal with which +many of the existing institutions came to the financial support of +the Government in the dark days which followed the outbreak of the +rebellion is not forgotten. They ventured largely, and boldly, and +patriotically on the side of the Union and the constitutional +supremacy of the nation over States and citizens. It does not at +all detract from the merit of the act that the losses, which they +feared but unhesitatingly risked, were transmuted into unexpected +gains. It is a solid recommendation of the suggested plan that it +offers the opportunity to these and kindred institutions to +reorganize, continue their business under the proposed act, and +with little loss and much advantage, participate in maintaining the +new and uniform national currency.</p> + +<p>'The proposed plan is recommended, finally, by the firm anchorage +it will supply to the union of the States. Every banking +association whose bonds are deposited in the treasury of the Union; +every individual who holds a dollar of the circulation secured by +such deposit; every merchant, every manufacturer, every farmer, +every mechanic, interested in transactions de<a name="Page_470" id="Page_470"></a>pendent for success +on the credit of that circulation, will feel as an injury every +attempt to rend the national unity, with the permanence and +stability of which all their interests are so closely and vitally +connected. Had the system been possible, and had it actually +existed two years ago, can it be doubted that the national +interests and sentiments enlisted by it for the Union would have so +strengthened the motives for adhesion derived from other sources +that the wild treason of secession would have been impossible?</p> + +<p>'The Secretary does not yield to the phantasy that taxation is a +blessing and debt a benefit; but it is the duty of public men to +extract good from evil whenever it is possible. The burdens of +taxation may be lightened and even made productive of incidental +benefits by wise, and aggravated and made intolerable by unwise, +legislation. In like manner debt, by no means desirable in itself, +may, when circumstances compel nations to incur its obligations, be +made by discreet use less burdensome, and even instrumental in the +promotion of public and private security and welfare.</p> + +<p>'The rebellion has brought a great debt upon us. It is proposed to +use a part of it in such a way that the sense of its burden may be +lost in the experience of incidental advantages. The issue of +United States notes is such a use; but if exclusive, is hazardous +and temporary. The security by national bonds of similar notes +furnished to banking associations is such a use, and is +comparatively safe and permanent; and with this use may be +connected, for the present, and occasionally, as circumstances may +require, hereafter, the use of the ordinary United States notes in +limited amounts.</p> + +<p>'No very early day will probably witness the reduction of the +public debt to the amount required as a basis for secured +circulation. Should no future wars arrest reduction and again +demand expenditures beyond revenue, that day will, however, at +length come. When it shall arrive the debt may be retained on low +interest at that amount, or some other security for circulation may +be devised, or, possibly, the vast supplies of our rich mines may +render all circulation unadvisable except gold and the absolute +representatives and equivalents, dollar for dollar, of gold in the +treasury or on safe deposit elsewhere. But these considerations may +be for another generation.</p> + +<p>'The Secretary forbears extended argument on the constitutionality +of the suggested system. It is proposed as an auxiliary to the +power to borrow money; as an agency of the power to collect and +disburse taxes; and as an exercise of the power to regulate +commerce, and of the power to regulate the value of coin. Of the +two first sources of power nothing need be said. The argument +relating to them was long since exhausted, and is well known. Of +the other two there is not room, nor does it seem needful to say +much. If Congress can prescribe the structure, equipment, and +management of vessels to navigate rivers flowing between or through +different States as a regulation of commerce, Congress may +assuredly determine what currency shall be employed in the +interchange of their commodities, which is the very essence of +commerce. Statesmen who have agreed in little else have concurred +in the opinion that the power to regulate coin is, in substance and +effect, a power to regulate currency, and that the framers of the +Constitution so intended. It may well enough be admitted that while +Congress confines its regulation to weight, fineness, shape, and +device, banks and individuals may issue notes for currency in +competition with coin. But it is difficult to conceive by what +process of logic the unquestioned power to regulate coin can be +separated from the power to maintain or restore its circulation, by +excluding from currency all private or corporate substitutes which +affect its value, whenever Congress shall see fit to exercise that +power for that purpose.</p> + +<p>'The recommendations, now submitted, of the limited issue of United +States notes as a wise expedient for the present time, and as an +occasional expedient for future times, and of the organization of +banking associations to supply circulation secured by national +bonds and convertible always into United States notes, and after +resumption of specie payments, into coin, are prompted by no favor +to excessive issues of any description of credit money.</p> + +<p>'On the contrary, it is the Secretary's firm belief that by no +other path can the resumption of specie payments be so surely +reached and so certainly maintained. United States notes receivable +for bonds bearing a secure specie inter<a name="Page_471" id="Page_471"></a>est are next best to notes +convertible into coin. The circulation of banking associations +organized under a general act of Congress, secured by such bonds, +can be most surely and safely maintained at the point of certain +convertibility into coin. If, temporarily, these associations +redeem their issues with United States notes, resumption of specie +payments will not thereby be delayed or endangered, but hastened +and secured; for, just as soon as victory shall restore peace, the +ample revenue, already secured by wise legislation, will enable the +Government, through advantageous purchases of specie, to replace at +once large amounts, and, at no distant day, the whole, of this +circulation by coin, without detriment to any interest, but, on the +contrary, with great and manifest benefit to all interests.</p> + +<p>'The Secretary recommends, therefore, no mere paper money scheme, +but, on the contrary, a series of measures looking to a safe and +gradual return to gold and silver as the only permanent basis, +standard, and measure of values recognized by the +Constitution—between which and an irredeemable paper currency, as +he believes, the choice is now to be made.' </p></div> + +<p>Congress, however, was still unwilling to adopt the recommendations of +the Secretary, until the necessity was demonstrated by the course of +events. On reference to the laws, which are printed in the Appendix, it +will be found, that the great features of the system of the Secretary +were as follows:</p> + +<p>1. A loan to the Government upon its bonds reimbursable in twenty years, +but redeemable after five years, at the option of the nation, the +interest being six per cent., payable semi-annually in <i>coin</i>, as is +also the principal.</p> + +<p>2. The issue of United States legal tender notes, receivable for all +dues to the nation except customs, and fundable in this United States +5—20 six per cent. stock.</p> + +<p>3. The authorization of the banks recommended in his Report, whose +circulation would be secured not only by private capital, but by +adequate deposits of United States stock with the Government.</p> + +<p>4. To maintain, in the meantime, as near to specie as practicable, this +Federal Currency,—1st, by making it receivable in all dues to the +Government except for customs; 2d, by the privilege of funding it in +United States stock; 3d, by enhancing the benefit of this privilege, not +only by making the stock, both principal and interest, payable in +specie, but by making it gradually the ultimate basis of our whole bank +circulation, which, as shown by the census tables before referred to +(including deposits), nearly doubles every decade.</p> + +<p>5. By imposing such a tax on the circulation of the State banks, as, +together with State or municipal taxes, would induce them to transfer +their capital to the new banks proposed by the Secretary.</p> + +<p>6. To relieve the <i>new banks</i> from all State or municipal taxation.</p> + +<p>7. In lieu thereof, to impose a moderate Federal tax on all bank +circulation, as a bonus to be paid cheerfully by these banks for the +great privilege of furnishing ultimately the whole paper currency of the +country, and the other advantages secured by these bills.</p> + +<p>This tax, as proposed by the Secretary, was one per cent. semi-annually, +which <i>in effect</i> would have reduced the interest on our principal loans +from six to four per cent. per annum, so far as those loans were made +the basis of bank circulation. Congress, however, fixed this tax at +about one half, thus making the interest on such loans equivalent in +fact to five per cent. per annum, so far as such loans, at the option of +the holder, are made the basis of banking and of bank circulation. This +is a privilege which gives great additional value to these loans, for +the right to issue the bank paper circulation of the country free from +State or municipal taxes, is worth far more than one half per cent, +semi-annually, to be paid on such circulation. That this privilege is +worth more than the Federal tax, is <a name="Page_472" id="Page_472"></a>proved by the fact, that many banks +are already being organized under this system, and by the further fact, +that more than $200,000,000 of legal tenders have already been funded in +this stock, and the process continues at the rate of from one to two +millions of dollars a day. It will be observed, that the holders of such +bonds can keep them, <i>if they please</i>, disconnected with all banks, +receiving the principal at maturity, as well as the semi-annual +interest, in gold, free from all taxes.</p> + +<p>This system has been attended with complete success, and notwithstanding +the increase of our debt, the premium on gold, for our Federal currency, +fundable in this stock, has fallen from 73 per cent. in February last, +before the adoption of Mr. Chase's system, to 27 per cent. at present; +and before the 30th of June next, it is not doubted that this premium +must disappear. No loyal American doubts the complete suppression of the +rebellion before that date, in which event, our Federal currency will +rise at once to the par of gold. In the meantime, however, gold is at a +premium of 27 per cent., which is the least profit (independent of +future advance above par) so soon to be realized by those purchasing +this currency now, and waiting its appreciation, or investing it in our +United States 5—20 six per cent. stock.</p> + +<p>But, besides the financial benefits to the Government of Mr. Chase's +system, its other advantages are great indeed. It will ultimately +displace our whole State bank system and circulation, and give us a +<i>national currency</i>, based on ample private capital and Federal stocks, +a currency of <i>uniform</i> value throughout the country, and always +certainly convertible on demand into coin. Besides, by displacing the +State bank circulation, the whole bank note currency of the Union will +be based on the stocks of the Government, and give to every citizen who +holds the bonds or the currency (which will embrace the whole community +in every State), a direct interest in the maintenance of the Union.</p> + +<p>The annual losses which our people sustain under the separate State bank +system, in the rate of exchange, is enormous, whilst the constant and +ever-recurring insolvency of so many of these institutions, accompanied +by eight general bank suspensions of specie payment, have, from time to +time, spread ruin and devastation throughout the country. I believe +that, in a period of twenty years, the saving to the people of the +United States, by the substitution of the new system, would reach a sum +very nearly approaching the total amount of our public debt, and in time +largely exceeding it. As a question, then, of national wealth, as well +as national unity, I believe the gain to the country in time by the +adoption of the new system, will far exceed the cost of the war. It was +the State bank system in the rebel States that furnished to secession +mainly the sinews of war. These banks are now generally insolvent, but, +if the banking system now proposed had been in existence, and the +circulating medium in all the States had been an uniform national +currency based entirely on the stocks of the United States, the +rebellion could never have occurred. Every bank, and all its +stockholders, and all the holders of the stock and notes of all the +banks, embracing our whole paper currency, would have been united to the +Government by an interest so direct and universal, that rebellion would +have been impossible. Hamilton and Madison, Story and Marshall, and the +Supreme Court of the United States, have declared that to the Federal +Government belongs the 'entire regulation of the currency of the +country.' That power they have now exercised in the adoption of the +system recommended by the Secretary. Our whole currency, in coin as well +as paper, will soon, now, all be national, which is the most important +measure for the security and perpetuity of the Union, and the welfare of +the <a name="Page_473" id="Page_473"></a>people, ever adopted by Congress. It is to Congress that the +Constitution grants the exclusive power 'to regulate commerce with +foreign nations and among the States;' and a sound, uniform currency, in +coin, or convertible on demand into coin, is one of the most essential +instrumentalities connected with trade and exchanges.</p> + +<p>After these preliminary remarks, I shall proceed with the discussion of +the subject in my next letter.</p> + +<p class='author'> +<span class="smcap">R.J. Walker</span>.<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="VOICELESS_SINGERS" id="VOICELESS_SINGERS"></a>VOICELESS SINGERS.</h3> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">A bird is singing in the leaves<br /></span> +<span class="i4">That quiver on yon linden tree;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">So soft and clear the song he sings,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The roses listen dreamily.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">The crimson buds in clusters cling;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The full, sweet roses blush with bloom;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">And, white as ocean's swaying foam,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The lily trembles from the gloom.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">I know not why that happy strain<br /></span> +<span class="i4">That dies so softly on the air,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">That perfect utterance of joy,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Has left a strange, dim sadness there.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Perchance the song, so silver-sweet,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The roses' regal blossoms shrine:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Perchance the bending lily droops,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And trembles, 'neath its thrill divine.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">It may be that all beauteous things,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Though lacking music's perfect key,<br /></span> +<span class="i3">Have with their inmost being twined<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The hidden chords of melody.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">So pine they all, to hear again<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The song they know, but cannot sing;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">The living utterance, full and clear,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Whose voiceless breathings round them cling.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">Yet still those accents waken not;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The bird has left the linden tree;<br /></span> +<span class="i3">A summer silence falls once more<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Upon the listening rose and me.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474"></a></p> +<h3><a name="A_DETECTIVES_STORY" id="A_DETECTIVES_STORY"></a>A DETECTIVE'S STORY.</h3> + + +<p>The following is a true story, by a late well-known member of the +Detective service, and, with, the exception of some names of persons and +places, is given precisely as he himself related it.</p> + +<p>Late one Friday afternoon, in the latter part of November, 18—, I was +sent for by the chief of the New York Police, and was told there was a +case for me. It was a counterfeiting affair. Notes had been forged on a +Pennsylvania bank; two men had been apprehended, and were in custody. +The first, Springer, had turned State's evidence on his accomplice; who, +according to his account, was the prime mover in the business. This man, +Daniel Hawes by name, had transferred the notes to a third party, of +whom nothing had been ascertained except that he was a young man, wrote +a beautiful hand, and had been in town the Monday before. He was the man +I was to catch.</p> + +<p>It was sundown when I left the superintendent's office. I had not much +to guide me: there were hundreds of young men who wrote a beautiful +hand, and had been in town last Monday. But I did not trouble myself +about what I did not know: I confined myself to what I did know. Upon +reflection I thought it probable that <i>my man</i> had been in intimate +relations with Hawes for the last few days, probably since Monday last, +although it was not known that he had been in town since that day. He +might not be a resident in the city; but I decided to seek him +here—since, if he had not left town before the arrest of Springer and +Hawes, he would not just now run the risk of falling into the hands of +the police by going to any railroad station or steamer wharf.</p> + +<p>I determined, therefore, to follow up the track of Hawes, and thereby, +if possible, strike that of his confederate—which was, in fact, all +that could be done.</p> + +<p>Hawes was a small broker. He lived in Eighteenth street, and had an +office in Wall street.</p> + +<p>He lived too far up town, I thought, to go home every day to his dinner; +he went then, most probably, always to the same eating house, and one +not far from his office.</p> + +<p>After inquiring at several restaurants near by, I came to one in Liberty +street, where, on asking if Mr. Hawes was in the habit of dining there, +the waiter said yes.</p> + +<p>'Have you seen a young man here with him, lately?' I inquired.</p> + +<p>'No—no one in particular,' replied the waiter.</p> + +<p>'Are you sure of it? Come, think.'</p> + +<p>After scratching his head for a moment, he said:</p> + +<p>'Yes, there has been a young man here speaking to him once or twice.'</p> + +<p>'How did he look?'</p> + +<p>'He was short, and had black hair and eyes.'</p> + +<p>'Who is he? What does he do?'</p> + +<p>'He is clerk to Mr. L——, the linen importer.'</p> + +<p>'Where does Mr. L—— live?'</p> + +<p>The waiter did not know. Looking into a Directory, I ascertained his +residence to be in Fourteenth street. The stores by this time were +closed, so I went immediately to Mr. L——'s house, and asked to see +him. He was at dinner.</p> + +<p>'I am sorry to disturb him,' said I to the servant, 'but I wish to speak +with him a moment on a matter of importance, and cannot wait.'</p> + +<p>Mr. L—— came out, evidently annoyed at the intrusion.</p> + +<p>'Have you such a person in your employment?' said I, describing him.</p> + +<p>'No, sir, I have not.'</p> + +<p><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475"></a>'You had such a person?'</p> + +<p>'I have not now.'</p> + +<p>'Did you discharge him?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'Why?'</p> + +<p>'What business is that of your's?' he asked, rather huffily.</p> + +<p>'My name, sir, is M——, of the police. I am after this fellow, that's +all. Tell me, if you please, why you discharged him?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, I beg your pardon,' said Mr. L——. 'I took you for one of his +rascally associates. I discharged him a week or ten days ago. He was a +dissipated, good-for-nothing fellow.'</p> + +<p>'Was he your bookkeeper?'</p> + +<p>'No, he was a junior clerk.'</p> + +<p>'Have you any of his handwriting that you can show me?'</p> + +<p>He fumbled in a side pocket and drew out a pocketbook from which he took +a memorandum of agreement, or some paper of the sort, to the bottom of +which a signature was attached as witness.</p> + +<p>'That's his writing,' said he.</p> + +<p>It was a stiff schoolboy's scrawl.</p> + +<p>This was not my man then. I apologized to Mr. L—— for the trouble I +had given him, and withdrew.</p> + +<p>Lost time, said I to myself. I am on the wrong track. I must back to the +eating house, and begin the chase again from the point where I left off. +I saw the same waiter.</p> + +<p>'I want you to think again,' said I, 'Try hard to remember whether there +was never any other man here with Hawes on any occasion.'</p> + +<p>After reflecting for a little while, he said he thought he recollected +his going up stairs not long ago, with another man, to a private room.</p> + +<p>'Did you wait on him yourself at the time you speak of?' I asked.</p> + +<p>'No—most likely it was Joe Harris.'</p> + +<p>'Will you send for him, if you please.'</p> + +<p>Joe Harris came.</p> + +<p>'You waited on Mr. Hawes a few days ago, when he dined with another +gentleman in a private room up stairs, didn't you?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Who was that other man?'</p> + +<p>'He is a young man who is clerk in a livery stable in Sullivan street.'</p> + +<p>'What are his looks?'</p> + +<p>'He is tall and light haired.'</p> + +<p>'Do you know his name?'</p> + +<p>'His name is Edgar.'</p> + +<p>I hurried up to Sullivan street, went into the first livery stable I +came to, inquired for the proprietor, and asked him if he had a young +man in his stable of the name of Edgar.</p> + +<p>He said he had.</p> + +<p>'Does he keep your books?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, he takes orders for me.'</p> + +<p>'Let me see some of his handwriting, if you please.'</p> + +<p>He stepped back into the office and took from a desk a little order +book. I opened it: there were some orders, hastily written, no doubt, +but in a hand almost like beautiful copperplate.</p> + +<p>This was my man—I felt nearly certain of it. I asked where he lived, +and was told, with his mother, a widow woman, at such a number in Hudson +street. I started for the place. It was now nine o'clock. Arriving at +the house, I rang the bell. It was answered by a servant girl.</p> + +<p>'Does Mr. Edgar live here?' I inquired.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Is he at home?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir.'</p> + +<p>'When will he come home?'</p> + +<p>'I don't know.'</p> + +<p>'Does he sleep here?'</p> + +<p>'Sometimes he does, and sometimes he doesn't.'</p> + +<p>'Where is he likely to be found? I should like to see him.'</p> + +<p>She said she really didn't know, unless perhaps he might be at a +billiard saloon not far off. I went there. A noisy crowd was around the +bar. I looked around the room and closely scrutinized every face. No +tall, light-haired young man was there. I asked <a name="Page_476" id="Page_476"></a>the barkeeper if Mr. +Edgar had been there that evening. He said no, he had not seen anything +of him for two or three days, I asked him if there was any other place +he knew of that Edgar frequented, and was told he went a good deal to a +bowling alley in West Broadway near Duane street. Not much yet, I +thought, as I hurried on to West Broadway. Descending a few steps into a +basement, I entered a sort of vestibule or office to the bowling saloon. +'Has Mr. Edgar been here this evening?' I inquired of the man in +attendance.</p> + +<p>'He is here now,' was the reply, 'in the other room, through that door.'</p> + +<p>I passed through the door indicated into the bowling alley, and accosted +the marker:</p> + +<p>'Is Mr. Edgar here?'</p> + +<p>'He has just gone—fifteen minutes ago.'</p> + +<p>'Do you know where he went to?'</p> + +<p>'Seems to me some of them said something about going to the Lafayette +Theatre.'</p> + +<p>I am on his track now—I said to myself—only fifteen minutes behind +him. I bent my steps to the theatre—taking with, me a comrade in the +police service, whom I had encountered as I was leaving the saloon. We +hurried on with the utmost rapidity, but on reaching the theatre, found, +to my disgust, what I had already feared, that the play was over, and +the theatre just closed.</p> + +<p>'Better give it up for to-night,' said my companion; 'we know enough +about him now, and can take up the search again to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>'It won't do, Clarke,' said I, 'we have inquired for him at too many +places. Stay, I've a notion he may be heard of at some of these oyster +cellars hereabouts.'</p> + +<p>I went down into one of them, and asked if a tall young man with light +hair had been there that evening. A tall young man with light hair and +mustache had come in from the theatre with a lady, and had just left. I +asked my informant if he knew the lady. She was a Miss Kearney, he +answered.</p> + +<p>'What?' I continued, 'didn't her sister marry the actor Levison?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, the same person.'</p> + +<p>'He lives in Walker street, near the Bowery, I believe?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, I think so,' replied the man.</p> + +<p>I considered a moment. Of course no one could tell me where Edgar had +gone to; but I was tolerably certain he had gone home with the girl. +Where she lived I did not know, but I thought it probable the actor +could tell me. So we started on to Walker street. There are—or were at +the time I speak of—several boarding houses in Walker street. We passed +one or two three-story houses with marble steps. 'Shall I ask along +here?' said Clarke. 'No,' I answered; 'poor actors don't board there; we +must look for him farther on.' We kept on, and after a little while, we +found one that seemed to me to be likely to be the house we were looking +for. I rang the bell and inquired for Mr. Levison. He was gone to bed. +It was now twelve o'clock. I desired the man that opened the door to +tell him that some one was below who wished to see him immediately. He +soon returned, saying that Mr. Levison was in bed, and could not be +disturbed: I must leave my business, or call again next day.</p> + +<p>I thought it necessary to frighten him a little; so I sent up word that +I was an officer of police, and he must come down instantly, or I should +go up and fetch him. In a few moments the actor made his appearance, +terribly frightened. Before I could say anything he began to pour out +such a flood of questions and asseverations that I could not get a word +in: What did I want with him? I had come to the wrong man; he hadn't +been doing anything, etc., etc. 'I don't want you,' I began—but it was +of no use, I could not stop him; his character was excellent, anybody +would vouch for <a name="Page_477" id="Page_477"></a>him; I ought to be more sure what I was about before I +roused people from their beds at midnight, etc., etc. His huddled words +and apprehensive looks made me suspect there was something wrong with +him; but it was no concern of mine then. I seized him by the shoulder, +and ordered him to be quiet.</p> + +<p>'Don't utter another word,' said I, 'except to answer my questions, or +I'll carry you off and lock you up. I have not come to arrest you. I +only want to ask you a few questions. Haven't you a sister-in-law named +Miss Kearney?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, what do you want with her?'</p> + +<p>'I am not going to do her any harm. I only want to know where she +lives.'</p> + +<p>'Oh! she lives in —— street.'</p> + +<p>'Do you know the number?'</p> + +<p>'Goodness, yes; it is number 34. I have boarded there myself until only +a little while ago.'</p> + +<p>'Indeed!'</p> + +<p>'Yes, I have got a dead-latch key somewhere about.'</p> + +<p>'The deuce you have! Give it to me; it is just what I want.'</p> + +<p>'Give you a dead-latch key! a pretty notion!'</p> + +<p>'I wouldn't give it to any man—not to all the detective squad in New +York.'</p> + +<p>'Look here, my friend, I am M——, pretty well known in this town. I +have a good many opportunities in the course of my business to do people +good turns, and not a few to do them ill turns. It is a convenient +vocation to pay off scores, particularly to persons of your sort. If you +will give me that key, I'll make it worth your while the first chance I +have. If you don't, you'll be sorry; that's all."</p> + +<p>I gave him a significant look as I concluded. He looked me in the face a +minute—as if to see how much I meant, or if I suspected anything; then +turned and ran up stairs. In a few moments he came down, and handed me +the key. I took it with satisfaction.</p> + +<p>'Now,' said I, 'you'll have no objections to telling me where your +sister-in-law's room in the house is.'</p> + +<p>'Third story, back room, second door to the left from the head of the +stairs.'</p> + +<p>'Thank you, good night.'</p> + +<p>We walked rapidly to —— street, and reaching the house, I stopped a +moment to examine my pistols, by the street lamp, and then softly opened +the door. Clarke and I stepped in, and I shut the door.</p> + +<p>Leaving my comrade in the hall, I crept noiselessly up stairs, and +tapped at the door of the room.</p> + +<p>'Who is there?' called out a woman's voice. 'Open the door,' I replied, +'and I'll tell you what I want.'</p> + +<p>'You can't come in. I have gone to bed.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, well, I am a married man; I'll do you no harm; but you must let me +in, or I shall force the door.'</p> + +<p>After a moment's delay the door was opened by a young woman in a morning +wrapper, who stood as if awaiting an explanation of the intrusion. I +passed by her, and walked up to a young man sitting in a low chair by +the fire, and tapping him on the shoulder, said: 'You are my prisoner.' +He raised his head and looked up. 'Why, Bill,' I exclaimed, 'is this +you? I have been looking for you all night under a wrong name. If I had +known it was you, I'd have caught you in an hour.' And so I would.</p> + +<p>It is only necessary to say further, that he was the man I was set to +catch. I may add, however, that a large amount of the counterfeit notes, +and the plates on which they were printed, were secured, and the +criminal sent to Sing Sing in due course of law.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478"></a></p> +<h3><a name="LITERARY_NOTICES" id="LITERARY_NOTICES"></a>LITERARY NOTICES.</h3> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Flower for the Parlour and Garden</span>. By <span class="smcap">Edward Sprague +Rand</span>, jr. Boston: J.E. Tilton & Co. Price $2.50.</p> + +<p>J.E. Tilton & Co. are the publishers of the series of photographic and +lithographic cards of flowers, leaves, mosses, butterflies, +hummingbirds, &c., noted for their beauty of execution. 'Flowers are so +universally loved, and accepted everywhere as necessities of the moral +life, that whatever can be done to render their cultivation easy, and to +bring them to perfection in the vicinity of, or within, the household, +must be regarded as a benefaction.' This benefit our author has +certainly conferred upon us. The gift is from one who must himself have +loved these lily cups and floral bells of perfume, and will be warmly +welcomed by all who prize their loveliness. In the pages of this book +may be found accurate and detailed information on all subjects likely to +be of interest to their cultivators. We give a list of the contents of +its chapters, to show how wide a field it covers. Chap. I. The +Green-House and Conservatory. Chap. II. Window Gardening. Chap. III, IV, +V, VI. Plants for Window Gardening. VII. Cape Bulbs. VIII. Dutch Bulbs. +IX. The Culture of the Tube Rose. X. The Gladiolus and its culture. XI. +How to force flowers to bloom in Winter. XII. Balcony Gardening. XIII. +The Wardian Case and Winter Garden. XIV. Stocking and Managing Wardian +Cases. XV. Hanging Baskets and Suitable Plants, and Treatment of Ivy. +XVI. The Waltonian Case. XVII. The Aquarium and Water Plants. XVIII. How +to grow specimen Plants. XIX. Out Door Gardening, Hot Beds. XX. The +Garden. XXI. Small Trees and Shrubs. XXII. Hardy Herbaceous Plants. +XXIII. Hardy Annuals. XXIV. Bedding Plants. XXV. Hardy and half hardy +Garden Bulbs. XXVI. Spring Flowers and where to find them.</p> + +<p>The appearance of this book is singularly elegant, its tinted paper soft +and creamy, its type clear and beautiful, its quotations evince poetic +culture, and its illustrations are exquisitely graceful. It is a real +pleasure to turn over its attractive leaves with the names of loved old +flower-friends greeting us on every page, and new claimants with new +hopes and types of beauty constantly starting up before us. What with +Waltonian cases, hanging baskets, Wardian cases, &c., our ladies may +adorn their parlors with <i>artistic</i> taste with these fragrant, fragile, +rainbow-hued children of Nature.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Bright gems of earth, in which perchance we see</span><br /> +<span class="i0">"What Eden was, what Paradise may be.'</span><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>'From the contemplation of nature's beauty there is but the +uplifting of the eye to the footstool of the Creator.' </p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hospital Transports</span>. A Memoir of the Embarkation of the Sick +and Wounded from the Peninsula of Virginia in the Summer of 1862. +Compiled and published at the request of the Sanitary Commission. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. For sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York.</p> + +<p>A book which should be in the hands of all who love their country. The +Sanitary Commission deserve the undying gratitude of the nation. Their +organization is one of pure benevolence; the men and women working +effectively through its beneficent channel have given evidence of some +of the noblest and divinest attributes of the human soul. It is +difficult to form any idea of the magnitude and importance of the work +the commission has achieved. 'Never till every soldier whose last +moments it has soothed, till every soldier whose flickering life it has +gently steadied into continuance, whose waning reason it has softly +lulled into quiet, whose chilled blood it has warmed into healthful +play, whose failing frame it has nourished into strength, whose fainting +heart <a name="Page_479" id="Page_479"></a>it has comforted with sympathy,—never, until every full soul has +poured out its story of gratitude and thanksgiving, will the record be +complete; but long before that time, ever since the moment that its +helping hand was first held forth, comes the Blessed Voice: 'Inasmuch as +ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done +it unto me.''</p> + +<p>'The blessings of thousands who were ready to perish, and tens of +thousands who love their country and their kind, rest upon those who +originated, and those who sustain this noble work.'</p> + +<p>This book is full of vivid interest, of true incident, of graphic +sketches, of loyalty, patriotism, and self-abnegation, whether of men or +of noble women, and recommends itself to all who love and would fain +succor the human race.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="smcap">Austin Elliot. By Henry Kingsley</span>, Author of Ravenshoe, etc. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. For sale by D. Appleton & Co. New York.</p> + +<p>A graphic novel of considerable ability, and more than usual interest. +The tone is highly moral throughout. The lessons on duelling are +excellent. Would that our young men would lay them to heart! The +characters are, many of them, well drawn and sustained—we confess to a +sincere affection for the Highlander, Gil Macdonald, and the Scotch +sheep-dog, Robin. Many of the scenes in which they appear are full of +simple and natural pathos.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="smcap">Husband and Wife</span>; or, The Science of Human Development through +Inherited Tendencies. By the Author of the Parent's Guide, etc. +Carleton, publisher, 413 Broadway, New York.</p> + +<p>A suggestive book on an important subject. The writer assumes that +'there are <i>laws</i> of hereditary transmission in the mental and moral, as +well as the physical constitution. Precisely what these laws are, she +does not assume to state. Such as are well known will however be helpful +to all, and will facilitate the discovery of those yet hidden from us. +Women, who bear such an important part in parentage, should be the most +clear-sighted students of nature in these things. It is to woman that +humanity must look for the abatement of many frightful evils, +malformation, idiocy, insanity, &c., yet the principles pertaining to +the knowledge of her own duties and powers, which ought to be a part of +the instruction of every woman, are rarely placed before her. Much that +pertains to the same phenomena among the lower animals may properly +constitute a part of her studies in natural history; but with the laws +which govern the most momentous of all social effects—the moral and +mental constitution of individuals composing society—with the gravest +of possible results to herself—the embodiment of power and weakness, +capacity or incapacity, worth or worthlessness in her own offspring, she +is forbidden all acquaintance. Yet when she assumes the duties and +responsibilities of maternity, such knowledge would be more valuable to +her and to those dearest to her, than all of the treasures of the +gold-bearing lands, if poured at her feet.'</p> + +<p>The laws of hereditary transmission make the staple of this book. It is +written by a lady, and will commend itself to all interested in this +subject. Pearl, in the Scarlet Letter, and Elsie Venner, are artistic +exemplifications of such disregarded truths.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="smcap">Victor Hugo</span>, by a Witness of his Life: Madame <span class="smcap">Hugo</span>. +Translated from the French, by <span class="smcap">Charles Edwin Wilbour</span>, +translator of 'Les Miserables.' Carleton, publisher, 413 Broadway, New +York.</p> + +<p>A biography of a remarkable man, written by a constant observer of his +actions, almost a second self, can scarcely fail to prove interesting. +In this case the interest is increased by its close connection with a +popular novel. Indeed, the readers of 'Les Miserables' will be +astonished to find what a flood of light is thrown upon that master work +by this charming life-history of its author. Marius is but a free +variation of Victor Hugo himself. In Joly, the old school-mate of the +Pension Cordier, the author of Jean Valjean becomes closely acquainted +with a real galley slave. In short, the great romance is a part of the +life of Victor Hugo, and cannot be fully understood without the +biography—its completion.'</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="smcap">Life and Times of Sir William Johnson, Baronet</span>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">J. Munsell</span>, 78 State street, Albany, announces for publication +by subscription, 'The Life and Times of Sir William John<a name="Page_480" id="Page_480"></a>son, Baronet.' +The work is by William L. Stone, son of Colonel Stone, well known as +editor and biographer. The materials of this Life were derived from +original papers furnished by the family of Sir William, from his own +diary, and other sources which have never before been consulted. The +work was begun by the late William L. Stone, has been completed by his +son, and with the Lives of Brant and Red Jacket, brings down the history +of the Six Nations and their relations with Great Britain, from 1560 to +1824. The edition will be very nearly confined to the number subscribed +for. Price $5, payable on delivery.</p> + +<p>Sir William Johnson was Superintendent of Indian Affairs in this country +before the Revolution, was distinguished in Colonial history, and active +in the French and Indian war. His life was one of romantic interest and +vicissitude. The work is highly spoken of by the literati who have seen +the advance sheets. Jared Sparks, George Bancroft, F. Parkman, G.W. +Curtis, Lewis Cass, &c., testify to its interest and historical +accuracy. From the well-known ability of its author, it may be safely +and highly commended to the reading and thinking public.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="smcap">Beyond the Lines</span>; or, a Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie. By +Captain J.J. Geer, late of General Buckland's Staff. Philadelphia: J.W. +Daughaday, publisher, 1308 Chestnut street.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Captain John J. Geer</span> was, before the war, a minister of the +Methodist Church in Ohio, was taken prisoner before the battle of +Shiloh, in a skirmish with Beauregard's pickets, passed some months in +rebel prisons, made his escape, and pleasantly tells the story of his +adventures. He reports that the large slave-holders and the wretched +clay-eaters are all Secessionists, but that a large middle class, people +who own but few slaves and till their own fields, are mostly true to the +Union, in the parts of the South he visited. The book is one of +incident, contains many curious pictures of life and character, and will +address itself to a large class of readers.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Amber Gods, and other Stories</span>. By Harriet Elizabeth +Prescott. Ticknor & Fields, Boston. For sale by D. Appleton & Co., New +York.</p> + +<p>The many readers of Miss Prescott will be glad to welcome the present +collection of her very popular tales. It contains: The Amber Gods. In a +Cellar. Knitting Sale-Socks. Circumstance. Desert Lands. Midsummer and +May. The South Breaker.</p> + +<p>Few writers have attained distinction and recognition so immediately as +Miss Prescott. Her fancy is brilliant, her style glowing, and culture +and varied information mark the products of her pen.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Philip Van Artevelde</span>; a Dramatic Romance. Ticknor & Fields, +Boston. For sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York.</p> + +<p>An historical romance, cast in a dramatic and rhythmical form, by Henry +Taylor. It has been too long known to the community to require any +commendation at the present date. It has gone through many editions in +England. We are glad to see it in the convenient and pleasant form of +Ticknor's "Blue and Gold," so well known to American readers.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="smcap">The British American</span>; a Colonial Magazine. Published monthly by +Messrs. Rollo & Adam, 61 King street, Toronto, Canada West.</p> + +<p>The articles of this magazine are of varied interest, generally well +written and able. "What is Spectrum Analysis?" given by the Editor in +the August number, is a contribution of research and merit.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Christian Examiner</span>. Boston: By the proprietors, at Walker, +Wise & Co.'s, 245 Washington street.</p> + +<p>Contents: Tertullian and Montanism. The Reality of Fiction. Rome in the +Middle Age. Zschokke's Religious Meditations. Henry James on Creation. +Loyalty in the West. Altar, Pulpit, and Platform, A Month of Victory and +its Results. Review of Current Literature. Theology.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481"></a></p> +<h2>The Continental Monthly</h2> + + +<p>The readers of the <span class="smcap">Continental</span> are aware of the important +position it has assumed, of the influence which it exerts, and of the +brilliant array of political and literary talent of the highest order +which supports it. No publication of the kind has, in this country, so +successfully combined the energy and freedom of the daily newspaper with +the higher literary tone of the first-class monthly; and it is very +certain that no magazine has given wider range to its contributors, or +preserved itself so completely from the narrow influences of party or of +faction. In times like the present, such a journal is either a power in +the land or it is nothing. That the <span class="smcap">Continental</span> is not the +latter is abundantly evidenced <i>by what it has done</i>—by the reflection +of its counsels in many important public events, and in the character +and power of those who are its staunchest supporters.</p> + +<p>Though but little more than a year has elapsed since the +<span class="smcap">Continental</span> was first established, it has during that time +acquired a strength and a political significance elevating it to a +position far above that previously occupied by any publication of the +kind in America. In proof of which assertion we call attention to the +following facts:</p> + +<p>1. Of its <span class="smcap">Political</span> articles republished in pamphlet form, a +single one has had, thus far, a circulation of <i>one hundred and six +thousand</i> copies.</p> + +<p>2. From its <span class="smcap">Literary</span> department, a single serial novel, "Among +the Pines," has, within a very few months, sold nearly <i>thirty-five +thousand</i> copies. Two other series of its literary articles have also +been republished in book form, while the first portion of a third is +already in press.</p> + +<p>No more conclusive facts need be alleged to prove the excellence of the +contributions to the <span class="smcap">Continental</span>, or their <i>extraordinary +popularity</i>; and its conductors are determined that it shall not fall +behind. Preserving all "the boldness, vigor, and ability" which a +thousand journals have attributed to it, it will greatly enlarge its +circle of action, and discuss, fearlessly and frankly, every principle +involved in the great questions of the day. The first minds of the +country, embracing the men most familiar with its diplomacy and most +distinguished for ability, are among its contributors; and it is no mere +"flattering promise of a prospectus" to say that this "magazine for the +times" will employ the first intellect in America, under auspices which +no publication ever enjoyed before in this country.</p> + +<p>While the <span class="smcap">Continental</span> will express decided opinions on the +great questions of the day, it will not be a mere political journal: +much the larger portion of its columns will be enlivened, as heretofore, +by tales, poetry, and humor. In a word, the <span class="smcap">Continental</span> will be +found, under its new staff of Editors, occupying a position and +presenting attractions never before found in a magazine.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<h3>TERMS TO CLUBS.</h3> +<div style="margin-left: 20%"> +<p>Two copies for one year, ......... Five dollars.<br /> +Three copies for one year, ...... Six dollars.<br /> +Six copies for one year, ........... Eleven dollars.<br /> +Eleven copies for one year, .... Twenty dollars.<br /> +Twenty copies for one year, .... Thirty-six dollars.<br /></p> +</div> +<p class="smcap center">paid in advance.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Postage, Thirty-six cents a year</i>, <span class="smcap">to be paid by the subscriber</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">SINGLE COPIES.</p> + +<p class="center">Three dollars a year, IN ADVANCE. <i>Postage paid by the Publisher</i>.</p> + +<p class="author">JOHN F. TROW, 50 Greene St., N.Y.,<br /> +PUBLISHER FOR THE PROPRIETORS.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="margin-top:0em;"><img src="images/pointingfinger.png" alt="pointing finger" title="pointing finger" /></div> +<p>As an inducement to new subscribers, the +Publisher offers the following liberal premiums:</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="margin-top:0em;"><img src="images/pointingfinger.png" alt="pointing finger" title="pointing finger" /></div> +<p>Any person remitting $3, in advance, +will receive the magazine from July, 1862, to January, 1864 thus +securing the whole of <span class="smcap">Mr. Kimball's</span> and <span class="smcap">Mr. Kirke's</span> +new serials, which are alone worth the price of subscription. Or, if +preferred, a subscriber can take the magazine for 1863 and a copy of +"Among the Pines," or of "Undercurrents of Wall Street," by <span class="smcap">R.B. +Kimball</span>, bound in cloth, or of "Sunshine in Thought," by +<span class="smcap">Charles Godfrey Leland</span> (retail price, $1 25.) The book to be +sent postage paid.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="margin-top:0em;"><img src="images/pointingfinger.png" alt="pointing finger" title="pointing finger" /></div> +<p>Any person remitting $4 50, will receive +the magazine from its commencement, January, 1862, to January, 1864, +thus securing <span class="smcap">Mr. Kimball's</span> "Was He Successful?" and <span class="smcap">Mr. +Kirke's</span> "Among the Pines," and "Merchant's Story," and nearly 3,000 +octavo pages of the best literature in the world. Premium subscribers to +pay their own postage.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482"></a></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/farminglands.png" alt=" THE FINEST FARMING LANDS" title=" THE FINEST FARMING LANDS" /></div> + +<h4>EQUAL TO ANY IN THE WORLD!!!</h4> + +<p class='center'>MAY BE PROCURED</p> + +<h4>AT FROM $8 TO $12 PER ACRE,</h4> + +<p class='center'>Near Markets, Schools, Railroads, Churches, and all the blessings of +Civilization.</p> + +<p class='center'>1,200,000 Acres, in Farms of 40, 80, 120, 160 Acres and upwards, in +ILLINOIS, the Garden State of America.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">The Illinois Central Railroad Company offer, ON LONG CREDIT, the +beautiful and fertile PRAIRIE LANDS lying along the whole line of their +Railroad, 700 MILES IN LENGTH, upon the most Favorable Terms for +enabling Farmers, Manufacturers, Mechanics and Workingmen to make for +themselves and their families a competency, and a HOME they can call +THEIR OWN, as will appear from the following statements:</p> + +<h4>ILLINOIS.</h4> + +<p>Is about equal in extent to England, with a population of 1,722,686, and +a soil capable of supporting 20,000,000. No State in the Valley of the +Mississippi offers so great an inducement to the settler as the State of +Illinois. There is no part of the world where all the conditions of +climate and soil so admirably combine to produce those two great +staples, CORN and WHEAT.</p> + +<h4>CLIMATE.</h4> + +<p>Nowhere can the industrious farmer secure such immoderate results from +his labor as on these deep, rich, loamy soils, cultivated with so much +ease. The climate from the extreme southern part of the State to the +Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, a distance of nearly 200 +miles, is well adapted to Winter.</p> + +<h4>WHEAT, CORN, COTTON, TOBACCO.</h4> + +<p>Peaches, Pears, Tomatoes, and every variety of fruit and vegetables is +grown in great abundance, from which Chicago and other Northern markets +are furnished from four to six weeks earlier than their immediate +vicinity. Between the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis Railway and the +Kankakeo and Illinois Rivers, (a distance of 115 miles on the Branch, +and 135 miles on the Main Trunk,) lies the great Corn and Stock raising +portion of the State.</p> + +<h4>THE ORDINARY YIELD.</h4> + +<p>of Corn is from 50 to 80 bushels per acre. Cattle, Horses, Mules, Sheep +and Hogs are raised here at a small cost, and yield large profits. It is +believed that no section of country presents greater inducements for +Dairy Farming than the Prairies of Illinois, a branch of farming to +which but little attention has been paid, and which must yield sure +profitable results. Between the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, and +Chicago and Dunleith,(a distance of 56 miles on the Branch and 147 miles +by the Main Trunk,) Timothy Hay, Spring Wheat, Corn, &c., are produced +in great abundance.</p> + +<h4>AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.</h4> + +<p>The Agricultural products of Illinois are greater than those of any +other State. The Wheat crop of 1861 was estimated at 85,000,000 bushels, +while the Corn crop yields not less than 140,000,000 bushels besides the +crop of Oats, Barley, Rye, Buckwheat, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, +Pumpkins, Squashes, Flax, Hemp, Peas, Clover, Cabbage, Beets, Tobacco, +Sorgheim, Grapes, Peaches, Apples, &c., which go to swell the vast +aggregate of production in this fertile region. Over Four Million tons +of produce were sent out the State of Illinois during the past year.</p> + +<h4>STOCK RAISING.</h4> + +<p>In Central and Southern Illinois uncommon advantages are presented for +the extension of Stock raising. All kinds of Cattle, Horses, Mules, +Sheep, Hogs, &c., of the best breeds, yield handsome profits; large +fortunes have already been made, and the field is open for others to +enter with the fairest prospects of like results. DAIRY FARMING also +presents its inducements to many.</p> + +<h4>CULTIVATION OF COTTON.</h4> + +<p><i>The experiments in Cotton culture are of very great promise. Commencing +in latitude 39 deg. 30 min. (see Mattoon on the Branch, and Assumption +on the Main Line), the Company owns thousands of acres well adapted to +the perfection of this fibre. A settler having a family of young +children, can turn their youthful labor to a most profitable account in +the growth and perfection of this plant</i>.</p> + +<h4>THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD.</h4> + +<p>Traverses the whole length of the State, from the banks of the +Mississippi and Lake Michigan to the Ohio. As its name imports, the +Railroad runs through the centre of the State, and on either side of the +road along its whole length lie the lands offered for sale.</p> + +<h4>CITIES, TOWNS, MARKETS, DEPOTS.</h4> + +<p>There are Ninety-eight Depots on the Company's Railway, giving about one +every seven miles. Cities, Towns and Villages are situated at convenient +distances throughout the whole route, where every desirable commodity +may be found as readily as in the oldest cities of the Union, and where +buyers are to be met for all kinds of farm produce.</p> + +<h4>EDUCATION.</h4> + +<p>Mechanics and working-men will find the free school system encouraged by +the State, and endowed with a large revenue for the support of the +schools. Children can live in sight of the school, the college, the +church, and grow up with the prosperity of the leading State in the +Great Western Empire.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>PRICES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT—ON LONG CREDIT.</h4> + +<p> +80 acres at $10 per acre. with interest at<br /> +6 per ct. annually on the following terms:<br /> +</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Annual percentage rates"> +<tr><td>Cash payment</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td align='right'>$48.00</td></tr> +<tr><td>Payment</td><td>in</td><td>one</td><td>year</td><td align='right'>48.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>two</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>48.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>three</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>48.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>four</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>236.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>five</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>224.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>six</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>212.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>seven</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>206.00</td></tr> +</table> + + +<p>40 acres, at $10.00 per acre:<br /></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Annual percentage rates"> +<tr><td>Cash payment</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td align='right'>$24.00</td></tr> +<tr><td>Payment</td><td>in</td><td>one</td><td>year</td><td align='right'>24.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>two</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>24.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>three</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>24.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>four</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>118.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>five</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>112.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>six</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>106.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td>in</td><td>seven</td><td>years</td><td align='right'>100.00</td></tr> +</table> + +<h4>Commissioner. Illinois Central Railroad, Chicago, Ill.</h4> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483"></a></p> + +<h3>THE<br /> +<br /> +CONTINENTAL<br /> +<br /> +MONTHLY.</h3> + +<h4>DEVOTED TO</h4> + +<h3>Literature and National Policy.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>NOVEMBER, 1863.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>NEW YORK:</h4> + +<h4>JOHN F. TROW, 50 GREENE STREET</h4> + +<p class='center'>(FOR THE PROPRIETORS).</p> + +<p class='center'>HENRY DEXTER AND SINCLAIR TOUSEY.</p> + +<p class='center'>WASHINGTON, D.C.: FRANCK TAYLOR.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484"></a></p> +<h3><a name="CONTENTS_No_XXIII" id="CONTENTS_No_XXIII"></a>CONTENTS.—No. XXIII.</h3> + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS. No. XXIII."> +<tr><td>The Defence and Evacuation of Winchester. By Hon. F.P.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Stanton,</td><td align='right'>481</td></tr> +<tr><td>The Two Southern Mothers. By Isabella MacFarlane,</td><td align='right'>490</td></tr> +<tr><td>Diary of Frances Krasinska,</td><td align='right'>491</td></tr> +<tr><td>November. By E.W.C.</td><td align='right'>500</td></tr> +<tr><td>The Assizes of Jerusalem. By Prof. Andrew Ten Brook,</td><td align='right'>501</td></tr> +<tr><td>Letters to Professor S.F.B. Morse. By Rev. Dr. Henry,</td><td align='right'>514</td></tr> +<tr><td>Buckle, Draper, and the Law of Human Development. By</td><td align='right'> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Edward B. Freeland,</td><td align='right'>529</td></tr> +<tr><td>Treasure Trove,</td><td align='right'>545</td></tr> +<tr><td>Matter and Spirit. By Lieut. E. Phelps. With Reply of Hon.</td><td align='right'> </td></tr> +<tr><td>F.P. Stanton,</td><td align='right'>546</td></tr> +<tr><td>Extraterritoriality in China. By Dr. Macgowan,</td><td align='right'>556</td></tr> +<tr><td>Reason, Rhyme, and Rhythm. By Mrs. Martha W. Cook,</td><td align='right'>567</td></tr> +<tr><td>The Lions of Scotland. By W. Francis Williams,</td><td align='right'>584</td></tr> +<tr><td>We Two. By Clarence Butler,</td><td align='right'>591</td></tr> +<tr><td>Patriotism and Provincialism. By H. Clay Preuss,</td><td align='right'>592</td></tr> +<tr><td>Literary Notices,</td><td align='right'>594</td></tr> +<tr><td>Editor's Table,</td><td align='right'>598</td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p>'<span class="smcap">Edmund Kirke</span>,' author of 'Among the Pines.' &c., and until +recently one of the Editors of this Magazine, is prepared to accept a +limited number of invitations to Lecture before Literary Associations, +during the coming fall and winter, on 'The Southern Whites: Their Social +and Political Characteristics.' He can be addressed 'care of Continental +Monthly, New York.'</p> + +<p>All communications, whether concerning MSS. or on business, should be +addressed to</p> + +<p class="author"> +<b>JOHN F. TROW, Publisher</b>,<br /> +50 GREENE STREET, NEW YORK.<br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p>Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by <span class="smcap">John F. +Trow</span>, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United +States for the Southern District of New York.</p> + + +<p class="smcap center">John F Trow, Printer</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. +October, 1863, No. IV., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY *** + +***** This file should be named 16323-h.htm or 16323-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/2/16323/ + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Janet +Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/16323-h/images/farminglands.png b/16323-h/images/farminglands.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..83b62fc --- /dev/null +++ b/16323-h/images/farminglands.png diff --git a/16323-h/images/pointingfinger.png b/16323-h/images/pointingfinger.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f46f9d --- /dev/null +++ b/16323-h/images/pointingfinger.png diff --git a/16323.txt b/16323.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f4b6c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/16323.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8794 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. October, +1863, No. IV., 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: The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. October, 1863, No. IV. + Devoted to Literature and National Policy. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: July 18, 2005 [EBook #16323] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY *** + + + + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Janet +Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + +THE + +CONTINENTAL MONTHLY: + +DEVOTED TO + +LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY. + + + * * * * * + +VOL. IV.--OCTOBER, 1863.--No. IV. + + * * * * * + +CONTENTS + +THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. +THE BROTHERS. +UNUTTERED. +WILLIAM LILLY ASTROLOGER. +JEFFERSON DAVIS--REPUDIATION, RECOGNITION, AND SLAVERY. +DIARY OF FRANCES KRASINSKA. +MAIDEN'S DREAMING. +THIRTY DAYS WITH THE SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT. +REASON, RHYME, AND RHYTHM. +TO A MOUSE. +CURRENCY AND THE NATIONAL FINANCES. +OCTOBER AFTERNOON IN THE HIGHLANDS. +THE ISLE OF SPRINGS. + CHAPTER III. + CHAPTER IV. +THE RESTORATION OF THE UNION. +WAS HE SUCCESSFUL? + CHAPTER IX. + CHAPTER X. +AMERICAN FINANCES AND RESOURCES. +VOICELESS SINGERS. +A DETECTIVE'S STORY. +LITERARY NOTICES. +CONTENTS.--No. XXIII. + + + + +THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. + + +An important discussion has arisen since the commencement of the war, +bearing upon the interests of the American Press. The Government has +seen fit, at various times, through its authorities, civil and military, +to suppress the circulation and even the publication of journals which, +in its judgment, gave aid and comfort to the enemy, either by disloyal +publications in reference to our affairs, or by encouraging and +laudatory statements concerning the enemy. The various papers of the +country have severally censured or commended the course of the +Government in this matter, and the issue between the Press and the +Authorities has been regarded as of a sufficiently serious nature to +demand a convocation of editors to consider the subject; of which +convention Horace Greeley was chairman. A few remarks on the nature of +the liberty of the press and on its relations to the governing powers +will not, therefore, at this time, be inopportune. + +Men are apt, at times, in the excitement of political partisanship, to +forget that the freedom of the press is, like all other social liberty, +relative and not absolute; that it is not license to publish whatsoever +they please, but only that which is _within certain defined limits_ +prescribed by the people as the legitimate extent to which expression +through the public prints should be permitted; and that it is because +these limits are regulated by the whole people, for the whole people, +and not by the arbitrary caprice of a single individual or of an +aristocracy, that the press is denominated free. Let it be remembered, +then, as a starting point, that the press is amenable to the people; +that it is controlled and regulated by them, and indebted to them for +whatever measure of freedom it enjoys. + +The scope of this liberty is carefully defined by the statutes, as also +the method by which its transgression is to be punished. These +enactments minutely define the nature of an infringement of their +provisions, and point out the various methods of procedure in order to +redress private grievance or to punish public wrong, in such instances. +These statutes emanate from the people, are the expression of their +will, and in consonance with them the action of the executive +authorities must proceed, whenever the civil law is sufficient for the +execution of legal measures. + +But there comes a time, in the course of a nation's existence, when the +usual and regular methods of its life are interrupted; when peaceful +systems and civilized adaptations are forced to give place to the ruder +and more peremptory modes of procedure which belong to seasons of +hostile strife. The slow, methodical, oftentimes tedious contrivances of +ordinary law, admirably adapted for periods of national quietude, are +utterly inadequate to the stern and unforeseen contingencies of civil +war. Laws which are commonly sufficient to secure justice and afford +protection, are then comparatively powerless for such ends. The large +measure of liberty of speech and of the press safely accorded when there +is ample time to correct false doctrines and to redress grievances +through common methods, is incompatible with the rigorous promptitude, +energy, celerity, and unity of action necessary to the preservation of +national existence in times of rebellion. If an individual be suspected +of conspiring against his country, at such a time, to leave him at +liberty while the usual processes of law were being undertaken, would +perhaps give him opportunity for consummating his designs and delivering +the republic into the hands of its enemies. If a portion of the press +circulate information calculated to aid the foe in the defeat of the +national armies, to endeavor to prevent this evil by the slow routine of +civil law, might result in the destruction of the state. The fact that +we raise armies to secure obedience commonly enforced by the ordinary +civil officers is a virtual and actual acknowledgment that a new order +of things has arisen for which the usual methods are insufficient, civil +authority inadequate, and to contend with which powers must be exercised +not before in vogue. Codes of procedure arranged for an established and +harmoniously working Government cannot answer all the requirements of +that Government when it is repudiated by a large body of its subjects, +and the existence of the nation itself is in peril. + +It is evident, therefore, that at times the accustomed methods of Civil +government must, in deference to national safety, be laid aside, to some +extent, and the more vigorous adaptations of Military government +substituted in their stead. But it does not follow from this that +_arbitrary_ power is necessarily employed, or that such methods are not +strictly legal. There is a despotic Civil government and a despotic +Military government, a free Civil government and a free Military +government. The Civil government of Russia is despotic; so would its +Military government be if internal strife should demand that military +authority supersede the civil; the Civil government of the United States +is free, so must its Military government be in order to be sustained. + +But what is a free Military government? There is precisely the same +difference between a free and a despotic _military_ polity as between a +free and a despotic _civil_ polity. It is the essential nature of +_despotic_ rule that it recognizes the fountain head of all power to be +the ruler, and the people are held as the mere creatures of his +pleasure. It is the essence of _free_ government that it regards the +people as the source of all power, and the rulers as their agents, +possessing only such authority as is committed by the former into the +hands of the latter. It matters not, therefore, whether a ruler be +exercising the civil power in times of peaceful national life, or +whether, in times of rebellion, he wields the military authority +essential to security, he is alike, at either time, a despot or a +republican, accordingly as he exercises his power without regard to the +will of the people, or as he exercises such power only as the national +voice delegates to him. + +Wendell Phillips said in his oration before the Smithsonian Institute: +'Abraham Lincoln sits to-day the greatest despot this side of China.' +The mistake of Mr. Phillips was this: He confounded the method of +exercising power with the nature of the power exercised. It is the +latter which decides the question of despotism or of freedom. The +methods of the republican governor and of the despot may be, in times of +war _must_ be, for the most part, identical. But the one is, +nevertheless, as truly a republican as the other is a despot. Freedom of +speech, freedom of the press, the right of travel, the writ of _habeas +corpus_--these insignia of liberty in a people are dispensed with in +despotic Governments, because the ruler chooses to deprive the people of +their benefits, and for that reason only; they were suspended in our +Government because the national safety seemed to demand it, and because +the President, as the accredited executive of the wishes of the people, +fulfilled their clearly indicated will. In the former case it is lordly +authority overriding the necks of the people for personal pride or +power; in the latter, it is the ripe fruit of republican civilization, +which, in times of danger, can with safety and security overleap, for +the moment, the mere forms of law, in order to secure its beneficial +results. They seem to resemble each other; but are as wide apart as +irreligion and that highest religious life which, transcending all +external observances, seems to the mere religious formalist to be +identical with it. + +But how is the Executive to ascertain the behest of the people? In +accordance with the modes which they, as a part of their behest, +indicate. But as there are two methods of fulfilling the wishes of the +people, one adapted to the ordinary routine of peaceful times, and +another to the more summary necessities of war, so there are two +methods, calculated for these diverse national states, by which the +Government must discover the will of the people. The slow, deliberate +action of the ballot box and of the legislative body is amply +expeditious for the purposes of undisturbed and tranquil periods. But in +times of rebellion or invasion, the waiting and delay which are often +essential to the prosecution of forms prescribed for undisturbed epochs +are, as has been said, simply impossible. War is a period in which +methods and procedures are required diametrically opposite to those +which are so fruitful of good in days of peace. The lawbreaker who comes +with an army at his back cannot be served with a sheriff's warrant, nor +arrested by a constable. War involves unforeseen emergencies, to meet +which there is no time for calling Congress together, or taking the +sense of the populace by a ballot. It is full of attempted surprises, +which must be guarded against on the instant, and of dangers which must +be quickly avoided, but for whose guardance or avoidance the statutes +make no provision. Hence arises a necessity for a mode of ascertaining +the will of the people other than the slow medium of formal legislation +or of balloting. + +The Government of the United States is the servant of its people. It was +ordained to insure for _them_ 'domestic tranquillity, provide for the +common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of +liberty to' themselves and their posterity. Its laws and statutes are +but the forms by which the people attempt to secure these things. But +the people are sovereign, even over their laws. As they have instituted +them _for their own good_, so may they dispense with them for their own +good, whenever the national safety requires this. As they have +established certain modes of lawful procedure _for their own security_, +so may they adopt other modes when their safety demands it. Their laws +and their codes of procedure are for their _uses_, not for their +destruction. 'When a sister State is endangered, red tape must be cut,' +said Governor Seymour, when it was telegraphed to him that some delaying +forms must be gone through in order to arm and send off our State +troops who were ordered to the defence of Harrisburg; and all the people +said, Amen! The people of the United States inaugurated a government, +whose forms of law were admirably suited to times of peace, but have +been found inadequate to seasons of intestine strife. They have, as we +have seen, superadded, in some degree, other methods of action, +indorsing and adopting those to which the Executive was compelled to +resort as better adapted to changed conditions. They have not done this +in accordance with prescribed forms, in all instances, because the forms +of _civil_ government do not provide for a condition of society in which +civil authority is virtually abrogated, to a greater or less extent, for +military authority. + +In the same way and by virtue of the same sovereignty, the people of the +United States may lay aside the common method of indicating their +pleasure to the Executive, and substitute one more in consonance with +the requirements of the times. They may make known that they _do_ lay +aside an established mode, either by a formal notice or by a general +tacit understanding, as the exigencies of the case require. They may +recognize the right, aye, the _duty_ of the Executive to act in +accordance with other methods than those prescribed for ordinary +seasons, in cases where the national security demands this. + +But this is not an abandonment of the methods and forms of law! This is +not the establishment of an _arbitrary_ government! This is not passing +from freedom to despotism! The _people_ of this country are sovereign, +let it be repeated. So long as its Government is conducted as its people +or as the majority of them wish, it is conducted in accordance with its +established principle. There were no freedom if the vital spirit of +liberty were to be held in bondage to the dead forms of powerless or +obsolete prescriptions in the very crisis of the nation's death +struggle! Freedom means freedom to act, in all cases and under all +circumstances, so as to secure the highest individual and national +well-being. It does _not_ mean freedom to establish certain codes of +procedure under certain regulations, and to be forever bound under these +when the preservation of liberty itself demands their temporary +abeyance. So long as the Government fulfils the wishes of the people, it +is not arbitrary, it is not despotic, no matter what methods an +emergency may require it to adopt for this purpose, or in what manner it +ascertains these wishes; provided always that the methods adopted and +the modes of ascertainment are also in accordance with the people's +desires. + +But how is the Executive to discover the will of the people if he does +not wait for its formal expression? How is he to be sure that he does +not outrun their desires? How is he to be checked and punished, should +he do so? Precisely the same law must apply here as has been indicated +to be the true one in reference to the fulfilment of the people's +behest. Fixed, definite, precise, formal expressions of popular will, +when time is wanting for these, must be replaced by those which are more +quickly ascertained and less systematically expressed. The Executive +must forecast the general desire and forestall its commands, regarding +the tacit acceptance of the people or their _informal_ laws, such as +resolutions, conventions, and various modes of expressing popular accord +or dissent, as indications of the course which they approve. Nor is this +an anomaly in our legal system. The citizen ordinarily is not at liberty +to take the law into his own hands; he must appeal to the constituted +authorities, and through the machinery of a law court obtain his redress +or protection. But there are times when contingencies arise in which +more wrong would be done by such delay than by a summary process +transcending the customary law. The man who sees a child, a woman, or +even an animal treated with cruelty, does not wait to secure protection +for the injured party by the common methods of legal procedure, but, on +the instant, prevents, with blows if need be, the outrage. He oversteps +the forms of law to secure the ends of law, and rests in the +consciousness that the law itself will accept his action. When the case +is more desperate, his usurpation of power generally prohibited to him +is still greater, up to that last extremity in which he deliberately +takes the whole law into his own hands, and, acting as accuser, witness, +judge, executioner, slays the individual who assaults him with deadly +weapons or with hostile intent. + +In this case now stands the nation. Along her borders flashes the steel +of hostile armies, their cannon thunder almost in hearing of our +capitol, their horses but recently trampled the soil of neighboring +States. A deadly enemy is trying to get its gripe upon the republic's +throat and its knife into her heart. The nation must act as an +individual would under similar circumstances; and the nation must act +through its Executive. If one person, attacked by another, should snatch +from the hands of a passer his cane, in order to defend his life; if, in +his struggles with his assailant, he should strike a second through +misconception, how immeasurably ridiculous would be the action of these +individuals, should they, while the death struggle were still raging, +berate the man, one for breaking the law by taking away his cane, and +the other for breaking the law by the commission of a battery! Every man +feels instinctively that in such a crisis all weapons of defence are at +his disposal, and that he takes them, _not_ in violation of law, but in +obedience to the law of extraordinary contingencies, which every +community adopts, but which no community can inscribe upon its statute +book, _because it is_ the law of contingencies. + +The Executive of this, as of every country, resorts to this law when, in +the nature of things, the statute law is inadequate. In doing this, he +does not violate law; he only adopts another kind of law. A subtle, +delicate law, indeed, which can neither be inscribed among the +enactments, nor exactly defined, circumscribed, or expressed. When it is +to be substituted for the ordinary modes of legal procedure, how far it +is to be used, when its use must cease--these are questions which the +people, as the sole final arbiters, must decide. As the individual in +society must judge wisely when the community will sanction his use of +the contingent law, the law of private military power, so to speak, in +his own behalf; so must the Executive judge when the urgency of the +national defence demands the exercise of the summary power in the place +of more technical methods. If the public sentiment of the community +sustain the individual, it is an indorsement that he acted justifiably +in accordance with this exceptional law; if it do not, he is liable for +an unwarranted usurpation of power. The Executive stands in the same +relation to the nation. The Mohammedans relate that the road to heaven +is two miles long, stretching over a fathomless abyss, the only pathway +across which is narrower than a razor's edge. Delicately balanced must +be the body which goes over in safety! The intangible path which the +Executive must walk to meet the people's wishes on the one side, and to +avoid their fears upon the other, in the national peril, is narrower +than the Mahommedan's road to heaven, and cautiously bold must be the +feet that safely tread it! Blessed shall that man be who succeeds in +crossing. The nations shall rise up and call him blessed, and succeeding +generations shall praise him. + +We come then to the relations of the press and the Executive. We have +seen that all liberty is _relative_, and not _absolute_; that the +people, the sovereigns in this country, have prescribed certain methods +for securing, in ordinary periods, those blessings which it is their +desire to enjoy; that when, under special contingencies, these methods +become insufficient for this purpose, the people may, in virtue of their +sovereignty, suspend them and adopt others adequate to the occasion; +that these may not, indeed, from their very nature, cannot be of a fixed +and circumscribed kind, but must give large discretionary power into the +hands of the Executive, to be used by him in a summary manner as +contingencies may indicate; that this abrogation or suspension, for the +time, of so much of the ordinary civil law, in favor of the contingent +law, is not an abandonment of free government for arbitary or despotic +government, because it is still in accordance with the will of the +people, and hence is merely the substitution of a new form of law, +which, being required for occasions when instant action is demanded, is +necessarily summary in its character; that the extent to which this law +is to be substituted for the ordinary one is to be discovered by the +Executive from the general sense of the nation, when it cannot be made +known through the common method of the ballot box and the legislature; +that in the people resides the power ultimately to determine whether +their wishes have been correctly interpreted or not; and, finally, that +the Executive is equally responsible for coming short of the behests of +the nation in the use of the contingent law or for transgressing the +boundaries within which they desire him to constrain his actions. + +The press of the United States has always been free to the extent that +it might publish whatsoever it listed, _within certain limits prescribed +by the law_. The press may still do this. But the nature of the law +which prescribes the limits has changed with the times. The constituted +authorities of the people of the United States are obliged now, in the +people's interest, to employ the processes of summary rather than those +of routine law. Hence when the press infringes too violently the +boundaries indicated, and persists in so doing, the sterner penalty +demanded by the dangers of the hour is enforced by the sterner method +likewise rendered necessary. So long as Executive action concerning the +press shall be _in accordance_ with the general sentiment of the people, +it will be within the strict scope of the highest law of the land. +Should the Executive persistently exercise this summary law in a manner +not countenanced by the nation, he is amenable to it under the strict +letter of the Constitution for high crimes or misdemeanors, not the +least of which would be the usurpation of powers not delegated to him by +the people. + +The Executive of the United States occupies at this time an exceedingly +trying and dangerous position, which demands for him the cordial, +patient, and delicate consideration of the American nation. He is placed +in a situation where the very existence of the republic requires that he +use powers not technically delegated to him, and in which the people +expect, yea, demand him, to adopt methods transcending the strict letter +of statute law, the use of which powers and the adoption of which +methods would be denounced as the worst of crimes, even made the basis +of an impeachment, should the mass of the populace be dissatisfied with +his proceedings. It is easy to find fault, easy in positions devoid of +public responsibility to think we see how errors might have been +avoided, how powers might have been more successfully employed and +greater results achieved. But the American Executive is surrounded with +difficulties too little appreciated by the public, while an almost +merciless criticism, emanating both from injudicious friends and +vigilant foes, follows his every action. Criticism should not be +relaxed; but it should be exercised by those only who are competent to +undertake its office. The perusal of the morning paper does not +ordinarily put us in possession of sufficient information to enable us +to understand, in all their bearings, the measures of the Government. +Something more is required than a reading of the accounts of battles +furnished by the correspondents of the press to entitle one to express +an opinion on military movements. It should not be forgotten that the +officers engaged in the army of the United States are better judges of +military affairs than civilians at home; that the proceedings of the +Government, with rare exceptions, possibly, are based upon a fuller +knowledge of all the facts relating to a special case, than is obtained +by private persons, and that its judgment is therefore more likely to be +correct, in any given instance, than our own. The injury done to the +national cause by the persistent animadversion of well-intentioned men, +who cannot conceive that their judgments may perchance be incorrect, is +scarcely less, than the openly hostile invective of the friends of the +South. The intelligent citizens of the North, especially those who +occupy prominent positions as teachers and instructors of the people +through the press, the pulpit, and other avenues, should ever be mindful +that the _political_ liberty which they possess of free thought and free +speech, has imposed upon them the moral duty of using this wisely for +the welfare of humanity, and that they cannot be faithless to this +obligation without injuring their fellow men and incurring a heavy moral +guilt. + + + + +THE BROTHERS. + +AN ALLEGORY. + +DEDICATION, TO ONE WHO WILL UNDERSTAND IT: + + + 'I love thee freely, as men strive for right; + I love thee purely, us they turn from praise + I love thee with the passion put to use + In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith; + I love thee with a love I seemed to lose + With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath, + Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose, + I shall but love thee dearer after death.' + + +The Creator still loved and guarded the earth, although its children had +departed from their early obedience. In evidence of His care, He sent, +from time to time, gifted spirits among men to aid them in developing +and elevating the souls so fallen from their primal innocence. These +spirits He clad in sensuous bodies, that they might be prepared to enter +the far country of Human Life. Earth was rapidly falling under the +merciless rule of a hopeless and crushing materialism, when He +determined upon sending among men, Anselm, the saint; Angelo, the tone +artist; Zophiel, the poet; and Jemschid, the painter. The spirits +murmured not, although they knew they were to relinquish their heaven +life for that torment of perpetual struggle which the forbidden +knowledge of Good and Evil has entailed upon all incarcerated in a human +form. + + _For self-abnegation is the law of heaven!_ + + * * * * * + +'Brothers,' said the merciful Father, 'go, and sin not, for of all +things that pass among men must a strict account be rendered. For are +not their evil deeds written upon the eternally living memory of a just +God? Evil lurks in the land of your exile; it may find its way into your +own hearts, for you are to become wholly human, and to lose for a time +the memory of your home in heaven. But even in that far country you will +find the Book of Life, which I have given for the guidance and +consolation of the fallen. For it is known even there that 'God is +Love!'' + + * * * * * + +Then the journey of the Heaven Brothers began through the blinding +clouds and trailing mists of chaos, in whose palpable gloom all memories +are obliterated. Naked, trembling, and human, they arrived upon the +shifting sands of the world of Time and Death. + +A vague, shadowy sense, like a forgotten dream which we struggle vainly +to recall, often flitted through their clay-clogged souls, of a +strangely glorious life in some higher sphere; but all attempts to give +definite form to such bewildering visions ended but in fantastic +reveries of mystic possibilities or dim yearnings of unseen glories. +They found the Book of Life, but they remembered not that the Father had +told them the Word was His. + +For the thread of _Identity_, on which are strung the pearls of +_Memory_, in the passage through chaos had snapped in twain! + + * * * * * + +Like the silver light through the storm clouds flitting over the fair +face of the moon, gleam the antenatal splendors through the gloom of the +earth life. + +As Anselm wonderingly turned the pages of the Book of Life, strange +memories awoke within him. So inextricably were the dreams of his past +woven with the burning visions of the Prophets, that the darkness of +Revelation, like the heaven vault at midnight, was illumined by the +light of distant worlds; his own vague reminiscences supplying the inner +sense of the inspired but mystic leaves. What wonder that he loved the +Book, when in its descriptions of the life to _come_, he felt the +history of the life already _past_; and through its sternest +threatenings, like the rainbow girdling storm clouds, shone the promise +of a blessed future! + +He spent the hours of exile in a constant effort to commune with the +Father; in humble prayer and supplication for strength to resist the +power of sin. For he feared the Evil which lurked in the land. He +examined the springs of his own actions, analyzed his motives, and +tortured himself lest any of the evils denounced in the Book should lurk +in the folds of his own soul. In contemplating the awful justice of the +Father, he sometimes forgot that He is Love. He feared close commune +with the children of the earth, for Evil dwelt among them; he looked not +into the winecup, nor danced with the maidens under the caressing +tendrils of the vine or the luxuriant branches of the myrtle--nay, the +rose cheek of the maiden was a terror to him, for lo! Evil might lurk +under its brilliant bloom. The Dread of Evil sapped the Joy of Life! + +He turned from all the lovely Present, to catch faint traces of the dim +Past, to picture the unseen Future, about which it is vain to disquiet +ourselves, since, like everything else, it rests upon the heart of God! +His life was holy, innocent, and self-sacrificing. He sought to serve +his fellow men, yet feared to give them his heart, lest he should rob +the Father of His just due. He knew not from his own experience that +Love is infinite, and grows on what it gives. He bore religious +consolation to the afflicted, aid to the needy, sympathy to the +suffering. He was universally esteemed, but the spirit of his brethren +broke not into joy at his approach, for the _trusting_ heart of genial +humanity throbbed not in his sad breast. He was no Pharisee, but he +dined not with the Publican, and the precious ointment of the Magdalen +never bathed his weary head. His language was: 'All is fleeting and +evil, save Thee, O my Father; in Thee alone can rest be found!' + +Solace for human anguish can only be found upon the heart of love. 'Thou +shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with +all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself!' Blessed Son of Mary! Thou +alone hast fully kept these _two_ commandments! + +'For wisdom is justified of her children!' + + * * * * * + +Angelo, Zophiel, and Jemschid also resolved to avoid the Evil spoken of +in the Book of Life. But the far country into which the Father had sent +them was lovely in their eyes, and they were charmed with the Beauty +with which He had surrounded them. They dreamed by the shady fountains, +with their silver flow and gentle ripples; roamed by the darker rivers +as they hurry on to plunge themselves into the sea; gazed on the +restless ocean breakers when the dying sun fringes their crest with +rainbow hues, and the flushing sky, to cool her burning blushes, flings +herself into the heart of the restless waters. They loved to breathe the +'difficult air' of mountain tops, so softly pillowed and curtained by +the fleecy vapors, which they win again from heaven in limpid streams, +leading them in wild leaps through gloomy chasms fringed by timid +harebells, whose soft blue eyes look love upon the rocks, while the +myriad forest leaves musically murmur above their flinty couch. They +watched the fitful shadow-dance of clouds over the green earth. They +loved to see these heaven tents where Beauty dwells chased by the young +zephyrs, or, driven on in heavy masses by the bolder winds, blush under +the fiery glances of the sun, and melt into the sky upon his nearer +approach. Ah! these clouds and vapors had more than human tenderness, +for had they not seen them throng around the ghastly disc of the +star-deserted moon, weaving their light webs into flowing veils to +shadow the majestic sorrow written upon her melancholy but lovely face, +shielding the mystic pallor of the virgin brow from the desecrating gaze +of the profane? + +The three brothers were happy upon earth, for they looked into the heart +of their fellow mortals, and felt the genial feeling beating there; and +so luxuriantly twined its vivid green around, that the evil core was +hidden from their charmed eyes, and they ceased not to bless the Father +for a gift so divine as Human Love! They could not weep and pray the +long night through, as did the saintly Anselm, for their eyes were +fastened upon the wildering lustre of the thronging stars as they wove +their magic rings through the dim abysses of distant space, yet the +incense of constant praise rose from their happy souls to the +Beauty-giving Father. + +They struggled to awake the sleeping powers of men to a perception of +the glories of creation; to lead them 'through nature up to nature's +God.' The Artist-Brothers were closely united in feeling, striving +through different mediums to refine the soul of man. + +For the spirit of Beauty always awakens the spirit of Love, sent by God +to elevate and consecrate the heart of man! + + * * * * * + +Of a more subtle genius and more daring spirit than Zophiel or Jemschid, +Angelo boldly launched into the bewildering chaos of the realm of +sound. As yet the laws of the Acoustic Prism were unknown; the +seven-ranged ladder was all unformed, and without its aid it seemed +impossible to scale the ever-renewing heights, to sound the ever-growing +depths of this enchanted kingdom. But Angelo was a bold adventurer. +Haunted by the heaven sounds, vague memories of his antenatal existence, +although he had entirely lost the _meaning_ of their flow, as one may +recall snatches of the melody of a song when he cannot remember one of +its words--he commenced his subtle task. He resolved the Acoustic Prism; +he built the seven-runged ladder; he charmed the wandering Tones, and +bound them in the holy laws of Rhythm. Divining the hidden secrets of +their affiliations, relations, loves, and hates, he wrought them into +gorgeous webs of harmonics, to clothe the tender but fiery soul of +ever-living melodies. Soothing their jarring dissonances into sweet +accord, he filled their pining wails with that 'divine sorrow,' that +mystic longing for the Infinite, which is the inner voice of every +created heart. If he could not find the _heaven sense_ of the tones, he +found their _earthly meaning_, and caused them to repeat or suggest +every joy and sorrow of which our nature is capable. He forced the +heaven tongue to become _human_, while it retained its _divine_. Without +a model or external archetype, he formed his realm and divined its +changing limits; wide enough to contain all that is noble, holy enough +to exclude all that is low or profane. He forever exorcised the spirits +of Evil--the strong Demons of materialism--from his rhythmed world. +Flinging his spells on the unseen air, he forced it to breathe his +passion, his sighs; he saddened it with his tears, kindled it with his +rapture, until fired and charged with the electric breath of the soul, +it glowed into an atmosphere of Life, swaying at will the wild and +restless heart. He created _Music, the only universal language_, holding +the keys of Memory, and wearing the crown of Hope. Angelo, strange +architect in that dim domain of chaos, thy creation, fleeting, +invisible, and unembodied, is in perpetual, flow; changeful as the play +of clouds, yet stable as the eternal laws by which they form their misty +towers, their glittering fanes, and foam-crested pinnacles! Trackless as +the wind, yet as powerful, thy sweet spirit, Music, floats wherever +beats the human heart, for Rhythm rocks the core of life. Music nerves +the soul with strength or dissolves it in love; she idealizes Pain into +soul-touching Beauty; assuming all garbs, robing herself in all modes, +and moving at ease through every phase of our complicated existence. +White and glittering are her robes, yet she is no aristocrat. She +disdains not to soothe the weary negro in his chains, or to rock the +cradle of the child of shame, as the betrayed and forsaken girl murmurs +broken-hearted lullabies around the young 'inheritor of pain.' She is +with the maiden in the graceful mazes of the gay Mazourka; she inflames +the savage in the barbaric clang of the fierce war-dance; or marks the +measured tramp of the drilled soldiery of civilization. She is in the +court of kings; she makes eloquent the ripe lip of the cultured beauty; +she chants in the dreary cell of the hermit; she lightens the dusty +wallet of the wanderer. She glitters through the dreams of the Poet; she +breathes through the direst tragedies of noblest souls. On--on she +floats through the wide world, everywhere present, everywhere welcome, +refining, and consecrating our dull life from the Baptismal Font to the +Grave! + +All the inner processes of life are guarded by the hand of nature. In +vain would the curiosity of the scalpel knife invade the sanctuary of +the beating heart to lay open the burning mystery of Being. The outraged +Life retreats before it to its last citadel, and the indignant heart, +upon its entrance, refuses to throb more. The citadel is taken; but the +secret of _Life_ is not to be discovered in the kingdom of _Death_. It +is because Music is essentially a _living_ art that we find it +impossible to read the mystery of its being. If Painting touch us, we +can always trace the emotion to its exciting cause; if we weep over the +pages of the Poet, it is because we find our own blighted hopes imaged +there. But why does Music sway us? Where did we learn that language +without words? in what consists its mystic affinities with our spirits? +Why does the harp of David soothe the insanity of Saul? Is not its +festal voice too triumphant to be the accompaniment of our own sad, +fallen being; its breath of sorrow too divine to be the echo of our +petty cares? All other arts arise from the facts of our earthly +existence, but Music has no external archetype, and refuses to submit +her ethereal soul to our curious analysis. _'I am so, because so I am,'_ +is the only answer she gives to the queries of materialism. Like the +primitive rock, the skeleton of earth's burning heart, she looms up +through the base of our existence. Addressing herself to some mystic +faculty born before thought or language, she lulls the suffering baby +into its first sleep, using perhaps the primeval and universal language +of the race. For the love which receives the New Born, cadences the +monotonous chant; and human sympathies are felt by the innocent and +confiding infant before his eyes are opened fully upon the light, before +his tongue can syllable a word, his ear detect their divisions, or his +mind divine their significations. But Music looms not only through the +base of our being; like the encompassing sky, her arch spans our +horizon. Lo! is it not the language through which the Angels convey the +secrets of their profound adoration to the Heart of God! + +'Having every one of them harps'--'and they _sung_ a new song'--in which +are to join 'every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and +under the earth, and such as are in the sea'--'and the number of them +was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.' +(Revelation, chap, v.) + + * * * * * + +While Angelo linked the fiery tones in rhythmed laws, Zophiel sketched +with glowing pen the joys of virtue, the glories of the intellect, and +the pleasures, pains, raptures, woes, and loves of the heart. The deeds +of heroes were sung in Epic; Dramas, Elegies, and Lyrics syllabled the +inner life; men listened to the ennobling strains, and became _freemen_ +as they heard. The intermingling flow of high thought and melodious +measures elevated and soothed the soul, and love for, and faith in, +humanity, were awakened and nourished by the true Poet. + +Jemschid wrought with brush and pencil, until the canvas imaged his +loved skies and mountains, glowed with the noble deeds of men, and +pictured that spiritual force which strangely characterizes and mingles +with the ethereal grace of woman's fragile form. + +Through the artists, life grew into loveliness, for all was idealized, +and the scattered and hidden beauties of the universe were brought to +light. The plan of creation is far too vast to be embraced in its +complex unity by the finite: it is the province of art to divide, +condense, concentrate, reunite, and rearrange the vast materials in +smaller frames, but the new work must always be a _whole_. Angelo +aroused and excited the emotions of the soul, which Zophiel analyzed and +described in words most eloquent; while Jemschid made clearer to his +brethren that Beauty of creation which is an ever visible proof of the +love of God. His portraits illumined the walls of the bereaved, keeping +fresh for them the images of the loved and lost. Historical pictures +enlarged the mind of his people, keeping before it the high deeds of its +children and stimulating to noble prowess. His landscapes warmed the +dingy city homes, bringing even there the blue sky, the clouds, the +streams, the forests, the mountains, moss, and flowers. + +Men became happier and better, for the Brothers, in showing the +_universal Beauty_, awakened the _universal Love_. + +For the true essence of man, made in the image of God, is also Love! + + * * * * * + +The artists turned not from the rose-cheek of the maiden, nor refused +the touch of the ruby lip; but they loved her too well to sully by one +wronging thought the tender confidence of perfect innocence, or cause +her guileless heart a single pang. For womanhood was holy in their +sight! + +Among earth's purest maidens shone a fair Lily, whose virgin leaves had +all grown toward the sky; whose cup of snow had never been filled save +by the dews of heaven; whose tall circlet of golden stamens seemed more +like altar lamps arranged to light a sanctuary, than meant to warm and +brighten the heart of human love. But the devotion of a noble heart is a +holy thing; Genius is full of magic power, and the maiden did not always +remain insensible to the love of Angelo, for he was spiritually +beautiful, and when he moved in the world of his own creation, his face +shone as it were the face of an angel. In ethereal 'fantasies' and +divine 'adagios,' he won the Lily to rest its snowy cup upon his manly +heart. He soothed the earth cares with the heaven tones and beautified +the bitter realities of life by transfiguring them into passionate +longings for the Perfect. Bathed in Music's heavenly dew, and warmed by +the fire of a young heart, the snow petals of the Lily multiplied, the +bud slowly oped, and allowed the perfumed heart to exhale its blessed +odor; and as Love threw his glowing light upon the leaves, they blushed +beneath his glance of fire--and thus the pale flower grew into a +fragrant Rose, around which one faithful Bulbul ever sang. Sheltered in +the close folds of the perfumed leaves, what chill could reach the heart +of Angelo? His Rose cradled his genius in her heart, while he poured for +her the golden flow of the tones, coloring them with the hues of Love, +and filling them with the joys of Purity and Peace. Alike in their +susceptibility to tenderness and beauty are the woman and the artist; +and she who would find full sympathy and comprehension must seek it in +his heart! + +Time passed on with Anselm, the Saint; Angelo, the Musician; Zophiel, +the Poet; Jemschid, the Painter. But the _artists_ grew not old, for +Beauty keeps green the heart of her worshippers; and Art, immortal +though she be, is indigenous, and, happy in her natal soil, exhausts not +the heart of her children. Anselm, however, seemed already old, with his +pure heart sick--sick for the Evil possessing the earth. Alas! holiness +is an exotic here, soon exhausting the soil of clay in which it pines, +and ever sighing to win its transplantation to its native clime. + + 'The Lethe of Nature + Can't trance him again, + Whose soul sees the Perfect + His eyes seek in vain.' + + * * * * * + +It was midnight, and Anselm, worn with fasts and pale with vigils, knelt +at his devotions in his lonely cell. Lo! a majestic form of fearful but +perfect beauty stood beside him. The Angel was clad in linen, white as +snow, and his voice startled the soul like the sound of the last +trumpet. + +'Gird up thy loins like a man, for the darksome doors of Death stand +open before thee, and this night thy Lord requires thy spirit!' said the +mighty messenger. + +Anselm trembled. He feared to stand before the All-seeing Eye, whose +dread majesty subdued his soul. + +'Behold! He putteth no trust in His saints, and the heavens are not +pure in His sight,' he murmured. But he hesitated not to obey, and +giving his hand to the Angel, said: + +'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!' + +His earnest lips still thrilling with a prayer for mercy, together they +departed 'for that bourne from which no traveller returns.' Between the +imperfections of the created and the perfections of the Creator, what +can fill the infinite abyss? Infinite Love alone! + + * * * * * + +The artist-brothers had never separated. Music, Poetry, and Painting +spring from the triune existence of man, represent his life in its +triune being, and thus move harmoniously together. + +They had made their home the happiest spot on earth. + +It was evening, and the Poet seemed lost in revery as he gazed on the +dying light. His hand rested tenderly on the shoulder of a dark but +brilliant woman, who loved him with the strength of a fervid soul. + +'Sibyl,' said he softly to his young wife, 'were I now to leave thee, +how many of my lines would remain written on thy heart?' + +'All! they are all graven there,' replied the enthusiast, 'for the +glowing words of a pure poet are the true echoes of a woman's soul!' + +The Painter sat near them, putting the last touches upon a picture of a +Virgin and Child, which he was striving so to finish that his brethren +might be able to grasp more fully that sweet scene of human love and +God's strange mercy. + +Tender were the shadows that fell from the veiling lashes on the rounded +cheek of his fair model; lustrous, yet soft and meek, the light from the +maiden's eye as she gazed upon the beautiful infant resting on her +bosom. The name of the child was Jemschid, and there was in that name a +charm sufficient to awaken her innocent love. + +She was the betrothed of the Painter. + +'Imogen!' said he to the fair model, 'I know not why the thought rushes +so sadly over me, but I feel I shall never finish this picture. The +traits escape me--I cannot find them.' + +'Never finish the beautiful Madonna, to which you have given so much +time, and on which you have expended so much care!' Then with a sudden +change of tone, in which astonishment darkened into fear, she exclaimed: +'Are you ill, Jemschid? You have already worked too long upon it. You +will destroy your health; you need rest.' + +'Nay, sweet Imogen, not so; I am well, quite well, and too happy for +words. But I cannot finish the picture. I have lost the expression for +the face of the Madonna. Six months ago, when I began it, your face was +so meek and tranquil it served me well, but now, even with its present +air of meek entreaty, it is too passionate for the mother of God. It is +far dearer thus to me, Imogen--but I can never finish the painting +now--and only an angel can, for your young face is fairer and purer than +aught else on earth.' + +Again fell the heavy lashes, half veiling the innocent love in the timid +eyes, as the Painter parted the massive braids from the spotless brow, +and softly kissed the snowy forehead of his betrothed. + +The harp of Angelo quivered, as the sun set behind the crimson clouds, +under his nervous touch. Some sadness seemed to weigh upon his buoyant +spirit too, in this eventful eve. His music always pictured the depths +of his own soul, and he forced the heaven tones to wail the human +Miserere. But the Beauty into which the sorrow was transfigured gave +promise that it would end in the triumphant chorus of the 'Hosanna in +Excelsis.' For music gives the absolute peace in the absolute conflict; +the absolute conflict to terminate in the absolute peace. + +Fair as the Angel of Hope, the Rose listened with her heart. Her +childlike, deep blue eyes were raised to heaven, while her long golden +curls, lighting rather than shading her pale brow, like the halos of dim +glory which the light vapors wreathe round the moon, mingled with the +darker flow of wavy hair falling upon the shoulder of the harpist, on +which she leaned as if to catch the flying sounds as they soared from +the heart of the loved one. + +'Thy song is very sad,' said the Rose, as her eyes rested tenderly upon +the inspired face. 'Is there no Gloria to-night, Angelo?' + +'I cannot sing it now, sweet Rosalie! The Hosanna is for heaven; not for +a world in which Love is, and Death may enter. If I am to lose thee, my +soul must chant the Miserere. Ah! that thought unmans me. I cannot part +from thee, sweet wife. Cling closer, closer to me, Rosalie. There! Death +must be strong to untwine that clasp! But he alone is strong--and +Love'-- + +'Love is stronger far!' cried the startled Rose, as she buried her face +in the bosom of her husband, to hide the unwonted tears which dimmed her +trustful eyes. + +'Parting! there is no parting for those whom God has joined. His ties +are for eternity. The Merciful parts not those whom He has made for each +other. Even if we must chant the Miserere here, together will we chant +the Gloria before the throne of our Creator. Ah, Angelo, do you not feel +that but _one_ life throbs in our _two_ hearts? Parting and Death are +only seeming!' + +Thus sped time on until midnight was upon the earth. The little group +were still together; mystic thoughts and previsions were upon them. +Zophiel read at intervals weird passages from the Book of Life; Jemschid +touched, now and then, the face of the Madonna, and some unwonted spirit +of sorrow brooded over the harp of Angelo. + +'Rosalie! once more the Miserere ere we sleep,' said he. Scarcely had he +commenced the solemn chant, when, suddenly resting his hand on the +chords, he cried: 'Hark! brothers. It is the voice of Anselm--he calls +he calls us--but I hear not what he says. Listen!' + +Lo! a Shining One from the court of the Great King suddenly stands among +them. His gossamer robes seemed woven of the deep blue of the fields of +space through which he had just passed, and the stars were glittering +through the graceful folds bound with rare devices, wrought from the +jasper, onyx, and chrysoprase of the heavenly city. + +'Brothers!' said the sweet voice of the beautiful vision, 'the term of +exile is past; the Father has sent me to recall His children.' + +But the heart of the artists sank, for the human love was strong in +their bosoms. + +Jemschid gazed upon the betrothed bride; the unfinished picture; and +tears rushed into his sad eyes. + +The Angel was touched with pity for the double grief of artist and +lover, and said: + +'Gaze not so sorrowfully upon the unwedded maiden; the unfinished +picture! She shall yet be thine-and the picture shall be dear to thy +fellow men. Lo! I am Rubi, the angel of Beauty!' + +Then, taking the brush in his glittering hands, with rapid touch he gave +the lovely face an expression of tender innocence, of virgin purity, of +maternal love and adoration, which will never cease to thrill the heart +of the faithful. + +'It is the Mother of our Lord!' said the astonished brothers, as they +gazed upon the finished work. + +'Zophiel!' continued the pitying angel, 'the lips of Sibyl shall repeat +thy songs, for they are all graven upon her heart! But you are now to +chant in heaven, and the canticle is to be for His praise who made all; +and when you exalt Him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; +for you can never go far enough! + +'Angelo! the Hosanna is for heaven. The Rose lingers not here to chant +alone the Miserere.' + +Alas! the wild human dread and sorrow overpowered all else in the +breasts of the brothers as they gazed upon the women of their love. A +strange smile played over the heavenly face of the Angel as he murmured: +_'Are they not safe in the bosom of the everlasting Love?'_ + + * * * * * + +Slowly through the Valley of the Shadow--and then more rapid than the +flight of thought, moved the brothers, on--on--through myriads upon +myriads of blazing suns, of starry universes; on--on--until they reached +the limits of space, the boundary of material worlds. The angels left +them as they entered the primeval night of chaos, the shoreless ocean +between the sensuous and spiritual life. For alone with God through +chaos do we arrive at the sensuous body; alone with God in chaos do we +leave this body of corruption, from which is evolved the Body of the +Spirit, 'glorious and unchangeable.' And again is clasped the thread of +_Identity,_ on which are strung the pearls of memory, and the Past and +Future of Time become the Eternal Present! + + * * * * * + +Clothed in immortal vesture, the brothers now stand before that Great +White Throne, which has no shadow, but is built of Light inaccessible, +and full of Glory. + +Summoned by the Holy Lawgiver, the meek Anselm knelt before Him, blinded +with splendor, dazzled with fathomless majesty. + +'Behold thy creature before thee for judgment, O Thou in whose sight the +angels are not pure! We are born to evil, and who may endure thy +justice? Look not into my weak and sinful heart, O God, but upon the +face of Thy Anointed, in whom is all my trust! Have mercy upon me!' + +Tears of mingled gratitude and penitence welled up, as in the days of +exile, from his self-accusing breast. + +Wonderful condescension the Father Himself wiped them from the downcast +eyes! + +And the Saviour of men clothed him in a garment of fine linen, white and +pure, and 'to him was given the hidden manna, and a white stone, and in +the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth +it.' + +Then the words over whose mystic meaning he had so often pondered, came, +like the sound of many waters, upon his ear: + +'And he that shall overcome, and keep my works unto the end, to him I +will give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of +iron, and as the vessel of a potter they shall be broken. + +'And I will give him the morning star.' + +Thus the humble and self-abnegating Anselm, who had kept the +commandments and loved his Maker, passed in glory to the Saints of +Power. The morn of the Eternal Present dawned upon him, and the sublime +'_vision in God_' was open before him. + + * * * * * + +Then were the artists summoned before the Throne. Awed yet enchanted, +they bowed before their Maker, with raised hands clasped in gratitude +for the happiness they had known on earth. Then spoke Angelo, the +musician: + +'Behold thy grateful children at thy feet, O Father of earth and heaven! +We truly repent of all we may have done amiss in Thy lower world. Thy +heritage was very fair, and the exceeding Beauty thereof covered the +Evil, and in all things were planted the germs of Good. 'Our prayer was +in our work,' and all things spake to us of Thee, for the hand of a +Father made all. Forgive us if we have loved life too well; we have +always felt that the rhythmed pulse of our own hearts throbbed but in +obedience to Thy tuneful laws! Loving our fellow men, we have labored to +awake them to a sense of Thy tenderness, O Creator of Love and of +Beauty, so unsparingly casting the ever-new glories around them! Father, +we have loved Thee in thy glorious creation. + +"For Thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things that +thou hast made, for thou didst not appoint or make anything hating it. +For He made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison +of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon earth. + +"For justice is perpetual and immortal.' + +"We have looked upon the rainbow, and blessed Him that made it: for it +was very beautiful in its brightness.' + +"For by the greatness of the Beauty, and of the creature, the Creator of +them may be seen so as to be known thereby.' + +"It is good to give praise to the Lord: to show forth thy loving +kindness in the morning, and thy truth in the night; + +"Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery, upon the harp +with a solemn sound. + +"For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works, and in the works +of thy hand I shall rejoice.' + +'Have mercy upon us for the sake of the Redeemer, whose Perfection +crowns the universe, who has not disdained to give Himself to us, and +for us: the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. Mercy for +ourselves--and for those whom we have left on earth, we beseech Thee!' + +Gently smiled the Virgin Mother, whose humble heart had cradled the +Everlasting Love! 'All generations shall call her blessed,' for on that +tender woman bosom rests that wondrous God-built arch spanning the awful +Chaim between the sinful human and the Perfect Infinite! 'For _He_ was +born of a Virgin.' + +The heart of Anselm throbbed through his garments white and pure; he +loved his brothers, and feared that human art would be deemed vain and +worthless in heaven. _For the saints forget that God himself is the +Great Artist!_ + +Then was there silence in heaven, and the brothers knelt before the +Throne. + +The Father spoke: + +'Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Enter into his gates +with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise, be thankful unto +him, and bless his name: the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath conquered. +He will give to him that overcometh to eat of the Tree of Life, which is +in the Paradise of God.' + +The silence that ensued was the bliss of heaven! + +As Rubi, the Angel of Beauty, advanced to greet the spirits whom he had +left on the confines of chaos, the triumphant song burst from the young +choir of angels: 'For they shall not hunger nor thirst any more; neither +shall the sun fall on them or any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the +midst of the throne, shall rule them, and shall lead them to the +fountains of the waters of life, and God shall wipe away all tears from +their fives.' + +Joy! joy! for the soul of the musician! The heart of the Rose had broken +while chanting the last Miserere, and she was again at his side to catch +his first Hosanna! + +'Angelo--Angelo--parting and death are only seeming!' + +To the soul of the poet was given the highest theme, the splendor and +love of the Eternal City, and power to join the scribes of heaven. And +the painter looked upon the face of the Virgin, the strange lights, the +forms of Cherubim and Seraphim, and the twelve gates and the golden +streets of that city; 'which needeth not sun or moon to shine in it, for +the glory of God hath enlightened it; and the Lamb is the light +thereof.' + +Who can imagine that region of supernal splendor, 'whose glories eye +hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the +heart of man to conceive'? + +The strings of Angelo's heaven harp quivered as though stirred by the +breath of God. + +Then did he first truly discern the _soul_ of that divine language whose +_form_ he had made known on earth. + +Then arose 'as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice +of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying: +Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.' + +Loud rang the heaven harps: 'Holy--Holy--Holy! To Him that sitteth on +the Throne, and to the Lamb, Benediction, and Honor, and Glory, and +Power, forever and ever!' + + + + +UNUTTERED. + + + Said a poet, sighing lowly, + As his life ebbed slowly, slowly, + And upon his pallid features shone the sun's last rosy light, + Shedding there a radiance tender, + Softened from the dazzling splendor + Of the burning clouds of sunset, gleaming in the west so bright, + Glancing redly, ere forever lost within the gloom of night: + + 'Gold and crimson clouds of even, + Kindling the blue vault of heaven, + Ye are types of airy fancies that within my spirit glow! + Thou, O Night, so darkly glooming, + And those brilliant tints entombing + In thy black and heavy shadows, thou art like this life of woe, + Prisoning all the glorious visions that still beat their wings to go! + + 'Oh, what brilliancy and glory + Had illumed my life's dull story, + Could those thoughts have found expression as within my soul they shone! + But though there like jewels gleaming, + And with golden splendor streaming, + Cold and dim their lustre faded, tarnished, like the sparkling stone + That, from out the blue waves taken, looks a pebble dull alone. + 'For within my heart forever + Was a never-dying river, + Was a spring of deathless music welling from my deepest soul! + And all Nature's deep intonings, + Merry songs, and plaintive meanings, + Floated softly through my spirit, swelling where those bright waves stole, + Till the prisoning walls seemed powerless 'gainst that billowy rush and roll. + + 'Oh, the surging thoughts and fancies; + Oh, the wondrous, wild romances + That from morn till dewy twilight murmured through my haunted brain! + Thoughts as sweet as summer roses, + And with music's dreamiest closes, + Dying faintly into silence, from the full and ringing strain + That through all my spirit sounded with a rapture half of pain. + + 'How I longed those words to utter + That within my heart would flutter, + Beating wild against their prison, as its walls they'd burst in twain: + But it broke not, throbbing only, + Aching in a silence lonely, + Till my very life was flooded with a wild, delicious pain; + Kindled with a blaze illuming all the chambers of my brain! + + 'And to me death had been glorious, + If those burning words, victorious, + Had at last surged o'er their prison, bearing my departing soul! + Gladly were my heart's blood given, + If those bonds I might have riven; + If, with every crimson lifedrop that from out my full heart stole, + I might hear that swelling chorus upward in its glory roll. + + 'Sad and low my heart is beating! + Each pulsation still repeating + 'All in vain those eager longings, all in vain that burning prayer. + See the breezes, 'mid the bowers, + Sigh above the fragrant flowers, + And from out those drooping roses, their heart-folded sweetness bear-- + But no heaven-sent wind shall whisper thy soul-breathings to the air.' + + 'But upon my darkened vision + Comes a gleam of light Elysian; + And a seraph voice breathes softly--'Answered yet shall be that prayer! + For the spirit crushed and broken + By those burning words unspoken, + Soon shall hear them swelling, floating far upon the heavenly air, + And its deepest inmost visions shall have perfect utterance there!'' + + + + +WILLIAM LILLY, ASTROLOGER. + + + A cunning man, hight Sidrophel, + That deals in destiny's dark counsels, + And sage opinions of the moon sells, + To whom all people, far and near, + On deep importances repair. + + * * * * * + + Do not our great reformers use + This Sidrophel to forebode news? + To write of victories next year, + And castles taken yet i' the air? + Of battles fought at sea, and ships + Sunk two years hence--the great eclipse? + A total overthrow given the king + In Cornwall, horse and foot, next spring?' + +Thus much, and more, wrote Butler in his 'Hudibras' of William Lilly, +who was famous in London during that eventful period of English history +from the time of Charles I, onward through the Commonwealth and the +Protectorate, to the Restoration: a time of civil commotions and wars, +when political parties and religious sects, striving for mastery, or +struggling for existence, made the lives and estates of men insecure, +and their outlook in many respects a troubled one. Lifelong connections +of families and neighbors were then rudely severed, and doubt, distrust, +and discontent filled all minds, or most. Of this widespread commotion +London was the active centre; and there a judgment of God, called the +plague, had, in the year 1625, desolated whole streets. The timid, +time-serving, faithless, a wavering host, peered anxiously into the +future, eager to know what might be hidden there, so that they could +shape their course accordingly for safety or for profit. Finding their +own short vision inadequate, they turned for aid to the professional +prophets of that troublous time--magicians who could call forth spirits +and make them speak, or astrologers who could read the stars, and show +how the great Disposer of events could be forestalled. These discoverers +of the hidden, disclosers of the future, though branded now as +impostors, were not therefore worse than their dupes; for in all ages +the two classes, deceivers and deceived, are essentially alike; +positives and negatives of the same thing. 'Men are not deceived; they +deceive themselves.' Witness a great American nation, in these latter +days, electing its ablest man to its highest place, and choosing between +a Fremont and a Buchanan! But let us turn quickly to the seventeenth +century again, and leave the nineteenth to its day of judgment. + +Among the many astrologers dwelling in London at the time of which we +treat, William Lilly was the most famous; and his life being of great +interest to himself, he wrote an account of it for the instruction of +mankind--or for some other purpose; and we will now get from it what we +conveniently can.[1] + +'I was born,' says this renowned astrologer, 'in the county of +Leicester, in an obscure town, in the northwest part thereof, called +Diseworth, seven miles south of the town of Derby, one mile from Castle +Donnington.' 'This town of Diseworth is divided into three parishes; one +part belongs under Lockington, in which stands my father's house (over +against the steeple), in which I was born' on the first day of May, +1602. After this rather too minute account of his birthplace, Lilly +tells us of his ancestors, substantial yeomen for many generations, who +'had much free land and many houses in the town;' but all the family +estates were 'sold by my grandfather and father, so that now our family +depends wholly on a college lease.' 'Of my infancy I can speak but +little; only I do remember that in the fourth year of my age I had the +measles.' 'My mother intended I should be a scholar from my infancy, +seeing my father's backslidings in the world, and no hopes by husbandry +to recruit a decayed estate.' Therefore, after some schooling at or near +home, the boy, when eleven years old, was sent to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, +Leicester, to the school of Mr. John Brinsley, who 'was very severe in +his life and conversation, and did breed up many scholars for the +universities; in religion he was a strict Puritan.' 'In the fourteenth +year of my age, about Michaelmas, I got a surfeit, and thereupon a +fever, by eating beechnuts.' 'In the sixteenth year of my age I was +exceedingly troubled in my dreams concerning my salvation and damnation, +and also concerning the safety and destruction of my father and mother: +in the nights I frequently wept and prayed, and mourned, for fear my +sins might offend God.' 'In the seventeenth year of my age my mother +died.' The next year, 'by reason of my father's poverty, I was enforced +to leave school, and so came home to my father's house, where I lived in +much penury one year, and taught school one quarter of a year, until +God's providence provided better for me. For the last two years of my +being at school I was of the highest form of the school, and chiefest of +that form. I could then speak Latin as well as English; could make +extempore verses upon any theme.' 'If any scholars from remote schools +came to dispute, I was ringleader to dispute with them.' 'All and every +of those scholars, who were of my form and standing, went to Cambridge, +and proved excellent divines; only I, poor William Lilly, was not so +happy, fortune then frowning on my father's condition, he not in any +capacity to maintain me at the university.' + +So this poor scholar, first of his class, bright visions of the +university, and of what might lie beyond, all fading into darkness, went +down to his father's house in the country, where his acquirements were +useless. He says: 'I could not work, drive plough, or endure any country +labor; my father oft would say, 'I was good for nothing,' and 'he was +willing to be rid of me.' A sorrowful time for the poor young fellow, +without any outlook toward a better. But at last, one Samuel Smatty, an +attorney, living in the neighborhood, took pity on the lad, and gave him +a letter to Gilbert Wright, of London, who wanted a youth who could read +and write, to attend him. Thereupon Lilly, in a suit of fustian, with +this letter in his pocket, and ten shillings, given him by his friends, +took leave of his father, who was then in Leicester jail for debt, and +set off for London with 'Bradshaw, the carrier.' He 'footed it all +along,' and was six days on the way; spending for food two shillings and +sixpence, and nothing for lodgings; but he was in good heart, I think, +for almost the only joyous expression in his autobiography is this one, +relating to this time: 'Hark, how the wagons crack with their rich +lading!' + +Gilbert Wright, who had been 'servant to the Lady Pawlet in +Hertfordshire,' had married a widow with property, and lived afterward +'on his annual rents;' or on his wife's, and 'was of no calling or +profession.' This man had real need of a servant who could read and +write, for he himself could do neither; but he was, however, 'a man of +excellent natural parts, and would speak publicly upon any occasion very +rationally and to the purpose.' Lilly was kindly received by Master +Wright, who found, it seems, employment enough for him. 'My work was to +go before my master to church; to attend my master when he went abroad; +to make clean his shoes; sweep the street; help to drive bucks when he +washed; fetch water in a tub from the Thames--I have helped to carry +eighteen tubs of water in one morning;--weed the garden. All manner of +drudgery I willingly performed.' + +Mrs. Wright, who brought money to her husband, brought also a jealous +disposition, and made his life uncomfortable. 'She was about seventy +years of age, he sixty-six,' 'yet was never any woman more jealous of a +husband than she!' She vexed more than one man, too, and her first +husband had temptations to cut his own throat and escape from trouble +so; but he, as we shall learn by and by, got some relief otherwise, and +lived till death came by better means. + +Tally had difficulty in keeping on good terms 'with two such opposite +natures' as those of his master and mistress, that he managed it +somehow, and says: 'However, as to the things of this world, I had +enough, and endured their discontents with much sereneness. My mistress +was very curious to know of such as were then called cunning, or wise +men, whether she should bury her husband. She frequently visited such +persons, and this begot in me a little desire to learn something that +way; but wanting money to buy books, I laid aside these notions, and +endeavored to please both master and mistress.' + +This mistress had a cancer in her left breast, and Lilly had much +noisome work to do for her; which he did faithfully and kindly. 'She was +so fond of me in the time of her sickness, she would never permit me out +of her chamber.' 'When my mistress died (1624) she had under her armhole +a small scarlet bag full of many things, which one that was there +delivered unto me. There were in this bag several sigils, some of +Jupiter in Trine; others of the nature of Venus; some of iron, and one +of gold, of pure virgin gold, of the bigness of a thirty-three shilling +piece of King James coin. In the circumference on one side was engraven, +_Vicit Leo de Tribu Judae Tetragrammation_~+~: within the middle there +was engraven a holy lamb. In the other circumference there was +_Amraphel_, and three ~+ + +~. In the middle, _Sanctus Petrus_, _Alpha_ +and _Omega_.' + +This sigil the woman got many years before of Dr. Samuel Foreman, a +magician or astrologer; the same who 'wrote in a book left behind him,' +'This I made the devil write with his own hand, in Lambeth Fields, 1596, +in June or July, as I now remember.' This sigil the woman got from the +doctor, who was evidently a foreman among liars, for her first husband, +who had been 'followed by a spirit which vocally and articulately +provoked him to cut his own throat.' Her husband, wearing this sigil +'till he died, was never more troubled by spirits' of this kind of call; +but on the woman herself it seems to have failed of effect, for though +she too wore it till she died, she was continually tormented by an +authentic spirit of jealousy--a torment to herself and to her husband. + +After this mistress had gone, Lilly lived very comfortably, his 'master +having a great affection' for him; and also a great confidence in him, +it seems; for when the plague (1625) began to rage in London, the master +went for safety into Leicestershire, leaving Lilly and a fellow servant +to keep the house, in which was much money and plate, belonging to his +master and others. Lilly was faithful to his charge in this fearful +time, and kept himself cheerful by amusements. 'I bought a bass viol, +and got a master to instruct me; the intervals of time I spent in +bowling in Lincoln's Inn Fields with Watt, the cobbler, Dick, the +blacksmith, and such-like companions.' Nor did he neglect more serious +business, but attended divine service at the church of St. Clement +Danes, where two ministers died in this time; but the third, Mr. +Whitacre, 'escaped not only then, but all contagion following,' though +he 'buried all manner of people, whether they died of the plague or +not,' and 'was given to drink, so that he seldom could preach more than +one quarter of an hour at a time.' This year of plague was indeed a +fearful one in London, and Lilly says elsewhere, 'I do well remember +this accident, that going in July, 1625, about half an hour after six in +the morning, to St. Antholine's church, I met only three persons on the +way, from my house over against Strand bridge, till I came there; so few +people were there alive and the streets so unfrequented.' 'About fifty +thousand people died that year;' but Lilly escaped death, though his +'conversation was daily with the infected.'[2] + +Master Wright did not continue long a widower, but took to himself +another wife, and a younger, who was of 'brown ruddy complexion,' and of +better disposition than her predecessor in the household. Master Wright +was probably a happy man for a time; but only for a short time; for in +May, 1627, he died, and the estate, by agreement of the parties in it, +was assigned to Lilly for payment of its debts. The trust was not +misplaced; the debts were all paid, and the remainder of the estate, +except an annuity of twenty pounds, which his master had settled on +Lilly, he returned to the executors. + +Mistress Wright, the widow, 'who had twice married old men,' had now +many suitors; 'old men, whom she declined; some gentlemen of decayed +fortunes, whom she liked not, for she was covetous and sparing;' +'however, all her talk was of husbands,' and, in short, William Lilly +became the happy man; made happy within four months of the death of the +old master. 'During all the time of her life, which was till October, +1633, we lived very lovingly; I frequenting no company at all; my +exercises were angling, in which I ever delighted; my companions, two +aged men.' 'I frequented lectures, and leaned in judgment to Puritanism; +and in October, 1627, I was made free of the Salters' company of +London.' + +Up to this time, therefore, the history of William Lilly, so far as he +has made it known, is briefly this: Born poor, the grandfather and +father having wasted the family estates, he was sent by his mother, who +intended him from his infancy for a scholar, to the school of +Ashby-de-la-Zouch; where, at one time, he was in trouble about his soul +and the souls of his parents; and he 'frequently wept, prayed, and +mourned, for fear his sins might offend God.' But the mother died, the +father got into prison for debt, and poor Lilly, who had made himself +the best scholar in the school, could not go up to the university as he +had hoped to do, but after a wretched year at his father's house, where +he was accounted useless and an encumbrance, he had to become the +servant of one who could neither read nor write, doing all kinds of +drudgery. Serving faithfully, the much-enduring young man won the love +and confidence of the old master and mistress, and at last married the +young widow, who was a wholesome-looking woman, of brown ruddy +complexion, and had property, which served, among other things, to make +Lilly 'free of the Salters' company.' Not a bad history, certainly, if +not one of the best: he was a thriving young man, not a complaining one; +but one who accepted the conditions under which he was placed, and made +the best of them; which is what all young men ought to do. + +And now Lilly--being a man of some property and standing, without any +profession or regular business, but with an inclination to the occult +arts, begot in him probably by the folly of old Mistress Wright--tells +us how he 'came to study astrology.' 'It happened on one Sunday, 1632, +as myself and a justice of peace's clerk were, before service, +discoursing of many things, he chanced to say that such a person was a +great scholar; nay, so learned that he could make an almanac, which to +me was strange: one speech begot another, till at last he said he could +bring me acquainted with one Evans, who lived in Gunpowder alley, who +formerly lived in Staffordshire, that was an excellent wise man, and +studied the black art. The same week (after) we went to see Mr. Evans. +When we came to his house, he, having been drunk the night before, was +upon his bed--if it be lawful to call that a bed whereon he lay.' 'He +was the most saturnine man my eyes ever beheld either before I practised +(astrology) or since: of middle stature, broad forehead, beetle browed, +thick shoulders, flat nosed, full lips, down looked, black, curling, +stiff hair, splay footed;' 'much addicted to debauchery, and then very +abusive and quarrelsome; seldom without a black eye, or one mischief or +another.' A very good description this, save that the shoulders of it +are between the brow and nose: not a handsome man, certainly; a kind of +white negro, we should say, and not the better for being white: +nevertheless men of high rank came to see him, and readers who have made +acquaintance with Sir Kenelm Digby will not be astonished to learn that +he was one of them. He came with Lord Bothwell, and 'desired Evans to +show them a spirit.' But 'after some time of invocation, Evans was taken +out of the room, and carried into the fields near Battersea causeway, +close to the Thames:' taken by the spirits, because the magician 'had +not at the time of invocation made any suffumigation;' for spirits must +always be treated gingerly. 'Sir Kenelm Digby and Lord Bothwell went +home without any harm;' which was better than they deserved. + +Lilly, after many lessons given him by this Evans, was doubtful about +the black art, as he might well be; but, he says, 'being now very +meanly introduced, I applied myself to study those books I had obtained, +many times twelve or fifteen or eighteen hours a day and night: I was +curious to discover whether there was any verity in the art or not. +Astrology at this time, viz. 1633, was very rare in London; few +professing it that understood anything thereof.' Lilly gives us next +some account of the astrologers of his time; but the reader need form no +further acquaintance of this kind; acquaintance with Lilly, who was the +best of them, will be enough for him. + +In October of this year, 1633, Lilly's wife died, and left him 'very +near to the value of one thousand pounds sterling'--all she had to +leave. He continued a widower 'a whole year,' which he, as that phrase +implies, held to be a long time in such bereavement--and followed his +studies in astrology very diligently. So diligently that he soon had +knowledge to impart to others, and he 'taught Sir George Knight +astrology, that part which concerns sickness, wherein he so profited +that in two or three months he would give a very good discovery of any +disease only by his figures.' + +With a new wife, which he got the next year (1634), Lilly had L500 +portion; but 'she was of the nature of Mars,' which is surely not a good +nature in a wife. In that same year he, with some 'other gentlemen,' +engaged in an adventure for hidden treasure: they 'played the hazel rod +round about the cloyster,' and digged, in the place indicated, six feet +deep, till they came to a coffin; but they did not open it, for which +they were afterward regretful, thinking that _it_ probably contained the +treasure. Suddenly, while they were at this work, a great wind arose, +'so high, so blustering, and loud,' that all were frightened, 'and knew +not what to think or do;' all save Lilly, who gave 'directions and +commands to dismiss the daemons,' and then all became quiet again. These +doings Lilly did not approve, and says he 'could never again be induced +to join in such kind of work.' He engaged, however, in another +transaction of still worse character, which seems to have been even +more unpleasant to him; for he says: 'After that I became melancholy, +very much afflicted with the hypochondriac melancholy, growing lean and +spare, and every day worse; so that in the year 1635, my infirmity +continuing and my acquaintance increasing, I resolved to live in the +country, and in March and April, 1636, I removed my goods unto Hersham +(Horsham in Sussex, thirty-six miles from London), where I continued +until 1641, no notice being taken who or what I was:' and in this time +he burned some of his books, which treated of things he did not approve, +and which he disliked to practise; for this man really had a conscience +as good as the average, or even better: he was driven into solitude by +the reproaches of it--or, perhaps, by the scoldings of a wife who 'was +of the nature of Mars.' + +Thus far we have followed Lilly's account of himself closely, using +often his own words, because they give a more correct idea of the man +than could be got from the words of another; but henceforth to the end, +we will skip much and be brief. This astrologer did not always rely on +his special art to discover things hidden, but used often quite ordinary +means; sometimes such as are common to officers of detective police. His +confessions of doings in that kind are candid enough, and we must say of +his 'History of his Life and Times' that it is, on the whole, a simple, +truthful statement of facts; not an apology for a life at all; for he +seldom attempts to excuse or justify his actions, but leaves a plain +record with the reader for good or evil. + +A man, it is sometimes said, is to be judged by the company he keeps, +and we will therefore say a few words of this astrologer's friends. Of +men like William Pennington, of Muncaster, in Cumberland, 'of good +family and estate,' introduced to Lilly by David Ramsay, the king's +clockmaker, in 1634, who are otherwise unknown to us, we will say +nothing. But the reader surely knows something of Hugh Peters, the +Puritan preacher--who could do other things as well as preach: with him +Lilly had 'much conference and some private discourses,' and once in the +Christmas holidays, a time of leisure, Peters and the Lord Gray of Groby +invited him to Somerset House, and requested him to bring two of his +almanacs. At another time Peters took Lilly along with him into +Westminster Hall 'to hear the king tried.' But the most influential +friend, perhaps, was Sir Bulstrode Whitlocke, a man well known to +readers of English history as very prominent in the time of the +Commonwealth and Protectorate. He was high steward of Oxford, member of +the council of state, one of the keepers of the great seal, a man very +learned in the law, who made long discourses to Oliver Cromwell on the +matter of the kingship, and on other matters. He went to Sweden as +Cromwell's ambassador, and was one of the great men of that time, or one +of the considerable men. Sir Bulstrode, according to Ashmole, was +Lilly's patron; and indeed the great man did befriend him long, and help +him out of difficulties. The acquaintance began in this wise: Sir +Bulstrode being sick, Mrs. Lisle, 'wife to John Lisle,' afterward one of +the keepers of the great seal, came to Lilly, bringing a specimen of the +sick man. Whereupon the astrologer, having inspected the specimen, 'set +a figure,' and said, 'the sick for that time would recover, but by means +of a surfeit would dangerously relapse within one month; which he did, +by eating of trouts at Mr. Sands' house in Surrey.' Therefore, as there +could no longer be any doubt of Lilly's skill, he, at the time of Sir +Bulstrode's second sickness, was called to him daily; and though the +family physician said 'there was no hope of recovery,' the astrologer +said there was 'no danger of death,' and 'that he would be sufficiently +well in five or six weeks; and so he was.' This Mrs. Lisle, who brought +the specimen, being apparently one of Lilly's she friends, we will add +that she made herself remarkable by saying at the martyrdom of King +Charles I, in 1648, that 'her blood leaped within her to see the tyrant +fall.' For this, and for other things, the woman was finally beheaded; +it being impossible otherwise to stop her tongue; and I have no tear for +her. + +Lilly's most intimate friend, however, was Elias Ashmole, Esq. Born in +1617, the name for him agreed on among his friends was Thomas; but at +the baptismal font the godfather, 'by a more than ordinary impulse of +spirit,' said Elias; and under that prophetic name the boy grew up to +manhood, and became for a time rather famous in high places. He was a +learned antiquary, and made a description of the consular and imperial +coins at Oxford, and presented it, in three folio volumes, to the +library there. He made also a catalogue and description of the king's +medals; a book on the Order of the Garter; a book entitled, _Fasciculus +Chemicus_, and another, _Theatrum Chemicum_. He published, moreover, a +book called 'The Way to Bliss;' but if he himself ever arrived at that +thing, he found the way uncomfortable, if we may judge from his diary, +half filled with record of his ailments, surfeits, and diseases, and of +the sweatings, purgings, and leechings consequent thereupon, or intended +as preventives thereof. To one kind of bliss, however, he did certainly +attain--that of high society; dining often with lords, earls, and dukes, +bishops and archbishops, foreign envoys, ambassadors, and princes; and +they, many of them, came in turn, and dined with him, who had made a +book on the Order of the Garter, and who understood the art of dining. +Continental kings sent to this man chains of gold, and his gracious +majesty, Charles II, was very gracious to him, and gave him fat offices, +mostly sinecures: and over and above all he gave a pension. This world +is a very remarkable one--especially remarkable in the upper crust of +it. + +Lilly's acquaintance with Ashmole began in 1646, and continued till +death did them part in 1681. Through all these thirty-five years there +was a close intimacy, Ashmole being a frequent visitor at Lilly's house +in the country, staying there often months at a time, and Lilly in +return coming often to London, and staying weeks with his honored +friend--a kind of Damon and Pythias affair without the heroics. Ashmole, +we said, was famous in his time; but indeed he has a kind of fame now, +and cannot soon be altogether forgotten, for he founded the Ashmolean +Museum at Oxford, and in the library there the curious can probably find +all his books, and read them, if they will; but I, who have read one of +them, shall not seek for more.[3] + +But indeed Lilly attracted the attention of Oliver Cromwell himself, and +once had an interview with him--a remarkably silent one. The occasion of +it was as follows: The astrologer, in his _Martinus Anglicus_ +(astrological almanac) for 1650, had written that 'the Parliament should +not continue, but a new government should arise;' and the next year he +'was so bold as to aver therein that the Parliament stood upon a +tottering foundation, and that the commonalty and soldiers would join +together against it.' These things, and others, published in _Anglicus_, +offended the Presbyterians, and on motion of some one of them, it was +ordered that '_Anglicus_ should be inspected by the committee for +plundered ministers;' and the next day thereafter Lilly was brought +before the committee, which was very full that day (thirty-six in +number), for the matter was an interesting one, whispered of before in +private, and now made public by prophecy. The astrologer, by skilful +management of friends, and some lies of his own, got off without damage +to himself. + +At the close of the first day's proceedings in committee, as the +sergeant-at-arms was carrying Lilly away, he was commanded to bring him +into the committee room again. 'Oliver Cromwell, lieutenant-general of +the army, having never seen me, caused me to be produced again, where he +steadfastly beheld me for a good space, and then I went with the +messenger.' This first meeting was, it appears, the only one, for Lilly +speaks of no other; but Cromwell spoke a good word for him that same +night, and was ever after rather friendly to him, or at least tolerant +of him. The lieutenant-general, looking fixedly at this man 'for a good +space,' saw nothing very bad in him; and knowing that his prophecies +favored the good cause, he, a man of strong, practical sense, was +willing to let him work as one of the influences of that time. + +This was not Lilly's only appearance before Parliament; sixteen years +later we shall find him there again; but of that at its time; and we +will look first at some of his doings in the interim. With another +general our astrologer had a meeting too, but with him--General +Fairfax--there was talk, not so full of meaning to me as the silence of +Cromwell. 'There being,' says Lilly, 'in those times, some smart +difference between the army and Parliament, the headquarters of the army +were at Windsor, whither I was carried with a coach and four horses, and +John Boker (an astrologer) with me. We were welcomed thither, and +feasted in a garden where General Fairfax lodged. We were brought to the +general, who bid us kindly welcome to Windsor.' Lilly tells what Fairfax +said, and what he himself said in reply; but if these speeches were all +that was there said and done, the coach and four, and the time spent, +seem to me wasteful. The speeches ended, 'we departed, and went to visit +Mr. Peters (Hugh Peters), the minister, who lodged in the castle; whom +we found reading an idle pamphlet come from London that morning.' He +said--what gives proof, if proof be needed, that there was idle talk +current in that time, as indeed there is in all times. + +Our astrologer, professing a high art, standing above the common level, +did not give 'up to party what was meant for mankind.' The stars look +down, from their high places, on sublunary things, with a sublime +indifference; and he, their interpreter, was at the service of all +comers, or of all who could pay. Many came to him; among others came +'Madam Whorwood,' from King Charles, who intended to escape from Hampton +Court, where he was held prisoner by the army. She came to inquire 'in +what quarter of this nation he (the king) might be most safe?' Lilly, +after 'erection of his figure,' said, 'about twenty miles from London, +and in Essex,' 'he might continue undisturbed;' but the poor king, +misguided by himself, or others, 'went away in the night time westward, +and surrendered to Hammond in the Isle of Wight. Twice again, according +to Lilly, Madam Whorwood came to him, asking advice and assistance for +the king. This Madam Whorwood I have not met with elsewhere in my +reading, and the name may be a fictitious one; but that King Charles, in +his straits, sought aid of William Lilly, who by repute could read the +stars, is not improbable. In 1648, Lilly gave to the council of state +'some intelligence out of France,' which he got by means not +astrological, or in any way supernatural; and the council thereupon gave +him 'in money fifty pounds, and a pension of one hundred pounds per +annum,' which he received for two years, 'but no more.' + +So Lilly, whose business as astrological prophet brought him into close +contact with many kinds of men--men of all parties and sects--went on +getting information of all, and by all kinds of means; and imparting it +again to all who had need; but always he had an eye to the 'main +chance,' and provided well for himself. With each of his three wives he +got money. The second one, who, as we remember, 'was of the nature of +Mars,' died in February, 1654, and the bereaved man says that he +thereupon 'shed no tear;' which we can well believe. Dry eyed, or with +only such moisture as comes of joy, he, within eight months after the +departure of Mrs. Mars, took another to his bosom, one who, he says, 'is +signified in my nativity by Jupiter in Libra, and she is so totally in +her conditions, to my great comfort.' + +After the Restoration, Lilly was apprehended and committed to the Gate +House. 'I was had,' he says, 'into the guard room, which I thought to be +hell: some therein were sleeping, others swearing, others smoking +tobacco. In the chimney of the room I believe there were two bushels of +broken tobacco-pipes, and almost half one load of ashes.' A sad time and +place: but his 'old friend, Sir Edward Walker, garter king-at-arms,' +made interest for him in the right quarters, and he was released from +the place he 'thought to be hell.' In 1660 he sued out his pardon for +all offences 'under the broad seal of England.' + +Of Lilly's religion (so called) there is not much to be said: in early +life he 'leaned to Puritanism,' as we have been told, and he probably +leaned on that so long as he could find support in it; but after the +Restoration (in 1663) he was made churchwarden of Walton-upon-Thames, +and settled 'the affairs of that distracted parish' as well as he could; +and upon leaving the place, 'forgave them seven pounds' which was due to +him. + +Soon after this, when the great plague of 1665 came upon London, Lilly +gave up business there and retired into the country to his wife and +family, and continued there for the remainder of his life; going up to +the great city occasionally to visit his friends, or on calls to +business in his special line: one call from a high quarter came to him +in this shape: + + +'Monday, _22d October_, 1666. + +At the committee appointed to inquire after the causes of the late +fires: + +'_Ordered_, That Mr. Lilly attend the committee on Friday next, being +the 25th day of October, at two o'clock in the afternoon, in the +speaker's chamber, to answer such questions as shall be then and there +asked him. + +'ROBERT BROOKE.' + + +The question before Parliament was in relation to the great fire in +London: 'as to the causes of the late fire; whether there might be any +design therein;' and Lilly was supposed to know something about that +matter, because he, in his book or pamphlet entitled 'Monarchy or no +Monarchy,' published in 1651, had printed on page seventh a hieroglyphic +'representing a great sickness and mortality, wherein you may see the +representation of people in their winding sheets, persons digging graves +and sepultures, coffins, etc.;' and on another page another hieroglyphic +representing a fire: two twins topsy-turvy, and back to back, falling +headlong into a fire. 'The twins signify Gemini, a sign in astrology +which rules London:' all around stand figures, male and female, pouring +liquids (oil or water?) on the flames. When, therefore, the great fire +of 1666 followed the plague of the preceding year, these hieroglyphics +again attracted attention, and the maker of them was called before +Parliament to declare if he, who had foreseen these events, could see +into them, and give any explanation of their causes. But Lilly was +prudent: to the question, 'Did you foresee the year of the fire?' he +replied: 'I did not; nor was I desirous; of that I made no scrutiny.' As +to the cause of the fire, he said: 'I have taken much pains in the +search thereof, but cannot, or could not, give myself any the least +satisfaction therein: I conclude that it was only the finger of God; +but what instruments he used therein I am ignorant.' + +That William Lilly, who, as we have seen, was twice called before +Parliament and questioned, attracted much attention elsewhere by his +prophecies and publications, there can be no doubt; and his books found +many readers. Their titles, so far as known to us, are as follows: +'Supernatural Insight;' 'The White King's Prophecy;' 'The Starry +Messenger;' 'A Collection of Prophecies;' an introduction to astrology, +called, 'Christian Astrology;' 'The World's Catastrophe;' 'The +Prophecies of Merlin, with a Key thereto;' 'Trithemius of the Government +of the World by the Presiding Angels;' 'A Treatise of the Three Suns +seen the preceding winter,' which was the winter of 1648; 'An +Astronomical Judgment;' 'Annus Tenebrosus;' 'Merlinus Anglicus,' a kind +of astrological almanac, published annually for many years, containing +many prophecies--a work which got extensive circulation, 'the Anglicus +of 1658 being translated into the language spoken in Hamburg, printed +and cried about the streets as it is in London;' and his 'Majesty of +Sweden,' of whom 'honorable mention' was made in Anglicus, sent to the +author of it 'a gold chain and a medal worth about fifty pounds.' + +Of these books made by Lilly, we, having little knowledge, indeed none +at all of the most of them, do not propose to speak; but one who has +looked into the 'Introduction to Astrology' can say that it has +something of method and completeness, and he can readily conceive how +Lilly, studying astrology through long years very diligently, then +practising it, instructing other men in it, writing books about it, +could have himself some kind of belief in it; such belief at least as +many men have in the business they study, practise, and get fame and +pudding by. Consider, too, how his belief in his art must have been +strengthened and confirmed by the belief of other men in it; able men of +former times, and respectable men of his own time. Indeed we will say of +astrology generally that it is a much better thing than the spiritualism +of this present day, with its idle rappings and silly mediums. + +We have named some of Lilly's friends--those only of whom we happened to +have some knowledge; but he had many friends, or many acquaintances--a +large circle of them. There were 'astrologers' feasts' in those days, +held monthly or oftener. Ashmole (called, by a more than ordinary +impulse of spirit, Elias) makes record in his Diary: 'Aug. 1, 1650, the +astrologers' feast at Painter's Hall, where I dined;' 'Oct. 31, the +astrologers' feast;' and other entries there are to the same effect. +Some ten years after, Lilly seems to have had these festivals, or +similar ones, in his own house; and on the 24th October, 1660, one +Pepys, well known to literary men, 'passed the evening at Lilly's house, +where he had a club of his friends.'[4] + +Thus far, namely, to the year 1666, Lilly brought the history of his +life: and in the continuation of it by another hand, we learn that in +the country at Horsham, near London, 'he betook himself to the study of +physic;' and in 1670, his old and influential friend, Mr. Ashmole, got +for him from the archbishop of Canterbury a license for the practice of +it. 'Hereupon he began to practise more openly and with good success; +and every Saturday rode to Kingston, where the poorer sort flocked to +him from several parts, and received much benefit by his advice and +prescriptions, which he gave them freely and without money. From those +that were more able he now and then received a shilling, and sometimes a +half crown, if they offered it to him; otherwise he received nothing; +and in truth his charity toward poor people was very great, no less than +the care and pains he took in considering and weighing their particular +cases, and applying proper remedies to their infirmities, which gained +him extraordinary credit and estimation.' So William Lilly lived at +Horsham, publishing his 'astronomical judgments' yearly, and helping as +he could the poor there and in the neighborhood, till the 9th day of +June, 1681, when he died. The 'great agony' of his diseases, which were +complicated, he bore 'without complaint.' 'Immediately before his breath +went from him, he sneezed three times;' which, we will hope, cleared his +head of some nonsense. + +In the judgment of his contemporaries, this William Lilly, astrologer, +was, as we can see, 'a respectable man.' Such judgment, however, is +never conclusive; for the time clement is always a deceptive one; and, +as all navigators know, the land which looms high in the atmosphere of +to-day does often, in the clearer atmosphere of other days, prove to be +as flat as a panecake: but we must say of Lilly, that though +unfortunately an impostor, he was really rather above the common level +of mankind--a little hillock, if only of conglomerate or pudding stone: +for, in his pamphlet entitled 'Observations on the Life and Times of +Charles I,' where he, looking away from the stars and treating of the +past, is more level to our judgment, he is still worth reading; and does +therein give a more impartial and correct character of that unhappy king +than can be found in any other contemporary writing; agreeing well with +the best judgments of this present time, and showing Lilly to be a man +of ability above the common. On the whole, we will say of him, that he +was the product of a mother who was good for something, and of a father +who was good for nothing, or next to that; that with such parentage, and +under such circumstances as we have seen, he became an astrologer, the +best of his kind in that time. + +It would be easy to institute other moral reflections, and to pass +positive judgment on the man: but instead thereof I will place here two +questions: + +_First_: Did William Lilly, in the eighteenth year of his age, need +anything except a little cash capital to enable him to go up to the +university and become a respectable clergyman of the Church of England, +or the minister of some dissenting congregation, if he had liked that +better? + +_Second_: When this impostor and the clergymen, who as boys stood +together in the same form of the school at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, come +together before the judgment bar of the Most High, will the Great Judge +say to each of the clergymen: Come up hither; and to the impostor: +Depart, thou cursed? + +'A fool,' it is said, 'may ask questions which wise men cannot answer;' +and the writer, having done his part in asking, leaves the more +difficult part for the consideration of the reader.[5] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: The Lives of those eminent Antiquaries, Elias Ashmole, +Esquire, and Mr. William Lilly, written by themselves; containing first, +William Lilly's History of his Life and Times, with Notes by Mr Ashmole; +secondly, Lilly's Life and Death of Charles I; and lastly, the Life of +Elias Ashmole, Esq., by way of Diary, etc. London, 1774.] + +[Footnote 2: Lilly's Life and Death of King Charles I.] + +[Footnote 3: The Lives of those eminent Antiquaries, Ellas Ashmole and +William Lilly, &c. London, 1774.] + +[Footnote 4: See Pepys' Diary and Correspondence. London, 1858. Vol. i, +p. 116.] + +[Footnote 5: The reader will find this question already answered in the +pages of holy writ: 'For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his +Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to +his works.'--_Matt_, xvi, 27.--ED. CON.] + + + + +JEFFERSON DAVIS--REPUDIATION, RECOGNITION, AND SLAVERY. + + +LETTER NO. II, FROM HON. ROBERT J WALKER. + +LONDON, 10 HALF MOON STREET, PICCADILY} + _July 30th, 1863._ } + +In my publication of the 1st inst., it was proved by the two letters of +Mr. Jefferson Dans of the 25th May, 1849, and 29th August, 1849, that he +had earnestly advocated the repudiation of the bonds of the State of +Mississippi issued to the Union Bank. It was then shown that the High +Court of Errors and Appeals of Mississippi, the tribunal designated by +the Constitution of the State, had _unanimously_ decided that these +bonds were constitutional and valid, and that more than seven years +thereafter, Mr. Jefferson Davis had nevertheless sustained the +repudiation of those bonds. + +In his letter before quoted, of the 23d March last, Mr. Slidell, the +minister of Jefferson Davis at Paris, says, 'There is a wide difference +between these (Union) bonds and those of the Planters' Bank, for the +repudiation of which neither excuse nor palliation can be offered.' And +yet I shall now proceed to prove, that Mr. Jefferson Davis did not only +_palliate and excuse_, but justified the repudiation, in fact, of those +bonds by the State of Mississippi. First, then, has Mississippi +repudiated those bonds? The principal and interest now due on those +bonds exceed $5,000,000 (L1,000,000), and yet, for a quarter of a +century, the State has not paid one dollar of principal or interest. 2. +The State, by act of the Legislature (ch. 17), referred the question of +taxation for the payment of those bonds to the vote of the people, and +their decision was adverse. As there was no fund available for the +payment, except one to be derived from taxation, this popular vote (to +which the question was submitted by the Legislature) was a decision of +the State for repudiation, and against payment. 3. The State, at one +time (many years after the sale of the bonds), had made them receivable +in purchase of certain State lands, but, as this was 'at three times its +current value,' as shown by the London _Times_, in its article +heretofore quoted by me, this was only another form of repudiation. 4. +When a few of the bondholders commenced taking small portions of these +lands in payment, because they could get nothing else, the State +repealed the law (ch. 22), and provided no substitute. 5. The State, by +law, deprived the bondholders of the stock of the Planters' Bank +($2,000,000), and of the sinking fund pledged to the purchasers for the +redemption of these bonds when they were sold by the State. Surely there +is here ample evidence of repudiation and bad faith. + +The bonds issued by the State of Mississippi to the Planters' Bank were +based upon a law of the State, and affirmed, by name, in a specific +provision of the State Constitution of 1832. The State, through its +agent, received the money, and loaned it to the citizens of the State, +and the validity of these obligations is conceded by Mr. Slidell and Mr. +Davis. + +These bonds were for $2,000,000, bearing an interest of six per cent. +per annum, and were sold at a premium of 13-1/2 per cent For those +bonds, besides the premium, the State received $2,000,000 of stock of +the Planters' Bank, upon which, up to 1838, the State realized ten per +cent. dividends, being $200,000 per annum. In January, 1841, the +Legislature of Mississippi _unanimously_ adopted resolutions affirming +the validity of these bonds, and the duty of the State to pay them. +(Sen. Jour. 314.) + +In his message to the Legislature of 1843, Governor Tucker says: + + 'On the 1st of January, 1838, the State held stock in the Planters' + Bank for $2,000,000, which stock had, prior to that time, yielded + to the State a dividend of $200,000 per annum. I found also the + first instalment of the bonds issued on account of the Planters' + Bank, $125,000, due and unpaid, as well as the interest for several + years on said bonds.' (Sen. Jour. 25.) + +The Planters' Bank (as well as the State), by the express terms of the +law, was bound for the principal and interest of these bonds. Now, in +1839, Mississippi passed an act (Acts, ch. 42), 'to transfer the stock +now held by the State in the Planters' Bank, and invest the same in +stock of the Mississippi Railroad Company.' By the first section of this +act, the Governor was directed to subscribe for $2,000,000 of stock in +the railroad company for the State, and to pay for it by transferring to +the company the Planters' Bank stock, which had been secured to the +State by the sale of the Planters' Bank bonds. The 10th section released +the Planters' Bank from the obligation to provide for the payment of +these bonds or interest. Some enlightened members, including Judge +Gholson, afterward of the Federal Court, protested against this act as +unconstitutional, by impairing the obligation of contracts, and as a +fraud on the bondholders. + +They say in this protest: + + 'The money which paid for the stock proposed to be transferred from + the Planters' Bank to the Mississippi Railroad Company, was, under + the provisions of the charter, obtained by loans on the part of the + State, for the payment of which the stock, in addition to the faith + of the Government, was pledged to the holders of the bonds of the + State. By the terms of the contract between the commissioners on + the part of the State and the purchasers of the bonds, the interest + on the loans is required to be paid semiannually out of the + semiannual dividends _accruing upon the said stock_; and the + surplus of such dividends, after paying the said interest, is to be + converted into a _sinking fund_ for the payment and liquidation of + said loans. The bill, as the title purports, simply provides for + the transfer of the stock now held by the State in the Planters' + Bank, and that the same shall be invested in the stock of the + Mississippi Railroad Company, leading from Natchez to Canton, which + has banking privileges to twice the amount of capital stock paid + in. The transferring of the stock and dividend to another + irresponsible corporation, and the appropriation of the same to the + construction of a road, is a violation of and impairing the + obligation of the contract made and entered into with the + purchasers or holders of the bonds of the State, under a solemn act + of the Legislature. If it should be thought that a people, composed + of so much virtue, honor, and chivalry, as the noble and generous + Mississippians, would disdain, and consequently refrain, from + repealing or violating their plighted faith, it may be answered, + that the faith of the State, solemnly and sacredly pledged by an + act of the Legislature, with all the formality and solemnity of a + constitutional law, is violated by the provisions of this very bill + under consideration. The faith of the State is pledged to the + holders of the bonds, by the original and subsequent acts + incorporating the Planters' Bank, as solemnly as national or + legislative pledges can be made, that the stock and dividends + accruing thereon shall be faithfully appropriated to the redemption + and payment of said loans and all interest thereon, as they + respectively become due; the appropriation of this fund to an other + purpose is, therefore, a violation of the faith of the State.' + (House Jour. 443.) + +Thus was it, that the stock of the bank, which for so many years had +been yielding a dividend far exceeding the interest on the loan, and +which stock had been pledged for the redemption of the loan, was +diverted to the building of a railroad, which never did or could yield a +single dollar, and the company soon became insolvent. By another clause +of this act of 1839, the Planters' Bank, which, by the loan act, was +made responsible (together with the State) for the payment of these +bonds, was released from the obligation to make such payments. + +And now, what is the answer of Jefferson Davis on this subject? He says, +in his letter of the 25th May, 1849, before quoted: + + 'A smaller amount is due for what are termed Planters' Bank bonds + of Mississippi. These evidences of debt, as well as the coupons + issued to cover accruing interest, are receivable for State lands, + and no one has a right to assume they will not be provided for + otherwise, by or before the date at which the whole debt becomes + due.' + +To this the London _Times_ replied, in its editorial of the 13th July, +1849, before quoted, as follows: + + 'The assurance in this statement that the Planters' Bank, or + non-repudiated bonds, are receivable for State lands, requires this + addition, which Mr. Jefferson Davis has omitted, that they are only + so receivable upon land being taken at three times its current + value. The affirmation afterward, that no one has a right to assume + that these bonds will not be fully provided for before the date at + which the principal falls due, is simply to be met by the fact, + that portions of them fell due in 1841 and 1846, and that on these, + as well as on all the rest, both principal and interest remain + wholly unpaid.' + +Mr. Davis's 'palliation and excuse' for the non-payment of these bonds +was: 1st. That the principal was not due. If this were true, it would be +no excuse for the non-payment of the semi-annual interest. But the +statement of Jefferson Davis as to the principal was not true, as shown +by the _Times_, and as is clear upon the face of the law. Then, as to +the lands. The bonds, principal aid interest, were payable in money, and +it was a clear case of repudiation to substitute lands. But when, as +stated by the _Times_, this land was only receivable '_at three times +its current value_,' Mr. Davis's defence of the repudiation of the +Planters' Bank bonds by Mississippi, is exposed in all its deformity. +When, however, we reflect, as heretofore shown, that the law authorizing +the purchase of these lands by these bonds was repealed, and the +bondholders left without any relief, and the proposition for taxation to +pay the bonds definitively rejected, it is difficult to imagine a case +more atrocious than this. + +The whole debt, principal and interest, now due by the State of +Mississippi, including the Planters' and Union Bank bonds, exceeds +$11,250,000 (L2,250,000). Not a dollar of principal or interest has been +paid by the State for more than a fourth of a century on any of these +bonds. The repudiation is complete and final, so long as slavery exists +in Mississippi. Now, would it not seem reasonable that, before +Mississippi and the other Confederate States, including Florida and +Arkansas, ask another loan from Europe, they should first make some +provision for debts now due, or, at least, manifest a disposition to +make some arrangement for it at some future period. If a debtor fails to +meet his engagements, especially if he repudiates them on false and +fraudulent pretexts, he can borrow no more money, and the same rule +surely should apply to states or nations. Nor can any pledge of property +not in possession of such a borrower, or, if so, not placed in the hands +of the lender, change the position. It is (even if the power to pay +exists) still a question of good faith, and where that has been so often +violated, all subsequent pledges or promises should be regarded as +utterly worthless. + +The _Times_, in reference to the repudiation of its Union Bank bonds by +Mississippi, and the justification of that act by Jefferson Davis, says: + + 'Let it circulate throughout Europe that a member of the United + States Senate in 1849 has openly proclaimed, that at a recent + period the Governor and legislative assemblies of his own State + deliberately issued fraudulent bonds for five millions of dollars + to 'sustain the credit of a rickety bank;' that, the bonds in + question having been hypothecated abroad to innocent holders, such + holders have not only no claim against the community by whose + executive and representatives this act was committed, but that they + are to be taunted for appealing to the verdict of the civilized + world rather than to the judgment of the legal officers of the + State by whose functionaries they have been already robbed; and + that the ruin of toil-worn men, of women, of widows, and of + children, and the 'crocodile tears' which that ruin has occasioned, + is a subject of jest on the part of those by whom it has been + accomplished; and then let it be asked if any foreigner ever penned + a libel on the American character equal to that against the people + of Mississippi by their own Senator.' + +Such was the opinion then expressed by the London _Times_ of Jefferson +Davis and of the repudiation advocated by him. It was denounced as +_robbery_, 'the ruin of toil-worn men, of women, of widows, and of +children.' And what is to be thought of the '_faith_' of a so-called +Government, which has chosen this repudiator as their chief, and what of +the value of the Confederate bonds now issued by him? Why, the legal +tender notes of the so-called Confederate Government, fundable in a +stock bearing eight per cent, interest, is now worth in gold at their +own capital of Richmond, less than ten cents on the dollar (2_s._, on +the pound), whilst in two thirds of their territory such notes are +utterly worthless; and it is TREASON for any citizen of the +United States, North or South, or any ALIEN resident there, to +deal in them, or in Confederate bonds, or in the cotton pledged for +their payment. No form of Confederate bonds, or notes, or stock, will +ever be recognized by the Government of the United States, and the +cotton pledged by slaveholding traitors for the payment of the +Confederate bonds is all forfeited for treason, and confiscated to the +Federal Government by act of Congress. As our armies advance, this +cotton is either burned by the retreating rebel troops, or seized by our +forces, and shipped and sold from time to time, for the benefit of the +Federal Government. By reference to the census of 1860, it will be seen +that three fourths of the whole cotton crop was raised in States (now +held by the Federal army and navy) touching the Mississippi and its +tributaries, and all the other ports are either actually held or +blockaded by the Federal forces. The traitor pledge of this cotton is, +then, wholly unavailing; the bonds are utterly worthless; they could not +be sold at any price in the United States, and those who force them on +the London market, in the language of the _Times_, before quoted, will +only accomplish '_the ruin of toil-worn, men, of women, of widows, and +of children_.' + +But the advocacy of repudiation by Jefferson Davis has not been confined +to his own State, as I shall proceed to demonstrate in my next letter. + +R.J. WALKER. + + + + +DIARY OF FRANCES KRASINSKA; + +OR, LIFE IN POLAND DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, + + +Tuesday, _March 19th_. + +The Prince and Princess Lubomirski left us about half an hour ago; they +had decided upon going yesterday, but my father told them that Monday +was an unfortunate day, and fearing that this argument would not possess +sufficient weight, he ordered the wheels to be taken off their carriage. + +They overwhelmed me with kindness during their sojourn in the castle; +the princess, especially, treated me with great affability. Both she and +the prince take a deep interest in my future lot; they endeavored to +persuade my parents to send me to Warsaw to finish my education. + +A foreigner, Miss Strumle, who, however, receives universally the title +of madame, has recently opened a young ladies' boarding school in +Warsaw. This school enjoys a high reputation, and all the young ladies +of distinction are sent there to finish their education. It is the same +for a young lady to have been some time at Madame Strumle's as for a +young gentlemen to have been at Luneville. The prince palatine advised +my mother to send me for a year to Madame Strumle. My parents prefer the +Sisters of the Holy Sacrament; they say that nothing can be better than +a convent. + +I do not know what will be their final decision, but I feel restless and +agitated. I no longer find pleasure in my reading; my work is tedious to +me, and not so well executed as formerly; the future occupies my mind +much more than the present; in short, I am in a constant state of +excitement, as if awaiting some great event. Since the visit of the +prince and princess I have an entirely different opinion of myself, and +I am by no means so happy as I was before.... In truth, I no longer +understand myself. + + +Sunday, _March 24th_. + +Ah I God be praised, my suspense is over, and we leave day after +to-morrow for Warsaw. My parents have been suddenly called there on +matters of business connected with the recent death of my uncle, Blaise +Krasinski, who has left a large fortune and no children. I do not yet +know whether I am to be placed at a boarding school or not, but I +believe it will be a long time before I return to Maleszow. + +Ah! how happy the idea of this journey makes me! We will go a little out +of our way, that we may stop at Sulgostow. Her ladyship the starostine +has at length, after a very agreeable tour, returned to her palace. The +starost has introduced her to all his cousins, friends, and neighbors; +she was everywhere admirably received, and will now settle down in her +own mansion, at which prospect she is very well pleased; she has all the +necessary qualifications for becoming a good housekeeper. The Palatine +Swidzinski spoke of her so affectionately in one of his letters that my +parents wept hot tears, but tears of joy, so sweet and go rare. Barbara +has always been a source of happiness to her parents. + + +Warsaw, Sunday, _April 7th_. + +I can scarcely believe it, but here I am fairly installed in Madame +Strumle's famous boarding school. The princess palatine's advice has +prevailed, and Madame Strumle has received the preference over the +Sisters of the Holy Sacrament. God be praised, for I really was very +anxious to come here. I received a most flattering reception. + +On our way to Warsaw we stopped at Sulgustow. We found her ladyship the +starostine gay and most hospitable; the presence of our dear parents +filled the measure of her happiness. She assured me that the delight of +receiving one's parents in one's own house could be neither expressed +nor understood. 'You must yourself experience it,' added she, 'before +you can form any idea of it.' + +On the table were all the dishes, confections, and beverages preferred +by our parents. Barbara forgot nothing which could be agreeable to them, +and the starost aided her wonderfully in all her efforts. My mother +remarked that Barbara was still better since her marriage than before, +to which the starost replied: + +'Indeed, she is no better, for thus did I receive her from the hands of +your highnesses. But she gladly profits by the present opportunity to +testify her gratitude; she shows here those lovely and precious +qualities which you have cultivated in her soul, and during the past +three days she has been for her parents what she is every day for me.' + +There was no flattery in what the starost said--it came really from his +heart. He adores Barbara, and she respects, honors, and obeys him as if +he were her father. + +She understands perfectly the whole management of a household, and does +the honors of her mansion most gracefully. Every one praises her, and +the young ladies and waiting women who followed her from Maleszow are +delighted with their new position. + +My parents regretted the necessity of parting from their daughter; they +would willingly have remained longer; but I must confess I was very +anxious to see Warsaw, and was charmed when they received letters +obliging them to hasten their departure. + +It was really a true instinct which gave me a preference for this place. +I study well, and must improve. My education will be complete, and I may +perhaps become a superior woman, as I have always desired to do; but I +need much study and close application to bring me to that point; above +all, must I chain my wandering fancies, and not suffer them to stray +about so vaguely as I have hitherto done. + +Yesterday my mother came to take me to church. I made my confession, and +communed for the intention of using well the new acquirements which I +have now the opportunity of making. + +When I am well established here, I will write in my journal every day as +I did at Maleszow; but I am still in a state of excitement from all I +have seen, and I must first become better acquainted with my new +dwelling. + + +Wednesday, _April 17th_. + +I am already quite familiar with all the regulations of the school. I am +very well pleased with Madame Strumle; she has excellent manners, and is +very kind to me. I might perhaps regret our court, the magnificence, +bustle, and gayety of our castle, but there comes a time for everything, +and we live here very happily and comfortably. + +That which seems most strange and entirely new to me is, that there is +not even a little boy in the house, no men servants, women always, and +only women; they wait upon us even at table. + +There are about fifteen boarders, all young, and belonging to the best +families. + +Every one speaks highly of Miss Marianne, the Starost Swidzinski's +sister, now married to the Castellan of Polaniec; she spent two years at +the school, and has left an ineffaceable impression in the hearts of +Madame Strumle and her young companions. They say she was very +accomplished, very good and sensible, very gay, and very studious. + +My parents, after having made a thorough examination of the school, felt +quite satisfied; and truly they might well be so, for no one could be +more securely guarded in a convent than here. Madame keeps the key of +the front door always in her pocket; no one can go out or come in +without her knowledge, and were it not for two or three aged masters of +music and the languages, we might be in danger of forgetting the very +existence of _man_-kind. + +It is expressly forbidden to receive visits even from one's male cousins +within the walls of the school. The dancing master desired that the +young potockis should come and learn quadrilles with their sisters and +myself, but madame rejected this proposition at once, saying, 'These +gentlemen are not the brothers of all my boarders, and I cannot permit +them to enter my school.' + +We have masters in French and German, as also in drawing, music, and +embroidery. We learn music on a fine piano of five octaves and a half. +What an improvement on that of Maleszow! Some of the scholars play +polonaises very well, but not by rote; they read them from the notes. My +master tells me that in six months I will have reached this perfection; +but then I already had some ideas of music when I came. + +I draw quite well from the patterns set before me, but ere I proceed any +further, I wish to paint a tree in oil colors. On one of the branches I +will hang a garland of flowers, encircling the cypher of my parents, and +will thus testify to them my gratitude for all they have done for me, +and especially for the care they have bestowed upon my education. + +The young Princess Sapieha, who has been here a year, is at present +employed upon such a picture, and I envy her her pleasure every time my +eyes fall upon the work. + +What a fine effect my picture will make in our hall at Maleszow, beneath +the portrait of our good uncle, the Bishop of Kamieniec! + +Our dancing master, besides the minuet and quadrilles, teaches us to +walk and courtesy gracefully. To tell the truth, I was so ignorant when +I came, that I knew but one mode of making a salutation; but there are +several kinds, which must be employed toward personages of different +ranks; one for the king, another for the princes of the blood, and still +another for lords and ladies of rank. + +I learned first how to salute the prince royal, and succeeded quite +well; some day, perhaps, this knowledge may be useful to me. + +My lessons follow one another regularly, and I am so anxious to learn +that the time passes rapidly and agreeably. + +My mother is very much occupied with family affairs, and has been only +once to see me. + +When I first entered the school, everything surprised me, but what +seemed to me most strange was that I was continually reproved, and even +obliged to undergo real penance. An iron cross was placed at my back to +make me hold myself upright, and my limbs were enclosed in a kind of +wooden box, to straighten them. I must however think that they were +already quite straight enough. All that was not very amusing for me, who +thought myself already a young lady. Since Barbara's marriage I had +myself been asked in marriage, and the prince palatine had not treated +me as if I were a child! + +Madame Strumle has commanded me to omit in future these words from my +prayers: 'O my God, give me a good husband,' and to say instead, 'Give +me the grace to profit by the good education I am receiving.' + +One must here work continually, or think of one's work, and of nothing +else. + +Sunday, _April 28th_. + +I have been nearly three weeks at Madame Strumle's school, and my poor +journal has been quite neglected during all that time; but the +uniformity of my life, these monotonous hours, all passed in the +constant repetition of the same occupations, afford no matter for +interesting details or descriptions. + +At this very moment, when I hold the pen in my hand, I am ready to lay +it down, so great is the poverty of my observations. + +My parents will soon leave. The princess palatiness has honored me with +a visit; she remarked that my carriage was much improved. My masters are +all satisfied with the closeness of my application. Madame is especially +kind to me, and my companions are polite and friendly.... But is all +this worth the trouble of writing? + +I sometimes fancy that I am not really in Warsaw, so ignorant am I with +regard to all political events. I have seen neither the king nor the +royal family. At Maleszow we at least hear the news, and occasionally +see Borne distinguished men. + +The Duke of Courland is absent, and will not return for some time. + + +Sunday, _June 9th_ + +If I were to live forever in this school, I should give up writing in my +journal, and it really serves one very valuable purpose; for I find I am +in great danger of forgetting Polish. With the exception of the letters +I write to my parents, and the few words I say to my maid, I always +write and speak French. + +I progress in all my studies, and if I am sometimes melancholy, at least +my time is not lost. + +The princess palatiness has again been to see me. A month had passed +since her last visit; she found me considerably taller, and was kind +enough to praise my manners and bearing. + +I am the tallest of all our boarders, and it really pleases me +exceedingly to find that my waist is not quite a half yard round. + +Summer has come, the fine weather has returned, but I cannot go out--a +privation which is really quite vexatious. Ah! how I wish I were a +little bird! I would fly away, far away--and then I would return to my +cage. + +But my days and my nights must all be spent in this dull house and in +this ugly street; I believe that Cooper street (ulika Bednarska) is the +darkest, dingiest, and dirtiest street in Warsaw. God willing, next year +I shall be no longer here. + + +Friday, _July 28th_. + +Labor has at least the good quality of making the time pass more +rapidly; our days vanish one by one, without distractions or news from +without. + +I just now felt a desire to write in my journal, and when I consulted +the almanac to find out the day of the month, I was quite surprised to +find that seven whole weeks had passed since I had written a single word +in my poor diary. + +This day certainly deserves to be noted down, for never since I was born +did such a thing happen to me as I experienced this morning. I received +a letter by the mail, and the world is no longer ignorant that the +Countess Frances Krasinska is now living in Warsaw! I danced with joy +when I saw my letter, my own letter! It came from her ladyship, the +Starostine Swidzinska; I shall keep it as a precious and delightful +remembrance. My sister writes to me that she is quite well, and happy +beyond all I can imagine; she was kind enough to send me four gold +ducats, which she has saved from her own private purse. + +For the first time in my life I have money to spend as I will, which +gives me great pleasure. With the money came the desire to spend, and a +variety of projects; it seemed to me as if I could buy the whole city. + +Thanks to my parents, I need nothing, and I will buy nothing for myself; +but I would have liked to leave a pretty remembrance to each of my +companions, a gold ring, for example; but madame quite distressed me by +telling me that my four ducats would only buy four rings-a real +affliction to me, who had hope to purchase, besides the rings, a blonde +mantle for Madame Strumle herself.... All my projects are overturned; I +have learned that the mantle will cost at least a hundred ducats, and +have thence determined to give one ducat to the parish church, to have a +mass said in the chapel of Jesus to draw the blessing of Heaven upon the +affairs now occupying my parents, and for the continuation of the +happiness of her ladyship the starostine. I will have another ducat +changed into small coin, to be distributed among all the servants in the +house; there will still remain two ducats, which will buy a charming +collation for my companions on Sunday next. We will have coffee, an +excellent beverage, which we never see here, cakes, and fruit. Madame +Strumle willingly consented to this last project. + +May God reward my dear starostine for the happiness she has bestowed +upon me! There can be no greater pleasure than that of making presents +and regaling one's friends. If I am anxious to have a husband richer +than I am myself, it is solely that I may be very generous. + +I am not losing my time; I improve daily. I can already play several +minuets and cotillons from the notes, and will soon learn a polonaise. +The most fashionable one just now has a very strange name; it is called +the Thousand Fiends. + +In one month more I shall begin my tree in oil colors, with its +allegoric garland. + +Notwithstanding my more serious studies, I by no means neglect my little +feminine occupations. I am embroidering on canvas a huntsman carrying a +gun, and holding his hound by a leash. + +I read a great deal, I write under dictation, I copy good works, an +excellent method of forming one's own style. I speak French quite as +well as Polish, perhaps even better; in short, I think I will soon be +fitted to make my appearance in the best society. + +As for dancing, I need scarcely say that that progresses wonderfully; my +master, who has no reason to flatter me, assures me that in all Warsaw +no one dances better than I do. + +I occasionally visit the Prince and Princess Lubomirski, but at times +when they have no company. I always hear there many agreeable and +flattering things, especially from the prince. He is desirous that I +should leave school now, but the princess and my parents wish me to +remain here during the winter. It is now only the end of July! How many +hours and days must pass before the winter sets in! Will that time ever +come? + + +Thursday, _December 26th_. + +Finally, God be praised, the time has come for leaving school; a new +existence is opening before me; my journal will be overflowing, and I +shall have no lack of matter, but plenty of charming things to say. + +The prince and princess are so kind to me; they have obtained permission +from my parents for me to pass the winter with them, and they will +introduce me into society. I shall leave this place day after to-morrow, +and will reside with the Princess Lubomirska. I am quite sorry to part +from Madame Strumle and my companions, to many of whom I am sincerely +attached, but my joy is greater than my sorrow, for I shall see the +world, and fly away from this narrow cage. + +I shall be taken to court and presented to the king and the royal +family; the Duke of Courland is expected daily; I shall see him at last! + +The days have become intolerably long since I knew I was to leave +school. + + +WARSAW, Saturday, _December 28th, 1759_. + +Never, never can I forget this day. The Princess Lubomirska came for me +quite early. I bade adieu to Madame Strumle and my companions. I was +glad to go, and yet I wept when I parted from them! + +Before going to her own house, the princess took me to church; but I +could scarcely force my recollection; there was a whole future in my +brain, a whole world in my thoughts. + +I am now established with the princess; her palace is situated in the +quarter named after Cracow, nearly opposite to the residence of the +Prince Palatine of Red-Russia, Czartoryski. + +The palace in which we live is not very large, but very elegant; the +windows upon one side overlook the Vistula and a handsome garden. My +chamber is delightful, and will be still more agreeable in summer; it +communicates on the right with the apartments of the princess, and on +the left with my waiting maid's room. + +The tailor came yesterday to take my measure; he is to make me several +dresses. I do not know what they will be, as the princess has ordered +them without consulting my taste. She inspires me with so much respect, +or perhaps awe, that I do not venture to ask her the least question. I +am much less afraid of the prince; his manners are so gentle and +engaging. He has gone to Bialystok, where he expects to meet the Duke of +Courland; he is in high favor with the duke. + +We are to make some visits to-morrow, when the princess will introduce +me into some of the most distinguished houses; one must thus make one's +appearance, if one desires to be invited to balls and parties. I am +glad, and yet I am a little frightened at the idea of these visits: I +shall be so looked at, perhaps criticized; however, I shall see many new +things and will have much to observe, which thought affords me much +consolation in my new and trying position. + +Sunday, _December 29th_. + +At least, now I have some news to tell, and my journal will no longer be +so dry and uninteresting. The prince royal, accompanied by the prince +palatine, arrived yesterday about one o'clock. Indeed I am quite +confused by the palatine's overwhelming kindness; he received me as if I +had been his daughter, and there is no kind of friendship or interest +which he has not testified toward me. + +We accomplished our visits and went to about fifteen different houses, +but were not everywhere admitted. At the French and Spanish ambassadors' +and the prince primate's, etc., the princess merely left cards. + +Our first visit was to Madame Humiecka, wife of the swordbearer to the +crown; this lady is my aunt. We then went to see the Princess +Lubomirska, wife of the general of the advance guard of the royal +armies; she is a full cousin to the princess palatine. She was born a +Princess Czartoryska, is very young and very beautiful; she holds the +first rank among the younger ladies, and loves passionately everything +French. I am so glad I am a proficient in the French language; besides +being very useful, it will cause me to be much more sought after in +society. + +French is here spoken in nearly all the more distinguished houses; only +the older men retain the tiresome custom of mingling Latin in their +conversation; the young people avoid this pedantry and speak French, +which is much better; at least, I can understand them, which I cannot +the others. + +We also went to see the wife of the Grand-General Branicki. Her husband +is one of the most wealthy lords of Poland, but is not very favorably +regarded at court. + +We then visited the Princess Czartoryska, Palatiness of Red-Russia. The +conversation there was held entirely in Polish; she is quite aged, and +consequently no admirer of new fashions. She introduced to us her only +son, a very handsome young man, with polished and elegant manners; he +overwhelmed me with the most graceful compliments. This visit was more +agreeable than any of the others. But no--I think I was quite as much +pleased at the palace of the Castellane of Cracow, Poniatowska. She is +a very superior person; she talks a great deal, it is true, but then she +speaks with enthusiasm and in a very interesting manner. We found her +quite elated with the pleasure of welcoming her son after a long +absence. Many think that this much-loved son may one day be king of +Poland; I do not believe that will ever be, but I did not the less +examine him with great attention. I frankly confess that I was not +pleased with him, and yet he is handsome and amiable; but he has a kind +of stiffness in his manners, a pretension to dignity and to airs of +grandeur, which injure his bearing. + +I must not forget, in enumerating our visits, to mention that paid to +the Palatiness of Podolia, Rzewuska. This visit possessed a doubled +interest for me; I was anxious to see Rzewuski, the vice-grand-general +of the crown, because I had heard my father speak of him so often. + +The vice-grand-general, although belonging to an illustrious family, was +brought up among the children of the common people; he went barefooted +as they did, and shared all their pleasures (very rustic indeed, it +seems to me). This strange education has given him great strength and a +wonderful constitution. He is now quite aged; he is more than fifty +years old, and yet he walks and rides like a young man. Following the +old Polish custom, he permits his beard to grow, and this gives him a +very grave appearance. + +They say he has composed some very fine tragedies. We also called upon +Madame Bruehl, who received us most politely. Her husband, the king's +favorite minister, is not much esteemed, but they are visited for the +sake of etiquette, and likewise for that of Madame Bruehl, who is very +amiable. + +We saw too Madame Soltyk, Castellane of Sandomir; she is a widow, but +still young and beautiful. Her son is nine years old; he is a charming +child, already possessing all the manners of the best society. As we +entered, he offered me a chair, and made me, at the same time, a very +graceful compliment; the castellane was kind enough to say that he was a +great admirer of pretty faces and black eyes. The Bishop of Cracow is +this child's uncle; he was anxious to have the charge of him, but his +mother was not willing to part with him. + +Of all the persons whom I saw, I was the most pleased with Madame +Moszynska, the widow of the grand-treasurer of the crown. She received +me most affectionately, and I feel a strong attraction toward her. She +expressed much admiration for me; but indeed, I received commendation +everywhere, and everywhere did I hear that I was beautiful. Perhaps I +owe a great part of these praises to my costume; I was so well +dressed! ... much better than at Barbara's wedding! I wore a white silk +dress with gauze flounces, and my hair was dressed with pearls. + +If I had seen the Duke of Courland, I should have been perfectly +satisfied; but I met him in none of the houses to which I went. They say +he is so happy to be once more with his family that he devotes all his +time to them. This feeling seems very natural to me, for when I was at +boarding school, I was very melancholy whenever I thought of my parents, +and I felt an imperative desire to see them, surpassing anything I had +before experienced. + +The carnival will soon begin; every one says it will be very brilliant, +and that there will be many balls; it is impossible that I should not +somewhere meet the Duke of Courland. + + +Wednesday, _January 1st, 1750_. + +All my desires have been gratified, and far beyond my hopes; I have seen +the prince royal! I have seen and spoken to him! ... I must indeed be +dreaming; my mind is filled with the most lively impressions, strange +and wild fancies surge through my brain, and I feel at once exalted and +depressed, transported with joy and tremulous through fear. I would not +dare to confide to any one that which I am about to write; it is all +perhaps only illusion, deception, error.... But yet, I have always +hitherto judged correctly of the effect which I produced; I +instinctively divined the degree in which I pleased; I have never been +deceived; can I be mistaken now? ... And indeed, why should not a prince +find me beautiful, when all other men tell me that I am so? But there +was more than admiration in the prince royal's eyes, which have a +peculiarly penetrating expression; his look was more kind than ordinary +glances, and said more than any words. Perhaps all princes may be thus! + +But that I may remember during my whole life, or rather that I may one +day read all this again, I will now write down a detailed account of +last evening and of the few hours immediately preceding. + +Yesterday morning the Princess Lubomirska sent for me and said, 'To-day +is the last of the year, and there will be to-night a grand festival, a +masked ball; all the nobility will be there, and even the king and his +sons; at least, I think so. I have selected a dress for you; you will go +as a virgin of the sun.' + +I was so charmed with the choice of this costume, that I kissed the hand +of the princess. + +After dinner all the maids came to assist at my toilet, and most +assuredly it was no ordinary toilet. My hair was not powdered and I wore +no hoop, whence the prince said to me, quite gravely, 'This costume is +not at all in accordance with received notions and fashions; any other +woman would certainly be lost were she to wear it; but I am sure you +will supply by the severity of your deportment and the propriety of your +manners whatever may be lacking in dignity, or too light, in your +dress.' + +I did not forget his advice: notwithstanding my vivacity, I can assume +upon occasion a very majestic air; and indeed, I overheard some one +saying at the ball, 'Who is that queen in disguise?' + +Ah! I know that I was more beautiful than I usually am. My hair, without +powder and black as ebony, fell in curls over my forehead, my neck, and +my shoulders; my dress was made of white gauze, and had not that long +train which hides the feet and impedes the motions. I wore a zone of +gold and precious stones round my waist, and was entirely enveloped in a +transparent white veil; I seemed to be in a cloud. When I looked in my +mirror, I could scarcely recognize myself. + +The ball room, brilliantly lighted, and glittering with gold and the +most gorgeous costumes, presented a dazzling spectacle; the women, +nearly all robed in fancy dresses, were charming; I did not know to +which one I should give the preference. + +A few moments after our arrival, we learned that the Duke of Courland +was in the hall; my eyes sought and found him, surrounded by a brilliant +group of young men. His dress differed but little from that of the lords +of his court; but I could distinguish him among them all. His figure is +tall and dignified, his air noble and affable; his beautiful blue eyes +and his charming smile eclipse all that approach him; where he is, no +one can see anything but himself. + +I looked at him until our eyes met; then I avoided his gaze, but found +it always fixed upon me. But what was my confusion when I understood +that he was asking the Prince Palatine Lubomirski who I was! His face +lighted up with joy when he heard the answer; be made no delay in +approaching the Princess Lubomirska, and saluted her with a grace +peculiar to himself. After the exchange of the preliminary compliments, +the princess introduced me as her niece. I do not know what kind of a +courtesy I made, doubtless quite different from that which I had learned +from my dancing master; I was so agitated, and still am so much so, +that I cannot remember the words used by the prince as he saluted me; +but the impression is not fugitive like the words. + +What an evening! The prince opened the ball with the princess +palatiness, and danced the second polonaise--with me; he had then time +to speak to me; and I, at first so timid, embarrassed, and agitated, +found myself replying to him with inconceivable assurance. He questioned +me about my parents, my sister the starostine, and all the details of +her marriage. I was surprised to find him so well acquainted with my +family affairs; but then I remembered that Kochanowski, son of the +castellan, is his favorite. What a good, forgiving soul that Kochanowski +must have; not only has he digested the goose dressed with the black +sauce, but he has said so many kind things of us all! + +The prince danced with me nearly the whole evening, and talked all the +time ... The words would seem insignificant and absurd, were I to write +them down; but with him, tone, manner, expression, all speak and say +more than words, and yet his very words signify more, depict better, and +penetrate more deeply than those of others. I keep them in my memory, +and fear to weaken their impression should I write them. + +When, at midnight, the cannon were fired to announce the end of one year +and the beginning of another, the prince said to me, 'Ah! never can I +forget the hours I have just passed; this is not a new year which I am +beginning, but a new life which I am receiving.' + +This is but one of the many things he said to me; but as he always spoke +French, I should find great difficulty, in my present agitated state of +mind, in translating his conversation into Polish. + +All that I have read in Mademoiselle Scudery, or in Madame de Lafayette, +is flat, compared with what the prince himself said to me; but perhaps +this may all be nothing more than simple politeness. Ah! merciful +Heaven, if it should be indeed an illusion, a mere court flattery, +applicable to all women, or, perhaps,--a series of empty compliments, +due solely to my dress, which became me wonderfully well! I am a prey to +the most inconceivable perplexities, and dare confide in no one; I +should not venture to say to any one: 'Has he a real preference for me?' + +My parents are far away, and the princess does not invite my confidence; +I fear her as a cold, severe, and uninterested judge.... The prince +palatine is very kind, but can one expose to a man all the weakness of a +woman's heart? ... I am then abandoned to myself, without a standard of +judgment, without experience or advice.... Yesterday, I was at school, +studying as a child, and now I am thrown into a world entirely new, and +in which I am playing a part envied by all my sex.... I surely dream, or +I have lost my reason. + +In ten days Barbara will be here, and she must be my good angel; she +will guide and protect me: she is so wise, and has so much judgment! I +will be so glad to lay my soul bare before her; I have no fear of her, +she is so compassionate; she is beautiful and happy, and I have always +remarked that such women are the best. + +I have not seen my dear sister for nine months; but I see from her +letters that she is every day more and more loved by her husband, and +satisfied with her destiny. + +Shall I again see the prince royal? Will he recognize me in my ordinary +dress, and will he still think me beautiful?... + + + + +MAIDEN'S DREAMING. + + + Fast the sunset light is fading, + Nearer comes the lonely night, + On a maid intently dreaming + Dimly falls the evening light. + + Far into the future gazing, + Heeds she not the waning light; + By the fireside softly dreaming, + Heeds she not the minutes' flight. + + Heeds she not the firelight flickering + Bright upon her dark brown hair, + Tresses where the gold still lingers-- + Loth to quit a home so fair. + + On her lap a book is lying, + Clasped her hands upon her knee; + Dreaming of the distant future-- + Wonders what her fate will be. + + Dreams of knights of manly bearing, + Nodding plumes and shining casques, + Wearing all her favorite colors, + Quick to do whate'er she asks. + + Dreams of castles old and stately, + Vaulted halls all life and light, + Courtly nobles stepping through them, + Smiling dames with jewels bright. + + Round her own brow, in her dreaming, + She a coronet has bound; + Round her waist, so lithe and slender, + Venus' girdle she has wound. + + Charms the knights of manly bearing, + Courtly nobles seek her grace, + Maidens free from envious passions + Love her kind and smiling face. + + Now her dreams are growing fainter, + And her eyelids heavy grow; + Dull the waning firelight flickers + On her brow as white as snow. + + Lower droop the heavy eyelids-- + Weary eyes they cover quite-- + And the dreamy girl is sleeping + Softly in the red firelight. + + + + +THIRTY DAYS WITH THE SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT. + + +The 71st Regiment N.Y.S.N.G. left New York to aid in repelling the +invasion of Pennsylvania on the 17th of June. On the 19th, having +meantime determined to 'go to the wars,' Dick and I presented ourselves +at the armory, inquiring whether we could follow and join the regiment, +and were told briefly to report there at one o'clock on Monday next, and +go on with a squad. + +So at one o'clock on Monday we stood ready in the armory, duly clothed +in blue and buttons; but long after the appointed hour we waited without +moving, I taking the chance to practise in putting on my knapsack and +accoutrements, whose various straps and buckles seemed at first as +intricate as a ship's rigging, and benefiting by the kindly hints of +regular members who sent substitutes this trip. + +At length came the word, 'Fall in,' and the squad formed, about a +hundred. A few minutes' drill ensued, sufficing to show me that I needed +considerably more, and then out--down Broadway to Cortlandt +street--aboard the ferry boat--into the cars, and about half past seven +actually off, amid the cheers and wavings of the bystanders, men, women, +and children. + +'Gone for a soger!' Should I ever come back? Perhaps I should wish +myself home again soon enough. However, that couldn't be now, so good-by +everything and everybody, and into it head and heels. + +I went, among other reasons, chiefly to see _what it was like_, and I +will record my experience;--for though, since the war began, tales and +sketches of military life have been written and read without number, and +we have all become sufficiently learned in warlike matters to see how +ignorant of, and unprepared for war the nation was at the outbreak of +the rebellion; yet, all I saw and learned was new to me, and may prove +interesting to some others. + +Tuesday morning by daylight we were in Harrisburg, and marched from the +cars to the Capitol grounds through the just awaking town, escorted by +one policeman armed with a musket. There a wash at a hydrant refreshed +me--then to breakfast in a temporary shed-like erection near the depot. + +An army breakfast! Huge lumps of bread and salt junk, and coffee. To +this I knew it must come; but just then, after spending the night in the +cars, the most I could do was to swallow some coffee, scorning however +to join those who dispersed through the town for a civilized +breakfast--wherein I intended to be soldierly, though before long I +learned that your old soldier is the very man who goes upon the plan of +snatching comfort whenever he can. + +But the regiment was at Chambersburg; so for Chambersburg we took the +cars, a distance, I believe, of about fifty miles. + +Chambersburg, however, we were not destined to reach. Along the route we +met all sorts of rumors: 71st cut up; six men in the 8th killed; +fighting still going on a little in front, &c., &c.;--a prospect of +immediate work. So in ignorance and doubt we came to Carlisle. Here we +were greeted by part of the 71st, and the truth proved to be that the +8th and 71st had retreated to this place the night before. 'Not, not the +six hundred,' however, for the left wing of our regiment had somehow +been left behind, and nothing was certainly known of it. At all events, +we were to go no farther, and out of the cars we came. Old members +exchanged greetings, and recruits made acquaintances. + +But what were we going to do? I could not learn. We waited, having +stacked arms, some sleeping beneath the trees in the College grounds, +until the lieutenant-colonel appeared upon the scene. Then we marched, +back and forth; toward the cars--'going back to Harrisburg;' past the +cars--'no, not to Harrisburg'--through the main street, and turned away +from the town, still unconscious of officers' intentions. We privates +never know anything of plans or objects. We never know where we are +going till we get there, nor what we are to do till we do it, and then +we don't know what we are going to do next. I soon got used to this; and +although conjectures and prophecies fly through the ranks, of all kinds, +from shrewd to ridiculous, I very early learned it was sheer bother of +one's brains attempting to discover anything, and ceased to ask +questions or form theories--getting up when I heard 'Company I, fall +in,' without seeking to know whether it was for march, drill, picket +duty, or what not. Company officers seldom know more about the matter +than their men, and I speedily came to content myself with trying to +extract from past work and present position some general notion of the +'strategy' of our movements. Nor is this ignorance wholly unblissful, as +leaving always room for hope that the march is to be short or the coming +work pleasant. Well, in the present case, just out of the town we halted +in the Fair grounds; an ample field, a high tight face around it, a +large shed in the centre. We all stacked arms--most went to sleep. I +always took sleep when I could, because, in a regiment constantly on the +move as ours was, if you don't want it now, you will before long. + +By and by, in came the left wing, weary but safe, and were greeted with +three tremendous cheers. I hastened to find Company I. The first +lieutenant had come on with us--the captain I had not yet seen. To him I +was now introduced. + +Very soon the Fair ground was a camp; we on one side--the 8th N.Y., +Colonel Varian, opposite. Tents were up, fires blazing, and cooking and +eating going on. As I had not started with the regiment, I had no tent, +and none could be had here, so my camping consisted of piling my traps +in a heap. But I needed none, and indeed, throughout the whole time was +under one but twice. Tents are all very well, when you are quietly +encamped for any length, of time; but when, as with us, you are on the +more continually, I consider them a humbug and nuisance. You must carry +half a one all day, and at night join it with your comrade's half. The +common shelter tent, which is the only one that can be so carried, is a +poor protection against heavy rain, for the water can beat in at the +sides and form pools beneath you; against midday sun you can guard with +a blanket and two muskets, and at any other time you need no shelter. + +That night I went on guard. Two hours you watch, four for sleep, and +then two hours you watch again. All quiet, save that two or three +prisoners are brought in from the front to be deposited in limbo, and +gazed at in the morning by recruits who have never seen a live rebel. + +The most surprising thing I learned in these first days, was that +everything one has will certainly be stolen by his own regiment, even by +his own company, if he does not watch it carefully. This practice is +styled '_winning_.' It is simple, naked stealing, in no wise to be +excused or palliated, and utterly disgraceful. It imposes, moreover, the +grievous nuisance of remaining to guard your property when you would be +loafing about, or of carrying everything--no light load--with you, +wherever you go. Of course, all colonels should prevent this, and one of +any force and energy could easily do so; but Colonel ---- is not of that +kind. An excellent company officer, as I judge, he has not the activity +and nerve required in the commander of a regiment, and many a wish did +I hear expressed in those thirty days that his predecessor, Colonel +Martin, were still in command. Confidence in his bravery before the +enemy, was universal; but many things necessary to the decorum, +discipline, health, &c., of the regiment devolve duties finally upon the +colonel, for whose discharge other qualities than bravery are needed. + +The next afternoon, the 24th, our laziness is disturbed by orders to +take three days' rations; our knapsacks are to be sent to Harrisburg; we +are to pack up everything, to be ready to move, Nobody knows, of course, +what it means; but a decided conviction prevails that 'something heavy +is up.' Presently a hollow square is 'up,' formed of the 8th and +ourselves, field officers in the centre. Colonel Varian advances. +Unquestionably a speech. Perhaps a few Napoleonic words on the eve of +battle. No; Colonel Varian wishes to explain that it was nobody's fault +that our left wing was deserted at Chambersburg, in order to prevent ill +feeling between the regiments. He does so, and appeals to our +lieutenant-colonel. Our lieutenant-colonel verifies and indorses. +Perfectly satisfactory; in evidence of which the two commands exchange +cheers. + +Henceforth we and the 8th are fast friends. We have other friends +also--Captain Miller's battery, of Pennsylvania, has been in front with +us, and though out for 'the emergency,' declares it will stay as long as +the 71st. So we all fraternize, hailing any member as '8th,' '71st,' or +'Battery,' and cheer when we pass each other. The 8th are good cheerers, +and though we outnumbered them, I think they outdid us in three times +three and a 'tiger,' the inevitable refrain. The 'tiger' (sounding +tig-a-h-h) is the test of a cheer. If the cheer be a spontaneous burst +of hearty good feeling, the tiger concentrates its energy, and is full +and prolonged--if it be only the cheer courteous or the cheer civil, the +tiger will fall off and die prematurely. + +Just at dark we left camp, passed rapidly through the town, along the +turnpike about two miles, and halted in a cornfield beside the road, +where we formed line of battle. We received orders to 'load at will,' +and fire low. The 8th were on the opposite side of the road, and their +battery somewhere near us. After some time, nobody appearing, permission +was given to thrust our muskets by the bayonets in the ground; and soon +after, one by one, the men dropped off asleep. The evening had been +extremely sensational. The sudden departure, the rapid march, whither +and for what we knew not, yet full of momentary expectation; the orders +and preparations indicating the imminence of grim, perhaps ghastly work, +in the night hours; the line of men, stretching beyond sight in the +darkness, far from home, and, it might be, near to death, sleeping yet +waiting:--the total was singularly impressive. + +Nevertheless, I too was soon asleep, and slept undisturbed till morning. +Then, rebels or no rebels, we must have breakfast. There was none to be +had in the regiment; but the farmhouses supplied us, and an ancient dame +intermitted packing her goods for flight, to cook the pork which made +part of my three days' rations. Then I stretched myself beneath the +shade of a roadside house within sound of orders, and having nothing +else on hand, went to sleep again. + +I was now broken in. Camp rations I could eat; camp coffee, though +always _sans_ milk and often _sans_ sugar, I deemed good; a wash was a +luxury, not a necessity; and I could sleep anywhere. + +When I was aroused, I found a barricade thrown up across the road, and a +force of contrabands digging a trench across the field. A cavalry picket +reported the enemy within half a mile, advancing. The citizens came out +from Carlisle to aid us, and we went in line into the trenches. Two men +were detailed from each company to carry off the wounded; the red +hospital flag fluttered upon a house behind us, and the colonel, +passing in front, told us they were very near, and exhorted us not to +let them pass. But the day wore on to evening, and no rebels appeared, +and at dark we moved again. Starting in a heavy rain, we marched nine +miles to the borders of a town known as New Kingston. Here we halted +while quarters were hunted up. Every man, tired with the rapid walking +through rain and mud, squatted at once in the road, no matter where, and +then along the whole column singing began. A soldier will sing under all +circumstances, comfortable or uncomfortable. + +At length we moved into the town and took possession of a church, +distributing ourselves in aisles, pews, and pulpit. What little remained +of the night, we were glad to have in quiet. It had been questionable +whether we could reach Kingston, for on the march it was rumored that we +were flanked; and a man, emerging from the shade as we passed, had asked +a question of the chaplain, and, receiving no answer, had retreated a +few yards, and fired his piece in the air, which looked very like a +signal. The next morning, the 26th, we went into camp in woods just in +front of the town, while the general and the surgeon established +headquarters in the town. + +Here we repeated substantially the programme of the day before, except +that continuous rain was substituted for the baking sun, and proved far +more endurable. + +On the afternoon of the 27th we marched some seven or eight miles, and +encamped at night in Oyster Point, about two miles from Harrisburg. + +Sunday! the 28th of June. My first Sunday with the regiment. No rumors +of the enemy reach us, and to us privates the prospect is of a quiet +day. The boys gather round the chaplain for divine service. And as for a +few minutes we renew our connection with civilization, and, amid stacked +arms, tents, camp fires, and the paraphernalia of war, sing psalms and +hymns, and listen to the chaplain's prayer, I decide that this surpasses +all luxury possible in camp. I shall never forget that 'church.' + +But no Sunday in camp. Hardly were the services concluded, when we went +forward a little to an orchard, and then line of battle again. This +performance of 'laying for a fight' which never came, had by this time +grown tame, in fact intolerably stupid, and I for one was growing tired +of sitting in silence, when boom! crash! a cannon shot in front of us, +the smoke visible too, curling above the woods, and showing how near it +had been fired. A smothered 'Ah!' and 'Now you've got it, boys,' went +through the ranks. It was no humbug this time. The rebels were shelling +the woods as they advanced. + +But it appeared we were not to receive them at that spot, for suddenly +we were ordered off again, and marched across lots, to the destruction +of many a bushel of wheat, clear into the intrenchments in front of +Harrisburg. There for the remainder of the day we waited in line. Other +regiments, we knew not what, were near us in different positions. The +signal flags were waving, and officers galloping by constantly, of whom +the quartermaster was hailed with shouts of 'Grub, grub.' + +That night my company and two others went out on picket, taking position +near our camp of the day before. In the morning we advanced a little to +a lane--a cobbler's stall was converted into headquarters, and the half +of the company not on duty went foraging for dinner. Pigs and chickens +were captured, and cooking began in the kitchen of a deserted house +close by. Apple butter, too, the prevalent institution in Pennsylvania, +was found in plenty. So the two halves of the company relieved each +other in standing guard and picnicking. Meantime, however, the rebels, +from the woods just in front, were paying their respects with two-inch +shell, which shrieked and crashed through the branches, bursting over +us, around us, and many of them altogether too near to be pleasant. +Moreover, by one of those blunders which cannot always be avoided, some +of our own men, mistaking us, opened fire on our rear; but to this a +stop was speedily put by a flag of truce, improvised from a ramrod and a +white handkerchief. We were allowed to fire only three or four volleys +in return. This skirmishing tries courage, I believe, more than a +pitched battle. To lie on the ground for hours, two or three miles in +front of your main body, ten feet from the nearest man, and be fired at +without firing yourself or making any noise, is a different thing from +standing in your place amid the throng and all the noise, excitement, +and enthusiasm of a battle, earnestly occupied in firing as fast as you +can. In a battle all the circumstances combine to produce high +excitement and drive fear out of a man, leaving room only for that kind +of courage properly called fearlessness or _intrepidity_, belonging to +men like Governor Pickens, 'born insensible to fear.' But the highest +grade of courage is that which, despite of fear, stands firm. That is +the courage of principle, of _morale_, as opposed to purely physical +courage. It is the last degree--at the next step we rise into heroism. + +In the afternoon we were relieved by a Pennsylvania company, and as we +retired in full sight of the rebels, the rascals yelled at us, and gave +us several volleys, from which it is wonderful that every man escaped. + +That evening we moved to the extreme rear, into Fort Washington, on the +bank of the river in front of Harrisburg. Here it was said our advance +work was over, and we were promised comfortable quarters and rest. + +Any one nowadays can see a camp, but only one who has seen it can +understand how picturesque it is. The night scene at Harrisburg was +beautiful in the extreme. Behind us slept the city--we guarded it in +front, and the river rolled between. The moonlight, illuminating a most +exquisite scenery, between the foliage gave glimpses of that placid +stream, and shone upon the tents and bayonets of some six thousand men +within the formidable works; the expiring fires sent up wreaths of +smoke; grim guns looked over the ramparts down the gentle slope in front +and up the beautiful Cumberland Valley; and only the occasional call of +the sentry for the corporal of the guard broke the serene stillness. + +Here were our friends of the 8th, and here we regained our knapsacks. +Many of them had been 'gone through,' and everything 'won.' The 56th and +22d New York, the 23d and 18th Brooklyn, besides others, were encamped +inside. + +Here we were sworn into the United States service for thirty days from +the 17th June. + +On Wednesday, July 1st, all our prospect of camp life, with its +regularity of drill, inspection, and, above all, of rations, was dashed +by orders to move in the morning to Carlisle. General Knipe, riding +through camp, was asked where he was going to take us. 'Right into the +face of the enemy,' said he. 'Hi, hi!' shouted the men. + +So away we went again. I was detailed to guard baggage, and remained, +loading wagons, &c., subject to the quartermaster, and went on in the +cars to Carlisle, where, on the evening of the 3d, I joined the regiment +when it came in. + +Since we left Carlisle the rebels had been there and burned the +barracks. They had shelled the town the night before, and the 37th had +had a sharp skirmish with them. + +On the morning of the 4th July we started about ten thousand strong--a +movement in force. The battle of Gettysburg had been fought, the danger +to Harrisburg was past, and, without knowing exactly where we were +bound, it was plain that we were to cooperate with Meade. That day we +made a long march. Our knapsacks were left behind. The first six miles +were well enough. We move on slowly, the sun overclouded, the road good, +and marching, as always is allowed on a long march (save when we pass +through a town), without order or file. The men talk, laugh, and sing, +get water and tobacco from the roadside dwellers, and chaff them with +all sorts of absurd questions. The first six miles are pleasant. At the +foot of the South Mountains we rest. This is Papertown. Papertown, as +far as visible, consists of one house. From the piazza of said house, an +8th makes a speech: I am not near enough to hear, but suppose it funny, +for colonels and all laugh. Some go to eating, some to sleep, some take +the chance, as is wise, to wash their feet at the stream below, the best +preventive of blisters. + +In an hour it begins to rain, and we start to go through the Gap, along +which we meet squads of prisoners and deserters from Lee's army. Eleven +miles through that rain. I have never seen such rain before; it is +credited to the cannonading which for days past has been going on all +around. Trudge, trudge; in fifteen minutes soaked through, in half an +hour walking in six inches of water, in two hours walking in six inches +of mud. Then throw away blankets and overcoats--men fall behind done +up--men can go no farther for sore feet. + +At Pine Grove, that night, Company I, out of seventy men, musters thirty +at roll call. The different regiments scatter over half a mile of +ground. Every fence about is converted into fuel. The cattle and hogs in +the fields are levied upon--shot, dressed, cooked, and eaten. There is +nothing else to be had, and the wagons cannot follow us for some time +over such roads. So officers shut their eyes. It rains still, but we can +be no wetter than we are, so we lie down and take it. This is our +glorious Fourth! + +In the morning--Sunday morning again--there is nothing to eat. In the +town, which comprises half a dozen houses and an old foundery, the +answer is, 'The rebels has eat us all out.' A few secure loaves of +bread, paying as high as a dollar; another few boil what coffee they had +carried with them and contrived to save from the rain. The rest have +nothing. Henceforth the order of the day is march and starve, and the +story is only of ceaseless fatigue, hunger, and rain. Thus far we have +stood stiff and taken it cheerfully. There was growling before we got +through. + +Off again over the mountains. + +If I have enough to eat, I can stand anything--if not, I break down. In +two miles I 'caved in.' The captain thought the regiment would return +shortly. So I staid behind. On Monday afternoon, however, they had not +come back, and I started after them. I got a meal and passed the night +in a house on the mountain, and, after some sixteen miles' walking, +caught them on the broad turnpike the next day, and marched some seven +miles farther, to Funkstown, Pennsylvania. + +Here an episode. As we started the next morning (in the rain, of +course), I was sent to the rear to report to a sergeant. The sergeant, +with nine besides me, reported to the brigade quartermaster. The +quartermaster distributed the ten, with an equal number of the 23d, +through ten army wagons, to drive and guard. We went through +Chambersburg to Shippensburg, where we loaded with provisions. Here I +heard abundance of the doings of the rebels, who loaded seven hundred +wagons at this place. I bought Confederate money and got meals at a +hotel--at my own expense. + +On Friday evening, the 10th, we rejoined the column at Waynesboro', a +welcome arrival, for grub was terribly scarce. Here was the Sixth Corps, +Army of the Potomac, under General Neal--'Bucky Neal,' a 'Potomaker' +called him. For a time we belonged to it, and adorned our caps with the +badge of the corps, cut out of cracker. + +On Saturday evening we crossed the line into Maryland, fording the +Antietam creek, the bridge over which the rebs had burned; and Sunday we +footed it back and forth over roads and across lots, bringing up at +Cavetown. + +'Earthquakes, as usual,' wrote Lady Sale, in her 'Diary.' 'Rain, as +usual,' wrote we. And such rain! They do a heavy business in rain in +that region, and in thunder and lightning, too. I have heard Western +thunder storms described, but I doubt if they surpass such as are common +beneath these mountains. Four poor fellows of the 56th, who were sitting +beneath a tree, were struck by lightning--one of them killed. + +On Monday we camped at Boonsboro', and on Tuesday beside a part of +Meade's army. When I saw all the wagons here, and what an immense job it +is to move any considerable force, with all the delays that may come +from broken wheels, lame horses, and bad roads, I could not but smile at +the military critics at home, who show you how general this should have +made a rapid movement so; or general that hurled a force upon that +point, &c. + +Here, near Boonsboro', on Tuesday night, the 14th, news of the riot in +New York reached us. The near approach of the expiration of our time had +already made much talk of home, and now anxiety was doubled. Rumors flew +through camp, and all ears and mouths were open, and before we settled +for the night it came. Orderlies carried directions through the ranks to +have all ready and clean up pieces to go home. + +In the morning our Battery friends came up to say good-by. Seventy-first +buttons were exchanged for their crossed-cannon badges, songs sung and +cheers given _ad lib_. + +Soon we all started, bound, we knew, for the cars at Frederick City. The +last march! It was very warm, and the road across the mountains often +steep, but there was little straggling. + +Most incidents of soldier life grow tame, but to the last the spectacle +of the column on march retained its impressiveness for me. + +We passed through Frederick just at dusk--ejaculating tenderly 'Ah! ah!' +as fair damsels waved handkerchiefs at us--and went out to the junction. +The cars were ready. We had done the last march. Twenty-five miles that +day! And I had gone through this month of walking without foot trouble, +for which I am indebted to my 'pontoons,' i.e., Government shoes. Take +them large enough, and they are the only things to walk in. + +Marching is the hardest thing I met with. I have always been a regular +and good walker. But ordinary walking is no preparation for marching. +The weight of musket and accoutrements, the dust (rain and mud in our +case), the inability to see before you, and the necessity of keeping up +in place, are all wearing and nervously exhausting. + +We did not get off at once. Red tape delayed us, and we growled +savagely. But we had plenty to eat, and a river beside us. So, bathing +and eating, we passed Thursday in sight of the train. At length red tape +was untied, and Thursday night the 8th and 71st set off, in cattle cars. +This time the advance was a privilege. In Baltimore we were beset by +women trying to sell cakes, and boys trying to beg cartridges. Along the +road we ate, smoked, and slept. In Philadelphia we had 'supper' in the +'United States Volunteers' Refreshment Saloon.' I remember a bright girl +there, who got me a second cup of coffee. + +And so, Saturday morning, the 18th, we took the boat at Amboy, within +two hours of home! But there was less hilarity than usual on the return +of a regiment. Our news from the city was not the latest, and our +grimmest work might be to come--and in New York! Woe to any show of a +mob we had met! The indignation was deep and intense. + +But in two minutes after we landed on the Battery, papers were +circulated through the ranks, and we knew all was quiet. + +So up Broadway. We were too early in the street to gather much of a +crowd. Those who were out hailed us heartily, and at the corner of Grand +street or thereabouts an ardent individual from a fourth-story window, +plying two boards cymbal-wise (_clap_-boards, say), initiated a +respectable noise. And so round the corner and into the armory at Centre +Market. The campaign was over, and a few days after we were paid off and +mustered out. + +As I said, I went to see what it was like, and I saw. It is a strange +life, but a wholesome one, if you get a tolerable sufficiency to eat, +and not too heavy a dose of marching. So severe a time as we had is +terribly _physical_, and benumbs the brain somewhat. The campaign was +short, but the utmost was crowded into those thirty days. + +The first portion was advance work, always arduous. General Knipe's work +was to check the rebel advance. He did so by going to the front and +meeting them, and then retreating slowly before them, making a stand and +demonstration of fight, at which their advance would fall back on the +main body, at whose approach he would up stakes, run a few miles, and +make another show. Thus he gained ten days' time, which enabled General +Couch, in command of the department, to fortify, and collect and +organize troops, and probably saved Harrisburg. And for the manner in +which he did it, without, too, the loss of a man, he deserves credit. + +On the whole, did I like it? Well, I am glad I have been. But the exact +answer to that question is a sentence of Winthrop's, in his paper +'Washington as a Camp': 'It is monotonous, it is not monotonous, it is +laborious, it is lazy, it is a bore, it is a lark, it is half war, half +peace, and totally attractive, and not to be dispensed with from one's +experience in the nineteenth century.' + + + + +REASON, RHYME, AND RHYTHM. + + +CHAPTER VI.--TRUTH AND LOVE. + + +The Divine Attributes, the base of all true Art. + +Art must be based upon a study of Nature, upon a clear and comprehensive +knowledge of natural laws. No man was ever yet a _great_ poet without +being at the same time a profound philosopher, for Poetry is the blossom +and fragrance of all human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions, +and human emotions. The poet must have the ability to observe things as +they really are, in order to depict them with accuracy, unchanged by any +passion in the mind of the describer, whether the things to be depicted +are actually present to the senses, or have a place only in the memory. + +Nature may be regarded either as the home of man, and consequently +associated with all the phases of his existence; or as an assemblage of +symbols, manifesting the thoughts of the Creator. In accordance with the +first view, the poet may give it its place in the different scenes of +human life, animated with our passions, sympathizing with us, and +expressing our feelings; in the second, he must try to interpret this +divine language, to seize the idea gleaming through the veil of the +material envelope, for there is an established harmony between material +nature and intellectual. Every thought has its reflection in a visible +object which repeats it like an echo, reflects it like a mirror, +rendering it sensible first to the senses by the visible image, then to +the thought by the thought. + +Genius is the instinct of discovering some more of the words in this +divine language of universal analogies, the key of which God alone +possesses, but some portions of whose stores he sometimes deigns to +unclose for man. Therefore in earlier times the Prophet, an inspired +poet; and the poet, an uninspired prophet--were both considered holy. +They are now looked upon as insane or useless; and indeed, this is but a +logical consequence of the so-called _utilitarian_ views. If only the +material and palpable part of nature which may be calculated, percented, +turned into gold, or made to minister to sensual pleasures, is to be +regarded with interest; if the lessons of the harvest, with its 'good +seed and tares,' and the angels, its reapers; the teachings of the +sparrow and the Divine Love which watched over them; the grass and the +lilies of the field clothed in splendor by their Creator, are to awaken +neither hope nor fear--then men are right in despising those who +preserve a deep reverence for moral beauty; the idea of God in his +creation; and respect the language of images, the mysterious relations +between the visible and invisible worlds. Is it asked what does this +language prove? The answer is, God and Immortality! Alas! they are worth +nothing on 'Change! + +Yet let him who would study his own happiness and well-being, follow the +advice given in the Good Book: + + 'Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it, _for it is very + beautiful_. + + 'It encompasseth the heavens about with the circle of its glory; + the hands of the Most High have displayed it.' + +As creation is symbolic, and the province of the poet is humbly to +imitate the works of the Great Artist, we must expect to find him also +make use of symbolic language, imagery. + +Metaphor (metaphero) is the application of a physical fact to the moral +order; the association of an external material fact to one internal and +intellectual. As this association is not reflective, but spontaneous, +and is found pervading the infancy of languages; as it is intuitively +and generally understood; it must take place in accordance with a mental +law which establishes natural relations of analogy between the moral +world and the physical. To become perceptible, thought must be imaged, +reflected upon a sensuous form; the definition by an image is generally +the most clear and complete. We may have clear enough ideas of some +invisible truth in our own minds, but if we would convey our conception +to another, we cannot give it to him by a pure idea, for then we would +still be in the internal world of intellect; we must go out from this +internal world, we must seek a sign in the physical world that he can +see and contemplate; we select some phenomenon which can be easily +observed, and in accordance with the law of analogy of which we have +just spoken, we associate our thought with it, and in this manner we can +clearly communicate the thought we have conceived. + +Almost all the ideas we have of the moral world are expressed through +metaphors: thus we say the _movements_ or _emotions_ of the soul; the +_clearness_ or _coloring_ of a style; the _heat_ or _warmth_ of a +discourse; the _hardness_ or _softness_ of the heart, &c., &c. Language +_expresses_ the invisible thought of the soul; in accordance with the +etymology of the word (exprimere) it _presses_ them from the soul, from +the realm of internal thought, to transport them to the visible sphere. +But the etymology itself is nothing but a metaphor, for the immaterial +facts of the soul always remain in their own region inaccessible to the +senses, and the instinctive facts of the organism always remain in the +visible world, so that there can be no actual passage from one to the +other, for an immaterial fact cannot be changed into a material +one:--association, simultaneousness, correlation may obtain between +them, but nothing more. + +Saint Thomas Aquinas asserts 'that in our present state of degradation +the intellect comprehends nothing without an image.' Language is in +reality the association of material facts to facts of the will, heart, +and intellect. Apparently insufficient to give a full idea of material +things alone, it would seem almost impossible that it should ever be +able to express the facts of the invisible world; but the human spirit, +in accordance with the mental law impressed upon it by the Hand Divine, +seizes the analogies of the _moral_ phenomena with the phenomena of +_nature_, and, seeing physical facts used as symbols by the Creator to +convey ethical, also instinctively uses them to express the facts of the +moral world; and thus is born the _human Word_ which, invisibly +ploughing the waves of the unseen air, can convey the most subtile +thought, the most evanescent shade of feeling, the wildest, darkest, and +deepest emotion. Language is man's expression of the finite, with its +infinite meanings modified by the extent of his intelligence and his +power of expression. It is truly a universal possession, but every man +gifts it with his own individualities, his own idiosyncrasies. The +style, one might almost say, is the man. + +Thus the imagery of language finds its base in the very essence of our +being. The poet is one gifted to seize upon these hidden analogies, to +read these mystic symbols, and, through the force of his own +imagination, to reveal them to his brethren in truth and love. + +The imagination has two distinct functions. It combines, and by +combination creates new forms; it penetrates, analyzes, and realizes +truths _discoverable by no other faculty_. + +An imagination of high power of combination seizes and associates at the +_same moment all_ the important ideas of its work or poem, so that while +it is working with any one of them, it is at the same instant working +with and modifying them all in their several relations to it. It never +once loses sight of their bearings upon each other--as the volition +moves through every part of the body of a snake at the same moment, +uncoiling some of its involute rings at the very instant it is coiling +others. This faculty is inconceivable, admirable, almost divine; yet no +less an operation is necessary for the production of any great work, for +by the definition of unity of membership above given, not only certain +couples or groups of parts, but _all_ the parts of a noble work must be +separately imperfect; each must imply and ask for all the rest; the +glory of every one of them must consist in its relation to the rest; +neither while so much as _one_ is wanting can _any_ be right. This +faculty is indeed something that looks as if its possessor were made in +the Divine image! + + 'The hand that rounded Peter's dome, + And groined the aisles of Christian Rome, + Wrought in a sad sincerity; + Himself from God he could not free; + He builded better than he knew;-- + The conscious stone to beauty grew.' + +EMERSON. + + +By the power of the combining imagination various ideas are chosen from +an infinite mass, ideas which are separately imperfect, but which shall +together be perfect, and of whose unity therefore the idea must be +formed at the very moment they are seized, as it is only in that unity +that their appropriateness consists, and therefore only the conception +of that unity can prompt the preference. Therefore he alone can conceive +and compose who sees the _whole_ at once before him. + +Shakspeare is the great example of this marvellous power. Not only is +every word which falls from the lips of his various characters true to +his first conception of them, so true that we always know how they will +act under any given circumstances, and we could substitute no other +words than the words used by them without contradicting our first +impression of them; but every character with which they come in contact +is not only ever true to itself, but is precisely of the nature best +fitted to develop the traits, vices, or virtues of the main figure. So +perfect and complete is this lifelike unity, that we can scarcely think +of one of his leading characters without recalling all those with whom +it is associated. If we name Juliet, for instance, not only is her idea +inseparable from that of Romeo, but the whole train of Montagues and +Capulets, Mercutio, Tybalt, the garrulous nurse, the lean apothecary, +the lonely friar, sweep by. What an exquisite trait of the poetic +temperament, tenderness, and human sympathies of this same lonely friar +is given us in his exclamation: + + 'Here comes the lady: O, so light a foot + Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint.' + +It also explains to us that it was the good friar's unconscious +affection for Juliet, the pure sympathies of a lonely but loving heart, +which so imprudently induced him to unite the unfortunate young lovers. +The men and women of Shakspeare live and love, and we cannot think of +them without at the same time thinking of those with whom they lived and +whom they loved. Indeed, when we can wrest any character in a drama from +those which surround it, and study it apart, the unity of the _whole_ is +but apparent, never vital. Simplicity, harmony, life, power, truth, and +love, are all to be found in any high work of the _associative_ +imagination. + +We now proceed to characterize the _penetrative_ imagination, 'which +analyzes and realizes truths discoverable by no other faculty.' Of this +faculty Shakspeare is also master. Ruskin, from whom we continue to +quote, says: It never stops at crusts or ashes, or outward images of any +kind, but ploughing them all aside, plunges at once into the very +central fiery heart; its function and gift are the getting at the root; +its nature and dignity depend on its holding things always _by the +heart_. Take its hand from off the beating of that, and it will prophesy +no longer; it looks not into the eyes, it judges not by the voice, it +describes not by outward features; all that it affirms, judges, or +describes, it affirms from _within_. There is _no reasoning_ in it; it +works not by algebra nor by integral calculus; it is a piercing +Pholas-like mind's tongue that works and tastes into the very +rock-heart; no matter what be the subject submitted to it, substance or +spirit, all is alike divided asunder, joint and marrow; whatever utmost +truth, life, principle it has laid bare, and that which has no truth, +life, nor principle, is dissipated into its original smoke at a touch. +The whispers at men's ears it lifts into visible angels. Vials that have +lain sealed in the sea a thousand years it unseals, and brings out of +them genii. + +Every great conception of Art is held and treated by this faculty. Every +character touched by men like AEschylus, Homer, Dante, or Shakspeare, is +by them held by the _heart_; and every circumstance or sentence of their +being, speaking, or seeming, is seized by a process from _within_, and +is referred to that inner secret spring of which the hold is never lost +for a moment; so that every sentence, as it has been thought out from +the heart, opens a way down to the heart, and leads us to the very +centre of life. Hence there is in every word set down by the Imagination +an awful undercurrent of meaning--an evidence and shadow upon it of the +deep places out of which it has come. + +In this it utterly differs from the Fancy, with which it is often +confounded. + +Fancy sees the outside, and is able to give a portrait of the outside, +clear, brilliant, and full of detail. The Imagination sees the heart and +inner nature, and makes them felt; but in the clear seeing of things +beneath, is often impatient of detailed interpretation, being sometimes +obscure, mysterious, and abrupt. Fancy, as she stays at the externals, +never feels. She is one of the hardest hearted of the intellectual +faculties; or, rather, one of the most purely and simply intellectual. +She cannot be made serious; no edge tools but she will play with; while +the Imagination cannot but be serious--she sees too far, too darkly, too +solemnly, too earnestly, to smile often! There is something in the heart +of everything, if we can reach it, at which we shall not be inclined to +laugh. Those who have the deepest sympathies are those who pierce +deepest, and those who have so pierced and seen the melancholy deeps of +things, are filled with the most intense passion and gentleness of +sympathy. The power of an imagination may almost be tested by its +accompanying degree of tenderness; thus there is no tenderness like +Dante's, nor any seriousness like his--such seriousness that he is quite +incapable of perceiving that which is commonplace or ridiculous. + +Imagination, being at the heart of things, poises herself there, and is +still, calm, and brooding; but Fancy, remaining on the outside of +things, cannot see them all at once, but runs hither and thither, and +round about, to see more and more, bounding merrily from point to point, +glittering here and there, but necessarily always settling, if she +settle at all, on a _point_ only, and never embracing the whole. From +these simple points she can strike out analogies and catch resemblances, +which are true so far as the point from which she looks is concerned, +but would be false, could she see through to the other side. This, +however, she does not care to do--the point of contact is enough for, +her; and even if there be a great gap between two things, she will +spring from one to the other like an electric spark, and glitter the +most brightly in her leaping. Fancy loves to follow long chains of +circumstance from link to link; but the Imagination grasps a link in the +middle that implies all the rest, and settles there. + + 'Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies, + [Imagination. + + The tufted crowtoe and pale jessamine, + [Nugatory. + + The white pink and the pansy streaked with jet, + [Fancy. + + The glowing violet, + [Imagination. + + The musk rose and the well attired woodbine, + [Fancy, vulgar. + + With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head, + [Imagination. + + And every flower that sad embroidery wears. + [Mixed. + + MILTON. + + + 'Oh, Proserpina, + For the flowers now that frighted thou lett'st fall + From Dis's wagon. Daffodils + That come before the swallow dare, and take + The winds of March with beauty. Violets, dim, + But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes + Or Cytherea's breath; pale primroses + That die unmarried, ere they can behold + Bright Phoebus in his strength, a malady + Most incident to maids.' + +Here the Imagination goes into the inmost soul of every flower, after +having touched them all with that heavenly timidness, the shadow of +Proserpine's; and, gilding them all with celestial gathering, never +stops on their spots or their bodily shape; while Milton sticks in the +stains upon them, and puts us off with that unhappy streak of jet in the +very flower that without this bit of paper staining would have been the +most precious to us of all. + + 'There is pansies--that's for thoughts.' + +Can the tender insight of the Imagination be more fully manifested than +in the grief of Constance? + + 'And, father cardinal, I have heard you say + That we shall see and know our friends in heaven: + If that be true, I shall see my boy again; + For, since the birth of Cain, the first male child, + To him that did but yesterday suspire, + There was not such a gracious creature born. + But now will canker sorrow eat my bud, + And chase the native beauty from his cheek; + And he will look as hollow as a ghost, + As dim and meagre as an ague's fit; + And so he'll die; and, rising so again, + When I shall meet him in the court of heaven + I shall not know him: therefore, never--never-- + Shall I behold my pretty Arthur more. + + * * * * * + + Grief fills the room up of my absent child, + Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me; + Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, + Remembers me of all his gracious parts, + Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form; + Then have I reason to be fond of grief. + + * * * * * + + O lord, my boy, my Arthur, my fair son! + My life, my joy, my food, my all the world! + My widow-comfort and my sorrow's cure.' + +This is the impassioned but simple eloquence of Nature, and Nature's +child: Shakspeare. + +In these examples the reader will not fail to remark that the +Imagination seems to gain much of its power from its love for and +sympathy with the objects described. Not only are the objects with which +it presents us _truthfully_ rendered, but always _lovingly_ treated. + +With the Greeks, the Graces were also the _Charities_ or _Loves_. It is +the love for living things and the sympathy felt in them that induce the +poet to give life and feeling to the plant, as Shelley to the 'Sensitive +Plant;' as Shakspeare, when he speaks to us through the sweet voices of +Ophelia and Perdita; as Wordsworth, in his poems to the Daisy, Daffodil, +and Celandine; as Burns in his Mountain Daisy. As a proof of the power +of the Imagination, through its _Truth,_ and _Love_, to invest the +lowest of God's creatures with interest, we offer the reader one of +these simple songs of the heart. + + +TO A MOUSE. + + +_On turning her up in her nest with the plough, +November, 1785._ + + Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie, + O, what a panic's in thy breastie! + Thou need na start awa sae hastie, + Wi' bickering brattle! + + I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, + Wi' murd'ring pattle! + + I'm truly sorry man's dominion + Has broken nature's social union, + An' justifies that ill opinion + Which makes thee startle + At me, thy poor earth-born companion + An' fellow mortal! + + I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve; + What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! + A daimen icher in a thrave + 'S a sma' request; + I'll get a blessin' wi' the lave + An' never miss't! + + Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin! + Its silly wa's the win's are strewin'! + An' naething, now, to big anew ane, + O' foppage green! + An' bleak December's winds ensuin', + Baith snell and keen! + + Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste, + An' weary winter comin' fast, + An' cozie here beneath the blast, + Thou thought to dwell, + Till crash! the cruel coulter past + Out thro' thy cell. + + That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble, + Has cost thee mony a weary nibble! + Now thou's turned out, for a' thy trouble, + Nor house nor hald, + To thole the winter's sleety dribble + An' cranreuch cold! + + But, mousie, thou art no thy lane, + In proving foresight may be vain: + The best laid schemes o' mice an' men + Gang aft agley, + An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, + For promised joy. + + Still thou art blest, compared with _me!_ + The _present_ only toucheth thee: + But och! I _backward_ cast my e'e, + On prospects drear; + An' _forward_, though I canna see, + I guess and fear! + +Poor Burns! Seventy years and more have passed since that cold November +morning on which he sang this simple and tender song, yet it is as fresh +in its rustic pathos, bathed in the quickening dews of the poet's heart, +as if it had sprung from the soul but an hour since: and fresh it will +still be long after the fragile hand now tracing this tribute to the +heart of love from which it flowed shall have been cold in an unknown +grave! + +Such poems are worth folios of the erudite and stilted pages which are +now so rapidly pouring their scoria around us. Men seem ashamed now to +be simply natural. Either they have ceased to love, or to believe in the +dignity of loving. The great barrier to all real greatness in this +present age of ours is the fear of ridicule, and the low and shallow +love of jest and jeer, so that if there be in any noble work a flaw or +failing, or unclipped vulnerable part where sarcasm may stick or stay, +it is caught at, pointed at, buzzed about, and fixed upon, and stung +into, as a recent wound is by flies, and nothing is ever taken seriously +or as it was meant, but always perverted and misunderstood. While this +spirit lasts, there can be no hope of the achievement of high things, +for men will not open the secrets of their hearts to us, if we intend to +desecrate the holy, or to broil themselves upon a fire of thorns. + +As the poet is full of love for all that God has made, because his +imagination enables him to seize it by the heart, he would in this love +fain gift the inanimate things of creation with life, that he might find +in them that happiness which pertains to the living; hence the constant +_personification_ of all that is in his pages. He personifies, he +individualizes, he gifts creation with life and passion, not willingly +considering any creature as subordinate to any purpose quite out of +itself, for then some of the pleasure he feels in its beauty is lost, +for his sense of its happiness is in that case destroyed, as its +emanation of inherent life is no longer pure. Thus the bending trunk, +waving to and fro in the wind above the waterfall, is beautiful because +it seems happy, though it is, indeed, perfectly useless to us. The same +trunk, hewn down and thrown across the stream, has lost its beauty. It +serves as a bridge--_it has become useful_, it lives no longer _for +itself_, and its pleasant beauty is gone, or that which it still retains +is purely typical, dependent on its lines and colors, not on its +functions. Saw it into planks, and though now fitted to become +permanently _useful_, its whole beauty is lost forever, or is to be +regained only in part, when decay and ruin shall have withdrawn it again +from _use_, and left it to receive from the hand of Nature the velvet +moss and varied lichen, which may again suggest ideas of inherent +happiness, and tint its mouldering sides with hues of life. For the +Imagination, unperverted, is essentially _loving_, and abhors all +utility based on the pain or destruction of any creature. It takes +delight in such ministering of objects to each other as is consistent +with the essence and energy of both, as in the clothing of the rock by +the herbage, and the feeding of the herbage by the stream. + +We have seen that the soul rejects exaggeration or falsehood in Art, and +indeed all high Art, that which men will not suffer to perish, has no +food, no delight, no care, no perception, except of truth; it is forever +looking under masks and burning up mists; no fairness of form, no +majesty of seeming will satisfy it; the first condition of its existence +is incapability of being deceived; and though it may dwell upon and +substantiate the fictions of fancy, yet its peculiar operation is to +trace to their farthest limits the _true laws_ and likelihoods even of +such fictitious creations. + +As to its love, that is not only seen in its wish and struggle to +quicken all with the warm throb of happy life, but is also clearly +manifested in the lingering over its creations with clinging fondness, +'hating nothing that it maketh,' pruning, elaborating, and laboring to +gift with beauty the works of its patient hands, finishing every line in +love, that it too may feel its creations to be 'good.' For Love not only +gives wings, but also vital heat and life, to Genius. + +Thus we again arrive at the fact that the two Divine attributes of Truth +and Love, in their finite form indeed, but still 'images,' are +absolutely necessary for the creation of any true work of Art. No work +can be great without their manifestation; unless they have brooded with +their silvery wings over its progress to perfection; and in exact +proportion to their manifestation will be its greatness. On these two +attributes in God repose in holy trust the universes He hath made; and +that which typifies or suggests His faithfulness and love to the soul +created to enjoy Him, must be a source, not only of Beauty, but of +Delight. + + 'For He made all things in wisdom; and Truth is perpetual and + immortal.' + + 'For Thou _lovest_ all things that are, and hatest none of the + things Thou hast made; for Thou didst not appoint or make anything, + hating it.' + +We make no attempt to give an enumeration of the attributes on which +Beauty is based; we would rather induce the reader to examine his +Maker's great Book of Symbols for himself. We hope we have turned his +attention to the fact that every Letter in this sacred Language is full +of meaning; enough to induce him to investigate the glorious mysteries +of the '_Open Secret_.' + +Whatever may be the decisions of the men of the senses, or the men of +the schools, let him fearlessly condemn any work in which he cannot find +wrought into its very heart suggestions or manifestations of the Divine +attributes, or an earnest effort on the part of its author, naive and +unconscious as it may be, to imitate the Spirit of the Great Artist. + +We have placed the Rosetta stone of Art, with its threefold inscriptions +in Sculpture, Painting and Music, with their union or _resume_ in +Poetry, before him; we have given him the key to some of its wondrous +hieroglyphics; let him study the remaining letters of this mystical +alphabet for himself! These inscriptions are indeed trilingual, +phonetic, and sacred, yet the simple and loving soul may decipher them +without the genius of Champollion; their meaning is written within it. +It will readily learn to connect the sign with the thing signified, and +under the fleeting forms of rhythmed time and measured space, learn to +detect the immutable principles which are to be its glory and joy for +eternity! + + + + +CURRENCY AND THE NATIONAL FINANCES. + + +1. _History of the Bank of England, its Times and Traditions, from 1694 +to 1844._ By JOHN FRANCIS. First American Edition. _With Notes, +Additions, and an Appendix, including Statistics of the Bank to the +close of the year 1861._ By J. SMITH HOMANS, Author of the 'Cyclopaedia +of Commerce and Commercial Navigation.' New York. 8vo, pp.476. + +2. _Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Chairman of the +Committee of Ways and Means, in relation to the Issue of an Additional +Amount of United States Treasury Notes._ + +3. _Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances +of the United States for the Year ending June 30, 1862._ + +4. _The Tariff Question considered in regard to the Policy of England +and the Interests of the United States. With Statistical and Comparative +Tables._ By ERASTES B. BIGELOW. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 4to, pp. 103 +and 242. + +5. _The Bankers' Magazine and Statistical Register._ New York, monthly, +1861-2. Edited by J. SMITH HOMANS, jr. + + +The Bank of England was created during the urgent necessities of +national finance. It was a concession of a valuable privilege to a few +rich men, in consideration of their loaning the capital to the treasury. +'The estimates of Government expenditure in the year 1694 were +enormous,' says Macaulay, in his fourth volume. King William asked to +have the army increased to ninety-four thousand, at an annual expense of +about two and a half millions sterling--a small sum compared with what +it costs in the year 1862 to maintain an army of equal numbers. + +At the period of the charter of the bank, the minds of men were on the +rack to conceive new sources of revenue with which to meet the increased +expenditures of the nation. The land tax was renewed at four shillings +in the pound, and yielded a revenue of two millions. A poll tax was +established. Stamp duties, which had prevailed in the time of Charles II +had been allowed to expire, but were now revived, and have ever since +been among the most prolific sources of income, yielding to the British +Government in the year 1862 no less than L8,400,000 sterling. Hackney +coaches were taxed, notwithstanding the outcries of the coachmen and the +resistance of their wives, who assembled around Westminster Hall and +mobbed the members. A new duty on salt was imposed, and finally resort +was had to the lottery, whereby one million sterling was raised. All +these resources were not sufficient for the growing wants of the +Government, and the plan of the Bank of England was devised to furnish +immediate relief to the finances. Montague brought the measure forward +in Parliament, and 'he succeeded,' as Macaulay remarks, 'not only in +supplying the wants of the state for twelve months, but in creating a +great institution, which, after the lapse of more than a century and a +half, continues to flourish, and which he lived to see the stronghold, +through all vicissitudes, of the Whig party, and the bulwark, in +dangerous times, of the Protestant succession.' + +The birth of the bank and the birth of the English national debt were +both in King William's time. In 1691, when England was at war with +France, the national debt unfunded was L3,130,000, at an annual interest +of L232,000. In 1697, at the Peace of Ryswick, this debt had swollen to +L14,522,000. At the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713, it had reached +L34,000,000. The war with Spain in 1718 brought it up to forty millions +sterling. And here it might have rested, had the advice of Shakspeare +been followed: + + 'Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace.' + +But England went to war with Spain 'on the right of search.' From 1691 +to this time the debt had increased on an average about a million +sterling per year. As early as 1745 the credit of the bank was so +identified with that of the state, that during the invasion of the +Pretender, whose forces were at Derby, only one hundred and twenty miles +from London, the creditors of the bank flocked in crowds to its counter +to obtain specie for its notes. The merchants intervened and signed an +agreement to make the bank's notes receivable in all business +transactions. + +The war of the Austrian succession followed in 1742, and at the Peace of +Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, 'forever to be maintained,' the English were +saddled with a debt of L75,000,000. + + 'Peace hath her victories, + No less renowned than war.' + +It was early in the last century that the abuse of paper money gave a +lasting and unfavorable impression against such issues. The scheme of +John Law and the South Sea Bubble about the same time broke and +scattered their fragments over both England and France. It was in the +latter scheme or folly that Pope lost a large portion of his earnings, +from which we may infer that his temper was not improved. He wrote, in +his Third Epistle, dedicated to Lord Bathurst: + + 'Statesman and patriot ply alike the stocks; + Peeress and butler share alike the box; + And judges job, and bishops bite the town, + And mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown.' + +In the same 'Moral Essay' he alludes to paper money in the following +lines: + + 'Blest paper credit! last and best supply! + That lends corruption lighter wings to fly! + Gold imp'd by thee, can compass hardest things, + Can pocket states, can fetch or carry kings; + A single leaf shall waft an army o'er, + Or ship off senates to a distant shore; + A leaf, like Sibyl's, scatter to and fro + Our fates and fortunes, as the winds shall blow: + Pregnant with thousands flits the scrap unseen, + And silent sells a king, or buys a queen.' + +These are among the earliest tirades against paper money; which, like +many other good things, is condemned because its power has been abused +and prostituted. + +England's enormous debt, which should have warned the Georges against +further war, was not contracted without severe sacrifices. The legal +rate of interest at the opening of the funding system was six per cent. +In 1714 it was reduced to five per cent. Loans during the early wars of +the eighteenth century were raised on annuities for lives on very high +terms, fourteen per cent. being granted for single lives, twelve per +cent. for two lives, and ten per cent. for three lives. But so far was +England from being awake to the enormous debt she was creating by her +expensive wars, that the seventy-five millions existing in 1748 became +L132,000,000 at the close of the Seven Years' War in 1763. This volume +was enlarged at the end of the American Revolution to L231,000,000. +During all this time the bank was the lever with which these enormous +sums were raised; but the end was not yet. + +The French war with Napoleon became more exhaustive, and within twenty +years from the peace with America to the Peace of Amiens, in 1802, the +debt went up from L231,000,000 to L537,000,000 sterling. From this +period to 1815 the debt accumulated annually, until it reached its +maximum, or eight hundred and sixty-one millions sterling. + +During these severe changes, reverses, extravagance, and extraordinary +governmental expenditure, the bank was considered the prop of national +finance. The French Revolution and its consequent war with England led +to many heavy outlays by the British Government. In 1795 the bank +desired the chancellor of the exchequer to make his arrangements for the +year without 'any further assistance' from the bank. This was again +urged in 1796, and the bank appealed again to Mr. Pitt. + + 'The only reply from Mr. Pitt was a request for a further + accommodation, on the credit of the consolidated fund, which the + court refused to sanction, until they had received satisfaction on + the topic of the treasury bills, and requested Mr. Pitt to enter + into a full explanation on this subject, which was not even touched + upon in his letter. This resolution being communicated, Mr. Pitt + wrote to the governor and deputy-governor on the 12th August, that + 'they might depend upon measures being immediately taken for the + payment of one million, and a further payment, to the amount of one + million, being made in September, October, and November, in such + proportions as might be found convenient. But, as fresh bills might + arrive, he was under the necessity of requesting a latitude to an + amount not exceeding one million.' About the same period the court + 'desired the governor and deputy-governor would express their + earnest desire that some other means might be adopted for the + future payment of bills of exchange drawn on the treasury.' (_Vide_ + 'History Bank of England,' pp. 114, 115.) + +The circumstances of the nation and of the bank were known to the +capitalists and to the people. Hence various causes of uneasiness and +distress. The bank loaned the public treasury seven and a half millions +in the years 1794, 1795, 1796, and the more they loaned to the +exchequer, the less they could loan to the people. Thus followed a +diminution of gold in the bank, and hoarding by the people. Gold was +exported more freely to the Continent, and reduced accommodation was +given to the merchants. Finally, on the 26th February, 1797, the king's +council passed an order for the suspension of cash payments. + +The bank was on the eve of suspension in the year 1847. On the 25th of +October the cabinet authorized a violation of the charter, thereby +acknowledging the inability of the bank to maintain specie payments. +This order of Lord John Russell inspired fresh confidence, and the bank +immediately recovered strength, and reduced the rate of interest from 8 +per cent. in October to 7 per cent. in November, to 6 and 5 per cent. in +December, to 4 per cent. in January, and to 3-1/2 in June following. The +distress and revulsion of 1847 were consequent upon the over-trading +and railway mania of 1844, 1845, and 1846, and the failure of crops in +Ireland and England in 1847. + +The distress of England in 1847 was scarcely over when France was more +severely affected than at any period since the Continental War. Louis +Philippe abdicated in February, 1848, when consols closed at 88-7/8. By +the close of the week they fell to 83, upon the formation of a +provisional government. The political dissensions and commercial +revulsion led to a large withdrawal of gold from the Bank of France, and +finally the Government authorized, in March, the suspension of the bank, +which was followed by the suspension of the Bank of Belgium and by the +_Societe Generale_. + +Again, in 1857, the Bank of England was on the verge of suspension. Lord +Palmerston and the then cabinet issued an order, November 12, +authorizing the bank, if they thought it advisable, again to violate the +charter; but it was found at the last moment unnecessary. + +November was the critical period of the year 1857. The _Times_ of +November 12, 1857, contained these announcements: + +1. Bank charter suspended. + +2. Interest in London, 10 per cent. + +3. " in Hamburg, 10 per cent. + +4. " in Paris, 8-1/2 per cent. + +5. " in New York, 25 per cent. + +6. Suspension of cash payments generally +by all banks in the United States. + +7. Two banks stopped in Glasgow, +and one in Liverpool, and a great bill +panic in London. + +8. Commercial credit and transactions +almost suspended in the country. + +9. Bullion in the bank, L7,170,000. + +10. Reserve notes in the bank, L975,000. + +11. Bank liabilities, L40,875,000. + + 'One gentleman, during the heat of the excitement at Glasgow, went + into the Union Bank and presented a check for L500. The teller + asked him if he wished gold. 'Gold!' replied he, 'no; give me + notes, and let the fools who are frightened get the gold,' Another + gentleman rushed into the same bank in a great state of excitement, + with a check for L1,400. On being asked if he wished gold he + replied, 'Yes.' 'Well,' said the teller, 'there is L1,000 in that + bag and L400 in this one.' The gentleman was so flurried by the + readiness with which the demand was granted that he lifted up the + bag with the L400 only, and walked off, leaving the L1,000 on the + counter. The teller, on discovering the bag, laid it aside for the + time. Late in the day the gentleman returned to the bank in great + distress, stating he had lost the bag with the L1,000, and could + not tell whether he dropped it in the crowd or left it behind him + on leaving the bank. 'Oh, you left it on the counter,' said the + teller, quietly, 'and if you call to-morrow you will get your + L1,000.' (_Vide_ 'History Bank of England,' p. 429.) + +The facts and statistics from the year 1844 to 1860 relating to the bank +are superadded to the English work by the American editor. Of the +important phases of this period the editor gives a slight sketch in the +following paragraphs. The prominent financial movements in England, +France, and the United States are given in the subsequent pages of the +volume. + + 'The sixteen years which followed the last charter of the bank have + been pregnant with important events of a financial character; the + most important, perhaps, during the whole history of the + institution. The bank has twice, during this short period, been on + the brink of suspension, and was relieved only by the interference + of Government. The second instance occurred after new gold, to the + extent of one hundred millions sterling, or more, had been poured + into Western Europe from California and Australia. The Bank of + France had, during the same period, suspended specie payment. Two + financial revulsions have occurred in the United States, when, with + few exceptions, the banks of the whole country suspended specie + payments. The production of gold and silver throughout the world, + which, up to 1844, was annually about ten or twelve millions + sterling, had recently advanced from twenty-five to thirty millions + sterling per annum, thus stimulating industry and production + largely throughout Europe and America. Sir Robert Peel, the author + of the new charter of the bank, has left the world's stage, after + witnessing the failure of the charter to fully accomplish the end + promised; Europe and America, Asia and Europe, have been knit + together by a wire cord, and capital is now subscribed to + + 'Put a girdle round about the earth,' + + whereby London may speak to San Francisco (the prospective + commercial centre of the world) in less than '_forty minutes_.' + During the same short space of sixteen years the suspended States + of this Union (five at least) have resumed payment of their + obligations; two violent wars, with sundry revolutions, have + occurred in Europe; the ancient city of the Cortez has been + conquered by the 'hordes of the North,' and magnanimously given up + by the captors to the possession of their weaker enemy, and + millions were paid to the latter for portions of their territory; + the northwest passage of the American continent has been + discovered; steam has accomplished wonders between Europe and + America, and between Europe and their distant colonies of Asia, + Africa, and Australia; Ireland has been on the verge of + starvation,[6] when 600,000 of her people died from hunger alone + and its effects, and her population was reduced two millions by + emigration and privation; England's minister has been expelled from + the capital of the United States; speculation has been rife in + Europe and America, and its inevitable effects, revulsion and + bankruptcy, have followed in its train; the railway and the + telegraph have brought remote regions together; China, with her + four hundred millions of people, has been conquered by the united + forces of the English and the French. + + 'The Bank of England, instead of pursuing one even course, with a + view to permanent commercial interests, has unfortunately, and, we + fear, from selfish and individual views, fostered speculation by + reducing her rate of discount to 2 per cent., and soon after, but + too late, discovered the error, and forced her borrowers to pay + from 6 to 10 per cent. + + 'We propose to give the leading events of each year, from 1844 to + 1861, referring the reader to authorities where more copious + information can be gained by those who wish to study the invariable + connection between commerce and money. + + 'The bank shares in the depressed period of 1847-8 fell to 180, + after having reached, in the flattering times of 1844-'5, 215 per + share, or 115 per cent. advance. Consols, at the same depressed + period, fell to 78-3/4, when starvation stared Ireland in its face, + and the bank simultaneously sought protection from the Cabinet.' + +Attention has been recently directed in this country to the premium on +gold, or to the alleged fall in the value of bank paper and Government +notes. Although the premium on gold as an article of merchandise has +reached a high rate during the present year, it will be seen, on +reference to the reliable tables in the History of the Bank of England, +that a great difference occurred during the suspension of the bank in +1797 to 1819. Gold at one time (1812) reached L5 8_s._, a difference of +30 per cent. The annexed table shows the changes from 1809 to 1821. + +YEARS |Price of |Difference| Nominal |Amount in + |Gold. |from Mint | Taxes. |Gold + | |prices. | |Currency. +------------------------|------------|----------|----------|---------- + | L s. d. |per cent. | L | L + | | | | +1809, | 4 9 10 | 16-1/3 |71,887,000|60,145,000 +1810, | 4 5 0 | 9-1/10 |74,815,000|68,106,000 +1811, | 4 17 1 | 24-1/2 |73,621,000|55,583,000 +1812, | 5 1 4 | 30 |73,707,000|51,595,000 +Sept. to Dec. 1812, | 5 8 0 | 38-1/2 | ... | ... +1813, | 5 6 2 | 36-1/10 |81,745,000|52,236,000 +Nov. 1812, to Mch. 1813 | 5 10 0 | 41 | ... | ... +1814, | 5 1 8 | 30-1/3 |83,726,000|58,333,000 +1815, | 4 12 9 | 18-8/9 |88,394,000|66,698,000 +1816, | 4 0 0 | 2-1/2 |78,909,000|72,062,000 +Oct. to Dec. 1816 | 3 18 6 | under 1 | ... | ... +1817, | 4 0 0 | 2-1/2 |58,757,000|57,259,000 +1818, | 4 1 5 | 5 |59,391,000|56,025,000 +1819, 4th Feb. | 4 3 0 | 6-1/3 |58,288,000|54,597,000 +1820, | 3 17 10-1/2| par. |59,812,000|59,812,000 +1821, | 3 17 10-1/2| par. |61,000,000|61,000,000 + +The increased volume of Government and bank paper afloat in the United +States since the 1st January, 1862, is conceded to be only temporary. +The Government is engaged in crushing the greatest rebellion known to +history; in doing this, the national expenditures are six or seven fold +what they ever were before, in a time of peace. During the four years +1813 to 1816, when war raged with England, the whole expenses of the +Government were $108,537,000. During the Mexican war, when the +disbursements of the treasury were much heavier, the average annual +expenses of the Government were about 35 to 48 millions. It will be well +to recur to these tabular details for future history. They are presented +as follows, for the whole period of the General Government. + +EXPENDITURES _of the United States, exclusive of Payments on account of +the Public Debt._ + +Years 1789-1792, Washington, $3,797,000 + " 1793-1796, " 12,083,000 + " 1797-1800, John Adams, 21,338,000 + " 1800-1804, Jefferson, 17,174,000 + " 1805-1808, " 23,927,000 + " 1809-1812, Madison, 36,147,000 + " 1813-1816, " 108,537,000 + " 1817-1821, Monroe, 58,698,000 + " 1821-1824, " 45,665,000 + " 1825-1828, John Quincy Adams, 49,313,000 + " 1829-1832, Jackson, 56,249,000 + " 1833-1836, " 87,130,000 + " 1837-1840, Van Buren, 112,188,000 + " 1841-1844, Harrison and Tyler, 81,216,000 + " 1846-1848, Polk, 146,924,000 + " 1849-1852, Taylor and Fillmore, 194,647,000 + " 1853-1856, Pierce, 211,099,000 + " 1857-1860, Buchanan, 262,974,000 + +During the past fiscal year, 1862-3 and the year 1863-4, the Government +expenditures are estimated at ten hundred millions of dollars. These +heavy disbursements cannot be carried on merely by the ordinary bank +paper and the gold and silver of the country. Instead of sixty-five +millions of dollars, the average annual expenditures of the Government +during the last administration, these now involve the sum of five +hundred millions annually. Hence the obvious obligation on the part of +the Government of putting in circulation the most reliable currency, and +of avoiding those of local banks, which do not possess the confidence of +the people at a distance. This can be done only by maintaining a +currency of Government paper which every holder will have full +confidence in, and in which no loss can be sustained. + +There is here no conflict or competition between the Government and the +State banks. The latter have the benefit of their legitimate circulation +in their own respective localities; while the national treasury +furnishes to the troops and to the creditors of the nation a circulation +of treasury notes which must possess confidence as long as the +Government lasts. + +The policy of the English Government in this respect was a wise one. At +the adoption of the last charter of the bank (1844) the Government +allowed the country banks to maintain from that time forward the +circulation then outstanding, which was not to be increased; and as fast +as the banks failed or were wound up voluntarily, their circulation was +retired and the vacuum became filled by the notes of the Bank of +England. The latter was forbidden by its new charter to exceed certain +prescribed limits in its issues. They could issue to the amount of their +capital, L14,000,000, and beyond that to the extent of gold in the +vaults. Thus the bank circulation of England, Scotland, and Ireland is +less now than in 1844, when the new principle was established, viz.: + +BANK CIRCULATION. + + Bank of England. Country Banks. Ireland. Scotland. TOTAL. + +1844, L22,015,000 L7,797,000 L7,716,000 L3,804,000 L41,325,000 +1862, 20,190,000 5,680,000 5,519,000 4,053,000 35,442,000 + +Had this principle been adopted in the United States at the same +period, the excesses and extravagance of 1856-'7 might have been +obviated, as well as the revulsion of the latter year, and the distress +which followed. + +Let us recur to the eventful history of the bank. Although a private +institution, owned and controlled by private capital, its large profits +accruing for the benefit of its own shareholders, yet it became so +closely interwoven with the commerce, manufactures, trade, and the +public finances of the nation, that it may be considered as in reality a +national institution. At its inception its whole capital was swallowed +by the treasury. This was a part of the contract of charter. Its +subsequent accumulations of capital, from L1,200,000, have likewise been +absorbed by the Government, until now the bank reports the Government +debt to them to be L11,015,100, and the Government securities held, to +be L11,064,000. Without the aid of the bank, the national treasury could +not, probably, have made the enormous disbursements which were actually +made between the commencement of the American Revolution in 1776, and +the termination of the continental war of 1815. The bank here furnished, +almost alone, 'the sinews of war.' + +During this eventful period there were large numbers of provincial banks +of issue created in England and Ireland. These were managed mainly with +a view to private profit, while the public interests have suffered +severely from the frequent expansions and contractions of the volume of +the currency through such private management, and from the numerous +failures of these concerns. The evils of this system were for many years +the subject of discussion in Parliament and among prominent journals. In +1826 the Edinburgh _Review_ expressed the opinion that + + 'So long, therefore, as any individual, or association of + individuals, may issue notes of a low value, to be used in the + common transactions of life, without lodging any security for their + ultimate payment, so long is it _certain_ that those panics which + must necessarily occur every now and then, and against which no + effectual precaution can be devised, must occasion the destruction + of a greater or smaller number of banking establishments, and by + consequence a ruinous fluctuation in the supply and value of + money.' (_Edinburgh Review_, February, 1826.) + +This was a period of great speculation in England. In the year 1823 no +less than 532 companies were chartered, with a nominal capital of 441 +millions sterling. These speculations were fostered by the increasing +volume of bank paper. The evil increased, and was allowed to exist until +the year 1844, when a stop was put to the further increase of the volume +of bank circulation, and to the further incorporation of joint stock +banks. + +We learn one lesson here, which may have a good effect upon us if we +will bear it in mind in our future legislation, and take warning from +the experiences of our contemporaries. We allude to the obvious +necessity in a country like ours, and, indeed, in any country, of +maintaining a national moneyed institution as a check upon the +vacillation, expansions, and contractions which mark the policy of small +banks of issue. This national institution, while free from individual +profit, and without power to grant individual favors, should create and +perform the functions of a national currency, and execute all the +details required by or for the national treasury. Its chief utility +would be as a check upon the excess to which all joint stock banks are +liable--a sort of controlling and conservative power to prevent that +mischief which our past experience shows has been the result of paper +money when issued merely for private gain. + +The advantage, the convenience, we may say the _necessity_, of a +national circulation of paper money, are fully demonstrated by our own +past history, and by the history of European nations. This circulation +should be dictated by the wants of the National Government, and +convertible, at the will of the holder, into specie. With these obvious +restraints it would accomplish its ends and aims. + +The Bank of England, in its early stages, was endangered by various and +extraordinary circumstances. Within three years of its establishment it +was compelled to suspend payment to its depositors in cash, and issued +certificates therefor payable ten per cent. every fortnight. In 1709 the +Sacheverell riots occurred in London, and fears were felt that the bank +would be sacked; but this violence was obviated by well-trained troops. +In 1718 John Law's bank was established in France, and for two years +kept the people in a ferment. This was followed by the South Sea scheme +in England, in 1720, 'a year (the historian Anderson says) remarkable +beyond any other which can be pitched upon for extraordinary and +romantic projects.' The bank, of course, suffered by these speculative +measures, and was repeatedly exposed to a run upon its specie resources. + +In 1722 the _rest_ (or reserve fund) was established by the bank, as a +measure to cover extraordinary losses in the future, and to inspire more +confidence among the public as to the ability of the bank to meet +reverses. This fund, in July, 1862, had accumulated to L3,132,500 +sterling, or about twenty-one and a half per cent. of the capital. + +The first forged note of the Bank of England was presented in the year +1758, or sixty-four years after the bank was established. In 1780 these +forgeries became more numerous, and were so well executed as to deceive +the officers of the bank. + +Let us now recur to some of the incidents connected with the bank in +early ages. Of these, the author, Mr. Francis, furnishes numerous +instances. + +Among other frauds upon the bank was that of clipping the guineas, by +one of the clerks employed in the bullion office. This occurred in 1767. + +The forgery of its notes having been made a capital offence, the waste +of life in consequence was severe. During the eight years, 1795 to 1803, +there were one hundred and forty executions for this crime; and two +hundred and nine between 1795 and 1809; and from 1797 to 1811 the +executions were 469. 'The visible connection between the issue of small +notes and the effusion of blood, is one of the most frightful parts of +this case.' + +In 1803 a fraud on the bank to the extent of L320,000 was perpetrated by +Mr. Robert Astlett, a cashier of the bank. This was in the re-issue of +exchequer bills that had been previously redeemed, but which were not +cancelled. This fraud amounted to about 2-1/2 per cent. of the capital, +and although it did not prevent a dividend, it prevented the +distribution of a bonus which would otherwise have been paid to the +shareholders. + +In the year 1822 another fraud on the bank came to light. This was +perpetrated by a bookkeeper, and amounted to L10,000. In 1824 the fraud +of Mr. Fauntleroy on the bank was discovered, amounting to L360,000. +This was done by forged powers of attorney for the transfer of +Government consols. + +The bank was brought near suspension again in 1825 by the imprudent +expansion of its notes. After the resumption of specie payments in +1820-'21, the true policy of the bank would have been to maintain an +even tenor of its way; instead of which it increased its circulation +twenty-five per cent. in the year 1825 (or from L18,292,000 to +L25,709,000), while the issues of the country banks were equally +enlarged, giving encouragement to violent speculation among the people. +The specie reserve of the Bank of England fell from L14,200,000 in +January 1824 to L1,024,000 in December, 1825. This difficulty of the +bank was relieved by the issue of a few thousand bills of L1 and L2. + +Speculation had been rife in 1824; no less than 624 companies were +started with a nominal capital of L372,000,000, including mining, gas, +insurance, railroad, steam, building, trading, provision, and other +companies. At the same time foreign loans were contracted in England to +the extent of L32,000,000, of which over three fourths were advanced in +cash. + +The country banks of England had increased their circulation from +L9,920,000 in 1823 to L14,980,000 in 1825, or over fifty per cent., thus +stimulating prices, and promoting speculation widely throughout the +country. + +Immediately following the revulsion at the close of the year 1825, Mr. +Huskisson's free trade policy was advocated in the House of Commons by a +vote of 223 to 40. In the same year lotteries were suppressed in +England. In 1828 branches of the Bank of England were established--a +measure, of course, unpopular among the provincial joint stock banks. + +In the year 1832-'3 were brought forward three important measures in +Parliament. One was the abolishment of the death penalty for forgery; +another was the modification of the usury laws; the third was the +re-charter of the bank. + +The last criminal executed for forgery was a man by the name of Maynard, +in December, 1829. Public sentiment had long been opposed to the +infliction of this punishment for the offence of forgery, and +transportation was now substituted in the prominent cases. England, at +the same time, opened the way for a gradual abolishment of the usury +laws. At first the relief was extended to short commercial paper, +afterward to all paper having not over twelve months to run, 1837; and +finally, in 1854, the usury laws were removed from all negotiable paper, +as well as from bonds and mortgages. + +By the new charter of 1833, Bank of England notes were, for the first +time, made a legal tender, except at the bank itself. Joint stock banks +were authorized in the metropolis, but were prohibited from issuing +notes. + +The English work of Mr. Francis is anecdotical in its character. The +American edition conveys to the reader, for the first time, a resume of +the leading movements in Parliament on the subject of the bank, and its +close connection with the Government finances. The part which Mr. Pitt, +Mr. Canning, Sir Robert Peel, and other distinguished statesmen took in +the relations between the bank and the exchequer, is in the +supplementary portion of the new edition shown, as well as the views of +Lord Althorpe, Lord Ashburton, Lord Geo. Bentinck, Mr. Thomas Baring, +Lord Brougham, Mr. Gilbart, Sir James Graham, Lord King, Earl of +Liverpool, Jones Loyd, Lord Lyndhurst, Mr. Rothschild, and others who +exercised a large influence over the monetary interests of their day. + +In the consideration of the banking and currency questions of the day +and of the last and present century, it is desirable to have thus +brought together in a single work, a continuous history of the +institution which has had so large an influence upon the public +interests of Europe, and a review of the important circumstances which +marked the progress of the bank in its successful efforts to sustain +England against foreign enemies and domestic revulsions, an index to the +speculative movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when +commerce, trade, and the vast monetary interests of Europe and America +have been unnecessarily and cruelly involved. + +The letter addressed by Secretary Chase, of the Treasury Department, to +the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means of the House of +Representatives, and to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, +under date June 7th, 1862, suggested the power by Congress to the +treasury to issue $150,000,000 in treasury notes, in addition to this +sum, authorized by the act of February 25th, 1862; also, authority to +receive fifty millions of dollars on deposit, in addition to fifty +millions previously authorized by Congress. These suggestions were +favorably considered in both Houses, and the recommendations of the +Secretary were adopted fully, leading to the adoption of a national +system of finance, which will eventually reestablish and preserve +national credit. Fears have been expressed in some quarters that this +increased volume of paper money would be a public evil, and serve to +disturb the value of property and the price of labor. This might be +reasonably anticipated if the country were at peace, and the Government +expenditures were upon a peace footing. + +But a state of things exists now in this country hitherto unknown. The +contracts of the Government involve the expenditure of larger sums than +were ever paid before in the same space of time by this or any other +Government. In the disbursements of these large sums it is an obvious +duty of Congress to provide a national circulation of uniform value +throughout the whole country--a circulation of a perfectly reliable +character, not subject in the least to the ordinary vicissitudes of +trade or to the revulsions which have frequently marked our history. +These revulsions have been witnessed, and their results seen by the +leading public men of the century. Mr. Madison saw at an early day the +importance of creating and sustaining a government circulation. His +language was: 'It is essential to every modification of the finances +that the benefits of an uniform national currency should be restored to +the community.' + +Mr. Calhoun, in 1816, said: 'By a sort of undercurrent, the power of +Congress to regulate the money of the country has caved in, and upon its +ruin have sprung up those institutions which now exercise the right of +making money in and for the United States.' + +'It is the duty of government,' says a well known writer, 'to interfere +to regulate every business or pursuit that might otherwise become +publicly injurious. On this principle it interferes to prevent the +circulation of spurious coin.' Counterfeit coin is more readily detected +than a fictitious paper currency, yet no sane man would advocate the +repeal of the laws which prohibit it. Why, then, permit the unlimited +manufacture of paper money of an unreliable character? + +In the consideration of this subject we should divest ourselves of all +selfish views of private profit and advantage. We should look only to +the public good, to stability in trade and commerce, and to the general +interests of the people at large as distinguished from those of a few +individuals. It is clearly then the province of government to establish +and to regulate the paper money of the nation, so that it shall possess +the following attributes: + +I. To be uniform in value throughout all portions of the country. + +II. To be perfectly reliable at all times as a medium for the payment of +debts. + +III. To be issued in limited amounts, and under the control of the +Government only. + +IV. To be convertible, at the pleasure of the holder, into gold or +silver. + +It must be conceded that these requisites do not belong, and never can +belong, to paper issued by joint stock banks, which are governed with a +view to the largest profit, and which are but little known beyond their +own immediate localities. + +Recent history assures us that abuses have been practised in reference +to the bank circulation of the country, which have led to violent +revulsions and severe loss. England experienced the same results between +the years 1790 and 1840, and to such an extent that in the year 1844 her +statesmen devised a system whereby no further expansion of paper money +should occur. The amount then existing was assumed to be a minimum of +the amount required for commercial transactions, and it was ordered that +all bank issues beyond that sum shall be represented by a deposit of +gold. + +If the Bank of England had been governed by considerations of public +welfare, and not by those of private interest, it would not have reduced +the rate of interest to 2-1/2 per cent. in 1844-'5, thus producing +violent speculation, and leading to the revulsion of 1849. Nor would the +bank have established low rates of interest only in the year 1857, thus +leading this powerful institution to the verge of bankruptcy, and to the +clemency of the British Cabinet in November of that year. + +England has checked the paper circulation of the country, but has not +withdrawn from the bank the power to promote speculation by extravagant +loans at a low rate of discount. + +The Governments of France and England have both assumed control of the +paper currency of their respective countries. This is sound policy, and +it is one of the prerogatives that must be exercised, in its full force, +by the Government of the United States and by all other governments, if +stability, permanency, consistency are to be observed or maintained for +the people. This is obviously necessary in a time of peace and +prosperity; it is perhaps more so in a time of rebellion or war, like +the present. Circumstances may arise where it will be the course of +wisdom and safety to suspend specie payment; and, in some extreme +exigencies, to forbid the export of specie. + +This position was well explained by Mr. J.W. Gilbart, manager of the +London and Westminster Bank, who, in his testimony before Sir Robert +Peel, in 1843, said, 'If I were prime minister, I would immediately, on +the commencement of war, issue an order in council for the bank to stop +payment. I stated also that I spoke as a politician, not as a banker. +* * * I came to the conclusion that, under the circumstances of the war of +1797, a suspension of cash payments was not a matter of choice, _but of +necessity_.' (_Vide_ 'History of the Bank of England,' New York edition, +p. 130.) + +We come now to consider what is necessary, in order to restore the +currency of the United States to a specie footing. This restoration is +demanded alike by motives of justice and sound policy. No contracts can +be well entered into, unless the currency of the country is upon a +substantial and permanent footing of redemption. It is a matter which +concerns every individual in the community; it is especially so to the +General Government in view of its extraordinary expenditures: and no +commercial prosperity can be maintained without it. + +A restoration of public and private credit can be accomplished only by +an observance of those sound principles of finance that have been +announced by the wise men of our own and other countries. Mr. Alexander +Hamilton, Mr. Gallatin, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, each in his turn +advocated a national institution, by which the currency of the country +could be placed upon a reliable and permanent footing. Such an +institution should control the currency and receive surplus capital on +deposit; but need not interfere with the legitimate operations of the +State banks as borrowers and lenders of money, nor encourage in the +slightest degree, through loans, any speculative movements among the +people. + +In the next place our people must resort to and maintain more economy in +their individual expenditure, and thus preserve a balance of foreign +trade in our own favor. It is shown that, during the fiscal year ending +30 June, 1860, there were imported into the United States goods, wholly +manufactured, of the value of ... $166,073,000, partially manufactured, +62,720,000. + +We can dispense with two thirds of such articles during our present +national reverses, and rely upon our own domestic labor for similar +products, viz.: + + Manufactures of Wool, $37,937,000 + " of Silk, 32,948,000 + " of Cotton, 32,558,000 + " of Flax, 10,736,000 + Laces and Embroideries, 4,017,000 + Gunny Cloths, Mattings, 2,386,000 + Clothing, 2,101,000 + Iron, and Manufactures of Iron and Steel, 18,694,000 + China and Earthenware, 4,387,000 + Clocks, Chronometers, Watches, 2,890,000 + Boots, Shoes, and Gloves, 2,230,000 + Miscellaneous, 15,189,000 + ----------- + 166,073,000 + +besides other articles exceeding one hundred millions in value. + +Rather than send abroad thirty or forty millions in gold annually, as we +have done of late years, let us dispense with foreign woollen goods, +silk and cotton goods, laces, &c., and encourage our own mills, at least +until the war and its debt are over. + +Mr. Madison said much in a few words, when he said: + + 'The theory of '_let us alone_' supposes that all nations concur in + a perfect freedom of commercial intercourse. Were this the case, + they would, in a commercial view, be but one nation, as much as the + several districts composing a particular nation; and the theory + would be as applicable to the former as the latter. But this golden + age of free trade has not yet arrived, nor is there a single nation + that has set the example. No nation can, indeed, safely do so, + until a reciprocity, at least, be insured to it. * * A nation, + leaving its foreign trade, in all cases, to regulate itself, might + soon find it regulated by other nations into subserviency to a + foreign interest.' + +There is much good sense, too, in the views promulgated by another +president, who said, in relation to our independence of other nations: + + 'The tariff bill before us, embraces the design of fostering, + protecting, and preserving within ourselves the means of national + defence and independence, _particularly in a state of war_. * * + *The experience of the late war (1812) taught us a lesson, and one + never to be forgotten. If our liberty and republican form of + government, procured for us by our Revolutionary fathers, are worth + the blood and treasure at which they were obtained, it surely is + our duty to protect and defend them. * * * What is the real + situation of the agriculturist? Where has the American farmer a + market for his surplus product? Except for cotton, he has neither a + foreign nor home market. Does not this clearly prove, when there is + no market either at home or abroad, that there is too much labor + employed in agriculture, and that the channels of labor should be + multiplied? Common sense points out the remedy. Draw from + agriculture the superabundant labor; employ it in mechanism and + manufactures; thereby creating a home-market for your + bread-stuffs, and distributing labor to the most profitable account + and benefits to the country. Take from agriculture in the United + States six hundred thousand men, women and children, and you will + at once give a home-market for more bread-stuffs than all Europe + now furnishes us. In short, sir, _we have been too long subject to + the policy of British merchants_. It is time that we should become + a little more Americanized; and, instead of feeding the paupers and + laborers of England, feed our own; or else, in a short time, by + continuing our present policy, we shall be rendered paupers + ourselves.' + +Mr. Bigelow, in his late and highly valuable work on the tariff, says +truly (p. 103): + + 'Can any one question that our home production far outweighs in + importance all other material interests of the nation? * * * It is + the nation of great internal resources, of vigorous productive + power and self-dependent strength, which is always best prepared + and most able, not only to defend itself, but to lend others a + helping hand.' + +If our people would maintain their own national integrity, their own +individual independence, and their true status in the great family of +nations of the earth, they will [at least until the present rebellion is +crushed, and until the public debt thereby created shall be +extinguished] pursue a strict course of public and private economy. Let +us encourage and support our own manufactures, and thereby contribute to +the subsistence and wealth of our own laborers instead of contributing +millions annually to the pauper labor of European nations; especially of +those nations that have failed to give us countenance in the present +struggle and that have, on the contrary, given both direct and indirect +aid to the rebels of the South. + +The United States have within themselves, in great abundance, +contributed by a bountiful Providence, the leading products of the +earth. In metals and in agricultural products, we exceed any and all +other countries of the earth. If we encourage the labor of our own +people in the development of the great resources of the country, we +shall not only preserve our own commercial independence, but we shall +soon be, as we ought to be in view of such advantages, the creditor +nation of the world, and compel other countries to resort to us for the +raw materials for their own manufacturing districts. + +With the aid of the vast iron and coal mines of our own country, we can +construct and keep in force an adequate navy for peace or for war. Our +skilled industry can produce firearms equal to any in the world. The +vast agricultural resources of the West yield abundance for ourselves +and a large surplus for other countries. The breadstuffs of the West and +Northwest; the tobacco of the Middle States, and the cotton of the South +are in demand, throughout nearly all Europe. Let us then be independent +ourselves of foreign manufacturers, and endeavor to place the rest of +the world under obligations to our own country for the necessaries of +life. This will do more to preserve peace than all the arguments of +cabinets or the combined navies and armies of the world. + +Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell said,[7] in parliament, in 1842, +five years before the famine in Ireland: 'We are not, we cannot be, +independent of foreign nations, any more than they can of us: * * * two +millions of our people have been dependent on foreign countries for +their daily food. At least five millions of our people are dependent on +the supplies of cotton from America, of foreign wool or foreign silk. * +* * The true independence of a great commercial nation is to be found, +not in raising all the produce it requires within its own bound, _but in +attaining such a preeminence in commerce that the time can never arise +when other nations will not be compelled, for their own sales, to +minister to its wants_.' + +Now this principle, enunciated twenty years ago by men, who now hold the +reins of the English Government, _is especially one for us to bear in +mind_. While England, from her limited surface, can never be independent +of other countries for the supply of food, we may say, and we can +demonstrate, that the United States can reach that preeminence to which +the great English statesman alluded--a preeminence which he would gladly +attain for his own countrymen. + +To the General Government was confided by the framers of the +Constitution the power to 'coin money, and regulate the value thereof;' +and the States were forbidden to 'emit bills of credit;' from which we +may infer that it was intended to place the control of the currency in +the hands of the General Government. It will be generally conceded that +it would be wiser to have one central point of issue than several +hundred as at present. There should be but one form for, and one source +of, the currency. It should emanate from a source where the power cannot +be abused, and where the interests of the people at large, and not of +individuals, will be consulted. + +The people have thus an interest at stake. It is for their benefit that +a national circulation, of a perfectly reliable character, should be +established. The remark made by Sir Robert Peel, in parliament, in May, +1844, at the time of the recharter of the bank, applies with equal force +to the national currency of this or any other country. + + 'There is no contract, public or private, national or individual, + which is unaffected by it. The enterprises of trade--the + arrangements made in all the domestic relations of society--the + wages of labor--pecuniary transactions of the highest amount and + the lowest--the payment of the national debt--the provision for the + national expenditure--the command which the coin of the lowest + denomination has over the necessaries of life--are all affected by + the decision to which we may come.' + +Sir Robert Peel wisely comprehended the powers and attributes of a +national currency, and we may wisely adopt his idea that such a national +currency, controlled by the national legislature, for the use and +benefit of the people, is the only one that can be safely adopted. + + * * * * * + +The national banking system established by Congress, in the year 1863, +at the suggestion of Secretary Chase, of the Treasury Department, is the +initiatory step toward a highly desirable reform in the paper currency +of the country. Already over seventy national banks have been organized, +under the act of Congress, with a combined capital of ten millions of +dollars, whose circulation will have not only a uniform appearance, but +a uniform value throughout the whole country. Numerous others are in +process of organization. To the community at large the new system is +desirable, because it secures to the people a currency of uniform value +and perfect reliability. The notes of these institutions will be at par +in every State in the Union, and holders may rely upon the certainty of +redemption upon demand: whether the institution be solvent or not--in +existence or not--the Government holds adequate security for instant +redemption of all notes issued under the law. + +This feature of the paper currency of the country is one that has long +been needed. For the want of it the States have been for many years +crowded with a currency of unequal market value, and of doubtful +security. Added to this is a marked feature of the new system which did +not pertain to the Bank of the United States in its best days. Its +workings are free from individual favoritism. No loans are granted to +political or personal friends, at the risk of the Government, and all +temptation to needless and hurtful expansion is thus destroyed. There is +no mammoth institution, under the control of one or a few individuals, +liable at times to be prostituted to political and personal ends of an +objectionable character. While the banks under the new system are spread +over a large space, they perform what is needed of the best managed +institutions; and although perfectly independent of each other in their +liabilities, expenses, losses, and in their action generally, yet +together they form a practical unit, and will be serviceable in +counteracting that tendency to inflation and speculation which has +marked many years in the commercial history of this country. + +We consider the Bank Act of 1863 as one of the most important features +of the Thirty-seventh Congress, and of this Administration. It will +create a link long wanted between the States and Territories, and do +much to strengthen the Union and maintain commercial prosperity. The +country will hereafter honor Secretary Chase for the conception and +success of this scheme, even if there were no other distinguished traits +in his administration of the Treasury and the Government finances. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 6: 'The scenes exhibited far exceeded in horror _anything yet +recorded in European history_.' (Alison.) America, in her own fulness, +sent succor to famished Ireland, in 1847, and when her own day of +travail came near, in 1861, England volunteered no helping hand to her +kindred.] + +[Footnote 7: See 'History of the Bank of England,' p. 851.] + + + + +OCTOBER AFTERNOON IN THE HIGHLANDS. + + + Slowly toward the western mountains + Sinks the gold October sun; + Longer grow the deepening shadows, + And the day is nearly done. + + Rosy gleams the quiet River + 'Neath the crimson-tinted sky; + White-winged vessels, wind-forsaken, + On the waveless waters lie. + + Glow the autumn-tinted valleys, + On the hills soft shadows rest, + Growing warmer, purple glowing, + As the sun sinks toward the west. + + Slanting sunlight through the Cedars, + Scarlet Maples all aglow, + Long rays streaming through the forests, + Gleam the dead leaves lying low. + + Golden sunshine on the cornfields, + Glittering ripples on the stream. + And the still pools in the meadows + Catch the soft October gleam. + + Warmer grows the purple mountains, + Lower sinks the glowing sun, + Soon will fade the streaming sunlight-- + See, the day is nearly done! + + + + +THE ISLE OF SPRINGS. + +CHAPTER III. + +THE COUNTRY + + +After having been detained in town several days longer than I had +reckoned on, by heavy rains, which ran through the streets in rivers, +and filled the bed of Sandy Gully, through which we must pass, with a +rushing torrent of irresistible strength, a small party of us left +Kingston one morning for the mountains of St. Andrew and Metcalfe, among +which lie the stations of the American missionaries whom we had come to +join. We were mounted on the small horses of the country, whose first +appearance excited some doubts in the mind of a friend whether he was to +carry the horse or the horse him. However, they are not quite ponies, +and their blood is more noble than their size, being a good deal of it +Arab. They are decidedly preferable for mountain travel to larger +animals. + +We directed our course over the hot plains towards the mountains which +rose invitingly before us, ready to receive us into their green depths. +On leaving the town, we passed first through sandy lanes bordered by +cactus hedges, rising in columnar rows, and then came out upon the +excellent macadamized road over which thirteen of the sixteen miles of +our journey lay. As we went along we met a continual succession of +groups of the country people, mostly women and children, coming into +Kingston with their weekly load of provisions to sell. They eyed us with +expressions varying from good-natured cordiality to sullenness, and +occasionally we heard a rude remark at the expense of the 'Buckras;' but +for the most part their demeanor was civil and pleasant. Most of them +had the headloads without which a negro woman seems hardly complete in +the road, varying in dimensions from a huge basket of yams or bananas to +an ounce vial. How such a slight thing manages to keep its perpendicular +with their careless, swinging gait, is something marvellous, but they +manage it to perfection. Almost every group, in addition, had a +well-laden donkey--comical little creatures, looking hardly bigger under +their huge hampers than well-sized Newfoundland dogs, and hurrying +nimbly along, with a speed that betokened a wholesome remembrance of a +good many hard thrashings in the past and a reasonable dread of similar +ones in the future. If I held the doctrine of transmigration, I should +be firmly persuaded that the souls of parish beadles, drunken captains, +and other petty tyrants, shifted quarters into the bodies of Jamaica +negroes' donkeys. One patriotic black woman, whose donkey was rather +refractory, relieved her mind by exclaiming, in a tone of infinite +disgust, 'O-h-h you Roo-shan!' accompanying her objurgation by several +emphatic demonstrations on his hide of how she was disposed to treat a +'Rooshan' at that present moment.[8] + +Going on, we passed several beautiful 'pens,' as farms devoted to +grazing are called. These near town are little more than mere pieces of +land surrounding elegant villas, the residence of wealthy gentlemen +whose business lies in Kingston. Here you see 'the one-storied house of +the tropics, with its green jalousies and deep veranda,' surrounded by +handsomely kept meadows of the succulent Guinea grass, which clothes so +large a part of the island with its golden green, and enclosed by wire +fences or by the intricate but delicate logwood hedges, or else by stone +walls. On either side of the carriage road which swept round before the +most elegant of these villas, that of Mr. Porteous, we noticed rows of +the mystic century plant. + +At last we left the comparatively arid plain, with its scantier +vegetation, and began to ascend Stony Hill, which is 1,360 feet high +where the road passes over it. The cool air passing through the gap, and +our increasing elevation, now began to temper the heat, and soon the +clouds began to gather again, and a slight rain fell. But I did not +notice it, for every step of the journey now seemed to bring me farther +into the heart of fairyland. It was not any variety of colors, but the +unutterable depth of green, enclosing us, as we ascended, more and more +completely in its boundless exuberance. From that moment the richest +verdure of my native country has seemed pale and poor. Reaching the top +of the hill, we saw above us the higher range, looking down on us +through the shifting mists, with that inexpressible gracefulness which +tempers the grandeur of tropical mountains. + +We descended the hill on the other side into a small inland valley, +containing the two estates of Golden Spring and Temple Hall. The +former, which presented nothing very noticeable then, has since passed +under the management of a gentleman who to a judicious and energetic +personal oversight has added a kindliness and strict honesty in his +dealings with the laborers much more desirable than frequent in the +island. As a result of this, Golden Spring has become a garden. A great +many more dilapidated estates would become gardens under the same +efficacious mode of treatment. + +The streams were so swollen by the rain that on coming to what is +commonly a trifling rivulet, we found it so high as to cost us some +trouble to cross. However, we all got over, although one servant boy +with his pack horse was caught by the current and carried down several +rods almost into the river, which was rushing by in a turbid torrent. I +ought to have been much alarmed, but having a happy way, in new +circumstances, of taking it for granted that everything which happens is +just what ought to happen then and there, I stood composedly on the +farther bank, nothing doubting that the boy and the beast had their own +good reasons for striking out a new track, and it was not till they were +both safe on land that I learned with some consternation that they had +come within an inch of being drowned. + +At length we turned aside into a byroad leading up a steep hill, +slippery with mud, and left this pleasant valley. I passed through it +many a time afterwards, and never lost the impression of its peaceful +richness. + +We now found ourselves in the wild country in which our missionary +stations lie. Hills rose around on every side; their surfaces broken and +furrowed into every fantastic variety of shape, with only distance +enough between their bases for the mountain streams to flow. In our +latitude such a country would be much of the time a bleak desolation. +But here the mantle of glorious and everlasting green softens and +enriches the broken and fluctuating surfaces into luxuriant and cloying +beauty. In such an ocean of verdure we now found ourselves, its emerald +waves rolling above, below, and around us. Our road, when once we had +surmounted the short hill, was a narrow, winding bridle path, which kept +along almost upon a level over a continual succession of natural +causeways, spanning the gullies with such an appearance of art as I have +never seen elsewhere. I afterward learned that these are dikes of trap, +from which the softer rock has been gradually disintegrated, leaving +them thus happily arranged for human convenience. + +After three miles' travel over these roads of nature's making, in a rain +which at last became quite uncomfortable, we came finally to Oberlin +Mission House. A West Indian country house, without fire or carpets, +must be very pleasingly fitted up not to look dreary in a wet day, and +Oberlin House appeared rather cheerless as we alighted with streaming +garments, the romance pretty well soaked out of us for the time. But +after supper and a change of clothes, and the clearing away of the +clouds, our dismal spirits cleared up too, and we went out into the +garden to enjoy the rare flowers and plants--the crimson-leaved +ponsetto, the Bleeding Heart, with its ensanguined centre, the curiously +pied and twisted Croton Pictum, the Plumbago, well named from the leaden +hue of its flowers, the long, deep-red leaves of the Dragon's Blood, the +purple magnificence of the Passion flower, relieved by the more familiar +beauty of the Four o'clock and of the Martinique rose. Seeing something +that pleased me, I stepped forward to view it more narrowly, when a +sudden access of acute pain in one foot, quickly spreading to the knee, +admonished me that I had got into mischief in the shape of an ant's +nest, and gave me the first instalment of a lesson I learned in due time +very thoroughly, that the beauties of Jamaica are to be enjoyed with a +very cautious regard to the paramount rights of the insect creation. + +When I went to bed, I found the bedclothes saturated with dampness. But +I learned that it was like a Newport fog, too saline to be mischievous. +The atmosphere of the island, even in the brightest and most elastic +weather, is so impregnated with moisture, that a Leyden jar will lose +its charge in being taken across the room, and an electrical machine +will not work without a pan of coals under the cylinder. But as no part +of the island is more than twenty-five miles from the sea, this +continual moisture appears to be quite innocuous, its worst effect being +the musty smell which it causes in everything in the mountains, where +there is the most rain. Use fortunately takes from us the perception of +this, or it would be quite intolerable. Perpetual summer, and the utmost +glory of earth, sky, and sea, are not to be enjoyed without drawbacks +that would make a careful housekeeper very doubtful about the +desirableness of the exchange. And so ended my first day in the country. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE ISLAND + + +I had intended writing some of my first impressions about Jamaica, +particularly its negro population. But I find, on reviewing my residence +of five years and a half in the tranquil island, that first impressions +melt so imperceptibly into final conclusions, that it appears best not +to attempt a too formal separation of them. Before recounting the +results of my own experience, however, in any form, it will not be amiss +to attempt some general description of the island and of its population, +and to give a slight sketch of its history. + +The parallel of 18 deg. N lat. passes through the island of Jamaica, which +has thus a true tropical climate. It is 160 miles in length and 40 in +average breadth, having thus a plane area of 6,400 square miles, being +about equal to the united area of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Although +the third in size of the Greater Antilles, it comes at a great remove +after Hayti, the second, being not more than one-fourth as large. Nor +does it compare in fertility with either Hayti or Cuba. The former +island is the centre of geological upheaval, and the great rounded +masses, sustaining a soil of inexhaustible depth, run off from thence +splintering into sharp ridges, which in Jamaica become veritable knife +edges, sustaining a soil comparatively thin. The character of the island +is that of a mountain mass, which, as the ancient watermark on the +northern coast shows, has at some remote period been tilted over, and +has shot out an immense amount of detritus on its southern side, forming +thus the plains which extend along a good part of that coast, varying in +breadth from ten to twenty miles, besides the alluvial peninsula of +Vere. In the interior, also, there is an upland basin of considerable +extent, looking like the dry bed of a former lake, which now forms the +chief part of the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. The mountain mass +which makes the body of the island, running in various ranges through +its whole length, culminates in the eastern part of it in the Blue +Mountains, whose principal summit, the Blue Mountain Peak, is 7,500 feet +high. It is said that Columbus, wishing to give Queen Isabella an +impression of the appearance of these, took a sheet of tissue paper, and +crumpling it up in his hand, threw it on a table, exclaiming, 'There! +such is their appearance.' The device used by the great discoverer to +convey to the mind of the royal Mother of America some image of her +new-found realms, forcibly recurs to the mind of the traveller as he +sails along the southeastern coast, and notices the strange contortions +of the mountain surfaces. But seen from the northern shore, at a greater +distance, through the purple haze which envelops them, their outlines +leave a different impression. I shall always remember their aspect of +graceful sublimity, as seen from Golden Vale, in Portland, and of +massive sweetness, as seen from Hermitage House, in the parish of St. +George. The gray buttresses of their farthest western peak, itself over +5,000 feet in height, rose in full view of a station where I long +resided, and the region covered by their lower spurs, ranging in +elevation from seven to ten and twelve hundred feet, is that which +especially deserves the name of the 'well-watered land,' or, as it is +poetically rendered, the 'isle of springs,' of which Jamaica, or perhaps +more exactly Xaymaca, is the Indian equivalent. There you meet in most +abundance with those crystal rivulets, every few hundred yards threading +the road, and going to swell the wider streams which every mile or two +cross the traveller's way, laving his horse's sides with refreshing +coolness, as they hurry on in their tortuous course from the mountain +heights to the sea. Farther west the mountains and hills assume gentler +and more rounded forms, particularly in the parish of St. Anne, the +Garden of Jamaica. I regret that I know only by report the scenes of +Eden-like loveliness of this delightful parish. It is principally +devoted to grazing, and its pastures are maintained in a park-like +perfection. Grassy eminences, crowned with woods, and covered with herds +of horses and the handsome Jamaica cattle, descend, in successive +undulations, to the sea. Over these, from the deck of a vessel a few +miles out, may be seen falling the silver threads of many cascades. +Excellent roads traverse the parish, which is inhabited by a gentry in +easy circumstances, and by a contented and thriving yeomanry. St. Anne +appears to be truly a Christian Arcadia. + +In respect of climate and vegetation, there are three Jamaicas--Jamaica +of the plains, Jamaica of the uplands, and Jamaica of the high +mountains. The highest summit of the mountain region, is below the line +at which snow is ever formed in this latitude, and it is disputed +whether an evanescent hoarfrost even is sometimes seen upon it. As high +as four and five thousand feet there are residences, which, however, +purchase freedom from the lowland heats at the expense of being a large +part of the time enveloped in chilling fogs. Here the properly tropical +productions cease to thrive, and melancholy caricatures of northern +vegetables and fruits take their place. You see in the Kingston market +diminutive and watery potatoes and apples, that have come down from the +clouds, and on St. Catherine's Peak I once picked a few strawberries, +which had about as much savor as so many chips. The noble forest trees +of the lower mountains, as you go up, give way to an exuberant but +spongy growth of tree-ferns and bushes. Great herds of wild swine, +descended from those introduced by the Spaniards, roam these secluded +thickets, and once furnished subsistence to the runaway negroes who, +under the name of Maroons, for several generations annoyed and terrified +the island. + +In these high mountains the sense of deep solitude is at once heightened +and softened by the flute-like notes of the solitaire. I shall never +forget the impression produced by first hearing this. It was on the top +of St. Catherine's Peak, fifty-two hundred feet above the sea, in the +early morning, when the mountain solitude seemed most profound, that my +companion and I heard from the adjacent woods its mysterious note. It +was a soft and clear tone, somewhat prolonged, and ending in a +modulation which imparted to it an indescribable effect, as if of +supernal melancholy. It seemed almost as if some mild angel were +lingering pensively upon the mountain tops, before pursuing his downward +flight among the unhappy sons of men. + +The uplands of the island, from 800 to 1,500 feet above the sea, are a +cheerful, sunny region, in which the tropical heat is tempered by +almost constant refreshing breezes, and, in the eastern part at least, +by abundant showers. Some of the western parishes not unfrequently +suffer terribly from drought. There are two or three which have not even +a spring, depending wholly upon rain water collected in tanks. These +sometimes become dry, causing unutterable distress both to man and +beast. We hear even sometimes of poor people starving during these +seasons of drought. But our more favored region in the east scarcely +knows dearth. Our mighty mountain neighbors seldom permitted us even to +fear it, and were more apt to send us a deluge than a drought. + +In the uplands our winter temperature was commonly about 75 deg. in the +shade at noon, and the summer temperature about ten degrees higher. The +nights are almost always agreeably cool, and frequent showers and +breezes allay the sultriness of the days. I never saw the thermometer +above 90 deg. in the shade, and seldom below 65 deg.. It once fell to 54 deg., to +the lamentable discomfort of our feelings and fingers. Of course, where +the sun for months is nearly vertical, and twice in the summer actually +so, the heat of his direct beams is intense. But those careful +precautions of avoiding travelling in the middle of the day, on which +some lay such stress, we never concerned ourselves with in Jamaica, and +I could not discover that we were ever the worse for it. An umbrella was +enough to stand between us and mischief. + +On the whole, it may safely be said that there is no climate more like +that which we imagine of Eden than that of the highland region of +Jamaica during a large part of the year. It is true that after a while +northern constitutions begin to miss the stimulus of occasional cold. +But for a few years nothing could be more delightful. The chief drawback +is that at uncertain cycles there come incessant deluges of rain for +months together, making it dreary and uncomfortable both in doors and +out. Years will sometimes pass before there is any excessive amount of +these, and then sometimes for years together they will prevail to a most +disagreeable extent. They break up the mountain roads and swell the +mountain streams to such a degree as to render travelling almost +impossible, and in a country where your friends are few, you do not like +to be kept back from seeing them by the imminent risk of finding no road +at all on the side of a hill where at best there is barely room enough +between the bank and the gully for one horse to pass another, or of +finding yourself between two turns of a stream, with a sudden shower +making it impossible for you to get either forward or back. But during +my residence I had just enough of these adventures to give a pleasant +zest to life. And after a tremendous rain of hours, when the sun +reappeared, and the banks of fleecy cloud were once more seen floating +tranquilly in heaven, and the streams ran again crystal clear, and the +hills smiled again in all the glory of their brilliant green, and the +air had again its wonted temper, at once balmy and elastic, it was +enough to make amends for all previous discomfort. + +Although no part of the island is peculiarly favorable to constitutions +of the European race, yet with prudence and temperance foreigners find +this midland region reasonably healthy. The missionaries, who have +mostly resided in the uplands, have but seldom fallen victims to fevers. +Foreigners must not expect to live here without occasional attacks of +fever; but with care, there need be little apprehension of a fatal +result, except to those of a sanguine temperament or of a corpulent +habit. And the general exemption from the dreadful ravages of +consumption may well be thought to compensate the somewhat greater risks +from fever. Even on the plains, that immense mortality of whites from +the mother country which once gave to Jamaica the ominous name of 'The +Grave of Europeans,' was caused as much by their reckless intemperance +as by any necessity of the climate. Or, rather, habits which in Great +Britain might have been indulged in with comparative impunity, in +Jamaica were rapidly fatal. It is said that another cause of the +excessive mortality among the overseers was that they were often +secretly poisoned by the blacks. On some plantations, I have heard it +said, overseer after overseer was poisoned off, almost as soon as he +arrived. In most cases, I dare say, it would be found that over-liberal +potations of Jamaica rum were the poison that did the mischief. But the +reports have probably some foundation in truth. An oppressed race, +seldom daring to strike openly, would be very apt to devise subtle ways +of vengeance. It will be remembered that one of the most frequent items +in our own Southern newspapers used to be accounts of attempts made by +slave girls to poison their masters' families. Arsenic, which they +commonly used, is a clumsy means, almost sure to be detected; but in the +West Indies, where the proportion of native Africans was always very +large, the African sorcerers, the dreaded Obi-men, who exercise so +baleful a power over the imaginations of the blacks, appear also to have +availed themselves of other than imaginary charms to keep up their +credit as the disposers of life and death, and to have often gained such +a knowledge of slow vegetable poisons as made them formidable helpers of +revenge, whether against their own race or against the race of their +oppressors. In a recent Jamaica story of Captain Mayne Reid's, the plot +centres in the hideous figure of an old Obi-man, who wreaks his revenge +for former wrongs in this secret way, destroying victim after victim +from among the lords of the soil. The piece is stocked with horrors +enough for the most ravenous devourer of yellow-covered literature, but +nevertheless it is so true to the conditions of life in the old days of +Jamaica, that it is well worth reading for a lively sense of the time +when the fearful influences of savage heathenism, slavery, and tropical +passion were working together in that land of rarest beauty and of +foulest sin. Evil enough remains, but, thank God, the hideous shadows of +the past have fled away forever. + +But these tragical remembrances and suspicions belong rather to the +plains, into which we are about to descend. Here we feel distinctly that +we are in the tropics. The sweltering heat, tempered, indeed, by the +land and sea breezes, but still sufficiently oppressive, and almost the +same day and night, leaves no doubt of this fact. Vegetation, too, +appears more distinctly tropical. The character of the landscape in the +two regions is quite different. In the uplands the wealth of glowing +green swallows up peculiarities of form, and presents little difference +of color except the endless diversity of its own shades. There are, +however, some distinct features of the landscape. Conspicuous on every +hillside are the groves 'where the mango apples grow,' their mass of +dense rounded foliage looking not unlike our maples, and giving a +pleasant sense of home to the northern sojourner. The feathery bamboo, +most gigantic of grasses, runs in plumy lines across the country. Around +the negro cottages, here and there, rise groups of the cocoanut palms, +giving, more than anything else, a tropical character to the landscape. +On a distant eminence may perhaps be seen a lofty ceiba or cotton tree, +its white trunk rising sixty or seventy feet from the ground without a +limb, and then putting out huge, scraggy arms, loaded with parasites. +Every lesser feature is swamped in verdure, except that here and there +the whitewashed walls of a negro cottage of the better sort gleam +pleasantly forth from embowering hedges and fruit trees. I do not know +how Wordsworth's advice to make country houses as much as possible of +the color of the surrounding country may apply among the gray hills of +Westmoreland; but among the green hills of Jamaica, the white which he +deprecates forms a welcome relief to the splendid monotony of glowing +emerald. It is not amiss to call it emerald, for there are so many +plants here with glossy leaves, that under the brilliant sunlight the +lustre of the green is almost more than the eye can bear. To the +southward of Oberlin station, formerly belonging to our mission, rises a +range of verdant hills, which in some lights has so much the pure, +continuous color of a gem, as almost to realize Arabian fables to the +eye. Indeed, I have gazed at it sometimes with such a feeling as Aladdin +had when the magician had left him confined in the Hall of Jewels, and +have almost wished for an earthquake to cleave its oppressive superbness +and give a refreshing sight of the blue sea beyond. + +But on descending to the plains, where there is less moisture, and where +vegetation therefore is scantier, we find the unwonted forms of growth +more distinct, and have the full sense of being in a southern land. Here +the thorn palms, the cactus hedges, the penguin fences, resembling huge +pineapple plants, and various trees and shrubs, being seen more +isolated, make a stronger impression of the peculiarities of tropical +forms. Here too we meet in greater abundance with the cocoanut tree, +occasionally forming long avenues of lofty palms on the estates. And +here we see more frequently the huge squares of many acres, heavy with +the luxuriant wealth of the cane, and thronged by dusky laborers. The +heat, which in the uplands is pleasant, though rather too steady in the +plains, becomes oppressive and enervating. The distinction between the +wet and dry seasons, also, is much more distinctly marked, and, in +short, everything corresponds more fully with the usual idea of a +tropical land. + +The luxuriance and the glory of nature are the same now as ever; but +everywhere over the island the traveller sees the melancholy evidences +of the decay of former wealth. You may travel over miles and miles on +the plains once rich with the cane, or ridge after ridge in the uplands +once covered with the dark-green coffee plantations, which now are +almost a wilderness. To quote the language of another, 'ridges, +overgrown with guava bushes, mark the cornfields; rank vegetation fills +the courtyard, and even bursts through the once hospitable roof. A curse +seems to have fallen upon the land, as if this generation were atoning +for the sins of the past. For while we lament the ruin of the present +proprietors, we cannot forget the unrequited toil which in times gone by +created the wealth they have lost; nor that hapless race, the original +owners of the soil, whose fate darkens the saddest page in history.' + +A passing traveller will see little to compensate the sadness occasioned +by old magnificence thus in ruins, strewing the whole island with its +melancholy wrecks. What there is to set off against it, we shall +consider hereafter. + +What survives of the agriculture and commerce of Jamaica is still, as +formerly, mainly dependent on the two great staples, sugar and coffee; +the former being raised chiefly in the plains and valleys, the latter in +the uplands and mountains. There was, it is said, an indigenous sugar +cane in the West Indies, when first discovered; but if so, it has long +been supplanted by the Mauritius cane, which is now cultivated. The +joints of the cane, being cut and laid horizontally in furrows, which +are then covered over, spring up in a crop which comes to maturity in +about a year; and when this is cut, the roots rattoon, or send up shoots +for five or six years in succession. This is one reason why Jamaica +sugar planters find it so hard to compete with Cuban production. On the +deep soil of Cuba the cane rattoons, it is said, not five or six, but +forty years in succession. + +The coffee plant is a beautiful shrub. Left to itself, it would grow +twenty or thirty feet high; but it is kept down to such a height as that +the berries can easily be picked by the hand. Its glossy, dark-green +leaves resemble a good deal the jessamine; and the resemblance is +increased during the time of flowering, by the beautiful white blossoms, +of a faint, delicate fragrance, which are scattered over the branches +like a light powdering of snow. It thrives well in a moist air; and +coffee plantations may be seen clothing the sides of mountains three, +four, and even five thousand feet above the sea. The history of the way +in which coffee was introduced to the West Indies is really quite a +little romance, though an authentic one. It is well known that Holland +used to practise the most odious commercial monopoly ever known among +Christian nations. Her spice islands were guarded with a cruel jealousy +rivalling the fables of the dragon that guarded the golden apples; and +her great coffee island, Java, was equally locked up from the world. To +give a spice plant or a coffee plant to a stranger, was an offence +inexorably punished with death. A single coffee plant, however, was +allowed to come to Europe as an ornament to the conservatory of a +wealthy Amsterdam burgomaster. This was still more jealously watched +than its fellows in the East Indies; but at length a French visitor +managed to secrete a living berry, and, taking it with him to Paris, to +raise a plant. From this again a young plant was taken to Martinique, +one of the French West Indies. When the young stranger, freighted with +such possibilities of wealth, arrived there, it was found that the +exposure of the voyage had nearly extinguished its vitality. It was +tended with the most anxious care; but for two or three years it +continued to languish, and threatened by an untimely death to give Dutch +selfishness a triumph after all. At last, however, it took a happy +start, and from that plant the whole West Indies have derived their +coffee. It was introduced into Jamaica in 1720, and Temple Hall, one of +the two estates which I have mentioned as being in the beautiful valley +between Kingston and the American Mission, has the honor of showing the +oldest coffee walk in the island. + +Jamaica coffee is of an excellent quality; the berries, it is said, if +kept two years, being equal to the best Mocha. As some one laments that +the cooks and grooms of the Romans spoke better Latin than even Milton +among the moderns could write, so I can boast in behalf of the Jamaica +negroes, that even Delmonico, unless he could secure the services of one +of them who understands the true method of reducing the browned berry to +an impalpable powder, by pulverizing it between a flat stone and a round +one, must give up all hopes of presenting his guests with the ideal cup +of coffee. I would give the whole process by which an amber-colored +stream, of perfect flavor, might be poured out, without a trace of +sediment, to the very last drop, did I not reflect with pity that +probably in all the wide extent of my country there is neither the +apparatus of grinding nor the sable domestic with skill to use it. Nay, +even in Jamaica, where one would think they could afford to be slow +_for_ a good thing, since they are so amazingly slow _to_ every good +thing, I grieve to say that the barbarous mill, hacking and mangling the +fragrant berry, has almost universally supplanted the more laborious +ancient method by which it was gently reduced to its most perfect +attrition, yielding up every particle of its aromatic strength. Thus the +modern demon of expedition, to whom quickness is so much more than +quality, has invaded even the slumberous repose of our fair island, +bringing under his arm, not a locomotive, but a coffee mill. There are, +to be sure, two or three locomotives on the twelve-mile railway between +Kingston and Spanishtown, but it would be a cruel sarcasm to intimate +that the genius of expedition ever brought them. + +There are several other vegetable products of Jamaica, which it owes +likewise to a happy accident. The mango, for instance, which now grows +in such profusion on uplands and plains, that if the groves should be +cut down, the face of the country would seem naked, was a spoil of war, +being brought from a French ship destined for Martinique, somewhere +about 1790. At first it is said the mangoes sold for a guinea a piece, +with the express stipulation that the seed should be returned. Now, in a +good bearing season, I have actually seen a narrow mountain road fetlock +deep with decaying mangoes, besides the thousands consumed by man and +beast. During the summer, in the good years, they furnish the main +subsistence to the negro children, and a large part of the subsistence +of the adults, and make a grateful and wholesome change from the yam and +salt fish which constitute the staples of their diet the rest of the +time. It is this, probably, which has given rise to the absurd report +that the negroes live principally on fruits spontaneously growing. + +The young leaves of the mango are of a brownish red; and amid the +general profusion of green, they impart a not ungrateful relief to the +eye. Even their russet blossoms have a pleasant look. But in a good +season, when the fruit is ripe, the groves have a magnificently rich +appearance. Rows upon rows of yellow fruit look like lines of golden +apples. Most people are extravagantly fond of them; but for myself I +must say that, excepting the superb 'No. 11'--so named from being thus +numbered on the captured French ship--and one or two other rare kinds, I +concur with the late Prof. Adams, of Amherst, in thinking that a very +good mango might be made by steeping raw cotton in turpentine, and +sprinkling a little sugar over it. + +Another fortuitous gift to Jamaica, so far as human intention is +concerned, was the invaluable donation of the Guinea grass. Toward a +century ago some African birds were brought as a present to a gentleman +in the west of the island. Some grass seeds had been brought along for +their feed; and when they reached their journey's end, the seeds were +thrown away. After a while it was noticed that the cattle were very +eager to reach the grass growing on a certain spot, and on examination +it was found that the seeds thrown away had come up as a grass of +remarkable succulence and nutritiousness. It was soon distributed, and +now it is spread over the island. You pass rich meadows of it on every +lowland estate; and it clothes hundreds of hills to their tops with its +yellowish green. I do not see what the island would do without it. The +pens or grazing farms in particular have been almost wholly created by +it. + +Jamaica has, of course, the usual West Indian fruits, the orange, the +shaddock, the lime, the pineapple, the guava, the nispero, the banana, +the cocoanut, and many others not much known abroad. But the +lusciousness of tropical fruits compares ill with the thousand delicate +flavors which cultivation has extended through our temperate clime; +while, at the same time, steam makes nearly all the best fruits of the +West Indies familiar to our markets. The resident of New York or +Philadelphia, and still more of Baltimore has small occasion to wish +himself in the tropics for the sake of fruit. + +The great staple of negro existence, and therefore the great staple of +existence to the immense majority of the inhabitants, is the yam. There +are some indigenous kinds; but the species most in use appear to have +been brought in by the imported African slaves. This solid edible dwarfs +our potatoes, a single root varying in weight from five to ten pounds, +and sometimes even reaching the weight of fifty pounds. They are of all +shapes, globular, finger shaped, and long; and the latter, with their +thick, brown rinds, look more like billets of wood, crusted with earth, +than anything else. People in this country are apt to imagine them to be +a huge kind of sweet potato, with which they have no other connection +than that both are edible roots. The white yams, boiled and mashed, are +scarcely distinguishable from very superior white potatoes. Above ground +the plant is a vine, requiring to be trained on a pole, and a yamfield +looks precisely like a vineyard. But oh, the difference! while the +vineyard calls up a thousand recollections of laughing girls treading +the grape, and the sunny lands of story, a yamfield reminds you only +that under the ground is a bulky esculent, which some months hence will +be put into a negro pot, and boiled and eaten, with an utter absence of +poetry, or of anything but appetite and salt. It is plain that in this +case solid usefulness stands no chance with erratic and rather +loose-mannered brilliancy. And yet some kinds of yam in flower diffuse a +fragrance more exquisite, I am persuaded, than comes from any vineyard. +So that, after all, their homely prose has some flavor of poetry, which, +when African poets arise, will doubtless be duly canonized in song. + +As yet the small freeholders have chiefly occupied themselves in raising +these 'ground provisions,' as yams, plantains, bananas, and the various +vegetables are called. But they are more and more largely planting cane +and coffee, greatly to their own advantage and that of the island. + +If in this favored zone the earth is pleasant underneath, nothing can be +more glorious than the heavens above. Being under the parallel of 18 deg. N. +lat., of course we have a full view of all the northern heavens, and of +all the southern heavens, except 18 deg. about the South Pole. The rarefied +atmosphere gives peculiar brilliancy to the stars; and on a clear +night--and most nights are clear--the heavens are indeed flooded with +white fire, while, according to the season of the year, Orion and his +northern company appear with a lustre unwonted to us, or the Scorpion +unfolds his sparkling length, or the Ship displays its glittering +confusion of stars, or the Southern Cross rears aloft its sacred symbol. +Meanwhile, well down toward the northern horizon, the pole star holds +its fixed position, and the Great and the Little Bear, dipping toward +the ocean wave, but not yet dipping in it, pursue their nightly +revolutions. Long after sunset, and long before sunrise, night after +night, the faint, nebulous gleam of the zodiacal lights stretches up +toward the zenith. The shortness of the twilight frequently leaves the +fugacious planet, Mercury, so seldom seen at the north, in distinct +view. While Venus not merely casts a shadow in a clear night, as she +does with us, but when she is brightest, actually shines through the +clouds with an illumining power. + +Alternating with these glories of the starry firmament, the moon at the +full fills the lower air with a soft, yet bright light, in which you can +read without difficulty the smallest print. Under this milder +illumination, the overpowering luxuriance of the landscape loses its +oppressiveness, the hills assume more rounded forms, and from the +general obscurity, the palms, a tree made for moonlight, stand out in +soft distinctness. At such a time we forget the foul crimes which +disfigure the past, and the vices which degrade the present of this fair +land, and can easily imagine ourselves in the garden where the yet +unfallen progenitors of mankind walked under a firmament 'glowing with +living sapphires,' and together hymned the praises of their Creator. +Daylight chases away this illusion, but brings back the reality of +Christian work, whose rugged but cheerful tasks replace the delicious +but ineffectual dreams of Paradise Lost, by the hope of contributing, in +some humble measure, toward restoring in a province of fallen earth the +lineaments of Paradise Regained. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 8: This was during the Crimean war.] + + + + +THE RESTORATION OF THE UNION. + + +God is on the side of our country. Let us reverently thank him that he +has favored the general march of our arms toward the sacred end of our +exertions--the defeat of the daring attempt against the unity of our +national power and the integrity of our free institutions. Not always in +human affairs has the cause of right and freedom prevailed. In the +gradual development of human society, as unfolded in the lapse of long +ages, the oppressor has generally triumphed, and history has full often +been compelled to record the failure of the noblest efforts, and the +downfall of the most righteous designs conceived for the benefit of man. +Such has been the experience of the race in those parts of the world +which have longest been the theatre of human enterprise and of +established government. But the American continent seems to present an +exception to this uniformity of sinister events: it is destined to be +the seat of civil liberty. The success of our institutions in +withstanding the awful trial to which they have just been subjected, +indicates the existence of providential designs toward our favored +country, not to be thwarted by any mortal agency at home or abroad. Such +a combination of hostile elements, so powerful and determined, has never +before assailed any political structure without overthrowing it. The +failure in the present instance shows that our great destiny will be +accomplished in the face of all obstacles, however insurmountable they +may appear to be. + +Providence always accomplishes its ends by appropriate +instrumentalities; and in our case there are natural causes adequate to +the great result which seems to be inevitable. In North America the +principle of equal rights and of unobstructed individual progress has +become the fundamental law of society. It is needless to trace the +origin and growth of this principle; but its operation has been so +powerful and productive, so fully imbued with moral and intellectual +power, so solid and safe as a basis of national organization, as shown +in the marvellous history of the United States, that no uncongenial +principle is capable of resisting it, or even of maintaining an +existence by its side. This is true not only with regard to that +antagonistic principle which is now desperately but hopelessly waging a +suicidal war within the bosom of the great republic; but it is equally +true with regard to that insidious germ of despotism, which threatens to +push its way through the soil of a neighboring country, displacing the +free institutions which have long and sadly languished amid the civil +wars of a most unhappy people. The same vigorous vitality which will +renew the growth of our national authority and maintain it in the Union, +will, at the same time, establish its predominant influence on the +continent. Having overborne and rooted out every opposing principle +within the boundaries of our own imperial domain, its growth will be so +majestic that every unfriendly influence which may possibly have secured +a feeble foothold in its vicinity during its perilous struggle, will +soon wither in the shadow of its greatness and disappear from around it. +Foreign nations may exert their sinister authority in the Old World, and +plant their peculiar institutions in that congenial soil, with their +accustomed success; but no amount of skilful manipulation will preserve +these exotics when transplanted in the American soil. The prevailing +elements are not suited to their organization; they cannot be +naturalized and acclimated. This continent, with its peculiar population +and antecedents, has its own political _fauna_ and _flora_, fixed by +nature and destiny, which cannot be utterly changed at the will of any +human authority. + +The most wicked and disastrous experiment of the age has been tried upon +the grandest scale. It was a bold undertaking to break up the American +Union, and to arrest the progress of its benign principles. To the great +relief and joy of almost universal humanity, the monstrous attempt is +about to result in disgraceful failure. Yet this prodigious enterprise +of destruction was initiated under the most favorable circumstances, +with the most auspicious promise for its fatal success. The malignant +envy of all the instruments of despotism throughout the whole civilized +world were brought to bear against us for the accomplishment of a work +of stupendous ruin--the annihilation of American nationality, American +power, and American freedom. All the bad, restless, retrogressive +elements of our own population sought alliance with the foreign enemies +of human liberty; and, for the most selfish and detestable of all social +and political schemes, attempted to prostrate the paternal government of +their country, before the expiration of the first century of its +unexampled career. Vast armies of deluded citizens, led by degenerate +sons of the republic--ingrates, educated at her own military +schools--have impiously defied her lawful authority, and sometimes +assailed her with unnatural triumph over her arms; while foreign +capital, subsidized by prospective piratical plunder, has filled the +ocean with daring cruisers to destroy her commerce, and thus to weaken +the right hand of her power. Feathers from the wing of her own eagle +have plumed the arrows directed at her heart; while the barb has been +steeled and sharpened by the aid of mercenary enemies in distant +lands--aid purchased by means of the robberies which have desolated one +half the land. Deep and dangerous have been the wounds inflicted on our +unhappy country through this shameless combination of traitors at home +and enemies of humanity abroad; but she still stands erect, though +bleeding, with her great strength yet comparatively undiminished, and +with her foot uplifted ready to be planted on the breast of her +prostrate foes. She holds aloft the glorious banner, its stars still +undimmed, and with her mild but penetrating voice, she still proclaims +the principles of universal freedom to all who may choose to claim it; +and with the sublimity of the most exalted human charity, she invites +even the fallen enemy--the misguided betrayers of their country--to +return to her bosom and share the protection of her generous +institutions. In the hour of her triumph she seeks no bloody vengeance, +but tenders a magnanimous forgiveness to her repenting children, wooing +them back to the shelter of re-established liberty and vindicated law. +All hail to the republic in the splendor of her coming triumph and the +renewal of her beneficent power! + +It has not been within the ability of reckless treason and armed +rebellion to break down the Constitution of the country and permanently +destroy its institutions; so will it be as far beyond the capacity, as +it ought to be distant from the thoughts of the men now wielding the +Federal authority, to operate unauthorized changes in the fundamental +law which they have solemnly sworn to support. The strength of the +people has been put forth, through the Government--their blood has been +profusely poured out, for the sole purpose of maintaining its legitimate +ascendency, and of overthrowing and removing the obstacles opposed by +the hand of treason to its constitutional action. To uphold the +supremacy of the Constitution and laws, is the very object of the war; +and it would be a gross perversion of the authority conferred and a +palpable misuse of the means so amply provided by Congress, to use them +for the purpose of defeating the very end intended to be accomplished. +Neither the legislative nor the executive department of the Government +could legitimately undertake to destroy or change the Constitution, from +which both derive their existence and all their lawful power. It is true +that pending a war, either foreign or civil, the Constitution itself +confers extraordinary powers upon the Government--powers far +transcending those which it may properly exercise in time of peace. +These war powers, however, great as they are, and limited only by the +laws of and usages civilized nations, are not extra-constitutional; they +are expressly conferred, and are quite as legitimate as those more +moderate ones which appropriately belong to the Government in ordinary +times. But when there is no longer any war--when the Government shall +have succeeded in completely suppressing the rebellion--what then will +be the proper principle of action? Will not the Constitution of itself, +by the simple force of its own terms, revert to its ordinary operation, +and spread its benign protection over every part of the country? Will +not all the States, returning to their allegiance, be entitled to hold +their place in the Union, upon the same footing which they held prior to +the fatal attempt at secession? These are indeed momentous questions, +demanding a speedy solution. + +If we say that the Federal Government may put the States upon any +different footing than that established by the existing Constitution, +then we virtually abrogate that instrument which accurately prescribes +the means by which alone its provisions can be altered or amended. But, +on the other hand, if we concede the right of each State, after making +war on the Union until it is finally conquered, quietly to return and +take its place again with all the rights and privileges it held before, +just as if nothing had happened in the _interim_, then, indeed, do we +make of the Federal Government a veritable temple of discord. We subject +it to the danger of perpetual convulsions, without the power to protect +itself except by the repetition of sanguinary wars, whenever the caprice +or ambition of any State might lead her into the experiment of +rebellion. Between these two unreasonable and contradictory +alternatives--the right of the Government to change its forms, and the +right of the rebellious State to assume its place in the union without +conditions--there must be some middle ground upon which both parties may +stand securely without doing violence to any constitutional principle. +The Federal Government is clothed with power, and has imposed upon it +the duty, to conquer the rebellion. This is an axiom in the political +philosophy of every true Union man, and we therefore do not stop to +argue a point disputed only by the enemies of our cause. But if the +Government has power to conquer the domestic enemy in arms against it, +then, as a necessary consequence, it must be the sole judge as to when +the conquest has been accomplished; in other words, it must pronounce +when and in what manner the state of internal war shall cease to exist. +This implies nothing more than the right claimed by every belligerent +power, and always exercised by the conqueror--that of deciding for +itself how far the war shall be carried--what amount of restraint and +punishment shall be inflicted--what terms of peace shall be imposed. +The Constitution of the United States does not seem to contemplate the +holding, by the Federal Government, of any State as a conquered and +dependent province; but in authorizing it to suppress rebellion, it +confers every power necessary to do the work effectually. It authorizes +the use of the whole military means of the Government, to be applied in +the most unrestricted manner, for the destruction of the rebellious +power. If a State be in rebellion, then the State itself may be held and +restrained by military power, so long as may be necessary, in order to +secure its obedience to the Federal laws and the due performance of its +constitutional obligations. It would be contradictory and wholly +destructive of the right of suppressing rebellion by military power, to +admit the irreconcilable right of the State unconditionally to assume +its place in the Union, only to renew the war at its own pleasure. +Acting in good faith, the Federal Government has the undoubted right to +provide for its own security, and to follow its military measures with +all those supplementary proceedings which are usual and appropriate to +this end. This principle surely cannot be questioned; and if so, it +involves everything, leaving the question one only of practical +expediency and of good faith in the choice of means. + +But it is said there is and indeed can be no war between the Government +and any of the States; but only between the former, and certain +rebellious individuals in the States. We are well aware that in the +ordinary operation of the Federal Government, it acts directly on +individuals and not on States. The cause of this arrangement and its +purpose are well understood. But in case of war or insurrection, the +power must be coextensive with the emergency which calls it forth. If +States are actually in rebellion, then of necessity the Government must +treat that fact according to its real nature. The fiction of supposing +the State to be loyal when its citizens are all traitors, and of +considering it incapable of insurrection when all its authorities are +notoriously in open rebellion, would be not less pernicious in its folly +and imbecility than it would be absurd to the common sense of mankind. +Undoubtedly it may be true in some instances, that the rebellion has +usurped authority in the States. The will of the people may have been +utterly disregarded, and set aside by violence or fraud. The +insurrectionary government of the State may be only the government _de +facto_ and not _de jure_, using these terms with reference only to the +State and its people, and not with reference to the paramount authority +of the Union which, under all circumstances, deprives the +insurrectionary State organization of any legal character whatever. In +all cases of such usurped authority, the people of the States would have +the unquestionable right to be restored to the Union upon the terms of +their recent connection, without any conditions whatever. It would be +the solemn duty of the United States to defend each one of its members +from the violence which might thus have overthrown its legitimate +government. But, on the other hand, when the people of the States +themselves have inaugurated the insurrectionary movement and have +voluntarily sustained it in its war upon the Government, then no such +favor can reasonably be claimed for them. If excitement and delusion +have suddenly hurried them into rebellion against their better judgments +and their real inclinations, they are to be pitied for their misfortune, +and ought to be treated with great leniency and favor; but they cannot +claim exemption from those conditions which may be imperatively demanded +for the future security and tranquillity of the country. + +If by possibility there might be some technical legal difficulty in this +view, there would be none whatever of a practical nature; for any mind +gifted with the most ordinary endowment of reason would not fail to be +impressed with the gross inconsistency and inequality of holding that +rebels may not only set aside the Constitution at their will and make +war for its destruction, but may set it up again and claim its +protection; while its defenders and faithful asserters must be held to +such strict and impracticable regard for its provisions that they may +not take the precautions necessary to preserve it, even in the emergency +of putting down a rebellion against it. Such an irrational predicament +of constitutional difficulties and political contradictions would soon +necessitate its own solution. The revolution on the one side would +induce a similar revolutionary movement on the other; attempted +destruction by violence would justify the measures necessary to the +restoration of the Government and to its permanent security in the +future. There would be little hesitation in adopting these measures in +spite of any doubt as to their regularity. The public safety would be +acknowledged as the supreme law, and they who had placed themselves in +the attitude of public enemies could not complain of the rigid +application of its requirements to them. + +The most inveterate of the rebels certainly do not anticipate the +relaxation of this principle. They are careful to make known to the +Southern people the impossibility of returning to the Union, except upon +such conditions as may be prescribed by the conquering power. It is true +they do this to deter their followers from indulging the thought of any +restoration of their former Federal relations; but this fact of itself +shows their consciousness of the justice of the position. They have +betrayed their people into a situation from which they cannot reasonably +hope to escape without making important concessions to the Federal +Government. Their effort now is to convince the misguided population of +the South that the required concessions will be more intolerable than +the indefinite continuance of a hopeless and destructive civil war. + +There is no necessity, however, to go beyond the limits of the +Constitution; nor is there any reason to believe that the Government, in +any event, will be disposed to exact terms inconsistent with the true +spirit of our institutions. A great danger, such as now threatens our +country, might, in some circumstances, justify a revolution, altering +even the fundamental laws, for the purpose of preserving our national +unity. The justification would depend upon the nature of the +circumstances--the extremity and urgency of the peril; and the change +would be recognized and defended as the result of violence, irregular +and revolutionary. At a more tranquil period, in the absence of danger +and excitement, it would be practicable to return to the former +principles of political action; or, in case of necessity, the sanction +of the people might be obtained in the forms prescribed by the +Constitution, and the change found necessary in the revolutionary period +would either be approved and retained, modified, or altogether rejected. + +But fortunately no constitutional obstacle whatever stands in the way of +making such stipulations as may be appropriate between the Federal +Government and the States; nor would they at all imply any admission of +the right of secession, or of the actual efficacy of the attempted +withdrawal from the Union. On the contrary, any agreement with the State +would, _ex vi termini_, admit the integrity of its organization under +the Constitution. Special agreements are usually made whenever a new +State is admitted into the Union; and as all the States, old and new, +stand upon an equal footing, there can be nothing in the ordinances +usually adopted by the new States, conflicting with the principles on +which the Government is organized. The States are prohibited from +making 'any agreement or compact' with each other, without the consent +of the Federal Government; but there is no prohibition against making +such agreements with the Federal Government itself. What the new States +may do upon entering the Union, the old States may do at any time upon +the same conditions This principle was settled upon the admission of +Texas into the Union; it has been sanctioned in many other instances; +and we are not aware that there is or can be any question of its +soundness. Surely, if there could ever be an occasion proper for a +solemn compact between the General Government and any of the separate +States, it will be found at the conclusion of this unhappy war, when it +will be necessary to heal the wounds of the country, and provide for its +permanent peace and security. To quell an insurrection so extensive, +involving so many States in its daring treason, especially when it has +assumed an organized form and been recognized not only by other nations +but even by ourselves, as a belligerent entitled to the rights of war, +implies the necessity, in addition to the annihilation of its armies and +all its warlike resources, of removing the causes of its +dissatisfaction, and destroying its means of exciting disturbance. The +Government is by no means bound unconditionally to recognize the old +relations of States which, as such, have taken part in the rebellion; +which have themselves repudiated all their constitutional rights and +obligations; and which may again, at any time, renew the war, from the +same impulse and for the same cause. On the contrary, the close of the +disastrous contest will be a most favorable opportunity for compelling +the conquered insurrection to submit to terms such as will deprive it of +all capacity for similar mischief in the future. The insurrection will +not be effectually suppressed unless its active principle is destroyed. +Nothing can be plainer than the right and the solemn duty of the +Government in this great emergency. + +Supposing these principles to be admitted, there still remains for +determination the most important question as to the nature of the +conditions which ought to be exacted of the returning States--a problem +of the most difficult character, involving the most delicate of all +considerations, and demanding for its solution the highest practical +statesmanship and the most profound wisdom, based upon moderation, +firmness, liberality, and justice. In this problem several elements +exist in complicated combination, and each one of these must be fairly +considered in the adjustment whenever it may be made. The measures of +safety which the Government has been compelled to adopt in the progress +of the war, and to which it may be committed without recall; the +condition of the rebellious States, and their demands and propositions; +and finally, the interests, rights, and just expectations of the African +race, which has become so intimately involved in this terrible +strife--all these must be weighed accurately in the scales of truth, and +with the impartial hand of disinterested patriotism. No mere partisan +considerations, no promptings of selfish ambition, and no miserable +sectional enmities or fierce desires for revenge, ought to be allowed to +mingle with our thoughts and feelings when we approach this great +subject of restoring peace and harmony to the people and States of this +mighty republic. Awful will be the responsibility of those men in +authority, who shall fail to rise to the height of this momentous +emergency in the history of our country--who shall be wanting in the +courage, the purity, the magnanimity necessary to save the nation from +disunion and anarchy. + +What ought to be the conditions upon which the rebellious States are to +be reestablished in their old relations, it is perhaps premature now to +attempt to determine. The war is not yet closed, although we are +sufficiently sanguine to believe that we have already seen 'the +beginning of the end.' But the still nearer approach of the final acts +in the great drama will give a mighty impetus to events, and many great +changes will be wrought in the condition of the Southern people, and in +their feelings toward the Union, against which too many of them are +still breathing hate and vengeance. They have scarcely yet been +sufficiently chastened even by the fiery ordeal through which they have +been compelled to pass. Every day, however, increases the bitterness of +the scourge under which they suffer, and if it does not avail to humble +them, it tends at least to convince them, in their hearts, of the +terrible mistake into which they have been led. We may well hope and +believe that the masses of the people will soon be brought to that +rational frame of mind which will incline them to acknowledge the +irresistible exigencies of their situation, and to make those +concessions that may be found indispensable to peace and union. As we +approach the moment of decisive action, experience will teach us the +solemn duty devolving upon us. While we may not at present anticipate +fully what will then be necessary, we can nevertheless determine some +few principles of a general nature which must control the adjustment. + +We will be compelled to consider not only the duty which the Government +owes the people, in the matter of their own permanent security, but also +the obligations it has assumed, the promises it has made, and the hopes +it has excited in the bondsmen of the rebellious States. There must be +good faith toward the black man. It would be infamous to have incited +him to escape from slavery only to remand him again, upon the +restoration of the Union, to the tender mercies of his master. What +differences of opinion may have existed in the beginning as to the +legality and policy of the Proclamation and of employing the liberated +slaves as soldiers, the Government and people are too far committed in +this line of action to be able now to withdraw without dishonour and +foul injustice. Many of the consequences of the war may be remedied, and +even the last vestiges of them obliterated. Cities may be rebuilt, +desolated fields made to bloom again with prosperity, and commerce may +return to its old channels with even increased activity and volume. Many +wounds may be healed, and may separations may be brought to an end by +the renewal of friendships broken by the war; but the separation of the +slave from his mater, so far as it has been caused by any action of the +Government, can never be remedied. That must be an eternal separation, +resting for its security upon the humanity as well as the honor of the +American people. What! Shall we restore the States unconditionally, and +permit the fugitive slave law again to operate as it did before the +rebellion? Shall we consent to see the men whom we have invited away +from the South dragged back into slavery tenfold more severe by reason +of our act inducing them to escape? This is plainly impossible. Argument +is wholly out of place; felling and conscience revolt at the very idea. +It may be admitted that this question, with its peculiar complications, +presents the most difficult and dangerous of all problems; but there is +no alternative: we must meet and solve it at the close of this +rebellion. We have to combat the selfish interests of a class still +powerful, aided by the great strength of a popular prejudice almost +universal. The emergency will require the exertion of all our wisdom and +all our energy. + +The vast body of slaves in the South have not yet been incited to +action, either by the movements of our armies or by the potency of the +Proclamation. Whether they will be, and to what extent, depends upon the +continuance of the war, and its future progress. The result in this +particular remains to be seen, and cannot now be anticipated. What legal +effect the measures of the Government may have upon the slaves remaining +in the South would be a question for the decision of the courts; and +doubtless most of them would be entitled to liberation as the penalty of +the treason of their masters, who may have participated in the +rebellion. But it is well worthy of consideration whether it would not +be wise and better for all parties, including the slaves, to commute +this penalty by a compact with the States for the gradual emancipation +of the slaves remaining at the time of the negotiation. The sudden and +utter overthrow of the existing organization of labor and capital in +those States, coming in addition to the awful devastation which the war +has produced, will deal a disastrous blow, not alone to those +unfortunate States, but to the commerce and industry of the whole +country. + +But neither the Government of the United States alone, nor this together +with the Africans, liberated and unliberated, can prescribe their own +requirements, as the law of the emergency, without reference to other +great interests involved. The question must necessarily be controlled by +the sum of all the political elements which enter into it. It is +desirable to restore the States to the Union with as little +dissatisfaction as possible, and even with all the alleviation which can +properly be afforded to the misfortunes of the people who have so sadly +erred in their duty to themselves and to their country. After any +settlement--the most favorable that can be made--heavy will be the +punishment inflicted by the great contest upon the unhappy population of +the rebellious region. In many things, it is true, they will suffer only +in common with the people of all the States; but they will also have +their own peculiar misfortunes in addition to the common burdens. A +generous Government, in the hour of its triumph, will seek to lessen +rather than to aggravate their misfortunes, even though resulting from +their crimes. Having received them back into the bosom of the Union, it +will do so heartily and magnanimously, yielding everything which does +not involve a violation of principle, and endanger the future +tranquillity of the country. The harmony of the States, their +homogeneity, and their general progress in all that contributes to the +greatness and happiness of communities, ought to be, and doubtless will +be, the benign object of the Government in the settlement of the +existing difficulty. If these high purposes necessarily require in their +development a provision for the rapid disappearance of slavery, the +requirement will not arise from any remaining hostility to the returning +States; on the contrary, it will look to their own improvement and +prosperity, quite as much as to the peace and security of the whole +country. The day will yet arrive when these States themselves will +gratefully acknowledge that all the sacrifices of the war will be fully +compensated by the advantages of that great and fundamental change, +which they will undoubtedly now accept only with the utmost reluctance +and aversion. + + + + +WAS HE SUCCESSFUL? + + 'Do but grasp into the thick of human life! Every one _lives_ + it--to not many is it _known_; and seize it where you will, it be + interesting.'--GOETHE. + + 'SUCCESSFUL.--Terminating in accomplishing what is wished or + intended.'--WEBSTER'S _Dictionary_. + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Hiram was never in serious difficulty before. + +When he came carefully to survey the situation, he felt greatly +embarrassed, and in real distress. To understand this, you have only to +recollect what value he placed on church membership. In this he was +perfectly sincere. He felt, too, as he afterward expressed it to Mr. +Bennett, that he had not 'acted just right toward Emma Tenant,' but he +had not the least idea the matter could possibly become a subject of +church discipline. The day for such extraordinary supervision over one's +private affairs had gone by, it is true, but Dr. Chellis, roused and +indignant, would no doubt revive it on this occasion. + +Hiram had absented himself the first Sunday after his interview with his +clergyman, but on the following he ventured to take his accustomed seat. +The distant looks and cold return to his greeting which he received from +the principal members of the congregation, were unmistakable. Even the +female portion, with whom he was such a favorite, had evidently declared +against him. + +He had gone too far. + +However, he went into Sunday school, and took his accustomed seat with +the class under his instruction. It was the first time he had been with +it since he left town to attend on his mother. The young gentleman who +had assumed a temporary charge of this class, which was one of the +finest in the school, shook hands with cool politeness with Hiram, but +did not offer to yield the seat. The latter, already nervous and ill at +ease by reason of his reception among his acquaintances, did not dare +assume his old place, lest he should be told he had been superseded. He +contented himself with greeting his pupils, who appeared glad to see +him, and sitting quietly by while they recited their lesson. Then, +taking advantage of the few moments remaining, he gave them a pathetic +account of the loss of his mother, and exhorted them all to honor and +obey their parents. In the afternoon he did not go back to church, but +went to hear Dr. Pratt, the clergyman who, the reader may recollect, had +been recommended by Mr. Bennett on Hiram's first coming to new York. Our +hero was not at all pleased with this latter gentleman. The fact is, to +a person of Hiram's subtle intellect, a man like Dr. Chellis was a +thousand times more acceptable than a milk-and-water divine. + +From Dr. Pratt's, Hiram proceeded to his room, to take a careful survey +of his position, and, as we said at the beginning of the chapter, he +found himself in serious difficulty, greatly embarrassed and in real +distress. He could not join another church, for a letter had been +formally refused from his own. He could not remain where he was, for the +feeling there was too strong against him, besides, evidently, Dr. +Chellis was determined to institute damaging charges against him. He +thought of attempting to make friends with Mr. and Mrs. Tenant, and +humbly asking them to intercede for him, but the recollection of his +last interview with Mrs, Tenant discouraged any hope of success. Emma, +alas! was away, far away, else he would go and appeal to her--not to +reinstate him as her accepted, but--to aid him to get right with Dr. +Chellis. Such were some of the thoughts that went through his brain as +he sat alone by his open window quite into the twilight. He felt worse +and worse. Prayer did not help him, and every chapter which he read in +the Bible added to his misery. At last it occurred to him to step to his +cousin's house, not far distant, and talk the whole matter over there. + +Although Mr. Bennett's family were out of town during the summer, he was +obliged to remain most of the season, on account of his business. Up to +this time he had not mentioned the fact of the breaking his engagement; +indeed, he had avoided the subject whenever the two had met, because he +knew he was wrong, and there was something about Mr. Bennett, +notwithstanding his keen, shrewd, adroit mercantile habits, which was +very straightforward and aboveboard, and which Hiram disliked to +encounter. Besides, he had always been praised by his cousin for his +tact and management, and he felt exceedingly mortified at being obliged +to confess himself cornered. But something must be done, and that +speedily. Yes, he would go and consult him. Hiram took his hat and +walked slowly to Mr. Bennett's house. He found him extended on a sofa in +his front parlor, quite alone and in the dark, enjoying apparently with +much zest a fine Havana segar. It was by its light that Hiram was +enabled to discover the smoker. + +'Why, Hiram, is it you? Glad to see you!'--so his greeting ran. 'Didn't +know you ever went out Sunday evenings except to church. Take a +segar--oh, you don't smoke. It's deuced lonesome here without the folks. +Must try and get off for a week or two myself. Why didn't I think to ask +you to come and stay with me? Well, we will have some light on the +occasion, and a cup of tea.' And he rose to ring the bell. + +'Not just yet, if you please,' said Hiram, checking the other. 'I want +to have some conversation with you, and I need your advice. I am in +trouble.' + +By a singular coincidence, these were the very words which Mr. Tenant +employed when he went to consult his friend Dr. Chellis. As Hiram +differed totally from Mr. Tenant, so did the drygoods jobbing merchant +from the Doctor. Both were first-rate advisers in their way: the Doctor +in a humane and noble sort, after his kind; the merchant in a shrewd, +adroit, quick-witted, fertile manner, after his kind. + +Mr. Bennett and Hiram both sat on the sofa, even as the Doctor and Mr. +Tenant had sat together. It was quite dark, as I have said, and this +gave Hiram a certain advantage in telling his story, for he dreaded his +cousin's scrutinizing glance. + +Mr. Bennett was much alarmed at Hiram's announcement. 'In trouble?' What +could that mean but financial disaster? + +'I was afraid he would speculate too much,' said Mr. Bennett to himself; +'but how could he have got such a blow as this? I saw him the day after +his return, and he said everything had gone well in his absence.' + +He settled himself, however, resolutely to hear the worst, and, to his +praise be it spoken, fully determined to do what he could to aid the +young man in his difficulties. + +Hiram was brief in his communication. When he chose, he could go as +straight to the point as any one. He did not attempt to gloss over his +story, but put his cousin in possession of the facts pretty much as the +reader understands them. + +It is doubtful if Mr. Bennett was much relieved by the communication. +Indeed, I think he would have preferred to have some pecuniary tangle +out of which to extricate his cousin. In fact, it was impossible for him +to suppress a feeling of contempt, not to say disgust, at Hiram's +conduct. For, worldly minded as he was, It was what he never would have +been guilty of. Indeed, it so happened that Mr. Bennett had actually +married his wife under circumstances quite similar, three months after +her father's failure, and one month after his death; so that where be +expected a fortune, he had taken a portionless wife and her widowed +mother. What is more, he did it cheerfully, and was, as he used to say, +the happiest fellow in the world in consequence. It would have been +singular, therefore, if while hearing Hiram's story he had not recurred +to his own history. In indulging his contempt for him, he unconsciously +practised an innocent self-flattery. + +He did not immediately reply after Hiram concluded, but waited for this +feeling to subside, and for the old worldly leaven to work again. + +'A nice mess you're in,' he said, at length, 'and all from not seeking +my advice in time. Do you know, Hiram, you made a great mistake in +giving up that girl? I'm not talking of any matter of affection or +sentiment or happiness, or about violating pledges and promises. That is +your own affair, and I've nothing to do with it. I have often told you +that you have much to learn yet, and here is a tremendous blunder to +prove it. The connection would have been as good as a hundred thousand +dollars cash capital, if the girl hadn't a cent. That clique is a +powerful one, and they all hang together. Mark my words: they won't let +the old man go under, and it would have been a fortune to you to have +stood by him. You've taken a country view of this business, Hiram. There +every man tries to pull his neighbor down. Here, we try to build one +another up.' + +'You are doubtless correct,' replied Hiram, 'but the mischief is done, +and I want you to help me remedy it. If you can't aid me, nobody can.' + +Mr. Bennett was not insensible to the compliment. + +'Certainly, certainly,' he answered, 'you know you can count on me. I +have always told you that you could, and I meant what I said. But you +must permit me to point out your mistakes, and I tell you you should +have asked my advice in this affair.' + +'Very true.' + +'You think Dr. Chellis won't yield?' + +'I am sure of it.' + +Mr. Bennett sat fixed in thought for at least five minutes, during which +time, I am inclined to think, Hiram's countenance, could it have been +seen through the darkness, would have been a study for an artist. For it +doubtless exhibited (because it could _not_ be seen) his actual feelings +and anxieties. He was startled at last into an exclamation of fright by +receiving an unexpected slap on his shoulder, which came from Mr. +Bennett, who, rising at that moment, gave this as a token of having +arrived at a happy solution of the difficulty. In this respect he was as +abrupt as Dr. Chellis had been with his friend. + +'The thing is settled. There is but one course to pursue, and you must +take it. I will explain when we can have more light on the subject, to +say nothing of our cup of tea.' + +He rang the bell, the parlor was lighted, and tea served, when Mr. +Bennett again broke the silence. + +'Hiram,' he said, abruptly, 'you must quit the Presbyterian church.' + +Hiram's heart literally stopped beating. He turned deadly pale. + +Mr. Bennett perceived it. 'Don't be frightened,' he said. 'You have made +a great mistake, and I would help you repair it. I repeat, you must quit +the Presbyterian church, and you must join ours. You must indeed,' he +continued, seeing Hiram look undecided. + +'Does it teach the true salvation?' asked Hiram, doubtingly. + +'How can you ask such a question?' replied Mr. Bennett, in a severe +tone; 'are we not in the apostolic line? Are not the ordinances +administered by a clergy whose succession has never been broken? +You--you Presbyterians, _may_ possibly be saved by the grace of God, but +you have really no church, no priesthood, no ordinances. We won't +discuss this. I will introduce you to our clergyman, and you shall +examine the subject for yourself. Perhaps you don't know it, Hiram, but +I have been confirmed; yes, I was confirmed last spring. When I had that +fit of sickness in the winter, I thought more about these matters than I +ever did before, and I came to the conclusion that it was my duty to be +confirmed. I have felt much more comfortable ever since, I assure you. +My wife, you know, is a strict churchwoman. She and you will agree first +rate if you come with us. For my part, I don't pretend to be so very +exact. I believe in the spirit more than the letter, and our clergyman +don't find any fault with me. What say you, will you call on him? If +yes, I will open up a little plan which I have this moment concocted for +your particular benefit. But you must first become a churchman. + +Hiram sat stupefied, horrified, in a trance, in a maze. Cast loose from +his church, within whose pale he was accustomed to think salvation could +only be found, the possibility that there might be hope for him in +another quarter nearly took away his senses. He had been accustomed to +regard the Episcopalians as little better than Papists, and _they_ were +the veritable children of wrath. Could he have been mistaken? He was now +willing to hope so. It could certainly do no harm to confer with the +clergyman. He would hear what he had to say, and then judge for himself, +and so he told his cousin. + +'All right; you talk like a sensible man. Now, Hiram, between us two, I +am going to find you a wife.' + +Hiram started. His pulse began again to beat naturally. + +'Yes, I have found you a wife, that is, if you will do as I advise you, +instead of following your own head. I tell you what it is, Hiram; you're +green in these matters.' + +Hiram smiled an incredulous smile, and asked, in a tone which betrayed a +good deal of interest, 'Who is the young lady?' + +'Never mind who she is until you come over to us. Then my wife shall +introduce you. But I'll tell you this much, Hiram: she has a clear two +hundred thousand dollars--no father, no mother, already of age, in our +first society, and very aristocratic.' + +'Is she pious?' asked Hiram, eagerly. + +'Excessively so. Fact is, she is the strictest young woman in the church +in--Lent. She belongs to all the charitable societies, and gives away I +don't know how much.' + +'Humph,' responded Hiram. The last recommendation did not seem specially +to take with him. Still his eyes glistened at the recital. He could not +resist asking several questions about the young lady, but Mr. Bennett +was firm, and would not communicate further till Hiram's decision was +made. + +Thus conversing, they fell into a pleasant mood, and so the evening wore +away. When Hiram rose to leave, he found it was nearly midnight. His +cousin insisted he should remain with him, and Hiram was glad to accept +the invitation. He did not feel like returning to his solitary room with +his mind unsettled and his feelings discomposed. + +In a most confidential mood the two walked up stairs together, and Mr. +Bennett bade Hiram good night in a tone so cheerful that the latter +entered his room quite reassured. He proceeded, as was his habit, to +read a chapter in the Bible, but his teeth chattered when, on opening +the volume, he discovered it to be--the prayer book!--something he had +been accustomed to hold in utter abomination. He controlled his feelings +sufficiently to glance through the book, and at last, selecting a +chapter from the Psalter, he perused it and retired. He dreamed that he +was married to the rich girl, and had the two hundred thousand dollars +safe in his possession. And so real did this seem that he woke in the +morning greatly disappointed to find himself minus so respectable a sum. + +'I must not lose the chance,' said Hiram to himself, as he jumped out of +bed. 'With that amount in cash I would teach all South street a lesson. +I wonder if this is the true church after all;' and he took up the +prayer book this time without fear, as if determined to find out. + +He spent some time in reading the prayers, and confessed to himself that +they were quite unobjectionable. Mr. Bennett's warning that there was no +certainty of salvation, out of the _church_ (i.e. his church) was not +without its effect. As Hiram sought religion for the purpose of security +on the other side, you can readily suppose any question of the validity +of his title would make him very nervous; once convinced of his mistake, +he would hasten to another church, just as he would change his insurance +policies, when satisfied of the insolvency of the company which had +taken his risks. + +After breakfast Hiram renewed the subject of the last night's +conversation, and Mr. Bennett was pleased to find that his views were +already undergoing a decided change. + +'Now, Hiram,' he exclaimed, 'if you do come over to us, it's no reason +you should join _my_ church. You may not like our clergyman. You know, +when you first came to New York, I recommended you to join Dr. Pratt's +congregation instead of Dr. Chellis's; but you wanted severe preaching, +and you have had it. Now there are similar varieties among the +Episcopalians. Dr. Wing, though a strict churchman, will give you sharp +exercise, if you listen to him. He will handle you without gloves. He is +fond of using the sword of the spirit, and you had best stand from +under, or he will cleave you through and through. My clergyman, Mr. +Myrtle, is a very different man. He believes in the gospel as a message +of peace and love, and his sermons are beautiful. One feels so safe and +happy to hear him discourse of the mercy of God, and the joys of +heaven.' + +'Nevertheless,' replied Hiram, stoutly, 'I hold to my old opinion, and I +confess I prefer such a preacher as Dr. Wing to one like Mr. Myrtle. But +under existing circumstances I shall go with you.' + +He was thinking about the splendid match Mr. Bennett had hinted at. + +'I am glad to hear you say so,' said Mr. Bennett; 'it will bring us more +frequently together. You have a brilliant future, if you will listen to +me; but it won't do to make another blunder, such as you have just +committed.' + +'I suppose you will tell me now about that young lady?' asked Hiram, +with an interest he could not conceal. + +'Not one word, not one syllable,' replied the other, good humoredly, +'until you are actually within the pale. Don't be alarmed,' he +continued, seeing Hiram look disappointed. 'To tell you would not do the +least good, and might frustrate my plans. But I will work the matter for +you, my boy, if it is a possible thing; and for my part I see no +difficulty in it. When my family come in town we will organize. Meantime +let me ask, have you learned to waltz?' + +'To waltz?' exclaimed Hiram, in horror. 'No. I don't even know how to +_dance_; I was taught to believe it sinful. As to waltzing, how can you +ask me if I practise such a disgusting, such an immoral style of +performance, invented by infidel German students to give additional zest +to their orgies.' + +'Did Dr. Chellis tell you that,' said Mr. Bennett, with something like a +sneer. + +'No; I read it in the _Christian Herald_.' + +'I thought so. Dr. Chellis has too much sense to utter such stuff.' + +'Does Mr. Myrtle approve of waltzing?' inquired Hiram, with a groan. + +'Hiram, don't be a goose. Of course, Mr. Myrtle does not exactly +_approve_ of it. That is, he don't waltz himself, his wife don't waltz, +and his children are not old enough; but he does not object to any +'rational amusement,' and he leaves his congregation to decide what _is_ +rational.' + +'Well, I shall not waltz, that's certain.' + +'Yes you will, too. The girl you are to marry--the girl who has a clear +two hundred thousand in her own right--_she_ waltzes, and _you_ have got +to waltz.' + +Hiram's head swam, as if already giddy in the revolving maze; but it was +the thought of the two hundred thousand dollars, nothing else, which +turned his brain. The color in his face went and came; he hesitated. + +'I will think of it,' at last he ejaculated. + +'Of course you will,' cried Mr. Bennett, 'of course you will, and decide +like a sensible man afterward, not like an idiot; but you must decide +quick, for I must put you in training for the fall campaign.' + +'What do you mean?' + +'Why, simply this; the girl will not look at you unless you are a +fashionable fellow--don't put on any more wry faces, but think of the +prize--and I must have you well up in all the accomplishments. For the +rest, you are what I call, a finely-formed, good-looking, and rather +graceful fellow, if you are my cousin.' + +Hiram's features relaxed. + +'When can I call on Mr. Myrtle?' he asked. + +'Not for several weeks. He is taking a longer vacation than usual. +However, come with me every Sunday, and you will hear Mr. Strang, our +curate, who officiates in Mr. Myrtle's absence. A most excellent man, +and a very fair preacher.' + +'Have you a Sunday school connected with the church?' + +'Do you think we are heathen, Hiram? Have we a Sunday school? I should +suppose so! What is more, the future Mrs. Meeker is one of the +teachers,' + +'Yet she waltzes?' + +'Yet she waltzes.' + +'Well, I hope I shall understand this better by and by.' + +'Certainly you will.' + +The two proceeded down town to their business. + + * * * * * + +In a very few days after, Hiram Meeker was the pupil--the private +pupil--of Signor Alberto, dancing master to _the_ aristocracy of the +town. [That is not what he called himself, but I wish to be +intelligible.] Alberto had directions to perfect his pupil in every step +practised in the world of fashion. Hiram proved an apt and ready +scholar. He gave this new branch of education the same care and +assiduity that he always practised in everything he undertook. Mr. +Bennett was not out of the way in praising his parts. Signor Alberto was +delighted with his pupil. His rapid progress was a source of great +pleasure to the master. To be sure, he could not get on quite as well as +if he had consented to go in with a class; but this Hiram would not +think of. Still the matter was managed without much difficulty, as the +Signor could always command supernumeraries. + +When it came to the waltz, Alberto was kind enough to introduce to Hiram +a young lady--a friend of his--who, he said, was perfectly familiar with +every measure; and who would, as a particular favor, take the steps with +him, under the master's special direction. It took Hiram's breath away, +poor fellow, to be thrown so closely into the embraces of such a +fine-looking, and by no means diffident damsel. It was what he had not +been accustomed to. True, _he_ had been in the habit at one time of +playing the flirt, of holding the girls' hands in his, and pressing them +significantly, and sighing and talking sentimental nonsense; but here +the tables were turned. Hiram was the bashful one, and the young lady +apparently the flirt. She explained, with, tantalizing _nonchalance_, +how he ought to take a more encircling hold of her waist. She +illustrated _practically_ the different methods--close waltzing, medium +waltzing, and waltzing at arms' length. She would waltz light and +heavy--observing to Hiram that he might on some occasion have an awkward +partner, and it was well to be prepared. + +To better explain, the young lady would become the gentleman; and in +whirling Hiram round, she exhibited a strength and vigor truly +astonishing. + +All the while Hiram, with quick breath, and heightened color, and +whirling brain, was striving hard and failing fast to keep his wits +about him. What was most annoying of all, the young lady, though so +accommodating and familiar as a partner to practise with under the +master's eye, when the exercise was over appeared perfectly and +absolutely indifferent to Hiram. She was quite insensible to every +little byplay of his to attract her notice, which, as he advanced in her +acquaintance, he began to practice before the lesson commenced, or after +it was finished. The fact is, whoever or whatever she might be, she +evidently held Hiram in great contempt as a greenhorn. Strange to say, +for once all his powers of fascination failed; and the more he tried to +call them forth, the more signal was his discomfiture. It does not +appear that Hiram, after finishing his education with Signor Alberto, +attempted to continue his acquaintance with his partner in the waltz. +Once during the course he did ask the young lady where she lived, and +intimated that he would be pleased to call and see her; but the +observation was received with such evident signs of dissatisfaction, +that he never renewed the subject, and it is doubtful if he ever +explained to himself satisfactorily his failure to get in the good +graces of such a handsome girl and so perfect a waltzer. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The Rev. Augustus Myrtle, rector of St. Jude's, was one of those +circumstances of nature which are only to be encountered in metropolitan +life. This seems a paradox. I will explain. All his qualities were born +with him, not acquired, and those qualities could only shine in the +aristocratic and fashionable circles of a large city. As animals by +instinct avoid whatever is noxious and hurtful, so Augustus Myrtle from +his infancy by instinct avoided all poor people and all persons not in +the 'very first society.' + +Children are naturally democrats; school is a great leveller. Augustus +Myrtle recognized no such propositions. While a boy at the academy, +while a youth in college, he sought the intimacy of boys and youths of +rich persons of _ton_. It was not enough that a young fellow was well +bred and had a good social position--he must be rich. It was not enough +that he was rich--he must have position. + +I do not think that Augustus Myrtle sat down carefully to calculate all +this. So I say it was instinctive--born with him. A person who frequents +only the society of the well bred and the wealthy must, to a degree at +least, possess refined and elegant and expensive tastes, and it was so +in the case of Myrtle. His tastes were refined and elegant and +expensive. + +His parents were themselves people of respectability, but very poor. His +mother used to say that her son's decided predilections were in +consequence of her unfortunate state of mind the season Augustus was +born, when poverty pinched the family sharply. Mr. Myrtle was a man of +collegiate education, with an excellent mind, but totally unfitted for +active life. The result was, after marrying a poor girl, who was, +however, of the 'aristocracy,' he became, through the influence of her +friends, the librarian of the principal library in a neighboring city, +with a fair salary, on which, with occasional sums received for +literary productions, he managed to bring up and support his small +family. At times, when some unexpected expenses had to be incurred, as I +have hinted, poverty seemed to poor Mrs. Myrtle a very great hardship, +and such was their situation the year Augustus was born. + +He was the only son, and the hope of the parents centred on him. It was +settled that he should be sent to the best schools and to a first-class +college. He had, perhaps, rather more than ordinary ability, the power +to display to the best advantage the talents and acquirements he did +possess, together with attractive manners, which, though reserved, were +pleasing. He was slight, gracefully formed, and a little above the +ordinary height. He had a dark complexion, a face thin and colorless, +with fine, large, black eyes. + +When I say Augustus Myrtle sought only the intimacy of the rich and well +bred, you must not suppose he was a toady, or practised obsequiously. +Not at all. He mingled with his associates, assuming to be one of +them--their equal. True, his want of money led to desperate economical +contrivances behind the scenes, but on the stage he betrayed by no sign +that affairs did not flow as smoothly with him as with his companions. +In all this, he had in his mother great support and encouragement. Her +relations were precisely of the stamp Augustus desired to cultivate, and +this gave him many advantages. As usually happens, he found what he +sought. By the aid of the associations he had formed with so much +assiduity, to say nothing of his own personal recommendations, he +married a nice girl, the only child of a widowed lady _in the right +'set' and with sixty thousand dollars_, besides a considerable +expectancy on the mother's decease. Shortly after, he became rector of +St. Jude's, the most exclusive 'aristocratic' religious establishment in +New York. + +At this present period, the Rev. Augustus Myrtle was but thirty-five, +and, from his standing and influence, he considered it no presumption to +look forward to the time when he should become bishop of the diocese. + +His health was excellent, if we may except some _very_ slight +indications of weakness of the larynx, which had been the cause of his +making two excursions to Europe, each of six months' duration, which +were coupled with an appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars by his +indulgent congregation to pay expenses. + + * * * * * + + +While Mr. Myrtle and his family were still absent, Hiram had made very +sensible progress in mastering the mysteries of the Episcopal form of +worship, and became fully versed in certain doctrinal points, embracing +all questions of what constitutes a 'church' and a proper 'succession.' +His investigations were carried on under the direction of the Rev. Mr. +Strang, a man of feeble mind (Mr. Myrtle was careful to have no one near +him unless the contrast was to his advantage), but a worthy and +conscientious person, who believed he was doing Heaven service in +bringing Hiram into the fold of the true church. Hiram was again in his +element as an object of religious interest. Before the rector had +returned, he became very impatient to see him. It was a long while since +he had been at communion, and he began to fear his hold on heaven would +be weakened by so long an absence from that sacrament. Besides, he felt +quite prepared and ready to be confirmed. + +The Myrtles returned at last. In due time, Mrs. Bennett talked the whole +matter over with Mrs. Myrtle. Hiram was represented as 'a very rich +young merchant, destined to be a leading man in the city--of an ancient +and honorable New England family--very desirable in the church--a +cousin'--[here several sentences were uttered in a whisper, accompanied +by nods and signs significant, which I shall never be able to +translate]--'must secure him--ripe for it now.' + +I think I forgot to say that Mrs. Myrtle and Mrs. Bennett were in the +same 'set' as young ladies, and were very intimate. + +The nest day Mrs. Bennett opened the subject to Mr. Myrtle, his wife +having duly prepared him. The object was to introduce Hiram into the +church in the most effective manner. This could only be done through the +instrumentality of the reverend gentleman himself. Everything went +smoothly. Mr. Myrtle was not insensible to the value of infusing new and +fresh elements into his congregation. + +'Of course,' he observed, 'this wealthy young man will take an entire +pew.' (The annual auction of rented pews was soon to come off, and Mr. +Myrtle liked marvellously to see strong competition. It spoke well for +the church.) + +'He will _purchase_ a pew, if a desirable one can be had,' answered Mrs. +Bennett. + +'Oh, that is well. How fortunate! The Winslows are going to Europe to +reside, and I think will sell theirs. One of the best in the church. +Pray ask Mr. Bennett to look after it.' + +'Thank you. How very considerate, how very thoughtful! We will see to it +at once.' + +The interview ended, after some further conversation, in a manner most +satisfactory. + + * * * * * + +It was a magnificent autumnal afternoon, the second week of October, +when Hiram Meeker, by previous appointment, called at the residence of +the Rev. Augustus Myrtle. The house was built on to the church, so as to +correspond in architecture, and exhibited great taste in exterior as +well as interior arrangement. Hiram walked up the steps and boldly rang +the bell. He had improved a good deal in some respects since his passage +at arms with Dr. Chellis, and while under the auspices of Mr. Bennett. +He had laid aside the creamy air he used so frequently to assume, and +had hardened himself, so to speak, against contingencies. I was saying +he marched boldly up and rang the bell. + +A footman in unexceptionable livery opened the door. Mr. Myrtle was +engaged, but on Hiram's sending in his name, he was ushered into the +front parlor, and requested to sit, and informed that Mr. Myrtle would +see him in a few minutes. This gave Hiram time to look about him. + +It so happened that it was the occasion of a preliminary gathering for +the season (there had been no meeting since June) of those who belonged +to the 'Society for the Relief of Reduced Ladies of former Wealth and +Refinement.' This 'relief' consisted in furnishing work to the +recipients of the _bounty_ at prices about one quarter less than they +could procure elsewhere, and without experiencing a sense of obligation +which these charitable ladies managed to call forth. + +There was already in the back parlor a bevy of six or eight, principally +young, fine-looking, and admirably dressed women. + +Arrayed in the most expensive silks, of rich colors, admirably +corresponding with the season, fitted in a mode the most faultless to +the exquisite forms of these fair creatures, or made dexterously to +conceal any natural defect, they rose, they sat, they walked up and down +the room, greeting from time to time the new comers as they arrived. + +The conversation turned meanwhile on the way the summer had been spent, +and much delicate gossip was broached or hinted at, but not entered +into. Next the talk was about dress. The names of the several +fashionable dressmakers were quoted as authority for this, and +denunciatory of that. Congratulations were exchanged: 'How charmingly +you look--how sweet that is--what a lovely bonnet!' + +All this Hiram Meeker drank in with open ears and eyes, for from where +he was sitting, he could see everything that was going on, as well as +hear every word. + +One thing particularly impressed him. He felt that never before had he +been in such society. The ladies of Dr. Chellis's church were +intelligent, refined, and well bred, but here was TON--that +unmistakable, unquestionable _ton_ which arrogates everything unto +itself, claims everything, and with a certain class _is_ everything. + +I need not say, to a person of Hiram's keen and appreciative sense, the +picture before him was most attractive. How perfect was every point in +it! What minute and fastidious attention had been devoted to every +article of dress! How every article had been specially _designed_ to set +off and adorn! The hat, how charming; the hair, how exquisitely coiffed; +the shawl, how magnificent; the dress how rich! The gloves, of what +admirable tint, and how neatly fitted; and how wonderfully were the +walking boots adapted to display foot and ankle! And these did not +distinguish one, but _every one_ present. + +I do not wonder Hiram was carried away by the spectacle. There is +something very overpowering in such a scene. Who is sufficient to resist +its seductive influences? + +In the midst of what might be called a trance, when Hiram's senses were +wrapt in a sort of charmed Elysium, the Rev. Augustus Myrtle entered the +room. He did not look toward Hiram, but passed directly into the back +parlor. He walked along, not as if he were stepping on eggs, but very +smoothly and noiselessly, as if treading (as he was doing) on the finest +of velvet carpets. + +Instantly what a flutter! How they ran up to him, ambitious to get the +first salute, and to proffer the first congratulation! How gracefully +the Rev. Augustus Myrtle received each! Two or three there were (there +were reasons, doubtless) whose cheeks he kissed decorously, yet possibly +with some degree of relish. The rest had to content themselves with +shaking hands. Many and various were the compliments he received. Their +'delight to see him, how well he was looking,' and so forth. + +Presently he started to leave them. + +'Oh, you must not run off so soon, we shall follow you to your +_sanctum_.' + +'An engagement,' replied Mr. Myrtle, glancing into the other room. + +A score of handsome eyes were turned in the direction where Hiram was +seated, listening with attention, and watching everything. Discomfited +by such an array, he colored, coughed, and nervously shifted his +position. Some laughed. The rest looked politely indifferent. + +'A connection of the Bennetts,' whispered Mrs. Myrtle, 'a fine young +man, immensely rich. He is to come in future to our church.' + +'Ah,' 'Yes,' 'Indeed,' 'Excellent.' Such were the responses. + +Meanwhile Mr. Myrtle had greeted Hiram courteously, and invited him to +his library. This was across the hall, in a room which formed a part of +the church edifice. + +As Hiram followed Mr. Myrtle out of the parlor, several of the ladies +took another look at him. They could not but remark that he was finely +formed, fashionably dressed, and, thanks to Signor Alberto, of a very +graceful carriage. + +The interview between Mr. Myrtle and Hiram was brief. The latter, +thoroughly tutored by his cousin, was careful to say nothing about his +previous conviction and wonderful conversion, but left Mr. Myrtle, as +was very proper, to lead in the conversation. He had previously talked +with Mr. Strang, which, with the recommendation of Mrs. Bennett, left no +doubt in his mind as to Hiram's fitness to receive confirmation. + +It was very hard for him to be informed that his early baptism must go +for nothing--what time his father and mother, in their ignorance and +simplicity, brought their child to present before God, and receive the +beautiful rite of the sprinkling of water. + +A dreadful mistake they made, since no properly consecrated hands +administered on that occasion. But nevertheless, Hiram is safe. Lucky +fellow, he has discovered the mistake, and repaired it in season. + +'I think, Mr. Meeker, your conversations with Mr. Strang have proved +very instructive to you. Here is a work I have written, which embraces +the whole of my controversy with Mr. Howland on the true church (and +there is not salvation in any other) and the apostolic succession. +Having read and approved this,' he added with a pleasant smile, 'I will +vouch for you as a good churchman.' + +Hiram was delighted. He took the volume, and was about to express his +thanks, when Mrs. Myrtle appeared at the door, which had been left open. + +'My dear, I regret to disturb you, but'-- + +'I will join you at once,' said Mr. Myrtle, rising. This is Mr. Meeker, +a cousin of your friend Mrs. Bennett'--as if she did not know it. + +Mrs. Myrtle bowed graciously, and said, with charming condescension: + +'Then it is _you_ I have heard such a good report of. You are coming to +our church away from----' + +'Never mind from where, my dear,' said Mr, Myrtle pleasantly, and he +bowed Hiram out in a manner which positively charmed our hero. + +That evening Mr. Bennett told Hiram he had purchased a pew for +him--price sixteen hundred and fifty dollars. + +'Sixteen hundred and fifty dollars,' exclaimed the other, in amazement. + +'Yes.' + +'Why, I can't stand that. The dearest pews in Dr. Chellis's church were +not over six hundred. You are joking.' + +'You are an idiot,' retorted Mr. Bennett, half pettishly, half +playfully. 'Have you not placed yourself in my hands? Shall I not manage +your interests as I please? I say I want sixteen hundred and fifty +dollars. I know you can draw the money without the least inconvenience. +If I thought you could not, I would advance it myself. Are you content?' + +Hiram nodded a doubtful assent. + +How fortunate,' continued Mr. Bennett, that the Winslows are going to +Europe, and how lucky I got there the minute I did! Young Bishop came in +just as I closed the purchase. I know what _he_ wanted it for, and I +know what _I_ wanted it for. Hiram, a word in your ear--your pew is +immediately in front of our heiress! Bravo, old fellow! Now, will you +pay up?' + +Hiram nodded this time with satisfaction. + +The second Sunday thereafter one might observe that the Winslows' pew +had been newly cushioned and carpeted, and otherwise put in order. +Several prayer books and a Bible, elegantly bound, and lettered 'H. +Meeker,' were placed in it. This could not escape the notice of the very +elegant and fashionably dressed young lady in the next slip. Strange to +say, the pew contained no occupant. But just before the service was +about to commence, Hiram, purposely a little late, walked quietly in, +and took possession of his property. His _pose_ was capital. His ease +and _nonchalance_ were perfectly unexceptionable, evidencing _haut ton_. +He had been practising for weeks. + +'Who can he be?' asked the elegant and fashionably dressed young lady of +herself. She was left to wonder. When he walked homeward, Hiram was +informed by Mr. Bennett that the elegant and fashionably dressed young +lady was Miss Arabella Thorne, without father, without mother, of age, +and possessed of a clear sum of two hundred thousand dollars in her own +right! + + + + +AMERICAN FINANCES AND RESOURCES. + + +LETTER NO. I, FROM HON. ROBERT J. WALKER. + +LONDON, 10 Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, _August 5, 1863_. + +The question has been often asked me, here and on the continent, _how +has your Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. Chase) so marvellously sustained +American credit during this rebellion, and when will your finances +collapse?_ This question I have frequently answered in conversations +with European statesmen and bankers, and the discussion has closed +generally in decided approval of Mr. Chase's financial policy, and great +confidence in the wonderful resources of the United States. + +Thus encouraged, I have concluded to discuss the question in a series of +letters, explaining Mr. Chase's system and stating the reasons of its +remarkable success. The interest in such a topic is not confined to the +United States, nor to the present period, but extends to all times and +nations. Indeed, finance, as a science, belongs to the world. It is a +principal branch of the doctrine of 'the wealth of nations,' discussed, +during the last century, with so much ability by Adam Smith. Although +many great principles were then settled, yet political economy is +emphatically progressive, especially the important branches of credit, +currency, taxation, and revenue. + +Mr. Chase's success has been complete under the most appalling +difficulties. The preceding administration, by their treasonable course, +and anti-coercion heresies, had almost paralyzed the Government. They +had increased the rate of interest of Federal loans from six to nearly +twelve per cent. per annum. Their Vice-president (Mr. Breckenridge), +their Finance Minister (Mr. Cobb), their Secretary of War (Mr. Floyd), +their Secretary of the Interior (Mr. Thompson), are now in the traitor +army. Even the President (Mr. Buchanan), with an evident purpose of +aiding the South to dissolve the Union, had announced in his messages +the absurd political paradox, that _a State has no right to secede, but +that the Government has no right to prevent its secession_. It was a +conspiracy of traitors, at the head of which stood the President, +secretly pledged, at Ostend and Cininnati, to the South (as the price of +their support), to aid them to control or destroy the republic. Thus was +it that, in time of profound peace, when our United States six per +cents. commanded a few weeks before a large premium, and our debt was +less than $65,000,000, that Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of the Treasury +(Mr. Cobb) was borrowing money at an interest of nearly twelve per cent. +per annum. Most fortunately that accursed administration was drawing to +a close, or the temporary overthrow of the Government would have been +effected. Never did any minister of finance undertake a task apparently +so hopeless as that so fully accomplished by Mr. Chase in reviving the +public credit. A single fact will illustrate the extraordinary result. +At the close of the fiscal year ending 1st July, 1860, our public debt +was only $64,769,703, and Secretary Cobb was borrowing money at twelve +per cent. per annum. On the first of July 1863, in the midst of a +stupendous rebellion, our debt was $1,097,274,000, and Mr. Chase had +reduced the average rate of interest to 3.89 per cent. per annum, whilst +the highest rate was 7.30 for a comparatively small sum to be paid off +next year. This is a financial achievement without a parallel in the +history of the world. If I speak on this subject with some enthusiasm, +it is in no egotistical spirit, for Mr. Chase's system differs in many +respects widely from that adopted by me as Minister of Finance during +the Mexican war, and which raised United States _five per cents._ to a +premium. But my system was based on specie, or its real and convertible +equivalent, and would not have answered the present emergency, which, by +our enormous expenditure, necessarily forced a partial and temporary +suspension of specie payments upon our banks and Government. Mr. Chase's +system is exclusively his own, and, in many of its aspects, is without a +precedent in history. When first proposed by him it had very few +friends, and was forced upon a reluctant Congress by the great +emergency, presenting the alternative of its adoption or financial ruin. +Indeed, upon a test vote in Congress in February last, it had failed, +when the premium on gold rose immediately over twenty per cent. This +caused a reconsideration, when the bills were passed and the premium on +gold was immediately reduced more than the previous rise, exhibiting the +extraordinary difference in a few days of twenty-three per cent., in the +absence of any intermediate Federal victories in the field. + +Such are the facts. Let me now proceed to detail the causes of these +remarkable results. The first element in the success of any Minister of +Finance is the just confidence of the country in his ability, integrity, +candor, courage, and patriotism. He may find it necessary, in some great +emergency, like our rebellion, to diverge somewhat from the _via trita_ +of the past, and enter upon paths not lighted by the lamp of experience. +He must never, however, abandon great principles, which are as +unchangeable as the laws developed by the physical sciences. When Mr. +Chase, in his first annual Treasury Report of the 9th of December, 1861, +recommended his system of United States banks, organized by Congress +throughout the country, furnishing a circulation based upon private +means and credit, but secured also by an adequate amount of Federal +stock, held by the Government as security for its redemption, it was +very unpopular, and encountered most violent opposition. The State +banks, and all the great interests connected with them, were arrayed +against the proposed system. When we reflect that many of these banks +(especially in the great State of New York) were based on State stocks, +and in many States that the banks yielded large revenues to the local +Government;--when we see, by our Census Tables of 1860 (p. 193), that +these banks numbered 1642, with a capital paid up of $421,890,095, loans +$691,495,580, and a circulation and deposits, including specie, of +$544,469,134,--we may realize in part the tremendous power arrayed +against the Secretary. This opposition was so formidable, that neither +in the public press nor in Congress did this recommendation of Mr. Chase +receive any considerable support. Speaking of the _currency_ issued by +the State banks, and of the substitute proposed by Mr. Chase, he +presented the following views in his first annual Report before referred +to, of December, 1861:-- + + 'The whole of this circulation constitutes a loan without interest + from the people to the banks, costing them nothing except the + expense of issue and redemption and the interest on the specie kept + on hand for the latter purpose; and it deserves consideration + whether sound policy does not require that the advantages of this + loan be transferred in part at least, from the banks, representing + only the interests of the stockholders, to the Government, + representing the aggregate interests of the whole people. + + 'It has been well questioned by the most eminent statesmen whether + a currency of bank notes, issued by local institutions under State + laws, is not, in fact, prohibited by the national Constitution. + Such emissions certainly fall within the spirit, if not within the + letter, of the constitutional prohibition of the emission of bills + of credit by the States, and of the making by them of anything + except gold and silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts. + 'However this may be, it is too clear to be reasonably disputed + that Congress, under its constitutional powers to lay taxes, to + regulate commerce, and to regulate the value of coin, possesses + ample authority to control the credit circulation which enters so + largely into the transactions of commerce and affects in so many + ways the value of coin. + + 'In the judgment of the Secretary the time has arrived when + Congress should exercise this authority. The value of the existing + bank note circulation depends on the laws of thirty-four States and + the character of some sixteen hundred private corporations. It is + usually furnished in greatest proportions by institutions of least + actual capital. Circulation, commonly, is in the inverse ratio of + solvency. Well-founded institutions, of large and solid capital, + have, in general, comparatively little circulation; while weak + corporations almost invariably seek to sustain themselves by + obtaining from the people the largest possible credit in this form. + Under such a system, or rather lack of system, great fluctuations, + and heavy losses in discounts and exchanges, are inevitable; and + not unfrequently, through failures of the issuing institutions, + considerable portions of the circulation become suddenly worthless + in the hands of the people. The recent experience of several States + in the valley of the Mississippi painfully illustrates the justice + of these observations; and enforces by the most cogent practical + arguments the duty of protecting commerce and industry against the + recurrence of such disorders. + + 'The Secretary thinks it possible to combine with this protection a + provision for circulation, safe to the community and convenient for + the Government. + + 'Two plans for effecting this object are suggested. The first + contemplates the gradual withdrawal from circulation of the notes + of private corporations and for the issue, in their stead of United + States notes, payable in coin on demand, in amounts sufficient for + the useful ends of a representative currency. The second + contemplates the preparation and delivery, to institutions and + associations, of notes prepared for circulation under national + direction, and to be secured as to prompt convertibility into coin + by the pledge of United States bonds and other needful regulations. + + 'The first of these plans was partially adopted at the last session + of Congress in the provision authorizing the Secretary to issue + United States notes, payable in coin, to an amount not exceeding + fifty millions of dollars. That provision may be so extended as to + reach the average circulation of the country, while a moderate tax, + gradually augmented, on bank notes, will relieve the national from + the competition of local circulation. It has been already suggested + that the substitution of a national for a State currency, upon this + plan, would be equivalent to a loan to the Government without + interest, except on the fund to be kept in coin, and without + expense, except the cost of preparation, issue, and redemption; + while the people would gain the additional advantage of a uniform + currency, and relief from a considerable burden in the form of + interest on debt. These advantages are, doubtless, considerable; + and if a scheme can be devised by which such a circulation will be + certainly and strictly confined to the real needs of the people, + and kept constantly equivalent to specie by prompt and certain + redemption in coin, it will hardly fail of legislative sanction. + + 'The plan, however, is not without serious inconveniences and + hazards. The temptation, especially great in times of pressure and + danger, to issue notes without adequate provision for redemption; + the ever-present liability to be called on for redemption beyond + means, however carefully provided and managed; the hazards of + panics, precipitating demands for coin, concentrated on a few + points and a single fund; the risk of a depreciated, depreciating, + and finally worthless paper money; the immeasurable evils of + dishonored public faith and national bankruptcy; all these are + possible consequence of the adoption of a system of government + circulation. It may be said, and perhaps truly, that they are less + deplorable than those of an irredeemable bank circulation. Without + entering into that comparison, the Secretary contents himself with + observing that, in his judgment, these possible disasters so far + outweigh the probable benefits of the plan that he feels himself + constrained to forbear recommending its adoption. + + 'The second plan suggested remains for examination. Its principal + features are, (1st) a circulation of notes bearing a common + impression and authenticated by a common authority; (2d) the + redemption of these notes by the associations and institutions to + which they may be delivered for issue; and (3d) the security of + that redemption by the pledge of the United States stocks, and an + adequate provision of specie. + + 'In this plan the people, in their ordinary business, would find + the advantages of uniformity in currency; of uniformity in + security; of effectual safeguard, if effectual safeguard is + possible, against depreciation; and of protection from losses in + discount and exchanges; while in the operations of the Government + the people would find the further advantage of a large demand for + Government securities, of increased facilities for obtaining the + loans required by the war, and of some alleviation of the burdens + on industry through a diminution in the rate of interest, or a + participation in the profit of circulation, without risking the + perils of a great money monopoly. + + 'A further and important advantage to the people may be reasonably + expected in the increased security of the Union, springing from the + common interest in its preservation, created by the distribution of + its stocks to associations throughout the country, as the basis of + their circulation. + + 'The Secretary entertains the opinion that if a credit circulation + in any form be desirable, it is most desirable in this. The notes + thus issued and secured would, in his judgment, form the safest + currency which this country has ever enjoyed; while their + receivability for all Government dues, except customs, would make + them, wherever payable, of equal value, as a currency, in every + part of the Union. The large amount of specie now in the United + States, reaching a total of not less than two hundred and + seventy-five millions of dollars, will easily support payments of + duties in coin, while these payments and ordinary demands will aid + in retaining this specie in the country as a solid basis both of + circulation and loans. + + 'The whole circulation of the country, except a limited amount of + foreign coin, would, after the lapse of two or three years, bear + the impress of the nation whether in coin or notes; while the + amount of the latter, always easily ascertainable, and, of course, + always generally known, would not be likely to be increased beyond + the real wants of business. + + 'He expresses an opinion in favor of this plan with the greater + confidence, because it has the advantage of recommendation from + experience. It is not an untried theory. In the State of New York, + and in one or more of the other States, it has been subjected, in + its most essential parts, to the test of experiment, and has been + found practicable and useful. The probabilities of success will not + be diminished but increased by its adoption under national sanction + and for the whole country. + + 'It only remains to add that the plan is recommended by one other + consideration, which, in the judgment of the Secretary, is entitled + to much influence. It avoids almost, if not altogether, the evils + of a great and sudden change in the currency by offering + inducements to solvent existing institutions to withdraw the + circulation issued under State authority, and substitute that + provided by the authority of the Union. Thus, through the voluntary + action of the existing institutions, aided by wise legislation, the + great transition from a currency heterogeneous, unequal, and + unsafe, to one uniform, equal, and safe, may be speedily and almost + imperceptibly accomplished. + + 'If the Secretary has omitted the discussion of the question of the + constitutional power of Congress to put this plan into operation, + it is because no argument is necessary to establish the proposition + that the power to regulate commerce and the value of coin includes + the power to regulate the currency of the country, or the + collateral proposition that the power to effect the end includes + the power to adopt the necessary and expedient means. + + 'The Secretary entertains the hope that the plan now submitted, if + adopted with the limitations and safeguards which the experience + and wisdom of senators and representatives will, doubtless, + suggest, may impart such value and stability to Government + securities that it will not be difficult to obtain the additional + loans required for the service of the current and the succeeding + year at fair and reasonable rates; especially if the public credit + be supported by sufficient and certain provision for the payment of + interest and ultimate redemption of the principal.' + +Congress adjourned after a session of eight months, and failed to adopt +Mr. Chase's recommendation. Indeed, it had then but few advocates in +Congress or the country. Events rolled on, and our debt, as anticipated +by Mr. Chase, became of vast dimensions. In his Report of December, +1861, the public debt on the 30th June, 1862 (the close of the fiscal +year), was estimated by the Secretary at $517,372,800; and it was +$514,211,371, or more than $3,000,000 less than the estimate. In his +Report of December 4, 1862, our debt, on the 30th June, 1863, was +estimated by Mr. Chase at $1,122,297,403, and it was $1,097,274,000, +being $25,023,403 less than the estimate. The _average_ rate of interest +on this debt was 3.89, being $41,927,980, of which $30,141,080 was +payable in gold, and $11,786,900 payable in Federal currency. It will +thus be seen that the whole truth, as to our heavy debt, was always +distinctly stated in advance by Mr. Chase, and that the debt has not now +quite reached his estimate. Long before the date of the second annual +Report of the Secretary, the banks had suspended specie payments, and +the Secretary renewed his former recommendation on that subject in these +words:-- + + 'While the Secretary thus repeats the preference he has heretofore + expressed for a United States note circulation, even when issued + direct by the Government, and dependent on the action of the + Government for regulation and final redemption, over the note + circulation of the numerous and variously organized and variously + responsible banks now existing in the country; and while he now + sets forth, more fully than heretofore, the grounds of that + preference, he still adheres to the opinion expressed in his last + Report, that a circulation furnished by the Government, but issued + by banking associations, organized under a general act of Congress, + is to be preferred to either. Such a circulation, uniform in + general characteristics, and amply secured as to prompt + convertibility by national bonds deposited in the treasury, by the + associations receiving it, would unite, in his judgment, more + elements of soundness and utility than can be combined in any + other. + + 'A circulation composed exclusively of notes issued directly by the + Government, or of such notes and coin, is recommended mainly by two + considerations:--the first derived from the facility with which it + may be provided in emergencies, and the second, from its cheapness. + + 'The principal objections to such a circulation as a permanent + system are, 1st, the facility of excessive expansion when + expenditures exceed revenue; 2d, the danger of lavish and corrupt + expenditure, stimulated by facility of expansion; 3d, the danger of + fraud in management and supervision; 4th, the impossibility of + providing it in sufficient amounts for the wants of the people + whenever expenditures are reduced to equality with revenue or below + it. + + 'These objections are all serious. The last requires some + elucidation. It will be easily understood, however, if it be + considered that a government issuing a credit circulation cannot + supply, in any given period, an amount of currency greater than the + excess of its disbursements over its receipts. To that amount, it + may create a debt in small notes, and these notes may be used as + currency. This is precisely the way in which the existing currency + of United States notes is supplied. That portion of the expenditure + not met by revenue or loans has been met by the issue of these + notes. Debt in this form has been substituted for various debts in + other forms. Whenever, therefore, the country shall be restored to + a healthy normal condition, and receipts exceed expenditures, the + supply of United States notes will be arrested, and must + progressively diminish. Whatever demand may be made for their + redemption in coin must hasten this diminution; and there can be no + reissue; for reissue, under the conditions, necessarily implies + disbursement, and the revenue, upon the supposition, supplies more + than is needed for that purpose. There is, then, no mode in which a + currency in United States notes can be permanently maintained, + except by loans of them, when not required for disbursement, on + deposits of coin, or pledge of securities, or in some other way. + This would convert the treasury into a government bank, with all + its hazards and mischiefs. + + 'If these reasonings be sound, little room can remain for doubt + that the evils certain to arise from such a scheme of currency, if + adopted as a permanent system, greatly overbalance the temporary + though not inconsiderable advantages offered by it. + + 'It remains to be considered what results may be reasonably + expected from an act authorizing the organization of banking + associations, such as the Secretary proposed in his last Report. + + 'The central idea of the proposed measure is the establishment of + one sound, uniform circulation, of equal value throughout the + country, upon the foundation of national credit combined with + private capital. + + 'Such a currency, it is believed, can be secured through banking + associations organized under national legislation. + + 'It is proposed that these associations be entirely voluntary. Any + persons, desirous of employing real capital in sufficient amounts, + can, if the plan be adopted, unite together under proper articles, + and having contributed the requisite capital, can invest such part + of it, not less than a fixed minimum, in United States bonds, and, + having deposited these bonds with the proper officer of the United + States, can receive United States notes in such denominations as + may be desired, and employ them as money in discounts and + exchanges. The stockholders of any existing banks can, in like + manner, organize under the act, and transfer, by such degrees as + may be found convenient, the capital of the old to the use of the + new associations. The notes thus put into circulation will be + payable, until resumption, in United States notes, and, after + resumption, in specie, by the association which issues them, on + demand; and if not so paid will be redeemable at the treasury of + the United States from the proceeds of the bonds pledged in + security. In the practical working of the plan, if sanctioned by + Congress, redemption at one or more of the great commercial + centres, will probably be provided for by all the associations + which circulate the notes, and, in case any association shall fail + in such redemption, the treasurer of the United States will + probably, under discretionary authority, pay the notes, and cancel + the public debt held as security. + + 'It seems difficult to conceive of a note circulation which will + combine higher local and general credit than this. After a few + years no other circulation would be used, nor could the issues of + the national circulation be easily increased beyond the legitimate + demands of business. Every dollar of circulation would represent + real capital, actually invested in national stocks, and the total + amount issued could always be easily and quickly ascertained from + the books of the treasury. These circumstances, if they might not + wholly remove the temptation to excessive issues, would certainly + reduce it to the lowest point, while the form of the notes, the + uniformity of the devices, the signatures of national officers, and + the imprint of the national seal authenticating the declaration + borne on each that it is secured by bonds which represent the faith + and capital of the whole country, could not fail to make every note + as good in any part of the world as the best known and best + esteemed national securities. + + 'The Secretary has already mentioned the support to public credit + which may be expected from the proposed associations. The + importance of this point may excuse some additional observations. + + 'The organization proposed, if sanctioned by Congress, would + require, within a very few years, for deposit as security for + circulation, bonds of the United States to an amount not less than + $250,000,000. It may well be expected, indeed, since the + circulation, by uniformity in credit and value, and capacity of + quick and cheap transportation, will be likely to be used more + extensively than any hitherto issued, that the demand for bonds + will overpass this limit. Should Congress see fit to restrict the + privilege of deposit to the bonds known as five-twenties, + authorized by the act of last session, the demand would promptly + absorb all of that description already issued and make large room + for more. A steady market for the bonds would thus be established + and the negotiation of them greatly facilitated. + + 'But it is not in immediate results that the value of this support + would be only or chiefly seen. There are always holders who desire + to sell securities of whatever kind. If buyers are few or + uncertain, the market value must decline. But the plan proposed + would create a constant demand, equalling and often exceeding the + supply. Thus a steady uniformity in price would be maintained, and + generally at a rate somewhat above those of bonds of equal credit, + but not available to banking associations. It is not easy to + appreciate the full benefits of such conditions to a government + obliged to borrow. + + 'Another advantage to be derived from such associations would be + found in the convenient agencies which they would furnish for the + deposit of public moneys. + + 'The Secretary does not propose to interfere with the independent + treasury. It may be advantageously retained, with the assistant + treasurers already established in the most important cities, where + the customs may be collected as now, in coin or treasury notes + issued directly by the Government, but not furnished to banking + associations. + + 'But whatever the advantages of such arrangements in the commercial + cities in relation to customs, it seems clear that the secured + national circulation furnished to the banking associations should + be received everywhere for all other dues than customs, and that + these associations will constitute the best and safest depositaries + of the revenues derived from such receipts. The convenience and + utility to the Government of their employment in this capacity, and + often, also, as agents for payments and as distributors of stamps, + need no demonstration. The necessity for some other depositaries + than surveyors of ports, receivers, postmasters, and other + officers, of whose responsibilities and fitness, in many cases, + nothing satisfactory can be known, is acknowledged by the provision + for selection by the Secretary contained in the internal revenue + act; and it seems very clear that the public interest will be + secured far more certainly by the organization and employment of + associations organized as proposed than by any official selection. + + 'Another and very important advantage of the proposed plan has + already been adverted to. It will reconcile, as far as practicable, + the interest of existing institutions with those of the whole + people. + + 'All changes, however important, should be introduced with caution, + and proceeded in with careful regard to every affected interest. + Rash innovation is not less dangerous than stupefied inaction. The + time has come when a circulation of United States notes, in some + form, must be employed. The people demand uniformity in currency, + and claim, at least, part of the benefit of debt without interest, + made into money, hitherto enjoyed exclusively by the banks. These + demands are just and must be respected. But there need be no sudden + change; there need be no hurtful interference with existing + interests. As yet the United States note circulation hardly fills + the vacuum caused by the temporary withdrawal of coin; it does not, + perhaps, fully meet the demand for increased circulation created by + the increased number, variety, and activity of payments in money. + There is opportunity, therefore, for the wise and beneficial + regulation of its substitution for other circulation. The mode of + substitution, also, may be judiciously adapted to actual + circumstances. The plan suggested consults both purposes. It + contemplates gradual withdrawal of bank note circulation, and + proposes a United States note circulation, furnished to banking + associations, in the advantages of which they may participate in + full proportion to the care and responsibility assumed and the + services performed by them. The promptitude and zeal with which + many of the existing institutions came to the financial support of + the Government in the dark days which followed the outbreak of the + rebellion is not forgotten. They ventured largely, and boldly, and + patriotically on the side of the Union and the constitutional + supremacy of the nation over States and citizens. It does not at + all detract from the merit of the act that the losses, which they + feared but unhesitatingly risked, were transmuted into unexpected + gains. It is a solid recommendation of the suggested plan that it + offers the opportunity to these and kindred institutions to + reorganize, continue their business under the proposed act, and + with little loss and much advantage, participate in maintaining the + new and uniform national currency. + + 'The proposed plan is recommended, finally, by the firm anchorage + it will supply to the union of the States. Every banking + association whose bonds are deposited in the treasury of the Union; + every individual who holds a dollar of the circulation secured by + such deposit; every merchant, every manufacturer, every farmer, + every mechanic, interested in transactions dependent for success + on the credit of that circulation, will feel as an injury every + attempt to rend the national unity, with the permanence and + stability of which all their interests are so closely and vitally + connected. Had the system been possible, and had it actually + existed two years ago, can it be doubted that the national + interests and sentiments enlisted by it for the Union would have so + strengthened the motives for adhesion derived from other sources + that the wild treason of secession would have been impossible? + + 'The Secretary does not yield to the phantasy that taxation is a + blessing and debt a benefit; but it is the duty of public men to + extract good from evil whenever it is possible. The burdens of + taxation may be lightened and even made productive of incidental + benefits by wise, and aggravated and made intolerable by unwise, + legislation. In like manner debt, by no means desirable in itself, + may, when circumstances compel nations to incur its obligations, be + made by discreet use less burdensome, and even instrumental in the + promotion of public and private security and welfare. + + 'The rebellion has brought a great debt upon us. It is proposed to + use a part of it in such a way that the sense of its burden may be + lost in the experience of incidental advantages. The issue of + United States notes is such a use; but if exclusive, is hazardous + and temporary. The security by national bonds of similar notes + furnished to banking associations is such a use, and is + comparatively safe and permanent; and with this use may be + connected, for the present, and occasionally, as circumstances may + require, hereafter, the use of the ordinary United States notes in + limited amounts. + + 'No very early day will probably witness the reduction of the + public debt to the amount required as a basis for secured + circulation. Should no future wars arrest reduction and again + demand expenditures beyond revenue, that day will, however, at + length come. When it shall arrive the debt may be retained on low + interest at that amount, or some other security for circulation may + be devised, or, possibly, the vast supplies of our rich mines may + render all circulation unadvisable except gold and the absolute + representatives and equivalents, dollar for dollar, of gold in the + treasury or on safe deposit elsewhere. But these considerations may + be for another generation. + + 'The Secretary forbears extended argument on the constitutionality + of the suggested system. It is proposed as an auxiliary to the + power to borrow money; as an agency of the power to collect and + disburse taxes; and as an exercise of the power to regulate + commerce, and of the power to regulate the value of coin. Of the + two first sources of power nothing need be said. The argument + relating to them was long since exhausted, and is well known. Of + the other two there is not room, nor does it seem needful to say + much. If Congress can prescribe the structure, equipment, and + management of vessels to navigate rivers flowing between or through + different States as a regulation of commerce, Congress may + assuredly determine what currency shall be employed in the + interchange of their commodities, which is the very essence of + commerce. Statesmen who have agreed in little else have concurred + in the opinion that the power to regulate coin is, in substance and + effect, a power to regulate currency, and that the framers of the + Constitution so intended. It may well enough be admitted that while + Congress confines its regulation to weight, fineness, shape, and + device, banks and individuals may issue notes for currency in + competition with coin. But it is difficult to conceive by what + process of logic the unquestioned power to regulate coin can be + separated from the power to maintain or restore its circulation, by + excluding from currency all private or corporate substitutes which + affect its value, whenever Congress shall see fit to exercise that + power for that purpose. + + 'The recommendations, now submitted, of the limited issue of United + States notes as a wise expedient for the present time, and as an + occasional expedient for future times, and of the organization of + banking associations to supply circulation secured by national + bonds and convertible always into United States notes, and after + resumption of specie payments, into coin, are prompted by no favor + to excessive issues of any description of credit money. + + 'On the contrary, it is the Secretary's firm belief that by no + other path can the resumption of specie payments be so surely + reached and so certainly maintained. United States notes receivable + for bonds bearing a secure specie interest are next best to notes + convertible into coin. The circulation of banking associations + organized under a general act of Congress, secured by such bonds, + can be most surely and safely maintained at the point of certain + convertibility into coin. If, temporarily, these associations + redeem their issues with United States notes, resumption of specie + payments will not thereby be delayed or endangered, but hastened + and secured; for, just as soon as victory shall restore peace, the + ample revenue, already secured by wise legislation, will enable the + Government, through advantageous purchases of specie, to replace at + once large amounts, and, at no distant day, the whole, of this + circulation by coin, without detriment to any interest, but, on the + contrary, with great and manifest benefit to all interests. + + 'The Secretary recommends, therefore, no mere paper money scheme, + but, on the contrary, a series of measures looking to a safe and + gradual return to gold and silver as the only permanent basis, + standard, and measure of values recognized by the + Constitution--between which and an irredeemable paper currency, as + he believes, the choice is now to be made.' + +Congress, however, was still unwilling to adopt the recommendations of +the Secretary, until the necessity was demonstrated by the course of +events. On reference to the laws, which are printed in the Appendix, it +will be found, that the great features of the system of the Secretary +were as follows: + +1. A loan to the Government upon its bonds reimbursable in twenty years, +but redeemable after five years, at the option of the nation, the +interest being six per cent., payable semi-annually in _coin_, as is +also the principal. + +2. The issue of United States legal tender notes, receivable for all +dues to the nation except customs, and fundable in this United States +5--20 six per cent. stock. + +3. The authorization of the banks recommended in his Report, whose +circulation would be secured not only by private capital, but by +adequate deposits of United States stock with the Government. + +4. To maintain, in the meantime, as near to specie as practicable, this +Federal Currency,--1st, by making it receivable in all dues to the +Government except for customs; 2d, by the privilege of funding it in +United States stock; 3d, by enhancing the benefit of this privilege, not +only by making the stock, both principal and interest, payable in +specie, but by making it gradually the ultimate basis of our whole bank +circulation, which, as shown by the census tables before referred to +(including deposits), nearly doubles every decade. + +5. By imposing such a tax on the circulation of the State banks, as, +together with State or municipal taxes, would induce them to transfer +their capital to the new banks proposed by the Secretary. + +6. To relieve the _new banks_ from all State or municipal taxation. + +7. In lieu thereof, to impose a moderate Federal tax on all bank +circulation, as a bonus to be paid cheerfully by these banks for the +great privilege of furnishing ultimately the whole paper currency of the +country, and the other advantages secured by these bills. + +This tax, as proposed by the Secretary, was one per cent. semi-annually, +which _in effect_ would have reduced the interest on our principal loans +from six to four per cent. per annum, so far as those loans were made +the basis of bank circulation. Congress, however, fixed this tax at +about one half, thus making the interest on such loans equivalent in +fact to five per cent. per annum, so far as such loans, at the option of +the holder, are made the basis of banking and of bank circulation. This +is a privilege which gives great additional value to these loans, for +the right to issue the bank paper circulation of the country free from +State or municipal taxes, is worth far more than one half per cent, +semi-annually, to be paid on such circulation. That this privilege is +worth more than the Federal tax, is proved by the fact, that many banks +are already being organized under this system, and by the further fact, +that more than $200,000,000 of legal tenders have already been funded in +this stock, and the process continues at the rate of from one to two +millions of dollars a day. It will be observed, that the holders of such +bonds can keep them, _if they please_, disconnected with all banks, +receiving the principal at maturity, as well as the semi-annual +interest, in gold, free from all taxes. + +This system has been attended with complete success, and notwithstanding +the increase of our debt, the premium on gold, for our Federal currency, +fundable in this stock, has fallen from 73 per cent. in February last, +before the adoption of Mr. Chase's system, to 27 per cent. at present; +and before the 30th of June next, it is not doubted that this premium +must disappear. No loyal American doubts the complete suppression of the +rebellion before that date, in which event, our Federal currency will +rise at once to the par of gold. In the meantime, however, gold is at a +premium of 27 per cent., which is the least profit (independent of +future advance above par) so soon to be realized by those purchasing +this currency now, and waiting its appreciation, or investing it in our +United States 5--20 six per cent. stock. + +But, besides the financial benefits to the Government of Mr. Chase's +system, its other advantages are great indeed. It will ultimately +displace our whole State bank system and circulation, and give us a +_national currency_, based on ample private capital and Federal stocks, +a currency of _uniform_ value throughout the country, and always +certainly convertible on demand into coin. Besides, by displacing the +State bank circulation, the whole bank note currency of the Union will +be based on the stocks of the Government, and give to every citizen who +holds the bonds or the currency (which will embrace the whole community +in every State), a direct interest in the maintenance of the Union. + +The annual losses which our people sustain under the separate State bank +system, in the rate of exchange, is enormous, whilst the constant and +ever-recurring insolvency of so many of these institutions, accompanied +by eight general bank suspensions of specie payment, have, from time to +time, spread ruin and devastation throughout the country. I believe +that, in a period of twenty years, the saving to the people of the +United States, by the substitution of the new system, would reach a sum +very nearly approaching the total amount of our public debt, and in time +largely exceeding it. As a question, then, of national wealth, as well +as national unity, I believe the gain to the country in time by the +adoption of the new system, will far exceed the cost of the war. It was +the State bank system in the rebel States that furnished to secession +mainly the sinews of war. These banks are now generally insolvent, but, +if the banking system now proposed had been in existence, and the +circulating medium in all the States had been an uniform national +currency based entirely on the stocks of the United States, the +rebellion could never have occurred. Every bank, and all its +stockholders, and all the holders of the stock and notes of all the +banks, embracing our whole paper currency, would have been united to the +Government by an interest so direct and universal, that rebellion would +have been impossible. Hamilton and Madison, Story and Marshall, and the +Supreme Court of the United States, have declared that to the Federal +Government belongs the 'entire regulation of the currency of the +country.' That power they have now exercised in the adoption of the +system recommended by the Secretary. Our whole currency, in coin as well +as paper, will soon, now, all be national, which is the most important +measure for the security and perpetuity of the Union, and the welfare of +the people, ever adopted by Congress. It is to Congress that the +Constitution grants the exclusive power 'to regulate commerce with +foreign nations and among the States;' and a sound, uniform currency, in +coin, or convertible on demand into coin, is one of the most essential +instrumentalities connected with trade and exchanges. + +After these preliminary remarks, I shall proceed with the discussion of +the subject in my next letter. + +R.J. WALKER. + + + + +VOICELESS SINGERS. + + + A bird is singing in the leaves + That quiver on yon linden tree; + So soft and clear the song he sings, + The roses listen dreamily. + + The crimson buds in clusters cling; + The full, sweet roses blush with bloom; + And, white as ocean's swaying foam, + The lily trembles from the gloom. + + I know not why that happy strain + That dies so softly on the air, + That perfect utterance of joy, + Has left a strange, dim sadness there. + + Perchance the song, so silver-sweet, + The roses' regal blossoms shrine: + Perchance the bending lily droops, + And trembles, 'neath its thrill divine. + + It may be that all beauteous things, + Though lacking music's perfect key, + Have with their inmost being twined + The hidden chords of melody. + + So pine they all, to hear again + The song they know, but cannot sing; + The living utterance, full and clear, + Whose voiceless breathings round them cling. + + Yet still those accents waken not; + The bird has left the linden tree; + A summer silence falls once more + Upon the listening rose and me. + + + + +A DETECTIVE'S STORY. + + +The following is a true story, by a late well-known member of the +Detective service, and, with, the exception of some names of persons and +places, is given precisely as he himself related it. + +Late one Friday afternoon, in the latter part of November, 18--, I was +sent for by the chief of the New York Police, and was told there was a +case for me. It was a counterfeiting affair. Notes had been forged on a +Pennsylvania bank; two men had been apprehended, and were in custody. +The first, Springer, had turned State's evidence on his accomplice; who, +according to his account, was the prime mover in the business. This man, +Daniel Hawes by name, had transferred the notes to a third party, of +whom nothing had been ascertained except that he was a young man, wrote +a beautiful hand, and had been in town the Monday before. He was the man +I was to catch. + +It was sundown when I left the superintendent's office. I had not much +to guide me: there were hundreds of young men who wrote a beautiful +hand, and had been in town last Monday. But I did not trouble myself +about what I did not know: I confined myself to what I did know. Upon +reflection I thought it probable that _my man_ had been in intimate +relations with Hawes for the last few days, probably since Monday last, +although it was not known that he had been in town since that day. He +might not be a resident in the city; but I decided to seek him +here--since, if he had not left town before the arrest of Springer and +Hawes, he would not just now run the risk of falling into the hands of +the police by going to any railroad station or steamer wharf. + +I determined, therefore, to follow up the track of Hawes, and thereby, +if possible, strike that of his confederate--which was, in fact, all +that could be done. + +Hawes was a small broker. He lived in Eighteenth street, and had an +office in Wall street. + +He lived too far up town, I thought, to go home every day to his dinner; +he went then, most probably, always to the same eating house, and one +not far from his office. + +After inquiring at several restaurants near by, I came to one in Liberty +street, where, on asking if Mr. Hawes was in the habit of dining there, +the waiter said yes. + +'Have you seen a young man here with him, lately?' I inquired. + +'No--no one in particular,' replied the waiter. + +'Are you sure of it? Come, think.' + +After scratching his head for a moment, he said: + +'Yes, there has been a young man here speaking to him once or twice.' + +'How did he look?' + +'He was short, and had black hair and eyes.' + +'Who is he? What does he do?' + +'He is clerk to Mr. L----, the linen importer.' + +'Where does Mr. L---- live?' + +The waiter did not know. Looking into a Directory, I ascertained his +residence to be in Fourteenth street. The stores by this time were +closed, so I went immediately to Mr. L----'s house, and asked to see +him. He was at dinner. + +'I am sorry to disturb him,' said I to the servant, 'but I wish to speak +with him a moment on a matter of importance, and cannot wait.' + +Mr. L---- came out, evidently annoyed at the intrusion. + +'Have you such a person in your employment?' said I, describing him. + +'No, sir, I have not.' + +'You had such a person?' + +'I have not now.' + +'Did you discharge him?' + +'Yes.' + +'Why?' + +'What business is that of your's?' he asked, rather huffily. + +'My name, sir, is M----, of the police. I am after this fellow, that's +all. Tell me, if you please, why you discharged him?' + +'Oh, I beg your pardon,' said Mr. L----. 'I took you for one of his +rascally associates. I discharged him a week or ten days ago. He was a +dissipated, good-for-nothing fellow.' + +'Was he your bookkeeper?' + +'No, he was a junior clerk.' + +'Have you any of his handwriting that you can show me?' + +He fumbled in a side pocket and drew out a pocketbook from which he took +a memorandum of agreement, or some paper of the sort, to the bottom of +which a signature was attached as witness. + +'That's his writing,' said he. + +It was a stiff schoolboy's scrawl. + +This was not my man then. I apologized to Mr. L---- for the trouble I +had given him, and withdrew. + +Lost time, said I to myself. I am on the wrong track. I must back to the +eating house, and begin the chase again from the point where I left off. +I saw the same waiter. + +'I want you to think again,' said I, 'Try hard to remember whether there +was never any other man here with Hawes on any occasion.' + +After reflecting for a little while, he said he thought he recollected +his going up stairs not long ago, with another man, to a private room. + +'Did you wait on him yourself at the time you speak of?' I asked. + +'No--most likely it was Joe Harris.' + +'Will you send for him, if you please.' + +Joe Harris came. + +'You waited on Mr. Hawes a few days ago, when he dined with another +gentleman in a private room up stairs, didn't you?' + +'Yes, sir.' + +'Who was that other man?' + +'He is a young man who is clerk in a livery stable in Sullivan street.' + +'What are his looks?' + +'He is tall and light haired.' + +'Do you know his name?' + +'His name is Edgar.' + +I hurried up to Sullivan street, went into the first livery stable I +came to, inquired for the proprietor, and asked him if he had a young +man in his stable of the name of Edgar. + +He said he had. + +'Does he keep your books?' + +'Yes, he takes orders for me.' + +'Let me see some of his handwriting, if you please.' + +He stepped back into the office and took from a desk a little order +book. I opened it: there were some orders, hastily written, no doubt, +but in a hand almost like beautiful copperplate. + +This was my man--I felt nearly certain of it. I asked where he lived, +and was told, with his mother, a widow woman, at such a number in Hudson +street. I started for the place. It was now nine o'clock. Arriving at +the house, I rang the bell. It was answered by a servant girl. + +'Does Mr. Edgar live here?' I inquired. + +'Yes, sir.' + +'Is he at home?' + +'No, sir.' + +'When will he come home?' + +'I don't know.' + +'Does he sleep here?' + +'Sometimes he does, and sometimes he doesn't.' + +'Where is he likely to be found? I should like to see him.' + +She said she really didn't know, unless perhaps he might be at a +billiard saloon not far off. I went there. A noisy crowd was around the +bar. I looked around the room and closely scrutinized every face. No +tall, light-haired young man was there. I asked the barkeeper if Mr. +Edgar had been there that evening. He said no, he had not seen anything +of him for two or three days, I asked him if there was any other place +he knew of that Edgar frequented, and was told he went a good deal to a +bowling alley in West Broadway near Duane street. Not much yet, I +thought, as I hurried on to West Broadway. Descending a few steps into a +basement, I entered a sort of vestibule or office to the bowling saloon. +'Has Mr. Edgar been here this evening?' I inquired of the man in +attendance. + +'He is here now,' was the reply, 'in the other room, through that door.' + +I passed through the door indicated into the bowling alley, and accosted +the marker: + +'Is Mr. Edgar here?' + +'He has just gone--fifteen minutes ago.' + +'Do you know where he went to?' + +'Seems to me some of them said something about going to the Lafayette +Theatre.' + +I am on his track now--I said to myself--only fifteen minutes behind +him. I bent my steps to the theatre--taking with, me a comrade in the +police service, whom I had encountered as I was leaving the saloon. We +hurried on with the utmost rapidity, but on reaching the theatre, found, +to my disgust, what I had already feared, that the play was over, and +the theatre just closed. + +'Better give it up for to-night,' said my companion; 'we know enough +about him now, and can take up the search again to-morrow.' + +'It won't do, Clarke,' said I, 'we have inquired for him at too many +places. Stay, I've a notion he may be heard of at some of these oyster +cellars hereabouts.' + +I went down into one of them, and asked if a tall young man with light +hair had been there that evening. A tall young man with light hair and +mustache had come in from the theatre with a lady, and had just left. I +asked my informant if he knew the lady. She was a Miss Kearney, he +answered. + +'What?' I continued, 'didn't her sister marry the actor Levison?' + +'Yes, the same person.' + +'He lives in Walker street, near the Bowery, I believe?' + +'Yes, I think so,' replied the man. + +I considered a moment. Of course no one could tell me where Edgar had +gone to; but I was tolerably certain he had gone home with the girl. +Where she lived I did not know, but I thought it probable the actor +could tell me. So we started on to Walker street. There are--or were at +the time I speak of--several boarding houses in Walker street. We passed +one or two three-story houses with marble steps. 'Shall I ask along +here?' said Clarke. 'No,' I answered; 'poor actors don't board there; we +must look for him farther on.' We kept on, and after a little while, we +found one that seemed to me to be likely to be the house we were looking +for. I rang the bell and inquired for Mr. Levison. He was gone to bed. +It was now twelve o'clock. I desired the man that opened the door to +tell him that some one was below who wished to see him immediately. He +soon returned, saying that Mr. Levison was in bed, and could not be +disturbed: I must leave my business, or call again next day. + +I thought it necessary to frighten him a little; so I sent up word that +I was an officer of police, and he must come down instantly, or I should +go up and fetch him. In a few moments the actor made his appearance, +terribly frightened. Before I could say anything he began to pour out +such a flood of questions and asseverations that I could not get a word +in: What did I want with him? I had come to the wrong man; he hadn't +been doing anything, etc., etc. 'I don't want you,' I began--but it was +of no use, I could not stop him; his character was excellent, anybody +would vouch for him; I ought to be more sure what I was about before I +roused people from their beds at midnight, etc., etc. His huddled words +and apprehensive looks made me suspect there was something wrong with +him; but it was no concern of mine then. I seized him by the shoulder, +and ordered him to be quiet. + +'Don't utter another word,' said I, 'except to answer my questions, or +I'll carry you off and lock you up. I have not come to arrest you. I +only want to ask you a few questions. Haven't you a sister-in-law named +Miss Kearney?' + +'Yes, what do you want with her?' + +'I am not going to do her any harm. I only want to know where she +lives.' + +'Oh I she lives in ---- street.' + +'Do you know the number?' + +'Goodness, yes; it is number 34. I have boarded there myself until only +a little while ago.' + +'Indeed!' + +'Yes, I have got a dead-latch key somewhere about.' + +'The deuce you have! Give it to me; it is just what I want.' + +'Give you a dead-latch key! a pretty notion!' + +'I wouldn't give it to any man--not to all the detective squad in New +York.' + +'Look here, my friend, I am M----, pretty well known in this town. I +have a good many opportunities in the course of my business to do people +good turns, and not a few to do them ill turns. It is a convenient +vocation to pay off scores, particularly to persons of your sort. If you +will give me that key, I'll make it worth your while the first chance I +have. If you don't, you'll be sorry; that's all." + +I gave him a significant look as I concluded. He looked me in the face a +minute--as if to see how much I meant, or if I suspected anything; then +turned and ran up stairs. In a few moments he came down, and handed me +the key. I took it with satisfaction. + +'Now,' said I, 'you'll have no objections to telling me where your +sister-in-law's room in the house is.' + +'Third story, back room, second door to the left from the head of the +stairs.' + +'Thank you, good night.' + +We walked rapidly to ---- street, and reaching the house, I stopped a +moment to examine my pistols, by the street lamp, and then softly opened +the door. Clarke and I stepped in, and I shut the door. + +Leaving my comrade in the hall, I crept noiselessly up stairs, and +tapped at the door of the room. + +'Who is there?' called out a woman's voice. 'Open the door,' I replied, +'and I'll tell you what I want.' + +'You can't come in. I have gone to bed.' + +'Oh, well, I am a married man; I'll do you no harm; but you must let me +in, or I shall force the door.' + +After a moment's delay the door was opened by a young woman in a morning +wrapper, who stood as if awaiting an explanation of the intrusion. I +passed by her, and walked up to a young man sitting in a low chair by +the fire, and tapping him on the shoulder, said: 'You are my prisoner.' +He raised his head and looked up. 'Why, Bill,' I exclaimed, 'is this +you? I have been looking for you all night under a wrong name. If I had +known it was you, I'd have caught you in an hour.' And so I would. + +It is only necessary to say further, that he was the man I was set to +catch. I may add, however, that a large amount of the counterfeit notes, +and the plates on which they were printed, were secured, and the +criminal sent to Sing Sing in due course of law. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + +FLOWER FOR THE PARLOUR AND GARDEN. By EDWARD SPRAGUE RAND, jr. Boston: +J.E. Tilton & Co. Price $2.50. + +J.E. Tilton & Co. are the publishers of the series of photographic and +lithographic cards of flowers, leaves, mosses, butterflies, +hummingbirds, &c., noted for their beauty of execution. 'Flowers are so +universally loved, and accepted everywhere as necessities of the moral +life, that whatever can be done to render their cultivation easy, and +to bring them to perfection in the vicinity of, or within, the +household, must be regarded as a benefaction.' This benefit our author +has certainly conferred upon us. The gift is from one who must himself +have loved these lily cups and floral bells of perfume, and will be +warmly welcomed by all who prize their loveliness. In the pages of this +book may be found accurate and detailed information on all subjects +likely to be of interest to their cultivators. We give a list of the +contents of its chapters, to show how wide a field it covers. Chap. I. +The Green-House and Conservatory. Chap. II. Window Gardening. Chap. +III, IV, V, VI. Plants for Window Gardening. VII. Cape Bulbs. VIII. +Dutch Bulbs. IX. The Culture of the Tube Rose. X. The Gladiolus and its +culture. XI. How to force flowers to bloom in Winter. XII. Balcony +Gardening. XIII. The Wardian Case and Winter Garden. XIV. Stocking and +Managing Wardian Cases. XV. Hanging Baskets and Suitable Plants, and +Treatment of Ivy. XVI. The Waltonian Case. XVII. The Aquarium and Water +Plants. XVIII. How to grow specimen Plants. XIX. Out Door Gardening, +Hot Beds. XX. The Garden. XXI. Small Trees and Shrubs. XXII. Hardy +Herbaceous Plants. XXIII. Hardy Annuals. XXIV. Bedding Plants. XXV. +Hardy and half hardy Garden Bulbs. XXVI. Spring Flowers and where to +find them. + +The appearance of this book is singularly elegant, its tinted paper soft +and creamy, its type clear and beautiful, its quotations evince poetic +culture, and its illustrations are exquisitely graceful. It is a real +pleasure to turn over its attractive leaves with the names of loved old +flower-friends greeting us on every page, and new claimants with new +hopes and types of beauty constantly starting up before us. What with +Waltonian cases, hanging baskets, Wardian cases, &c., our ladies may +adorn their parlors with _artistic_ taste with these fragrant, fragile, +rainbow-hued children of Nature. + + 'Bright gems of earth, in which perchance we see + "What Eden was, what Paradise may be.' + +'From the contemplation of nature's beauty there is but the uplifting of +the eye to the footstool of the Creator.' + + +HOSPITAL TRANSPORTS. A Memoir of the Embarkation of the Sick and +Wounded from the Peninsula of Virginia in the Summer of 1862. Compiled +and published at the request of the Sanitary Commission. Boston: +Ticknor & Fields. For sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York. + +A book which should be in the hands of all who love their country. The +Sanitary Commission deserve the undying gratitude of the nation. Their +organization is one of pure benevolence; the men and women working +effectively through its beneficent channel have given evidence of some +of the noblest and divinest attributes of the human soul. It is +difficult to form any idea of the magnitude and importance of the work +the commission has achieved. 'Never till every soldier whose last +moments it has soothed, till every soldier whose flickering life it has +gently steadied into continuance, whose waning reason it has softly +lulled into quiet, whose chilled blood it has warmed into healthful +play, whose failing frame it has nourished into strength, whose fainting +heart it has comforted with sympathy,--never, until every full soul has +poured out its story of gratitude and thanksgiving, will the record be +complete; but long before that time, ever since the moment that its +helping hand was first held forth, comes the Blessed Voice: 'Inasmuch as +ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done +it unto me.'' + +'The blessings of thousands who were ready to perish, and tens of +thousands who love their country and their kind, rest upon those who +originated, and those who sustain this noble work.' + +This book is full of vivid interest, of true incident, of graphic +sketches, of loyalty, patriotism, and self-abnegation, whether of men or +of noble women, and recommends itself to all who love and would fain +succor the human race. + + +AUSTIN ELLIOT. BY HENRY KINGSLEY, Author of Ravenshoe, etc. +Boston: Ticknor & Fields. For sale by D. Appleton & Co. New York. + +A graphic novel of considerable ability, and more than usual interest. +The tone is highly moral throughout. The lessons on duelling are +excellent. Would that our young men would lay them to heart! The +characters are, many of them, well drawn and sustained--we confess to a +sincere affection for the Highlander, Gil Macdonald, and the Scotch +sheep-dog, Robin. Many of the scenes in which they appear are full of +simple and natural pathos. + + +HUSBAND AND WIFE; or, The Science of Human Development through +Inherited Tendencies. By the Author of the Parent's Guide, etc. +Carleton, publisher, 413 Broadway, New York. + +A suggestive book on an important subject. The writer assumes that +'there are _laws_ of hereditary transmission in the mental and moral, as +well as the physical constitution. Precisely what these laws are, she +does not assume to state. Such as are well known will however be helpful +to all, and will facilitate the discovery of those yet hidden from us. +Women, who bear such an important part in parentage, should be the most +clear-sighted students of nature in these things. It is to woman that +humanity must look for the abatement of many frightful evils, +malformation, idiocy, insanity, &c., yet the principles pertaining to +the knowledge of her own duties and powers, which ought to be a part of +the instruction of every woman, are rarely placed before her. Much that +pertains to the same phenomena among the lower animals may properly +constitute a part of her studies in natural history; but with the laws +which govern the most momentous of all social effects--the moral and +mental constitution of individuals composing society--with the gravest +of possible results to herself--the embodiment of power and weakness, +capacity or incapacity, worth or worthlessness in her own offspring, she +is forbidden all acquaintance. Yet when she assumes the duties and +responsibilities of maternity, such knowledge would be more valuable to +her and to those dearest to her, than all of the treasures of the +gold-bearing lands, if poured at her feet.' + +The laws of hereditary transmission make the staple of this book. It is +written by a lady, and will commend itself to all interested in this +subject. Pearl, in the Scarlet Letter, and Elsie Venner, are artistic +exemplifications of such disregarded truths. + + +VICTOR HUGO, by a Witness of his Life: Madame HUGO. +Translated from the French, by CHARLES EDWIN WILBOUR, +translator of 'Les Miserables.' Carleton, publisher, 413 Broadway, New +York. + +A biography of a remarkable man, written by a constant observer of his +actions, almost a second self, can scarcely fail to prove interesting. +In this case the interest is increased by its close connection with a +popular novel. Indeed, the readers of 'Les Miserables' will be +astonished to find what a flood of light is thrown upon that master work +by this charming life-history of its author. Marius is but a free +variation of Victor Hugo himself. In Joly, the old school-mate of the +Pension Cordier, the author of Jean Valjean becomes closely acquainted +with a real galley slave. In short, the great romance is a part of the +life of Victor Hugo, and cannot be fully understood without the +biography--its completion.' + + +LIFE AND TIMES OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, BARONET. + +J. MUNSELL, 78 State street, Albany, announces for publication +by subscription, 'The Life and Times of Sir William Johnson, Baronet.' +The work is by William L. Stone, son of Colonel Stone, well known as +editor and biographer. The materials of this Life were derived from +original papers furnished by the family of Sir William, from his own +diary, and other sources which have never before been consulted. The +work was begun by the late William L. Stone, has been completed by his +son, and with the Lives of Brant and Red Jacket, brings down the history +of the Six Nations and their relations with Great Britain, from 1560 to +1824. The edition will be very nearly confined to the number subscribed +for. Price $5, payable on delivery. + +Sir William Johnson was Superintendent of Indian Affairs in this country +before the Revolution, was distinguished in Colonial history, and active +in the French and Indian war. His life was one of romantic interest and +vicissitude. The work is highly spoken of by the literati who have seen +the advance sheets. Jared Sparks, George Bancroft, F. Parkman, G.W. +Curtis, Lewis Cass, &c., testify to its interest and historical +accuracy. From the well-known ability of its author, it may be safely +and highly commended to the reading and thinking public. + + +BEYOND THE LINES; or, a Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie. By Captain J.J. +Geer, late of General Buckland's Staff. Philadelphia: J.W. Daughaday, +publisher, 1308 Chestnut street. + +CAPTAIN JOHN J. GEER was, before the war, a minister of the Methodist +Church in Ohio, was taken prisoner before the battle of Shiloh, in a +skirmish with Beauregard's pickets, passed some months in rebel +prisons, made his escape, and pleasantly tells the story of his +adventures. He reports that the large slave-holders and the wretched +clay-eaters are all Secessionists, but that a large middle class, +people who own but few slaves and till their own fields, are mostly +true to the Union, in the parts of the South he visited. The book is +one of incident, contains many curious pictures of life and character, +and will address itself to a large class of readers. + + +THE AMBER GODS, AND OTHER STORIES. By Harriet Elizabeth Prescott. +Ticknor & Fields, Boston. For sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York. + +The many readers of Miss Prescott will be glad to welcome the present +collection of her very popular tales. It contains: The Amber Gods. In a +Cellar. Knitting Sale-Socks. Circumstance. Desert Lands. Midsummer and +May. The South Breaker. + +Few writers have attained distinction and recognition so immediately as +Miss Prescott. Her fancy is brilliant, her style glowing, and culture +and varied information mark the products of her pen. + + +PHILIP VAN ARTEVELDE; a Dramatic Romance. Ticknor & Fields, Boston. For +sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York. + +An historical romance, cast in a dramatic and rhythmical form, by Henry +Taylor. It has been too long known to the community to require any +commendation at the present date. It has gone through many editions in +England. We are glad to see it in the convenient and pleasant form of +Ticknor's "Blue and Gold," so well known to American readers. + + +THE BRITISH AMERICAN; a Colonial Magazine. Published monthly by Messrs. +Rollo & Adam, 61 King street, Toronto, Canada West. + +The articles of this magazine are of varied interest, generally well +written and able. "What is Spectrum Analysis?" given by the Editor in +the August number, is a contribution of research and merit. + + +THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER. Boston: By the proprietors, at Walker, Wise & +Co.'s, 245 Washington street. + +Contents: Tertullian and Montanism. The Reality of Fiction. Rome in the +Middle Age. Zschokke's Religious Meditations. Henry James on Creation. +Loyalty in the West. Altar, Pulpit, and Platform, A Month of Victory +and its Results. Review of Current Literature. Theology. + + + + +The Continental Monthly + + +The readers of the CONTINENTAL are aware of the important position it +has assumed, of the influence which it exerts, and of the brilliant +array of political and literary talent of the highest order which +supports it. No publication of the kind has, in this country, so +successfully combined the energy and freedom of the daily newspaper with +the higher literary tone of the first-class monthly; and it is very +certain that no magazine has given wider range to its contributors, or +preserved itself so completely from the narrow influences of party or of +faction. In times like the present, such a journal is either a power in +the land or it is nothing. That the CONTINENTAL is not the latter is +abundantly evidenced _by what it has done_--by the reflection of its +counsels in many important public events, and in the character and power +of those who are its staunchest supporters. + +Though but little more than a year has elapsed since the CONTINENTAL was +first established, it has during that time acquired a strength and a +political significance elevating it to a position far above that +previously occupied by any publication of the kind in America. In proof +of which assertion we call attention to the following facts: + +1. Of its POLITICAL articles republished in pamphlet form, a single one +has had, thus far, a circulation of _one hundred and six thousand_ +copies. + +2. From its LITERARY department, a single serial novel, "Among the +Pines," has, within a very few months, sold nearly _thirty-five +thousand_ copies. Two other series of its literary articles have also +been republished in book form, while the first portion of a third is +already in press. + +No more conclusive facts need be alleged to prove the excellence of the +contributions to the CONTINENTAL, or their _extraordinary popularity_; +and its conductors are determined that it shall not fall behind. +Preserving all "the boldness, vigor, and ability" which a thousand +journals have attributed to it, it will greatly enlarge its circle of +action, and discuss, fearlessly and frankly, every principle involved in +the great questions of the day. The first minds of the country, +embracing the men most familiar with its diplomacy and most +distinguished for ability, are among its contributors; and it is no mere +"flattering promise of a prospectus" to say that this "magazine for the +times" will employ the first intellect in America, under auspices which +no publication ever enjoyed before in this country. + +While the CONTINENTAL will express decided opinions on the great +questions of the day, it will not be a mere political journal: much the +larger portion of its columns will be enlivened, as heretofore, by +tales, poetry, and humor. In a word, the CONTINENTAL will be found, +under its new staff of Editors, occupying a position and presenting +attractions never before found in a magazine. + + * * * * * + +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_. + +JOHN F. TROW, 50 Greene St., N.Y., +PUBLISHER FOR THE PROPRIETORS. + +[Graphic: Right-pointing hand] As an inducement to new subscribers, the +Publisher offers the following liberal premiums: + +[Graphic: Right-pointing hand] Any person remitting $3, in advance, +will receive the magazine from July, 1862, to January, 1864 thus +securing the whole of MR. KIMBALL'S and MR. KIRKE'S new serials, which +are alone worth the price of subscription. Or, if preferred, a +subscriber can take the magazine for 1863 and a copy of "Among the +Pines," or of "Undercurrents of Wall Street," by R.B. KIMBALL, bound in +cloth, or of "Sunshine in Thought," by CHARLES GODFREY LELAND (retail +price, $1 25.) The book to be sent postage paid. + +[Graphic: Right-pointing hand] Any person remitting $4 50, will receive +the magazine from its commencement, January, 1862, to January, 1864, +thus securing MR. KIMBALL'S "Was He Successful?" and MR. KIRKE'S "Among +the Pines," and "Merchant's Story," and nearly 3,000 octavo pages of the +best literature in the world. Premium subscribers to pay their own +postage. + +[Illustration: THE FINEST FARMING LANDS, WHEAT, CORN, COTTON, FRUITS & +VEGETABLES] + + +~EQUAL TO ANY IN THE WORLD!!!~ + +MAY BE PROCURED + +AT FROM $8 TO $12 PER ACRE, + +Near Markets, Schools, Railroads, Churches, and all the blessings of +Civilization. + +1,200,000 Acres, in Farms of 40, 80, 120, 160 Acres and upwards, in +ILLINOIS, the Garden State of America. + + * * * * * + +The Illinois Central Railroad Company offer, ON LONG CREDIT, the +beautiful and fertile PRAIRIE LANDS lying along the whole line of their +Railroad, 700 MILES IN LENGTH, upon the most Favorable Terms for +enabling Farmers, Manufacturers, Mechanics and Workingmen to make for +themselves and their families a competency, and a HOME they can call +THEIR OWN, as will appear from the following statements: + +~ILLINOIS~. + +Is about equal in extent to England, with a population of 1,722,686, and +a soil capable of supporting 20,000,000. No State in the Valley of the +Mississippi offers so great an inducement to the settler as the State of +Illinois. There is no part of the world where all the conditions of +climate and soil so admirably combine to produce those two great +staples, CORN and WHEAT. + +~CLIMATE~. + +Nowhere can the industrious farmer secure such immoderate results from +his labor as on these deep, rich, loamy soils, cultivated with so much +ease. The climate from the extreme southern part of the State to the +Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, a distance of nearly 200 +miles, is well adapted to Winter. + +~WHEAT, CORN, COTTON, TOBACCO~. + +Peaches, Pears, Tomatoes, and every variety of fruit and vegetables is +grown in great abundance, from which Chicago and other Northern markets +are furnished from four to six weeks earlier than their immediate +vicinity. Between the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis Railway and the +Kankakeo and Illinois Rivers, (a distance of 115 miles on the Branch, +and 135 miles on the Main Trunk,) lies the great Corn and Stock raising +portion of the State. + +~THE ORDINARY YIELD~. + +of Corn is from 50 to 80 bushels per acre. Cattle, Horses, Mules, Sheep +and Hogs are raised here at a small cost, and yield large profits. It is +believed that no section of country presents greater inducements for +Dairy Farming than the Prairies of Illinois, a branch of farming to +which but little attention has been paid, and which must yield sure +profitable results. Between the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, and +Chicago and Dunleith,(a distance of 56 miles on the Branch and 147 miles +by the Main Trunk,) Timothy Hay, Spring Wheat, Corn, &c., are produced +in great abundance. + +~AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS~. + +The Agricultural products of Illinois are greater than those of any +other State. The Wheat crop of 1861 was estimated at 85,000,000 +bushels, while the Corn crop yields not less than 140,000,000 bushels +besides the crop of Oats, Barley, Rye, Buckwheat, Potatoes, Sweet +Potatoes, Pumpkins, Squashes, Flax, Hemp, Peas, Clover, Cabbage, Beets, +Tobacco, Sorgheim, Grapes, Peaches, Apples, &c., which go to swell the +vast aggregate of production in this fertile region. Over Four Million +tons of produce were sent out the State of Illinois during the past +year. + +~STOCK RAISING~. + +In Central and Southern Illinois uncommon advantages are presented for +the extension of Stock raising. All kinds of Cattle, Horses, Mules, +Sheep, Hogs, &c., of the best breeds, yield handsome profits; large +fortunes have already been made, and the field is open for others to +enter with the fairest prospects of like results. DAIRY FARMING also +presents its inducements to many. + +~CULTIVATION OF COTTON~. + +_The experiments in Cotton culture are of very great promise. Commencing +in latitude 39 deg. 30 min. (see Mattoon on the Branch, and Assumption +on the Main Line), the Company owns thousands of acres well adapted to +the perfection of this fibre. A settler having a family of young +children, can turn their youthful labor to a most profitable account in +the growth and perfection of this plant_. + +~THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD~. + +Traverses the whole length of the State, from the banks of the +Mississippi and Lake Michigan to the Ohio. As its name imports, the +Railroad runs through the centre of the State, and on either side of +the road along its whole length lie the lands offered for sale. + +~CITIES, TOWNS, MARKETS, DEPOTS~. + +There are Ninety-eight Depots on the Company's Railway, giving about one +every seven miles. Cities, Towns and Villages are situated at convenient +distances throughout the whole route, where every desirable commodity +may be found as readily as in the oldest cities of the Union, and where +buyers are to be met for all kinds of farm produce. + +~EDUCATION~. + +Mechanics and working-men will find the free school system encouraged by +the State, and endowed with a large revenue for the support of the +schools. Children can live in sight of the school, the college, the +church, and grow up with the prosperity of the leading State in the +Great Western Empire. + + * * * * * + +~PRICES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT--ON LONG CREDIT~. + +80 acres at $10 per acre. with interest at 6 per ct. annually on the +following terms: + + Cash payment.............$18.00 + Payment in one year.......48.00 + " in two years......48.00 + " in three years....48.00 + " in four years....236.00 + " in five years....224.00 + " in six years.....212.00 + " in seven years...206.00 + +40 acres, at $10.00 per acre: + Cash payment.............$24.00 + Payment in one year.......24.00 + " in two years......24.00 + " in three years....24.00 + " in four years....118.00 + " in five years....112.00 + " in six years.....106.00 + " in seven years...100.00 + +Commissioner. Illinois Central Railroad, Chicago, Ill. + + + + +THE + +CONTINENTAL + +MONTHLY. + +DEVOTED TO + +Literature and National Policy. + + + * * * * * + +NOVEMBER, 1863. + + * * * * * + + + + +NEW YORK: + +~JOHN F. TROW, 50 GREENE STREET~ + +(FOR THE PROPRIETORS). + +HENRY DEXTER AND SINCLAIR TOUSEY. + +WASHINGTON, D.C.: FRANCK TAYLOR. + + + + +CONTENTS.--No. XXIII. + + +The Defence and Evacuation of Winchester. By Hon. F.P. + Stanton, 481 + +The Two Southern Mothers. By Isabella MacFarlane, 490 + +Diary of Frances Krasinska, 491 + +November. By E.W.C., 500 + +The Assizes of Jerusalem. By Prof. Andrew Ten Brook, 501 + +Letters to Professor S.F.B. Morse. By Rev. Dr. Henry, 514 + +Buckle, Draper, and the Law of Human Development. By + Edward B. Freeland, 529 + +Treasure Trove, 545 + +Matter and Spirit. By Lieut. E. Phelps. With Reply of Hon. + F.P. Stanton, 546 + +Extraterritoriality in China. By Dr. Macgowan, 556 + +Reason, Rhyme, and Rhythm. By Mrs. Martha W. Cook, 567 + +The Lions of Scotland. By W. Francis Williams, 584 + +We Two. By Clarence Butler, 591 + +Patriotism and Provincialism. By H. Clay Preuss, 592 + +Literary Notices, 594 + +Editor's Table, 598 + + * * * * * + + +'EDMUND KIRKE,' author of 'Among the Pines.' &c., and until recently +one of the Editors of this Magazine, is prepared to accept a limited +number of invitations to Lecture before Literary Associations, during +the coming fall and winter, on 'The Southern Whites: Their Social and +Political Characteristics.' He can be addressed 'care of Continental +Monthly, New York.' + +All communications, whether concerning MSS. or on business, should be +addressed to + +~JOHN F. TROW, Publisher~, + +50 GREENE STREET, NEW YORK. + + * * * * * + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by John F. +Trow, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States +for the Southern District of New York. + + +JOHN F TROW, PRINTER. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. +October, 1863, No. IV., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY *** + +***** This file should be named 16323.txt or 16323.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/2/16323/ + +Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Janet +Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/16323.zip b/16323.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b48c8ac --- /dev/null +++ b/16323.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e0d5cb --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #16323 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16323) |
